Lab Fiction

by Silverwingem13

This is about a futuristic world. I'm not finished, but I'm uploading this for more advice. Ella lives in the neutral nation of Quito, but when attacked a series of events occur that changes her life drastically forever. Throughout her journey she meets a variety of people and becomes a completely different person.

Prologue:
A whisper echoed through the night, illuminating the flaws of the service, drawing attention to the flaws. The Specials were beating them to it; every battle, every conflict the Specials were one step ahead. Always waiting in silence for their prey, the Originals. And when the Original's came, they'd pounce and devour what little courage the Original's had left. Every ambush, every attack, and every defense the Original's created, the Specials were always able to find a flaw, and use it against the Original's. The entire population was at risk from the Specials, who's main goal was to destroy the Originals. How is that justified, and how can it be stopped?

Lost in thought, Captain Reiter had not noticed the messenger enter his room. The sound of shuffling papers bounced off the walls and woke Reiter from his troubled thoughts. He jumped up and drew a knife. When Reiter realized that it was just a messenger, he heftily sat back down into his chair. Turning around he realized that the messenger was still waiting.

The messenger was dressed in the formal wear of the Cosmos volunteers; in black pants with an army vest and a red

"I'm sorry sir, Black Cosmos wanted me to give this to you. He told me that my presence was to be of utmost secrecy," the messenger told the captain.

"Its fine, I'm sorry, I wasn't sure who you were. Thank you, you are excused," he said gruffly. The messenger bowed his head, and politely gave the captain a package, and then left.

The messenger had given him an envelope, sealed with a thick black wax seal shaped as an eagle in flight. It was addressed to Captain Glides Reiter of the 13th division of the Federal Seals, which was written with a glossy red pen in a neat and conformed cursive. The FS is the military power of Okberth, the largest country on Earth.

He stared at the seal, and swore softly, "What the hell could the Black Cosmos want with the Federal Seals?"

Reiter reached into one of the glass drawers on his dress, and opened a manila folder labeled Cosmos. He also retrieved a blue ballpoint pen and a black letter opener. After fishing around in the drawer, he came out with his needed items. The Captain picked up the envelope, and weighed it in his hands before lying it down on his desk in a fashion so that the seal was facing up. He took a small electronic pocketknife, and slowly removed the sealing wax. The blob of black wax he then took and placed it in his top drawer. In that drawer were several black seals of the same print, all pressed into a basket.

When opening the letter, he slowly withdrew a thick pile of crisp white paper, which looked like they'd just been printed. Holding a single paper up to the light, he saw the watermark, as well as sprawling signature of Black Cosmos' leader, Zaphael Corseky. He put the paper down, and read the first few paragraphs before his face scrunched up in a saddened look.

"No, why us? Why did Sharto have to die?" he asked the letter. A wink of a tear formed at the corner of his eye, and the captain dropped the paper, and covered his eyes as his shoulders were racked with shudders as he cried. His dark brown hair quivered, and his green eyes were closed off from reality.

Looking up toward the heavens he said, "I don't want anymore death, even if it means doing the unjust," he told himself.

When he finished praying for Sharto's life, he looked down to get hold of his emotions. Looking up, he had a mask of furious indifference on his face and he pressed a button on his holographic table.

"Get me Newman, Gameth Newman, my first lieutenant. Send him up right away!" he barked into the microphone.

"Yes Sir," someone replied on the other end. There was a slight scuffle, and his door opened with an airtight hiss. Outside stood a tall and lanky man, with blue-gray short-cropped hair, and small black glasses. His eyes were a brilliant amber color, and he was dressed in the casual soldier's uniform of white and blue. The only thing that showed that he had rank was the sash that draped across his chest, which held the silver medallion.

"Captain Reiter, Glides, what do you need?" the lieutenant asked.

"Gameth, were close enough, just call me Glides," the Captain corrected.

"Yes sir, I mean, Glides," Gameth replied hastily.

"Black Cosmos, those damn bastards report that Sharto has died in the recent battle of Burma. They demand that we join in the effort to create a countering force of the Specials; they say that the government of Okberth has given us no choice in the matter," the Captain said in a voice smoothed with concern, "They say it is our job to look after the child trainees. Those damn bastards think that they can just order us around, but now we have no choice."

"But Glides, we can't look after the trainees, they're abominations, the men will object," the lieutenant responded while rubbing his hands.

"I know, but they're just children. Huff, The land forces call the Specials wrong because their genes have been messed with, but then they decide to send children into battle. It's disgusting, I understand. But we are lucky, at least they didn't assign us the training or collecting of them" the captain commented.

"Yes sir, I will let the crew know about Sharto. When will that other thing come into effect?" Gameth replied.

"We have two weeks before we get the first trained ones. They will require bunks, and guards as several of them can be out of control. Zaphael Corseky gives us his permission to shoot them in the heads if they misbehave," Glides sighed.

"Yes Glides," the lieutenant replied heavily.

The first wave of trainees came and went in fashion. Captain Glides Reiter had learned the true meaning of cruelty in that experience. He had watched his most trustworthy colleagues be torn apart by the savageness of the children that had been put under his control. Each one of them was abominations, full of anger and hate; all were man-made killing machines.

A trainee is a child ranging from 7-18 years of age, who was trained to fight battles, and each is on par with any Special. As the Captain learned more about their treatment he began to pity the children. Most had been grown out of test tubes, or had all memories erased. Once that process occurred, Cosmos would implant a certain amount of knowledge within them. Cosmos would then use certain drugs to induce a fake sense of strength and other physical features required to fight in a war against Specials. They weren't even considered people; they were listed under weapons.

Their first experiences with these monsters of war introduced the new era of the trainees where each ship was equipped with one. Each kid could only fight several times before going insane. After those few uses, they were to be discarded or killed whether on a lethal drug or with a gun. Once in a while a stronger child was found, one that could withstand the constant pressure and did not need the drugs to function. These children were later to become the stronger fighters, the star players in the battle, despite their apparent state of mind. No longer perfect beings, they were unstable but unstoppable killing machines with a single purpose of killing Specials. That was the war being fought. All existent in a world filled with specials and originals.

Chapter 1: Specials

Hi my name is Ella Stanza.

The war between Specials and Originals had been spiraling out of control when I was born. I am a first generation Special, but I don't have to live in the special colonies of IOOS, or Islands Of Our Savior. That's where only Specials live, who orbit the earth on a daily basis in their own safe ball shaped colonies. No, I lived quite a different place, Quito, a neutral country in the war. We know if our government takes a side, then all the Originals or all the Specials will die. Since I have been alive there has always been peace between the two different types of people. Specials don't even look different that Originals.

That's what I didn't understand most. They claimed that this war was that the Specials weren't right, that we weren't Originals. The thing is, we look the same, we sound the same, and we act the same, at least here in Quito. This whole war, at least what I have learned about, is caused because Specials were different. Sure, our genes may have been messed around with, but around here, nobody knows I'm special. Even though I can answer hard questions and can run slightly faster than Originals, they don't care. Honestly, I don't think this should be an issue at all. My parents made the decision for me; it wasn't like it was a choice on my part. They are originals, and I'm the only one in my family who was made into a special.

I'm not all that different than the Originals, even though I am in 7th grade. All of my friends are Originals I know, but we have the best times together. My best friend's name is Talia, named after one of mom's people. She has beautiful black hair, just like me. The only thing is that she is pale as paper, and she has brilliant purple eyes. I always envied her eyes. They were like mystical spheres that could delve into you deepest secrets. My eyes are boring. Black like the rest of my family. Thankfully my parents only changed inner feature, not how I looked.

Talia is shorter than me, but only by a few centimeters. She is one of the prettiest girls I've ever met, and I love her like a sister. Her parents are amazing adults, so I spend a lot of time at Talia's house with her. Both of them are Originals, but they were born and raised in Quito. They know I'm a special, but they don't treat me any differently. I don't understand why people have such prejudices. Talia is the sister of my soul; I don't think I've ever had a closer friend.

My other friend is a smartass named Sathema, or as I call her, Sath. She has the weirdest name, and I wouldn't be surprised if her parents were high when she was born. Since it's December 12, her birthday on the 20th is coming up. Last week I was invited to it, so I'm really excited. I think her gift is going to be a tablet like those things that you can listen to music while typing an essay on the go. She's always wanted on, so I think she'll love it.

