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mindlessadriStory summary: Kurogane is a Scrib (otherwise known as a genetically altered human who's kind is executed on sight and forced to live underground). His main goal in life is to get him and his sister out of Pâro and to a country where they can live freely. However nothing is ever that simple. The introduction of an unknown enemy threatens to destroy everything around him in the last few months before he thinks he and Mokona can leave and then there is Fai - an entirely different problem all on his own.
Title of Chapter: Prologue
Rating: G
Word Count: ~1720
Summary: The fall of the world as we know it, the birth of Scribs, and the rise of Pâro in brief.
Notes: Intro to the rest of the story a la mode with death, dystopian societ,y and maybe a typo or two.
Date: Non-applicable
Pâro wasn't just a metropolis – it was a country made of dozens of small sectors. Like any country – metropolis – it had high rises populated with the rich, famous, and politically corrupt. The lower class filled with people who were getting by in the unforgiving urban jungle. And then there was the slums, bursting with scum that crawled on their bellies – scum that ate any person trying to escape it. But there was another aspect to the city that was lesser known, lesser part of the skyscrapers and slums but more of an entire city within itself. It's inhabitants called it the Hive and the surface dwellers called it a myth but titled it Subsector Zero.
The Hive’s name was in fact of no particular importance. It in no way resembled a hive unless you counted the hundreds that lived in the underground multi level facility as swarms. They could be as much with the chatter that resonated all through out the place. On the other hand, the Subsector Zero sounded just ominous enough to have it's existence doubted. It almost sounded like something parents would threaten their children with, “If you don't behave I'll take you to Subsector Zero and let the monsters deal with you!” The key to their survival was to make sure the average person doubted their existence. The fact that these people lived here was almost disgustingly ironic if only because they had been created in the very facility they now claimed.
'They' were Scribs and considered a governmental abomination. The government’s original intent was in fact to create specialized soldiers: quick, instinctual, strong, and intelligent were the characteristics they planned to emphasize. Some could sprint so fast they could become momentarily imperceptible as well as incredibly flexible: Wings, they would be used to infiltrate. Others could feel people's emotions and, not only that, but could detect lies: Probes, they would be used as double agents, in local law enforcement and as spies. Another group became inhumanly strong and they represented the peak of physical capability: Alphas, they would be used in combat. Lastly, were Determinants: they could see the future and they would become the leaders of the military. They might of all had varied in their specialized ability but they all had common characteristics. They resisted disease and could heal physical injuries much faster than any normal human. Even Probes and Determinants who weren’t specialized for physical reasons had advanced physical ability, though to a lesser degree.
At first people had been amazed by this scientific advancement. The nation would be safe from what they felt was impending war. No nation would dare seek war with a country who had human weapons on reserve. And for a while nobody challenged them. It was the nation's own people who began to questions the Scribs. They had never seen proof that they could protect them. The people began to call for a demonstration of power and once outside nations saw the people's doubt they too began to call for a demonstration.
People began to call the announcement of Scribs a hoax and the attitude towards them went from wonderment to reproachful. Rumors began to spread that Scribs had been created but lacked human emotion; the price for their ability. It was also hypothesized that the reason Scribs had yet to make a debut was because they were dangerous to the average human. The people became scared of something they couldn't see like a child in a dark room they were afraid of the unknown.
The government saw that the situation was becoming increasingly more hostile the longer they chose not to utilize their soldiers the more doubtful people grew towards them. So when a small war had broken out in the still unsettled middle east a team of Alphas was sent to nullify the situation. They were to demonstrate their strength and their ability to protect the innocent. When they arrived in the small village that was reported to belong to a group calling themselves Alazar gunfire broke out the Alphas demonstrated their strength by quickly doing away with the people firing at them and secured the villagers. All seemed to go well until a straggler walked into the square and when she did the second wave hit. An Alpha dove at her and shielded her body from a grenade that had been thrown. However, he had forgotten himself and in turn his strength and he crushed her to death. Suddenly they weren't soldiers but murderers.
