Hi. I am proud to say that, not even halfway through the fic, this one is doing much better than Asleep was. I don't know why. Do tell me.
Anyway, thanks to everyone.
And to Pandorad24, please PLEASE read this. I wanted to say thanks so much again for your wonderful reviews. They are among my favorites to read. I always love reviews that are long, because they give more insight to the fan than short ones. Also, I meant to ask, I went back and I didn't have Iggy sleep with Meagan in Asleep. Well, they slept in the same bed, but they didn't sleep together. I don't really know why your mom would ban you for them sleeping in the same bed. Picture me confuzzled.
By the way, the following is a flashback. I told you I would explain Jeb's notes and everything, so I will. Read on.
Max POV
I sifted repetitively through the papers, looking for something, anything, that would help me help Iggy.
Papers, papers, more papers. An endless sea.
It wasn't actually endless, but you get the idea.
Dozens. Tens. White papers that sliced my fingertips into oblivion with all the paper-cuts. I sucked ruefully at my bleeding thumb and continued to sift. There had to be something.
And I found it. A pile of papers that didn't have typed letters on it, but the copies of words that had been etched in pen. I could even see scribbles where the writer had messed up.
The instant I saw them, I knew they held all the answers. Maybe it was the Voice inside my head, letting me know. But I did. Know, I mean.
The writing was messy, but a neater scrawl then my own. I could read it perfectly. So I did.
I don't know what I was expecting. Some sort of intricate diagram showing exactly what was wrong with my Iggy? Ingredients to some sort of antidote? Instructions on how to fix him, a map leading to some sort of hidden warp-machine that would be able to make it all go back to how it used to be?
But no. All it had was the answers to everything I had always wondered. Especially about Iggy.
And it was written by Jeb.
Dear Max.
I don't know when you will find this. I don't know how. I don't know if I will be
dead, alive, with you or continuing my work with Itex and the School. All I know
is that one day you will find this, and read it, and you'll find out everything.
Max, I've done some things in my life that I will always regret. Leaving Ari. Leaving you. Joining Itex. Becoming one of them. You have no idea of the horrors that place hides, Max. Sure, you've been there. You've seen some terrible things. Experienced some yourself. But you still know nothing. Barely a fraction. This place hides lies and fears, pain and misery.
But that's not what I want to tell you, Maximum. I want to tell you secrets, facts that you need to know to protect yourself and the Flock. And there is one thing you need to know above all else. You need to know the truth about Iggy. The one thing, Maximum, that you can always count on is the inevitable. And though you may hate it, though you may choose not to accept it, it is inevitable that the School will one day want him back. Because Iggy is important. More important than you could ever know.
That is, unless I tell you. Which I am, seeing as you are reading this.
The thing is, Maximum, you were created for a specific purpose. You know that, right? You were created specifically to save the world.
I think I've probably given you the whole spiel by now. The single most important thing anyone in the world has ever done was creating you. You are important. A necessity for the world. You, Maximum, were made to protect. You were created to protect people. To protect the world. To protect life and to protect peace. You were created to protect the world, and be sure it did not collapse. You were created to prevent apocalypse. For that purpose, and that purpose alone, you exist.
Fang was created to be the right-wing. He was created to be a friend whom you could always trust. He was created so you could put trust in him to defend your family. Fang was created to listen, to follow, to act on instinct. Fang was created to protect you, and to see that you came to no harm. Fang was created to protect you. For that purpose, and that purpose alone, Fang exists.
Nudge was created to be your sister. She was created to give you some grip on reality. Nudge was created to understand the meaning of everything. She does, you know, but she may not know it yet. Nudge was made to be your sister, and to understand. For that purpose, and that purpose alone, Nudge exists.
Angel was created to be your baby. To provide you something to concentrate on utterly, something for you to focus on protecting above all else. Something you could devote your life to. Angel was created to be powerful. To be the source. To be the heart of the Flock. Angel was created so that the Flock could be. She was created to create. Angel was created to be your baby, and to have power. For that purpose, and that purpose alone, Angel exists.
The Gasman was created to be everyone's. He was created to be an anchor. Gazzy was created to hold on to the Flock, to keep them together, to make sure that nothing broke them apart. Gazzy was created to give everyone everything they needed. Gazzy was created to provide comfort, solace, and hope. Gazzy was created to be everyone's. For that purpose, and that purpose alone, The Gasman exists.
I suppose you are wondering, now, why I have not yet mentioned Iggy. I know he's important to you, just like all of the others. For what purpose, then, does Iggy exist?
He wasn't meant to.
Iggy was never supposed to be born. He was never supposed to exist. He was never meant to live. Iggy was never supposed to have met you. Iggy was never supposed to.
Let me explain something that might make it clear.
You, Maximum, and the Flock were all created with the two simplest organisms; a sperm and an egg. That is how every baby is created. And it is true that each of you were born from a mother, each of you were born from a female human able to carry child. Each of you were given birth to.
