Wanted Mutants

Chapter 2:

“You are late, Kari, and you know I can’t tolerate that. Now come along child, we have a lot of work to do.” Her mother turned and walked away and Kari followed. Her mother’s soft short brown hair bounced as she walked through the lobby. Her mother has always been cold and cruel, but today she seemed to be in a better mood.

“If you don’t mind me asking mother what are we doing today?” her mother opened the door,

“Well Kari, we will be examining a creature today, but for right now I need you to take this medicine cart down to the holding blocks.” Her mother walked away and Kari looked at it, and she slowly started pushing it down the hall. Kari was used to working at her mother’s company even though she never got to hang out with her friends. She preferred to be at her mother’s company anyway. As she walked through the sterile doors she saw one of the scientists standing beside a glass window holding a clipboard. He turned and looked at her and waved for her to come closer,

“Is this the medicine cart I requested?” Kari nodded as he surveyed the cart, “This cart doesn’t have everything I asked for. You stay here until I get back.” He shoved his clipboard into her hands and he left the room. Kari put the clipboard down, and she walked over to the glass window. She was expecting to see the city, but instead she saw a whole other room and in the room sat a guy. He looked older than her but not by much. His dark brown hair covered his face as he sat there staring at the floor. She looked down at the intercom button and she gently pressed it.

“Um, excuse me, but what are you doing here? This is a holding cell for a patient. You can’t be here.” He looked up at her,

“Do you think I want to be here?” He spoke in a demanding voice, “And if you’re so concerned, let me go.” He stared at her with such intensity, his eyes were gray and his skin tone fair.

“I cannot. But why are you here in the first place?”

“Because I’m not normal…”

“You look normal to me…” he shifted, and beautiful white wings unfolded from his back, “You’re a mutant.” She whispered something else under her breath, “Impossible there should be none of your kind left.” His gaze intensified.

“None of us live in the city if that’s what you’re saying. And you’re not so normal yourself…”

“What do you mean? I am normal…” he began to laugh,

“Oh, obviously, with your white hair and blue eyes for someone of your skin tone that’s not normal. You are fooling yourself if you think you’re normal. Let me guess, you never get in trouble even though you want to rebel. Oh, and your friends are probably goodie goodies, the ones that never disobey the law.” Kari felt her heart begin to race and she stepped forward,

“You know nothing about my life or my friends, so don’t pretend you know me.” he smiled at her,

“So you think you're normal.” she took another step,

“I am and no one or anything can tell me otherwise, I am who I am.” He stood up,

“Well you did a very good job of coming through the wall and into this observation room, Ms. Normal,” she looked around and then at him,

“What did you do to me?” she backed away from him,

“I’ve done nothing, it was all you. I was sitting here, and you came walking through the wall fussing at me.” she felt herself start to freak out.

“Stay away from me, you freak, I’m normal.” she started to bang against the observation door, “Someone help me.” he reached out to grab her, but she slapped his hand, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, “Help. Someone please help me.” he slapped his hand over her mouth, and he whispered into her ear,

“You aren’t what people tell you to be. You are the person you were supposed to be. Look around, you don’t belong here, you’re out of place and deep down inside you know it. You are like the rest of us, the ones who have their own identities. You beat to the sound of your heart, not the sound of the city. You know you don’t belong, yet you stay. Let your true eyes show you what the city and its people are truly like. Take your soul and life back from the ones who stole it. Remember what they wanted you to forget . You aren’t normal, you’re a mutant. If you wish to find me, keep the feather you found. It will guide you to me or me to you. Hold onto it, don’t let them take it, hide it from them and remember that you aren’t normal.” he let her go, and he walked over to the door and lifted it off its hinges and the alarm turned on. He left the room and Kari collapsed. She woke up to her mother and a few other scientists standing over her.

“Kari, what happened? Where did the subject go?” Kari sat up slowly, and she looked at all the scientists,

“I don’t remember.” Her mother stood up and brushed her hair out of her face,

“I swear you are useless sometimes and to think your father wants you to run the company. He is a dreamer. Well, don’t just sit there, get up and return home and wait for me and your father to return. I have your mess to clean up.” before her mother turned to walk away, Kari stood up and brushed herself off,

“I’m fine, by the way.” Her mother turned to look at her,

“I didn’t ask if you were okay…” Kari felt her heart start to race,

“Well you never ask if I’m okay, especially when I’m not…” Her mother slapped her and as Kari backed away her mother grabbed her shirt collar,

“Go home and wait until me and your father return. We will discuss this later.” Her mother shoved her down the hall, “Leave now.” Kari collected herself and her stuff and she quickly left the building. She climbed on the first transport to Lexington Avenue, which was only a few blocks from her house. As she got off the transport, the subjects' words kept ringing in her head." You aren’t normal. She unlocked her door and walked into the house and up the stairs to her room. She flopped down onto her bed and there she waited for her parents to return home, but she had fallen asleep before they returned. Sleeping didn't come easy to her, as she tossed and turned to the same dream.