Sath is red haired, but blue eyes. She has so many freckles, its kind of funny. When we were growing up together, I remember when we'd play connect the dots with them. Of course we didn't know better, so we used Brand Pens, or a type of pen that doesn't erase for a few weeks. Her parents freaked out at us, but it was really fun.

I myself am Asian, with almost black eyes, dark skin, and almost black hair. I'm 15 years old. My parents make me be old-fashion, so I have to wear some electronic glasses. They aren't too bad since I can play games on their lenses as well as take pictures, but everyone says I look cuter without them. I hope my parents will let me get some contacts soon.

Now for the more dramatic part in my life, the person who I want to hang out with truly is named Christopher Lamar. He's like a decimeter taller than I am, and everyone tells me he's really cute. I guess I'm just bias, but when I look at him, I see his amazing nice guy personality and cool nerd personality like me. Chris is so nice, and really kind. Although he insists on being a vegetarian, he's one of the only crushes I've had though my life. I'm not sure if this is why he is so nice but Talia says that he looks like a man. Well, I guess he does in a sense.

Christopher has dark brown hair that has several curls. It actually sticks out of his head a bit, so I find it quite amusing. He has green colored eyes. Personally, I think that he couldn't change one bit and he'd still be the most attractive person I've ever met. But I guess I'm also bias on that issue too. Sometimes I just wish that he'd notice me more. Whatever, we are close friends so it doesn't make that much of a difference. It's not like anything's going to change any time soon.

Sincerely,

Ella Stanza

At school Ella and her friend sit in math class, where they sketch in their notebooks and don't pay enough attention to the teacher. Even though they are 9th graders, they are all very smart and have been accelerated up to 10th grade math and language arts. Ella casually jots down a not, and passes it to Talia. All of them are wearing black school uniforms; the guys wear long pants and shirts while the girls are wearing skirts and shirts. Talia receives the note, and silently laughs.

As the teacher asks for the students to turn in their packets, each student groans in silent despair. But not Ella, she smiles, wistfully. She is looking at the boy in front of her, a boy a head taller than herself. He has brown hair, and a goofy smile. His glasses are roundish, and cover his face decently. His eyes are wide, and his pale skin quivers as he writes furiously. His name is Christopher.

Ella stares at the back of his head, memorizing how each of his brown curls fall on his neck, inspecting his hygiene and his new hair cut. She chuckles when he shakes his head; letting his brown curls swing loose. "Having trouble?" she whispers to the back of his neck, and watched the red in his cheeks rise and a bashful smile appear on his face. She lifts her hand to cover a sly smile. As the bell rings she is very much into what ever is going on and the Ella saunters over to Talia's desk. Chris grabs his stuff, and after a brief smile at Ella, he turns around and walks out the door.

"Hey Talia," she comments casually

"Hey Ella, how did your test go?" Talia replies.

"Oh you know, boring as always, how about you?"

"Good, I actually knew a part of the work implied. Either way, I probably failed it like usual"

"Please, I tutored you, there is no way in hell that you could fail" complained Ella.

"Whatever" said Talia.

Ella leans forward, both hands flat on Talia's desk. Her shoulder length hair drapes flowingly over her left eye obscuring the dark iris.

"Did you see who was sitting in front of me?" She asked.

"Haha, nice one Ella. You really need to stop going after the guys that really don't mean anything. I mean look at him. Chris is nice and tall, but jeez, he barely does his work and honestly doesn't seem like a guy you'd want. Maybe you should try for some of the higher class people like Adrian," poked Talia.

"Adrian smadrian, its not like he'd ever go for someone like me. Anyways haven't you had your eyes on him for like all of eighth grade year? I mean come on, you are always popular with the guys, and I just get the tidbits. I mean I'm still a kissing virgin"

"Hey I've offered to help you pop that kissing cherry!"

Ella lightly punches Talia in the shoulder. "How many times do I need to tell you, I will figure it out on my own!"

"Anyways, back on Christopher, you do realize that you are friends with him. I mean I've seen how you look at each other, I mean you aren't the most discrete about your feelings" nagged Talia.

"Talliii! You know that he doesn't actually care, so I'm just better off finding an easy guy where I can just bang and get over with it," replied Ella

"Idiot, we always come back to this. Like trust me, I can hook you up with an attractive guy, not just a nerdy one," sighed Talia.

Talia sweeps up her stuff, shoving everything into her bag, a brown satchel. She give a big toothy smile at Ella, "I'm just poking fun at you," Ella Shakes her head.

"Whatever Talia, lets just get out of here. I wouldn't want you to be TOO caught up in your inability to take a decent test!" says Ella. "Anyways I have work soon."

"Work, ok well then you big responsible person, don't be too clouded in your misty and romantic thoughts about Chris"

Ella threw up her head and laughed out loud in the empty classroom. She stares lovingly at her friend, "I'll try not to. Anyways usually I end up messaging you whenever I think of him."

Talia shook her head, full of pity. "You really need a new boy Ella, I've been hearing about Chris since you guys became friends. It doesn't help that you both work in the same place"

"Well maybe you should go work with… ADRIAN!" Ella yelled playfully.

It didn't take Ella long to run to her locker. Lately something had been going wrong with her electronic eye lock, but there wasn't too much she could do about it. The only person that the locker recognized was the weird custodian, and Ella didn't want to spend all the time trying to page the guy. "Please open," she whispered silently, hoping that it might actually work. Surprisingly it did, and the red light scanned across her iris, giving her a chance to enter her locker.

She pulled out her blue gray backpack, making sure that everything was in it. Lately she had been having weird things appear and disappear from her locker. One time she even had a beautiful red paper rose appear, with no sign or anything. How was she supposed to know whom it was from, but she couldn't do anything with it so she left it there. The next day it was gone.

After gathering her stuff, she disappeared down to the underground train tunnels that surrounded the little area she called her school. Nobody ever questioned her down there, because she had to go every day. In Quito, barely anyone knew that there were actually some facilities dedicated to the war tactics that only the most qualified were privy to. Being a special, she had been recruited the past year because she had a very good grasp on mechanical workings, and was contributing to the development of robots for every day usage.

On the train, she passed one stop where she saw parts of the military being loaded into vans. Even though the Quito's military wasn't exactly involved in the conflict between the IOOS and Okberth, Quito still had it's own military just in case. Quito's government was adamant on not taking sides, especially since most of their technology came from the specials living there. There were always the haters of both sides, but in generally Quito was an extremely peaceful area, with barely any conflict.

She looked out the window, watching as the streams of the soldiers were placed in rank. These were the new recruits, and Ella could see herself as one of them some time soon. She hated the idea of war, but in Quito, there was no war, no fighting. Ella just wanted to protect her homeland the best she could, even if it meant fighting people. Everyone she loved lived in Quito, being a first generation she had no problems with the normals, they made up her friends and her family. Without them she would be totally and completely lost. The long rows of soldiers parading to the side of train were in blue uniforms, probably working the ocean, not the robot fighters, or as Ella called them, the mobile suits. All of them looked so young, probably Ella's age. In Quito that was an option, people started young, they could enlist when they turned fifteen. Technically Ella could enlist but she wanted to complete certain parts of her education prior to any type of work.

She leaves the trains, and enters into her own underground paradise. The guard at the first door nods as she waves her white pristine badge

"Hello Dr. Kinswell, how are you today?" she politely asks when she enters the laboratory.

"Oh Ella! Just who I needed. Chris is already working on some experiment he made up, but I had some things I need you to test too!" replied the over exhuberant Kinswell.

"Thank you miss! I'll have these finished in a jiffy!" responded Ella. When she walked down the hallway of the facility, she spotted Chris. They made eye contact, and both gave each other thumbs up. That was always their ritual. Chris did more of the hands on work, while Ella worked more on programming and engineering. Through the last year they had made eons of progress, and Ella hoped that within the next year, they might be ready to add the machinery to the markets. Even with the war, production was still needed, and anything that could help.

Suddenly there was a violent shaking taking place overhead, the lights flickered, and the machinery that Ella was designing fell over. She rushed out into the hallway, and saw that everyone else was exiting the building. Seeing Chris in her way, she hurries over to her friend. Grabbing his hand, surprising him, she asks urgently "What's going on?"

Chris looks over to her, grimaces, and says, "Supposedly we are under attack by the IOOS, I cannot believe it"

"The IOOS! What! We aren't even part of that stupid war. For what reason do they attack us for?" she asked to nobody in particular.

