1 A Hell of a Fresh Start

"I need a break."

Who knew that common phrase would be so deadly? Ferret didn't think a simple sentence can lead him to be in a mortal body genetically engineered by humans. That's right, humans were able to create new life through a testing tube and complicated math.

How did he get here?

Well, he can only remember in pieces. He was an angel from Hell, who tortured the damned for a living, an Enforcer. Then... foreboding giggles. A soot skinned demon with a mischievous glint in her silver eyes.

"Sahara," he greeted his co-worker before taking a sip of his bitter coffee.

"...You wanted a break?" She pushed her white curls back, revealing tiny horns crowning her forehead.

"Yeah, do you think the King will allow it?" He didn't want to see that weird uncle, but at least one of his children are more bearable than the others. Although, she laughs too much.

She giggled. "Who knows."

"I figured." There is never a break in Hell.

"Actually, I know who might help."

"You know my wife?"

He moved closer, his non-existent heart pounding from anticipation.

She laughs at his eager face. "She created a program for demons and fallen angels to..."

Then... a doll faced demon with ram horns. Blurred figures, nervousness, and excitement. They wanted him for the program as a test subject for... for. What was it again? The only thing he remembered from that time was what Sahara told him.

"Do whatever you want, cuz."

And that's what he plans to do.

Unfortunately, he woke up in the body of a baby. Not much to do in a child's body, especially in a post-apocalyptic setting. Worse, the baby was in a strange pod filled to the brim with purple liquid. What is he supposed to do in a situation like this? He can only helplessly stare back at the scientists in lab coats, who were watching him in wonder from the other side of the glass.

"Amazing, this is the first child that survived." One of the scientists finally speaks.

Unfortunately,

Ferret's sight is not developed enough to recognize their facial features.

Then, something extraordinary happens. "Eeeer, eeer," an alarm blares out of nowhere. People in the lab, the lab rats, begins to panic. The spontaneous event was... in Ferret's view... too convenient?

"Those City Z's bastards! How did they find us?" A gruff voice shouts.

And...

"What should we do!" A feminine voice cries.

...those voices were annoying.

"You two, take the child and escape to City A! We can't let this fine specimen slip through our fingers! The squeaky voice orders the two annoying voices.

"But sir!" They scream in Union.

"Now!" The stick man picks up something from a table by the pod, probably a gun, and moves farther away from Ferret's view with other white coats following behind him.

Meanwhile, the scientists pick him up like precious cargo and wraps him in some cloth reeked of citrus and oil. They run in the opposite direction of their comrades. Sadly, for them, they are not going to live as long as they hope. From the very beginning, Ferret actually was doing something.

While living things have souls, demons and fallen angels are different. They are empty shells holding an insatiable void within themselves. No one could really figure out the void, except for three things.

First, feeding their voids with any type of souls, auras, or energy is equivalent to living beings eating food. Second, eating away someone's soul can give you that person memories. Third, learning to control their void is comparable to mythical cultivators' or RPG games. What types of benefits does controlling your void gives you? It's too broad and random, for even the narrator to explain.

And sadly, for all the scientists, the first thing Ferret did when he woke up was greedily eating their auras. He's been in the pod for hours, but he didn't dare to open his eyes until the invisible black strings from his void had eaten all their auras. When he opened his eyes, he had already eaten a piece of their souls too. By now, all the lab rats should be weak without knowing it, enough for the opposing force to kill them without lifting a finger.

Ferret didn't care who captures him, because it will be the same thing: test subject or dead. Having that in mind, he keeps all his focus on feeding until the world started to spin. Never mind, the world didn't spin. The opposing side just tackled the scientist who carried him. Ferret didn't say anything as he catapulted to somewhere in the dark room.

"Capture them alive!" A woman voice screams as heavy steps can be heard close by. The scientists keep fighting, not noticing how weak and pale they are. It only takes a minute for them to be subdued by their enemy.

"Keep them alive for questioning!" The woman, most likely their captain, orders them.

Ferret giggles, as he figures out the lady and her squad were careless enough to kill the group of lab rats from before. Everyone heard him, causing silence in the room, their eyes slowly move to the corner where Ferret helplessly rolled into during confrontation. The captain slowly moves to a corner seeing the bundled of dirty cloths resting near the wall. She cautiously picks him up, unwrapping the cloth under her headlight, to see a wet baby smiling at her.

She turns around, ready to fire questions, but...

"Captain Reed, they're dead." A soldier calls out.

"What," the captain pushes the baby into the soldier's arms before checking the scientists, who were laying on the floor. Their bodies were ice-cold and not a single pulse could be felt.

"How did they die?" She asks.

"We don't know," one of the soldiers reply, "They just drop dead like the last group."

"Strange." It made no sense. The people at the entrance were unnaturally weak. Now, two escapees carrying a baby just drop dead. It didn't add up to her.

"Ma'am, they have unnaturally pale complexion. Could the people in this base be sick?" Another soldier asks.

"Maybe," she replies but she had a feeling it had something to do with that baby. She... just didn't know how. Why is he here? Out of all the places he could be... what is his connection to

City A? And this secret base?

She inspects the baby only to see him holding a dog tag inscribed 'X–0' on the front. Was he the first, but of what? Reed's gut told her that she didn't want to know the answer, and it isn't her job to know either.

"Let's take the child away and go. I want someone to report directly to the base and call for team

Gamma and Omega."

"Yes, ma'am!"

Year: 5000

End.