A Desert, A Dragon, And A Gun (Prologue)
#1 of A Desert, A Dragon, And A Gun
A Desert, A Dragon, And A Gun Prologue
Date- July 23, 2021
Specimen Status- Stable
Cloning pod releasing specimen, standby... pod opening
Mental status- Stable
- * * A Man wearing military attire watched the black screen carefully as the green letters scrolled across it. He was a general of a high standing and a good record. He was appointed the task of guarding the specimen the military called their new weapon. He looked toward the glass casing in which the creature was held. He looked at it with some disgust in his hazel eyes, he personally thought cloning was a sin, but this creature was truly a clone. This "weapon" wasn't even human as one of his advisors pointed out. So the humans were creating a new species to roam the planet. The creature inside the glass cylinder was unconscious and had a breathing mask attached to its face along with other monitoring equipment. They lab rats wanted to make sure this one would live instead of die like the rest of the experiments. It was presumed that this creature would be male and would posses traits like any other creature on the planet. Its skin would be stronger than steel yet it only would weigh around fifty pounds. The most interesting thing about this creature though was its life expectancy. This thing, if left undisturbed and untouched, could live to be around one to two thousand years. Though the fact that this creature was a military weapon lowered it to around about fifty years. The general watched as the pod began to drain the fluid that held the creature suspended. The eyes of it slowly opened and the general saw the eyes of the killing machine. They were lifeless and cold, this creature showed no emotion whatsoever as the rest of the clear fluid drained from the pod. It slowly and carefully began to remove all of the equipment that was attached to its body starting with the breathing mask. He stood up and without being told grabbed a nearby towel and used it to cover itself. Since it was presumably male, it also had many physical traits of one with a few changes of course. Though it was not known it if could reproduce more of its kind it wasn't really discussed. It was kneeling on the ground and it stood up and looked at the general rather than the scientists gawking at it. They regained their composer and immediately began to examine him carefully, taking measurements, asking him to move different parts of his body, perform some simple tasks, and what not. Though never once did he take his cold, prying eyes off the general and he did the same. The general thought it as a bit unnerving and a little creepy, but he didn't show it. He just stood there staring back at the strange creature before him. Then, a strange thought had entered his head 'What if this thing evolved?' He had asked many about this, but they always seemed unsure about their thoughts. All in all know one really knew what this thing could do if he put his mind to it. The only way for anyone to really know what this creature would do or what would become of it after its duties are done was to just watch it happen. They could only watch and learn from its actions on what would become of the creature that they had created. The project managers thought about keeping it in a controlled environment, but it was decided that that could lead to extreme anxiety and paranoia. The lab rats finished their little tests and the general walked up to the creature. He was to help it get accustomed to the military base and the people he would be working with. Also, he was to help it get used to the human customs and traditions. This was part of his job that he didn't like but thought it over in his head and thought it could be quite interesting. The general held out his hand and spoke in an affirmative voice that told all he was the man in charge, "Greetings, I am General Anul Danyard... and you are?" He stood there this his hand held out for a moment before the experiment took it. He looked up and down Anul's navy blue uniform, noting the many medals, stars, and badges placed all around the top part of his uniform. His shoes were a very dark black, but they still shined off the light. He looked up at his face which showed he was very fatigued, but his expression was still solid. "I have no name sir." The creature replied, his claws on the tip of his fingers poking through Anul's white uniform gloves. His grasp was tight and Anul could just tell by the feel of a simple hand shake that their creation was stronger than anything else. Though it didn't look like it, if compared to a normal person the creature would just look like it had a well toned body, and eyes that could make anyone run in fear. "I see, well we'll just have to make sure you get one soon." Anul was surprised the creature already knew how to communicate. He knew that the scientists had implanted information of how to do simple tasks and how to move and eat, but how to speak and act in appropriate military manner. The experiment's posture was at a flawless attention as he shook the general's hand. Anul tested his knowledge of the military with a salute and the creature looked at him for a moment until returning with one of his own. Anul scanned the area quickly and found that most of the scientists have returned to their pervious work, meaning he was free to go... just needed some cloths other than the towel. Anul lowered his hand and the creature did the same, "OK common then." He turned around and walked toward the large steel door. He was about to put his hand on the finger print scanner to unlock the door, but he was stopped by the creature who then placed his scaly palm on the scanner. The general let him do so, but was surprised again when the door unlocked and a computer voice welcomed him as Anul Danyard. Anul let a smile cross his face as ideas and possibilities of this one ability came into focus. The door slid over to the side and the two walked down the halls. It was silent and empty, the only sound utterly audible was the sound of boots and claws hitting the floor as they walked