EXO: "EXOPLANETS"
37

I have been tried in the worst way, humiliated and now after all this cruelty, I feel bitter. I was angry and filled with anger. Something terrible and dark has grown inside me and they are to blame for that.

Before all this, I was a boy, pure and innocent but after the horrors I witnessed and experienced, I could never be like that again. I am different now: something unnatural and inhuman.

It's not my fault, it's not my fault. It was theirs, hers .

When molten metal dripped between my fingers, I knew the door wouldn't last much longer. So to speed up the process, I pushed my shoulder hard, causing it to give up. Bursting into the room, I was surprised to meet with a small laboratory, not a panic room. The cabinets lining the walls were filled with chemicals but in disarray, with needles and syringes strewn across the ground.

In this room, there was nowhere to hide and Doctor Choi stood near the back wall, as far as possible. He was breathing deeply and in his trembling hand, he was holding a gun pointing towards me. "Don't come any closer or I'll shoot!" he yelled.

Before he could even cocked the gun, I stepped forward and with a simple maneuver I dropped it from his hand. Shock smeared his face as soon as he knew he no longer clenched a weapon and had no protection. The gun clang to the floor across the room and he immediately snuggled up from me but he had nowhere to go.

"Please, don't hurt me!" she begged. I laughed bitterly and said emotionlessly, "like the way you hurt us?"

He opened his mouth to speak but closed it again. This was the first time I had seen him speechless. He didn't know what to say and his lack of words made my blood boil.

"Do you even feel sorry for what you've done? Stabbing needles into our skin day after day, injecting toxins into our blood and saying it's for our own good. You repeatedly burn the skin off my body, trying to change physical make-up while blaming your cruelty on evolutionary development. "

"Do you know what it's like for your flesh to melt away from your body and you have no choice but to adapt and survive? Do you know the horrors and nightmares that follow me every day because of what you have done to me, to us ? " I clenched my hands tightly while recalling the pain and injustice I had experienced, before continuing, "I have demons that will haunt me for the rest of my life and even if I kill you today, they will never leave."

He looked less afraid now but no less messy. He is a disaster. Sweat had ruined her usually perfect makeup with a black line in her eyes from a mascara stain. His neat bun decomposed and his hair was a mess of black ink, spilling in front of his face and clinging to sweat. Her lab coat was dirty, while her black dress was tangled and somehow her tights were torn.

Looking like this, she was pitiful, in stark contrast to her usual portrayal but I felt no sympathy for her. This is what he deserves.

"Eyes change eyes" I said as flames started burning from my right hand. He finally made eye contact with me and tears streamed down his cheeks while he said, "You forgot the end of the quote: an eye for an eye makes the whole world blind ."

"Don't worry, I know and I won't stop you" she said calmly and there was a change to her. Somehow, he became resolved, as if he had accepted this was his destiny. "I know very well the sins I have committed and the pain I have caused. I deserve it. Whatever revenge you plan to take on me, I deserve it all."

He laughed but it was completely humorless and a little hysterical. "I never meant for this to happen, they were the ones who forced me. I just want to improve the world, change it for the better but I guess I forgot about it. Motivation, greed, and curiosity, I have too much and that is my downfall. When they offered me something I could not refuse, I did not even think further about my own selfishness and agreed to their terms. When I realized what I was doing and how wrong it was, they had already taken what was important to me and it was too late to return. I've gone too far and now I'm here. "

I did not notice the fire I was holding had stopped and my hand was now beside me. I was curious and I couldn't help but question him further, "what are you talking about? Who forced you? You did this to us, you're the one who turned us into monsters."

"How little do you know" he said. "Yes, I played my part in this game, but I'm not the mastermind you think I am. I'm just a doctor, a scientist."

"You're evolving?" I asked annoyed. I'm losing my patience now and I wonder if he's just stalling, waiting for the right moment to attack or someone comes to his rescue.

"I never lied before - almost twelve years ago now, a little boy and his mother didn't come to the hospital I was working in. I tested his blood and that's how I found the EXO gene. As I said before, it was like nothing I had ever seen, something magical and unique. I was always curious, even as a child, it was in my nature to want to learn and discover new things. This is my strongest trait but also my biggest weakness.Of course, I became obsessed, "he explained and shook his head in something that looked like regret.

"For years I tried to prove myself to others. To show the world that I'm not crazy and this gene, this never before seen piece of DNA is the breakthrough of our century. I quit my job and all I did for the first few years was research. I published report after report and others continued to doubt me, saying I was unreasonable. I lost contact with the boy so there was no evidence or proof that someone like him was even real or alive. I became a laughing stock, a crazy woman, and even my family thought I was in trouble. "

The expression in his eyes was frightening as he stared into space. I can say that he has fallen into his own story and it is as if he has brought it back to life. On one hand he looked haunted and maybe someone else was right about him, maybe he became angry.

"One day someone approached me, and now looking back, I should have stopped first and there. I shouldn't have gotten into that black van. They told me that they were an organization called Evolve and like me they had the same intention: to change the world for the better. They said they had read my report and thought my discovery was interesting. They are willing to support my project and fund whatever I need so I can be successful. The deal is too good. They offered me more money than I had ever been in contact with and gave me the opportunity to do what I wanted all my life. I was young and naive at the time, filled with ambition and this was my dream. In the fog of happiness and greed I never thought to question them even once and it was a stupid mistake. So I accepted the offer, not knowing that I had signed my life and my freedom. "

At this point, tears quietly fell. He didn't cry and he didn't wipe them. Instead, he let them roll freely on his face, almost ignoring them. His body looked heavy as he slid against the wall, losing. Letting his head lean on her, he closed his eyes.

"After that, I didn't stop working. I traveled the world, trying to find a serum that effectively activated genes and like all scientists, I almost went crazy. Fortunately, I discovered the poison of the arrow frog which became the main ingredient of the serum. This is the first step to my success and Evolve is more than happy with me. So as a bonus, I received a sum of money that I could not possibly refuse and that was the first of many. "