The Alium

Chapter I

    Sighing, I type in the garage code, thankful for the end of my extremely tiring day. The first semester of high school is over, and thankfully, so are my exams.

I walk into the garage and then close it before entering my house.

       "Faye!" My little brother, Kaden, shouts as he spots me.

"Hey bud, how are you doing?" I greet him with a hug.

Because I was so busy studying for my exams, I didn't get to see him much, so we both missed each other.

We're very close and have always been so. He's always there when I need to talk to someone, and I'm always there when some kid is picking on him for loving to read.

"Where are mom and dad?" I ask him as I look around.

"Dad picked me up today. Mom is still at work; something about paperwork."

"Ah." I nod. My mom's an FBI investigator; something my little brother doesn't know. She investigates crimes and such, and often has paperwork to do afterwards.

"Thanks, bud. Do you want to watch the news with me?" I offer.

"Nah, the news is boring. Just talks about variants and politics."

I laugh. My brother's a bright kid, but he hates learning through the news. He prefers his novels.

"Alright then, I'll watch the news alone." I ruffle his hair, and he swats my hand away with a glare in my direction, for he hates when I mess with his hair.

I grab the remote, turn on the tv, and flick to the news channel.

It's always nice to know what's going on today in society, even if what's going on is nothing good.

"And today, another Class E Variant was killed by the gang of young adults known as the Renegades. The police have finally managed to catch a few members of the gang, all of which are now in police custody. The officers are not yet disclosing the names of the gang members or the deceased victim, but, may I just say, my condolences to not only the variant's family, but the variant race as well." Hannah Johnson, the news woman, speaks.

"Another variant? That's like the fifth one this month." My dad comes in with a sigh, and I jump, not knowing he was there.

"Yeah. I'm really done with society and it's racial problems." I reply to him while I regain my bearings.

In the year 1983, a new human-like species was discovered, and society named them variants. No one really knows where they came from, but consented experiments on variants have only showed us they are not human, and their genetic code is different.

The cells contain thirty-eight chromosomes, which are usually genetically transferred from parents to offspring (although that's not always the case).

    There are three classes of variants. Class B, or those born as variants, and Class E, or those experimented on to become variants. In both classes, the variant will gain extraordinary abilities that science did not think possible until the species existed.

A Class E variant will usually receive the abilities shortly after experimentation, and a Class B variant will often grow into their powers when they hit their late teens, usually sixteen or older.

    There was once a variant whose powers manifested at fifteen, and their powers were more powerful than those of an average Class B variant. They were named Class A variants; those who are born variants, but manifest earlier than sixteen.