"The Heart of Darkness"

"M.L. Robertson"

Chapter 1

The stars... One thing that has never changed on this doomed planet is those beautiful stars. And even though they shine like pinholes in the curtain night, none of my wishes have ever come true.

As a brilliant light starts to quietly rise from behind the horizon, a young man and his thoughts are silenced by the life giving warmth of the sun. He begins to stand, and then he looks down onto the street below him for second longer, turns, and walks toward the small hole that allowed him to climb onto the rooftop of the massive concrete building. "Damn Stairs" he says to himself, walking slowly, hunched, with nothing on his mind, he continues down to the place he calls home. The stairs spiral downward while the light above him slowly grows faint. Finally he comes to a familiar and broken door. He removes a set of keys from his pocket, places a rusty looking key into the door, and in a blink of an eye... He is gone.

The inside of his small apartment is dusty, and has the faint odor of mothballs. There are a couple of windows on the furthest wall from the door that look down onto the street below, and a pile of old blankets and clothes rest in the corner of the largest room next to a old wooden chair. The sink inside the kitchen is filled with a few metal plates, cups, and a large pot that sits calmly on the stove while the sound of water slowly creeps out of the faucet. "I’ve gotta’ get out of here," the young man thinks to himself. He begins to rummage through the icebox across from the leaky sink, looking for something to ease the hunger in his belly. Several small bugs scurry away from behind a wet paper bag. After closing the door in disgust, he walks over to to the chair and sit's down. Suddenly he hears the echoing noises of something approaching from behind his front door.

"Not now..." The young man says.

Meanwhile, the noises downstairs draw the attention of some children playing on the steps further down. Their eyes begin to sparkle like four sapphires in the light. Quickly they force themselves down the stairs to see what is causing the echoing noise. Step after step they run with the look of excitement, wondering what could be walking up their playground. Just as they get to the bottom half of the stairs they hear a loud "CLUMP". Their eyes become empty. They have for the most part frozen in front of the large man walking up the stairs. He looks down slowly toward the young children, and through the dark beard that covers the face of this large stranger, he smiles.

His name is Doran Kennedy, but most people just call him, D. Obvious to others, the echo of his boots can be heard throughout the entire concrete palace. He is an extremely muscular man, with a large frame, and dark skin. After passing the children he continues his way up the stairs, "CLUMP", "CLUMP", "CLUMP"... He finally stops at a broken door and begins to bang on its surface, rattling the wooden frame.

NICO! NICO, OPEN UP!

..............

NICO?

Not now D! The voice behind the door replies.

IS THE NEWBIE THERE?

NO. WHY?

IVE GOT A NEW PLAN!

ANOTHER ONE?

THIS IS A GOOD ONE! The large figure says from the door.

The man behind the door is Nico... Slender and tall, with long straight black hair that covers his eyes. This young man has lived among the rubble of the city since he was a child. Throughout the years he has managed to live without any problems, until now. Since Nico has known him, D has always had these crazy ideas about escaping the city that they live in, bound for the outside world. Long ago, something changed the world forever. Something so evil, that no man or woman could stand against it. And since that time, the few people remaining in the world have gathered together to live out the rest of their days in a small city called "Silva." The city is enclosed in a massive dome of glass and steel spanning almost ten miles high in it’s center. People from every corner of the planet have traveled to the city hoping for an end or a new beginning. For Doran and Nico, this has always been their home.

The door begins to slightly open up, and the tall dark man emerges from behind it.

"Man, you gotta get this fixed. It gets pretty damn cold in here sometimes". Doran says.

"Well D, when you smash on my door every time you come over, it tends to break a little more." Responds Nico.

"So ive got this new idea..."

"STOP!"

"What? Did I say something wrong?"

"D, as soon as you start coming up with these ideas, I get really nervous".

"Look Nico, you want out of this place, and so do I. So let's try something new, and get the hell out of here!"

"It isn't that easy!" "We don't even know what’s out there!" Nico says.

"Well that never stopped you before."

"D we have been trying to get out since we were kids. We might as well give up."

"Nico, if we hadn't run into that damn girl, we would be out of this damn place." "The last idea I had was gonna work!"

Nico looks sternly at his dark friend. Without saying a word, Nico stands up and walks to the small dirty window that illuminates the inside of his home. Down on the street below is what was once called an automobile. The car hasn't run for nearly one hundred and seventy-five years, so it rests on the street collecting dust and rain from the upper levels. Sitting in the drivers seat, an old man is yelling aloud about old times, how young he was when he arrived, and the great nausea that he has come to know. Obviously to people passing by, the old man appears to be quite drunk. The bottle he drinks from is clear, it's contents is slightly brown, and thicker than water. As he swings the bottle wildly around him, continuing on about the past, the bottle slips from his hand and crashes violently in front of a beautiful young woman standing in the street.

Her name is Winter.