down the steel hallway. The creature looked at the many florescent lights the lit the hallway and then turned his attention to the steel. He watched it, studied it, analyzed it looking for its weakness. Anul glanced at the towering figure and saw him starring at the floor, his eyes studying the steel floor with every step. They passed several security doors and windows, he noticed that the creature looked at every window they passed and saw what was behind it. He also saw the intensity in his eye when they passed weapons testing and they were experimenting with a new design of body armor. He even heard the creature slow down to keep watching as the tested the armor with bullets, flames, and grenades. "That is going to be yours in a few weeks." The creature now stopped and touched the glass with his palm, Anul turned to face the seven-foot tall figure. "It's too cumbersome, sir." He turned to the general and waited for him to say something. "I know, but it's the best we can do at the moment, don't worry though the hydraulics will help with the strength you already have you should have no trouble maneuvering in it." The creature stared through the glass toward the power armor, studying its movements and strength. "I will need to examine it before I can use it." "What do you need to do that for?" "I have spotted several flaws in its design and mobility, I plan to upgrade it with some parts of my own creation to help it better suit my needs for any situation." "You can tell it just by looking at it and what kind of parts are you talking about?" "I shall explain when it is done, but for now lets keep moving shall we?" "Yes... of course, lets move on." 'Well this is certainly unexpected, this creature can look at an object, identify it, and know how to manipulate it to sort his needs, this would be quite interesting if he can make this work. I wonder if he can think for himself, if he was left without anyone to tell him what to do. I'll have to test this theory myself, relatively soon.' Anul came up with an idea on how to test his theory and it seemed rather simple, in fact he could do it right now. "I have a question for you." Anul said, turning around so he could face the creature. "What is it sir?" He stopped and stood immediately at attention, waiting for his question. "At ease." The creature stood for a moment then put his hands behind his back and parted his legs at a relaxed form of attention, still waiting for his question. "What would you like me to call you?" "Sir, I'm afraid I do not completely understand the question." Anul pondered for a second wondering how he could rephrase his question and came up with an answer. "What would you like your name to be son?" The creature let out a sigh and began to think for a moment, if he couldn't come up with a name for himself then he couldn't think for himself and thus would be forced to live his life with someone always ordering him around. Though this was to be expected since he was their rightful creation and could be considered their child. The creature closed his eyes and enter a state of deep thought he opened his eyes and stared at the general, "Well, do you have an answer for me?" "Yes sir I do." "Well then, lets hear it." "I would like to be named Alratar." "Alratar huh, why that name?" 'This is amazing, a created creature thinking on its own, this might be interesting in the simulators.' "Sir I cannot answer that, for I only chose that one out of random from a list of many names that I had created." "Well that is good enough, I shall make your dog tag personally and will have it to you by tomorrow." "Thank you sir." The creature sounded truly thankful to the general and he seemed to take an immediate liking to him from the moment he stepped out of the chamber. He was being treated well by the scientists or lab rats as many called them, but they only did so because he was their creation. This one seemed different from the rest, he seemed to have a respect for the creature and it hoped that it could repay the general's genuine kindness on the battle field someday. "Well Alratar, we've reached your own room, you will be staying by yourself and every action monitored, so please don't do anything stupid." Alratar walked into the room and looked around it, staring at his single bed, and bathroom through the doorway. "I trust you know how to use all of these facilities and what they're for?" "Yes sir, I do." "Good then I have one last thing to give you before I go... you know how to read right?" "Yes sir, I do." "Good." Anul reached into his uniform jacket and pulled out a hard cover book and handed it to Alratar. "Here take this and read it over, but do not skip through it. You must read every page from first to last in precise order or you will not get what I am trying to teach you." Anul walked over to a drawer and pulled out a piece of paper and pen. He scribbled something down on it and folded it several times. "Open this and write your answer down just underneath it, after you have fully read that book. Your battle training starts in one week, people will come down to check on you from time to time and you will always be watched. Do not let them nor the cameras see the book or something bad might happen to me and you. As of now the cameras are not online, but when you read it be sure to read lying down on the bed holding it toward the top part of the bed above you." "Yes sir I shall be ready and will have read this book in no more than three days." "Good I'm glad to see that you're so enthusiastic, I shall stop by in four days." "Sir? Why four I said I'll be done reading in three?" Anul removed his blue cap and pushed his short black hair back with his right hand. He put his cap back on and opened the door as he turned around to Alratar. "Yes I know what you said. However, it will take you at least a few hours to answer that question truthfully. No one could answer it other than you son, and you'll see why when you reached the end of the book." Anul then walked out of the door with a smile on his face. The book he had just given him was one of his own choosing and it would help