TW: Death, violence, natural disaster, brief sexual assault reference. See the description for more, and for an abridged version of the story.
I don’t know whose idea it was to engineer humans with animal DNA, or entirely why. I think at the time, there was a rich guy who got enough curious scientists together who just wanted to see if they could do it. By the time my generation came around, I think they started to form ideas: military use, toys, slaves, labor, sex, weird status symbols, medical advancement. That’s when they started to specialize us, anyway. But before that, we just kind of existed.
Niall and I were part of the first cohort that seemed like it would actually live a while. The others died early in life—the DNA of humans and other animals just doesn’t mix well. Getting it to even stay together required a huge effort against nature. Luckily for me and Niall, the lab had found out how to manipulate the HIV virus to re-program DNA in the specific ways they wanted. By the time Sybil and then Parker were created, the scientists had figured out how to seamlessly sequence the genes they wanted during conception. For Niall and me, our own cells are still constantly being reinfected to keep us alive, but Sybil and Parker are entirely new creatures.
It’s weird to think about.
My DNA is mixed with a fruit bat; Niall’s is mixed with a barn owl; Sybil’s is mixed with a rattlesnake; Parker’s is mixed with some sort of spider. I’m the only full mammal among the bunch.
I lived in the lab for sixteen years. In a lot of ways, it wasn’t a bad time. In retrospect, it was definitely abusive—a human rights violation for sure. But while I was there, everything seemed normal. We were cared for. I felt loved. I felt like I belonged. We had school. Our cohort, people that were created within a three year period of one another, was extremely close. In many respects, we were raised to be healthy, happy children.
The thing is, as good as we were raised to be, I don’t know that anyone who cared for us at the lab really recognized us as humans. Perhaps we came close to being pets. But you can’t recognize that someone is human and then decide it is acceptable to do whatever you want with them simply because you can.
Around the time I was eight, they started to train us and test our aptitudes in different areas: combat, different types of work, technical skills, more objectifying things. I thought it was normal then. They gave us some ridiculous story about how we were made to help the world and they were teaching us to do that. More than likely, they were seeing what we were good at so they had a selling point for the highest bidder.
I probably would have stayed longer and been thrust into whatever they deemed I was best at, if it weren’t for the hurricane. I don’t know category it even was, I just know that the area was evacuated and all the staff left. Us—the experiments—had to stay.
As well equipped as the lab was, it wasn’t much of match against the hurricane. It started to flood. The first floor filled up quickly with water, and then the second. On the second, some of the electrical equipment was damaged. There were still four kids down there when that happened. One of them was in my cohort, the rest were younger kids he was helping. They writhed in waist-high water until their convulsions slowed to twitches and they sank below the surface. I was on the stairs then with some of the other children and had to hold back one who was in their cohort. I’d never heard screams like hers before that day, and I’ve yet to hear worse since.
It was then I realized the scientists didn’t actually care about us.
The water stopped at the second floor, and the rest of us that were left holed up on the third, fourth, and fifth floors. The problem was, food and drinkable water were stored on the first floor. A day passed, and then another. The water was barely draining. We looked out the barred windows to see if anyone was coming. No one ever was.
Niall was in my cohort. We talked. We knew if we didn’t get water, we all had a day or two tops. The windows were barred; it would be hard to force those apart, but it might be possible to leverage some of the things in the lab if the stronger kids helped out. Otherwise, the vents might be an option, but Parker was a baby at that point and it would have been hard to climb those while holding him.
We all did eventually get the bars off, but the others were convinced the scientists would be back. They decided they would come in and out with supplies, but they would ultimately stay. I didn’t care if the scientists ever did come back, their absence during the storm and immediately after spoke loudly enough. Niall agreed with me, and as little as Sybil was, she did too. The rest stayed, and the four of us left.
We used the training we received to make a new life for ourselves. Niall’s strong suit was hacking, which came handy.
It’s been nine years since then, and life has been good. We purchased a small, foreclosed house in the middle of nowhere Maine. It has a lot of property, which is great. Most of it is woods. That allows us to sneak out and at least be ourselves sometimes. Niall and I fly, and the kids run amuck. I’m pretty sure they hunt too, but I try not to dwell on that fact.
As peaceful as our night flights are, it’s hard not to think back during them. Back in the lab, there was a biome on the premises. Those of us with wings could fly there any time of day. Now, flights are a night-only activity. Not that I mind—I’m part bat after all. It’s just that, as ironic as it is, we have less freedom to go out as we are.
