Sitting peacefully, meditating atop a cloud inside his mind, Cordayl opens his eyes to see none other than himself—the physical manifestation of the voice in his head, looking down on him with hell behind him and the weight of all its disgust.
"What are you doing?" the voice asks him.
"Nothing." Cordayl calmly replies.
"Exactly!" the voice shouts. As the voice gets angrier, the flames intensify. "You are being exposed to every kind of poison, disease, weapon, and chemical of death, and you are doing nothing." the voice huffs.
"The body is fine. You see that nothing has harmed it yet. So why not wait until he runs out of ideas before making a move. It's called a surprise attack."
"He probably would be surprised if you attacked because this whole time, you've just been accepting his torture! We've spilled blood for way less, now come on. FIGHT!" The voice yells, making the flames explode.
Cordayl doesn't open his eyes. "I don't want to fight him. I want-"
"You want to save him? You dummy! Does that man look like he needs to be saved? He's been smiling this whole time! He's enjoying watching our body shiver and tremble as it fights to reject whatever evil he inserts into it. Writing notes down as if our suffering is a lecture. That man isn't the Pa you grew to love. And if he isn't, then why try to save him?"
The mist inside Cordayl's head grows thicker still as he considers what to do, but the voice doesn't care as he kicks away the fog, trying to reach him.
"Why are you still thinking about this? Do you want to die? Is that it? You want to die!?" the voice asks, snatching Cordayl up by the neck.
Cordayl, being held strongly by the throat, looks himself dead in the eye as the voice stares back, waiting to see that fire in Cordayl's eyes. Cordayl's gaze drops, though, as he still hasn't decided.
"Pathetic." the voice scoffs, throwing Cordayl to the ground. "We're going to die at the hands of a scrawny scientist. Embarrassing." the voice turns his back on Cordayl.
Cordayl, still in confusion, loses himself as the fog in his mind takes away all visibility.
Then through the thick fog, his father's voice rings through his head. Clear as the sky he wished he could see. "The reason your plan is going to fail is because you won't let it succeed. And when the time comes, you will trust yourself to see your real mission through. The first part of your mission isn't death, my son. It is vengeance."
After hearing this, Cordayl knows what he must do.
The mist battling with the fire on the other side of his mind peaks in its clash, and suddenly, the entire mind is clear. But the aggressive Cordayl is still standing there, staring down at him
A door appears inside his fiery mind a few yards away from them. The voice doesn't understand at first, but when he catches on, a smile can't stop itself from appearing on his face.
"Ohh I see now. This might be one of the smartest things I've ever seen you do," the voice says, walking towards the door.
Walking to the door, the voice turns its head. "Don't worry, I'll be sure to remind them what a Melatonin warrior is capable of." the voice says, vanishing as he walks through the light.
Alone again, Cordayl just falls back as he stares into his clear mind and up at a universe.
Pa slowly cuts his steak as he sits across from his blonde assistant. Putting the slice of meat in his mouth, he can feel his assistant staring at him. "Yes, dear, what is it you are dying to know?"
"I'm just curious, professor. This boy we are testing on? Are we testing him or are we trying to kill him?" she ask.
"We're testing him, of course," Pa responds.
"Yes, like we tested all the others. We test and push, poke, and poison to see what gives them that power. To see which strands of DNA are advanced or evolved. But so far, it just seems like we are… torturing him." The assistant admits.
"Feeling some sympathy, are we?" Pa teases, to which the assistant gives him a mean look. Taking a sip of his wine, Pa wipes his mouth before continuing.
"I know it seems that we are being cruel to Cordayl. But to be honest, we haven't done one original experiment yet. Everything we have done to Cordayl has already been done before. Documented and even published. His people had already suffered through these pains centuries before him.
"Experiment 14 was a poison that has gone extinct in all but the most well-funded labs. It was experimented on an ancestor of Cordayl's nearly 600 years ago. And was well extinct by the time even his grandfather was born.
"So how is it that he, after centuries and no way of ever even knowing about such a rare poison, has complete immunity to it? A poison that could kill an elephant within minutes only makes him gaseous? He holds the key to everything." Pa answers.
"Everything?" the assistant asks.
"Evolution. I'll give you the background on Cordayl's history. Cordayl is from a tribe of warriors known as the Melatonin Tribe. They started off as mere slaves about a thousand years ago. Being forced to endure the most terrible of conditions, disgusting of diets, and worst of labors. Literally only being born to be worked to death.
"The documents I mentioned earlier is a book that details all of the experiments and tests run on the tribe. It became a best seller and a household treasure.
