This Strikes Me As Odd (Chapter One)

This Strikes Me As Odd.

My eyes opened quickly. I didn’t feel anything. My usual blonde hair was black, and the longest I’d ever seen it. It hung around my ankles, flying out. The thing that troubled me most, even though I didn’t feel troubled at the time, was the liquid. I was in an aquamarine liquid, and as I tried to swim to the top, there was barely any buoyancy.

Then, I noticed a few other things. I wasn't embarrassed. I wasn't even afraid anymore. This discovery should have frightened me more than anything else, but I couldn't help but feel… empty. It was as though I couldn't feel anything at all.

The people who put me here obviously had a heart, since they’d given me clothes. But the clothes were the most boring ones on the planet. A tight fitting white shirt and skinny white jeans, somehow unaffected by the ‘water’. There was a chrome plaque on the wall.

HUMANA DEOS

Humana Deos is the name of the new species of humans that are sleeping dormant in these tubes right now. They have been in these tubes since they were embryos and will awaken once they have reached the age of eighteen. These tubes are called Defensor, and they protect them from harm and give them a place to grow. Humana Deos are the "perfect humans" that excel in everything, and specialize in up to five things. They have been genetically altered to look flawless and beautiful in every aspect, and will be used as our organization's successors in order to plot the next revolution, making us the world's ruler. Like in Las Vegas, What happens in here stays in here.

I’d finally reached the top of my ‘Defensor’, and my hands seized the top. A huge electrical current shot through my body, but I couldn’t even feel the pain. I knocked the lid open, climbing out and sitting on the top. The stench of anti-septic made my eyes water. It was there I saw there were other people in other tubes. They all wore the same clothes as me.

It was then I looked at myself. Was I really that perfect? I looked at my arms. They were hairless and smooth, no fault whatsoever. My hands were the same. There weren’t even any wrinkles at the joint when I straightened them. My nails were perfectly rounded, all at the same length, and my toenails were the same. Unlike the other two boys there, I wasn’t muscly. At all. They were all built up and all, but I was the small kind. I wasn’t really short, just skinny. Normal.

There were no marks on my legs when I pulled the jeans up, and again, no hair. The scars, which used to be on my knees from falling over as a child, were non-existent. When I felt my face, it was soft, like baby skin. All the others there were awake by now, sitting on their lids and observing themselves. I saw a mirror and hopped down, walking towards it. Since when were my eyes green?

I saw that my ‘Defensor’ had a name on it.

HD06 – CORVUS IURIS

So my name was Corvus? Well, I’m quite confused. Another person, looking just as emotionless as me was behind me now.

“Corvus means ‘crow’ in Latin. Iuris means ‘of law’.” He said coolly, and I looked up at this guy. Unlike me, whose skin was like shiny porcelain, he was tanned and his hair was brown. His blue eyes reminded me of the sea.

The girls were hopping down from their Defensors and joining us on the ground. Altogether, there were six of us. One of the girls flipped a switch and it opened the door as well as turning on an alarm.

Maybe it was some sort of survival instinct, but we all legged it in the same direction. We were so close to the door, my hand almost touched it, when something shot me in the back. When I looked behind me, I saw a scared looking scientist, with some sort of equipment. It was overly futuristic, and the thing, which had been shot into me, was definitely not a bullet. It was some sort of liquid, a fiery orange, and the thing it had come in was now empty.

Shocking pain shot through my body as I grabbed my hair, pulling on it as a sort of pain reliever. I suddenly felt the pain, felt the horror as I tried to work out what this thing had done. My emotions were returning. But I kept quiet, while the others were yelling. I was the first one up, the first one out, running faster than I ever had. If they were tracking me down, I didn’t care. I was just running for my life, the adrenaline going insane with each step I took. But the scientist from earlier obviously had other ideas. My specialty obviously wasn’t running, unlike one of the other Humana Deos who was sprinting faster than I’d even seen anyone before.

The scientist grabbed one of my arms, halting me. He looked like a scrawny thing, a student, maybe. “Wait. This way.” He said, walking so as to blend into the crowd. 

Epilogue

EPILOGUE

I didn’t know what to do. It was the hottest day of the summer so far, and my body was suffering from that. The heat literally radiated from my body, according to one of my roommates. I could hear the crickets making noise, even though we weren’t that close to a field. It was insane.

Standing up was effort. Moving my little finger was effort. Everything on this whole bloody day would be effort. I’d dosed off a few times, but no matter when I woke up, it was still boiling hot and sunny. I was trying to work off the day, you know, wait until night before actually getting up, moving around. That wasn’t happening every time soon, was it?

Alex had seated himself next to my feet on the couch, seeming perfectly energetic. “I don’t know why you’re burning up so much.” He said, looking me in the eye while I sighed, not really being able to do anything else. “Maybe you’ve got a fever. You should eat something.” He said. That was about the millionth time he’d told me I should eat something, in that day alone.

“I’m not hungry.” I replied angrily, somehow mustering the strength to stand. Alex gave me a sceptical look, before we heard the bass guitar playing from the next room. It was that stupid song Oliver came up with – ‘Ravens and Writing Desks’. Again.

“Oliver, shut up!” Alex yelled at the top of his voice, the two of us walking into his room.

It was a dump, as usual. There were guitar picks he’d caught attached to necklaces and hung around a certain nail in the wall. His dresser was practically empty, and all his clothes were strewn on the floor. He scowled at us when we entered, playing louder and louder until my shoe hit him in his head. Hard.

“Crow, what the hell?” he yelled, running towards me. I didn’t even budge, except when his fist almost came in contact with my face. I just kind of ran out of the room, turning the sharp corners of the house with my hands in my pockets. I heard his hand whack against the wall while he shouted curses at me. I grabbed my keys quickly.

“Oh, shut up already!” I said angrily, slamming the door behind me. The place fell silent, before I heard Oliver and Alex yelling at each other, until Elizabeth told them to be quiet. Well, maybe she was a bit ruder than that, but whatever. That’s Liz for you.

The heat was even worse outside. I felt like going back inside, or just stopping moving. That would be the best thing to do. My brain told me otherwise. I kept walking, no matter what, and tried thinking of other things, such as how far away the convenience store was. At least they sold ice cream.

Which brought me back to thinking about the heat.

I found my iPod in my pocket, putting my headphones on. They covered my ears, making them heat up. The music was worth it though. The convenience store was in view, but something was wrong. Things were missing. Buildings, people, life. Things, which usually inhabited the street I was walking down. It was really weird. There was nothing whatsoever as the ground towards the convenience store became blank. When I looked behind me, there was a white void, nothing there.

My steps got quicker and quicker, I sped up and soon enough I was running, opening the door, stepping inside. No one. The place was empty as hell, and the shelves were bare. The only thing there was… ice cream. I took it, convincing myself this was a dream or the heat was making me hallucinate. It was possible. It happened last year, and Alex had to punch me so I’d come back to reality.

But when the cold ice cream touched my tongue, the floor fell in, and I fell into the void, yelling.