While the two friends rush to the surface, each of the different research rooms. The more people that evacuated, the more that every single part of the building began to shake. The facility was located underground, which made it much more requisitely that they all got out in time. As more people flooded into the hallways leading to the stairs, the environment became more and more chattered. Ella listened in, growing more and more panicked as each rumor that the IOOS was the cause of the attack. As it finally hit her, she collapsed, dropping Chris's hand. He stopped looked back at her, but by that time she had already been flooded over. Looking back one more time, he called out, and continued running.

After all the people had passed Ella was next to the walls, still bowed on her knees praying. Being a special in secret had taken a toll on her, and it was horrible to hear what the people that she could call her kin were doing in her own country. Why was this happening to her, to her family, and to everyone that she trusted? Only Talia knew the truth, but nobody else did. Realizing this now, she remembered that she had left a precious amulet from her mother in the lab. She had to take it off to pass the metal detectors. She ran back grabbed the amulet. The attack stopped, and the earth shattering explosions ceased. They must have reached some sort of a ceasefire.

She rushed around, desperately searching for her friend and crush Chris, and found him holed up by the train, waiting for the next stop.

"Thank god I found you Chris, I thought that I'd never be able to find you again!" she gasped out, ignoring the fact that she was the one that separated from him.

"Ella! You are all right; I was really worried about you. Yea I've just been waiting for the next train, you wouldn't believe what the rumors are saying!" he told her, stunned.

"Rumors? What do you mean? Was it something more than just an attack? What caused it?" she questioned him.

"Well the other people in the mechanical section were saying that it was a terrorist bombing, but the thing is, is that it was too high tech for just a mere terrorist" he proclaimed in barely concealed fury, "according to my friend in mechanics, it was a direct assault from IOOS"

"Direct assault? Why? What did we do, I mean it's so odd that the specials would attack a country that held their own people!" Ella exclaimed.

"Well supposedly that's the reason. The government has been discussing with the specials zone. It's some sort of disagreement that they got into. Supposedly Ray Zala, the leaders of the specials wants a complete split between the specials and the originals. I honestly don't understand, it isn't like having them combined with us is a bad thing. I mean they help a lot in the production of everything. Specials are different which makes them weird, but I mean it isn't like they harm us. I definitely don't like the specials because their genes have been tampered with, but it isn't like I couldn't work with them" Chris proclaimed.

Ella felt betrayed. Being a special, it was so difficult to here those words spilling from the mouth of someone that she simply adored. Specials weren't at all different from you originals she thought to herself. Even with Ray Zala stating that specials should be their own species because their genes were different, Ella still believed fully that specials and originals were no different from each other. Listening to these scathing words, she turned away, and missed the look of pain in Chris's eyes. She didn't quite know, but just like Ella, he was hiding a secret too. He was a second generation of special, but he hated it because it made him different. He had been bullied in school, so he tried never to tell people that he was a special, and tried to make people think he was against them.

"I guess that makes sense" Ella replied hesitantly, afraid to make it sound like she supported him.

"Of course it does" he said harshly, unaware of the effects he was having on Ella. In the depth of his heart, he agreed that specials and originals were not different, but here was merely afraid of being hurt. Even though he had strong feelings for Ella, he didn't want to tell her the truth, as her answer just confirmed his fear that she didn't like specials.

When she arrived home, her family was waiting by the door. Her mother was always the worrier, and each of the lines of worry was etched onto her face. Being an only child, her parents cared deeply about her. Although she had the chance to transfer up to the IOOS, but they declined it, unwilling to part with their daughter. Ella's mother embraced Ella, glad she was ok, and was not hurt.

"Was it really the IOOS mom?" She asked

"So it seems Ella, they really are pushing to collect all of the specials aren't they" her mother replied, brushing Ella's long black hair with a stray hand.

"Its just so odd, that they'd be that idiotic," her dad stated, "I mean what could Quito have done to make them this angry at the country. Even if we do shelter some specials like yourself, it isn't like you all are being hurt. If you were we'd move you to the IOOS."

"The IOOS? Why, it isn't like I couldn't protect myself if I wanted. Anyways all the people I know probably would be fine knowing that I'm a special. Even if I've been keeping it from everyone," Ella protested. Her mind wandered, thinking back toward Chris. To her knowledge he was the only person with an actual feeling against the specials.

"We know Ella," her parents lightly tapped her with their words, "but sometimes hate can get to places where we don't want it to. It can cloud people's judgments, and make them do things that they don't want. It doesn't help with this attack by the IOOS, I'm guessing when you go back to school tomorrow that there will be quite a different situation, lets just hope that it doesn't phase too many people."

"It better not," growled Ella, darkness growing in her eyes and heart, she sighed, "well we might as well get off this depressing topic and lean toward something more entertaining. How was work today, apart from the IOOS or the terrorist attack?"

On the other side of the town in which Ella lived in, a whole other story was being played out. Christopher was a second generation special, meaning his parents actually specials. Throughout his childhood he had been mocked and scorned for his ability to be special, so when he finally moved to Quito, he had a chance at a new start. Since originally he had come from a school which being special was looked down with scorn, he decided to pretend that he was a normal. A normal that hated everything about specials.

This was his way of protecting himself, making sure that nobody could pick on him. He had to play dumb while in school, just so that he wouldn't be scorned at. His greatest fear was being bullied and losing his friends. Especially Ella. It had hurt him greatly when she agreed with his words in the facility. He half expected her to slap him, because she had always been so open minded toward the specials and the originals. It was like it didn't matter at all to her.

I guess it doesn't actually matter to me, he thought to himself. After all, every time he said something he was being extremely hypocritical. But to him that was his only option. If he told people he was a special, then he would be shunned. His parents kept pushing to go up to IOOS, but being as young as he was, his parents decided to wait. But sitting at the dinner table the night after an IOOS attack made them think otherwise.

"Erin, are you sure that you want to stay here?" his father asked.

"John! I work here. It isn't like I can just change. I mean what types of opportunities are like the one that I here. Moving to the IOOS could be disastrous for both my career and our family. At least here we are geniuses, but up there, we are just normal people. We can make a difference here," his mother rebutted.

"A difference that nobody actually respects. Have you not seen the way that people look at the TV monitors showing the special colonies, the IOOS? They don't respect it. For them, specials have so much more of an advantage as compared to themselves. I almost agree with Ray Zala, I mean we are ten times more advance than the originals, we might even be a new species," proclaimed his father.

"A new species?" scoffed Erin, "WE are no different than the originals. It's absurd to hear you talking about this as if we are something different. We've been living with the originals all our lives, and haven't had a problem, but with the recent rise of Ray Zala, just more violence has occurred. And it doesn't help that the leaders of the Okberth are proclaiming that all of the specials are abominations. That we are abominations and should be gotten rid of. It is a classic clash in ideals. Just a clamoring of people with too many ideals and ideas. This damn war is the result of a mere misunderstanding. We aren't even close to being a new species. I don't even believe that specials would be able to survive without the originals. I mean they did create most of us."

Chris looked up from his dinner. Arguments like this had been going on most of the nights since they moved away from their American homeland to Quito. America had recently decided to side with the country of Okberth. To Chris, that was a horrible decision, it just caused more widespread hate and created a huge gap between the two types of people. At that moment, the world was literally divided into two sides. Most of the larger countries such as China and America had sided with Okberth, but the African and some of the European countries sided with the IOOS. It was a world war, two sides, neither willing to concede any part of their beliefs.

Only a few countries like Quito had been able to remain neutral in that environment, and even those who strongly believed in neutrality had been convinced to choose a side. Quito was special, much like Switzerland in WWII; it wanted to remain neutral, yet both the IOOS and the allied countries rallying with Okberth had been pushing into the Quito government. The decision from the IOOS to attack Quito probably was the final straw mused Chris. The sole question was, which side would Quito take. With its strong military influence, it would probably help influence the war one way or another. A pointless war, but a war all-together.

"Do you really think that Quito will remain neutral? Or are we just deluding ourselves?" Chris asked his parents, in a careful monotone. They looked thoughtful, stunned by his question and it's ability to bring up only two answers. Yes or no. A small silence descended upon the table.

"He's right you know," his father said to nobody in particular. His mother looked away, still trying to come up with a rebuttal, "If Quito actually decides to choose a side, what will happen to all of us? We are specials, and it isn't like we can change that fact. It would be fine if the IOOS became and ally, but that would probably lead to the destruction of all the originals. Yet with the attack I think that would be highly unlikely."

His father stopped talking, unwilling to bring up the other side of the argument. Chris and his family knew what would happen if the opposite were to happen. And that it was ten times more likely to happen.

