Ethan Carter, an everyday sixteen-year-old geek walked down the street with his hands tapping over bruises that lined across him. He remembered the day in all its tortuous detail, but it was nothing — his life felt like one long misery-filled loop.

His parents each were genetic scientists, mainly focusing on merging human genes with different types of animal ones.Ethan was their son. Ethan was the complete opposite of academically smart, despite his highly gifted parents. In Academics He Was a Poor. His bad test scores earned him the scorn of his examiners and at their sight crumpled underneith reality. He was almost a ghost, wandering the halls without acknowledgement.

Ethan was bullied every single day at school. He was picked on by his classmates and even some underclassmen, who beat him down simply because they had nothing else to do. He was an easy mark, a whipping post for the sake of comedy. Sitting at dinner, he would consider telling his Mom and Dad how much pain this constant intimidation caused him; it was as if they were taking turns not to hear. Busy working, indifferent to the plight of their son. They would only upset him with how bad his circumstances were.

And so, Ethan stumbled through his days in this seemingly endless cycle. His only reprieve from this oppressive reality were the fantasy novels he devoured. He found solace, adventure and his sense of belonging that was missing from real life in those pages. He was king of his fantasies, where he could be anyone but who he actually is.

It was a long other-worldly walk until he finally reached where his true home, an unimpressive house sitting just on the border of some massive forest. His parents had chosen his place, away from nosy neighbors to conduct their experiments in secret. It was a quaint little house from the outside, but inside it showed their rich life. But Ethan had become accustomed to the luxury. More like a golden prison rather than my house.

The front doors open wide and Ethan stepped inside to a grand hallway with doorways leading in all directions throughout the residence. Every one of those doors were a way to another world but he does not feel the intention on entering. Instead he approached a single door at the very end of the hall, an old looking door that stood out among all this opulence. The doorknob was rusted, the wood weather worn and it felt as though there were secrets buried within.

He pushed the door open with an ominous creak. The staircase emerged before him, steep and faintly lighted to lure him downward into the basement—the only sanctuary he had from his insane existence. The minute footfalls were punctuated with the soft creaking of every step, nothing in this place was designed for silent footsteps.

He was greeted by the lightbulbs of a house that flickered and cracks along walls at the bottom of the stairs. He yelped in surprise as a cockroach scuttled landed on his shoe. He let out a sharp breath, relaxed slightly after looking at it being merely an insect. He dropped his backpack to the floor, and sat down reliving all of the days memories.

*Flashback*

It was a shock to Ethan's system, the first crisp morning of what little winter they ever got in this part of Southern California.

He got out of bed and headed for the bathroom only to find no water came when he turned on the tap. He felt panic taking root in his chest and looked over as something shattered. It hardly seemed worth the effort calling in a plumber; he came an hour later, his arrival after Ethan had missed school by mere minutes.

Ethan quickly changed and showered then gathered his bag over 15 minutes. But when he finally dashed out the door, it was raining cats and dogs. He had only been under the rain for seconds when he got wet and soaked in water as he entered school late by two critical subjects.

Ethan took his usual seat in back of the room, invisible to this classmates. He volunteered to answer questions, only to be greeted by silence and sneers from the other students in his class. Every time he tried to answer something, it would always be a shot in the dark — saying things such as two plus two was equal to Z instead of 4.

At lunch, a group of the usual bullies blocked him in his normal path. Soon their taunts turned violent and Ethan had his lunch money stolen, as well as being cut on the face by one of their hidden blades. His pocket was five grand lighter,washed away just as his treasonous hands had done.

In all of this fuss was Shreya, the most beautiful girl and probably one with perhaps too many fans for her own good who would understandably ignore him as she passed by every day. The girl Ethan had coveted since middle school, his crush, the dream he could never quite catch; He had finally decided to talk her up today, only for him to discover that she did not even know his name. He was a person that did not exist in her world, just another face amidst the masses.

*A/N: I know someone out there feels this.* That hot but out of your league? Be smarter than Ethan: make sure that she knows you exist! *

*Flashback ended.*

Ethan sat there crying even more through parts of his own mind and all the while, Ethan thought back on that day which made him cry. tears swelled in his eyes that time He quietly wept. Not long after, the rain began to pour as dark clouds rolled in matching his sorrow that he felt inside. He collapsed on the floor, a slave to his own existence. He wished he could be better, hoped for change to break this cycle of pain. As if the universe itself was reflecting his sorrow, the rain beat down harder.

*10 minutes later.*

He got up, tearing with humiliation but it was in his house god damnit and he had to just leave the basement behind. It was there that he had caught a flash of gold light.

"What's that?" Turning to see, he exclaimed. His curiosity was sparked, something was emanating light from the wall. Pushing on, he found it beckoning; the glint of light.

As Ethan arrived at where the glint shone, he realized that there was something behind the wall. As he pressed on the golden item, he heard a mechanical voice. 

[Analyzing Geno structure...]

[Analyzing Geno structure...]

[Analyzing Geno structure...]

[ Geno structure analysation completed...]