Of Monsters and Humanity: The Genesis

Chapter 1 - Xander

Seventy-two days before....

All of a sudden, the signal lights came to life, the red glow illuminating the detailing of the skyward door to the Pit. The alarm started then, the sound ricocheting off the smooth, cylindrical, hollow, skyscraper-tall chamber made of bedrock, concrete, and metal. Not so soon after came the sound of the door opening, the jaws of metal retracting and allowing light to shine down into the Pit. The lights in the Pit hadn't been on in a while and it came as almost a shock.

As if like clockwork, the crane and metal box lowered slowly. Mechanically.

"Step away from the crane and sit against the wall. Step away from the crane and sit against the wall. Step away from the crane and sit against the wall. Step away from the crane and sit against the wall..." echoed from the speakers.

I rolled my eyes and raised my arms above my head as I sauntered over to the wall. What did they think I was going to do? Hop on and formulate my escape? They have cameras everywhere, not to mention giant ten-foot guns halfway up the walls. I couldn't blink without them seeing or preparing to kill me because of it. But it's not like the guns could kill me. I'm almost certain of it.

After a few gruesome minutes of the crane making its way down, the bright lights suddenly flashed on. I blinked as the the metal contrapment was set down and the crane rose to the level of the Pit where the machine guns resided. The warning from the speakers didn't stop until the crane finished moving.

I waited a moment, shifting my eyes to either sides of me.

To my right side, about ten people in lab coats watched me from behind glass as black as obsidian. The room--The Observation Room--was a technical lab room with computers, monitors, and a control board. They studied me as I sat there in the Pit, and I studied right back. After seconds of eye contact, the woman with the tightly-wound ponytail started to grow antsy. She leaned closer to the man sitting next to her, never breaking the gaze, and whispered, "I think he can see us."

Of course I can see you, I wanted to say, I could see you all along. If I had spoken, though, I wouldn't know what would happen next for me. If they knew that I could see and hear them talking through whatever they thought could protect them from an unworldly monster, panic would ensue. As a result, I never said anything. I always let them think that whatever they studied me through or whatever they held me captured in was doing its job. I had ruined enough for my people, I didn't want any more panic or hunts or lives lost (though I really knew nothing of their safety after I was captured). Regardless, I had done enough, and if pretending to be semi-domestic would help anything, I would do it.

I shook my head, breaking the eye contact, and stood up, wiping the back of my black pants. The woman behind the glass sighed with relief.

The box was about the size of half a casket, and when I came to this realization a few months ago, I couldn't help but laugh. It was the first time I had found something to laugh about in a long, long time. The humor almost hurt my gut, but I wasn't sure if that was the medicine or the irony.

I tapped the box lightly with my bare foot and a less-than-satisfactory sound came back to me. I chuckled. "You think this is okay? Is this the start to a fast or a new diet plan?" I asked, looking up to the mostly-closed metal doors in the sky.

Without turning my head, I knew that the people behind the glass were talking and writing things down on clipboards.

Hunger got the best of me. I rolled my eyes and turned towards them. "You know that I can see you, right?"