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The Power of Hatred
 Iron Will: standard (rank 1)
For some reason I found that little moment in time quite unsettling, so much so that I took my frustrations out on the boy during experimentation. I made things especially painful for him often pushing his body to its upper limits. Still A1-12 went on never deterring from his fierce gaze. Out of all the other children he was the only one who still resisted and fought back. I could never figure out what kept him going until one day after A1-07’s death.
She was the youngest out of all the other children so it was no surprise that she was the first to go. This was just two years after the Wilder experiment had started. Already the experiment was bearing fruit; the children were only beginning to show signs of mutation. Hearing about the death of a friend would’ve proven unstable for such a crucial time of the experiment. So we told them that she moved to another facility. All of the children accepted the lie all except A1-12. He glares at me so intensely that I’m unable to look him in the eye; he simply says in a matter of fact way, “I’ll kill you for this.” For whatever reason he knew the truth, I try to ignore his comment yet in my heart I absolutely believed that he would try to take my life. If it wasn’t for the fact that I still had control of the situation I would’ve been more fearful.
The Wisdom of Information
 Tactician: standard (rank 1)
At the age of thirteen A1-12 escaped from his cell. For several days no one knew where he was or where he went. All we knew was that he could cause some serious trouble if he wasn’t caught soon. I was actually impressed by A1-12’s level of intelligence; he has managed to both escape his locked cell and avoid being caught by security. I’ve often speculated that his intelligence may have been caused by his recent mutations. His appearance has only been slightly altered, tannish fuzzy hairs which at first I believed were rashes have sprouted all over his body. His ears have started growing longer and bat-like wings which aren’t yet capable of flight have sprouted out of his back. Consistent with the changes of the other children his mutations have started developing more rapidly during puberty.
In truth as it turns out my thinking was flawed, A1-12 has always had the ability to escape from his cell. To clarify a little better he has been leaving his cell off and on for several months. With his free time he has been breaking into my lab and hacking into my computer. I assume he must have seen me type in my password several times as well as mesmerize the camera positions and guard schedules. Only after the breakout did I find out what his true intentions were. It wasn’t enough for him to just escape he needed the security codes to release all of the other experiments as well. Several days after A1-12’s desertion all the cell doors in the facility became unlocked granting freedom to whomever took the opportunity to escape.
The Speed of Good Health
 Regeneration: standard (rank 1)
The breakout was not a complete disaster; our team had protocols and contingencies for these types of situations. The security units were prepared to prevent escape by all means possible. For us scientists it was an entirely different story. Despite the ensuing chaos we had to preserve our data. I was one of the lucky few who made it out alive, although barely. As I went to my lab to retrieve my irreplaceable work I encounter the missing A1-12.
I wasn’t surprised to see A1-12 blocking my exit; after all he did tell me once before that he wanted to kill me. Having anticipated this eventual confrontation I took out my gun and readily aimed it at the boy. It was about two seconds too slow, A1-12 already on top of me was wildly tearing into my clothes. If it wasn’t for the security escort waiting outside of my door I would’ve died that night. The soldier fired four shots before A1-12 collapses on top of my blood ridden body. The boy survives and recovers from the gunshot wounds within a day. As for me, I had a few broken bones, some minor lacerations and deep facial scarring to which I spent a few months recuperating.
Our little organization suffered a major loss after the breakout. Our top scientists were either dead or severely injured while more than half of our data was forever lost. As for the experiments our security unit was a bit too liberal to fire at them. Over half of the subjects were dead; those included in that list were the other children of the Wilder Project. The company eventually recovers but not after selling off most of their research. As for A1-12 he didn’t talk much after the incident. Our collaborators who funded the Wilder Project decided it was finally time to move the boy to stage two.
The Advantages of Flight
 Flight: standard (rank 1)
A decade passes before I ever get the chance to see A1-12 again. Over the years the company has had a series of ups and downs. Currently it has started to work for the U.S. government. As Chief scientist I became in charge of the new company’s neo genetics division. Our goal was pretty much the same as before but this time our subjects volunteer for our experiments not as future weapons but as patients to be cured. I’d say that things were going pretty well if not for the fact that veteran scientists previously involved in the company were being assassinated one by one.
The company has made many enemies over the years but this was the first time someone has ever taken things this far. I knew it was only a matter of time till someone came after me. I needed bodyguards to protect me twenty four seven. I would have relied on the American government if not for the fact that they were a bunch of idiots. No, I needed a professional, someone who could think outside the box. I try contacting a top ranking mercenary agency; after reaching them I request that they sent me their best.
