Hybrids

Gilded in spite

Brilliant white light shone through the buildings windows, its light throwing shadows over the dilapidated buildings across the street. It stood there with a mighty aura, as if it knew it was better than its surroundings. It was, as a matter-of-fact, one of the few hundred newer food stores owned and controlled by the Predominance. Stocked with the best quality foods in the country and only welcoming those who were purely human.

Humans dressed in the finest furs and coats and others who dressed as casually as you’d please walked calmly in and out the store, with some carrying multiple shopping bags filled to the brim with food the young girl in the shadows could only dream about.

Rosa hid silently in the shadows, her eyes darting from corner to corner under her green hoodie as she silently watched the activities occurring in the entrance of the food store. She was hungry, and hunger could only make one desperate enough to steal. And she, as Rosa prided herself, was a professional cat burglar. Literally. And only stole from the best of the best and the ones who had persecuted her kind.

Like a female Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and wealthy, and often giving to those like her who lived in even worse conditions.

As Rosa looked on a plan began to formulate in her mind. Standing from where she was, she could see four heavily armed guards-standard issue in most Predominance places nowadays. Two were on either side of the door with one of the pair handling a small metal device.

Rosa frowned at what she saw and cursed under her breath. From countless years of experience she could easily tell that they were Hybrid detectors, instruments of great value to the humans as they were able to distinguish a hybrid from among a crowd of hundreds. Their one disadvantage, for it to work they had to independently scan every person for at least 2 seconds.

2 seconds was all it took for a Hybrid to be caught, jailed then operated on. Rosa for reasons one wouldn’t imagine found this slightly amusing.

The guards on both sides looked extremely bored, instead of scanning every person who walked in and out, they would randomly scan one person every few minutes. She also noticed that they targeted people around her age group. She cursed again. Rumours had spread that majority of the hybrids were young adults or teenagers, a rumour that was entirely true but something which did not exactly help her cause.

Rosa sighed under her breath, it was going to be even trickier getting in but she also found it mildly exciting. Like a little child who gleefully stole candy under their parents nose. Now that she had gathered all the information needed, Rosa flipped the hoodie off her head then walked out the shadows with an aura of confidence.

Confidence is key she thought, but she knew she had just made that up to reassure herself.

Even though her face did not betray her, under all that confidence her heart pounded wildly with excitement and sweat threatened to bead on her forehead. Once she was 50 metres away from the entrance, Rosa slipped quietly into a small crowd that was heading towards the store and tried to look as innocent as possible.

She was now 10 metres away from entering the store, as she looked ahead she could feel the gaze of a guard boring into her back. Rosa gulped inconspicuously and walked on,

Please don’t let them find me, please, she thought as wild panic was about to seize her.

His hand strayed towards his belt where the detector was pocketed. Panic flared in Rosa but she forced herself to stay calm, any signs of nervousness or a single twinge of the face was sure to get her killed. The doors swung open, its brilliant light nearly blinding her from the hours of near darkness.

One foot had made the exchange from the grey cemented floor outside to the smooth clinical feel of the store. The next foot also made the exchange until she was walking freely inside the store.