Test Subjects 1 And 2

Chapter 6: The Outside World

The next day, John entered Astral's room, and he saw the entity already awake. He smiled.

"Alright Astral, today I'm going to teach you how to read and write. Hopefully, this will also teach you how to speak," he said while taking out a notebook from one of the cabinets in the room. He took it Astral to a desk in his room and sat down. Astral did the same. "Now, this is 'A'," John said while writing a letter.

They did this the entire morning, and by late afternoon, Astral mastered the language. He was happy that he could now properly communicate with his father.

"Father," Astral said while they wandered around the lab. "I have been thinking, is there a world outside of this one?"

John smiled. "Yes there is. Since there are no windows down on this floor, you have no idea how the outside world looks like. Well, I'll show you then."

Astral followed as John l led him up many flights of stairs until the reached the very top of the building. There, John pressed a button, and the wall slid open, revealing a green place with many buildings and people roaming around.

Astral placed his hands on the window and stared out in awe. "This is what it looks like? It's...beautiful." He turned to John. "Do you go out there?"

"Yes. I go out there to go home," John said with a nod.

"Can you take me out there?" Astral asked, turning back to the window.

"Not yet. You're still not used to the outside air. Plus, I haven't had time to teach you how the world works. I will tell you this." He walked up next to his son. "It's a dangerous world for you. If you ever see men in black suits, go to your room, lock the door, and hide. The windows in your room are two-way windows, so they won't see you. They will destroy you if they catch you."

Astral looked up at John and nodded in understanding. "Alright, Father. I understand."

John petted Astral's hair. "Good boy. Do that, and you'll survive."

Astral nodded again, remembering all that John taught him, for Astral also had a great memory.

They walked back downstairs, the image of the outside still burned into Astral's mind. He wanted to go again, but he felt that he shouldn't at the moment. Then, he remembered the other thing that was on his mind.

"Father, lately, I've been feeling an empty feeling," Astral confessed. "It actually started the day I woke up."

John nodded. "That's called 'loneliness.' It's a feeling you get when you have nobody around you." He smiled. "Don't worry. I'll have a surprise for you in a few days."

Astral smiled. "Really?"

"Yeah. Trust me, it's going to be great!" John dropped Astral off in his room. "Keep studying your writing. You probably won't need it, but you never know."

Astral nodded and went inside. He closed the door and smiled. He was getting a surprise!

Outside of the room, John walked quickly toward his lab room. Little did his colleagues know, he was making another life form. Test Subject 2. This was going to be Astral's twin. This one was already at the stage where it would wake up; all he had to do was wait. Wait until his new child woke up.

John entered his lab and saw that the black test subject was already rousing, opening its black and orange eyes. It unfurled its body and looked at John. It grinned, showing white fangs.

John drained the liquid from the tube and lowered the glass. "Hello. How are you?" he asked it.

The black entity floated in place and stretched to get the stiffness out of its muscles. "Well, I finally get to be out of there. To tell you the truth, I kind of feel stiff from being in that tube in the same position for a while." He started testing and flexing his limbs and flew around the room. "Nice space here, Dad. Is this where I'll be living?"

"Not quite. You see, I've made you more advanced than your brother, allowing you to learn how to speak right off and adapt to the Earth atmosphere so that I can take you home. The others don't know about you, so we'll have to wait until night. Michelle is the only other one that knows. By the way, what do you want to name yourself?"

The black subject stopped flying. "I dunno. Give me an awesome name! One I won't be humiliated by when I say it."

"How about...Black Mist?"

The being grinned. "I like it."