Almost Human

Chapter 1: The Awakening

I jumped up from the cold metal table. Breathe. Breathe. Slower, didn't want to hyperventilate. Once I'd slowed down my breathing I began to shake. The ice cold table's temperature was searing into the bare of my legs. Bare. I was in a white hospital gown that was far too small for me. Good. Good. Alright, now I needed to gather my surroundings. I glanced around the room. It was designed like a hospital room. The walls were pure white and the floor was tiled grey. To one side, a few cabinets were stacked upon each other, reaching all the way to the ceiling. I was sitting on a roll-able metal table placed against the wall with only a small cheap pillow I must have been resting my head on. My head. I scooted over to the pillow and picked up a strand of hair. Blonde. I twisted my hair around my hands and looked down. I had brown hair. Someone else was here before me. Question one: who? Question two: why?

I jumped down from the table and shocks sprinted up my feet. So the table was high? It obviously wasn't set to my height. Were they expecting someone taller? Question three: who's they? I carefully walked over to the cabinets. Mission one: achieve a weapon in case of an attack.

I opened several drawers before finding one filled with shots. Jackpot. Mission one: complete. I turned my attention to a steel door on the far side of the four walled room. I raced over and placed my ear against the frame. Footsteps. Where were they headed? Towards the door. I jumped away and climbed back upon the table. I placed the shot underneath my thigh and waited for the door to open.

A man in a large white lab coat entered the room with a clipboard and pen in hand. The pen. A pen could be used as a weapon, for me or for him. If I attacked him with the shot, it is possible he could injure as much or worse than the pen would do. A single jab to the neck could end me where I rested. Better to sit tight than to act..

"Hello. I'm Doctor Jackal," he said tapping the name tag on his coat. "You're Bree Doris." Question four: how does he know that?

"How do you know my name?" I asked.

He chuckled lightly, "We'll get to that." I wanted to know now and not a moment later.

"Who are you and why I am I here?" I questioned forcefully. He was hesitant. That wasn't a good sign. Hesitation usually leads to lies if I'm not mistaken.

"I think I'm on a need-to-know basis," I retorted.

He sighed and leaned back against the wall casually. "Ninety years ago scientists were experimenting on humans-" this already sounded bad "-They found that we could genetically alter a few special few."

"Special? How so?"

"Well, normally humans can only access ten percent of their brains. A few (usually found within teenagers) could access twenty percent or more. Their children would also have the same ability."

"What about the experimenting? What were they trying to do?" I questioned.

He was silent for a second and my grip tightened around the shot underneath my thigh. "Think of it almost like super powers. We called them Elementals. Some had pyrokinesis or telekinesis. It all depended on the person because-"

"-Just like no two people have the same genetic genes not everyone had the same results. But I'm guessing twins had the same 'powers'." Doctor Jackal stared at me with a smile on his face. I'm not sure how I knew that. I couldn't recall anything in my life from learning to speak, to what I'd been doing a few hours ago. How is such possible?

"Well fifty years ago a war broke out between the countries around the world. Alliances were broken and each person fought only for their interests alone. The possibility of winning the war was next to zero. To save ourselves from annihilation we created several thousand Elemental soldiers. We'd slightly altered their thinking so they constantly gave themselves important missions, came up with escape plans, and more." Escape plans. I grazed my thumb across the shot. That's exactly what I'd been doing. "We had won the war. Though the Elementals had to stay a secret. Over the past years (instead of abortions) mothers gave their babies to us. We'd altered them if they showed positive for over ten percent brain activity and we froze their bodies until they were thirteen or over. The past fifty years we haven't had a need for them, until now."

I tensed, "What do you need them for?"

"We're claiming war onto the same countries once again." Claiming war on someone who'd just attacked you seems like a poor choice. They should weigh the options.

"How come?" I eyed the pin still on his clipboard. If I could just get a hold of that...

"The Great Republic wants revenge. We had survived the war, but we did not win. This time we shall win." Okay great.

I frowned and pointed to my temple as if that were some sort of explanation. "What about this?" The doctor rose his eyebrows. "Why is all of this blank? "What does all of this have to do with me?" I snapped.

"As I said before, we froze the Elementals for later use, you have no past to remember. And now we need to use you."

I needed to investigate further. "Are there others you just woke up?"

"In this facility there are others." Even if I were created by them, I was still human. I still wanted to make my own choices. Perhaps there was A good reason to fight for them. After all, I hadn't heard anything too drastic yet that gave me suspicions. Yet, I didn't fully trust them yet. I needed to know more about the government I was fighting for. My brain was fuzzy and blank from trying to recall anything about myself; but I knew, even in this moment, that wasn't easily pushed around. I was the one who decide things for myself.

I turned my head from him, "I demand to meet them before I agree to anything."