Alfonso looked at, or to be more specific, admired the young boy in front of him.

  He was rather plump and had astonishingly yellow hair that, when paired with his electric blue eyes, made him look rather cute. He was wearing a plain white T-shirt and underpants of the same colour.

  Alfonso sat with the boy, who was no older than three years of age, on the white floor of a small-ish room with white walls and a white ceiling. Alfonso had grown rather used to the bland colour scheme of the building that they were in, but his eyes still felt somewhat strained.

  The young boy grabbed Alfonso’s index finger with his entire hand, causing Alfonso to smile.

  ‘Alfonso…’ came a stern voice from behind him.

  Alfonso turned to see his friend, and colleague, George Edwards. George was a short man with warm green eyes and messy brown hair. His attire was standard for employees: a white lab coat, a black shirt, white trousers, and black shoes.

  ‘You know you shouldn’t be with the boy…’ George continued firmly. ‘He can’t have any memory of you. If anything at all, you are to be a background character in his life.’

  ‘I’m all the poor boy has,’ Alfonso tried, looking back at the young boy.

  ‘He has the other Avian Subjects,’ George retorted harshly. ‘He doesn’t need us. We are workers, not childminders.’

  ‘Don’t you think it’s wrong that he cannot know who I am even though he will one day have my power?’

  ‘He might not, Alfonso. It’s looking likely, but they may choose another successor.’

  ‘Then why can’t I be with him?’

  ‘Alfonso!’ George barked. ‘Don’t question basic instructions!’

  Against his best wishes, Alfonso let go of the boy’s hand and rose to his feet. The boy stared up at him wistfully, which made his heart pang.

  Alfonso and George walked to the set of double doors and George tapped a keycard on the wall beside them. The doors separated and the pair stepped into the corridor outside, which looked not unlike an elongated version of the room they had just come from. With white walls and a white ceiling, the only difference was the floor colouring – the corridor’s floor was light blue, like a hospital’s flooring.

  The pair walked through a door on the right, into the Control Room.

  Inside, there were more of Alfonso’s colleagues, and they all wore the same attire as Alfonso and George. They were all huddled around the desk at the front of the room, which was sat in front of a one-way window.

  ‘You can’t even tell there’s a window anywhere from the inside…’ Alfonso breathed.

  The room was fairly dark, with the only light sources being the dim red LED lights around the edges of the walls, and the reflection of light from the white walls of the room holding the young boy.

  Numerous desks with computers sat in rows, but nobody was seated at any of them.

  ‘You need to stop trying to build a bond with that boy,’ a tall man with fair hair and blue eyes warned Alfonso from the desk. ‘He’s not here to be a son to you. He’s here to save the world.’

  ‘Don’t you feel that it’s inhumane-’ Alfonso began, but the man cut him off.

  ‘If you think that him not being allowed to speak to you is inhumane, then I suggest you look away.’

  Alfonso glared at him and opened his mouth to argue back, but George elbowed him in the side.

  The man who had been arguing with Alfonso turned to the desk and picked up what looked like a walkie-talkie attached by a wire to the desk.

  ‘Albert Santrrer, Subject 01, reaction to extreme conditions,’ he said, and his voice also came from the hidden speakers inside of the white room.

  A small hole opened on the floor in front of the young boy, and a fire rose from it. The boy immediately recoiled, but multiple other holes appeared around the room, all housing their own orange flame.

  The young boy got to his feet and began to cry.

  ‘Why’d he stand just to cry?’ Alfonso heard George murmur, his eyes intently fixed on the young boy inside.

  ‘Let’s see if he realises he’s a descendant of the most powerful God of them all…’ Alfonso heard one of his colleagues mumble to another.

  Albert evidently did not realise that he was a descendant of one of the Primordials. He continuously backed away from whatever fire was closest to him, but another would always spring up behind him, leaving him trapped.

  After two minutes of the fire playing goose chase with the boy, he was cornered, and the fires were drawing nearer. The boy was crying uncontrollably, and Alfonso wanted nothing more than to rush in there and try to save him. There wouldn’t be much that he could do, but he wanted to try. The boy was only young.

  A fire lashed out at Albert’s arm. He howled in pain, his face red and puffy with tears.

  ‘Does he know he can control it?’ Alfonso whispered to George.

  ‘What does it look like?’ came George’s witty response.

  All of a sudden, water began to gush from the walls of Albert’s room. And fast. The noise of it rushing could be heard even from the Control Room.

  The room quickly began to fill with water. At first, Albert seemed relieved that the fires had been put out. But that relief very quickly turned to fear as the water began to rise.