At first the man has no idea what has even happened. He looks around for his missing bottle and finally notices the pale girl standing in the street, staring at the old man. He attempts to get out of the broken-down car to apologize to the young lady for the accident. But as he looks closely, he can see who it is. He has heard people talk about the odd pale girl... Winter continues to look at the old man in wonder. She then turns he head, and begins to walk up to the building behind the old car. As she makes her way up the stairs of the building, she hears a faint thump and some footsteps moving away from her at a fast but hindered pace. She looks over at the car. The old man is gone... Expressionless, she continues up the stairs.

Nico and Doran have been friends for quite some time, with the exception of Winter. She is what Barrett calls a "Newbie." Nico seems to be the only one that stands up for Winter. Maybe because she is different, but he swears he doesn't notice. Winter is a beautiful girl, with amazingly bluish, purple hair and pale white skin. She is the newcomer to the city; maybe that is why most people fear her. To many, she is different, and people seem to fear what they don't understand.

"Hi Nico"

"Hey Win, how was your walk?" says Nico.

"My walk was fine, everything down here is so different than the upper levels. Everyone seems to stay away from me."

"I think you should stay in Winter, I’m afraid that something will happen to you." "Someone will come looking for you, you know that." Nico says.

"I saw you on the roof, are you concerned about me?"

"Uh, no. I just wanted to see the sun before it reached the upper level."

"Oh." The pale girl says.

"Well, I will be back I guess."

"Where ya goin' newbie?" Barrett says.

"You just got here." Nico says

"Well you guy’s are talking so I thought I would go up to the roof for a little while and look at the city."

Nico lets out a gentile sigh.

"Be careful" Nico says.

"Yeah newbie." Barrett says with a grin.

And with one swift move she had gone back out the door.

"Dude, you gotta get rid of her"

"Why?"

"Well she is.... Weird"

"D, why do you bother her so much?" Nico says.

"Because Nico, I know someone is gonna come lookin' for that girl." "I’ve already given up a good idea to save her worthless butt." Says Doran.

"D, you have this new plan, so let me hear it."

"Look she is gonna screw this up, I know it."

"Just tell me the plan, and if this one doesn't work, im done. We may as well accept the fact that we are stuck here, and that is that."

Doran grins...

"Fine, if you want to give up then give up. But im getting out."

Doran thumps onto the floor across from his friend and begins to rant about why they need to escape and how to do it. Nico can only wonder if Winter is okay and what he is going to do about her. He saved her life the night they tried to escape. He knows if they left her where she was, they could be free. But he has no regrets, aside from Doran... She is his friend.

A few flights below in the old apartment building, Winter quietly watches the children play on the steps below. She doesn't remember her childhood. Maybe because she never had one. Winter spent most of her natural life in the upper levels surrounded by people in long white coats. That is all she can remember. She stares curiously at the children playing on the stairs, finally she grows bored and heads back up to Nico's home. When she comes to the door she can hear both Nico and D talking about something. She stands quietly listening to the muffled words of her savior and the brute, barely making out the words escape, and outside from Doran’s bumbling mouth. She presses her head against the door, trying to hear what they are talking about. Downstairs, the children’s laughter echoes throughout the halls, making it difficult for Winter to hear what they are talking about.

She can remember vividly how she came to be in the presence of the two young men, and how Nico saved her very life. When they found her, Nico and D were going to blast a hole in the thick glass of the dome that protects them from the outside. They tried to cover it up by claiming that they were lost, thinking that they had run into one of the slum guards. But even then she knew better. Winter had been found wandering blindly, covered in blood and garbage. It ruined their plans, but Nico couldn't leave her there. She since then has thanked her hero countless times, but inside she feels it just isn't enough.

"How can I thank him?" She thinks...

With a blinding crash, the door she had been listening to came flying open... There stood Doran.

"You have a good walk?" Doran says.

"..."

"I could hear you behind the door newbie."

"D, why are you so mean to her!" Nico says.

"Its because I messed up your plans, isn’t it D?" says Winter

"Uhh.."

"I heard you guy's talking. Why do you want out so bad? You know they wont let you."

"Those guards ain’t nothin'!" Doran says.

"I don't mean the guards dummy."

"Who?" says Nico?

"The Darkness" says Winter.

"The what?" Doran is confused.

"Newbie, you get stranger and stranger every minute"

"Wait. What did you say Win?" says Nico.

"The Darkness" Winter says.

Nico is still trying to figure out what Winter is talking about, just as he begins to think about what the darkness means, Winter sit's down on the lump of old blankets near the window.

"The Darkness..." "Haven’t you heard of it?" She says.

Nico moves closer to Winter.

"What is the Darkness?" Nico says...

"Why does that sound familiar?" Doran says out-loud to him self.

"I dunno’?" Winter says as she looks into Nico's eyes.

"Winter, do you know what the darkness is?"

"No, not really. I just remember some people talking about it on the upper levels. Something about a key to opening the darkness.