There was a worldwide outcry for the cessation of the Scrib program. The people didn't see that is had been an accident in their terror they only saw that a Scrib had killed an innocent twelve year old child. Protests were held with slogans that read “Scribs be Dead!” and “Scribs are not Security they are Tyranny”. Laws were passed that redefined human rights as “only belonging to those lacking altered DNA”.
But taking away their rights wasn't enough for the people who wanted Scribs to pay further. Nobody knows who suggested it or why but the idea of making slaves of the Scribs as a form of repayment to society became a hot button issue and the government caved letting it happen. Scribs began to be sold off for their abilities. Determinants and Probes were sold mostly to politicians and drug lords to predict elections and revenue and to catch liars.
Alphas and Wings, however, were sold for sport. A new fascination with blood sport arose and at the center of it were Alphas and Wings. Alphas were generally put in a cage and made to fight each other to the death and Wings were let loose in enclosed preserves where they were hunted by 'humans'. Why didn't they refuse? Because with their human rights gone their life meant nothing to nobody except them. Scribs died everyday simply for refusing to follow their 'masters' orders and those, in some cases, were the lucky ones. Others were tortured until they were forced to comply.
During this time, the government had certain regulations on Scribs. Mostly rules they had to follow and punishments if they didn't but there was one very particular rule they were to follow. They were not allowed to reproduce. Most people assumed that it was because the government was going to let the Scrib gene die off but when there were no more Scribs to be sold about two years later people were in an uproar and threatened Pâro’s economics seeing as bloodsport had become it's own industry. Still the ban on reproduction wasn't lifted mostly because the scientists who had inserted the gene weren't sure how the gene would replicate in a fetus. So instead the government made more.
They took petty criminals and tried them as murderers and teenagers and tried them as adults, their punishment? The Scrib gene. The Scrib gene was artificial DNA that was inserted into a person's genetic code. People were not guaranteed what type of Scrib they would be because the gene just built on existing abilities. Nor were they guaranteed to be a 'good' Scrib. Just because a person had the gene did not mean they would all have equal ability. Some Determinants could predict the future with 85% accuracy and other only 40. Some Probes could only feel certain emotions. Not all Alphas were equal in ability and neither were Wings. And those that lacked in their skill were killed because there was no use for a toy if it was broken.
However, Scribs weren't toys. They had been created to be soldiers.
Even after the government went through so much trouble to make new Scribs one Scrib couple was able to reproduce despite the strict laws on Scrib interaction. The woman had delivered the first second generation Scrib. It's eyes were vibrant orange. In retrospect she hadn't been the first to deliver a second generation Scrib she had instead been the first to draw media attention. People were enraged and called for the monstrosity to be killed and the government acted accordingly. They executed the mother and child on TV but not before conducting mass raids to find any child that was the product of Scrib reproduction. A few were kept briefly for study and it was determined that all second generation Scribs had vibrantly odd-colored eyes. Their eyes were orange, red, yellow, purple, and so on. There was now an identifiable marker for any child born a Scrib.
Along with the mother and child all other children and their mother's were executed and for the first time the Scribs were the ones to demand change. Enraged they took to the streets. Riots ensued, anarchy. For nearly 18 hours the Scribs let their pain be known. Then the government stepped in its guns trained on the enemies heads. They opened fire. The Scribs might have been made to be soldiers but they weren't invincible. Scribs fell left and right and blood pooled in the street. Some fled only to be shot from behind. Some surrendered only to be killed later. And yet others escaped.
After that all Scribs were considered dangerous. Some families took it upon themselves to end the Scribs lives, others let the government handle it.
Those that survived in the metropolis retreated to the one place they knew was empty and unreachable by anybody who didn't know it existed, which was the majority of people. The underground research center was considered obsolete once the Scrib project was pulled in 152 P.W. and so the entrance had been imploded. But for a Scrib who had knowledge of the facility's entrance and constructional design it was a base waiting to be claimed.
Following the Scrib genocide Fei Wong Reed came to power. Riding on heavy promises of safety and blaming the government before him for the internal threat of lingering Scribs. Once it was known he’d been the one to issue the kill order in 217 P.W. against the Scribs he won by a landslide.
Melting Against the Darkness
