Prologue
"Are you sure about this?"
"Of course I'm sure!"
"But…"
"But nothing!" the scientist snapped. He glared at the younger man. "Don't you think I've worked this all out? I've been planning this experiment for almost six years, ever since…" he trailed off. He shook his head. He had more important things to think about now. "And it was successful with the human-lupine experiments, wasn't it?" he said defiantly.
"Yes, but…" the younger man trailed off, and sighed. It was true, and he knew there was no point in arguing. The other had been planning this since before he started work.
"Experiment 3.5, avian-human hybrid." the older man muttered as he wrote in his records. "Avian percentage - 2."
There was more, but the other man tuned out, grabbing a pen and scrawling down his own record of the experiment. He had only been working in the laboratory, or the School as it was more commonly known, for just over a year. None of his experiments had yet been successful, except for the Erasers, version 6.0. Of course, they were being improved even more, but he still held that glow of pride that he had helped towards making the perfect specimen.
A woman entered the lab. Her dark eyes scanned the two men already there, and she spoke to the older one. "Have you decided?" she asked, setting a clipboard on one of the desks.
He nodded. "Yes. Experiment 3.5 is to go ahead."
The woman nodded, she had been expecting this for a long time. The other man was one of the newer scientists, and he looked unsure. But give him time and he would be fine with the idea.
Then she remembered something. "But… how will we get a specimen?" she asked.
The scientist smiled. "I thought you might ask that," he said. He clicked his fingers once.
The woman looked into the shadows of the dimly lit room, and her breath caught in her throat. He must be taking this seriously, to send the best after a specimen.
"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, how may I be of service?" Ari grinned, showing a mouth full of long, yellow, deadly canines.