Barrett sits on the floor motionless. He cannot believe his long-time friend is actually going to listen to some crazy girl they found half-dead a few nights before.

Nico gives a confused look toward Winter... What is she talking about he thinks?

"Well im out of here" Doran says. "Nico, I will be back later."

Doran stands up from the floor and dust's himself off a little. He runs his hand over his beard and throws a look toward Winter who is now looking out of the window.

"Remember what I said Nico. See ya later."

Doran walks to the door, opens it, and steps outside.

From this moment on, Nico can only think about how confused he is with his situation. His best friend dislikes this mysterious girl whom has been thrown into his life purely by chance. And this girl, Where is she from? And what is the darkness? Winter stands up from the old pile of blankets and continues to look out the dirty window, leaving Nico to stare at her in amazement. He watches her move slowly, like an angel.

"Looks like it is going to rain." Winter says...

"Yeah, It’s going to rain".

CHAPTER 2

As mid day approaches, the small droplets of rain come down from the upper levels and cover the tattered and torn buildings that house the immigrants below. The mood is dark as always, and the sunlight barely reaches the street. The city is small, nothing like the great cities of the old world. Small quaint homes rest inside of what looks like a large bubble, while the upper levels consist of massive buildings and huge hangers that hold ships to glide across the air. Below, survivors from the past wait to pass away, or for someone to save them from bondage. The bottom level consists of heaps of garbage, small homes, and other places of interest. But in the heart of the underworld is the center of it all, the Cathedral. Before the lost souls of the world arrived, it was the only building that stood. Covered in soot and burn marks from the great fires of old, the massive house of god has endured the centuries. At the steps below, stands that same pale white girl while behind her pass commoners of the city, as she stares at the large doors to the house of salvation.

"Look mommy, that’s her." Her name is Winter.

As the pale girl turns to see who is calling her name, she wonders why she cannot remember anything that has to do with where she is from or even her past. When her new friends found her she could only remember her name and other small details about where she came from. It took little time, but pieces of her past have come to the surface. She remembers her father and how great of a man he was. She also remembers a city different than the one she now calls her home.

Winter stands alone in front of the Cathedral, staring at the young girl and her mother walk down the sidewalk. Where had her childhood gone? She cannot remember. The rain begins to thicken and pour onto the street. So the girl known as Winter to very few begins the task of walking home. She quietly crosses the wet street thinking about her past and who her mother and father are.

Above everything in the city, is the "Capitol building." The tallest and biggest structure in the city that provides energy, food, and the rain that falls down into the underworld. It holds thousands of people who work and live a better life than the people below. No one from the lower levels has ever been inside the great building. Rumors of strange people and odd happenings circled around the city for years after the building was complete. But the people of the lower level know that they are in charge. They are the backbone of the entire city; they make the choices, the laws, and govern everything in their grasp. At the very top of the massive wonder, is a beautiful balcony barely visible to the people from below. It wraps around the entire top of the building with one door. And at this very moment, there stands the shadowy figure of an evil man.

"Beautiful isn't it?" the man says.

"Excuse me sir?"

"The view is marvelous, isn't it?"

"Yes sir." A frightened voice answers.

A slight breeze gently makes it's way across the mans face and pushes his long black hair out of his eyes. He takes a deep breath and says to himself. "I know you are out there... I will find you..."

"Umm, Excuse me sir, I didn't catch that." a young woman says.

"Nothing... Nothing at all."

The mysterious man walks into a large office from the balcony behind him. The room is cold and chrome in color. On the walls are various paintings, while in front of the man is a desk that is littered with papers and photographs of different people.

"Mr. Lloyd, what should we do about the missing subject? I greatly apologize for the..." A young woman says.

"Be quiet." The man says.

The shadowy figure slowly walks from behind the desk toward the young woman in a white laboratory coat. His hands firmly pressed behind his back, with no expression on his face. The woman’s insides grow nervous of his approach; she takes a small step back away from her counterpart.

"Afraid are we?" the man says.

"NN.. No sir. I am truly sorry for the accident with your research, I will....

"SILENCE!" the man growl's at the woman."

The man known only as Lloyd turns to the balcony and glares into the sun. Ignoring his guest. After a brief few seconds he slowly walks over and presses a small button on the desk next to him.

"Mason, your services will be required."

"Yes sir." A deep voice replies from the desk.

Without hesitation two large doors seem to open magically on their own. In walks a tall man, neatly dressed, wearing a black overcoat and a small black hat. The man stands behind the young woman in front of the desk. Her nervousness can be seen through her eyes.

"We have had a terrible incident Mason. It seems that one of our subjects escaped a few nights ago and cannot be located. Our beautiful young doctor here is the cause of this problem, and she should be transported down below immediately.

"WHAT! NO!" The young woman cries out.

You have jeopardized everything I have worked for, you are dismissed..."

The odd man grabs the young woman around the mid-section and starts to carry her away. She struggles with the man in the black hat, fighting to escape his grasp. Mason reaches into his coat and pulls out silver looking object, placing it to the struggling woman’s neck.

