Lars Walker

The darkness that surrounded me was so absolute, I could only fear for the worst. I couldn't see, hear, feel or breathe and after experiencing every sensation; known and unknown all at once, the feeling of nothing was just as frightening. I had a feeling I was on my way to death's front door.

A strange sensation began to swell within my chest, making the top of my skull tingle. A light began to come into view as the feeling got stronger. It was like I was watching the sun rise. As the light illluminated my surroundings, I realised I was no longer at T.I.G.E. but rather, some sort of jungle. I had only read about places like this. Ever since the first Graphin outbreak, the people of Hassien had never stepped out of the dome that kept us safe. The most plant life I had ever seen was at the synthetic parks in the Mars domain. This jungle had trees thousands of metres tall whose leaves made the light glitter on the floor. The earth was covered in wild unkept grass and other organisms I was sure no longer existed.

Although I knew I was definitely in a forest, I could not perceive the scent of fresh air that would usually accompany so many trees gathered at all. My nose was still inactive but I seemed to be doing fine without it. I placed my hand on a tree close to me to get a feel of its texture. My hand was on the bark but my sense receptors transmitted nothing. It was almost as if I was in some sort of synthetic world.

That's when it hit me; I was unconscious. Everything I was seeing now was all in my head as a result of some dream. Even with that figured out, it still could not explain why I was dreaming about a jungle I had never been in before. The images I had been shown when I was younger didn't look like this either.

A strange feeling creapt up my neck, a feeling I usually got when i was being watched. I instinctively turned around to see who was behind me. Crouching amongst the thick vegetation was a massive feline beast, rippling ith muscle. It's body as covered with majestic orange fur with several black stripes. It's murderous yellow eyes were staring intently at me with its desire to kill gleaming in them.

I knew the tiger I was looking at was not real but for some reason, seeing it made me terrified. I wasn't scared because I thought it was going to eat me, I was scared for a completely different reason I had know idea of. It was as if my body was reacting that way because of something I was yet to understand. I tried to run but my body refused to move.

The tiger let out a deep thunderous growl that shook the forest. In a matter of moments, other animals began to appear. They were more creatures there than I had ever seen or would ever hope to see in my life time. The were gorillas and chimps, hyenas and wolves, cows and horses and even humongous monsters with scales and feathers. As these creatures approached me, the feeling began to grow unbearable. My skull felt like it was ablaze.

The animals began to enclose me in a circle, even though I knew I was unable to run away. The tiger walked up to me and stared into my eyes. It stared in such a manner I was under the impression it was staring into my soul. It let out another growl, this one deeper and lower than the last. As the beast growled, a voice matching its tone resonated in my mind.

'You have no right to rule, child of man.' It spoke.

As if they could hear the voice as well, the other animals began to let out low growls as well and made a motion with their heads that seemed they were nodding. It was clear they were agreeing with what the voice said, though I didn't understand it myself.

'You have no claws or fangs. You have no hide nor armour. You lack both speed and strength.' The voice continued. 'This body is not for the weak. Your time in power is limited.'

The tiger opened its mouth and let out a deafening roar that made its previous growls seem like whispers. As it roared the trees were uprooted and the vegetation was blown away, leaving the bare soil. Even that did not last as the ground broke apart into sand as the roar went on. When the tiger stopped, I realised all the other animals had disappeared with everything else.

Though the tiger was gone, the rumbling did not cease. Every individual grain trembled at the the mere frequency of the source of this vibration. I looked around to see what was causing it but saw nothing, which meant it was coming from underneath. As if on cue a large monstrous burst through the sand beneath me. My body was flung into the air, stalling my heart with fear. The beast that attacked me was unlike any animal I had ever heard of. It was the same size as a blue whale but was covered in scales similar to those of a reptile. It's prodding fangs were the same shape as sharks' and it's large eyes were a kaleidoscope of colours and feral nature.

'You lack the strength to tame the animal kingdom.' The tiger's voice rang in my head once more.

The beast opened in jaws wide and swallowed me in one glue. My eyes immediately flung open as I jolted in an upright position. I gave a huge sigh of relief when I remembered all that happened was just a dream. I was not in a jungle being threatened by wild beasts.

