Viris

Prologue

December 14, 3003
The air was thick with mist, and the full moon was obscured by clouds. In other words, if any of the residents of Wiltshire Avenue looked out of their apartments, across to the abandoned shoe warehouse, they would never have seen two figures pick the lock of a secondary exit and slip inside.  They never would have noticed the shorter of the figures holding a bundle of blankets and rocking it gently. The two figures crept along the dark hallway stopping at the 3rd extinguished solar lamp. The taller of the figures pulled at the lamp and then brought it down. Where the lamp used to be was a keypad, with the red light blinking. "Quick, enter the code, before the alarm sounds," the smaller one hissed. The taller hurriedly typed in a set of four numbers, 2027, and the wall moved aside to reveal a set of steep stone stairs. The two figures descended quickly, with the smaller one hugging the bundle of blankets close. The stairwell emptied out into a large, underground cavern, filled with Screens, scanners,and various medical equipment, all lit by an eerie yellow glow. The most eerie of the equipment, were the tanks. Hundreds of them, lining the walls, out on the floor, everywhere. The smaller of the two stopped and shuddered at the body of a little girl, perhaps 2 or 3 years old revolving around in a tank. "Do we really have to do this?" She said, " maybe she can go into hiding with us, or maybe-"
"We've been over this a hundred times, it's too risky, she's a Complete Viris, we have to keep her here, if the others find her," the taller one shuddered. "I don't want to think what they'd do to her."
"I know, it's just so depressing. All these children, not dead, but not alive either." She sniffled as she hugged the bundle of blankets even closer. The other one also looked down hiding tears, and they both walked over to an empty tank. The smaller one removed the blankets and revealed the baby underneath. She was tiny, less then a month old, with brown fuzz on her head and a splash of freckles on her nose. Wordlessly they started the process of hooking up the child's body to the tank. The taller one did all the work while the smaller one made sure the child didn't wake up. At last all that was left was to turn the tank on, add the lenses, and close the door. Then the smaller figure removed her hood first revealing dirty blonde hair and eyes that were so blue they looked purple. She kissed the child's head and broke down completely. The taller one removed his hood revealing dark brown hair and grey eyes with purple flecks. He also kissed the baby's head and stroked her hair. "Goodbye Viola," he whispered, "We'll see you again soon." The smaller one looked up.
"How do you know that? A million things could go wrong, this isn't exactly the safest plan, you know!" She said in tones of outrage. The taller one put his hand on her shoulder, and whispered,
"you know it is the safest thing we can do for her. If your sister gets her hands on her, she is as good as dead." The woman gave a sigh of resignation, and turned on the tank. The young girl, Viola's eyes, which were the intense violet color she was named for, opened and were unseeing and would remain that way until she was released. The man reaches into his pocket and pulled out a lens case. He opened it and placed lenses onto the violet eyes, which then looked as if they were blueish gray. These lenses were specially fitted to last whole lifetimes, perfect for hiding one's true eye color. Then, together, the two figures closed the tank, still crying, and exited the room, walked down the hallway, and exited from the same door they came in, taking care to lock it, and disappeared into the foggy night. Little did they know that they would never see that building again.