The Past
I saw darkness and felt cold steely floors in my first days. Eerie glows fade in and out of sight and whispers writhe in the next room, a transparent wall, a window, and the meager amount of sludge in the bowl in the corner next to a hanging water bottle. Life was nothing but a never-ending series of trials, the breaking of records and an infinite supply of needles. I thought I was alone. I was right.
My family was an organization of white-coats. They were creators of machines and the suppliers of weapons. They were geniuses, only in the wrong topic. They were the experts of death. Want a toy that can rend your worst enemies? They're the ones you want to talk to. Want a group of individuals erased from this world? They can take care of your problem.
I was, am, their biggest and greatest creation. I am their customized pet, their pride and joy. Their test-tube love. Genetically engineered to be elite and peerless, I am a mix of poisons, claws, teeth, and intellect. If I can't kill a target by force, I'll kill it with my ingenuity. And, vice versa. Want to be killed by a four-legged wolf-like creature, or a two-legged humanoid? Hell, I can do both, I'm elastic.
They called me Project AshenFate – Serial #8B0732, and back then, I was nothing more than a carbon machine. They gave me orders, told me my target, then sent me off to do what I do best. I wiped out entire towns if I was told. I was the 'good dog' when they wanted to test something new on me. I'd sit still for their analyzing and their tissue collecting. I gave them no trouble, and did as told.
Then, they messed up. An electrical experiment was the next thing on their mind. No second thought was needed, never was before, so on they went to do what they willed. Pulse after pulse of energy surged through me, each wave harsher than the last, until finally, something was disturbed in my mind. Something snapped, or came together, and I realized myself. I could think on my own, move on my own, and every one of my new born thoughts told me to do nothing but free myself of this pain.
My vision was alive with cold colors at first, but soon, it was tinted red and anger washed over me like a disease. What an exhilarating feeling, I thought, how divine this emotion! My jowls found the throat of one of my cousins and the warm, copper taste of his life-giving wine was exquisite as it poured over my teeth. Three more of the family dropped like flies soon after and the shrill cry of an alarm broke my rage. Color fused into my vision and piece by piece my reality was realized.
Less then an hour later, I stood on the precipice of a hill overlooking the agency that had created me. It was ablaze and every living creature in it was now dead, killed either by my teeth or driven into the fire. The family was gone, and so were my brothers and sisters, machine and carbon alike.
I wandered the vast, forested expanse that surrounded that agency for months before I stumbled upon a wolf pack. Looking like them, mostly, I decided to try and discover what their friendship and comradely nature was like. It wasn't long before I proved myself to them; my hunting skills were far better than their own. And it wasn't long either until I discovered a kind of romance with one of their kind. In that romance, I found just how wonderful the female type can be.
I had forgotten the killer that I was for another half of a year before the next fateful night came. My romance with a specific female had grown, in her eyes, to what she considered far more than just intimacy. She and I were alone in silence when she opened her maw and began to speak.
Fate," she said, addressing me by the name I had given her and her pack, "I think I love-"
I'll never know what her last word was. I had ripped her throat from neck before she finished. My sight went red again and a surreal world surfaced from the outer flesh of reality. Forms were disfigured, shadows danced when once they were still, the brightness of light was like a sharp scream and my body was no longer my own. A whisper cooed to me, talked of sinister things and wondrous alternatives. And as it spoke of such things, I watched this new, dark, and evil world zip past me. My teeth and claws found the flesh of my friends and their horrified faces questioned me. I was frightened too, but then that whisper in my mind soothed me and quickly, I began to enjoy the blood spill, the carnage, the violence. In the reflection of the beta's eye, I saw a terrible smirk twist my maw.
I can honestly say that I came to enjoy the red stain I was creating on the forest floor. The taste of the adrenaline, the yelps and wines, the cries for mercy, it was all so exhilarating. I wanted more, and the alpha provided me with new opponents as he lead attacks against me with what little pack he had left. The adults were fodder and fell like timber, soon none of the grown canines were alive. Still unsatisfied, though, I found the whelp dens. The cubs were helpless little creatures, yet, surprisingly much more bold than their parents.
The whispers subsided as I went through the babes, and the red faded away slowly until, when the last pup squeaked in pain between my jaws, I realized just how terrible the thing I had done was.
In fear and disgust, I ran. I didn't know where, and I didn't care where my path took me. All I wanted to do was leave that place behind, I wanted to leave myself behind, change what I was, but I couldn't. I could do, can't do, anything to alter what I am.
I found myself on the outskirts of a city after uncounted hours of blind thought. The sign posted just beside its border dubbed the city Solace. Following the highway and my sense of smell, I found the alleys with the dumpsters and scraps of food. In these alleys, I was found, for a change, by Andy. Andy, would eventually become my adopted brother, and would be the one who introduced me to the Agency. He would teach me to control my darker side and show me how to kill professionally, legally.
-to be continued-
