1 School Grades

Those that fear death are unaware of the dangers that life brings

***

Titania came back from high school and threw himself on the floor. Yes, his parents named him Titania. They originally thought they would have a girl but instead got a boy. By the time both of his parents realized this they both have already signed the birth certificate.

As Titania got in he walked in his room and threw his bag on the floor and jumped in his bed burying his face in his bed pillows.

He stayed there in his school clothes trying to sleep but he couldn't it. He was nervous as the report card came in. Titania kept it in his bag as he didn't want himself or others to see what grades he got.

He got up from where he was on the bed and sat at the edge of the bed. He stared at his backpack and debated in his head if he should open the report and see what he got.

'I'm sure that I got good grades,' Titania thought, 'I'm sure I did well on the finals and test, or I hope I did."

Titania sat still at the edge of his bed and debated some more.

'It wouldn't hurt to look,' Titania reasoned.

He grabbed his bag and rummaged through it looking for the report. He threw out the textbooks and notebooks that as he looked. After throwing out a science textbook he found the report at the bottom of the bag.

The report was slightly crumbled but Titania tried his best to smooth it out to read. The report was folded to prevent other students from reading their peers. He held it in his hands for a while and debated again if he should read it.

"I mean," Titania thought, "This is going to happen anyway, right?"

Another series of questions plagued him. He pondered all of the questions.

"Fuck it," Titania said as he unfolded the report card and read it.

When he first started reading and saw what was on it he check to see if he had the right one. He check and at the top of the corner read his name. He goes back and rereads the contents.

"NO!" He yells at the top of his lungs. He crumples the report card and throws it across the room.

"I'm done," Titania murmurs as he hugs his knees in, "It's ruined, everything is gone,"

He begins to cry to himself, "EVERYTHING HAS TURNED TO SHIT!" He screamed, not caring if his neighbors heard him. He went off the cliff of despair seeing no future with what he read on the report card.

He got up with his tears still on his face and went to the kitchen. He walked slowly his thoughts running amok with despair and chaos of what the future will be.

When he got to the kitchen he saw the knife stand that was on the faux marble countertop and grabbed a knife at random.

With the knife in his hand he paused to think. To think of reasons on why he should keep going, that he can recover from this misshape. His breathe becomes heavier as he tries to think of reasons. The knife in his hands trembles as Titania can't find one.

Titania went down in a spiral of despair. His knees buckle and falls to his knees onto the floor. Tears start streaming down his face as his own thoughts begin to harm. He is scared of what will happen if other find out.

Titania stares at the knife trembling in his hand. He swallows the spit that is mouth and brings the knife closer to him.

Titania takes a quick breathe and plunged the knife into his neck. he felt the hot knife sear through his neck and then lost conscience. His body went limp and fell to the floor dyed with his red blood.

******

In a military research facility scientists rush back and forth in their white coats. They quickly organize in front of a glass window that showed a white room. One the researcher's side were various arrays of recording technology observing what is happening in the room. The head researcher stood in front of the crowd with a tablet and stylus in his left hand. He whispers something to one of the researchers and they rush out of the crowd.

The head researcher turned to address the researcher, "Begin preparation for the emergence of the specimen and for the arrival of the General."

"Yes sir, head researcher Beliz!" The research team responded and the crowd surrounding the head researcher. Leaving Beliz by himself in front of the clear glass window as he types notes of his observations of the white room.

In the white room was a mass of porous material colored with various shades of yellow and brown. It had extreme size and had many tendrils attached to the sides and ceiling of the with room anchoring it in the same space. The air in the room seemed to be tainted with the spores created from the mass that colored the room a murky brown. The mass was pulsating from within itself. This was what caused the researchers to scramble trying to record it as this wasn't see in the past.

'The mass is beginning to accumulate energy,' Beliz typed on his tablet, 'The spores that it generates are started to being to produced more intensely making visual observation harder but manageable, could this be a deterrent from predators as the spores in their nature are harmful to all recorded organisms?" Beliz walked towards the glass to get a better look and adjust his glasses, He glances at a screen that records the energy of the room "As the recorded entity gains energy it seems that the pulsations grows more rapid in pace and intensity, what does this mean? After the phenomenon has ended I will record what will happen." As he finished typing his observations he put down his tablet and took a tiny step closer to the window so close that his breathe fogged the glass. Beliz put his hand on the glass and stared at the specimen in the room and smiled.

The researcher later returns a few moment later with the general on his side. The researcher kept his head down as he guided the general through the research facility. When they got to the observation room the researcher guided the general to Beliz and then quietly left.

The general saw that the head researcher was currently staring at the glass window with great interest and proceed to walk quietly to the head researcher. "Greetings, head researcher Beliz," The general said in a clear voice from the side. Beliz quickly turned his focus away from the entity in the white room.

