Prototype

I am a prototype. I was toyed with for years just to be thrown away. And now I was just a deformed monster that roamed the streets after nightfall.

The sky was cloudy and gray, the wind whipping the trees as if they had misbehaved. It wasn’t raining yet, but I knew it would sooner or later. My hair flowed in the angry wind as I sat on the roof of an old shack. It stood at the edge of my hometown. The same place where that lab resided in. That place where I had been tormented for years. And now it was making money off of people like me. People that had been abandoned by everyone. That place turned people into monsters before selling them as weapons or slaves to their wealthy clients.

In a way, I was the lucky one. Getting thrown away and almost killed was a fair price for freedom. I could do what I wanted, to an extent, anyway.

I stood up from my spot on the roof, startling some of the crows around me while doing so. I spread my strong black wings from under my cloak. It hurt, but I had to learn to endure this pain. After some mental preparation, I took to the sky with my fancy bird companions. It was time to hunt.

Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t hunt humans. But I did go after other animals, like rabbits, boars, or fish. While roaming through the sky, I scanned the forest below for a nice and tasty meal. Before I could spot anything, however, there was a loud bang, and a bullet whizzed through the air, almost hitting my forehead. In a bit of a shock, I forwarded my alert gaze towards the bullet’s origin. There was a small group of hunters looking up at us. Were they hunting me, or the other birds...

I quickly signaled to the crows that they needed to hide and waited to see what the humans would do next. And they aimed right at me. Fuck! I dipped, dropping down towards the ground at a high speed, and only spread my wings open right before hitting it. Which I tell you, hurt like absolute hell. Once on the ground in one piece, I ran towards the river, figuring it to be harder for the hunters to tail me if I crossed it. If they were hunting me, they were definitely the ones from Gene corp. Why in the love of fuck can't they leave me the hell alone?

Reaching the river had my body screaming in agony. With a pained grunt, I spread my wings once more and flew up a little bit so I could cross the river. While I was struggling through my pain, I spotted a tasty-looking fish swimming around in the water. The meal I had been looking for. My claws stretched out towards it, plunging through the water and piercing its flesh. Success.

After my small hunting session was over my ears could pick up some sound behind me. The hunters were close, but they weren’t at the river yet. Or at least I didn't see them. So I hurried across the water with my newly acquired meal in hand.

Once I had safely hidden behind rocks and plants, I let out a small sigh of relief and collapsed. My body was burning in agony, and I had to bite down on the fabric of my cloak so I wouldn’t scream. And this was precisely why I was just a prototype. I was just an experiment. My body was hastily put together, leaving its bone structure deformed and wonky, which was the cause of all my pain. But thanks to that, the scientists, or as I call them, the demons, were able to properly modify the others, so they didn’t have to suffer this excruciating pain.

Unfortunately, though, my mind wasn’t strong enough to stand all the pain, and I passed out soon after collapsing.

"It’s okay, little one.” A soft voice cooed as I laid on the operation table. My throat was sore from all the screaming and crying I had been doing, and my body was burning in agony. But I still turned to her.

“It hurts...” I sobbed, tears staining my face.

“I know, I know.” A soft kiss was placed on my forehead, and a sudden calm washed over me. “You are so strong, Ren.” She whispered softly, a certain desperation to her voice. “If I could, you know I would get you out of here.” I gave her a small smile ridden with suffering.

“I know.” I whispered, my voice quiet and hoarse. “I love you, Lily. I hope you’ll remember me.” She began crying, sobs escaping from her tiny body.

“I will. I could never forget you.” Tears dropped on my face as she cupped it between her small hands, leaning her forehead against mine. “Never.” Her presence seemed to somehow envelop me in a soft cloud. It calmed me down, soothing my burning body so I could finally drift off to sleep.

I could hear fire crackling somewhere near me, and I slowly opened my eyes to find a human sitting not far from my face. They seemed to be frying something on a campfire. I wasn’t sure if they had noticed me waking up, so I tried to get up without making a sound. But some pained hisses still escaped me, causing the guy to turn to me with a surprisingly friendly expression.

“Oh. You’re awake.” They said, having an oddly cheery attitude to them. With a strong frown, I carefully backed myself up against a rock.

“Who are you?” My eyes followed their every move with a very intense gaze, ready to defend myself if necessary.

“Oh, right.” The human laughed quietly, sounding a bit embarrassed, maybe. “I’m, uh. Jay.” I tilted my head at their answer. They weren’t a bird.

“You’re... not a bird, though.” I forwarded my curious gaze to the guy, a confused frown morphing my expression into a more clueless one. They laughed. Which confused me further.

“It’s just my name.” They said with an amused glint in their eyes. It was kind of pretty. My cheeks started feeling warm from shame. I was not accustomed to exchanging names on first meeting, or ever to be honest. “What’s yours?”

”It was... Ren.” I told him while gazing at my claws, feeling a little meek. Talking about myself had only happened on rare occasions before.

“Was?” The odd human questioned curiously. My shoulders became heavy when I remembered the context of my name.

“It was given to me at the lab. It means zero in a foreign language. That’s what they said anyway.” My explanation was cold and vague. I didn’t really want to get into it.

“Do you want to change your name?” They asked, making me frown. What would it matter if I changed it? No one would even use it.

“No.” I simply said. The only one that ever even used my name called me Ren. So that’s me. I’m Ren. “No one would use it anyway.” A sigh left me as I stared somewhere. I didn’t even know where.

“I would.” A sudden restless feeling surged through me at their words. It made my claws curl in a funny way. “I take it you’re one of those biological weapon things Gene corporation is producing.” I wish.

A scoff escaped my mouth at their remark. “I’m just a prototype. None of the successful ones would be roaming free like me.” I explained, not liking the topic one bit.

“A prototype? What does that mean?” Why did they want to know anyway? It’s not like it affected them.

“It means that I was an experiment to find out how to make the actual bioweapons. I’m a failed one to put it simply.” My tone was getting more and more frustrated. Since this whole thing was a huge sore point for me.

“Wh... what do you mean?” What was with their neverending curiosity?

“What is that question supposed to mean? How am I different? How am I a failed one? What it means is that I’m in constant pain because they messed up my bone structure and that's why I'm not suitable merchandise for them. Got it?” I snapped at them, rising to my feet and spreading my wings with some pained grunts. I was about to take flight when the guy grabbed onto my hand. They... touched me? I stared at him in absolute shock, not knowing what to do next.

“I’m sorry. I just...” They swallowed guilt written all over their face. “The Gene corp took my brother years ago.” They admitted a heavy air surrounding them. “They were trying to take two brothers together to see if they would preserve their bond or not. But I escaped and...” He sniffled, seeming to have trouble continuing. “I saw him again last year. He was ordered to kill me, but he refused and tried to protect me.” Oh no. Now he was crying. “They killed him.”