Failed Experiments: I

PART I: Mutant Origins

Blank and black, that was my mind. The screeching sound in my head, like a vehicle drifting in Asphalt 8, was resounding. I could hear sirens and alarms wailing in the building, echoing from my subconsciousness. My whole body was weak to the core, aching all over.

I tried opening my eyes as I lay on my left side. Finally, I opened my eyes slowly; my vision was blurred. I knew it would take a minute or two to clear, so I closed my eyes and lay back, trying to gather myself. I felt the underside of my head was wet; it was blood - red, thick blood. There were noises coming from the shattered front door, but I cared less about that; all I wanted was to try to move a finger off the ground. I was that weak.

Systematically, my brain started rebooting. I opened my eyes slowly, regaining consciousness. All I saw at first was the color red - water flowing from the broken water tank, sparks from cut wires

"What is this smell?" I wondered.The smell made my stomach upset.

Before me, my eyes witnessed the most gruesome sight I had seen in my whole life on Earth. I saw bodies of scientists laid waste, body parts misplaced as if attacked by an unknown creature. I could tell this wasn't human work. I was too weak to fear the sight my eyes beheld; all I wanted was to move a finger off the ground.

With much effort, still lying on the floor, I tilted my head upwards a little and saw Daesang lying on the floor, breathless.

"No, no, no, we just lost KJ, not you again," I said in my mind, shaking my head in disapproval.

With teary eyes, that paroxysm of emotions gave me enough strength, and I crawled weakly on my belly towards his direction. I touched his face, but there was no movement. "Daesang! Daesang-a! Park Daesang!!" I called out his name over and over, but there was no response. I put my index finger in front of his nostrils but felt nothing; I couldn't feel him breathing in and out.

"Aniyo!, A-Ani (no, no)" my mind wondered; could this be it?

I myself had a lot to deal with - my back seemed hatched out, and I could feel the pain. Some parts of my body felt dislocated, some like they had broken already. I couldn't feel my legs either; I had vertigo, a wide range of misfortunes happening in symphony. I'm used to bad luck and not always getting what I desire, but this was way out of my league. Nah, it's not the type of pain I think I can ever get used to. A lot of things were taking place in my head. Within a split second, it felt like I had thought a thousand things over and processed them fully. My body wasn't in its best shape, but my brain was working more than its normal capacity; I don't know if that comes with gainless pain.

It was no fun and games for me at that moment; Daesang wasn't breathing, and I was slowly losing consciousness once more. My body was going through an unexplainable series of repetitive pain.

As I lay there on the floor, helpless, trying to process the chaos around me, my mind started to wander back to the events that led me to this point. I tried remembering but it was all scrambled up in my head. Nothing seemed to align, at that point I really couldn't say what my name was if I was asked. I was too discombobulated.

I thought about KJ, a member of our clique that died a year ago from an illness. We had all been in shock, but we had to keep moving forward, I was still finding it hard to get over her death. And now, Daesang was lying motionless beside me.

I felt a wave of guilt wash over me. Had I done enough to try and save them? Could I have done something differently? The thoughts swirled in my head, making my already pounding headache even worse.

"Woah... Is this what they call panorama?" I asked myself

I saw memories which I thought I had lost, my eyes felt like a projector, playing me videos of my memories. It was nostalgic. I couldn't do anything to save KJ, I wasn't even there when she died, I was unable to see her in her last moments, was she happy, was she pissed, she probably was pissed, her body in the afterlife is probably waiting for me to show up so she'd nag me and cry her eyes out telling me how much of a trash I am, and how much she hated my guts and wished she never met me. Why do I always lose those I really care about, KJ, Daesang, were one of the little people I really cared about and now they are both lifeless.

Suddenly, I heard a faint humming noise coming from outside the room. It was a low, steady pitch, and it seemed to be getting louder. I tried to lift my head to see what it was, but the pain shot through my body, forcing me back down.

The humming grew louder, and I could feel the vibrations of it through the floor. It was like nothing I had ever heard before. And then, just as suddenly as it started, it stopped. The silence was deafening.

I lay there, waiting for something to happen, but nothing did. The stillness was eerie, and I couldn't shake the feeling that something was waiting for me, just outside the door."

For a moment, I thought, "Yeah, I really might die this time." But as fate would have it, the noise started getting more and more incoherent; that alone was a form of relief. I put on a smile and rose my head up, shook Daesang, and still got the same reply from him - nothing.

I tried everything to spur him back into consciousness, but it was all to no avail. I slapped him tirelessly, stuck my hands in his ear, I flapped his lips, forced his eyes to open with my fingers, and raised his hands, but all to no avail; he didn't seem to budge. Slowly, my eyes started getting heavy with tears, thinking Daesang was gone; blood filled the spot where his body lay.

"Su Jin! Daesang-a!!" A voice came from where I couldn't locate, but the voice sounded familiar. Feeling like I'd lose consciousness again, I saw a shadow. From his standpoint, I could tell he was right behind my head. The tall and never serious English Man, "Dong Hwa"? I said in a very weak voice. "I've told you, never call me that, blud; my name is Dave, just like Santan." I smiled weakly and lost consciousness once more.