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Rise of the New Breed Volume 1: Origins

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When I was in college I heard a poem. I can't remember the whole thing but one line rooted itself in my mind:

"Through the pitch dark comes the cleansing fire, and through the fire we shall find the spring of new life"

I never much believed in a "Cleansing Fire", one event that would change the very nature of your existence.

That is until one fateful day

When I told my Mother I got a job at Rushmore Bio-Systems she was so proud, she said "You made it sonny boy, you're living your dream!"

I didn't have the heart to tell her the job was in Public Relations. I have a Masters in Molecular Biology and the only job I could get in my field was a tour guide.

That day I was chosen to give the tour to a visiting High School Science Class, 40 students who couldn't care less about what I was saying. As I prepared for the students to arrive I glanced at my Tablet and saw the school's name "Piedmont High School".

The words hit me into the boards like an agressive Hockey player. "Oh that sucks!" I said aloud.

"What's wrong Tony?" Amanda, another PR associate asked.

"Piedmont was my High School!"

The Bus pulled up and two adults exited, an older male in his 50's and a woman close to my own age. I scrolled through the Roster and saw one very familiar name "Bridget Regan".

"No way!" I said, my throat bone dry.

The students filed into the building and I walked over to greet them, I was hard to miss in my Maroon blazer.

"Welcome one and all to Rushmore Bio-Systems. I am Tony Alvarez, your tour guide. Today we'll take a peek behind the curtain and see exactly what the future has in store. The Teachers can attend the tour or they can sit and enjoy free coffee in Rushmore's own internal Starbucks."

I watched as the older male, Mr. Morrison accepted the offer.

"Oh, I'll tag along" Bridget said with a smile of recognition.

The first stop was The Agricultural Bio-Sector.

"Welcome to Rushmore Agricultural labs, here is where Rushmore's Cereal Grain ZX-50 was developed.

"What is ZX-50?" a student asked.

"Good question, ZX-50 is a genetically engineered hybrid of Oat, Wheat, Barley and Soy. It's hearty cellular structure makes it perfect for growing in harsh environments and it's Nutritional richness makes it a cheap foodstuff. We have donated over a billion seed pods to African Relief Efforts. Next we will head to the Medical Biology wing, the stairs are just down the hall and to the left.

As the students walked past I felt a set of hands wrap around my arm.

"You thought I didn't recognise you didn't you Antonio!" Bridget said with a smile.

"We were lab partners for a whole year Bridge, I figured you did." I said playfully.

"I figured I'd see you here at Rushmore. You talked about this place so much in High School I figured you'd be leading a lab not a tour group. What happened?"

I sighed and shook my head.

"I went to Empire University, got my Masters in Bio Engineering but they weren't hiring due to the economy, I was lucky they had in opening in Public Relations. And it didn't hurt I had a science background, enough to answer sciency questions for tours."

"Speaking of tours, where's ours?"

I saw the open door, with students beyond it. An imposing Red Steel Door with Black letters "Restricted, Omega level access only."

I pushed the door open wider and whisper shouted "What are you doing in here, it's restricted! Moreover how'd you get in?"

A girl wearing a My Little Pony Friendship is Magic hoodie turned to me.

"It was opened so we went in."

The main body of the tour had followed my instructions, this group was composed of about ten, back-of-the-classer's by the look of them.

My eyes fell upon the E-card reader next to the door and the tiny circuit assembly mounted next to it.

"What is it?" Bridge asked.

"Looks like a very sophisticated hack device, I have to signal an alert."

I reached into my pocket to retrieve my Panic button. After several presses I concluded it was deactivated.

"Stay here while I check this out." I said.

I entered the restricted area and found four people splayed out on the floor. Their throats cut, pools of inky red blood growing from the deep cuts. I rounded a corner and saw a masked figure grabbing vials of chemical agents and after placing them in sealed containers, stuffed them into his bag.

"Hey stop right there!" I shouted.

The theif ran towards me and jumped right over my head with a vaulting twist.

"Stop!" I shouted as we ran down the hall towards the students.

One boy, wearing a Piedmont letterman's jacket reached out and grabbed the backpack. It tore a bit and the thief kept running, past the group and out the hall. As he turned he slipped and slammed into the wall. The jostling caused three compound vials to tumble out.

I can still see the containers tumbling through space. Falling slowly as if they were weightless. The sharp impact with the floor caused the vials within the break, the compounds began to leak. A liquid resembling liquid lead, but with the hew of Copper. A hissing gas and last but not least a semi-solid.

The liquid combined with the solid and set off a small spark. The spark ignited the gas causing a deep green to sweep past us

The flame was intensely hot, I felt it pass through me with not so much as a burn. The sprinklers went off showering us with water, I stood up and breathed easily.

"Is everyone alright?" I asked

Aside from some grunts and hollow wimpers I could see everyone was fine.

Bridget stood up looked at the walls.

"All those flames and no burn marks, talk about luck."

I remember the poem, a cleansing flame. Could that explain the strange fire?

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