The Synapses Corporation

The Synapses Corp

PROLOGUE

He stood upon the precipice, the wind whipping at his clothes as he surveyed the forces that had been brought to bear against him. His grip on the handle of his weapon tightened, not from fear or worry, but from exitement. This was what he had been created for, to strike down with disdain anything he thought was unworthy to be brought into the new era that was approaching.

Clearing his throat, he spoke with a deep timbre that caused a soft vibration to travel throught the earth. "It seems that you have not heeded the warnings that i gave you. The time has now come to see if this paltry force you have assembled is enough to withstand the might of our chosen group". He looked down and saw a mixture of emotions in the faces that stared back at him. Horror, determination, disbelief, they were all there. ' If you have anything left to say to one another, now would be the time to do so. I can guarentee that you will not get another chance'. He was met with a stony silence, broken only by the wind rustling throught the leaves of the dead trees that surrounded them.

'So be it' he whispered.

The imposing figure extended his hand towards the heavens, reaching through into a dark hole that had appeared in the air above him. He tensed, and started to withdraw his hand, pulling through a long, curved handle. As the object was withdrawn, the blade became visible, and revealed a huge scythe that gave off a feeling of intense danger. The blade was red and black, and seemed to be made of streamlined mechanical parts, almost as if the entire thing could fold down into a fraction of its current size. It was at least 10 feet long, with the blade about half that again.

Needless to say, it was an imposing weapon for an imposing figure. As the weapon was revealed, frantic whispers and muttering had sprung up in the masses below. These all stopped though, as the wielder raised it, let loose an almighty cry, and leapt off the building.

Falling through the air, the shadowy figure braced himself for impact, and slammed into the ground. This was a jump that no human could have acheived, as he had fallen over 300 feet down. The beings before him flinched slightly, and almost stumbled as another object hit the ground and caused it to shudder, then another, then another. Through the dust the impacts had thrown up, vague human shapes could be seen walking forwards towards the scythe wielder.

"It seems that my brothers and sisters have come to join us" he said with a lopsided smile.

Through the choking dust came hundreds of figures, all shapes and sizes, kids to teenagers to adults. Every single one was diffrent, in the way they were clothed, the markings on their bodies, even the way they held themselves. But they all had two things in common.

They were completely silent. Not a sound could be heard as they marched forwards. But what was probably more disconcerting was the second things. All of them had an oversized, and quite intimidating weapon. Maces, broadswords, rapiers, throwing disks, you name it, it was there. This silent force assembled behind the equally silent figure, and came to a halt.

"Now you see how futile your goal is, there is no way you can beat us" the mysterious figure said with a smirk on his face. He raised his weapon into the air, and the crowd behind him copied in unison. "Now we see how the combined forces of Earth handle our kind of warfare" he whispered. Kicking off the ground, he sprinted towards the oncoming army and muttered "The Reaver finally fights again".......

CHAPTER 1

Freedom

BOOM! It felt as though an explosion had gone off inside inside my head! Ears ringing, I groaned and rolled over, looking for the source of the noise. Turns out, it was my alarm clock. That was the problem with having hearing that was as sensetive as a fox's, every noise was twice as loud as normal.

You see, in this day and age, a select few humans were being born with animal traits, and animal features. This could include the speed, sight, hearing or strength of the animal you take after. Unfortunately, you gain the parts of the animal that enhance your senses. Due to this, I had my furry, pointy ears flattened to my head to try and block out the wailing of the alarm clock.

Yawning wide, I reached over and knocked the alarm clock across the room, effectivly stopping it by smashing it into a wall. Laying on my back, staring at the ceiling, it suddenly struck me what day today was. My 19th. I huffed, and went to get dressed. As usual, I caught a glimpse of myself in the mirror and stopped to inspect if anything had changed.

You see, ever since I was born, Ive always had certain animal features. Namely the ears poking through the hair near the top of my head, the orange irises, the incisors that were sharper than normal, and a line of fur travelling down my spine. More features sprung out the closer i got to losing my temper, but that rarely happ-

"KAIDEN! GET YOUR ASS DOWN HERE NOW!" The dulcet tones of my mother wafted up the stairs and penetrated my eardrums. "Aw, shite. What have i done this time?" I threw on a old pair of jeans and a tank top and tramped down the stairs. As I walked into the kitchen, my vision suddenly became very glittery as party poppers went off everywhere. As the air cleared, I saw my family sitting round the kitchen table, with wide grins on all their faces.

"Bout time you got your lazy ass out of bed" my father grumbled. He was tall, about six foot two, black hair and built like a brick house. "Whatever, you've only just got out of bed, judging by the state of your hair" I said with with a scowl.

My mother turned to us from cooking at the oven "alright you two, behave. Kaiden gets special treatment today, it is his special day after all". She smiled at me and nodded over at the pile of presents piled up on the table. "Go ahead, they're all yours, but we're going to save the best one till last". A grin appeared on my face. So there was going to be a big one at the end was there? After a flurry of wrapping paper being flung through the air, i sat with my new prizes around me. New jeans and hoodies, with big hoods to hide my ears, sunglasses to hide my eyes, a couple hundred quid, and a load of new games for the Xbox which was the centrepiece of my bedroom.

"And now for the last, but not least, gift we have for you.

I looked around the room trying to spot the present, but nothing presented itself.

"The gift isnt somthing you can hold, but i can guarantee you'll enjoy it. We're giving you the gift of.....freedom."

I gaped at her, not really believing my ears. Freedom? The does this mean....I'll finally be able to leave on my own? From the day i had been born, i hadnt been able to leave the house on my own, somebody had always accompanied me whenever I left the house, to make sure nobody found out about my animal traits. I had been homeschooled as well, so i had never had real friends, or done normal teenage things.

"Your mother and I have discussed it multiple times over the past few weeks, and have decided that now you're a man, you can make your own decisions and mistakes." They both grinned at the shocked look on my face, and i'm not kidding, a feather could have knocked me over.

" You mean I can actually go outside on my own? Do whatever I want? ACTUALLY meet people?" I whispered. Then a thought struck me. Oh god. I'm going to meet girls.

I did not do well around girls, there was somthing about them that made me lose my cool. Maybe it was the fact they all looked into my eyes, like they could see the orange brilliance hidden behind the shades. It was unnerving, the way they all seemed to gaze into me, so i always a point to avoid the gaze of females. Not that it always worked as, not to blow my own trumpet or anything, but I'm pretty good looking. Animal attraction I guess.

Something hit me softly in the face, and I caught a roll of money as it slid off me.

"There's about 300 quid in that roll, go out for the day and enjoy yourself "

I grabbed the roll and sprinted out into the hallway, slung my bag over my back, and with a rushed "thank you!" I charged out the front door and down the road.

"God I hope he will be alright"

"So do I babe, so do I"

END OF CHAPTER 1