Prologue
15 years ago
Doctor Igneel stared through the glass window at the magnificent process happening before his very eyes. The same eyes that had gazed upon countless chemical formulas many months before, desperately trying to process all the signs and numbers and catalysts. He barely noticed all the activity going on around him. Assistants keeping the environment in the development area constant, papers filled with chemical equations being checked and re-checked, though it didn't really make any difference at this point. The tension experienced when on the verge of a scientific breakthrough was palpable throughout the scientists and technicians alike. The doctor was pulled back to reality by the soft voice of his secretary, Grandine.
"Sir, it's time to finalize your customizations on the subject." Her voice, shaky and hesitant, displayed plainly the stress and worry she felt coursing through her. The butterflies in her stomach evolved into lions, the anxiety eating away at her usually tranquil demeanor. Igneel, on the other hand, looked as calm and pragmatic as ever.
"I thought we agreed you wouldn't call him a subject," he reminded her. He wasn't truly upset about it, this was one of the two things that irked him in his day-to-day life, the other being the existence of quinoa.
"Of course, sir. I'm sorry. It's just that everyone is stressed out right now, and I must have forgotten about our earlier agreement…" she trailed off, realizing that the doctor had stopped listening.
"Remind me again, how many of each do I get?" Igneel spoke distractedly, focusing on other matters in his brain.
"Two positive features, two negative features, and one distinguishing neutral feature. Don't specify anything about intelligence, he will have a high IQ regardless of his desired features," Grandine recited in a monotone voice. She could see Igneel thinking hard. She could tell because his face was totally neutral, and he was cleaning his glasses very slowly. His fingers made lazy circles around each lense with the gray cloth.
Grandine didn't particularly like her boss. He wasn't mean, or loud, but he was absent-minded and slightly sociopathic. He had a habit of ignoring or forgetting his employees in many senses, be it their ideas, conversations, even forgetting to let them eat. Most of it would go unnoticed, all in the name of science. This was slightly justifiable, because he was a brilliant scientist, but he wasn't that great in a management position. Now, it was she who was brought back to reality by his voice.
"For the two positive features, he'll have lightning fast reflexes, and a natural affinity for hand to hand combat." He paused for a bit before continuing allowing Grandine to record these choices on her ever-present clipboard. She motioned for him to continue.
"For the two negative features, he will have crippling social anxiety and also suffer from severe thalassophobia." Igneel began to tap his foot on the ground, which Grandine knew meant that he was thinking his absolute hardest.
"What's left, Grandine?" he asked.
"One neutral distinguishing feature." Grandine sighed, as she was well aware that the doctor could be forgetful, but sometimes, like this time, he could be downright infuriating. Grandine glanced around, and caught the eyes of Metalicana, the head technician for this project. He made a circular motion with his hand, signifying that he needed the answers soon. Grandine nodded, acknowledging his silent message.
"Doctor Igneel, could we hurry this up a bit?" Grandine urged hesitantly, not wanting to interrupt Igneels train of thought.
"Alright, alright. I've got it, keep your hair on," he grumbled, returning his glasses to his face.
He glanced for a few seconds at the project. A fetus was floating in warm liquid. This was the life's work of Doctor Igneel, and it was almost completed. He gazed for a bit before giving his final answer.
"His hair... make it bright pink."
Thalassophobia: The persistent fear of seas or oceans or other large bodies of water (not to be confused with hydrophobia, the fear of all water)