"Quito has to stay neutral!" exclaimed his mom, after a minute of thinking; "it would be unfeasible if it were to choose one side or another."

"But if they do?" interjected Chris.

Everyone looked darkly. They had heard the horror stories about the inhumanity. The originals had convinced many people that the specials weren't even human. That the very existence of someone who was special was an abomination and that the person should be eliminated. These feelings hadn't even arisen when there was a big push from parents to make their children special, but as that generation grew up, the anger and jealousy had been created.

Moving from America, they had many friends who were specials located there. Chris and his family had been lucky to already be planning on moving before America had signed the treaty with Okberth. The leader of Okberth, George Fallacy had spread some sort of infectious hate into the people of America. He spread the fact that originals were the best type of human being because they were natural and didn't have their genes messed with. But it led to horrible consequences. In the matter of a few months it was like everyone had been brainwashed. Even though most people originally didn't care about who was special and who was an original, his words changed everyone.

Suddenly murder and mayhem were spreading like a wildflower across the continent. Specials were being killed for being abnormal, and the government turned the other way. The originals that sympathized with the specials were attacked as well, and none of the specials felt safe. A famous cellist who was a special was murdered on the street, and couples made up of a special and an original were scorned. There were horror stories of shooting in broad daylight taking place, and the police not even batting an eyelid. A special entering a car had the possibility of being shot. By that time Chris and his family had moved, barely escaping in time before they learned that several of their friends had lost children and spouses in the terror.

As Chris processed this fact, the news reporter came on located in the hologram wall across from the table. A reporter with brown hair stood in the center, holding a simple mike to her mouth. She looked disturbed, and Chris's family looked up.

"Breaking News!" The reported said, in a monotone as if something bad had happened. The last time some announcement had come up was when Original terrorists had bombed the IOOS colony. Chris kneaded his hands together, waiting for the verdict.

"Riots have started at the capital of Quito. Today there was a bombing from terrorists from the IOOS. It is believed that they were suicide bombers, but nothing has been confirmed as of yet. It is true that the Quito government has been extremely pressured to ally itself with the IOOS, but rumors have been spread effectively stating that the government of Quito has been secretly supporting Okberth. Although this has not been completely confirmed, the present of Quito has declared that if the country was considering this, that he had no idea. In addition, both the IOOS and Okberth have declared that if Quito does not issue a treaty within the next two weeks, that they will have no choice but to both declare a state of war onto Quito. With the attacks from the IOOS, whose leader refuses to comment on the fact that the technology used was military grade and only found in the IOOS colonies, it is theorized that if Quito buckles under pressure, it is highly likely that it will side with the alliance of the earth, led by Okberth. Already there has been some originals rallying in support of Okberth, and several muggings of known specials have been reported to the local governments." The reporter concluded.

As the screen flashed red, with the words EMERGENCY floating across the screen, Chris's family looked at each other in stunned silence. War? Against both IOOS and Okberth would be catastrophic for their country.

"Erin, this is what I mean. Quito is going to be forced to choose a side. With what happened in America, imagine what might happen here, in Quito where there is such a mix of opinions. Especially after the bombing." Chris's father John said.

"I still don't know. I don't want to leave, but with all that's going on, I don't think I could face another situation like America." Erin replied, "but what will happen to Chris?"

"We've already moved once. It won't be any different for me, but I think we have to move immediately. So much happened, I just think that it may be wise to move." Chris said in a monotone, hiding the conflicting emotions. What if they stayed? People all thought he was a normal, but if it got out that he wasn't he could be abandoned, "Anyways didn't you have a job offer by that big weapons producer in the IOOS?"

"Yes I did," his mother said dejectedly. With her past experience in America, she too was afraid of another alliance with Okberth, "I could take it, but I just think that the fighting would be pointless. People are just idiots, why cannot everyone understand that everything should be equal. But it isn't like I can do anything about it."

"Please Erin, you know it would be best for the family," pleaded his father. "We can begin anew, without the fear and the constant worry about the originals harassing us."

"But Chris, your friends..." his mother protested weakly.

"I know a lot of people in the IOOS, it won't be too difficult for me," he said.

"And didn't you like that girl Ella. I liked her, could you actually leave her?" She asked with more confidence.

"Yeah, I like her. But she agreed with me when I was just throwing out words in mid air. She doesn't even know that I'm a special, and I bet she'd hate me if she found out."

Chapter 2 Home

It's six AM in Ella's room, and her alarm clock goes off one more time. A fist reaches out, snaking under the covers of her comfortable bed. It pounds down on the off button, and slowly a monster pushes up the blankets. Ella's hair is in disarray; she didn't sleep very well after what had happened last night. She had spent the gist of the night watching some movie on her portable hologram, and was up till three in the morning texting her friend Talia.

Rubbing her eyes from exhaustion, she crawled slowly out of the bed. Her head still ached because of a lack of sleep, but it faded in the fifteen minutes it took her to get ready for school. She had finished all of the work due for her classes after dinner, and made the poor choice to stay up all night. I'm such an idiot she thought to herself. Yet it wasn't any different from all the other days, she never got the right amount of sleep.

"Morning Dad!" she yelled from the top of the stairs in her house. Both her father and mother worked at the same place. Her dad was a dentist and her mom was a nurse at a nearby hospital. They always had to get up early, and generally were able to drive Ella to the school, located around a kilometer away. When they weren't home, Ella had to walk there, a task she didn't particularly enjoy.

"Hey Ella!" her dad exclaimed as she staggered downstairs carrying her bags, "not a good night?"

"When is ever a good night?" she asked rolling her eyes jokingly.

"Well you could at least attempt to go to bed at a regular time," her mother chastised.

"Jeez mom, I'm fifteen, I bet you stayed up as late as I do when you were my age!" she protested.

"Whatever Ella, you just make sure you don't fall asleep in class again!" her dad interjected.

Ella snorted. That's not likely to happen any time soon she thought to herself. Being a special meant that she got all the materials much easier than the rest of her class. In fact she really should be a grade or two higher, but her parents wanted to keep her with her friends so they decided it would be best to keep her in ninth grade.

Lost in thought she turned and took a bite of the toast she had made. "Dad can you please get the Jam, this toast is really dry."

"Lazy bum, I'll get it for now, but you really need to get it together," her dad replied jokingly. He grabbed the raspberry jam, and placed in front of Ella who was sitting at the red wood table. Raspberries were Ella's favorite flavor. Although almost all wild raspberries had gone extinct several decades ago, the large factory had come up with an extremely genetically modified version, which grew in the factory's smoky labs.

Spreading the jam on the toast, Ella completely lost herself in the numbness of a task that wasn't particularly difficult, slipping into a trance that got her through most of the every day things that she had to do. It was like she just reacted, almost like a fake mask. The only time she was out of it was when she was home, with Talia or in the lab. Without her fake mask, she felt vulnerable, being a special and all. By then she had already forgotten about what had occurred the day before. Her family didn't pay the bills for a TV, so they had missed the announcements, and honestly most of them didn't care too much.

"Talia! There you are!" she yelled at her best friend who was gossiping with her brother and some of his friends. For some reason she always hung out with her brother, unless she was with Ella. They were the closest of friends.

"Hey Ella!" Talia said, brushing up to Ella, "I heard about the bombing at the facility, was it scary?"

"Ah, it wasn't too bad, I mean we were pretty safe. Anyways I got to talk to Chris on our way back! We actually held hands on the train!" Ella responded enthusiastically.

"Awe that's so cute," replied Talia, lost in thought, "I heard that he might not be here today though, some weird family thing." She smiled coyly, "I guess you are out of luck."

"We aren't like that," scoffed Ella jokingly.

"Oh, well I guess. You know people CAN change!" her friend Talia replied, "Anyways did you do that packet received in science? I barely understand this new topic."

"Jeez Talia, didn't you see me sleeping yesterday? Of course I did it you dunce. I can help you if you want!" Ella exclaimed and chuckled to herself.

"That's sort of what I was hinting at Ella. Jeez," Talia said and smiled. Little did Ella know that Talia by accidentally had told her brother Jeff that Ella actually was a special the prior night. With all the action surrounding specials and originals, it had just slipped out. It wasn't like it could harm anyone, so she just swore her brother to secrecy.

"Yea well you know me. I'm a literal person, I never understand the underlying messages!" Ella said with a wink.

"Well I mean tomorrow is Saturday, we could go on a run and do some Chemistry review?" Talia suggested.

