The prologue of 'change'

Here you go, please read and enjoy This is the corrected version !

Prologue

Waves battered a lone white building which stood somewhere along the coast of the Mediterranean. The outside walls were covered with sea salt, but the inside, they were blanketed with around an inch of dust and grime, for the scientists inside did not care about the conditions they worked in. They could hardly even hear the waves outside, due to the humming of the machinery inside the building itself. At that current moment, the group of eight was crowded around a small cube shaped machine, with a glass front. When looked at through this side, a small humanoid shape could be made out through the fogged up glass

“I think he’s ready!” one of the scientists said excitedly, writing something on a small dull brown clipboard he was holding.

“I didn’t believe we could actually achieve this… there were so many lost lives…” another scientist muttered,

“They could hardly be counted as lives… And the important thing is we have.” The scientist named Rupert added, much to the agreement of his fellow colleagues. The group continued to stare at their creation.

“Daddy!”

The group turned to find a small 5 year old boy, running up to one of their colleagues.

“Dominic! How many times do you need to be warned of the dangers you put us all into when you bring your boy to work?” Rupert said, glaring at the young man.

“His name is Maximilian! And he’s very interested in what we do here in the lab” Dominic said smiling proudly. Then he then turned to his son and added, “You want to be a scientist like daddy when you grow up, don’t you Maxi?”

Maxi looked up at his dad and nodded shyly, embarrassed due to all the attention he had attracted.

“Interested or not, he is a child, and could endanger our entire project just by the push of a button!” Rupert said looking down at the boy. It was as if he had committed a hideous crime just for being born. “But since he’s here already… He might as well stay, but only for today! Mind you, keep him out of trouble though, or it will be you facing the consequences.”

“Yes sir.” The young Dominic replied, taking a hold of his son’s hand and moving the boy away from the group, to show him what they were working on.

“What’s in there?” Maxi asked innocently looking up at his father.

Dominic looked round at the other scientists, but none of them were paying any more attention to them.

“It’s just a small project we’re working on… that could end this horrible war.” Dominic said to his son, choosing his words carefully. Maxi looked up at his dad proudly thinking of how much he wanted to be like him when he grew up. He then turned round and took a step towards something on the machine’s right… another machine, in the form of a cylinder, which seemed to be emitting an eerie golden glow.

“What about that?” the boy said, pointing at it.

“That’s something that helped us make the project... DNA” His father answered, wondering if he had told his son too much.

Maxi looked around the lab in awe, and again, his eye fell upon the mysterious small shape in the larger machine, this time falling on its face…

“Daddy?!!” Maxi yelled… his voice shaking with horror. All the scientists turned and looked at the young man and his son.

“What happened Max?!” Dominic said to him, worried.

“There’s a face in that big box thingy!!” Maxi replied, still horrified.

“It’s a boy! Just like you I may add, he’s what we’ve been working on… our pride and joy.” Rupert came out of nowhere, obviously delighted by Maxi’s discomfort...and that of the boy behind the glass.

“Yes, it’s a boy… Just like you! He could end all the suffering and starvation and deaths that come with this horrendous war!” Dominic said, trying not to think about the blood lust in his boss’s voice. He grabbed his son by the shoulder. Maxi shook his father’s hand off and took a step closer to the machine. Inside, the boy turned towards him and reached out with his hand, only able to touch the glass by his fingertips due to the wires attached to him, pulling him back.

“He’s scared… you’re hurting him!” Maxi said reaching his hand out to touch the glass which separated both boys.

“It’s for his own good; he could hurt someone if he was let out...Think about all the good he could do for this God forsaken world!” Dominic said to his son, looking for some sort of acceptance in his eyes.

“Good? War…” Maxi said as if starting to see his father’s point. Suddenly, the boy behind the glass writhed in pain. “No…NO! YOU’RE HURTING HIM!!”

“Maxi…”his father said, reaching a hand out to his son, trying to pull him away from the machine, but his son’s hands were pressed against the glass and he would not be moved. Maxi looked into the pain filled eyes of the boy, inside those eyes stared back out through the foggy glass and saw the horrified expression on Maxi’s face, also… he found something he had never seen before… worry… for him? The two boys were so still, that they almost looked like pieces on a chessboard, nervously awaiting the next move. Both silent, both staring…

“Dominic, get your child out of here at once!!” Rupert said, his eyes clouded with anger. “Look at the negative effect he is having upon our experiment! It is obvious he is not yet old enough to grasp the concept of what our work could do for humanity!” With this, he forcefully removed Maxi’s hand from the glass and pushed him towards the open door, making him fall onto his hands and knees.

BOOM

The lab shook as the machine carrying the boy exploded causing everyone to be blasted against the far wall. Everyone, except for two small shapes in the centre of the room, clouded in debris and dust… both still staring at each other. The boy staring at Maxi was around his own age, with blond hair and strange eyes which matched his hair. The strangest thing about him was his pale gold skin, which shone in the darkness of the laboratory.

“MAXI!!!” Dominic yelled, picking himself up, “Get away from the other boy, before he hurts you!” But still, the boys stared at each other, neither moving a muscle.

“Dominic… LOOK!” Rupert said, pointing at the smaller machine which had contained the DNA, it was now utterly smashed due to the explosion. “The DNA’s escaped!! Maximilian’s young so he’s extremely vulnerable to it! He may be affected by it if he isn’t evacuated from this area soon!” But it was too late as Maxi started to shake horribly and suddenly, fell to the ground, unconscious, but still shaking.

Dominic stared at his son, horrified, and then ran towards him and dropped beside him on his knees. Suddenly, the golden boy knelt down and leaned forward to help Maxi, but his hand was stopped.

“Don’t touch him!!” Dominic said, hitting the golden boy’s hand away from his son, “This is all YOUR fault!” He then gently picked up his son in his hands. Maxi had stopped shaking but was still unconscious, and he was starting to turn an unnatural bright red colour. Dominic stared down at his son in horror again as Maxi started shaking even more and more uncontrollably… turning even redder by the second.

By that time, the other scientists had come to see what had happened. Seeing all the others running towards them, the golden boy picked himself up. All the while staring down at the shaking boy in his father’s arms, as the scientists got closer, he moved away and made for the door. Hearing the boy escaping, Maxi regained some consciousness and looked up at the retreating boy… he then mustered all the strength he could.

“W…what’s your n..n..ame?” he called

“I don’t… know” the boy said, his voice filled with sadness.

Maxi’s father looked at his son and saw his face fall at the golden boy’s words.

“His name is… Aurelian” Dominic said looking up at the golden boy.

With that, Maxi smiled and then, lost consciousness once more. Aurelian seeing this, rushed out of the room, his face full of pain and his body emitting the golden glow his hair and eyes carried, making him stand out even more. Seeing their ‘experiment’ escaping, the scientists made to run after him.

“Leave him be, we’ve done enough!” Dominic said, after looking at his son’s smile, and much to the surprise of everyone present, Rupert did not protest at his employee’s command. And with that, the golden boy was left to escape into the world, along with the DNA. The scientists then sat in silence and wondered what havoc they had unleashed…