Story
Daiichi no Ko (The Firstborn)
-Chapter 1-
Ustuwa (The Vessel)
England, London, 1871
It was a gloomy day outside with slight rain here and there. Typical weather for the citizens of London, some of whom were sipping their tea at their glamorous estates, while others were making shady deals at dark back alleys.
Everything seemed normal and peaceful. However, none of these people suspected that something big was happpening at a certain place of this gloomy yet bustling city.
At the Albion Scientific Academy, Research Facility
The tall building, seemingly not made with the idea for displaying glamour but rather for the sake of practised calm calculation, is where some of the most spectacular scientists worked. Of course, many of the details around the experiments being performed there were under a strict rule of confidentiality.
In the west wing of the academy something was brewing.
A tall and slender man with short hair the colour of charcoal, styled in a short ponytail with few strands flying here and there, was deep into his work. His sharp dark blue eyes were focused on the text in front of him, going from one sentence to another. The dark circles under his eyes were proof of little time for rest. A sign that many of the people in the scientific field of work sported.
His neck was adorned with a small silver pendant, the kind which is usually used for keeping a small photo or an object from a loved one.
The man wore a long white lab coat that had a few spots of black ink at the end of the right sleeve. Underneath it, he wore a simple long sleeved shirt with black pants. His feet, sporting a pair of dark leather shoes, showing signs of being worn for years, were crossed as the man had leaned back on the chair he was sitting on.
Tap tap tap
…………
Tap tap….
A sound so faint yet enough to snap me from my thoughts.
I blinked and looked up from the documets I had just spent hours critically analysing, surveying my surroundings. The big yet devoid of life lab seemed to hold only silence as usual, save for the light buzzing of the machine equipment, the clock ticking, and my own slight movements every now and then.
I looked towards the source of the earlier noise. It came from a very small, almost nonexistent leak from the lower part of a large tank. It was filled with liquid many would initially think of as water. But I knew what it actually was. A sort of substance that was used for the preservation of something.
Something? No, that's not the right therm. It was more accurate to say someone.
Well, at the very least now it looked more like a human than what it was a few months prior.
Back then even I had a hard time looking at it without feeling a tight squeeze in my stomache, suppressing the need to run outside and return the contents of my previous meal. I viewed myself as someone with the nerves to hold my own against gruesome scenes due to my experience in the scientific and medical fields. I had come across dead specimen of animals, severed human parts, and other things I prefer not to think about.
With time and the support from a colleague of mine I managed to overcome this obstacle and now finally reap the fruits of our labour.
In the tank, filled with this special liquid, a small figure was floating. It's eyes closed, lips slightly parted, expression peaceful.
I looked at the creature in wonder still finding it hard to believe my friend and I had come so far. We might have actually made a breakthrough in the history of science.
With my focus on the documents long gone, I stood up and took a few steps towards the tank. It was not a planned action, just plain curiosity.
As I stepped in front of our creation and walked around it to admire it from all angles possible, something unexpected happened. I saw a slight movement or rather the liquid responded to it. Small bubbles formed from what appeared to be a twitch of one of the fingers on the left hand of the creature. I froze and stared intently at the hand trying to capture another action.
After a few brief moments when nothing more happened I took my eyes off of it and looked up to the face of the humanoid like being. My thoughts started to spiral with excitement knowing that that movement ment the creature was alive. My friend had assessed that a week ago but to actually receive a concrete proof and not simply data on paper spoke much louder.
I put my hand on the tank and then-
-Theo?
-Hah?!
Startled I hastily pulled away from it and faced the person who entered the lab. It was my colleague - Isaac Beckford. A remarkable scientist and longtime friend.
The man who had made himself known had light long hair, also worn in a ponytail. Lab coat, a white shirt and brown pants with black shoes were his choice of wear. On his face a pair of glasses mirrored the person on the opposite. His face showed a gentle expression that made him seem approachable to most.
Isaac eyed the situiation before him and after a few seconds lightly smirked.
-What is the matter my friend? Can't wait to test it? You are a grown man, learn to be patient.- he chastised me while grinning.
I composed myself shortly after he said that and awkwardly coughed. I knew Isaac may be good at hiding his emotions most of the time but even he could not conseal his excitement for long, especially from someone who knew him for years.
-Hah? Look who's talking?!-the man named Theo anwered indignantly while trying hard not to smirk.
-Yesterday I barely stopped you from talking my ears off when we got the green light for the awakening.
That word there changed the atmosphere. The two men felt silent for a few short seconds, their expressions turned serious.
The truth was the awakening meant that they did enough tests to conclude that the creature was ready to be taken out from its confinement. The next big step was upon the two scientists.
What they had created was not a mere weapon for the government or any other kind of object. They had gone far and beyond with this project.
They had created life from parts and pieces. With this they could challenge everything about life and probably piss off every priest.
Isaac stood next to Theodore and tapped his shoulder, the look on his face changing to a wide grin.
-Jokes aside, we are making history here my friend.
-Yes. And to think there were so many times I doubted we would actually pull it off. - Theodore spoke proudly allowing himself to finally feel a sense of accomplishment.
Isaac looked at the tank with their creation inside floating peacefully without a worry in the world. His expression suddenly turned serious yet again as he spoke.
-We are far from finished but at least its taken a human form now. Here is where the real challenge begins. We need to see if it can actually survive outside of the liquid. It has to be taught how to walk, talk, understand emotions and so much more Theo.
Although they had concluded that it was ready to be let out, they never did actually expose it to the ouside elements so the results of such action were unpredictable.
The man listened carefully to his friend without interrupting him and simply nodded with a calm expression. He knew that their difficulties were far from over and even further from being small. Anything could go wrong. The creature could die, not being able to withstand the temperature outside of the tank. It could fail to understand human speech or worse, it could attack them.
Although they were fully grown men and the creature was but the size of a small child, it was not human and that in itself was dangerous.
Theo smiled and decided that today's work was enough. The two men decided to leave the lab and go home to rest. The awakening was scheduled to happen in a month's time. During that period Isaac and Theodore would make sure to take small steps towards pulling their creation out of it's confinement and introduce the world to it. Introduce the world to someone who, despite never being born, would one day learn how to live.