New Breed

Type 6

Amelia paused on the sidewalk that led to the large blue house with white shutters. The open door made her heartbeat slow. Her feet fell slowly as she made her way to the entryway. The metallic, sickly smell hit her before the image reached her eyes.

Her mother’s fingertips touched the threshold. The hardened blood was like raised red veins. They traced from the tips back to the forearm into one mass until they reached the torn flesh.

Amelia’s stomach turned. The air was let out of her body and the world swirled around her. She gripped the frame of the door. Her vision narrowed for the room to return to focus, but it was clouded.

Beyond her mother’s severed arm there were other pieces of her parents. They were scattered throughout the room. Their blood staining the hardwood floors that Amelia’s mother had put in some of her greatest effort to maintain.

She parted her lips, but no sound came forth. Sobs were trapped within her throat. Her eyes caught the light reflected from the creatures in the shadows.

Two large dog New Breeds slinked from the alcove with their metal claws tapping the hardwood floors. Drops of blood dripped from their saber teeth.

Amelia lacked the time to react and had no feeling in her legs. The closer canine leapt over the couch and remains of Amelia’s mother. Its red eyes were locked onto Amelia. Caught in middle-air, the canine was thrown back over the couch.

Battle Cat had sprung from behind the terrified Amelia. This mammoth of a feline roared down at the blood covered monsters. The second New Breed leaped at Battle Cat, but his neck was caught by the claws and was dragged down to the floor.

Battle Cat’s paw was used to tear the gadgetry from the back of the canine’s neck. His claws leaving deep scratches at first, but sinking in the second time. The mechanical wolf from behind the couch had recomposed itself and began its attack on the tiger. Battle Cat wasted no time in destroying the evil creature by ripping open the chest plate and destroying the central power unit.

The danger was gone, but Amelia was still paralyzed in fear. She shuddered and a faint whimper snuck past her lips. Amelia’s knee could no longer support her weight.

She crumpled onto the deck and sobbed. The police lights flickered on the living room walls. But, Amelia didn’t notice the officers walk past her. Her face remained covered as the coroner arrived and Amelia’s parents were zipped into large black bags.

Amelia sat at her desk and rested her chin in her hands. Seven years ago she had lost her family. They had meant everything to her. It was that time when she learned the true cruelty of New Breed.

They were programed to behave like wild animals. But there was little information on who created them. Many speculated that they were designed by a foreign threat and used to reduce the population.

This theory could be true. New Breed Factories mass-produced hundreds of the killer creatures within months. If they were created as a foreign weapon, then they killed their own creators. Almost every other country was gone. The refugees that made it to the United States then had to gain entry into the city.

Some countries with enough resources were able to purchase the Type 1 BioPets. But by the time there were enough manufactured, New Breed had killed off many people and left the countries destroyed.

“Amelia?” The President knocked at the office door. “Why are you here so late?”

“Mr. President.”

“Are you still working? At this hour? It’s almost midnight.” He smiled and shook his head.

Amelia sighed. “I was caught up in my thoughts. Do you do that?”

“Yes.” The older man grinned. “I let my thoughts get carried away sometimes. Some days I imagine a world outside this city. My father would talk about the wide country lands. Tall grass and corn stretching on for miles.”

Amelia couldn’t hide her smile. “My grandparents would talk about it sometimes. There are still pictures of it in the school books.”

“Shawn showed my the data for the new lines.” The President nodded with a faint smile. “They will bring us into a new age. An age without fear and we can go outside this city.”

She could feel the tears build. “That would be great. Thank you.”

“No, young lady, thank you.” He turned but stayed in the doorway. “You need to get home. Sleep is the best thing for a creative mind.”

The streetlight flickered overhead. Amelia forced her hands deeper into her coat pockets. It was a soft fabric that warmed her hands through to their center. Her breath puffed out to lead her way.

A scream echoed off the tall building. Amelia moved her head and examined the area. Another scream pierced the darkness, but this time it was easier to trace. Amelia ran into the darkness looking for the distressed woman.

“Hello,” Amelia searched in the dim light. The streetlamps light fell short of many of the objects in the alley.

“Help me, help me…” BioPet Rat emerged from the shadow of the dumpster.

Amelia squinted at the rat. “A Dark Breed?” She noticed the eye color. “No, you’re a BioPet. Where is your master?”

“I’m right here,” a voice came from the street. Amelia turned to view a man standing at the edge of the building. He wore a crooked grin.

Amelia’s eyes fell to the gun aimed at her heart. “Sorry, girly. But I need you dead now. I guess… you just know too much.”

“Know too much? I didn’t see anything. I don’t know what’s going on, but you better let me go.” Amelia held her hands up in a nonthreatening position.

The rat eased its way closer to her as she pleaded. “Well,” the man started.

A loud roar came from the street. Its source was hidden from Amelia. But she recognized the sound. That was the same roar that she had heard seven years ago.

His eyes widened as he turned to the street. Without moving his eyes, his feet guided him into the alley. He took a shuddered breath and swallowed hard. Now, Amelia could see the behemoth that the creepy man had angered.

BattleCat assessed the situation. He reared up on his hind legs and scratched at the air. With a pivot, he leapt at the rat.

“No! What is that thing,” the man yelled. His panicked eyes locked onto Amelia and he raised a trembling hand. His hand shook so much that the aim could not have been accurate. However, the bullet landed in Amelia’s heart.

As the woman fell to her knees, her eyes met the tiger, which she loved. BattleCat watched Amelia as her eyes drifted to the sky.

“There,” the man sighed in relief, “power down now.” He smiled at BattleCat, thinking it would be a powerful, new BioPet for himself.