"Sounds good to me, I'd love to! Maybe afterwards we could practice our jumping. The track season is coming up pretty soon!"

"Hell yes Ella! WE are going to kick some serious butt. Being in our freshman year, we have some actual competition, but I bet that you'll do really well!"

The bell rang, and the girls parted ways. They had both attended the same middle school, and were friendly competitors. Ella was always in shape. She was a natural runner, and her favorite event was the high jump. Being the Middle school champion at her school, she was always butting heads with her friend Talia. They loved running together, and always enjoyed challenging each other to go to new heights, no pun intended. As each of them walked away, they blatantly ignored the fact that Ella was actually a special, and that Talia was a normal. For them it was natural to ignore that fact, because simply they were always friends.

Ella's first class of the day was a simple cooking class. Being notoriously bad at handling ingredients, her classmate Roger had been assigned to help her. After the first fire she caused, her teacher wasn't exactly willing to give her free reign over the kitchen. Since they were in September, they were working on their baking skills with the basic things such as biscuits. The last time she had tried to make biscuits was when she was in eighth grade, and she nearly caught the school on fire because she had left them in too long. Even as a special, with a high IQ and everything, cooking skills was a major lacking in her education. One that didn't seem to be learnable.

Mixing the batter, Roger came over to her.

"You are splashing Ella," he said, gently reminder her that she wasn't doing something right.

She was lost in thought, and his words made her flinch. It wasn't uncommon that she zoned out. Since she had grown up not really paying attention to any of the teacher, and learned all the materials on her own without any actual paying attention. Zoning out was just something she did when she wanted to think.

"I am? Oh, I am!" she said dazed. Everyone must think I'm an idiot she thought to herself as she felt her face reddening up, "damn!"

Roger smiled. Ella was always doing things like that. Always messing up, probably not on purpose but he always thought it was cute. The way that when she was so smart but so immature with the little things made him smile whenever they had class together. Too bad Chris already had his eyes on her he mused to himself.

He reached over, "want me to help you with that?"

She smothered a giggle of embarrassment. Ugh why couldn't she just die right now? "Sure I guess if you don't think I haven't screwed up the recipe already," she said sarcastically.

He grabbed the spoon she held in her hand, and began lightly beating the dough. His mother was a cook at a five star restaurant, so he actually knew how to cook. Wanting to strike up some pleasant conversation as she watched his graceful hands shape the dough, he asked "So, what do you think about that bombing yesterday?"

"Yesterday was a bunch of stupid things," she responded, a bit of unease in her stance. He was surprised, not expecting such a reaction.

"Really? Why was it stupid? I mean it makes sense that the IOOS would put pressure. I mean they do have to compete with Okberth and earth alliance," he replied, trying to get a grip on her mood.

"But did they actually have to attack Quito? I mean we are a neutral nation! Just because they want the specials to be rounded up doesn't mean that they might end up hurting innocent people!" she exclaimed.

"Nobody actually was hurt, but I mean I don't think it would be that bad if we decided to join with the IOOS, I mean at least they wouldn't slaughter us Originals!" he said in a passionate voice.

"That is true, but what happens when the peace is broken. Will Okberth attack us? I know that Quito has a decent military, but I think it would be very difficult to fight against a country that has it's home base so nearby. Not to mention the amount of propaganda against specials. Didn't you hear the rumors about America? They slaughtered all the specials, as if they were just pigs. It was horrible!" she said dejectedly.

"Well it's like that, but honestly it isn't like that will happen. We've all been living side by side, I don't think it will change!" he said.

"Well I guess it all depends on how you feel toward specials, do you think they are still human?" she asked, with her voice very low, just wanting to hear someone say that she was real.

"Honestly, I don't know what the big deal is about. They are all the same; I mean they look the same. I don't know, my best friend was special. I don't see how people can actually think that specials are a new species!" he said animatedly.

Another one of the students stuck his head into their conversation. His name was Phil, and he was a huge supporter of the EF.

"Really Roger, is that what you think?" he asked harshly, his prepubidencent voice cracking as it got lower and lower.

"Of course Phil, they are just like the originals!" Roger stated.

"It almost sounds like you are a special Roger, defending those abominations! They are nothing but scum, I wish they never existed!" Phil said in an angry voice, lowered so that the teacher didn't notice. Ella flinched, not visibly, but her hand paled a bit. Nobody noticed, but inside her head was turmoil of emotions. Is that actually what people think? She cried out in her mind. No wonder there is so much hate in this world.

"Scum? How could you say that! Specials are just like us originals! They may have capabilities beyond our imaginations, but they are still people. They still have feelings and they aren't even too different from us!" Roger rebutted with a lot of controlled fury behind his voice. Ella could feel her hope rising. At least one person had sense in his mind. Not like that stupid Phil.

"Bull shit!" interjected Phil, "They are just like us is such complete crap. Look at the specials Roger. It's abnormal that anyone has had his or her genes messed with! It is wrong and isn't natural. It's messing up the natural balance. Those specials aren't right, its like they are aliens here. They may contribute to a lot, but they aren't human. They aren't even close to human. They are too advanced and have too many advantages over us originals. What happens when they want to take over the world eh? What happens when they start infecting our population with their poisoned blood and genes? Because I'll tell you! The human original race will no longer exist. And everything will turn out in a way that nobody wants. All the cause of those horrible specials. They shouldn't even deserve to live, and if they do, they should just be tools to us originals. Isn't that what they were born to do? To serve?" he finished, nearly spitting his final sentence.

"Whatever Phil, you can think whatever!" exclaimed Roger, tired of hearing so much Okberth propaganda, "Just leave us alone, it wasn't our fault you butted into this conversation!"

Phil rolled his eyes, "Fine Roger, but don't come crying to me when you and your generation gets infected by those damn specials!"

"I'd count my generation LUCKY thank you very much!" Roger said to Phil's back, and then he turned to Ella, "I'm sorry that got out of hand. I hate people like him, who only think of the damn propaganda," he said angrily.

"It's fine, I'm used to it," said Ella dismissively, but she still was confused. Why did Phil hate the specials so much she mused, "So your best friend was a special?"

"Yea! His name was Alex, and we grew up together. I actually have quite a few relatives who are specials, and honestly I think they are nicer than everyone else in my family. I don't see them very often anymore though!"

"Why now? Did something happen to your family or Alex?"

"Nothing important, Alex's mother and father were also specials. They didn't want to stay in Quito, so they decided to move to IOOS. It was really difficult to see him go," Roger said sadly.

"So you really are okay with specials having their genes messed with? I mean truly? I won't judge," asked Ella.

"Yeah truly," he stated defensively, thinking that Ella wanted to start another argument.

"I'm not trying to start an argument," she said when she noticed the change in his attitude toward her. He relaxed, "actually it's relieving that some people actually think that way. It really hurts to hear Phil say things like that."

"Hurts? Why would it hurt?" he whispered to her, already suspecting what would come next.

She leaned in, and glanced around. Even though his hands were still beating the dough in a circle, she wanted to see his reaction for herself. "Can you keep a secret?" she asked her defendant.

"Depends on the secret, but in general, yes," he stated quietly.

"According to Phil, I'm not human," she said, her voice catching in her throat as a wave of depression and sadness overcame her. She had to say it in a quiet voice, because she didn't want Phil to here, but she didn't know that one of the kids behind her was listening intently, "I'm a special Roger, a first generation. Does that change your opinion of me?" she asked.

His hands stopped for a second and started beating again. His mind was a jumble of realizations. Ella a special? Was that even possible? She was the clumsiest person he knew! There was no way that she could be a special. Yet as that thought passed through his mind, the wheels began to turn and everything clicked together. That's why she works at a young age, and why she can ace everything! Not to mention that even though she sleeps in class, she always manages to get by with the highest grades in the class.

As he was thinking, her gaze fell for a few seconds, thinking that it had changed everything. Suddenly a smile lit up on his face, "I guess that makes sense!" he said to nobody in particular, and then looked at her, "It doesn't change anything! You will always be my clumsy Ella, nothing can change that!"

She sighed in relief. She was seriously worried that he would think that there was something wrong with her. "Thanks," she whispered.

"It's my pleasure." And then the bell rang.

It didn't take Ella very long to finish the math assignment in her last class of the day. Being Friday, she was already edgy, wanting to return home so that she could process everything that happened that day. For some reason, Chris hadn't been there today. He usually sat two desks next to her, and they would always exchange secret glances just like they did at work. In her class they were working on the rules of sin and cosine, which she had already studied on her own.