"Hello general Rad," Beliz replied extending his hand. They shook hands and made some small talk and tossed some jokes to lighten the tense atmosphere in the room with the researchers dashing around.

"Head researcher Beliz," Rad said to Beliz, "You know why I am here, but please enlighten me on what you are doing here as I didn't receive any prior knowledge as to coming here." Beliz shook his head and began to explain, "The purpose of this facility is to research the parasitic material we dubbed as the infection." The general nodded his head, he knew he couldn't receive any more information as his rank was too low to gain such information or unless he was appointed by the higher ups as the sole observer of this specific subject.

Beliz flashed a smile at the general, "You showed up just in time as their is a unique situation that is happening!" Beliz had to be nice to the general because if he didn't and also didn't display the smooth operation of the facility the entire research would be scrapped or worse he would lose his position in the research department of the military as head researcher. "We believe that soon the test subject, the very first of its kind, will emerge from from that mass with a connection to the infection." Beliz pointed at the mass as he tapped the glass to further emphases.

Rad got closer to the glass and saw the pulsating tendrilled mass in the white room. He cupped his hands over his mouth. He pointed at the mass and with an astonished whisper, "There a person in there?!"

Beliz smiled at the general's expression with great joy, "Yes there is, if he survives from this or doesn't either way we will receive a lot of data but it is preferable that he survives as it is beneficial for us as it provides more data." Beliz then turned his attention back to the mass in the white room, the room was so filled with spores that it was nearly impossible to see through it. Beliz grabbed his tablet and lightly tapped the general's side. "General, I believe we should back away from the window to help better record visual data, we're also fogging the glass."

They backed away from the glass. Beliz glanced again at the screen recording the entity's energy it was getting higher with every passing moment but not enough to be critical. The preparation the researchers were doing were long done and were recording every detail.

The researchers grouped again behind the head researcher and the general. The general was still asking questions about the entity in the white room, not only out of curiosity but also because the main purpose of the general being there was to report the progress of the research facility.

"Does it have a name?" The general asked staring at the mass. Beliz responded without looking at the general as he was busy looking at the monitor regarding the energy of the mass. "Yes, it is called Subject Prime Alpha Number Zero." The general had a confused look on his face and was contorting into different shapes.

Beliz glanced at the general as he hadn't made a comment or question. Beliz automatically responded to the question the general had in his head, "The reason why I named it that way was because the military is researching this, thus earning the part subject, the reason for prime is because this is the first of the first every created, or at least recorded, and as for alpha I have a theory but I don't have the evidence to back it up yet, and for number zero is for obvious reasons."

The general then relaxed as he had his question answer and didn't ask any more question instead quietly starting at the mass through the window.

"Oh look it reached critical levels of energy," Beliz said in a deadpan voice. He took his attention away from the monitor and grabbed a researcher. "Activate the following protocols," Beliz ordered as he turned his attention to the mass as it began to pulse rapidly with no pause.

The doors of the room the general and the researchers were in where shut with a snap. The general was turning his head all over the place to find a reason why this is happening. Beliz glanced at the general and let out a quiet sigh, "Do not worry general it is just safety protocol," Beliz explained.

Beliz couldn't afford to waste a moment on the general as what is happening in the white room was exceeding his estimated calculations.

The mass in the white room started pulsing faster with each passing second as it started accumulating more energy. It shrank and expanded in much more extreme degree than recorded by researchers sometimes it even touched the walls. The tendrils anchoring the mass detached from the wall and ceiling and swung in any direction with immense power, luckily the white room was designed to withstand such impact. As time passed it gained more intensity in pulsating and swing of its tendrils.

Then it finally stopped. On the monitor it recorded a immediate decrease in energy. The pulsing stopped and the tendrils went limp.

After a moment the monitor recorded a small energy signature in the mass. The researchers focused intensely at the monitors and the mass itself.

The researchers then saw the mass start pulsing again but not with energy but as though someone from the inside fighting out. The pulses grew with intensity until the mass cracked like an egg, spilling fluid from with out on the floor.

From the mass the researcher saw something from with in. They saw a hand grab at the edge of the mass to help stand up. It immediately fell to its knees trying to stand and went on all fours. The subject then vomited a fluid that was a disgusting color.

After it was done the subject wiped his mouth with their hand and looked up. They saw a group of people in researching clothes stare at it while typing on tablets.

Beliz walked to the window and place his hand on glass. He stared at the subject for a while and then proceeded to smile. He tapped something on his tablet and his voice came out from the speakers inside the white room.

"What is your name?" Beliz asked staring at him with a smile on his face.

The subjected looked a Beliz and responded with a croak from vomiting recently.

"My name is Titania, nice to meet you."