answer some of his questions about the creature if he answer the one he had written down on the paper. This however was just another test, there is a hidden camera in the room that is designed to look like a piece of the mirror. The test was to see if he could spot it before he even thought about reading the book he had just been given. Hopefully he could pass this simple test and he could move on to the combat simulators, if not he would not have to be "refitted."Meaning he would have his brain formatted and they would start again from scratch on his memories and knowledge. Hopefully this time everything go perfect and Alratar could pass all of the hidden tests. For now though Anul was tired and he showed it. The dark circles under his eyes proved this fact and he went off to his own room. The walk through the military complex was short since many things seemed to be conveniently located and connected to a very simple system of arrangement. He reached his own room and walked inside, it was very similar to the one the creature had been given with a few personal touches. There was a bed to his left, a plain, wooden dresser to his right, and a closet and bookshelf along the backside of the room. There was also a door that lead to a small bathroom that had a plain sink, shower, toilet and mirror so he could shave without cutting himself. It was a simple room but compared to many of the others, to have his own bathroom was considered a luxury. Anul took off his jacket and neatly put it among his other uniform cloths inside the closet before walking over to the bed. He laid down on it and almost immediately fell to sleep. Anul looked at the book that he was given and looked at the cover. It was blank and all it said was written in gold letters "The Mythical Dragons" Was what the title of the book was. Alratar was confused as to why he was given this book and why he was supposed to read it. It didn't matter though, he had been given an order by his commanding officer and he must obey it. He put the book under his pillow for now and searched the room for anything suspicious. He quickly turned the place inside out piece by piece, but put everything back in its place after he was done searching that area. He came to the mirror and looked at himself taking note of how different he was compared to the people that had created him. He looked at it and noticed that when he looked at himself in that mirror he saw the image sway and bend a bit on his right leg. Alratar looked at his leg and noticed that it wasn't what the image was on the mirror. He looked at it and tapped at the only section that had this strange difference with his claw. The glass cracked, but only spread to the width of a small square. He cocked his head as to why it hadn't spread around the entire mirror and poked at it again. The glass fell apart and behind it was a small compartment with a camera inside it. He pulled out the camera that seemed to fit perfectly within the small space and tossed it in the trash can that was next to the door after deactivating it. "Hidden monitoring equipment on a military base is strictly forbidden in protocol." He said to know one in particular. He finished checking the rest of his small room and then went back to his book that he had placed under his pillow. He quickly lifted it up and began reading it, laying down, with it up against the bunk above him. He was surprised to find that dragons were some sort of creature and not a weapon that some people believed existed at some point in time. He kept reading and found that there were many types of dragons, good, bad, fire, water, flying, etc. and was utterly amazed by this. The book included legends and stories about dragons and everything that the creatures did. However every part that started to describe what exactly a dragon looked like was blacked out by ink. He tried to make out what they could possibly be, but couldn't come up with an answer. He got about halfway through the book before the all the lights shut down and all became dark. Anul woke up the next morning, refreshed from his fifteen hour long sleep and sat up on his bed. He walked over to his closet and grabbed an empty dogtag and an engraver and began to fill it in with his name and unit he belonged to, supposedly his special opps. unit. He finished it and walked back to the creatures room and slid it underneath the door so not to disrupt the Alratar who was most likely still reading the book he was given. He walked away from his door and went to do some paper work that he despised. It was beginning to pile up over the few days he had taken off to do this other job. He guessed that it was probably as tall as he was by now. The creature looked at the book as it came to an end. He was going to finish reading it by the deadline as he said and it was early in the third day. He only stopped reading when people came in to check up on him and to give him food and that came on a timed schedule so there were no surprise visits. He had gotten to the last to pages of this book and the second last on simply read "A Dragon." He could see through the page that there was a picture behind it and turned the page. What he saw shocked him somewhat. It was one of the dragons though, its body was covered in red scales and in the picture it was harassing a stone castle with breaths of fire. Alratar stood up and walked over to the mirror after he put the book back under his pillow. He looked at himself once more and remembered the image. Other than the fact that he didn't have wings, he looked exactly like it, claws and all. He quickly took at the piece of paper and was almost scarred of what it was going to say. He opened it up and read it. He read the question that was written at least a dozen times before laying down on his bed so he could think. He looked at his right hand and asked himself the question, "Which one will I become?" * * *
Well people let me know what you think of this, i think i have a good idea where i'm going with this story and if you like it i'll make it into a series, but i must know how you feel about it before i do any of that.