Prologue
"Bring in 16Z." Ordered the man. He was tall and skinny, with a small tuft of brown hair and wire-rimmed glasses perched on the tip of his beak-like nose. He stared down at the boy, who was about five years old. His name was William. He and his sister had been kidnapped from their small home in a nearby town. Most likely, he would not survive the next few hours, and neither would his older sister. Did the man care? No. The answer was simple, no. He had learned long ago that science and emotions don't mix. There had been many deaths, but it would all be worth it in the end. They would eventually figure out how to combine DNA from two different species, and then they could create the ultimate weapon. Militaries would pay millions of dollars for it! He would be rich! But first, he had to make the Ultimate Weapon. Perhaps it would have been easier to start on embryos, but it was easier to get more mature children, since parents let kids go out more the older they were. A small cough snapped him out of his thoughts. He peered down at the boy. Small, scrawny, black hair and green eyes. He was the spitting image of his sister. But not for long. Once they injected him lions DNA, he would either be dead, or superhuman. The man looked down the hall. The girl stared at him, frightened. And who could blame her? She had only been here a few days, and she had spent those listening to the tortured screams of those before her. The scientist roughly grabbed the boy, causing him to cry out in pain. The cry brought the girl to Earth. With a frantic cry, she lunged forward, and bit him hard. He let out a cry, and kicked the girl and the stomach. She curled into a ball and coughed up blood. The man turned to leave, dragging the boy behind him, who was now in tears and screaming for his sister to save him. Just as the doors swung closed, the man could hear her call out, "Bastard! I'll kill you!" The man was shocked. Where does a seven year old girl hear words like that? If she survived, he would teach her how to behave. He smiled as he thought of all the ways he could torture her. He strapped down the boy and grinned, a sick, maniacal grin. "Now, this won't hurt at all." And the first screams broke the silence.