"IT WASNT MY FAULT, I..."

The woman’s body goes limp...

"Drop her off somewhere down below. I don't care where, just get rid of her."

"About the missing subject sir...."

"Yes..."

Lloyd turns to Mason and gives him a cold look.

"Find her..."

CHAPTER 3

Doran Kennedy was an orphan just like his friend Nico. They grew up together, surviving on the streets of the city, and helping each other as much as they could. But they both have always had one ultimate goal. To escape... Doran lives on his own; his mother raised both Nico and him from birth, and left their small home for Doran to take care of after she passed away. His home lies deeper into the heart of the city, just beneath the Capitol Building. He has always hated that place. Maybe because the people inside don't have to fight to live. Or maybe it's because they have it too easy. But Doran has a heart, he always has. He fights for his freedom, and he has promised himself to have just that. As he lies quietly on a mattress in the corner of a single room, he awakens to the sound of several small creatures scurrying around on the kitchen floor.

"Ya aint gonna find any, ya damn rats!"

Doran lift's he up off of the mattress and looks into the darkness. He can hear them, but he can't see. The darkness prevents him from throwing one of his boots at the foul creatures. "Damn rats.." He say's. As the dark figure sit's on the mattress, he reaches for his boots next to the bed and putt’s them on his large feet without lacing them up. He walks over to a small shelf next to the door, grabs some keys, a sharp pocketknife, and makes his way out the door. As he is walking down the alleyway that leads to his home he notices that the rain has become considerably heavier since earlier. He knows his way around the city, every smell, every voice, and every sound. His whole life he has lived among these people, and he knows them just as well. Doran walks down the sidewalk, back toward Nico's home; he can see and feel the rain all around him. He doesn't mind, to him it feels good. "It's getin' cold," he thinks to himself, then suddenly almost out of nowhere he hears a large crash.

"Get out of here kid." Says a deep voice.

Barrett looks around and spots an older man standing in another alleyway on the street, wearing a black overcoat and a black hat.

"I ain't got no problem wit’ you." Barrett says.

Barrett continues to walk along the sidewalk, staring at the odd man. Finally he makes his way further down the street and around a corner of another building. He stops. "Who the hell was that guy?" Barrett waits for a few seconds, and then peeks around the corner to see if the man is gone. With the coast clear he begins to slowly walk back to the alleyway that the man was standing on the corner of. He crosses the street and swiftly moves to the corner, making as little noise as possible. He can hear someone talking. It sounds just like the man he saw.

"Yes sir, I have dumped the doctor near the Cathedral. By the time someone finds her, she will be dead.

"Good. Now Mason, find the girl." A voice crackles over a small speaker with a high pitch whine."

"Yes sir, it shouldn't be hard." "These people are weak, they will talk." The odd man says.

"Good Mason, when you have found her contact me immediately!"

"Yes sir." Mason says.

With a soft beep, the whining stops and the man known only as Mason starts walking toward the corner of the alleyway.

Doran Kennedy is running like he has never run before. Every muscle in his body aches from the long trek to the Cathedral. But he must hurry, because if he doesn't. The mysterious doctor he has learned about will die. Building after building he passes, rain pelting him in the face, and the wet street below his boots slow him down. He wonders whom the odd man was, and whom was he talking to? He runs faster and faster, listening for the sounds of the city, hoping to make it in time. Finally he can hear the soft hymns of people inside the Cathedral. He is close, but "where can she be?" Barrett says aloud. Barrett runs as quickly as possible to the back of the Cathedral after stopping directly in front of the slippery steps. He listens closely, for something, but the rain makes it difficult for him to hear anything moving or crying for help. The back of the building is littered with heaps of garbage making it almost impossible for anyone to find anything. Suddenly he hears something... "Hello?" he says. Underneath some trash he can see something or someone moving. Then comes a soft moan, in the blink of an eye Doran runs to the heap of garbage and pulls away some of the filth. There before him is a battered and beaten woman. Covered in blood and glass he picks her up carefully in his arms. "I’ve gotta get you out a here." He say's to her. Without hesitation Doran starts running to Nico's home. Maybe his friend will have an idea what to do, and maybe he can find out who this girl is.

"Winter we’ve gotta talk." Nico says.

The pale girl that has come to turn his world upside down is curled up on the pile of blankets near the window. She looks up at her new friend.

"You want me to leave don't you?"

"No Win, I need to know what you were doing near the Capitol Building. I mean, you were almost dead. If me and D hadn't found you... Well you know...

"Nico, I should ask you the same question. Why do you and meathead want to escape the city so bad?"

"Well," Nico shifts uneasily in his chair.

We have lived here since we were born. Everyone wants to escape. This place is like a prison."

"Has anyone ever gotten out?" Winter says."

"I don't think so, plus you said it earlier. The Darkness won't let us leave."

"Nico im sorry."

"Don't be Win. But we gotta try."

