It was a large and shiny, black feather. Lia stared at it when it fell on her feet. She crouched, picked it up, and curiously gazed at it.
"Such a beautiful feather…" she whispered to herself. It was her first time to see such a big feather.
While still in a crouching position, a shadow that shaped like a bird suddenly hovered Lia. She was stunned when she saw the shadow getting bigger as it was approaching her.
Lia closed her eyes, frightened. She accidentally dropped the feather and placed her hands on her head. She did not know what was about to fall.
After a while, Lia opened her eyes. She saw a pair of feet. She slowly looked up, saw a pair of black leather pants, and saw those defined, 6-pack abs. Lia's mouth opened in amazement, and then she continued looking up to the person's face.
A pair of golden eyes looked down on her. Lia noticed his handsome features - his slightly slanted eyes, pointed nose and sharp jawline. He has pale skin, and a large pair of thick, brown to black feathered wings, from the back of his head extending to his ankle. His jet black, messy layered hair is loosely resting on his shoulder. The man just stared at her, wondering who she was. For a long while, they stared at each other without uttering a word. There was something in the man's piercing gaze that made her heart skip a beat.
"Oh, so you've met," Sanya said, then started walking towards them.
As an automatic response, Lia turned her back on him. She faced Sanya and said, "We didn't talk to each other, yet."
"Then, I'll do the introductions," Sanya said. "Ms. Brentvale, meet Aesop...and Aesop, meet Lia Brentvale. She will be taking care of you until her contract expires."
Lia sweetly smiled and offered a handshake. "Hi, nice to meet you, Mr. Aesop."
Aesop just stared at Lia. Suddenly, he flapped his wings and flew up to the third and highest loft of the room.
The 20-meter, white high-walled room had 3 lofts that looked like wall-mounted shelves. The first loft was installed at the 9th meter, the second at the 12th meter, and the third at the 15th meter. There were small staircases on the wall that lead to the lofts, which were connected.
There were digital, fake windows on the lofts showing the view overlooking Eulim City. There were some feathers scattered on the floor, and on Lia's mind, "Oh boy, I'm going to clean a lot of things here."
"He's a vulture mutant," Sanya explained. "It has been 10 years since he entered the facility. In those 10 years, we only had a few research studies and experiments for him…"
"Why?" Lia asked.
Sanya fixed her round eyeglasses and said, "He never really opened up to us or trusted us. It made the results incomplete."
"Can I ask... what happened to his past caretakers?" asked Lia, who was a bit in doubt.
"They're fine, just ended the contract after a year. They didn't extend their contracts. Perhaps they're bored with the work." Sanya explained. "Besides, it's hard cleaning the lofts. Aesop's feathers are almost everywhere in this room. You know, I think he's sick or something, but every time we try to ask him, he doesn't answer."
Lia looked up and found Aesop sitting above, looking down on them. It seems like he had guarded himself against strangers. Lia thought that maybe he had experienced awful things that he behaved the way he did.
Sanya raised the tablet for Lia to see. She said, "In this tablet, you can see Aesop's data. I will accompany you today, so if you want to ask anything about him, don't be shy to ask me."
Lia nodded, then read Aesop's data.
*****
Aesop Aevis, 25 years old, male.
Confined to D.M. Cadre Research Facility: the Year 2038.
Mutation/s: Vulture (wings) - confirmed with actual vulture wings examination.
Other vulture characteristics: unidentified.
Psychological test: incomplete.
Other information:
Family-
Parents: Kristoff Aevis and Christa Aevis - non-mutant
Sibling/s: Anivia Aevis (female, 3 years younger) - non-mutant
Exchanged with Mutant Value:
2,000,000 Digital Cash (one-time) & 1 college scholarship
*****
"Ms. Sanya, what is this Exchanged with Mutant Value?" Lia asked, pointing to it.
"Ah, it's the negotiation details," Sanya answered.
Lia couldn't believe what she read. A sum of two million digital cash, in a one-time payment? And what's this, a college scholarship? They even offered that?
Sanya saw how Lia's expression suddenly changed. "The college scholarship is for his sister," Sanya explained. "According to the one who handled Aesop before me, Aesop was kind enough to agree to come with the scientists to give his sister a better life. But look at him now…"
Aesop didn't want to talk to anyone. He gazed at the windows, even though he knew they were fake, it made him feel inner peace. Every day, he would wake up and think about his family. He had always wondered how they were doing. Are they eating well? What could be their work now? Is his sister well after her surgery, 10 years ago? He wondered what course she took in college. He wondered how they're doing without him. And then, he hoped that they're okay.
Aesop continued looking at the digital window, not minding the assistant scientist and his new caretaker as they toured his room.
---
The caretakers were dismissed at 8:00 pm and had agreed to meet at the cafeteria. They were promised to be given official I.D.s the next day, in which they will be using inside the premises, for now, their names were just listed in the cafeteria's database for their food needs.
After falling in line to get their dinner sets, the four of them chose a nearby table to eat.
"I'm so hungry! I wiped a very large aquarium!" Lovely exclaimed. She smelled the savory aroma of fried chicken on her plate. "Now this is what I call food. I only had a burger at lunch and some bananas for snacks." She chomped her food hastily like she hadn't eaten for days.
"I had pasta salad for lunch and burrito in the afternoon," Gem said. She then sipped her creamy pumpkin soup. "My mutants' room is like a park. We sat on the picnic mat to eat."
"My mutant has a decent kitchen, and a decent...forest," Sanno said excitedly. "I had beef steak at lunch and my cinnamon rolls for snacks."
"We didn't even eat your cinnamon rolls!" Lovely said, then pouted.
Sanno laughed at Lovely's comment. As he pulled his long-sleeved shirt, he said, "Don't worry, it's only our first day. We have a lot of days ahead. Besides, I'm going to give my cinnamon rolls to Ms. Sanya next time."
The three girls giggled. For them, they're the cutest love team.
"How about you, Lia?" Sanno asked. "What's it like in your mutant's room?"
Lia was about to put the spoon in her mouth when she remembered her mutant's 6-pack abs. Her mouth was wide open and she stared blankly at the cafeteria's floor. She remembered the feeling of Aesop's big hand in hers, as he helped her stand up. She remembered his golden eyes, his piercing gaze that took her breath away, and his majestic vulture wings. She was stunned by her mutant's charm and was amazed by his mere existence.
Sanno waved his hand in front of Lia's eyes. "Hey, Lia! What are you thinking about?"
Lia realized that her head was in the clouds, thinking about Aesop. "Oh! I was in a daze, sorry." she placed down her spoon. "My mutant had a really high walled room 'cause he's a vulture mutant..."
While they talk about the rooms of their mutants, they were not really sure about how far the bounds of their stories would be. They talked about their mutants without exposing their identities and backgrounds.
After dinner, the three girls bid goodbye to Sanno. They went to their assigned room in the East Wing. On the other hand, Sanno rode the e-train back to the city proper. Then, he rode an e-bus to her mother's condo unit in Newton Grand Tower.
"I'm here," Sanno said as he entered the door. "Mom?"
"Sanno!" his mom excitedly approached him. She gave her son a big hug. "It's been a while!"
"I'm going to stay here for some time," Sanno uttered.
"Of course," his mother said. As they reached the living room, she gave Sanno a serious look, "Your dad told me the details."
"Oh…" Sanno said, slightly trembling as he heard about his father. "He did, already?"
A man in his late 40's walked towards them… and smelled like cigarettes...
Sanno widened his eyes in shock.
"Dad?"