The New Future

Coen can hear people outside moving around… “ it must be morning already..” He groaned and sat up, pushing his chair out from the desk. He had fallen asleep in the lab again, though no one had woken him up when they arrived. He looked up to see his machine beeping softly. They were done. Ruffling his hair, he stood up to wash his hands and put his gloves on before removing the vials from the machine. They had been maturing overnight. Inside the tubes where tiny organisms, their bodies pulsing in a grotesque way. Sliding them into a carrier he made sure to tidy himself up before heading to the 11th floor. He wanted to show his research to one of the scientists there, he had an idea for project but even as the head of the genetics lab he didn’t quite have the funding he needed to get it started. Most of his staff was non- human, so some of them didn’t trust him as he worked primarily on humanoids in general, only including humans as a second test run.
He stepped onto the elevator and felt a chill come over his body. He had spent all night at the lab, he was sure of his results, but he didn’t know what to expect. He hadn’t heard a response email from the scientists there yet, but he isn’t willing to let himself be blocked because of miscommunication.

While everything appeared calm above, chaos reigned below. Long strings of cursing and high-pitched shrieking echoed through an underground corridor. Catcalls and jeers, and occasional tears filled the rooms on either side. A man roared over the noise, "ENOUGH!" The rooms on either side of the corridor went silent, but a string of shouted obscenities still rang out in the actual corridor. Heavy booted feet clanked in the metal hall, as he approached the center of all that nonsense. He tipped his head curiously to see three of his subordinates wrestling with a ragged and sickly human girl. Her pale skin bloomed with blotchy purple bruises and brown hair flew out in all directions. If he didn't know better, he'd think she was a wild beast.

He reached out a scaly reptilian hand, brushing aside his subordinates, while he held the human's crazed eyes. She too became silent and still, as he simply picked her up with the other hand and dropped her in an empty room. Before she came out of the trance, he shut the door behind him and locked it. "Papers, please." The girl's information was handed off without a word. "Shetara Damascus, eh?" He glanced over his shoulder and returned the papers. "Tell the Boss good luck for me."

Meanwhile somewhere in the midst of the city...

Sunlight pierced through the window in a smaller building with only five floors. The light fell on a young careworn yarragogg, who groaned and pulled a pillow over his face. His head felt like it weighed 100 lbs. He groaned again, but he had to force himself to get up. He was a ranked officer now and had responsibilities.

As he struggled to lift his leaden body, the scent of hot spiced tak came to his attention. He turned his stone head toward it and rubbed his eyes. Someone left a mug of the heavy drink with the consistency of mud next to his bed. He wrinkled his small pointed nose. The taste of tak set his teeth on edge, even with the added spices he preferred, but Tamik's aching head and churning stomach was proof he probably needed it.

Turning his head the other way, he saw a blinking red light on his handheld vidscreen reader, briefs from his superior officers. Dammit! He choked down his tak and felt it burn through his body all the way to his fingers and toes. He hated the stuff, but he had yet to find something better with the same effect. More energized and beyond his physical pain, he took a deep breath and read the briefs.

Several parts of his patrol territory had riots in the night. He already knew that, and had to put down three of them personally. The memory of that brought another groan. These ghetto riots were part of the reason he felt so miserable this morning. Near the end of his shift an even bigger one broke out and he called a reptilian Enforcer unit for backup. Reptilians were shorter than yarragogg, but heavier in build, with claws and sharp teeth that none could miss on sight. "Please, Ak'ren, let today be an easy day," he prayed.