A little monster with a passion for flight and rebellion...
The day started off like many others had, minus the location of course. I woke up to the familiar sounds of fighting, the screeching of both excitement and anger, and quickly rolled out of the corner of the alley I’d spent the night in. Normally, I’d spend my time in my “base” under the game shop, plotting the downfall of the technology company that was trying to control us all, and doing rather well honestly, and I didn’t really have any plans to do otherwise this time. I began to walk back to the base, hood up though I knew that with the work Wire had done, the databases wouldn’t be able to recognize my face. I may have pilfered a bit of cash- just bits of it, mind you, never more than a dollar a person- but that wasn’t really of any consequence, a person’s gotta eat. So really, nothing out of the ordinary, and I was prepared for another day as usual.
Except, fate decided today was a good day to prove me wrong.
I’ve seen a lot of strange things in my life, you know? Being on the wrong side of the law can do that to a person, even if they’re on the right side, morally. It goes even more so when you sorta, you know, serve as a spy sometimes. Cause if there’s one thing I’m good at, it’s getting around, and gathering information.
I raise birds to help me with it. No one bothers to try to scare off the crow or raven that lands on their windowsill- not many people know they can speak. People tend to underestimate them. They don’t realize how loyal and brilliant they are. Needless to say, I had a lot of time around my birds, and they knew to come to me with their “problems.” So when I saw one flying towards me, eyeing the areas around to make sure she wouldn’t be seen, I didn’t think anything out of the ordinary of it. But as she gently dropped her “package” into my hands, I got the surprise of my life- it wasn’t a message from base, or even just a shiny she’d picked up.
It was an egg.
And not one of any species I had ever seen before.
I didn’t know what to think of it at first, until I saw the number stamped on the shell- #0000.
My heart nearly froze in my chest as I felt a rage fly over me.
It seemed out favortie corporation had gotten into genetic engineering. On my birds.
I didn’t bother trying to be inconspicuous after that, I just ran back to the Haunt as fast as I could. It wasn’t like the Base, this was my place, an abandoned old building which my murder of crows and ravens stayed. But it also had one crucial thing in it, which undoubtedly saved the not so little egg- my incubator.
It wasn’t often I had to use it with how family oriented my birds were, but every once in a while, maybe during a winter laying, there was simple not enough warmth for the little things, and that’s why my incubator was constantly prepped. Making a simple, soft nest for the little one was easy with the things I had on hand, and judging from the way the egg looked when I shined a light against it, I knew it wouldn’t be long until the kid hatched- two days at most, it’d definitely been there for a long time already, longer than most birds ever stayed in the egg. I quickly whistled down for one of my fastest birds, a tiny little thing I liked to call Swift, and she dove down without hesitation. I figured out a quick note for her to take to Wire back at Base, and hoped he’d have the idea to send back my phone I’d forgotten. The message was a simple one, but I knew he’d understand.
“The baby been changed, she’s now settled in but I’ll have to wait until the parents are home. Please check their location for me, we have some talking to do.”
I knew Swift probably wouldn’t bother with all the words, but all Wire would have to hear was “Baby” and “Location,” and he’d know.
It was about two hours later when Swift came back- at first I was worried about how long it took her, but when I saw why, I understood. The poor girl was not only carrying my cell phone, but the back for the “Crawler,” a little car-like thing that was perfect for spying and signal disruption where my birds couldn’t reach. I pet Swift gently and rewarded her for a job well done, then brought her back to her nest to rest as I pondered over the coordinated Wire has sent me.
It wasn’t a place that specialized in genetic mods, in fact, I had no doubt that it was, more than anything, w one time experiment that some fool had left the window of the room open to. Perhaps if their little game had succeeded they would’ve started pushing for the reversal of the NO-GMA laws...
but still...
as I glanced at the little egg, covered in a few cracks where the little one was valiantly trying to escape, I knew I couldn’t let them get away with what they’d done, couldn’t let them have the chance to try something like this again.
With that thought, I felt a cold determination to wipe out the databanks of that facility settle into my soul. But for now... the little one would need my attention. I turned to watch the incubator, and settled onto the cot I kept in the Haunt, for times just like this. As I did, I felt the eldest female of my birds- an albino affectionately called Mama by both myself and the other birds- settle into my shoulder, also gazing into the incubator. Although long past laying age herself, having already lost her mate, she still never hesitated to take in orphaned eggs, and I knew this one wouldn’t be any different. With that comforting thought in my head, I settled back and somehow fell into a light sleep.
I don’t know quite how long I was asleep for, but I woke to Mama’s gentle calls of “Baby, baby, baby!” Knowing what she was talking about, I immediately scrambled from my bed and made my way over to the incubator, watching the darkly colored egg quiver and shake until
*pop*
The little bugger managed to put its entire head through the shell! I could barely hold still from excitement as the baby fought its way out of the confines of its egg. It was... well, way more developed than any newborn bird had a right to be! The size of the egg suggested some sort of eagle, for it was way too big for anything else, and it’s level of post-hatch development definitely supported that... but it definitely wasn’t just an eagle, I knew that. It had the beginnings of a proud crest on its hed, and the featherless patches of color-changing skin on its cheeks definitely meant it had some palm-cockatoo. It’s patterning, though, reminded me of a strangely colored palm cockatoo, whereas the tail-feathers distinctly resembled those of a peacock. Yet, the color of the little one was more similar to that of the most irridescent of Grackles. As I looked at the little one, I couldn’t help but think it looked quite like they were trying to make a Phoenix of some sort.
Gently, I removed the little one from her incubator nest and brought her to Mama’s, which laid right above and beside my own cot. With a gentle nudge on her beak, I prepared to go back to sleep and dream of revenge on those who dared to mess with Nature’s order. As Mama settled down beside her, gently cooing “little one, little one,” I couldn’t help but smile.
“Welcome to the world, little one.”
