Mutants: Normal

3-1: Mission start

"—, you're going to join the army," a deep, gruff voice said. "Come on now, we'll be late for the recruitment camp."

Who is that? Zero wondered, I should open my eyes to see him. But, try as he might, Zero couldn't open his eyes and he couldn't move. Panicked, he tried even harder, to no avail, until he heard the voice of a girl.

"Baba, he's not even sixteen yet. Why does he need to go?" demanded an incredibly familiar voice that Zero just couldn't place. In any case, the voice made him feel warm and safe, and helped stem a bit of the panic that had built up in his chest. "He's only thirteen! Do you really need to take him? Is Qin really getting that desperate?"

"Silence!" bellowed the gruff voice. "You won't get in the way of this!"

Then, "Is he still breathing? Good, good. Our only success. Okay, now make sure he's knocked out completely. God knows how much the operation hurts..."

Another voice, Zero thought. Whoever said that dreams could be discerned by the fact that no pain could be felt was evidently wrong as Zero felt himself convulse with an agony that was too real to be just imagined. Ah! Make it stop...! Especially the pain in his head; it was some kind of headache...

No, wait, it was on the surface.

Zero's eyes flew open and he registered a faint pain on the top of his head. I feel tired... Dimly, he recalled feeling some kind of other pain, much superior to the one on his head, and his body was exhausted because of it. Blinking groggily at the soreness left from his sleep, Zero realized he was in his room—the room he shared with Fang and Shuigu. Glancing around, he found both of their beds empty. They must already be up.

Yawning, he rubbed his head and found something caught in his hair. Untangling it painfully from his unnatural silver hair, he found an artistically crafted comb. Fang's. He blinked, his vision still bleary. How'd his comb get tangled in my hair? The pain in his scalp was gone as he became aware of pain in his palm. He quickly dropped the fragile comb he was holding on the pillow beside him before he gripped it to pieces.

Man, my hand's tense. Zero took a shaky breath, suddenly noticing how much he was sweating. From what? A nightmare? I can't remember if I dreamt or not... did Fang wake me up by stabbing me in the head? He snorted. I'll never really understand him.

That day, one year ago, when he'd decided to join the Qinese military and work for the Qinese government, Ranulf and Pierre had taken him to where he was now. It was a hidden base on the outskirts Qin's capital where many respected scientists and high ranked army officials lived, along with a handful of others recruited in a similar fashion to him.

Once he'd been brought out of the simulation dome, he'd learned all about who he was to become. Ranulf had patiently explained that his old life was over and forgotten, that his new one was just beginning. It hadn't mattered to Zero at the time that his memories had been taken away as part of the process to save his life. As a "plus", he'd been rewarded an amazing gift: he had become a mutation like the other specially employed people at the base.

There was a girl named Hua who always smiled sweetly and tended to the sick or wounded at the base. Her and her mentor's skills in medicine, both traditional and modern, were said to be some of the finest in the country. They accepted soldiers of any kind that were lucky enough to prioritized and brought back to their front door. After the first day, he'd learned the consequences of getting on the wrong side of her. Though she appeared docile with her long, dark brown hair always tied in a simple bun and gentle, brown eyes, she knew exactly where to hit to deal the most damage possible.