Where is Chris she asked to herself, and then remembered what Talia had told her. She wondered if he had just been too shocked by the events that occurred yesterday. She could still feel the stinging of his words when he said his shpeel about the specials. She could never tell him, ever, about what she was, because she didn't want to loose him as a friend or as a potential crush.

By the time the bell sounded for a final toll, Ella had already drifted off in the class twice. It was just group work time, nothing that she needed to actually pay attention to. By the first week of the year, her teachers had already figured out that Ella wasn't the type to pay attention. Her math teacher even called her a cheat, much to the chagrin of Ella, but she retook the test and still aced it, so he had to content himself with that she was extremely smart. Most of her teachers didn't even bother saying anything to her, because they knew it didn't really matter that she didn't pay attention at all.

Talia strutted over to where Ella had her desk firmly attached to the table. Thankfully there wasn't any drool hanging out of Ella's mouth.

"Wake up you sleepyhead!" Talia cried as she shook Ella's hand.

"mmhhrrrr just one more hour please," Ella faked,

"You big oaf! You really just sleep everywhere don't you?" Talia stated.

"Well it wasn't like the class was particularly interesting!" argued Ella, "anyways I already know that theory, and so it would be pointless to pay attention in that class."

"Ella! You might as well just skip a grade; it isn't like anyone would actually mind. All the teachers agree to that fact, you are too smart to be in this grade. Go to college already," protested Talia.

"Then I'd actually have to work, and anyways then people would know about me," she said darkly, "today in culinary essentials, Phil started badmouthing specials. I mean what makes him so high and might that he can think that he's better than everyone else. I mean he is after all just human!" Ella said exasperated.

"I guess he makes sense…" Talia trailed off, and watched her friends eyes darken in annoyance, "well considering that he has the brain of a fly!" she exclaimed.

They laughed, a joyful tinkering sound, as if everything was going right.

"He is dumb isn't he," Ella sputtered, unable to contain the feeling in her gut. The laughter spilled out, making up for all the hurt she had felt when Phil had insulted the specials.

"I doubt he even knows what a special is, he's probably just parroting something he heard on the holograms. Just one of those stupid projections from Okberth," Talia said, "Maybe that should be his new name, parroting Phil with a brain the size of a pea!" she proclaimed.

The two girls, the only two left in the room, were shaking with laughter, and cracking more jokes about the stupidity of Phil's bias. Talia had seen how her best friend had entered the room, dejected, with a fake smile on her lips. She was so happy that her friend Ella could laugh and smile now with her.

"Anyways, it's Friday, and don't you have to work?" Talia asked when they were done snorting and giggling.

"Oh god thankfully no!" exclaimed Ella, "I'm so busy, and I have a doctor's check up tonight."

"Are you going to miss your meeting in work with Chris?" Talia poked jokingly at Ella.

"Chris? Who are you talking about? Him? Yeah right I'd miss him," Ella said as she winked, "either way this is my yearly physical with my doctor… being special and all they have to monitor everything."

"It just means that you'll be especially safe! Don't worry; it isn't like anybody cares here. You will always be our Ella, and nobody else," Talia explained with a brilliant smile.

Ella grasped Talia's hand in a firm grip, "you know it Tali…" she stated dramatically. While she was working with Talia's hand, she noticed the holographic watch she had on her left wrist, which had a little flashing red light. "Oh crap Talia! I'm late!" she exclaimed and dashed out of the door toward the front entrance.

Talia stuck her head outside of the door that Ella had just fled down, "ARE YOU STILL ON FOR RUNNING TOMORROW?" she yelled.

"Yessssss," came the faint response from down the hallway. Talia gathered her stuff and shook her head. Ella was always like that, here one moment, and gone another.

The front of her school was a garden in itself. High brick benches dotted a gravel pathway leading to the cast iron gate surrounding the property. It was technically a private school, and Ella's family paid for her to go there. The reason behind the decision was to have an environment where she could thrive and learn at her own pace, without having to lack resources. As Talia had alluded to before, Ella had amazing amounts of knowledge stuck in her mind being a highly advances special, but on the flip side, staying in her prospected grade could potentially drive her insane with boredom.

Ella's favorite part was the twisted gray gates surrounding the school. When the cherry trees were in bloom, clouds of petals would rain through the caste iron gates, giving an unmatchable view. When she walked around, she loved the feeling of her feet digging into the soft and pliant gravel. She found the contrast between the green of the grass going in the respective lawns bordered the dark gravel. Somehow the gravel never made it into the grass.

Ella had always had an affinity for the earth and her materials. She loved water, it was like a second home to her, but when it came to the ground she always wished to be closer to it. The rough brown bark which dotted the trees and led into long curving branches above which held the now golden leaves mad her gasp every time she saw them.

But at the time when her brown clogs touched into the gravel, she didn't have any time to look around. In a rush the only sound available was the wind flowing brightly through the trees, and the constant crush crush of her shoes in the gravel. Her breath wasn't harsh at all, even though she was running fairly fast. Her black hair streamed behind her, creating the allusion that she was looking into a fan.

If I don't make this appointment, I won't have another one for a whole year, she thought to herself. The doctor to her was both her friend and a trainer for her running. He had helped her a lot, and really gave her advice on what to do to excel. Being a special he also checked out her genes and DNA to check for mutations as well as making sure that she was functioning well down on Earth. Lost in thought, the rhythmic pounding of her shoes allowed her to take a look at what was going on.

Throughout the last twenty-four hours Ella really hasn't been able to fully process everything that had gone on within that time period. She exited the school, and hopped aboard the train. Oh well, they won't care if I'm ten minutes late will they, she wondered.

For her, the last couple had of days had been extremely disturbing. First the IOOS attack. What had caused it? And what different after affects could be caused by that. She mused in her head, and sat down in the blue gray seats of the cushy train towards her doctor.

For her, everything had been an honest mess. After the attack, listening to Chris give his speal on Specials had made her extremely weary. It was times like these that friends have to betray you right? She wondered aloud, thinking, but hten remembered Chris's smile. HE will just have to get over it.

Then came the issue of her friend in Roger, and how he had protected her from the scathing words of Phil. Phil to her knowledge had always been every passionate in his arguments, but that didn't mean he was right. What gave people the right to believe something like that its extreme and utter lies, it honestly shouldn't exist! She screamed silently in her head, not willing to show how messed up she was over this event. Roger was courageous, but not really her type, yet she still treated him as a friend. She told him the truth because she was so depressed at the moment, but she regretted doing that now that she saw the change in his eyes. The sort of worship and awe of her had turned into just oh she's normal stares.

"You have arrived at your destination," the train whispered across the intercom, "Swedish Medical Center, and next stop is the cemetery."

As the doors slid open with a whoosh of air, the train compartment was filled with fresh molecules of oxygen, and everyone breathed a sigh of relief. Outside was located a bunch of aspen trees, and being in September, each of the leaves was golden in color. The little capillaries of the leaf webbing stood out, the only green on the trees, and the veins pumped slight amounts of water through the decaying leaves. Ella stood u, along with all of the other passengers on the train. Swedish medical center was a huge area for the people that worked in the medical business, it was also a place that centralized on treating specials.

As a special, Ella had many superior advantages over the Originals. As a zygote, the scientists had inserted a virus into her nucleus, which then delivered a pre-set line of DNA. This was then bonded to the existing DNA, and the old DNA which the virus replaced was then removed by the virus. It was a very complex process.

The alteration to all first generation's genes was a mysterious process, that baffled most originals. Yet as more and more people began altering their children, it had become the normal. Many families grew up with the older child being original, and the younger being a special. While several families would be fine with this change, it was the older child who developed a sense of hatred and in turn supported those against specials. Although not the original purpose, this was one of the larger and overarching effects of the discovery of specials.

Morally speaking, many people were against this process, believing it was a change in how the human life should have been created and was morally wrong. The common saying was that specials were abominations, and that they polluted the very environment they had been born into. People disregarded the fact that the specials still acted the same way and still looked human. They had no choice in whether they wanted to be an original, they were born with it. In this way, there was large amounts of unneeded violence, random specials being targeted by the jealous originals.

Specials were as their name stated. They were special. Having their genes altered by science had made several breakthroughs in technology and medicine. Specials had developed an extremely strong immune system, and were not susceptible to many of the diseases which the originals were able to receive. They could withstand higher and lower temperature then the originals, and had a much higher mental capacity and ability to think. On another hand, as an embryo, the parents of a special could select just how they wanted the child to look. It caused more unnecessary strive when people payed money for these specialized modifications, leaving even more reason for the originals to hate the specials.

