The Life of Zane Cooper

Discovery

Chapter One

As Mira woke up that cold morning to jumpstart her day, she headed to work like she normally did, by walking ten blocks to her factory job. The day is Monday and the year is 2075. She was walking her 5th block, passing burnt houses and storefronts. The sidewalk was covered with trash and lifeless bodies. Mira, however, was familiar with seeing death and crime that plagued her Brooklyn, New York neighborhood. The world that Mira lived in was overtaken by a corrupted global military force called Mega. Each and every nation crumbled after an unidentified lethal virus, a nuclear explosion and a worldwide war in 2035. This eliminated half of the earth's population, leaving only 50 million survivors. Mira had lost all of her family and friends during the nuclear explosion, and the only hope of survival was to work for the Mega Government. As a production worker, she made weapons to combat potential enemy forces. While Mira continued her walk, she noticed a strange object wrapped in a filthy towel, next to a pile of garbage. Mira wanted to keep walking, but her curiosity edged her to turn around and observed the object closer. Although she knew her movement was being monitored by drones, Mira suddenly pretended to drop her access card on the ground near the swaddled towel. She quickly placed the football-like object into her bag and continued to walk towards the factory.

    When Mira made it to the factory, she failed to remember that she needed to be scanned in by the robotic machines. One by one, factory workers started to line up and Mira was nudged into it. As she waited to be scanned, she wondered if the object she found was a weapon. Any type of artillery located on a worker is sentenced to death. She was the 3rd person inline to be scanned. She feared whatever was in her bag could lead to her to perish. Click, Click, Click. The robot proceeded to scan the person ahead of her. Mira began to sweat and shake in a slight panic. The robot ordered Mira to step up to the booth and, suddenly, all the power at the scanning station shut off. A piercing alarm sounded, and the workers were ordered to get down on the pavement. Mira sensed that her death was near. A multitude of robots flooded the scanning area with heavy artillery searching for any suspicious movements amongst the workers. Each person feared that today would be their last.

     One by one, workers were rescanned by a full-body x-ray. As the robot scanned Mira and the bag in her hand, the x-ray malfunctioned and appeared to lose power. The robot tried again, but it failed. The machine grabbed Mira and viciously ripped off her garments. While she stood exposed in front of her co-workers, the robot snatched up the bag and opened it. The machine's circuits immediately shut down. Other robots were signaled to Mira's bag and their power circuits crashed as they tried to open her bag. A mayday alert sounded. Mira ran out of the factory with the bag and escaped with the help of her co-workers. When she reached the outside of the factory, the doors automatically slammed shut. The thunder of gunfire ensued and people were screaming in terror. Mira sprinted into the cold streets of a city that was half dead fully nude and vulnerable. She kept running, shoving aside debris, and stumbling over decomposed bodies. When she made it home, the roar of gunfire and the cries for help were unbearable. Suddenly, a loud explosion from the factory sent Mira rushing to her closet, where she slept. After nearly 6 hours went by, Mira tried to contemplate what had happened. She re-enacted what took place in her head but found herself staring at the bag across the room. At first, Mira wanted to throw it away, and leave her ransacked apartment. Maybe it was best that she go underground with the others and be safe from the Mega forces. In mid-thought, the bag began to move. Mira walked over to it, paused, and reminded herself that the bag must be dangerous.

   Despite her contemplations, she decided to open the bag. Mira knew the Mega forces were going to demolish her when they discovered her whereabouts. She unzipped the bag and pulled out the wrapped towel. She set the object on the ground and slowly unravels the cloth. Mira saw the baby's feet and was surprised at the sight of them. As she continues to unwrap the towel, the anticipation grew. Once the child was revealed, she screamed in horror. Mira observed the strange physical appearance of the infant. From the neck to the bottom of its feet, the child was normal. However, Mira noticed the child's eyes were hidden by thick bushy eyebrows. She identified the child as a male. Mira picked up the infant boy and held him in her arms. She wondered why the baby didn't cry or move at the plant and during the scanning process. Mira couldn't understand where the child came from. While Mira was holding the infant, she attempted to pull back on his bushy eyebrows with her right index finger. She was trying to see the child's eyes, but her finger began to feel cold and numb. Mira repeated this several times, yet her finger always grew numb. When she placed the child down, Mira stared at her finger and realized the child was definitely abnormal. 

       An hour went passed and Mira started, somewhat, to piece it all the together. It was then that she heard a thundering noise hovering above her building. The structure started to rumble like an earthquake. A beam of light flashed through her apartment windows and the sound of gunfire, including lasers, was striking her rooftop. She grabbed the infant boy and raced out of the apartment, only looking back to see her ceiling cave-in. Mira knew Mega forces were onto her and possibly the child. As other people in the residence rushed out for safety, she kept running. When she finally made it out of the building with the child, Mira observed the building being crushed by a high-powered laser and an army of robotic aircraft in the sky. She kept running down the freezing streets. She began to stumble over debris and bodies along with other people in the area. Mira made it 5 blocks with the infant boy, all the while, looking back to check for Mega forces who were in pursuit of her. She stopped for a few seconds to gather her thoughts and to check on the boy. He still remained mute, but alive. How did she get herself into this chaotic situation?

                 Zap, Zap, Zap, and Zap! Mira spun around and witnessed a group of robotic soldiers of the Mega Forces charging for her. She tightly grabbed the boy and took off running, as if their life depended on it. ZAP, ZAP, ZAP, and ZAP! Again, the lasers passed near and over her head, they crashed into the side of buildings, cars, and innocent bystanders. Mira ran into an alley, only to be completely surrounded by the heavily armed Mega Forces. She had no way of escaping, so she yelled out to the robotic machines. They stood over 7 feet tall with blue, neon eyes as she asked them to spare their lives. One of the machines received a signal through its attached headgear; notifying it to terminate them. Mira fell to her knees with the infant in a death grip and continued to scream to the forces to let them go free. The robotic soldier who received the signal pulled out its laser gun and pointed it directly between her eyes. As she saw the laser gun start to glow, while the robotic soldier was pulling back on the trigger, she felt the infant boy moving. Mira focused solely on the child and observed the infant's brushy eyebrows. They quickly parted up revealing the infant's eyes. As she looked into his eyes, the child lifted its arms up in the air and let out a ferocious scream. The sound was so loud Mira's face cringed followed by a blast of white light that would forcibly blind her. At one moment, she thought she was dead and everything fell silent. Mira regained her vision and noticed that she was still holding the boy. She lifted her head up and was bewildered by the sight of dead Mega soldiers lying on the ground. Mira remembered the incident at the factory when the robotic machine touched the bag and lost its powers. Mira undoubtedly, knew the infant had special abilities to control their power. She turned her attention towards the child and noticed that he was calm. His eyes were, once again, hidden by his eyebrows. Mira got up with the boy and walked over the pile of dead Mega soldiers. She made her way heading into the unknown streets of a city that corrupted with violence and fear by the Mega Forces. Mira now, understood, they were being hunted by the government, but she wanted to find a safe place to hide. Scared and confused, Mira continued to walk into oblivion with a child she did not know.