P.H.O.B.I.A.S. (Paranormal Home of Biologically Improved Attributes to Society)

A Test of Humanity- Part 2

"Hm?" Ath24 plucked a few strands of his hair out and examined it. While the majority of his hair was yellow, the roots were a deep crimson colour. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot it was red originally. See, I dyed it when me and my friends were in New York."

Snitch grinned as his glossy, black hair slowly turned red.

"Show-off." Ath24 murmured.

"Haha, thanks. I try!" Snitch said in Ath24's melodic voice. Then his skin lost its dark hue and his eyes flickered to an emerald green. Snitch smirked, and crossed his arms over his chest once he completed the transformation. "Hey, I look like you know!"

"Like I said before," Ath24 pointed at his red-headed clone. "Show-off."

After a moment of silence, the two children burst into a fit of giggles. For the very first time in weeks, Ath24 felt the dread and worry leave him in one big exhale, making the gap that had formed in his chest when he had lost his friends ache a little less.

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M1

'Kill him?!' I ran my trembling fingers through my hair. 'I... I can't!'

'Of course you can!' Dr. Cyan's gently persuasive voice rang in my ears. 'I've seen you do it before, Gen M1.'

I gazed down at the boy's battered face; the purplish bruises around his forehead, the busted lip, the long pink scar that ran from his temple to curve of his jaw on the left side of his face...

"It was an accident!" I yelled, my voice wavering the slightest bit. Once I was able to speak clearly, I said sternly, "No, you can't make me do it. I refuse to!"

I waited for a reply. For the very first time, the silence in my head was maddening.

Finally, Cyan replied, 'I can see that, for you, this is very difficult. Here's what I'll do. I will let you have... hmmm.... I believe that six hours is enough time. Alright, you get six hours to think it over. If you don't complete this exercise by then-'

'Then what?' I snapped.

Another long pause.

'Do you really want to find out?' he asked, a tinge of venom in his thoughts. Okay, I admit that he got me on that one. 'Six hours, Gen M1. That's all.' 

When I was positive that he was out of my head for the time being, I returned my attention the  unconcious boy.

You know, I did a lot of things that I really regret in that room, but waking the boy up was probably biggest mistake I had made. I poked his arm. "Hello?" No response. Shaking his shoulder didn't help either. "Come on, wake up!" Still nothing. After multiple attempts, I gave up. He just needed to rest, I guess.

I moved towards the edge of the room, and leaned against the wall, eyeing the boy cautiously. He didn't look like a killer; more like a victim if you would've asked me. My head snapped up when I heard a faint moan from the other side of the room. I scrambled up and took a knee beside the boy. He propped himself up on his elbows, not noticing me kneeling behind him. The boy managed to  push himself up to his feet with his hands still cuffed behind his back. His back was turned from me as he took in his surroundings.

Okay, now this was the second big mistake I made. I approached him from behind and put my hand on his shoulder only to receive two devastating kicks to my left cheek. I reeled back, stunned.

"Agh! Calm down, will you?!" I screeched.

He didn't seem to hear me, though. Instead, he launched himself at me and rammed me in the gut. I struggled to catch my breath before he could attack again. Too late. In one fluid movement, he knocked my feet out from under me, wrapped his cuffs around my neck,  and pulled at the cuffs... hard.