The Fic Book

Pandora

This wonderful sci-fi oneshot was crafted by Fictastic's own XalouetteX. 

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This one-shot is about Pandora, a girl of the New Humans species, a group of genetically modified humans with electrical parts who are stronger and faster than normal humans.

Every three years they give her a new name.

When she was Mirage she was not fast enough. Slow on her feet. Tripping when she ran. Her leg functions not programmed well enough.

When she was Eden she was not intelligent enough. The computer data sensors were installed into her brain later. Her ability to think beyond analytical comprehension and to imagine, were yet to be added and perfected.

The last name she had was Cassiopeia, of the stars.

Because when she was lonely, she'd look up. The sky is the only thing that hasn't changed.

The everlasting brightness, twinkling, sparkling.

The girl held out a hand, as if to touch the stars. She stood by the balcony, watching the light reach her golden locks of hair.

They would have been pretty to her, only if she learnt to feel. If they didn't forget to programme emotions into her. Now she just thinks of the stars as oddities under the clouds of black mist, next to the unchanging moon. But like all humans, the girl found what doesn't fit the perfect puzzle inside her brain fascinating.

The city shone brightly under the illusion of the Holoscape, projecting a fake image, of what lies beyond. Her data screens which is not affected by the Holoscape displayed a chaotic ruin; a world torn apart by war. But that has no business to do with them, the people inside the Holoscape.

The Holoscape was meant to be a safe haven. No one has ever left the Holoscape to the places outside. She used to wonder if her fingers would go through the Holoscape if she touched it, when she ventured far enough, until she learnt the truth about the world she lives under. Are the skies always black? No, the real sky is blue. Then what about the ocean they were told to never go to? No. There are no oceans left. What they see is no longer there. What in its place should be dry beds of rocks, and beneath the crevices, creatures beyond their darkest imagination.

"Child, come inside." Dr. Andromedus said. It was a command. The doctor called her 'child' because she doesn't have a name. And prototype 174 seems...off. The girl took one last look at the sky longingly and followed the doctor inside.

The doctor ran her weekly check-up, the process so commonly done that she'd memorised the two hours process of measuring cardiovascular endurance and electrical wiring modifications for the girl.

The girl saw the silver needle penetrate her skin with no expression. "I don't feel pain." She said blankly.

"Yes, you don't hurt." The doctor said.

"I don't feel." She said. "I don't cry when buildings explode, when—"

"Hush, child." The doctor said. "It could be a blessing. To not feel."

She'd let her words hang in the air. No emotion means no compassion and humanity. The child standing in front of her is something dangerous. The girl was everything the Government wanted. Fast. Strong. It had been a mistake the engineers made when they made her emotionless. But this mistake, when pondered about, could be not a mistake after all. There would be no pain when they pushed her beyond her limits. No sadness when her comrades die. When she kills. She would never fall in love. She would always be obedient to the Project.

"To not feel." The girl propped her chin upon her hands, thinking. This girl is always thinking. With a book. Or even under the stars. "Would I make a good soldier?" The girl had seen soldiers in action. Some trained her in combat. She admired their steely will. She'd seen them in movies. Their spirits had a dangerous appeal.

The doctor, despite all of her knowledge, was taken aback by the girl's suggestion.

"I wouldn't cry when I get hit. I would never lose my cool in arguments."

The doctor watches the way the girl's eyes lit up when she talked about the way what's different about her can be a gift. The girl has no idea what is coming her way.

"Child, would you like to be Cassiopeia again, or should I give you a new name?"

"No." The girl thought about it. She loved the stars. But she is not the stars. Brightly coloured. Red, blue, orange and yellow. Instead, she is emotionless.

The doctor decided to ask one last time. A choice. She decided, she would give the girl a choice. "What do you want to be called?"

The girl whispered once. "Pandora." Then louder, less hesitantly. "I will be Pandora."

"Pandora it is then." The doctor nodded. Pandora. The one who released dark emotions into the world. The chaos-bringer. Seems fitting for the first Elite soldier of the Project.

That next night, the Holoscape displayed no stars.

And true to her words, she became a soldier.