“Kari, I’m going to show you where I work.” The woman grabbed Kari’s hand and led her through a door,

“Mama says you aren’t supposed to bring me here.” The woman bent down and patted the five-year-old brown hair,

“What your mother doesn’t know won’t hurt her. Now come on I have plenty of stuff to show you.” Kari held her teddy bear close as they entered a lobby where the woman signed her name on a piece of paper, then she grabbed a clipboard, “Alright Kari come with me sweetie.” She grabbed Kari’s hand and gently pulled her along, but Kari had dropped her teddy bear.

“No my Teddy… I have to get my teddy.” She pulled her hand free, and she ran to pick it up, but just as she grabbed it a man had grabbed the other side as well.

“Is this your teddy bear?” he picked it up and dusted it off and handed it to her,

“Thank you.” She slowly grabbed it, and she turned and walked back over to the women and took her hand. She turned to glance back at the man, but he was gone,

“Kari don’t run off like that, okay.” Her vision blurred for a couple of minutes, then it cleared,

“Auntie Susan, what is this place?” All around her, Kari saw people walking around with white lab coats and some were pushing carts with colorful jars and others were walking around with clipboards.

“Well, this is my job. I work for a company that tries to make the world a better place for everyone by making medicine, genetic reconfiguration…” Kari tugged on her aunt’s lab coat,

“What is genetic recon… recon…?” She looked down at Kari,

“Oh, you mean genetic reconfiguration. It allows us to replace or enhance one’s genetic material or, in five-year-old words, it makes one a better person.” Her aunt pulled her along when someone stopped her Aunt, “Um Kari sweetie I’m going to leave you with a friend of mine she’s going to take very good care of you till I get back.” Her aunt scurried off with a couple of other scientists while Kari stood in the middle of the room holding her teddy bear tightly. She looked around trying to figure out where her aunt’s friend was, but she never showed up. Kari slowly walked over to a door, and she gently pushed it open, and she saw a room full of machines and computers and in the center of the room stood a giant tube of liquid with a small capsule in the center. She slowly walked over to the tube and placed her hand on it. It was cool to the touch. She stared at it for a few minutes, then she walked over to one of the computers. It had a document still open on the screen that read, “Genetic experiment test 859. This section of code isolates the abilities of invisibility, intangibility, flight, telekinesis and the manipulation of temperature gene structure 81275012745. Testing phase, unknown side effects, unknown potency…” Kari heard voices outside the door, so she ran and hid underneath a table. She held her teddy bear close. The door opened, and four people walked into the room.

“Let’s get the vile and leave. I think a couple of people know who we are.” Kari backed away further underneath the table,

“Guard the door and make sure you’re not seen. You hack the computer. Get that barrier down and hound scout the room to make sure no one is here.” She heard someone walk over to the table where she was hiding and set something down on it. She tried to crawl away, but her foot accidentally hit the table's leg and instantly two men grabbed her and dragged her out from under the table. She tried to scream, but one of the men pressed a rag with a funny smell against her nose. As they made her inhale she felt her eyes get heavy and she passed out. When she came to a man with a scare over his left eye, he was holding a needle. The other three were loading their weapons, “Do you know who we are, little girl?” He spoke with a Scottish accent,

“Please let me go. I promise not to tell anyone what’s happened. Please let me go.” One of the other men put a knife against her face,

“Sure thing sugar cube, but first we need you to keep something safe for us.” The man with the needle grabbed Kari’s arm, “Keep it safe until we meet again.” Kari woke drenched in sweat as she slowly got up. Her head started to spin and pound. She slowly sat down to gather herself and when she felt better she walked over to her closet. She quickly took a shower and put her school uniform on and grabbed her ID bracelet and put it on. She grabbed her data pad, and she headed downstairs, but before she could walk past the kitchen she heard someone set their cup down on the table.