"Do you have any idea what is out there?"

"Honestly, no I don't" "I don't think anyone does. Nico says.

"Nico, I know this is going to sound weird but... Where am I?"

Nico's eyes begin to widen slowly.

"You don't know where you are?"

Well, no. I don't remember much of anything." Winter says. .

"Have you been inside the capitol building?"

"Yeah, I think." Winter says.

"What do you remember?" Nico asks."

"I remember machines with tons of glowing lights. I also remember being in water or something like that."

"Machines?" Nico asks.

"Yeah. And I remember a fat man. He would always yell and he had this squeaky voice."

"Do you remember his name?"

"I think his name was..."

Suddenly there is a crash at the door outside. Nico, and Winter jump, instantly there attention is drawn to the disturbing noise.

"NICO! LET ME IN NOW!

D, what the hell was that noise!

JUST LET ME IN NOW!

"D, I don’t care about your stupid plan so."

As Nico walks over to the door and opens it he is shocked to see his friend covered in blood and holding a mysterious looking woman in both arms. Doran hurries inside the small apartment. Winter stands up and walks over to Doran.

"Lay her down on the blankets D" Nico says.

Doran carefully lays the battered girl down on the blankets and sits down next to her.

"Doran, where in the hell? Nico says.

"I was on my way here when this guy started mesin' wit me, so after I kept walkin' I went back to find out who the guy was and he was talkin' to someone. He said he dumped this girl near the Cathedral. So I went to check it out, and there she was.

"WHAT? Nico says.

Winter quickly rushes to the kitchen and grabs the pot on the stove, filling it with water from the sink.

"Did you see the guy?" Nico asks.

"Kinda, he was in a alleyway and it was dark. All I really got was his voice.

"So who is she?"

"I dunno! I think she comes from the upper level." Barret says.

"I know her." Winter says.

"What?" The young men say.

"Nico get a cloth or something." Winter says. She reaches down and pushes her matted hair out of her eyes.

"I remember her face, I know this woman." Winter Says

"Who is she?" Doran says

"I don’t remember her name, but I do remember her face. And look at her clothes. She is wearing the same ones as the other people from the Capitol. Winter says.

Barrett stands up from next to the unknown woman and walks into the kitchen. Nico hands Winter a piece of damp blanket, and follows Doran back into the kitchen area.

"Look, I had no where else to go." Doran says.

"Its okay Doran, but what are we supposed to do now?"

"I dunno, we just need to make sure she lives." Doran says.

"Do you think she is from the upper level?" Nico says.

"Probably, I’ve never seen clothes like that."

Nico looks over at the woman.

"Nico, we gotta do what we can, okay."

Nico looks at Doran.

"Fine Doran, maybe we should get someone to help?" Nico says.

"HEY GUYS!! SHE IS AWAKE!" Winter says."

Doran and Nico rush to the side of the young woman lying on the blankets. Winter continues to wash off her face of blood, and attempts to clear away the small pieces of glass. The woman begins to open her eyes in pain. She can see where she is, and the people standing around her. She gives a startled look to the pale girl nursing her, and whispers.

"W i n t e r?"

Winters eyes widen as Nico looks at the woman in dis-belief. Doran cannot stand anymore from the exhausting run from the Cathedral to Nico's home. He sits down next to the woman and begins to hold her hand. The woman passes out cold from her wounds right in front of the three young people. While two blocks away a man named Mason searches for the frightened pale girl...

CHAPTER 4

A squeaky high-pitch voice can be heard through the halls of the Capitol building, filling the offices close by with its clatter. "Loud and annoying as usual", a shadowy figure says as he walks toward two large metallic doors. Slowly the doors part, flooding the gray hallway with a brilliant luminescence. "Dr. Bishop!" the shadowy figure says as he walks calmly into the meeting hall. The room is filled with assorted doctors and other staff that quietly await their humble host.

"Mr. Lloyd, what a pleasure to see you." The doctor says.

Lloyd continues walking toward the head of the meeting table that is shaped like a huge wooden boomerang. He can feel the eyes of every person in the room look him over as if he were a god or monster. Walls covered in various paintings hang motionless while a large television monitor rests against the furthest wall above the entrance to the room. Lloyd sits at the head of the table.

"Dr., I want to know our current status with the subject."

"Well Mr. Lloyd, currently we are looking at a possible "Class 3" human being."

"Some of you in this room may not quite understand what it is we are doing. Dr. Bishop, Please explain to our guests what we have been working on for so long."

The short plump man stands up from his chair and walks to the center of the room. Holding himself up with a wooden Cain, he places his left hand inside his lab-coat pocket and removes a silvery egg-shaped device. With the click of a button the large monitor lowers itself with a mechanical "whirling" sound and stops a few feet from the floor.

"Our main subject that we have been working with for the past 20 years is female." Dr. Bishop says.