However, I was not underneath a large pile of rubble either. Rather, I was in some sort of room. It was large and dull with just the bed I was in, a full length mirror, a table with a book on top of it and a chair. Even my clothes had been changed. Instead of my Mars uniform, I was dressed in a pair of white sweat pants and a white pullover. On the right breast of the pullover was a sown in tag that read '025'.

I stood up from the bed and tried to walk around. For some strange reason, my body felt strange, as if I had been stretched out. Walking felt very uncomfortable, forcing me to pace around till it felt normal again. I looked up from my feet to the mirror I now stood in front of and nearly fainted. My body felt different because it was different. I had grown 5 inches in height. My face was also more defined with my cheeks looking like I was sucking them in and my chin resembling the sharp end of a knife.

I pulled up the pullover to see where else I had changed. As a member of the Mars faction, it was necessary for me to work out and stay in shape. Though I did this, I could only obtain the outline of abs on my skinny frame. Now my body was rippling with muscles. Surprise seized my reasoning as I stared at my new 8 pack. Even my pecks were jacked. The muscles were compressed, making me still seem like I was skinny though there was now a lot of body coursing through me.

As I pondered what happened to me, memories of was happened to Scott and Mesan ran through my mind. I lifted the part of my hair covering my forehead, refusing to believe something that bizarre had happened to me. Sure enough, there were no horns. However there were to horizontal slits that implied that they were there, once upon a time. I glanced my finger nails, black with dried blood that could not be removed and sharpened from continuous regrowing.

As I realized that everything that happened to me was not a dream, I realized Scott was really dead. I felt so sad in that instance, as if I was about to have a mental break down but for some reason, nothing happened. No matter how aggrieved my mind felt, my body refused to react accordingly. This only made feel worse. I couldn't even mourn for one of the best things to happen in my life.

"Welcome to the Hassien Containment Institute for Genetic Mutations." A voice rang. I looked around to see where it was coming from and noticed a speaker at the top right corner of the room. I was confused by what the voice had said. I knew every prison in Hassien as all were controlled by Mars. Besides, there hadn't been Graphin until Medan. Why would there be a prison for them already?

"An officer will arrive shortly to take you to an evaluation." The voice continued. "Once your threat level is determined, you will be taken to a new cell suitable for containing you. Please read the book provided for you to enjoy your permanent stay at H.I.G.M."

I picked up the white book the voice was referring to. The front read 'H.I.G.M.: Guidelines for Containment'. With nothing else to do, I began to read the book to prepare myself for what was going on. After half an hour, a man came in just as I put down the book. I looked up to see who had come in and was shocked. The man who walked was dressed in Mars uniform, which meant what I read was true.

"Chadwick?" I asked, realising I recognised the person in front of me.

"Good to see you again Lazarus." The brown haired boy greeted.

"I thought you got posted to the war front?"

Chadwick smiled grimly. "This is the war front."

Chadwick led me through the halls of H.I.GM., keeping silent while I question him about everything that was going on.

"Didn't you read the book?" He asked.

"I did but that doesn't mean I understand it!" I exclaimed. "How the hell is Mars related to this place. It isn't even a registered prison!"

"There is a lot, and I mean a lot, of things you don't know about Mars. I'm not exaggerating anything when I say this is the tip of the iceberg. There's a lot of things I would tell if I could but now that you're an inmate, you a no longer privileged to know this knowledge."

Chadwick kept quiet after that. Soon we arrived at the testing area. As we approached, a strange smell began to infiltrate my nasal senses. We walked into a room five times larger than the one I woke up in. The room appeared to be clean but it was filled with two distinct smells; the first was the metallic stench of blood and the other was familiar to me, like I had smelt it once before but I couldn't recognise it.

"Try not to die, will you?" Chadwick said.

Before I could ask what he was talking about, he pushed me into the room and closed the door behind me. The smell was so strong I had to cover my nose to make an attempt at breathing regularly.

"Welcome, prisoner 025, to your threat evaluation." The voice from before said. "We would like to ask for your comply with our instructions to ensure your survival."

I could only wonder what the voice was referring to. However, the smell that filled the room was putting my body on edge. A loud banging began to echo from a door across the room I had no idea was there. The second smell was coming from whatever was behind it.

"May the threat evaluation begin."

A loud alarm rung and the door began to open. As it did, I realised were I knew this smell from. I had smelt it on Medan when he turned but I was too out of it to realise. Behind that door, was a Graphin.