Prologue: Routine

(Author's Notes: You're getting the rough stuff here, guys. These are my writings hot off the press, so bear with me! By the way, if you're curious...the page count of the prologue is two pages long. The page count for chapter one is about ten pages.)

“This is Chimaera Lab 4-135. We have confirmation that the last incubation chamber is exhibiting signs of life.” It was an astounding feat, after all. To create life was a wonderful thing, but to manufacture life was the cutting edge of technology. Countless men in long white coats surrounded a capsule the size of a human child. Inside of the shell was a body floating in liquid, and while unspectacular on its own, the heartbeat from the monitor is what excited the scientists.

The first motion was a movement of the fingers, and then the whole hand. The chocolate brown skin and snow white hair of the humanoid contrasting within the colorless fluid of the life support capsule. Eyes opened to reveal an amethyst hue, wandering orbs of light traced the faces of strange life-forms, but none of them held any true answers. Attached to his body were numerous black tendrils that connected him to the small ‘world’ he had been grown in. Even on his face was a mask that covered his mouth and nose as his only means of breathing inside of the dome.

A single gloved hand reached out to embrace a world he had not yet known, but his way was barred. The barrier between him and the new world existed as himself given that he was the one confined. He took his hand away from the glass chamber and allowed it to float by his side once more as the world came in to view. Blue clothing standard of Espers in the lab was issued. A long-sleeved shirt with pants and white shoes was the standard fare, but Espers were not standard. Barbaric as it may have been, a collar had been placed around this Esper’s neck, as it was with all Espers.

“Truly astounding…they react much more quickly to the world than the last batch.” The trapped Esper’s gaze flitted between those who only stared at him, and those who nodded in appreciation of the work. While it was a moment of triumph for those who created him, he felt an immense amount of pressure in his head. The sleepy violet eyes suddenly sparked alive, and to the fear and surprise of every scientist in the room, he began to thrash about in his tube. His heartbeat quickened, and soon, he was pulling at the cords inserted in to his body.

The barcode designation on his shoulder marked him as EXODUS-0027-01, or rather, the twenty-seventh Chimeric Esper of the first series in the EXODUS model. Everybody in the room was hushed as the humanoid wordlessly screamed out at them. It wasn’t as though he made a sound, but everybody could feel the mental backlash from his anxiety. Suddenly, admiration turned to a stark hatred. Crocodile smiles painted what became faces twisted with malice.

“It’s certainly lively.” A balding man stated calmly as he pressed a few buttons on a remote. Suddenly, the water in the tube began to bubble. Exodus twisted and contorted in pain for only seconds before his movement ceased. He couldn’t explain what caused him so much pain, but it was sufficient for the scientists to gather information while he was immobile.

“I think it’s too dangerous for use in the Imperium, though.” Another man with greying hair stated as he monitored Exodus’ health. Each scientist took turns looking inside of the tube at the now-unmoving mass.

“Chronos won’t mind if we turn it loose.” The man seemed bitter to mention the President’s name, but they wouldn’t have any funds to experiment if it weren’t for Chronos’ good graces. That man, Chronos, ran the flying city of the Imperium with a kind heart, but a firm hand. It often put him in a difficult position with the Chimaera Labs because of their unethical treatment of Espers. A lot of regular humans would rather see every Esper sent down to the desolate Earth, rather than on the Imperium.

The flying city known as the Imperium was a safe haven for a portion of the population. It was the size of a very large state, and floated above a burned Earth. The city, in all its pristine glory, shone like a beacon for all to see that still lived on the irradiated surface. For all its white buildings and ‘nature,’ the blackness hidden away in the Chimaera Labs served to remind that not everything was ever going to be equal. For all that Chronos had preached equality, it seemed as though even the smallest of differences between people would spark hatred.

In Exodus’ case, he and his entire race of artificial humanoids were hated because of their unnatural creation and prowess. Espers were integral in keeping the Imperium in the air because of their power to manipulate the particles and molecules around them with something akin to telekinesis as far as human-kind knew. Espers were also lauded by the President as the most important part of the Imperium, and as such, the hatred and the rift between the two races grew each day. The brutality exhibited by the scientists was a reminder of that rift. No matter how many years passed, everything would stay the same.

In time, it would all become a part of the routine. The constant stress tests and use of his powers would become routine. The growing malice would become routine. The desire for something better than looking out at the world from a box would become routine. Everything would become the same drab routine.

Various tests would confirm how much of a threat Exodus was, and they were generally right. The one thing the tests could not confirm was ambition. When you beat an animal enough, it will bite back, and that’s what Exodus planned to do. Every day he stared out of the window, longing for reprieve, and each day the spark in his hands grew stronger. The ability to create a kind of electric shock made the mundane monochrome days easier to bear.

Suddenly, things weren’t so routine. The routine ended when he met Revee.