"Height 5'8, weight 112, with odd colored hair, purple I believe. A few nights ago she escaped our section 8 laboratory. Her where-abouts at this time are unknown."

With a click of the device in the doctor’s hand, the screen on the monitor lights up. Moving pictures of a pale girl appear on the screen displaying her in full detail.

"She is a class 3 human being, meaning she has abilities we do not. She has crossed into the third stage of evolution while we are still at the first.

"How is this possible?" One of the doctors says.

"When we discovered the ability to genetically encode the unborn, humans were on the verge of extinction. The Great War began and everything that we worked to understand was in jeopardy of being lost forever. Now, we have taken that knowledge and given mankind a new chance at life. Our missing subject is the final result. She has amazing abilities, and could pave the way toward a new human existence."

"So you genetically altered her DNA to give her powers of some sort?" A female doctor asks.

"Not exactly. Evolution is a natural response to contrition. For example, all living creatures have the ability to defend themselves or adapt to their environment. With our research, we have accounted for all variables and placed them into one human being. Her abilities are yet to be fully understood, but some of our testing has yielded some astonishing results." Dr. Bishop explains.

"She is the future..." Lloyd says.

"We are currently in the process of producing another subject, but at a accelerated level. Obviously we don't want to wait another 20 years, so we plan to re-write normal humans genetic structure by a means of Tran genetic-replacement. Essentially the procedure will rewrite the subject’s genetic code to match our specifications... This has never been done before, but we are confident that the procedure will be successful.

"How is this procedure accomplished Dr. Bishop?" Another doctor asks.

"By using three injections we can change the pattern of DNA."

Bishop pushes a button on the remote, changing the picture on the monitor.

"As you can see by the graphic demonstration, we first inject the subject with a "Initializer Gene". This begins the tearing-down of the DNA structure at a rapid pace. At this point the human body is in a state of "Flux", his or her appearance can change dramatically from the first stage. We then go to the second stage, which is the "Genome Replacement". Here the newly selected genes are injected into the subject to replace the decaying structure of previous DNA. This is where the subject starts to take form. The third and final step is the "Stabilizer Gene". This will give the newly formed DNA an immune system so to speak, preventing the new DNA structure from falling apart."

"The reason why we have brought you all here today is to explain in as much detail as possible what all of you have been working for. Some of you have been working on different parts of this project with no idea what it is exactly you are working for. I hope this can explain some of the rumors and questions you have heard. And we hope that you will continue to work hard on this project." Lloyd says.

We plan on breeding an entire race of these "Class 3" beings. They may be different, but they will help us recapture our world." "Thank you for your presentation Dr. Bishop. That will be all for today." Lloyd says.

With a click of a button, the large screen begins to rise from the floor and back into its original position above the large doors. The doctors and other staff begin to quietly exit while Dr. Bishop walks slowly up to the large desk where Lloyd sits patiently.

"Have you found her?" Dr. bishop says.

"I currently have Mason looking for her."

"That brute?" She will be hurt, probably killed if he isn't careful."

"Come now doctor, this will be the final test we have been waiting for." Lloyd stands up from his chair and walks toward the slumped doctor from around the table.

"Final test? Great expense has gone into that girl, I don't want to see her end up like Lucy." Dr. Bishop says.

"Lucy??? Oh the careless doctor." Lloyd says.

"She was my best researcher Lloyd, she knew more about the project than most of the others."

"Someone was to blame for the girl's escape Dr. Bishop. Unfortunately it had to be her. But I am warning you, if this should happen again, you will be the helpless soul that is thrown to the wolves below." Lloyd says.

Without hesitation Lloyd turns away from the doctor and walks through the doors of the meeting hall. Dr. Bishop stands motionless as if an invisible force is preventing him from making a single move.

"Lloyd, she will come for you one day, I promise you. And when she does, those wolves won't sound bad after all.

CHAPTER 5

Of the few apartment buildings that were left standing after the Great War, one has become the center of unrest for three citizens of the underworld, and one badly injured guest. Standing at the top of that building is a young man named Nico, and for the past few days, his world has been turned completely upside down. It is now morning in the city, and Nico plans on getting some answers from the woman that almost died in his apartment the night before. How does she know Winter, and where is she from? Behind Nico, Doran walks in circles, scratching at his head trying to figure out what to do next.

"Nico, what are we gonna do now?"

"The first thing we need to do is make sure she is okay. Thanks to Win, we have that part covered. Then we gotta find out who she is and where she came from."

"What if that guy finds out she's here, won't he come looking for her?"

"We will have to worry about that later, right now let's go see how she is doing."

Nico and Doran quickly finish talking and begin to walk back to the apartment. Quietly Winter sleeps on the floor next to the unexpected visitor when she is awakened by the sound of the door.

"Winter, how is she doing?" Nico asks as he walks in.

"Fine I think, she is breathing if that is what you mean."

"We should wake her up, we need to get some answers." Doran says.

Winter sits up from the floor and begins to tap lightly on the womans shoulder. Both Nico and Doran stand patiently next to Winter, waiting for something to happen.