An agreement was made to meet my bodyguard at the airport; no one arrives until after midnight. A tall blond Caucasian male in a plaid business suit walks towards my direction. His hair was parted to his left and he wore sunglasses with dark reflective lens. Considering the time of day I found it quite amusing that this fellow was able to see at all. The man introduces himself as my bodyguard. The bodyguard was a half hour early, if it wasn’t for the fact that I was anxious to leave I would’ve found that a tad bit suspicious.
We walk towards my Black Audi and enter inside where we then headed out on to the freeway. During the ride the man kept mostly to himself until we came up to a rest stop. He tells me to stop there so he could excrement his waste. I try to suggest that he could go on the side of the road but the man insists that we make the stop. I reluctantly give in to his demands and park into the heavily forested rest area. The man reaches into his jacket pocket and pulls out a silencer.
I was surprised, not by the sight of the gun but by the loud thump coming from on the top of my car. It was awkward as my bodyguard also seemed to be confused. Nothing happens for about a minute when suddenly a claw like hand bursts through the passenger side window yanking my bodyguard out of his seat. I sit still stunned as the night rings with the sound of pffts from the silencer and screams from my bodyguard. It becomes silent once more until the bloody dead limp body of the man whom I just met falls twenty feet from the air right in front of the Audi.
I struggle to start the car but my nerves prevented me from thinking straight causing unneeded tension for me to accomplish such a simple task. I finally succeed in starting the vehicle but a dark winged figure lands silently in front me. He was just far away from the Audi for me to see the glowing outline of his wings and his demonic green eyes reflecting back with a faint glow. The sight of those eyes brought back an old fear, something I believed I had repressed years ago. I shift the car in reverse and floor it back towards the freeway. I try to look back to see if the figure was in pursuit but all that remained was the dead corpse of my bodyguard.
Beware, the Blades and Claws
 Slashing Weapon: superior (rank 2)
The next day I receive three personal guards from the company itself. They were finally acting accordingly to prevent any further assassinations. As expected of the company guards they prevented me from leaving the facility. In any other circumstance I would have argued against those orders but considering what I’ve seen the day before I was seriously contemplating if it was indeed enough.
Apparently it was not.
While sleeping at my desk I am awakened by the reverberating sounds of an alarm going off. Paranoia creeping in I hurriedly rush towards the door and press my ear against its smooth metal surface. The faint sound of guttural screams and the gunshots cause my insides to turn into mush. Before I could even get the chance to move away the door swings open knocking me backwards on top of my bottom. For a second I suspected my would be killer had finally arrived but I relaxed after I saw my personal bodyguards as well as a few other soldiers franticly running into the room.
Including myself there were a total of eight men in the room. While I waited in the back of the lab the soldiers held their guns in firing position aimed at the door. I knew it was an inevitable defeat, after the experimental stage A1-12 was supposedly trained to be a killer and perfect soldier during stage two. These men weren’t enough to stop him, so instead of sitting down and waiting for defeat I sat down typing all I knew about A1-12 while waiting for my impending doom.
An hour later I finally finish typing, the men still had their guns pointed at the door but nothing else has happened yet. The alarm was still ringing which meant sooner or later help would arrive. This only meant that A1-12 was going to act soon. As predicted a sound echoes inside the vents above the ceiling. The men quickly aim their guns up at the vent and begin firing. It hardly takes a minute before the metal door opens. The men too caught up in their shooting were unawares when A1-12 silently walks into the room holding on to a bloody lab keycard.
A1-12 was not the same boy who I tortured all those years ago, what I saw now was a demon. While retaining the same but somewhat more mature face A1-12 was now literally covered in muscle as well as equipped with an arsenal of weapons. Although from the appearance of the blood stains on both his hands and feet his natural weapons which were his claws appeared to be just as adept at killing as his other equipment. To my dismay I got to see exactly what those weapons were capable of.
While fully taking advantage of the distraction A1-12 quickly thrusts his claw like hand through the nearest soldier’s skull crunching right through to the man’s brain. Not wasting any time A1-12 unsheathes a short sword from his back and without any resistance sweeps it through the dead soldier’s neck. The soldier who was standing right next to the 1st dead soldier is the first to react after the blood starts spouting out of the man’s neck. He tries to fire at A1-12 but A1-12 launches the skull still lodged on to his hand directly at the 2nd soldiers face. This causes the soldier to misfire taking out two of my bodyguards. The one bodyguard still left standing sees his opportunity to fire directly at A1-12. Almost on reflex A1-12 spins around and tosses his short sword at the man’s face. The blade slides right through guard’s mouth and out of the back of his neck. He falls backwards pinning himself on top of my desk with his blood guzzling freely out of his mouth.
