Birth

Lights. They’re everywhere! Where am I? I don’t remember this. The last thing was… There is nothing. What has happened to me? Where am I? Voices. They are reaching my ears; I am hearing what they are saying, but I don’t recognize them. Who are they? Faces. They are looming over me know; I don’t know them. Why are they looking at me? I try to speak, but all that comes out is twisted and bent. They don’t understand what it is I am saying; I don’t either. They try to speak to me, are they commanding me!? How dare they?! Who are they that they try to command me? I do not know them, I won’t obey them. I can’t even understand them; the fools.

A thought keeps coming back: hunt. What is that? Finding something, but what? Destroy it; that is what I am being told, but WHAT!? I think I know what my purpose is, to hunt and destroy, but what is it that I am to hunt? The people around me are moving, loosening my bonds. I was bound? Why was I bound? Am I some sort of animal, that they bind my hands and feet?! They shouldn’t bind me! I try to speak again, but the same twisted sounds come out. Why can’t I speak, I know I should be able to. They are talking to me again, gesturing to my arm. They’ve attached something to it. What is that? I move it; it’s lighter that I expected.

IT HURTS!! I didn’t expect that; the flood in my mind! What is it all!? I moved my arm, and suddenly this! Was it information? Yes, I think so, but what does it all mean? Numbers, images, words, in my mind, telling me everything; everything in my past, everything in my present, and what the best chances for surviving to the future would be. But all at once, too much! How is all this information coming to me?

Through my memories; they are being sent back to me somehow. But not enough of them; and yet too much at the same time. They tell me nothing, simply confuse me more.

Through my senses; giving me the input that one would expect, but so much more! Heat, sounds, colors, dance before my eyes, along with words and images showing me what I’m looking at. But none of it makes sense. And across it all is the deafening voice of the people, shouting at me! Why are they still shouting at me?! Leave me alone!

Through my thoughts themselves’ as if someone is telling me what to think inside of me, giving me the answer: eliminate all that threaten me. But who is threatening me? These men, they won’t leave me alone, they must know I don’t understand them and they don’t understand me, but still they persist! They won’t leave me be!
I will them to go away, and they do. Green fire erupts from my arm, the one that had brought the pain, and the people are gone. Yes, finally, silence. The silence is good. From now on, it is what I will have.

I stand up, my legs are stronger than they’ve ever been before, I can feel it. The strength is new, but somehow I can use it like I always could. So foreign, but all familiar. I look around; there are images all around me. These aren’t in my head; they are in front of me. I look at them, and I see myself. There are words, but I don’t know them. I don’t want to know them, I want to be free of all this. The fire erupts again; the images are gone, but still more keep haunting me. I keep sending the fire, but the images are never completely gone. How can I escape? I see no escape, but I know I have too. There it is; but it’s too small. Can I make it bigger? The fire comes, but it isn’t enough. Can I become smaller? The thought is strange, but it had been given to me, so I thought it. And I do; I become small, I fit through the hole, and it leads into a tunnel. I move, quickly, but not with my hands or feet. Somehow, I move without them. Had this been done to me too, or was this something that I always could do? I don’t know. I’m through the tunnel now, safe.

NO, they found me again! I keep moving, I know they are behind me though. Somehow, I have to stop them. And I feel myself become two, part of me keeps moving on, but the other stays. Something comes towards the part of me that stayed, I don’t know what it is, but I don’t care. It won’t follow me anymore! Suddenly, that part of me is no more. But I know that the pursuer behind me won’t follow me anymore. They shouldn’t have followed me.

And as I continue to move, I hear another sound, this one louder than all the others. STOP IT!! I separate my being again, this time part to escape, and the other part to stop the sound. Part of me finally is free; I am out of this horrible place. The other part is still there; I have found the sound. I attack it, and that part of me is no more. The part of me that escaped; myself, I keep moving. I don’t look back towards that horrible place. I stand, rising on my legs again. It is good to be free. There is suddenly another sound, but this is a good sound. I made this sound, I know, when part of me had died. I don’t look back, but I know that the horrible place is no more; I can here it falling into dust. I am free now, truly free, it is time for my purpose, time to hunt.

...

“Recovery nineteen, what do you have?” “It’s a memory chip, left over after the explosion. Looks like it’s still intact.” The marine designated recovery nineteen lifted the small chip, and inserted it into a small slot on his helmet. The feed from it was short, but clear. The scientists where all crowded around that green experiment of theirs, examining it. One of them reached over and gave it shot, presumably to bring it to consciousness. It came alive, almost like a Frankenstein scene. One of the scientists began un-strapping it from the table, the other began explaining the functions of the beast’s arm cannon. Then, unprovoked, it lifted the cannon and shot both of the scientists dead. Then it stood up, and fired a round right at the camera. Recovery nineteen reached up and keyed his radio. “Well, I guess we know what happened to project KANDEN now...”