Chapter 6: You have once again entered the world of survival horror. Good luck.

The man who'd once been William Birkin stood nearly seven feet tall and thundered toward me.

"Oh Nathan, I'm so glad you came here. You have spared me great suffering in your acquisition." The monster howled in laughter, a sound that chilled my blood.

I raised the shotgun and fired, the slug hitting Birkin in the chest, but he did not waver. He kept moving closer, his footsteps loud, piercing my mind, terrifying me.

Devan sprayed flame over the creature and it bellowed in a tone of anger. "Nate, let's go!"

I nodded to the blonde and ran with him, past the malformed scientist, to a door at the far side of the large room. As we stepped through, there was a deafening roar as Birkin turned to chase us.

I didn't dare to stop running, the being of horror on our tails. Devan seemed calm when I looked over at him, though I couldn't understand why.

Perhaps he knew to just keep his head. I wish I had the same strength.

The long corridor twisted us around many times, before coming to another door, marked with the Biohazard symbol. Without a second thought, I released the lock and ducked inside, more afraid of the danger that chased us, then the danger that could face us.

The room was large and circular, cluttered with equipment that I could never understand. In the center of everything, hanging by cables and metal supports, was a glass cylinder with something inside.

Something familiar.

"Nate….It's you."

I saw it also, a human being – no not human – inhuman, suspended in green liquid and it looked like me. It was hairless, though I could see myself in it, as if seeing a reflection.

"What the hell…why would they…" my words froze in my throat.

The door opened behind us and Birkin entered loudly. "I see you've met my prize creation. The first of his kind and the template for everything after."

I turned to the maniacal abomination, met by his hellish gaze.

"I call him Genesis, creator of a new beginning, a new…World."

My gaze shot back to the tube, "Why do you need me then? Why bring me here?"

Birkin smiled, the smile that could kill by sheer repulsion. "Why? Because he is imperfect."

The last word rang in my ears and I struggled to retain its meaning.

Birkin walked over to a console and pressed a sequence of controls which lowered the tube to the floor. With another set of keyed-in commands, the hiss of gas could be heard and the seal broke at the bottom, allowing the fluid to escape, pouring into the grated floor. The tube rose slowly to its original position, the being curled under it. Genesis.

Slowly, the naked form began to move, opening its eyes and staring at me. Into me. With a sense of grace, it stood, stretching; then gallivanted over, stopping a few feet in front of me.

It still looked into me.

It recognized me.

My mind reeled, barely able to cope with what I saw.

Birkin spoke, pulling Genesis' attention to him. "Ah yes, the ultimate G-Type, the very pinnacle of what I had been attempting to accomplish. The perfect being. My perfect being… after a few… adjustments."

Genesis turned back to me briefly, his calm stare falling back on Birkin. With no hint of motive, the being's face turned to a grimace and he screamed. A scream that held more anger than anything else.

His body shuddered and I could see the muscle ripple beneath his skin, changing. A wave seemed pass down his arms, exploding from his hands in a flash of flesh and tissue, growing into massive talons.

With a tremendous display of agility and ferocity, Genesis lunged at the grotesque scientist, ripping at him with his claws and shredding his creator.

Birkin didn't see the attack coming and made no sound as he died, his dark blood pooling on the cold metal floor.

I couldn't speak. I couldn't even blink.

I stared in horror and fascination, as Genesis' form returned to its prior shape, looming over the remains of the scientist.

He turned and looked into me once again, seeking something. Suddenly, a sound pierced the silence. It was a plea, a desperate cry for understanding and it came from the being before us.

"WHAT AM I!?"

I wanted to answer. I struggled to answer, but I couldn't think of anything.

Genesis collapsed to his knees, staring at his hands, then looking back up at me, the same pleading look in his eyes. In the blink of an eye, he had gone from a ferocious creature… to a scared boy.

I took a step forward, but felt Devan's hand on my arm. I turned to him and mouthed the words 'it will be alright', then approached the sobbing form.

I knelt in front of Genesis and met his watery gaze. Again he asked his question between tears of pain. "What am I?"

I could feel his sadness and struggled to hold down tears of my own. "I don't know…" Genesis fell into my arms and Dev knelt beside us, holding a hazard suit. "I found this." I took it from him and urged the pained form to slip into it, which he did, calming down.

I wrapped my fingers, gently around his now-gloved wrists and urged him to follow us, to leave this hell and he obeyed, saying nothing.

There was a large door across from the entrance and we moved towards it, not daring to glance back. With the push of a button, the heavy door split, sliding away to either side and we stepped through into the corridor. At the far end, there was another door with bold letters stenciled on it in red, reading 'East Gate'.