Sytec
Different Breed™
Fear
The year is 3110. Four hundred years after the discovery of bane. Bane is a precious resource that allows living organisms to access different levels of their brains; allowing vast improvements to their physical and mental state. Studies have taken place over the last few centuries; most have projected bane to completely safe and to have no harmful side effects.
Aziria, the land of peace... That tranquillity has long deceased. It is now over-run by criminal gangs and terrorists. Thirst for power and control of the bane resource persuaded world leaders to wage wars against one another; wiping out millions of innocent citizens and destroying gigantic cities. However, it is still a beautiful planet; the landscape is indigenous, mainly untouched forests and wonderful oceans. Cities are built with a futuristic architecture, but are fashioned with exotic plants and emeralds. Remains of once thriving kingdoms lay scattered across the earth; home only to pillagers and those who have nowhere else to go.
Our tale begins in a city known as Vecto; where violence and terror infects the hearts of the youth and feeds off the hard work of the grown; a boy, like no other, strives to find a way to escape.
Chapter One: Aviate
An explosion sound occurs in the distance, very subtle but the boy had noticed it. He opened his eyes.
Sitting on an overhang of a cliff was a young boy looking out across the ocean. In the distance he could see massive rain clouds and strikes of lightning hitting the water surface, creating an amazing light show. The reflection of the blue lights bounced off of his large hazel eyes. He watched in wonder and kicked his legs in excitement.
Suddenly, another explosion sound echoed in the distance; this time much louder than the first. The boy stood up. “Huh?” he said as he turned around. As he was turning he felt slight breezes flow through his short black hair, lifting his fringe slightly and causing him to blink. He stood trying to focus on a bright red light that lay on the horizon but couldn’t quite decipher what the object was. The boy put his hands above is brow to aid his sight. Upon closer inspection he spotted gray smoke travelling towards him at a very fast rate. “What the?”
Within a few seconds the smoke had travelled thousands of meters. It was not slowing down. It seemed to be a shock-wave of some sort. The boy quickly turned around and looked down over the cliff into the dark yet calm waters below, then looked over his shoulder at the wave of smoke tumbling towards him. He took a deep breath and noted the distance between the ocean storm and the cliff. “Here goes!” he whispered.
The boy sprung from the edge using his legs and dove off of the enormous cliff into the waters below. The impact of him entering the water was great, creating a splash and making ripples that disturbed the before calmness. He was dazed but conscious and struggled to make it to the surface. Looking up through the waters blur he watched as the area become dark and foggy. He stayed submerged for a few seconds...
The water began to rumble and rocks from the cliff would break off and drop into the ocean, some in reaching distance of the boy. He quickly swam out further towards the lights in the distance. The adrenaline was pumping through his veins but reaching anywhere safe looked hopeless. In-front of him lay a horrific storm and behind him a cloud of smoke making it impossible to see the crumbling cliffs hidden within. Slowly, the smoke began to take over him and the speed at which he was swimming dropped greatly. The lights from the storm were the only visible thing that gave him sense of direction, and even they were blurred from the mist.
The boy began to tire and came to a halt. His body cold and his muscles weak, he fell unconscious...
Chapter Two: Vecto
On the sandy beaches of Vecto, thousands of people stand in hope of seeing the event known as the freedom showers. This miracle occurs only once every two hundred years. It is said that the Gods above rain down on the land with tears of healing. This rain is considered holy and many of the injured lay waiting to be cleansed by the magical water. It yet to be discovered how the event begins or how it functions.
The beach was packed; different races from all across the planet were waiting. The area ranged around four miles from left to right. Each race stood in its respectful group: The humans, the cusens and the freyans. The cusens are a half rodent, half human race; created by bane four hundred years ago. They are said to be very wise and sneaky; many are taken on in the forces as spies. The freyans are a human similar, but are enriched with bane at birth. These men and women are gifted with magical abilities and they hold distinct tribal markings all around their bodies; their skin is dark blue and their eyes glow brightly.
