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Chapter One
Her slender, fragile body floated in the lime, gel-like liquid. She was tethered to a complicated plethora of wires and tubes, all of which were inserted into her skin via a thin needle attached to the end of each. No air bubbles escaped her nose, nor her delicate, thinly-parted lips. No movement shuddered her closed eyelids. Fiery strawberry blonde hair framed her soft face, gently shifting in the fluid. Her bare skin was marked in a peculiar way - her left leg was black with an array of peculiar pale bluish-green markings, as was the left side of her chest, down her arm, and slightly around to her lower back. What was left of her skin was flaxen white. Tipping her fingers and toes were slightly pointed nails with a greyish hue. All in all, despite her evident abnormalities, she was flawless. She withheld a pristine demeanor, even while unconscious.
The door on the far side of the dark room slid open with a hissing noise, and in walked an aging man in a long white lab coat and black slacks. He stuck his hands in his pockets and sighed as a second man followed him to the railing around the glass capsule. He appeared to be in his late twenties, with disheveled brown-black hair and dark skin. His eyes were silvery blue, and observed the room with a cold glance. He crossed his arms as he stood next to the doctor
"She is beautiful in her own way."
The young man pursed his lips and remained silent.
"She is currently stable in this environment. She is being sustained with the best we have to offer, and under top security. I am the only one with clearance in this room besides my assistant, Annibelle, who greeted you at the front desk. Her vitals are all above normal, and-"
"We're prepared to take her today, Doctor Carmichael."
The man in the lab coat turned to the dark-headed man with a faintly scrutinizing look.
"Do you realize we have no way to guarantee that if we drain and unhook her that she will be able to survive? She exhibits amazing potential in every area, however we have yet to test her in our atmosphere."
"Which is why I'm here to take her. She will be in safe hands."
The doctor chuckled and replied, "You know I can't just hand her over."
"And why not?"
"Well, I - you see, she - "
"You have no further use for her, Doctor. You have proved that you can genetically rebirth a deceased human being into something extraordinary. That was the point of your experiment, and you have reached the extent of your knowledge. It's time to release her."
Doctor Carmichael appeared to be fretting. There was a long moment of silence, with the doctor watching the young woman in the tank, and the man watching the doctor.
"I cannot guarantee that she will survive." Doctor Carmichael said finally. He seemed to be trying to change the man's mind.
"There is only one way to be for certain. Release her."
Doctor Carmichael scratched his stubble-infested cheek before walking in a defeated manner to the back side of the capsule contraption that held the woman. The sound of buttons clicking filled the near-silent room, followed by a series of pulsating beeping noises. The gel drained through holes in the bottom of the pod, leaving the woman collapsed inside. As the man approached the railing to get a closer look within, he noticed that she was now breathing shallowly. There were small tears in her skin from the needles being pulled against her flesh when she sunk to the bottom.
As Doctor Carmichael came from around the backside of the machine, the woman thrashed against the inside of the glass blindly.
"What's wrong with her?"
"She's waking up. Be calm." The doctor replied.
The woman grasped gingerly at the tubes and wires implanted into her body. She tugged at the first few before anxiously ripping the others from her skin. With a scream she grabbed a handful of her hair in one hand, and wiped the blood from the puncture wounds with her free one. For what seemed like a solid eternity to the two men, she remained perfectly still, drawing them in. Despite her strange features, she was beautiful in a delicate way...
The two men jumped at the sound of her hand slamming the inside of the glass. Looking up at them from under her matted hair were two glowering electric yellow-gold eyes. The starburst formation around the swirled pupil made her seem alien. Though, in a way, she was alien. She had passed years ago, and this doctor had brought her back into a world that was not her own, and fused her with a concoction of genetic samples, findings old and new.
The dark-headed man ducked under the railing, maintaining eye contact with the woman. He made his way slowly to the capsule and placed his hand to hers. Her gaze softened and she let her forehead rest against the inner glass. The man turned to the doctor.
"Release her."
Doctor Carmichael threw a switch on the wall behind him, and with a hissing noise, the glass dropped into the floor below.
The man reached out to the woman, and she wrapped her arms around his neck. He slid his arm under the bend of her knees and scooped her up, paying no mind to the gelatin transfer from her body to his. He looked at the Doctor, who handed him a hospital gown from the desk in the corner of the room. He set the woman down and wrapped her in the gown, tying the strings behind her neck and back to keep it closed.
"Thank you, Doctor." The man said, reaching his hand out.
"You just heed what I told you. She is not stable." He shook his hand.