The crowd of people flooded out the train car that Ella was in. The doors were operated by hydraulics, and a cold metallic voice cried out. It was the entrance to the hospital medical centers, except these centers were specialized in both original health care, and specials. Several riots by the originals have had to have been put down, because in this facility there also is the continued usage of the technology to make specials. Many of the people exiting the train were workers at the hospital, but there were always several couples looking to give birth to a special baby.

The Swedish Medical Center was the only medical center in all of Quito which still participated in the usage of the technology used to create the specials. After many of the different originals began rioting, almost all of the hospitals found it extremely unreasonable to continue doing procedures to make the Swedish Center was the sole exception. Instead of bowing into the general public opinion, the center's main clientele was made up of the upper middle class and the high class. These were the people that could one, afford a special, two, deal with the consequences, and finally, were able to support the hospital so it did not have to rely on the governments hospital budgets.

Ella and her family attended this hospital throughout their lives because they knew one of the doctors there, a family friend. It was an added benefit that the Dr. Watkins was a specialist in the field of specials and was able to help Ella grow and follow her progress. He had been the doctor who advised Ella's parents to take the step into making Ella a special, and held a key role in how she was designed. She loved Dr. Watkins because he was like her grandfather, and understood Ella more than she probably understood herself.

Walking out of the train, Ella let her eyes wander around the grounds of the hospital. The actual facility was located above ground, and spanned about a few miles, including endless buildings with high tech facilities. Ella had always suspected the area was more than just a hospital, but there were so many rumors flying about that it was nearly impossible to tell what was true and what wasn't. All Ella knew is that she had her check ups in the dark brick building on the left side, with the teal windows. The specials hospital it was called.

She walked down the thin street that led from the train station to the doctor, just mulling over some of the thoughts she had that day. Many different vehicles whizzed by on the road next to the sidewalk, not going fast, but not being snails either. She loved this walk, because it was one of her first memories; a head full of hair floating in the wind as each car picked up a strand of her keratin. Laughter, with no qualms, unknown to the real world, and a smile which landed ear to ear. She always remembered having her dad and her mom on either side of her, holding her hands. Sometimes they would swing her up as a car passed, and she'd scream in delight and terror. A mix of the bitter and the sweet.

The walk was short, less then ten minutes, but to her the calm felt like an her feet came to a resting stop, she looked up at the large sterile white door looming in front of her. A sign on the side had the words "WELCOME" printed in bold letters, matching the contours of the building. It was the specials wing; a place of research and checkups on the specials, as well as a place where they created the specials. The teal windows stared out from the building as to beckon visitors into a large mouth which would engulf them whole.

The door scanner beeped, reminding Ella that she needed to show her id to get into the facility. She leaned down, groaning as her muscles stretched and stilled as she looked into a plate that had a little red light. Her eye came parallel with the light, and it immediately popped out. A little camera aligned itself to her iris, and a robotic voiced commanded her to stay steady and allow the scan to take place. Although Ella wouldn't have been able to see the infrared rays that examined her patterns in her iris, from the outside one could see little lines projecting form the camera, meant to read the different crevasses in her eye.

"Identified as Ella Stanza, appointment with Dr. Watkins ten minutes ago," the computer said, almost sounding sassy. Ella always was late, so it had so many records of her coming in late that to Ella, it continuously seemed to be talking back, "Please state reason of lateness."

"Well then smarty pants, why don't you actually stop talking to me and let me in," Ella exclaimed pertly, wishing that she could piss off the computer.

"Invalid reason, please state reason for tardiness," the computer requested again.

Ella rolled her eyes, tired of playing games with something that gave no reaction. "Missed my train," she stated. The computer continued on asking questions about what she ate for her meals today and how she was feeling, the general things. Ella kept getting just passive aggressive with the computer, answering the questions as bluntly and belligerently as possible.

"..." the computer paused, then continued on, "Patient validated. Please proceed to room 105 to meet with Dr. Watkins."

Tired of arguing with a computer but excited of the prospect of seeing Dr. Watkins, she waited impatiently for the computer to send the information up to the doctor, and then produce the tell tale click representing the unlocking of the door. Through the white sliding doors she walked, into the gaping mouth of the facility, being swallowed up by a science. A fascinating science, but one that used her for research.

Generally walking into the lobby of the specials center, it would be crowded with people. Specials waiting to be examined, parents wanting to have a special, and loved ones waiting for their other half. To Ella's surprise, the waiting room was nearly empty, as if nobody actually wanted anything to do with the specials. Well I guess that is true, Ella thought to herself.

On her way up the stairs toward room 105, a blond haired man in a white coat blocked her path. Not paying attention, Ella nearly ran into the man, and barely succeeded in mumbling a quick apology, still thinking about why the room was so empty.

"Doctor Watkins!" she smiled and said while gazing upon the man. Dr. Watkins was a specialist in her race of special. He was the doctor that helped Ella's parents choose to have a special child; he also assisted in Ella's creation and was responsible for watching over Ella's health.

Ella had known Dr. Watkins for years, and they were fairly close. Poking fun at her he commented "you are late, again Ella?"

"It wasn't my fault, that stupid robot refuses to actually memorize who I am. What else am I supposed to do?" she asked rolling her eye.

"Ella, it's a robot, not a person, it's not programed to bend to your every wish!" he protested.

"Well it should be, I mean how many times have I been here? And it still asked for everything. Honest, it should be obvious that I never get here on time!" she exclaimed.

"Oh dear, I knew this day was to come. Ella all grown up, and very sarcastic may I add," the doctor said with exasperation and a hint of pride, "Well mistress of lateness, would you care to head up to the exam room? Its time I actually got a proper exam on you, you did skip your last appointment!"

"For a logical reason Ted! I had had finals, but the stupid robot decided to schedule me right in the middle of it."

"I know Ella, I'm just pulling your leg. But if that robot ever developed a conscious, it would hate you."

"Maybe I should threaten it with being taken apart; I bet that would scare it enough…" she trailed off as they entered the stairwell leading up to his offices.

The doctor and Ella stood in a sterile white room colored only for the extent of advertising the creation of specials. The bed Ella sat on was placed on a memory foam, comfortable but it conformed to her butt too much. Dr. Ted Watkins stood casually against a cabinet Being close friends, the doctor had full permission to drop the professional pretense, and acted as his normal self. As he prepared for the exam, he decided to ask some questions to his patient.

"So Ella Silver Stanza, what have you been doing these last couple of months, apart from skipping your doctor's appointment?" he asked pointedly.

"Shouldn't you already know this Ted, like you talk to my parents weekly basis."

"Yes, but I prefer hearing it straight from your mouth, unless of course, you'd like me to spread some rumors about you?"

"Resorting to blackmail? You sneaky bastard. Fine," she laughed, "life has been, interesting. Schools been going ok I guess,"

"Why only you guess? Is something wrong?"

She sighed, nervous as to what Dr. Watkins would say, "Yea, I guess something is wrong."

"Tell me Ella," he said reassuringly as he started her routine physical exam.

"Well, with everything that has happened with the bombing, there's a lot of tension at my school. It's so hard being a special with a bunch of naturals. I have to stay with them all, but so many just despise people that are special. They all think I'm just normal like the rest of them, just originals, but I cannot bring myself to tell them otherwise."

"Ella, I know its hard," he interrupted, "but it will get better. Quito will not enter into war, there will be peace."

"But it doesn't seem like it! Almost everyone has been complaining how the specials are bad, and it almost seems like Quito is going to form an alliance with Okberth. How is that good? How is that normal?"

"That's not going to happen. Okberth is too technologically advanced, and most of that is from what the specials have done!"

"Nobody sees that though. They call me an abomination, they say that I'm not normal, that I shouldn't even exist."

"Who says that?"

"People in my classes, people I used to like and trust. Chris even said that, and I always thought he was halfway normal, that he might actually be able to like me. But now that the bombing happened, I'm not so sure!" she exclaimed.

"Ella…"

"Please Dr. Watkins, my parents don't want to discuss it, but what is going on in the people's opinion? Do you think that there could be war."

"Well…"

"I'm old enough, I can handle it. I just… I just want to know the situation that we are facing."

"I'm in the same position as everyone else. What happens in the future is up in the air; none of us know for sure what the government is going to do," he said calmly, "I'm not worried about the government though, I'm more worried about the people. Did you notice how empty the lobby was?"