"Excuse me, miss." Winter says.

"Hello? Hello?" Winter continues.

Slowly the young woman starts to move around and her eyes begin to slightly open. She places her arm on her head.

"Ughh..."

"I am glad you are alive miss. How are you feeling?" Winter says.

"Where am I?" the young woman says.

"You are in my home, Doran here saved you last night." Nico says.

"What is your name?" Doran asks.

"Ugg, Lucy. My name is Lucy."

She opens her eyes little by little and looks directly at Winters face.

"Oh my God! I thought I was dreaming." Lucy says, as she looks closer at Winter.

"What? Is something wrong?"

"Winter? Your name is Winter right?"

"Yeah, I remember you but how do you know me?" Winter asks.

"I named you..." Lucy says.

Doran looks over at Nico

"Umm, im confused again buddy."

"Me too D." Nico says.

Lucy begins to sit up from the floor while still holding her head. She calmly looks around and then focuses on the young man that saved her life.

"What was your name again?" Lucy says.

"Who me? Doran points at himself."

"Yeah."

"Oh, my name is Doran, just call me D"

"And you, your name?"

"Im Nico. Look we have some questions."

"I figured you would." Lucy says.

"How do you know me?" Winter asks.

"Winter, you are in danger. The man that tried to kill me is after you."

"Why? What does he want with Winter?" Nico says.

"Winter, you are uhh... Special. You aren't like most people."

"I don't understand." Winter says.

"It's hard to explain...

"Try." Nico says coldly.

As the hours pass by Winter is told the harsh reality of who she is and how she came to be in the care of Nico and Doran. All of them spend time listening to the young doctors stories of Mr. Lloyd and his obsession with creating the ultimate human being. But Nico is about to drop the bombshell that will worsen their adventure even more.

"Umm, what is the Darkness?" Nico asks.

And at that moment, it was as if time had stopped. Slowly Lucy glanced over at Nico and asks.

"How do you know that?"

"Winter told us." Nico explains.

"Humph" Lucy lets out a grumbled and deep sound as if she had no words to explain what the darkness is.

"The Darkness we thought was only a fairy tale really."

"Something to tell your kids is you wanted them to behave."

"See, no one really knows what destroyed our world, only that it had a name. "The Darkness."

"No one knows where it came from or how it got here, except Lloyd."

"He is convinced that he can create the same fairy tale with these projects, and reverse everything that has happened."

"But some of us think that he wants to control the Darkness."

"What is it?" Doran asks.

"No one really knows" And the question really is why and how do these experiments have anything to do with the darkness." Lucy says.

"Why did that man leave you behind the Cathedral?"

"Is that where you found me?" "Well we lost you Winter." One night while doing a routine check of the population I accidentally pushed your cell door and you busted out of the Capitol building like it was made of paper."

"I was in a cell?" Winter asks.

"Yes, you were. Winter you are not like us. You don’t remember anything you did that night do you?"

"No" Winter replies.

"Winter the cell is there for your protection and ours. You don’t seem to fully understand what you are. You can do things that I can only dream of." You were created, but you also have a very special gift."

"But there are others like me?"

"Only a few that did survive. Cloning and all that non-sense is not an easy task."

"So you kept her locked up, and basically she busted out to get away from you." Doran says.

"Well, no, not me. Lloyd and all his…"

"Just stop, I have heard enough of this. I’m going down stairs." Doran quickly gets up and is out the door before the doctor can say anything else.

As Winter, Nico, and Lucy continue to talk, outside the door stands Doran. "Damn girl" He says. "She has no idea what she is talking about." He walks down the circular stairs to the main lobby of the building and stands against the wall just inside the door. "I wonder if that guy is looking for Winter?" Doran thinks to himself. "Damn!"

Across the street from Nico’s building is the tall man in the black hat. He stands motionless for a few minutes just watching the street and then spots Doran standing inside one of the buildings. Mason then reaches into the pocket of his coat and pulls out a small metallic object shaped like the egg that Dr. Bishop had in his possession. He flicks it on and begins to talk into it.

"Mr. Lloyd?" He says.

"Have you found her yet?' A voice replies.

"Sir, I am having some trouble, but I think I may have found someone that knows there way around this dump." It shouldn’t be long now sir." Mason says into his silver egg.

"You just make sure she isn't harmed." And contact me when you have her."

With another soft beep Mason places the object into his coat pocket and starts walking across the street to the building.

"DAMN, DAMN, DAMN!!" Barrett says.

"Hey kid." "Nice to see ya again." Mason says to Barrett.

"What?" Barrett asks...

"Im looking for someone." You seem to now this place pretty good, why don't you help me out? Mason says in a deep voice.

Barrett knows that voice. Without even thinking Barrett starts walking back up the stairs to warn Nico and Winter about the man.

Mason reaches back into his pocket and clicks on the egg device quickly.