Battle Cat looked down at Amelia’s body. Words scrolled across his screen. “MASTER IS NO LONGER HERE. FACTORY RESET IN… 30, 29, 28…”Battle Cat could barely see her with the instructions typed out in a rapid session. “15, 14… NO LONGER HERE… GONE…10, 9… MASTER IS GONE…GONE…GONE…GONE! 3,2…NO!” The initial message blurred. “FACTORY RESET DISABLED.”

“Now, come here kitty.” The man approached the mechanical tiger. Battle Cat’s eyes turned to red; the man backed away eyes wide. “But your master is gone, you’re suppose to power down! Rat!”

Battle Cat faced the man and came toward his slowly with a growl. The tail that waved behind the feline widened at the top to form the two-sided axe. The rat BioPet leapt at Battle Cat’s side in an attempt to save his master. Before the rat could connect, the axe swept quickly to the left and caught the rat at the neck. It then swung into the building nearby, decapitating the smaller BioPet.

The man shot helplessly at the tiger. “No, no!”

Battle Cat landed on the murderer’s chest and roared in his face. He raised his paw with claws like steel knives. “WARNING. PROGRAMMING ERROR. CANNOT KILL HUMAN. THIS IS IDENTIFIED AS HUMAN.” “RETREIVING MEMORY…MASTER SPEAKING 001005670034…”

The recording was of Amelia looking at the newspaper. “Another homicide, with the fear of being killed by New Breed and other humans, how are we to not live in fear?” She looked at Battle Cat, “Humans don’t kill other humans, not like this, not for petty reasons. Someone who can kill another human without any emotion and for no reason is a monster, not a human.”

“END OF MEMORY… MASTER SPEAKING 001005670034… HUMAN… REAVUALATING… OBJECT IN VISION IDETIFIED AS NONHUMAN.”

The razor supporting paw came down on its victim. It was the man’s turn to leave his blood on the pavement. He bled quicker than Amelia and was dead within a moment.

Battle Cat crept over to Amelia’s body. He lifted his paw and placed the pad sensor onto her shoulder. “NO HEARTBEAT DETECTED. DEATH AT 21:34. RETREIVING MEMORY… BATTLE 004…”

Amelia’s back was to the camera; she was standing there in horror, hands to her mouth. A New Breed canine unit came from a dark area further ahead to the left. The shape of another was somewhere in front of Amelia to her right. There was a roar, and the camera showed the leap over Amelia and the destruction of the canines.

“RETREIVING MEMORY… MASTER SPEAKING 001005670124…”

Amelia was sitting at her workstation; she looked back at the feline. “It will be done soon. Don’t worry; you’re going to look awesome, but a little smaller. Sorry I got sidetracked. I started work on this! It will allow human organs to be transferred to machines, namely, the brain. But I can’t complete it, it’s starting to become too difficult to finish. I’ll take you for a walk, YOKO, can you work on this?” YOKO came over and picked up the piece.

The memory paused and Battle Cat zoomed in on the human robot adapter. “HUMAN BRAIN TRANSFERRED TO ROBOT. BATTLE CAT TYPE 2, BATTLE PANTHER IS ROBOT. AMELIA IS HUMAN, HAS HUMAN BRAIN.”

Battle Cat removed his paw from Amelia and began to lift her onto his back, using his tail to put her up with her arm.

“DEATH LOGGED AT 21:34. AVERAGE HUMAN BRAIN LIVES 6 MINUTES. EXPIRATION 21:40. CURRENT TIME 21:36. COUNTDOWN 04:25:32… 04:25:29”

Battle Cat crashed through the door. YOKO flapped his wings. “What is Battle Cat carrying? Master? Master has died? FACTORY RESET IN 30,29.”

Battle Cat extended his tail and equipped his USB nub and connected to YOKO.

“FACTORY RESET DISABLED. SWITCHING TO INTERNAL THOUGHT MODE. Master! What should Battle Cat and YOKO do to help Master?!”

Battle cat looked over at the adapter on the table.

“YOKO completed last instruction of Master.”

“SYSTEM STARTUP.. STARTING UP FOR THE FIRST TIME…system?” Amelia’s vision came online. Her view was weird; there was a strange green tint to everything. The date and time was displayed at the top right of her vision. As she turned her head, the vision adapted, each object seemed to turn slightly on its own. The angles changed without Amelia having to move her head. “What is happening?”

“SYSTEM RUNNING WITH NO ERRORS. COMMENCE EVERYDAY FUNCTIONS, Typed words running across the top of her vision. “Why am I getting programed instructions?”

Battle Cat became visible; he stared at Amelia, his tail waved softly. “Battle Cat,” Amelia spoke aloud. She was shocked by the sound of her voice. It was somewhat mechanical and seemed recorded. It was a deep voice as well. “my voice.” “VOICE OPTIONS:

VOICE 1

VOICE 2

VOICE 3”

The scroller went down to the third option. Amelia let out a horrified gasp in her own recorded voice. “No, no,” the recording spoke. She studied her right hand. In place of flesh there was the sleek shine of Titan Feather. “YOKO, BattleCat, what happened?”

“Master expired,” YOKO jumped onto his perch. “We saved Master! Master has new body now. YOKO saved the day.”

Amelia swatted the air with her clawed hand. “Quiet YOKO.” She pressed her face into her palms. Her breathing should have been erratic, but Amelia could not hear her breath. The heartbeat was missing from her eardrums.

Normal bodily functions that humans had grown accustom to were now gone. The only sign of her distress was a small icon at the bottom of Amelia’s screen. It simply blinked that there was a function error.