May.2050
The nightmare woke her again, she groaned as she stirred lazily to check the digital alarm clock beside her colt. It was 4am, she groaned again. Drilling starts by 5 and she knew there was no chance to steal a little bit more sleep, she lay back down to ponder over her constant dreams, dreams which she had begun to get used to that she didn’t wake up screaming in terror anymore, it had always been the same nightmare every night, the blood curdling screams of a tortured man, flashes of lights and the grim goggled faces of people in long white coats.
She had been trying valiantly to bare it all in silence, but the constant bouts of sleepless nights were already telling on her performances at the daily drills, if there was somebody to talk to, she would have done that already but the fear of being taken back to the lab, prodded, injected by the painful probes to find out any malfunctioning in her system had kept her lips sealed.
She once tried to confide in her best friend and sibling Binta, but the 5th generation children were constantly under watch and even if she did succeeded in disclosing her dreams to her, she doubted Binta would know what to do about it.
They were simply known as the 5th generation children or Meta-human prototypes, Omo Abami, and other numerous names given to them by the different staffs of Darwin Regeneration and Evolutionary Genetics alias D.R.E.G.S Labs. With another groan, she forced her body out of bed to wash.
“Since i cannot go back to sleep, i could as well get ready for the day.” She mumbled as she stood before the ceiling to floor length mirror, staring at herself for a full minute, a fifteen year old palomino skinned girl with reddish brown haired and sharp grey eyes stared back; she was larger than her age, and broad at the shoulders. That was as close as she got to looking normal, a normal fifteen year old do not have wings, lift weights three times larger than her size, runs twice as fast, a normal fifteen year old would either faint away or run like crazy, screaming her head off when she sights an anomaly like her, it wasn’t that she was hideous, she just wasn’t normal.
“It’s not as if I see other girls my age anyway,” she talked to her reflection as she forced herself into her facility tights.
She was born in the facility and had never seen the outside world. Spreading her aching wings, occasional simmerings of electricity raced across their beautiful plumage, red brown like her hair and laced with a splattering of green. She smiled as she thought of swooning and fleeing teenagers yelling like banshees.
Having watched videos of birds and their wings, Omotola knew the 5th generation children’s wings weren't as fragile but were hard as steel and sharp as knives, they were not made only for graceful flight; they were deadly weapons of both defense and offence.
An hour later, she left her cubicle and headed down the facility corridors led by her handler, a mapper drone and a handful of masked armed guards called Askaris to protect the institute’s staff from the children and the other generations.
The mapper drone hovered midair, humming with advanced technology acted as a navigation guide through the enormous facilities. She studiously ignored her handler Katie, a plump short bright faced middle aged woman who chatted on in her throaty British accent about her schedule for the day and her weekly checkup with the doctors and took little notice of her brooding as they finally stopped in front of the quarter’s lodge elevator exit.
There they were joined by Binta and Shettima, fourteen and fifteen years old respectively, 5th generation children with handlers, mapper drones and guards of their own.
‘‘Morning Omotola,’’ Binta called over rather loudly, mischief on her pretty brown face as her handler frowned down at her. She also boasted an athletic physic like Omotola but that was where the resemblance ended, she was a lot shorter with curly black hair and spotted brown wings shrugged restlessly at her shoulders.
Shettima mumbled his greetings and went into the elevator to wait for the others, mild boredom on his handsome Middle Eastern face. They gathered in to join him and the elevator purred into motion dinging as they passed each floor. After a long series of dings, it finally stopped and the mapper drones lead its occupants out via twists and turns till they got to the drilling unit where the rest of the children were already waiting.