  Alfonso prayed to the Gods that the boy realised he could breathe underwater as it reached his neck.

  Initially, the boy was carried up by the water. He rose higher and higher up the room as the water level rose, but when it reached the roof, it became apparent that the boy was in trouble.

  ‘What if he dies in there?’ Alfonso thought aloud.

  ‘He won’t,’ George replied loudly before Alfonso could be scolded by anyone. ‘If he holds his breath and falls unconscious, his body will automatically continue breathing because he can breathe underwater.’

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  Alfonso hoped that his friend wasn’t just trying to appease him.

  After a while, the boy fell unconscious. And, against Alfonso’s pleas, he was left there for ten whole minutes, before the room was drained of water and a medic went in to check on him.

  Alfonso watched with bated breath as they checked the boy over and over before finally flashing a thumbs-up.

  ‘He needs work,’ the man from the argument said loudly. ‘Alfonso, if you are caught with the boy again, you will face severe consequences. He needs to be made into a machine. Not your son.’

  ***

  ‘Do they realise that there’s a net over them?’ Alfonso wondered aloud.

  The three Avian Subjects were flying high above a grassy field at the back of The School. The sun was beaming and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky.

  ‘Obviously,’ George said slowly. ‘Just because we can’t see it doesn’t mean they can’t see or sense it. They have enhanced vision, remember? And their senses are better than ours, so they can probably feel it, too.’

  ‘Why don’t they break through it?’ Alfonso continued to voice his thoughts. ‘At the very least, Albert can break that thing in a million different ways.’

  ‘Because they know damn well the consequences,’ George grumbled. ‘They’ll probably be shot down if they try to escape.’

  ‘And what a waste that would be…’

  ‘They’re not irreplaceable, Alfonso,’ George said sternly. ‘I know you’re rather fond of Albert, but we can replace him. It’ll take years and years, but we could do it. And, Gods, any one of them could survive a shot and fall from there. They’re special kids.’

  Alfonso stared up at the children. He knew it was for the good of the world, but he couldn’t help but feel that their existence was similar to that of birds. Birds in a cage. They weren’t free; not even close to being so. It was pitiful.

  Albert’s dark silhouette stood out against the bright Sun, and Alfonso was forced to squint as he looked up at the boy who was looking ever more likely to be his successor.

  Alfonso wondered for a moment whether Albert would grow up to hate him. He hoped not, but he understood why he would. He hadn’t been the nicest to the boy, as much as he had tried to be.

  ***

  ‘It’s almost time,’ Sally said rather sadly to Alfonso as the two of them walked along one of the many plain white corridors of The School.

  She was a few inches shorter than Alfonso, with a pretty face and brown eyes that made him melt. Her fair blonde hair trimmed to a bob completed her wonderful appearance, and her words made Alfonso’s heart pang.

  The two walked past many doors leading to workrooms and labs and more, but Alfonso paid them no attention.

  ‘Yeah…’ he said slowly. ‘Albert’s eight now, can you believe it?’

  ‘Hardly. I remember when he was just a babe,’ Sally replied solemnly. ‘Are you sure you’re ready?’

  Alfonso nodded. ‘It’s only right. I just think it’s a shame they didn’t find someone for Abb-’

  A team of doctors ran by with a stretcher. They were headed toward the Jungle Room, which is where the Avian Subjects and Erasers were.

  Alfonso froze.

  When the next team of doctors ran by in the same direction, Alfonso grabbed the closest one fiercely by the shoulder and forcefully turned him around.

  ‘What’s happening?’ he asked quickly.

  ‘Albert’s been injured by an Eraser in training!’ the doctor said frantically. ‘Now let go of me!’

  He wrestled out of Alfonso’s firm grasp and hurried down the corridor. Alfonso bolted after him.

  ‘Alfonso!’ Sally called.

  The team of doctors in front of Alfonso suddenly turned on the spot and tried to stop him from following them. Three of them grabbed him and tried to force him back.

  ‘You’re not allowed anywhere near Subject 01!’ one cried.

  ‘I’ll tend to him!’ Alfonso roared. ‘My father is the God of Healing!’

  ‘And you are still expected to follow standard procedure! Stay back!’

  Alfonso was panicking. Albert didn’t have healing powers yet. He could die.

  Alfonso gave a great roar and threw one of the doctors off of him. They sailed through the air and slammed into the wall. His vision was coated with a yellow tint. He would get to Albert.

  A pop noise bounced around the corridor, and Alfonso fell forward, unconscious.

  ***

  When Alfonso awoke later that day, it was in the Control Room overseeing Albert’s room. The boy was standing in there, pacing back and forth. His left eye was forced shut by a swollen bump, and his body was covered in cuts and bruises, made visible by his lack of a shirt.