"Mr. Lloyd. I think I have found the girl."

"I am impressed Mason. And be sure to watch yourself Mason. She is not like the others. Lloyd’s voice crackles.

"I may have some trouble, prepare to send a team to my location. Pick me up at the top of this structure." Mason pushes a few buttons on the silver egg."

"Good, I will see you there." Lloyd says.

Nico looks frustrated as he stares out of the window onto the street below. He listens to Winter and Lucy talk, attempting to figure out what they are discussing.

"Im gonna go find Doran" Nico says.

Nico walks over to the door and grabs the handle; suddenly the door bursts open and there stands Doran.

"WE GOTTA GET OUT OF HERE!"

"Why, what is going on?" Nico says.

"THAT GUY IS HERE! THE GUY THAT TRIED TO KILL HER!"

"WHAT!" Lucy says.

Nico steps out the door and looks down the stairs.

"Someone is coming!" Nico says.

Nico runs back into the apartment and shuts the door, locking it behind him.

"WHAT ARE WE GONNA DO!" Doran says.

"Shhhh. Keep quiet, maybe he won't find us..." Nico says with his back pressed against the door.

"To late kids." A deep voice growls.

Suddenly yellowish red bullets cut through the wooden door like paper, barely missing Nico's side and head. Winter screams in fear as Doran falls violently to the floor in pain. The door comes crashing inward, trapping Nico underneath its weight.

Mason steps onto the door, and eyes the doctor.

"Well, well doctor... Looks like im getting rusty, you should be dead." The man says.

" I WON'T LET YOU TAKE HER!

Lucy pulls Winter out of the chair and holds her close. Doran lies motionless on the floor, while Nico struggles to get up from underneath the door. Mason slowly walks into the room and reaches down, grabbing Winter by the wrist. Lucy refuses to let go. Mason points a black object and points it at Lucy. Suddenly two blinding flashes of light streak across Winters face and disappear into Lucy’s chest. Lucy suddenly stops screaming... Her hands fall from Winter’s waist... Winter looks into her eyes... She is dead... Nico continues to struggle with the door on top of him and finally pushes it aside.

"Two down, one to go." Mason says with a grin.

He turns to Nico and points his gun directly at his head.

"NO!" Winter yells

With her wrist held firmly, Winter grabs Mason's arm with her free hand and throws him against the wall as if here were the size of a small stone. Nico stumbles to his feet, rushing to his best friends side.

"D!! D WAKE UP!!" Nico yells.

Nico rolls Doran over onto his back and places his ear to Doran's chest.

"HE’S BREATHING!"

Winter turns to Lucy, and begins to scream and cry... She falls to her knees with her head in her hands sobbing.

"NICO! SHE'S DEAD!"

Nico quickly crawls over to Winter and holds her in his arms.

"Im sorry Win. Im sorry."

"Uhh..." Doran moans.

"D!!" Nico exclaims.

Doran slowly sits up from the floor, holding his left shoulder. He looks around the room wondering what the hell just happened.

"Where did he go?" Barrett asks.

"Winter threw him against the wall." Nico says.

"Looks like he went through the wall." Doran says.

Winter continues to cry, repeating Lucy's name over and over. Doran looks behind him and stares at Lucy's body lying in the corner. Nico looks over to Doran.

"She's dead." Nico says.

"Doran begins to stand. He walks over to Lucy's body and picks up a blanket."

"Im sorry..." Doran whispers.

He gently places the blanket over her lifeless body, and walks over to the hole in the wall. Doran looks inside the next room.

"HE'S GONE!" Doran says.

"What?" Nico says as he releases his grasp from around Winter and limps to Doran’s side.

"We better leave, he may still be around." Nico says.

"COME ON NEWBIE! WE ARE LEAVING!" Doran exclaims..

CHAPTER 6

The next hour was an uncertain one for Nico, Doran, and Winter. They ran for what seemed like miles, with nowhere to go, and no idea of what to do next. The environment had calmed down around them for the time being, with the exception of a steady downpour of rain. They were far from the center of the city. Winter couldn't run anymore, and Doran was bleeding badly from the wound in his left shoulder. But Nico was determined to continue on.

"Nico, we gotta stop." Doran says.

"Just a little farther D." We gotta get as far away as possible."

Nico continued on walking, while the rain was starting to become increasingly heavier.

"NICO! where are we going?" Doran yells toward Nico's direction.

Finally Nico stops in the mud, and looks around.

"What am I doing?" Nico says under his breath.

Nico looks around to see where they are; from Doran's point of view they are lost.

"Nico, we’ve never been out this far. Where the hell are we?" Doran says.

"I don't know D... I don't know." Nico says...

"Come on, let's find some shelter. We gotta get out of this rain."

Nico continues to walk down the muddy path, hoping to find somewhere to hide and get some rest. Doran slowly follows and so does Winter. Without saying much of anything to each other, they spot what looks like the remains of an old airplane.

"That will do." Nico tells them.