Featherweight

A tale of the Cursed

"many, many hundreds of years ago the worst was not like this, the tale you know spins a tall tale, when actually humans just wanted safety. these were dark days, no wings and a world riddled with illness and fear. So the scientists decided that the time of the cursed should be over. so they defied nature, and suffered the terrible consequences.
After many years they designed the miracle cure, a virus tricked into evolving and changing, so that it now did exactly what they needed it to do; it would jump from person to person, behaving like the common cold, spreading itself across the nations. over the course of a week it would leave, with it taking all remaining flaws, all the disease flushed from the system. Humanity were on the brink of something amazing, something unbelievable, something that would change the world.
A world with no disease, like ours today.
The test subject's body accepted the alien intrusion on the system, and soon he had gotten over the worst of the cold, and after months of testing he was released to spread to disease. Within a month half of the world's population had the miracle solution. It was working, until the original subject was rushed into hospital, on his deathbed.
He died 2 days later, and within a month, the same was happening to everyone else. The seemingly life changing concoction was taking down almost 600 million people every day. That was, until, The first test subject woke up, and chewed a scientists face off.

Soon enough there was nothing left of mankind but a few terrified scientists locked away in their own quarantine, running out of food, and options. finally, after 3 months of hell-on-Earth a plan was formulated - a reckless, illegal, impossible plan, but a plan none the less. They began developing a method, where they could fuse the genes of humans and animals that are immune to the virus, such as horses and monkeys. The new, advanced technology made such complex manoeuvres child play, and in the end over 400 samples were produced. The head scientists placed them into five groups:
Group E - Mutants who inherited the gene there humans, they could catch the virus and were immediately scrapped.
Group D- Mutants that just weren't compatible with humans - They wouldn't develop, were just blobs of matter on a petri dish (These included the tarantula and the shark)
Group C- Mutants that grew a body, but their organs wouldn't develop and work, they needed pacemakers and wheelchairs, they wouldn't even work as citizens, never mind soldiers fighting a race of 7 billion zombies. These kind included the frog and the wild hare.
Group B - These mutants work. They have organs that work. Their brains are perfectly capable. They were immune. They were the successes. (They were the swallow, turtle, grizzly bear, chinchilla and... boxer dog.) Only one would be chosen for the group A. They were-"

"-Swallows" Lucinda breathed.

Darcy smiled sadly "Yes, Swallows were lucky enough to be chosen. whilst the group B's fought the zombies away, scientists tweaked and changed the genetics, soon enough they had altered and changed them so they were the model of what they saw tho be the perfect life forces - angles. Wings sprouted from their backs, and their faces were slim and pale, as were their bodies. A template was made for the face, and imprinted onto everyone. Soon enough, they had an army of 'perfect' humans, armed with beauty and a quick learning speed. Of course, by then they had no need to fight, all the group Bs had done it for them. When they needed a new city to be built from the ashes of the old,Group Bs were on the job. They developed strong muscles, tough bones and hard heads. When they needed people to work in all the sweatshops and mills, why not use group Bs? Whilst the swallows thrived and grew, millions of workers slaved after they worked and never saw the light of day. Pills were developed so they could go for days on end without sleeping or eating. Women could be seen balancing babies on their arms as they fixed saws and pulled bodies from wrecks. Whilst their distant relatives thought their lives to be perfect, they went through hell and back every day. A small group of the bulldogs escaped and began to live their lives as nomads. When the government was put together it made the freedom of class B mutants illegal, so we-the travellers are forced to... forced to... whenever a child is born, they cut off their face, as this is the most noticeable feature: jowles, muzzles, their faces are like a fusion of human and dog, and leave long scars where their wings should be. Most officials can't be bothered to check."

It took Lucinda a minute to realise the story was over. Voice croakey and quiet, she said

"So all the tales, the stories,, are just to trick us?"

Darcy nodded slowly. Even more gently, Lucinda asked:

"and do you know any of the bulldog mutants."

Rose gave a little laugh."I think you can guess"

"You're... You're the, well" Lucinda lowered her voice "escapists"

A few nodded to her barely whispered  question, whilst others simply stared into the fire.

"I'm a swallow halfbreed."

"Yes"

"I have been controlled"

"Yes"

"I don't believe you"

"Yea-wha?"

Lucinda stood, and, against all instincts, left. When Rose called after her, she didn't reply. She ran to her room and slammed her bedroom door hard enough to make her arm ache. She wept into her pillow, all the while the same thing going through her mind again and again:

"Whymymummydadmysisterthayallliedliedliedliersordomyfriendshateme"

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