Creature (CENTURIES series: Book #7)

Prologue

"You are fully aware of the responsibilities and the possible danger you will be committing yourself to?"

"Yes, I am."

"And you vow to protect, teach and study Creature 6402-C and keep him under constant observation?"

"Yes, I do."

"And that once testing and research has concluded, your relationship with Creature 6402-C will be terminated and he will be brought back into custody of C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S?"

Creatural Experimentations and Neurological Testing Under Reformed Investigational Enclosed Services. In other words; The federal government's highly developed lab where they experimented and developed new DNA and applied them on genetically, lab-made fetuses of humans. Except they weren't humans anymore. The correct term would be Homo Cerebrals.

They were the outcome of nearly a 100 years of lab testing and experiments. Created in a petrie dish and grown inside a monitored subject, they had never set foot outside the lab. They were raised inside of it, created for the sole purpose of science. What they had been exposed to in there nobody knew, but it had altered them so they could no longer be categorized as humans. To the public, they were known as Creatures.

"I accept the terms," I stated for the public record and to the microphone that was recording our meeting. I sat across one government official and a bunch of paperwork in a tiny interrogation room inside their facility.

Mr Alan, as he has introduced himself (though I doubted that was his real name), nodded and then slid a thick contract across the table, along with a fountain pen. "Sign here please, and note that when you do, this legally binds you to the aforementioned terms, on the serious notion of a lawsuit prosecution if they should not be upheld."

I took the fountain pen and scribbled my John Hancock onto the crisp white paper, then slid back the contract I had spent all day yesterday going through to every last comma and period.

"Pen, too."

I quickly handed him the pen back as well. Mr Alan then took the pen and the signed document and gave it a glance. After a satisfied inspection, he stood up, as did I.

"On behalf of C.E.N.T.U.R.I.E.S, we thank you for your upcoming services and cooperation, Ms Bloom. The paperwork will be finalized by tomorrow, and then we will take you to meet Creature 6402-C, which has been confirmed to be the first Creature to step outside the lab. You are, as of this moment, his legal guardian and caretaker."

I nodded and gave a polite smile when he stuck out his hand. I shook it. He had a firm grip. "I'm looking forward to working with him, Sir."

"Excellent. I'm told the Creature in question is by far the best one of them all. 6402-C has shown great signs of control of his mutated abilities. He shouldn't be a threat to you, but remember in any case, he still has the detonator inside his head which we control the remote to. Should he become violent or hazardous to the world or to you, a simple click will terminate him."

I did my best not to let the fact that he had just told me the Creature had an off-switch inside his head, a device of which they could kill him with, affect me. It was a precaution of course, but it nonetheless sounded horrible. "Understood. I won't worry, then."

"I'd do best not to."

Mr Alan made his cue to leave, but just then, a question popped into my head. "Sir?"

"Yes, Ms Bloom?"

"What's the creature's real name?" I asked. "In the spirit of him getting introduced into the real world, we should start calling him by his real name, don't you think?"

Mr Alan's jaw twitched before he opened the file in his hands and searched until he found what I was asking for. "His name is Charlie."

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