Within the first 6 seconds of walking into the lab A1-12 had managed to kill off five of its participants. I was still in shock and yet the last two soldiers seemed strangely optimistic. Standing side by side one another they began firing at A1-12. Neither lands a shot; A1-12 flaps his wings, flies up into the air and back flips behind the soldiers. Before they knew it A1-12 had already crossed his arms reaching for both of the soldiers’ bare necks. I quickly close my eyes as I hear the sound of ripping skin. I open up them up again and gape at the frightening scene. A1-12 had uncrossed his arms and was now holding on to what was left of those soldier’s throats. A1-12 drops them and begins to walk towards my direction. I quickly back into a corner and prepared myself for whatever was going to happen next.
The Sense of Danger
 Hyper-Senses: standard (rank 1)
What happens next is that A1-12 stops in front of the desk and grabs his short sword out of the dead guard’s mouth. He wipes it clean on the guard’s uniform before turning around to head for the door. Just before exiting he turns towards me and says, “Stay here and die or follow me and live. I don’t really care which one you pick as long as you decide to do it quickly.”
Obviously I still wanted to live; I get out of my corner and follow A1-12 out of the door. As were walking through the facility I decide to start a conversation, there were things I still needed to know. “A1-12 what do you want with me? And why didn’t you kill me?”
A1-12 stops at a corner and sniffs the air, he changes directions and heads down another hall, in a whisper he answers my questions, ”First, don’t ever call me that again or I actually will kill you, my name is Wilder. Second, I’m the mercenary the agency sent you, the man you met before was an assassin sent to act like your bodyguard.” I didn’t know how to take the news and doubted if there was any truth to it but A1..er..Wilder as he was now called clearly had not finished telling his story. ”After I was sent to meet you I did some research on your case. It seemed odd that someone would only be interested in killing off the senior scientists involved in the company you worked for. As it turns out other senior members have been killed off as well but were made to look like accidents. This happened years before these sprees of assassinations ever started. I suspect members who drifted away from the company were killed off. The difference between then and now is that the company has decided to become public. Anyone who knew any secrets before has now became a threat”
“Wait you think the company did this? Why? After all I’ve done for it..still doing for it.”
“What do you think?” replies Wilder sarcastically “You’ve been part of the company for years. You know secrets about it that can destroy it from the inside out. So what if you’re chief scientist of the neo genetics division you’re still replaceable.”
I couldn’t argue with that logic, but I still had one more question I needed to ask, “Where are we going?”
Wilder’s ears perk up just before he completely stops. He stands still listening to the silence.
“The building is completely surrounded; unless you know a way to the roof I might be able to fly us out of here.”
A thought comes to mind, “We have a heliport on the roof but the only way to get to it is by elevator. Since the alarm has been activated the elevators won’t work.”
Wilder replies with a, “Hmph,” as he went storming off to where we had previously passed the elevator. Running after him I quickly became out of breath, I was too for this type of stress. When I finally got close enough Wilder had already managed to get the door open. Seeing me in my tired state Wilder takes my arms and wraps them around his neck. Faster than humanly possible Wilder manages to reach the roof within a few minutes of climbing.
Outside I saw exactly what Wilder meant by the place being surrounded; all sorts of military vehicles as well as a few helicopters circled the building. Just as the first helicopter begins to pass above us Wilder starts spreading his leathery wings as he jumps off the roof and glides into the darkness. If someone saw us they would have had a tough time following as we were gliding through the dense forest that was around the facility. For some people flying may be an exhilarating experience but in the dark I was just hanging on for dear life. Wilder was calm, in the darkness he could see every tree and was able to easily dodge whatever was in front of us. I held on tight wondering what the night seemed like in his green eyes. We finally land near Wilder’s motorbike; we hop on and drive off.
That night was the last time I ever saw Wilder. Since escaping Wilder had someone fly me to the south of the border to go off into hiding. With a new fake identity I now work to destroy the company that tried to kill me. As for Wilder I suspect he may be on another mercenary mission. Last I heard of him he was somewhere in Khazan.
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