"Anyway, the slaves banded under a leader who decided that he was going to die a better death. One of revolution. But he knew they were not ready for the battle. So they started to train. While the sun was up, they worked. Once it fell, they fought. Each other. Practicing and hardening their fragile bodies until bones became strong enough to crack rock.
"They did this for years, and the work and conditions never changed. If they did, they worsened. They would lose men and have to substitute them with boys, who were exposed to the same regiment as their fathers. That reminder of loss fueled the fire that was soon about to burn.
"Fast forward about a decade, and the rebellion happens. The masters become the deceased. The slaves become free. When the neighboring plantation came the following day, the only thing they saw was a massacre. Everyone murdered, and not a single slave in sight.
"The slaves were soon pursued and their pursuers were shocked to learn that such pitiful slaves had evolved into such devastating monsters. The surviving members of that party reported to the other plantations and united to put the slaves either back in their place or into the dirt.
"The slaves knew it would come to this. Finding an old volcano that had its last fire ages ago, the Melatonin tribe hid all the women and the children not ready for battle inside the volcano and the rest of them stood at the base of that volcano ready to fight the world.
"50 men and boys, thats all they had. 50. Stood tall and ready to face death in the form of 200 angry men. And not one side was going to leave until the other had perished. In the end, 50 had been reduced to 47, and 200 became zero.
"They say that the tribe took the deceased men and had a body dangling from every tree to remind all that any enemy could join the collection. They ensured that anyone who stepped onto their newly owned land knew who they were challenging. The slaves had fought and officially won their freedom.
"What they also won was a head start in human evolution. The tribulations they suffered through for centuries had seeped into their very DNA. Adaption in the hope of survival. They experienced an evolution that supersedes our ancestors and today's generation by ten-fold. They had become superior beings. And it's our fault.
"But with a subject like Cordayl, we now have the chance to catch up. I have no intention to kill Cordayl. I was just recreating the experiments used on his people centuries ago to see if the results would change. To my surprise and happiness, every test has failed!
"Cordayl has survived everything his ancestors did not. What killed them before, would have a scarce chance, if any, of killing him. I don't even know what we can do after we finish the trials of the book!
"But that book was merely a fascination. A mad scientist who tortured in the disguise of science. Unlike him, I can see the benefits of their pain. Their potential to help the rest of us advance.
"We will unlock the secrets of Cordayl's DNA and use him to create the ultimate human. Immune to every disease and illness present and future. Being capable of surviving the apocalypse. So perfect that utopia will no longer be a theory but a matter of time.
"No, we are not torturing him. We are simply fulfilling our purpose." The doctor concludes his monologue, enjoying his wine.
"Interesting backstory. So why is this the first time I have heard of such a book and people? And why have we been wasting time on everyone else? Sounds like I could have been rich years ago." The assistant states.
Pa chuckles, "Because before 10 years ago, the world forgot they existed. That part of history was left out. Then shortly after discovery, they ceased to exist. Cordayl is the last remaining descendant of that particular slave tribe," the professor says.
"Yet you know about them,"the assistant replies.
"Only because my talent and curiosity won me an answer. Do you remember the shooting stars 12 years ago?"
"Of course, I was still in high school then, but it was a big story for a long time," the assistant responds.
"They were actually meteors. In my early days of working for the kingdom, I had been granted the opportunity to study and test them with an elite group of scientists. We had discovered that under the right temperature, the tiniest bit of rock could exponentially raise the degree, burning and melting through anything.
"These experiments were highly dangerous, and we were only thinking of how to harness the meteor as an energy source. Then one day, King Juulian asked us if it could be turned into a weapon, quickly.
"We bashed our brains and made some simulations, but we figured out a way to possibly weaponize the meteorite. The king asked for a demonstration, but he gave us the location and the time.
"When we arrived, we were very far from the test site, but through my binoculars, I saw that the place chosen for our demonstration was a battlefield. One that was currently being utilized in full.
"I watched in horror as every warrior down there stopped moving at the sight of the bomb descending. Then in amazement, as every warrior, friend and enemy huddled up and around each other. I had no idea what they were up to then, but I know now. Anyway, all but one died a painful death in the name of science that day.
"Afterwards, King Juulian swore us to secrecy. My colleagues were more excited that the experiment far exceeded our expectations and just walked out smiling. I though, wanted to know who was it we just killed.
"Surprisingly, King Juulian told me, and as a reward for helping relinquish two enemies at once, I was appointed to this position and haven't looked back since.
"You know, sometimes I think it is faith that led me to meet Cordayl. He is the genesis of the future. And will be the highlight of my, excuse me, our career. There won't be a person on this planet who will not be thankful for our achievement! Then, I can finally retire and go home again." Pa ends his monologue in a hopeful tone before going quiet.
Smirking he finishes his glass of wine and stands up. "It's time to get back to work."