The 5th generation children were created and bred in the institute. A group of abnormally enhanced children drilled daily to harness their abilities.Winged and agile, strong and deadly, they were weapons trained since they could walk. Rumored to have been a bastardization of numerous genes and human embryos placed into human women to develop.Penniless and at desperate times, they had been approached by the institute where they were cared for until they were relieved of their bundles of joy and then moved on with their lives, well compensated and acclaimed to have contributed to the glory of science, or so they said.The surviving children were seven in number, the remains of numerous casualties; after series of trials and experiments.Logan was the eldest, it was when his wings became strong enough for flight that he began to manifest other powers, and then the D.R.E.G.S began to pay the children more attention th
An intended cough brought them all back to attention, the drill instructor Fortuna Monroe frowned down her nose at them arms akimbo; her long hair was pulled back in a ponytail. Her face would have been pretty if it wasn’t scrunched in a permanent scowl; the children disliked her, she mutually felt the same towards them and made it her priority in life to make their life miserable.Without further ceremony she barked orders at the children, as they were placed under the supervision of instructors who in turn were watched by her sharp eyes.Orchid’s trainers were having a difficult time putting her under control until Fortuna had no choice but to take over her drill in person.Orchid’s lithe fragile looking body and slim snow colored wings gave her an innocent appearance of perpetual harmlessness like her name.“Looks can be deceiving, look at Orchid” was the constant gossip among the facility’s staff.Sh
What is the meaning of this?A very familiar voice changed the mood in the training room with the speed of light, the very voice feared by everything and everyone in the institute. Doctor Mugabe the institute head scientist walked in followed by Logan and a few of his colleagues in tow.The crowd moved back respectfully as he walked slowly towards the scene, hands folded calmly behind him as Logan rushed forward to heal the twins, hands glowing with electric current.“What is the meaning of this Miss Monroe?’’ Doctor Mugabe asked again, his voice cutting through the dead silence, filled only with the occasional sparks from Logan’s powers as he healed the second twin. “Can you not carry out your simple duty without bringing the whole institute down on us eh.’’“But professor,’’ Fortuna started.“Miss Monroe, there’s a reason you were hired to be a drill instructor, to make sure the combat exercises doesn’t blow
I groaned as I dreamt, the mortal pain from which had I fled followed me into the world of dreams, gods do not dream. We simply used it as tools to commune with men, manipulating their present, past and future, but sometimes we retreat to these fascinating realms in mockery of slumber, to garner rest and grow strength.I fled there often to escape my anguish during my captivity. But now I dreamt of my youth, long before I became a deity; a Yoruba warrior prince of the old Oyo Empire, I was the youngest son, the eldest; Eweka, ruled as the Oba of the kingdom of Benin, the second; my older half-brother Ajaka, was crown prince of Oyo, shackled by duties of state, watched me with jealousy as I gamboled round the empire and beyond, carefree and wild, the parties and dances were where you would find me.I was not far from skirmishes, conflicts and adventures, the duties of a prince were the least of my problems, that burden was for another. When our fathe
A sleek black carriage pulled up at Westminster alleyway, the door of the carriage opened and it's occupant, a gentleman step down into the cold English morning, he waved a dismissive hand towards the manservant hurrying to his aid.His red jacket inlaid with polished brass buttons introduced him as an officer in the imperial army. He moved briskly up the stairs to the manor to the already opened door where he was ushered in by a tall smartly dressed butler."Lord Rawlings is expecting you captain." He said, The captain's grunted in reply and allowed himself to be led down the hallway towards the manor lord's study where a portly elderly man sat waiting."Captain luggard, please have a sit" he coughed over his pipe smoke as the young captain saluted. "My apologies for summoning you in such short notice my boy but i see the need to see you before you sail from our shores, I do hope you are looking forward to your assignment." Lord Ra
Obiora returned to drills after a week in the labs, pale and spent but happy to be once more united with his siblings, the 5th generation children were allowed to eat and be together for a few hours thrice a week, asides that they only saw one another at drills and classes where they were taught by grizzled old professors and learnt different languages under the watchful eyes of their handlers.Omotola’s handler, Katie was kind to her and sometimes told her about her own life outside the institute which was against protocol; Amaka, Babybaby’s handler adored her and spoilt her terribly. The rest of the handlers took their jobs quite seriously and Katie once said they feared the children and their abilities but feared the institute more; she would expertly change the discussion to new topics whenever she tried to get her to talk about the institute.It was after Obiora’s porcupine stunt that the doctors began wondering if they could force the children t
After waiting for two hours into the night which felt like days, Omotola was beginning to doubt whether she got Shettima’s message right and when she was about calling it a night a sound made her jump.The electricity in her wings flashed defensively, by their lights she watched in fascination as Shettima stepped out from a shadowed corner of her cubicle, his charcoal colored wings spread around him like a cloak. Omotola grinned in greeting. He smiled back then moved around checking out the room.“I thought you wouldn’t get my message’’ he whispered, took me a while to find where you sleep, I stumbled into Orchid’s cubicle while she was shaving her legs, her room so pink and bright I could barely find a dark place big enough to escape with.’’ he made a puking face and gave another rare smile as Omotola chuckled."What took you so long?"“My own cubicle has been renovated with bright fluorescents lights to stop me le
They found themselves in a large dome shaped hall, bigger even than the halls they used for drills, the spherical roof inlaid with glass windows from which a group of people stared down at them, dressed in business suits, army uniforms and lab coats, Omotola noticed doctor Mugabe standing with a stern faced broad shouldered man in an army suit decorated with so much medals she wondered why she wasn’t hearing the jingling down from where she stood.“Can someone tell me what’s going on here?’’ Orchid whispered nervously, they were alone now, their handlers had silently withdrawn.“These people own us,’’ Shettima said so quiet Obiora had to lean forward to hear him; they’re here to watch us do what we’ve been trained to do since we learned to walk and fly, the 5th children were silent as his words sank in.“What do they want from us?" Babybaby asked, her lower lip quivering.“To do what we do best’’ Obiora replied this