Prologue
My name is Brooke. I've had other names too, but this time, in this life, I am Brooke. I don't remember what my first name was. The name that my parents gave me. I was so young and it was so long ago. I look about 25 years old. I'm not, but I let people think that I am. It would disturb them to know the truth. My appearance is exactly average. Average height, average weight, average build. Plain faced, gray eyes, ash brown hair. I am unremarkable and forgettable. Most people don't even notice me. This suits me fine. I'm Australian. I fled to Australia after my third escape. Wide open spaces, or large crowded cities to vanish into.
I've lived several lifetimes here. Had several names, been different people. The first few lives were very short, a few months at most. I was discovering the nature of the new world that I had run to. It was hard to assimilate to a culture that I'd never known, with no knowledge of the language or history. I had trouble defining social cues, abiding by the unspoken laws of community living and establishing functional relationships. I hid myself so that I was able to watch families grow and learn together. I assimilated much from the schools and workplaces of people, all while staying unnoticed. I was very good at observing humanity go about its business and I soon became equally good at blending in. I never felt truly connected to my species though. It was hard to completely relate to them when my earliest memories were so radically far from the normal human experience. Mostly, I just tried not to be conspicuous or suspicious. I didn't use my abilities much. They were linked with frightening memories of my past, but I had to learn to reign them in so as to go unnoticed. If I became overly emotional, I would lose what control I had and become a target for frightened people, and then I'd have to move again. People fear what they don't understand. But the good thing about Australia, is that it's very big.
When I escaped, all I wanted was to live, undisturbed and as inconspicuous as possible. I didn't want to stand out or be noticed by anyone. I managed to live as a run of the mill, normal person for half a lifetime. I learned a lot about people, and myself in that time. But it was hollow, and it felt like a lie. I tried, but I can't ignore my past. I can't pretend that everything's fine and that I'm normal. It's unbearable to live with the constant feeling of something unfinished. Normal people can't do the things that I can do. Normal people don't have the colorful history that I have. I'm not normal. I don't fit in and there is no way that I ever really can. I fled my captors so many decades ago, but I'm not free and I'm still scared. I'm driven to do something about it or I'll never be at peace. So I have started a new lifetime. I have become someone new and I'm ready to leave Australia behind, ready to find, and face my past.
I was abducted from Australia as a small child, by an alien race called the Kree. They were responsible for a number of abductions during the history of earth, have an interest in the human race, which they considered to be primitive but with a curious type of potential. The Kree changed me. They turned me into something that wasn't quite human anymore, and I wasn't the only one. Later, by pure chance, a group of humans known as Hydra obtained me. They were extremely cruel, and that cruelty inspired them to create even worse experiments for me to endure than the Kree could have ever imagined.
I regard the Kree with contempt, but I loath Hydra with unfathomable depth. The perverse things that they subjected me to made them far more evil than an inquisitive alien race, and I was going to ensure that they came to regret their actions. It was time to stop hiding, and start hunting.