Resistance: Descent With Modification

Bright lights. Heat. Pain. Fear.

"M- mommyyyyy!"

He woke up, dazed and afraid. His senses were muddled, and his head was light as he stumbled out into the world on his hands and knees.

"Shh," he heard a distorted voice whisper. "It's alright, dear. Your new mother is here, and she's very happy to see you."

He opened his eyes, everything tinted in yellow, to see a frightening figure looming over him.

A Chimeran hybrid. The symbol of the plague that laid waste to human society. Even worse, it was an advanced hybrid, distinguished by its dark blue chestplate and unique external cooling rods. Its six golden eyes were staring at him.

"Ah-! AAAAAAH!"

He crawled back to the feet of the chamber, afraid for his life. But the hybrid showed no anger, no intent of violence. Instead, it spoke.

"I know," it spoke with a human, motherly inflection. "You're afraid. But you don't have to be. In fact, let me tell you my name. I'm 2J-X951-787B. You can call me Twojay, if you wish. What about you? Can you tell me your name?"

He initially felt hesitant to tell her anything. But, there was a strange air of trustworthiness around her. Her demeanor was as soft as a Chimeran's could be, and her voice was comforting, even reassuring.

"Uh... My name's... Ronnie."

"Ronnie," she repeated. "That's a lovely human name. Tell me, Ronnie, what year is it?"

"1956. I'm 7," he added.

"Good, good! You see? There's no reason to be afraid of us. We're just like you. Aren't we?"

"...What?" he asked, his underdeveloped sense of reason kicking in. "No! I'm a human! I-..."

Then he looked down at himself.

"I... No, I'm human. I went to bed last night as a human!"

He pinched himself on the cheek, feeling the sharp chimeran fangs behind his clammy skin. He looked at his hands, his skin grey and sick-looking. Suddenly it made sense why everything looked yellow.

"No," he whimpered. "No, I'm... I'm still a human..."

The little hybrid boy sat on the cold, clear floor of the conversion center, beginning to cry. Twojay sat with him, putting her arm around his shoulders.

"Yes. You are still human. On the inside. That's what matters, isn't it?"

"No! I wanna go back to my mom and dad!"

"Ronnie," she purred, "you can still think like a human. Talk like a human. You can probably read and write like a human, too. And you have a much more powerful mother in me. You've lost nothing but your old body."

"But... But I like being a human..."

"Hmm... Well, I can use that chamber to turn you back."

"Really!?" he asked with delight.

"Yes," she answered. "But... Are you aware of what that means? You'll have to go back to running away from us. You know what that means, don't you?"

His smile faded as she continued.

"Remember that little foxhole you lived in? You'd have to go back to that. Your only food would be whatever scraps your human family would scrounge up for you. And then, they would waste away because they spent so much energy on you, they left none for themselves. And where would you be after that?... I'd hate to do that to such an adorable, bright young boy."

Ronnie was on the verge of tears once more. He had never thought of it like that before.

"Really?" he asked again, each of his three sets of eyes welling with tears.

"Yes," Twojay went on. "But we chimera, we are strong. Right now, we're in Mother Tower 4 - I think you humans called this place 'New York City' before our arrival - and here? You'll always be warm. Always be fed. Always be comforted by your new family. We have infinitely more to provide than any human family. But, if you prefer your previous existence..."

"N- no!" he cried back. "No, I, I wanna be a chimeran... For a little bit."

Twojay chuckled and gave Ronnie a pat on the back.

"Okay, just for a little bit. Maybe by then, you'll have made up your mind."

"Uh... You're really nice for a chimera."

"You too."

She chuckled before hearing a knock on the steel-plated door.

"It's ready," she heard from the other side.

"Coming!" she shouted back before facing Ronnie again.

"Do you know about the Hale vaccine?"

"No."

"Ah, ok. Well, have you ever gotten a shot before?"

"Yeah."

"Good. My friends have prepared a shot that boys like you get to take. I'm going to let in one of my friends so they can give it to you. Ok? And remember - it only pinches for a few seconds."

She rubbed Ronnie's head before leaving the single-celled chamber, closing the door behind her. In front of her was 2D-X945-99LNcr, an old Steelhead friend of hers.

"You're an artist, Twojay."

"Why, thank you. Practically every boy here can sing the praises of my honest and consice oration," Twojay gloated.

"Oh, I bet," Twodee jabbed before entering the chamber. She heard a "Hey!" and faint laughter behind her as she approached the newly awakened hybrid child. She squatted beside him, readying a spray can and some sort of auto-injector.

"Howdy. Like Twojay said, welcome to the party, kid."

The boy snickered at the thought of a Steelhead saying "howdy" before his forearm was chilled with the spray.

"Woah, what the heck is that?"

"it's anti-bacterial. Just because we're tough doesn't mean we're invulnerable. Ever seen polio? It's terrifying... Alright, here comes the pinch."

The boy looked away before he felt a quick jab in his arm.

"That's it," Twodee said, "just breathe nice and slow for me... Ok, all done."

The boy opened one of his eyes, still somewhat fearful.

"That's it?"

"Yeah. What were you expecting?"

"No band-aid or anything?"

"Band aid?"

He looked at where the mark from the shot would have been; there was nothing there.

"Oh, cool!"

"Yeah, yeah," Twodee said, a dash of cynicism in her voice as she left the room. "Just don't poke your eye out."

Twojay and Twodee switched spots, with Twojay reaching her hand out towards the boy once she approached him.

"Alright, now, do you want a tour?"

Ronnie felt something... switch on inside him.

"Sure," he said. He took her hand, then squeezed it hard. She squeezed back. They looked into each other's eyes.

"Maybe I can show you to the other mothers," she said as they finally left the chamber. "They'll love you."