“Damnn! How long we gotta wait?!” a man shouted impatiently, throwing his hands in the air.
“Be patient, you cannot rush these things” a freyan women clamed.
The man grumbled and sat down. “I’ve been here for two days, my wife is sick an-“the man was interrupted by a siren sound coming from far out in the ocean.
“It’s started!” a women shouted from the crowed.
Small drops of rain started to fall onto the surface. Upon impact the drops would create a green glow on the water and ripple outwards changing the colour of the liquid as they grew. Men, women and children from each race began sprinting into the water, some tripping and stumbling from the rush. Loud screams of joy could be heard from everywhere, the event had begun.
The healing effect was genuine and immediately the wounded would stand up in the green liquid, no longer injured. Scientists began taking samples of the water in containers and some people filled buckets to bring home to those who were too weak to attend. It was a fantastic sight.
“Huh? What’s that?” a young cusen questioned as something from in the distance caught his eye, “Is that a kid?”
Floating towards the beach was a young boy, unconscious. A couple of cusen boys began swimming out to him.
“Is he dead?” the cusen boy asked.
“I’m not sure” replied the other as they both ranged in on the target.
They arrived in touching distance of the boy; unsure whether he was living. One of the cusens began inspecting him, looking for signs of life. The other watched in concern.
“Are you okay?” the cusen boy asked.
“I’m fine, we need to get him back to land” the other said as he grabbed onto the boy and hoisted him over his shoulder; he then began to swim towards the beach.
“Not you... Never mind” the cusen explained softly before following.
Both of the rat like boys swam with haste to the beach, on the way they passed through the green water. While passing through the boy began to glow.
“Whoa!” the cusen holding him exclaimed as he let go of the unconscious boy.
Instead of sinking, the boy just floated above the water as if something underneath was keeping him from doing so. His arms began to twitch; as he met the magical liquid it seemed to trigger an effect. The young boy started to regain strength. Suddenly he opened his eyes and inhaled a humungous breath of air. He looked all around at the masses of people surrounding him trying to make sense of what was happening.
“Uh.. W.. Where am I?” the boy asked in amazement.
“You’re on Vecto beach. You just floated onto the shore” one of the cusens explained, “Do you remember how you ended up in the ocean?”
“Umm... I don’t really remember” said the boy.
“Okay. What’s your name?” the cusen questioned.
“It’s Xal.. I think” the boy smiled, “What about you?”
“I’m Vaan and this is my brother Rode” he explained, “You owe us big time for saving your life.”
“Yeah, if it wasn’t for us you would have drowned” conferred Rode.
“I.. I have nothing. I’m sorry” Xal said in disappointment.
“Then you’ll have to help us with our work” Vaan laughed, looking to his brother who was also giggling, “Follow us.”
They left the water and started to run up the beach towards a giant gate.
“Hey!! Wait up!” shouted Xal as he tried to catch up.
Either side of the gate were enormous metal walls that towered above everyone. They looked never ending. The two cusens ran up and pressed a button on the gate, activating it and causing it to open slowly.
Vecto is a concealed dome-city, once inside people are cut off from the outside world. Not even sunlight may enter. It is well guarded and the walls are made from thick titanium. People are free to leave and enter as they like; however anything that occurs in Vecto, stays in Vecto. For the past one hundred years crime lords have took over and control the economy, the lives of the citizens and the rich bane deposit lying in the middle of the complex. Vecto is beautifully crafted, a wonderful sight.
“Wait up!!” Xal bellowed as the two cusens disappeared past the gate.
Xal ran up and entered through the gate. It slammed behind him. He looked back, and then looked forward...
Chapter Three: Welcome
Xal couldn’t believe his eyes, the city looked empty, no buildings, nothing. Directly forward was one large lane, paved with a clear glass-like material; he knelt down and poked the ground to try and figure out what it was made from. As his finger touched the surface, a green circle appeared underneath him. “What’s this?” he said.
