Chapter 15

Andrew Corway watched the reunion between mother and son through the camera he had been watching earlier. Three years ago, Andrew had been given the opportunity to work in a genetics lab working on DNA recombinants. He was the one that had put the final piece of the puzzle in place. He was the one that allowed the avian humans to be created, as well as the Lupus humans, the 'were-wolves' as the other scientists called them. Andrew was forced to fake his own death when the FBI got involved and the Network of lab spanning the country had hidden him, making it appear he was dead to the world, to his own family.

Then about six months ago, the labs became interested in his wife's work on curing genetic mutation. She was skilled and they had recruited her, against the respects of Andrew, and that was where Lea Corway found her supposedly dead husband. He had faked his own death to save his family pain, but now his family had become involved in something that would cause them more pain than if he was caught by the FBI.

Over the three years of his presumed death, Andrew forgot about his children and his wife deliberately so that he wouldn't endanger them. He had forgotten them to save them the pain; he had told himself they were no longer his children, his family. They belong to the man that died that day, the day of September 23rd 2003, his eldest son, Nathan's, fourteenth birthday. It was only now, upon seeing the son he hadn't recognized, that it was because of him, Nathan had developed the strong personality he had now. It was because he, Nathan's father, had died on his fourteenth birthday that Nathan had taken on the duty of the man of the house, taking care of his brother and sister, doing the work around the house while their mother worked to keep them fed and secure.

Andrew admired his son a little longer, proud of the person he had become, but afraid her could never be reunited with his son. He saw the loathing on his son's face as he looked around the room at the many failed experiments, or the successful one that had not been strong enough to withstand the test and were now laying on the edge of a cliff and should they fall, death would consume them. Just then his intercom buzzed and his secretary's voice came over the speaker.

"Mr. Corway, sir," She said, "There is a call for you on line three. The director wants to talk to you about subject nine, mark two."

"But him though," Andrew replied, picking up the phone as his secretary transferred the call to his private line. "Hello?"

"Mr. Corway," The directors electronically altered voice came through the speaker. The director never used his real voice, incase people were listening in on the call, "I would like for you to explain why you requested that subject nine mark two have its termination suspended until further notice?"

"My apologies for the abrupt message, Director, "But he was able to catch her as well as three specimen who helped her out, and proceeded to experiment on them. It appears that the first subject, Nathan has grown protective of her. And she is showing personality traits we had not trained into her. I believe she has begun to construct a new personality to which she is starting life anew. I would like to monitor this change in subject nine mark two."

"Agreed," The director replied after a short silence in which they pondered. No-one knew if the director was male or female. No-one, as far as Andrew knew, had ever seen the Director face to face, "but if she were to escape again, Mr. Corway, you will be solely to blame, you are the manager of that lab, so you take the fall for any escapees."

"Yes Director," Andrew replied, "I understand."

Andrew hung up the phone and had to smile. They were able to keep her alive a little longer. He had plans for her yet again, and Nathan was going to be a part of them as well. Keira II was made to replace the original Keira and lead her flock back to be captured again, but that had failed. Andrew pondered how he could get Keira and her flock back and a thought hit him. He needn't do anything. He could train Nathan up, teach him how to fly, implant a tracking device in him and let him lead them to Keira. The replica was an added bonus. He wanted to study her, see how she was able to break through the conditioning they had given her and how she was coping with the emotions she hadn't felt in years of her life. She would be an interesting study, Andrew thought, something I couldn't pass up.

Chapter 16

I pulled out of my mothers arms and looked her in the eye.

"Mom," I repeated, "What are you doing here? Why are you in a place like this? Did they get you as well?"

I saw the white lab coat she wore over her everyday clothes and realized the answer to my last question. She hadn't been captured, she worked here. I pushed myself away from her, a mixture of anger, betrayal, disgust and confusion on my face.

"You weren't captured were you?" I asked her, "You've been working here all along. Mother how could you? The kids, these people, you treat them like animals. Is that how you'll treat me? As just another experiment for you to study?"

"We have a lot to talk about, Nathan," My mother said, "It would be better to talk in my office, away from eavesdroppers."

I saw my Mother glance over in Laura's direction and realized she didn't want to talk in front of her. Then my mind started firing on all cylinders again. For my mother not to want to talk in front of Laura, she would have had to have seen her before, which meant that my mother had been her for a while, since before her escape.

"Fine," I replied, "Lead the way. I'll follow."

Before we left I looked back at Laura and hoped she read my lips as I mouthed to her that I'll tell her everything once I returned, then I followed my mother out of the room as she closed the door behind me and lead me down the bleak white corridors of the place until we reached a door with her name written on a plaque hung upon the door. She opened the door and walked in, letting me follow he through. The office wasn't as bleak as the corridors outside, but it was still painted the bleak white color all labs seemed to be made of. Pictures of her with me, Danielle and Jake were standing on her desk and there was also a picture of my father as well. I remembered he died on my fourteenth birthday. They never recovered a body. Mum never told me what accident my father had been in, no-one else told me either.

"The first thing I'll say," My mother began, "is that you weren't meant to be experimented on. This was all a mistake, but the transformation back has a high chance of killing you, if you still want to be normal."

"I want to know what is going on mother," I replied, "Why are you here? Working for them?"

Lea Corway sat down at her desk and looked up at me standing in front of her desk. She flicked a switch beneath the desk and leaned back into her chair.

"Nathan," She explained, "First thing you must know, is that I have done this for you. For years I have tried to find a cure for your condition, I have tried to find a way to stop the dreams you always had when you were a child just over five years old. I was always up in the night caring for you, helping you to get back to sleep. For many years I worked on that project, but it was slow because I didn't have enough funding, or the proper equipment."

"About six months ago, this place approached me and offered to fund my research and supply the equipment needed to help me find a cure for you," She continued, "They provided me an offer I couldn't refuse. The money was enough to keep our family safe and secure."

"What about them?" I asked, "Experiments like I am? People here treat them like dirt. They observe them like lab rats, force them to do experiments till they are exhausted or near death. How can you excuse yourself from that? It's inhumane, yet you continue it."

"Nathan," Lea answered, "The people here have made breakthroughs in science. They have found ways top unlock people's potential. We have found ways to combine another animals DNA into a humans, creating people like you, or the Erasers. We have even found ways of locating mutations, of reversing them. I have a cure for you, Nathan, a cure!"

"I don't want it," I replied. "You've been away from home for so long; you failed to notice I have managed to control my ability. I still have some dreams, but I have learnt to block it. Even if you have a cure, I don't want it from you. You're no longer the mother I used to know. The one I did know wouldn't have let the kids here suffer like you have. Take me back to my cage; I'd be better of there."

I saw the heartbreak on my mothers face. She had wasted her life away to find a cure for my ability and, now that she had found it, the person she had made it for, me, no longer wanted it or needed it. It was because of me she had ended up here, trying to find the cure. I felt sorrow at how I had treated my mother, I still loved her like any son would, but she needed the harsh awakening from the reality she live in now. She needed her eyes opened to what was going on around her and forget about the ambition she felt at finding all these discoveries.