What you do not know, Maximum, is that your mother's did not become pregnant through natural intercourse.
On the 31st of July, two years before you, Maximum, were born, six egg and six sperm were taken from twelve willing males and females. An egg and sperm were combined six times, creating six different embryos. These embryos were taken into the School for experimentation.
Scientists took the first five embryos and experimented. They spliced the DNA, combined it with that of different Avians. They were sculpted so as to be perfect Human-Avian Hybrids. They were sculpted to become you, Fang, Nudge, Angel, and The Gasman. These five Human-Avian embryos were then placed into a freezer.
A year and three months later, one of the embryos was removed and inserted into Dr. Valencia Martinez, your biological mother. Nine months later, you were born.
A second embryo was removed from the freezer and inserted into a young teenage girl three months after you had been. Nine months later, Fang was born.
Three years after your birth, a third embryo was removed and inserted into her biological mother's niece. Nine months later, Nudge was born.
Three years after that, the fourth embryo was removed and inserted into its biological mother. Nine months later, Gazzy was born.
One and on half years later, the fifth and final embryo was removed and inserted into the previous mother. Nine months later, Angel was born.
There had, indeed, been a sixth embryo. That one had been an experimental one, the first to be sculpted. You see, there was only ever intended to be four other Human-Avians in your Flock, Maximum. The scientists simply created six embryos in case one of them failed.
That embryo had, indeed, been created for a purpose. However, the scientists rejected the embryo after making a mistake. The embryo was given four percent Avian DNA, instead of the intended two. Even though it was unintended, that was not the largest mistake.
Anyway, the failed embryo was placed in a freezer separate from the other, perfect five. It was never supposed to be born.
But nine months after your conception, on the precise day that you were born, a female scientist wandered into the cryogenics lab and discovered the embryo that she herself had donated an egg for.
Her husband was the doctor who inserted the embryos into the willing mothers. At her insistence, he inserted the embryo into this woman, without the knowledge of the head scientists.
After several months, it became obvious that the woman was pregnant. Six months after conception, the child was born prematurely. Then, it was clear that the child was the failed experiment that was not supposed to have been born.
Iggy.
Though Iggy's heart stopped beating seven different times, scientists managed to restart it. The man and woman who had disobeyed the orders of the head scientist by giving birth to the experiment had their memories wiped and were sent to restart their lives elsewhere. Meanwhile, Iggy was put in my charge, and, though he never was supposed to have been, he was sent to join your Flock.
Don't misread my information, Maximum. Don't ignore the rest of this important document. Iggy, though an accident, was created for a purpose just as all the others. It's just that the mistake made it vital that he not be born. But he is born, so you must know everything.
When Iggy's heart stopped beating those seven times, his blood flow ceased momentarily. For those few, precious moment, blood was not flowing through Iggy's brain. This caused a small portion to die.
This portion of Iggy's brain were his mental blocks. These controlled his emotions and his powers. Therefore, Iggy is unable to in any way control his feelings, and the powers that he may develop will be unlimited. This could grant him great gifts, or completely destroy him.
Due to the fact of his unlimited powers, the scientists decided to stifle him. They damaged Iggy emotionally, causing him to develop a mental disorder recorded as DME. This disorder causes him to attempt to, whatever the odds, become someone whom you will be proud of. This has caused him to injure himself several times in the past as a means of 'strengthening' himself.
The scientists, in regards to his powers, gave him repeated injections which caused his strength and coordination to deteriorate. The process was cancelled due to negative effects it was wreaking on his mental system. Instead, they created a special machine to keep Iggy in check, and which would be able to destroy him should the need arise. It was set on a timer to kill him once he reached his sixteenth birthday.
They did another thing, Max, to try to keep him in check. To keep him weak and underdeveloped.
They blinded him. On purpose. They told you and the Flock, and Iggy, that they were trying to enhance his night vision and it 'went wrong.' Let me tell you, Max, that it was never meant to go 'right' in the first place.
But in relevance to his emotions, he cannot control them.Iggy may never look it, but his ranging emotions are fluent and ravaging. They are sometimes enough to drive him to severe levels of depression or rage.
But all of that, that is not what Iggy was created for. In fact, his premature birth was not foreseen. The mistake in his making resided only in his purpose. The reason he was created was the scientist's mistake.
Iggy was created to love you. That is all. Iggy was created to be your soul mate, to fall in love, to do whatever you asked of him. Iggy was created to be yours. Iggy was created to follow you to the death. He was created to love you. For that purpose, and that purpose alone, Iggy exists.
The mistake, Maximum, is that you were not created to love him.
I'm rather proud of this chapter. Even if it may be a bit choppy at times, just to let you know, that's not my fault. Jeb's a poor writer. –laugh-
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this astonishing info. Maybe it will help you understand everything better.
Oh, and please review.