  ‘Was…was he not tended to?’ Alfonso murmured, sitting up straight. Apparently, he had been put straight at a work desk after being tased.

  ‘He was, but he’ll heal,’ George’s voice assured him from his left. ‘For now, we’ll just leave him in his room. Then he can go back to Subjects 02 and 03.’

  Alfonso felt sick at how cruel it was. Albert was being denied basic rights and freedoms. Surely, they could at least spare some ice to put on his bumps and bruises.

  ‘Don’t worry about him, Alfonso,’ George said, adopting a rather soft tone. ‘He’s a strong boy.’

  ‘He’ll escape this place one day, George,’ Alfonso whispered so that nobody else could hear him other than who he was speaking to. ‘He’ll be free.’

  ‘Are you insane?’ George hissed back. ‘He can’t get out of here!’

  Alfonso stayed silent.

  As he watched Albert Santrrer angrily pace back and forth in his plain white room, he thought about what must have been going through his head at that moment.

  He knew that the boy desired freedom. After all, he was part bird, and they were the freest creatures of them all.

  He was a special child. A descendant of Titan, part bird, and numerous other special powers, and he would soon inherit Alfonso’s. The stage was set for the boy to become a killing machine.

  Alfonso looked down at his own palm. He was free, wasn’t he? Or perhaps not. Perhaps he was being controlled by those around him so badly that he failed to even realise it.

  The workers in the room seemed to stir. Alfonso turned his attention from his hand to Albert in his room. Amazingly, the boy seemed to be pummelling the wall with fiery fists.

  Albert gave great grunts and roars as he did so, evidently trying to get out.

  Alfonso was amazed. He was trying to break free.

  ‘Stupid boy,’ George growled, turning to leave. ‘He should know by now that doing that’s hopeless.’

  It was the message. Alfonso firmly believed that the message being sent by Albert weighed far more than the surface-level purpose of his actions. He was sending the message that he wanted freedom, and he would create it if it were not given to him.

  ***

  Alfonso had been given permission to watch Albert and the other Avian Subjects perform against the Erasers that day. It was probably because he was soon to pass his power to Albert, but he couldn’t really be sure.

  He stood on an enclosed balcony, overlooking the forest-like enclosure. From where he was, he could only really see the green tops of the thick trees, which only separated a handful of times to reveal the forest floor.

  He was alone up on this balcony, as not even George had deigned to join him.

  Despite having been stood there for upwards of fifteen minutes, Alfonso had yet to see any of the children. He initially dismissed this, telling himself that it was simply because the arena was too large, but after a while, it began to get a bit ridiculous.

  His prayers seemed to be answered as soon as they were made, however.

  An Eraser appeared to have been thrown into the air from the ground, as its body shot up from beneath the leaves of the trees.

  Erasers were second only to the Avian Subjects. They were similar to werewolves, but the humans had the power to choose when to turn into the lupine form. The lupine forms were ugly and disfigured, looking like an overly muscular werewolf. Erasers only lived to be about seven or eight, a fact that made Alfonso’s stomach turn cold whenever it came to his mind.

  A winged boy shot up from beneath the trees after the Eraser. Albert. He beat his black wings powerfully as he carved up through the jungle air to get to his target.

  Once he had closed the gap, Albert threw a wicked punch into the bottom of the Eraser’s elongated jaw, sending it flying up into the white ceiling.

  The boy didn’t stop there, oh no.

  He zoomed up after the Eraser again and began to punch, kick, elbow, and knee it as it cowered defencelessly against the top of the arena.

  Alfonso wondered how Albert had gotten himself so badly injured at the hands of an Eraser before. Now, it looked like Albert was almost invincible.

  A wonderboy.

  Alfonso looked on as Albert continued to pummel the Eraser until it went limp. Its body dropped to the ground below, and Alfonso heard the thud even from within his balcony walls.

  Albert hovered in the air for a few seconds, flapping his wings to keep himself steady. Then, he rotated in the air and stared directly at Alfonso.

  There was no way that Albert could see him. The balcony walls looked opaque from the inside of the enclosure; that was the only reason why Alfonso had been allowed up there. But Albert was staring straight at him.

  A sharp pain rocked Alfonso’s head and numerous visions flashed in his eyes all at once.

  Alfonso stared straight back at Albert. He still wasn’t entirely sure whether or not Albert could see him, but he stared. The pair didn’t break eye contact. Neither did so much as blink.

  ‘Good luck, Subject 01,’ Alfonso breathed as Albert finally looked away and dove back down to the floor.