What makes a human a human? Is it the memories they treasure? Is it the emotions that they feel? Perhaps it is it all of these things? to say that i am human... is no more a lie as it is a fantasy really. i was not born...i was created. i stone cold killing machine grown in a lab made for the sole purpose of killing. in a long trial made by humans to create synthetic life...i was the first perfection. they gave me the name of Adam... an important figure in the bible... the first ever man created by god. i do admire the humans for their use of symbolism...but i find it ridiculous. 25 years ago i was created at the pinnacle of project eden. that was the project to create synthetic humans... and they worked hard for decades...and finally they succeeded... but it wasn't enough.

soon the military took over, and they experimented. soon they started mass producing soldiers, this of course created turmoil and distrust within the united nations...and the project was disbanded... but that's what they thought. it wasn't much longer before and underground syndicate started working on the second project eden again. they didn't make much progress before the whole project was undermined by the government and the members of the syndicate were arrested...but before that they managed to make one soldier... the perfect soldier. even though i wasn't the first i was the first one that they deemed perfect. they figured instead of killing me they could put me to use... and they did.

code mane: crimson shadow... that was the new name they gave me... but for some reason i never abandoned the old one. after everything i went through, i kinda grew to like the name... it was ironic and i liked it. when god created adam i doubt he intended him to carry out political assassinations or governmental plots of subterfuge. i've been to hell and back and i've shown the demons that there's something to be more afraid of than hell...and its me. cold blooded, analytical, and resourceful. i kill because its either me or them, its the most logical thing to do. i don't have time to start hobbies... make friends... or settle down. then soon enough another big project came up... one that would drown out all the noise of the world with a great scientific breakthrough... the A.R.C. Alternate Reality Crossway.

a long time ago it was theorized that there were other worlds other than ours... and you could only imagine the look on peoples faces when they figured out that they were right. for a long time science has been studying these worlds... and only recently have we found the means to actually go to them. with the scientists playing with their new toy i was left to the side. just another shadow left to spill blood in the distance. but i didn't mind... i never needed the attention. my entire existence has been one big secret, so its like nothing has changed... until they gave me new orders. a new set of orders that peaked my interests... and for the first time in a long time i felt exhilarated.

i was to be the escort for a group of scientists heading through the gateway into a new world. it was a huge step forward for science. and i was to be the one who will lead them there. the mere thought of it was... interesting. never before have i ever really cared much about anything, but this time i feel genuinely intrigued. and that feeling only grew stronger and stronger as the weeks passed by and the deadline of the experiment grew closer and closer. and for that last day on that earth i closed my eyes laying on my bed...and i almost swore i had a dream that night.

"Wake up Adam..." shouted a voice suddenly from across the room. i recognized it instantly as my field commander. i immediately sprung to my feet out of my bed in the middle of my private room in a military base just outside of washington. i stood there eyes forward obediently and noticed the general standing right next to the field commander.

"its the big day lieutenant... you know what to do." said the general as they both turned away from the door. bet before leaving the general stopped and spoke. "you've got 2 hours... do us all proud." he said before leaving. i immediately made my way to the locker next to my bed and opened it up. i got dressed in my normal attire. combat boots, camouflage pants and a jumper tee. i then made my way out of the bedroom and down the hallways to the mess hall. in there i got breakfast and ate quickly. while i was eating i never stopped hearing about the trial today. everybody seemed excited about it... even I was too. once i finished my food i immediately left my table and made my way out of the mess hall.

"geez...that guys like some kind of robot." said one of the personnel.

"you don't know? he's one of those synthetics." said the person he was talking to.

"wow! really? so he's not even human?" he asked. i quickly glanced over at the both of them and we made eye contact... they suddenly grew quiet... they always do. i broke away from them and made my way down the hall to the armory. i made my way down the halls and entered the armory. over in the corner was a familiar face... derek jones. he's the armory guard and we've known each other for a long time... but he seems to be under the impression that we're friends. i know that once i start doing what i need to do he'll start annoying me again and ask stupid questions... maybe bring up his wife and his dumb kids.

"ah adam... hey what's up?" he said with a smile... i just glared at him. i ignored the question and made my way over to the weapons lockers. "gee you could at least acknowledge me you know." he said. "so are you excited for the big day?" he asked.

"surprisingly...yes." i said coldly.

"wow...really? that's a first."

"they say there's a first for everything..." i said entertaining him.

"that's true... hey...who knows? maybe one day ill see you smile." he said. i looked at him and gave him a warm smile. but he started laughing, and the smile quickly faded back to my usual monotone face. "you ass... i've known you long enough to tell when you're smiles are fake." he said. "that might fool regular people... but not me."

"yeah i suppose you're right." i said loading bullets into the magazine of my 50 cal. anti material rifle.

"jesus... you're taking that thing?" he said

"there's no way of telling what could be on the other side... so i've got to be prepared for anything." i said continuing to load magazines for the large weapon. "besides i only plan on using this if things get out of hand... one shot from this will solve any problem."

"yeh but...this is the fifth magazine you've loaded..." he said.

"well... there's no telling how many times things could get out of hand." i said finishing the fifth clip and putting it on my belt. i spent the next hour arming myself. after i had finished arming myself to the teeth i suited up. since this is technically a scouting mission i put on my regulation scout armor. this is also my assassination armor too. it comes complete with a facemask with a skull decor as well as a hood and cloak. they say that the cloak is flashy but its actually bulletproof, and works as camouflage too. but the camouflage only works if its dark, then again who ever successfully assassinated someone in broad daylight?

i finished gearing up... with 15 minutes to spare. with appropriate gear i set off to the lab. i made my way down the hall getting stares from everybody... its usual for me. i kinda like the way they stare at me, it makes me feel strong, i can see the fear in them. i made my way fast down the hallway until i reached the large set of double doors leading into the lab. i took a deep breath and i pushed them out of my way and stepped into the lab. the lab itself was about the size of a military hangar. and at the far end was a large ring made of stone and metal. that was the A.R.C. it stood there towering at least ten stories up in the air. it was so big you could move a whole army through it... which i'm guessing is something they might have had in mind.