“You sure today was good?”
Niall’s voice startled me out of my thoughts.
“Sorry. What?” I asked.
“Are you okay? You seem pretty lost in thought,” Niall said, gliding in circles on my right.
“Yeah, I’m good. Just remembering,” I replied.
He nodded. “Yeah, it’s hard to forget,” he agreed, looking down at the forest that lingered so far below us.
We were quiet for a few moments. I was first to break the silence.
“Bet I can fly higher than you.”
“Um, yeah, okay,” Niall laughed. “You really wanna test that?”
“Absolutely. Bats are way more efficient fliers than birds,” I said.
“And birds can fly way higher than bats,” Niall countered, circling me.
“Soaring birds, sure. But owls? I’ve heard they’re kind of weak in that department,” I taunted with a mock cringe.
“Oh, yeah?”
I smiled. “Yeah.”
“And what else are we weak at?” Niall asked, circling a little closer.
“Well, I heard,” I started in, swooping toward him. I gave him a circle, came closer in and hit him with the side of my wing. “That you’re not as cool either.”
As soon as the words were out of my mouth, I spun opposite of him and shot up.
Like I teased Niall with, bats are more efficient fliers than birds. And while that might not mean much to a barn owl and a fruit bat that will never meet, it does mean something to the two of us, who are human-sized and have to expend more effort than either a bird or an owl to lift our bodies.
Niall flew up after me, but it was difficult for him, with him being bigger than I and my wings being better suited for flying straight up. He was working pretty hard to keep pace.
“Hey, Niall!” I called down.
“What?” he yelled back.
“You know what birds are really good at flying up?” I asked. “Pigeons!”
“I could eat a pigeon!”
His voice was so insistent, I couldn’t help but laugh and slowed down. Niall eased up and for a minute we hovered together.
“What?” he asked.
“That’s gross,” I told him.
He rolled his eyes. “Okay, you know what’s really gross?” he asked.
“What?”
“Your flying ability,” he retorted, slapping my face with the side of his wing before he darted up.
“Cheater!” I yelled, racing after him.
“What’s that? I can’t hear you! You’re too far away,” he called down.
I grinned and flapped my wings faster. The cool air rolled off of them like water. Soon enough, I was at his feet. I gave a little tug on his shoe laces.
“Stop that!” He wiggled his foot and looked down at me. It was hard to hear, but by the way his chest was moving, I could tell he was laughing.
“Maybe if you were flying faster, you wouldn’t have this problem,” I teased.
“I will kick you,” he threatened.
No he wouldn’t.
“You’re too nice.”
He sighed dramatically and slowed until we were at eye level. “Okay, maybe I am, but that makes you the mean one.”
“Parker would definitely agree,” I said.
“Yeah, but you’re basically his mom, so does Parker really count?” Niall asked, resting his hands behind his neck.
“Ew. Am not.”
Niall nodded. “You totally are.”
“We’re siblings.”
“Yeah, but you basically raised him, so that line is kind of blurred,” Niall said. “If it makes you feel better, it probably means I’m like his father figure or whatever.”
Now that was weird to think about. “You do give an old man vibe,” I said.
Niall was nodding and then stopped when he realized what I said. “Hey!”
“Hay is for horses, are you part equine?” I asked.
He rolled his eyes and smiled. “You’re such a nerd.”
He flew a little higher. Behind him, the moon loomed larger than it did on the ground. It was brighter at this height too. It almost felt like we were weightless, floating in its glow. When Niall saw my face, he turned around to look too. For a few minutes we were silent, gazing at sky. From where we were, even the stars seemed bigger and more numerous. As much as it had been a transition years ago to only fly at night, I could never say we were deprived; the night sky is far too beautiful for that.
“Hey, Dee,” Niall’s voice was soft.
“Yeah?” I turned to look at him. He seemed—physically—more distant, even though I knew he was close. Moving my head was a little weird too, and I couldn’t quite tell how fast Niall was flapping his wings.
“How do you feel?” he asked.
“Alright, a little weird, I guess,” I admitted.
“Yeah…I think the oxygen is a little thin up here,” he said.
“Oh…oh, yeah, you’re probably right.” That made sense.
“We should probably fly a little lower,” Niall suggested.
“Yeah, that’s a good idea,” I agreed.
Niall started to descend and I followed after him carefully, leaving the intense light of the moon and stars behind.
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