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Standing in the dark arena was like standing in the middle of the freezer in the lab. The sun had totally set, the rain had come in, and the temperature had dropped significantly. I could see my breath in front of me, coming out in large clouds of steam that were carried away by the slight breeze from the storm. I looked up and peered into the dark trees of the arena, they formed a small forest in the center of the arena. I was in the small boxed off enclosure that led back inside the building behind me. I could go out into the arena but be totally safe from anything within it.
The arena is totally closed off with a large dome like structure made from thick cables that went up one hundred feet. Inside the arena was anything I'd want it to be, as I was the main director of this place. I could make it into an abandoned city, a dense forest, a desert, and even the ocean. This was possible by the state of the art high tech gear that ran this facility. The arena was totally computer generated, but once it was formed, it would become real.
This facility is known by many names, like The Institute for Higher Living and The School. But this place is designed for the genetic research that helped form the world into a better place. Illnesses are researched here, as well as genetic malformations and tests done on living organisms. Those who are here are always created here and are perfectly legal patients.
Some slight movement caught my eye and I broke from my train of thought. I looked up, eyeing the small figure standing just outside the tree line, maybe 50 feet away. The figure was male, standing around 6 foot 3 inches, but only weighing in at 110 pounds. He was one of the patients here; I had him staying out here for another test. I could see him slightly shivering, the rain rolling off of his charcoal black hair that hung in front of murderous obsidian eyes. His breath came out in clouds of steam in front of him, then lifted up by the breeze. He has been here for 17 years, but had grown a notorious habit for escaping from the facility, we have several times had to track him down and bring him back.
"Come to spy, Jeb?" His voice echoed through the quiet trees. I stood behind the thick bars of the enclosure, watching as he glared at me through the strings of wet hair. He wasn't your typical patient or teenager for that fact. He wasn't even totally human.
"Come to inspect." I said, his eyes flickering at the sound of my voice. They reflected the moons light, giving off an eerie glow.
"To see if I'm fit enough for your next test." His dark eyes looked away and towards the outside forest that surrounded the arena. "I know your games."
"The tests are necessary. We haven't explored all the possible routes yet."
"Routes to what?" He growled, his eyes darting back to me. He called himself Fang, a member of a band of 6 kids who had all been created here. There was Maximum Ride, age 17, the leader of the group as well as the oldest female. Iggy, age 16, was the third youngest, but was also blind. Nudge, age 15, was African American and had formed many supernatural abilities like attracting metals and seeing the past through touch. The Gasman, age 9, and Angel, age 7, were the only blood siblings of the group, Angel was able to read minds and Gassy was talented at creating bombes. Fang fit in as Max's right hand man, the best fighter of the group, and being three months younger than Max. Together, they called themselves the Flock.
"We're trying to form a super soldier, one that has all of the abilities of any soldier but is much more durable. We need your genes and the flock's genes in order to do that." I tried to explain to him.
"Where is my family?" He demanded, his eyes glaring evilly into mine. One of the most dangerous things about Fang was that he was unpredictable. He was extremely protective of the flock and would give his life for any one of them. But he was also incredibly strong for his age and size, being only 110 pounds. He was a killer if given the chance; I had learned it firsthand.
"Safe." I said and I watched as he slowly walked towards me. He suddenly reached in-between the bars of the enclosure, grabbing my lab coat and pulling me forward against the bars. Midnight wings unfolded behind him and raised high above his head.
"If any of them are hurt, you will be the one who dies." He hissed, shoving me back. I watched as he jumped into the air and unfurled his wings, flying up to the top of the tallest tree in the arena. I had created Fang, picked out certain genes; I had designed him to be this way. I just didn't think that all of them would work out so perfectly, and dangerously. Fang had killed more than 20 of my employees during tests, murdered countless other test subjects, and had escaped dozens of times. All of the flock members had wings, Fang was the strongest flier out of them all, clocking at speeds of up to two hundred miles per hour.
Fang had been in this arena for two days so far, and I hadn't seen any decline in his health. I was testing just how long he could be exposed to the elements and still survive. That meant being alone in the forest, with no food, and dealing with the weather. Fang's system was designed entirely around an avian system, which also meant that he needed almost three times the amount of calories per day as an ordinary human to stay active. He would start to get weaker soon, and I could measure that with the tools in the arena.
Back inside the building, I had the rest of the flock under an anesthetic that essentially put them into a hibernation like state. None were conscious and none would have any memory of what was going on now. Once I was finished with Fang, I would move on to the Max. This way, there was no chance that any of the flock members could escape or communicate and they were totally under my control. Fang's test was to last as long as possible before death, which was inevitable. I was creating a new species, one that made the flock look like antiques. I could study the flock in the arena and add those calculations into my log; the flock would eventually die in the arena in an amount of time. They were old school now and I needed the space for my new creations.