Unexpectedly it began to shape into a perfect reflection of Xal. Looking down past the circle he noticed a few bright green spheres travelling towards it. When they reached the duplicate they began spinning rapidly around it.
“Please state your name” a robotic voice sounded.
Xal quickly looked up; no-one was there. “My name’s Xal... Xal Rein” he answered.
“Welcome to Vecto Mr. Rein” the robotic voice continued, “Please enjoy your stay.”
Immediately from nothing began to appear hundreds of people, phasing in from the ground below. Buildings started to form and the true architecture of the city started to show itself. It was extraordinary.
Most of the population seemed to be cusens, but a few other races could be seen. The buildings were tall and thin; with circular smooth designs. In the middle of the expanse was one large path, filled with passing citizens. On either side of this path were large statues and buildings, and directly in the middle lay a track of some sort, which continued up the path, all the way to a gigantic citadel at the end. The colours were dark and gloomy, but the beauty was undeniable, like a black rose.
Xal looked back down at the reflection, it seemed to be disappearing.
“Your first time here?” a ratty voice asked.
“Yes” Xal said as he looked up, “At first there was no-one and th-“he was interrupted.
“And then everything just appeared?” the cusen youngster continued as he walked out from behind one of the buildings, “The database needed to register you onto the system. It’s a security check.”
“Yeah... But... How did you guys just, ‘phase in’?” Xal questioned in confusion.
“Hah! The question is, did you we ‘phase in’ or did you ‘phase out’?” the cusen replied.
“Wha?” he mumbled.
“Come” the cusen requested as he began to walk down the path.
Xal started to follow him.
“So what brings you to Vecto? The showers?” asked the rat boy.
Xal was lost in thought looking around at the brilliant display, “Uh, I washed up here.”
“Great” the cusen snickered as he grabbed the chain necklace around Xal’s neck, ripping it off, “Seeya!”
He ran into a small abode to the right of the path. “Hey!!! Wait!” Xal shouted angrily. Some banging and tumbling noises echoed from inside of the house. Xal ran up to the door. “Give that back!” he shouted in hope of a peaceful solution. No-one answered. He knocked multiple times; which gave no results, just a few dark stares from people walking by. Xal forcefully opened the door.
“Hello?” he said as the door opened slightly. To his relief sitting around a table in the centre of the home were Rode and Vaan, the two cusens who saved him. However the thief was nowhere to be seen.
“Aha! You’re here” exclaimed Rode, “What took ya?”
The house was disgusting. Dust lay on every surface and empty food boxes were scattered all over the floor. Vaan was stuffing himself with out-dated food and Rode was lead back on his chair in a slouched manner. Xal fell silent in disgust. “So uhh... You gonna tell us what took you?” asked Vann, stuffing himself with more crap.
“I was mugged, by one of your friends” Xal complained.
“Now that’s a lie, you told us you had nothing” Vaan mumbled.
Xal walked over to him. “The necklace I was wearing; do you see it?” he said pointing to his neck.
“I don’t” said the rodent as he stopped chewing.
The sound of someone moving came from a suspicious looking box in the corner of the room. The two cusens just ignored it to try and make it out as nothing; Xal noticed it however. “What’s that” he asked rhetorically.
“Okay Okay!” a voice from the box cried, “You can have your damn chain back.”
The cusen boy threw the box in the air and stood up. “Here” he said as he handed over the necklace.
“Xal, Vegia. Veiga, Xal” explained Rode.
“Sorry about earlier, if I had knew you were friends with these... I would have chose a different house!” laughed Veiga. Xal didn’t find it funny.
Veiga was dressed up in expensive clothes; a red open jacket with a black undershirt and some black rough trousers, probably stolen. Across his nose were three symmetrical scars, like he had been clawed by some sort of animal. His eyes were red, sinister and dark; like his clothes. Distinctively he wore a cap, also dark red.
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