"adam...good you're early... come come." said a voice to my side. i looked over to see it was one of the researchers assigned to the project, whanaly. "you'll want to get a good view of when we start this baby up." she said flashing me a smile. i just nodded and made my way into the control room. i walked calmly up the steps and into the control room, which was no doubt full of figure heads and generals from every major country in the world. once inside there were of course many formalities to get out of the way... shaking hands saying hello... all that boring stuff.

"alright? are we ready general?" asked the british prime minister.

"of course..." said the general... " if you would please do the honors... and lieutenant... you better get out there.

"yes sir." i said heading out. as i made my way across the large hangar sized lab the doctors countdown was sounding out over the speakers.

"10...9...8...7..." she started counting down a the initial primers for the large machine started to whir into life. the machine itself at this point started to glow and hum. the outer ring started to slowly spin clockwise while the inner ring started to spin counterclockwise but at a much faster pace. "6...5...4..." she continued to count down as sparks of lightning started to arch from one part of the ring to another. i was ready to see what was about to happen... but suddenly... everything went wrong.

one of the bolts failed to arch and shot off hitting a truck pulling equipment. the tremendous strike form the lightning caused the truck to explode. suddenly horror and screams filled the air as the hangar sized lab began to glow red and sirens filled the air.

"what's happening?" i could hear over the loudspeaker.

"i don't know..." said whanaly. "the quantum field ring is destabilizing..."

"well stop it..."

"i...i can't its out of control..." she said as yet another bolt of lightning flew from the terrifying machine and struck the lights above us causing them all to shatter and glass to rain down from the ceiling. i covered myself with the bullet proof cloak...which protected me from the glass... other workers were not as fortunate or prepared as i was.

"doctor get a hold of this thing NOW!" shouted a voice through the speakers.

"i...i can't...its not responding... quickly shut down all power..." she said.

"we already have..." replied one of the scientists.

"what?" she said. "but then... wheres it drawing power from?" she asked. nobody was able to answer her question. i turned to run... but i was too late. there was a large boom... and howling hum filled the room almost deafening me... and suddenly a powerful force started to pull on me. it was the machine. which now swirled with a red pool or death. the force of it started sucking in everything and everyone. scientists soldiers and equipment alike went flying in. including myself but i managed to grab a wire still bolted to the ground. i held on tight and hoped that it would stop soon. i've never been so scared before in my life. i was not about to die here... i help on... but soon the struts holding the wire to the ground started to come loose from the force. one after another they broke and i inched closer to the swirling red vortex. until the last few snapped instantly and pulled the generator they were attached to into the vortex... myself included.

i flew back, there was nothing left to grasp to now... this was it. i felt myself falling backwards and soon i could see the gate pass by me as everything around me started to become gate grew further and further until i couldn't see it past all the darkness. i felt myself grow weary and tired... lights flashed through the darkness. pictures of strange things flashed before my eyes it seemed that glimpses of different worlds flashed through my face. like i was reliving the lives of other and watching it all flash before my eyes. and suddenly when i couldn't take it anymore...everything got dark...very dark.

-Authors Note: I HAVE RETURNED! okay so... now that ive returned i do plan on working on my stories again. it will take some time for me to re-read through them and remember where i left them off and what was going on, but that shouldn't be too bad... its the actual writing of the stories that ive got to worry about. its going to be a lot of work on may part, plus ive got to go back through my email and find the emails i sent to myself from my old computer to this one containing all the pre-written chapters for stories like Bloodline and A Faries Tail. plus writing chapters isnt going to be as fast paced as it used to be, before i was able to write like a chapter every other day, or sometimes several a day... but between my job and college...i just dont have that time anymore, and i hope you guys understand.

as for this new story, it is going to be different but its also going to be just the same. it's going to take a different start and head in the same direction, but this time im going to make crimson a little less OP. i am still going to introduce all of the old OC's into the story and maybe some new ones, so if you wanna get an early jump in and see one of your OC's in my story then send me a PM with all the information on your OC. the more information i have the easier it will be to keep your OC in for the long run. and please do try and make your OC's fit in. and by that i mean they should most likely be ponies... i can only work with ponies, wild beasts, and some omniscient beings. once again as stated before, the more info ive got on your OC means the more likely it is that he/she will make multiple or continuous appearances in the story. this include name, appearance, characteristics, and of course background information. if you give me permission to use your OC i will assume that you will then give me creative control over them, and if at any time you do not like what im writing about your OC or if you want a specific even to happen in to you OC just message me and i will edit the story accordingly.

in this story i want to make the adventure more personalized, so i stress again to please send me any ideas or plot designs that you might have to help further the story. it helps give me inspiration which will help write the story. and as ive stated before... yes i am going to be working on the other stories, but i want to start getting some chapters in for this story... since ive already written a few by the time this is posted you can expect at least 4-5 more chapters in the corresponding days. i will post authors notes regularly to let you guys know how progress is going and to answer any important questions you may have asked me... as long as they dont spoil the future chapters.

i hope you guys enjoy this story, i think it might end up being better than the original. so if you have any questions please send them to my messages, and please leave any helpful advice in the reviews box. i'll see you all in the next chapter.

~Stay Shady~