"Yea, I was wondering about that."

"It's been really hard on this hospital. Parents are too afraid to come in because they think that the hospital is being watched by haters. I doubt it, but we've already had some slight riots outside. People fail to realize that specials and originals aren't actually that different. You guys are the future, our advantage the rest of the universe. WE should take advantage of that, not fear it. People just need time to adjust and understand."

He stood up, holding his instruments in his hand and smiled wearily. "It's time for the world to have a change. All era's begin with a revolution, and this time it will be your revolution."

"Ted, I'm scared what will happen if the revolution occurs. I'm scared for my friends, for Quito, and for Earth in general. But most of all, I'm so scared for myself. I don't want to lose the people I love to some petty conflict."

"Don't worry Ella, it will all end up for the better," he said, "but lets get off of this topic, you've heard enough about it today, I don't think you need any more of it."

As the examination continued, the pair whisked through many other topics, broaching what her genes were like at the moment, to why people even chose specials in the first place. It was different for Ella, calming almost. Every time she talked to Ted Watkins, she was able to open her mind again to something vastly new in comparison to what she had been hearing at her school. The doctor was always so optimistic, it was even able to raise her spirits and make her forget about the events that had occurred.

Over an hour later, the final examination and discussion had concluded. It was turning into dusk, and the brisk fall breezes blew through the sterile landscape next to the special medical facility. Dr. Watkins and his patient Ella stoood next to the door leading to the entrance of the building.

"Thanks for coming in Ella," he said.

"No problem, it was the least I could do after skipping," she smiled with a wink.

"Now now Ella, don't get in too much trouble, you know how I hate it when I have to bail you out,"

"Bail me out, never," she scoffed, "When have you ever bailed me out. You always just go complain to my parents!"

With a laugh, the doctor enveloped her in a hug, "It was good to see you Ella, I've missed your humor. Most of my patients are fifty year old parents who cannot even take sarcasm without having an offense."

"Now now Dr. Watkins, bad mouthing your patients isn't the proper way to go, I mean really? So unprofessional!"

"Precisely why I always schedule you at the end of the day."

"Maybe it's because you enjoy talking to my smart mouth?"

Dr. Watkins looked up and smiled, his mouth turning into a full grin. Through the glass he noticed that the sun had started to set. His smile fell a little, "Ella, now I want you to be careful going home. It's starting to get dark out. Do you want me to walk you to the station?"

"It's fine Ted, it's only fifteen minutes away. I'll survive. I've walked that path how many time in the dark?" she asked flippantly.

"I still want you to be safe Ella, especially in light of these recent events."

"Who would hurt such an innocent girl?" she asked jokingly.

"Whatever, have a good night Ella, don't get lost."

"Goodbye Dr. Watkins."

Ella strolled out the door, passing the patronizing computer that had been put to sleep. When the light flashed on due to motion being detected, she grinned, thinking up several other ways to patronize the computer. As if sensing her thoughts, the computer screen promptly faded to black.

As the cool wind brushed through her hair, she paused a couple blocks away from the hospital's campus, staring as the sun fell beneath the horizon. The world at that moment was perfect to Ella, nothing could change. That was until she saw the first boy emerge out of the depth of the streets.

CHAPTER 3

The boys stalked out of the alley way. As the sun set beneath the horizon, the street lights only provided a slight aspect of light. It was the eerie time when a single light flickered on the side, and the darkened road provided the perfect opportunity. All the other buildings had been shut down in order to keep the electricity low.

The bombing had caused such a widespread anger in the people, that many

Prologue

Specials

Ella works at a top-secret facility due to her capabilities, but suddenly everything changes when she is attacked. During the attack she reveals to everyone that she is not an original, they flip bitches. But when worst comes to worse, her parents decide that she should withdraw to the IOOS. Unable to change that decision, she is forced into a jet, but when it is shot down by a facility where the trainees are kept, as training practice.

The captain (19) finds this child barely alive, and doesn't realize that she is a special until he had already treated her. When she regains conscious, the captain is holding her. Spending a small amount of time, she learns that he is a captain, and makes close friends with him. For five months she stays in his care, undisturbed by what is going on. Her memories were fuzzy of before she landed, and never fully return. She falls in love with the captain, but always feels like there is something missing.

Somehow the government learns that the captain has found this special girl, who doesn't remember that she is special or who she is. One day they invade the captain and seize her. The captain is heart broken, but learns that she will be trained. So she will still be close by. Somehow the captain gets it together and decides to volunteer to be her trainer. Instead of training with violence, she is given complete compliance with the captain. On a test she is taken out into the public and secretly transferred for a little bit. She comes in contact with Chris and his friend, but nobody knows that it's her and she doesn't remember any of them. She has two comrades, people that guard her back because they are forced to. Although they are originals manipulated into trainees. Their names are Kaz and Sarah.

As she grows more and more violent, her friend Chris has decided to join the military, but he actually is a special. He goes into training and meets a variety of other specials in the IOOS. He still secretly has feeling for Ella, but cannot act on them as she disappeared. Although he tried loving other people, it did not work, and he decided to take out his frustration with the search by joining the military. He makes friends with many other recruits. His main friends are Robert, Mariellia, Sam, and Adrian.

Chris is very talented in warfare and rises rank extremely quickly. Becoming a commander at the small age of 17. The war has been continuing. One of the IOOS colonies has been blown up.

Three years later, the training has been complete. Ella has suffered serious losses but has becoming the most lethal trainee. She depends heavily on the captain, who over sees her. The captain has been cruelly treated, forced to watch his little girl grow up into a killing machine, with a bare slice of human personality. She has frequent meltdowns, her personalities at war. The captain comforts her. When terrorists attack the training facility, Ella was in the current area of being repaired. Unable to take her out, and with scant hours left in her training, the captain is forced to leave her, still in a machine. She is hidden inside a special room and is not attacked.

On the other side of the sky, Chris descends to earth to commence his full-scale attack, but is called into investigate a mysterious building with smoke coming off of it. Supposedly it is a training facility. When he enters it smells like death, horrible death. Entering through a fighting chamber, he sees dead bloated bodies floating from the ceiling and speared to the side. These are a mix of the workers and the trainees. It is dark and hollow inside, and he and his coordinator go upstairs to get information. When he is investigating a computer is found and he is able to take a look at the records.

The kids have been eliminated when their usefulness was. While scrolling through faces he recognizes several of the people he had fought before hand, and realized why they had acted so brashly. The next slide surprises him; it's his friend from several years ago. She has a special status, and he realizes that she actually was a special. Reading through some of the journals, he realizes that this truly was Ella, and that she was alive and had been found. He flips through her files and learns of the cruel treatments she had endured. He notices that she technically should still be in the building and sets out to find her body. Instead he finds her locked in a vat of bluish liquid, in a trance like state, recently having undergone and update. Thankfully in that area the electricity wasn't completely out, and she had still been able to breath. Very weak Chris releases her, not really knowing what to expect. She barely wakes up, and the only thing on her lips is Chris. Confused, she jumps up and tries to attack the specials in her room. Before she can cause serious damage, she is pinned to the wall and Chris Is forced to inject some sort of tranquilizer.

She wakes up in a medical room where she doesn't know where she is, but this man is sitting next to her. It's Chris but she doesn't know it. He has been there all night. Scared she jumps up, but seeming knows that he won't hurt her. Suddenly a nurse walks in and she almost breaks her neck, but Chris gets up in time to get her down, with another tranquilizer. Then she is strapped down.

Chris meets with the captain, and learns that her memories have been tampered with and that she is on drugs. And that she without help will be broken. Later after a battle with some of the earth's forces he is confronted with a choice, let her survive. He runs down to the area and transfers the equipment she was found in. Asking the captain of her to take her, he saves her life, but is forced to fight against her once more. Fighting a war takes a huge toll on Ella, and she no longer knows what to believe. In a decisive battle she is taken by Chris again, and turns out the IOOS has completed everything they need to keep her alive. Fighting alongside Chris she learns and meet people and pretty much thrives. Then comes the fated battle where they face off against the EF and the captain had Ella is forced to choose one or the other. With the captain she can live but must continue fighting, while with Chris she can live for love for a short period of time. She chooses Chris, and ends up blowing up the captain's ship. Chris and Ella part of a party who wants to destroy Black Cosmos, and Ella learns that the captain is still alive. All of the countries have come into agreement for peace, but Okberth refuses to yield. Ella is growing weaker, but they have almost created a solution to keep her alive again.