"YOU JEALOUS, WHORE OF A DISGUSTING BASTARD."
"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU HAVE DONE?"
"DON'T YOU KNOW WHAT THEY WILL…."
.....
"BANG!"
As the unmistakable sound of the gunshot reached his ears, Nile stopped talking and looked down.
Seeing the gaping hole in his chest, it took a few moments for the sensation of pain to reach his brain. Eventually, he fell flat on his chest, his body hitting the white marble floor with a thud. His white garments and the floor of the research lab were painted in red, blood flowing out of the wound unceasingly, his heart threatened to stop.
Through gritted teeth, his arms reached out, trying to move his body, trying to crawl, trying to grasp something. He felt the sensations in his hands slipping away, and a mocking voice of his colleague, his close friend Erik Dos, echoed throughout the silent lab.
"Turning those creatures into biological weapons has always been the purpose of Project Titanosaur; don't pretend like you did not know it."
"And no wonder I felt so suspicious about you, how you could solve the major issues for the project one after another, issues that should have taken at least months to solve," he spat in rage. "Almost as if.... You had actually figured out the rest of the process."
Nile wanted to respond, to rebuke, to rage…to say something, but alas! It felt like the Grim Reaper was already holding the scythe on his neck, ready to sever his head at any given second.
Erik came close, with a gleeful smile, planting his feet on top of Nile's bloody body, "Which is why I convinced the higher-ups to do a proper background check on you, and guess what they found in the basement of your home?"
"Hiding such crucial information as the Head Researcher is nothing but treason of the highest caliber. Now I have both your completed research thesis, as well as complete control over project Titanosaur." Erik revealed with a crooked smile.
"I will be the one to revive the extinct species. The world will know me, not you, Nile...not you," he concurred with a smug smile.
"Don't worry, I will visit your grave from time to time, at least for old times' sake. Farewell, my brother," he sighed as the last bullet pierced through Nile's skull.
Betrayed so brutally by his closest friend, a scenario which Nile never even imagined in his wildest dreams, that his friend could go so far for petty jealousy, unbearable pain coursed through all his mind and body, inches away from the embrace of death, his entire life flashed before his eyes. He could not help but think of the moment....
The moment it all began.
That one moment as a child when he could barely crawl, almost 26 long years ago, yet he remembered the details of it so vividly even now, as if it were yesterday.
As a small child, his tiny arms reached out towards something, a flickering screen, and the noise of an old TV reached his ears. Nile's childish eyes were utterly fascinated by the gate of imagination, gazing at it as if it were the most precious thing in the world.
Unable to take his sight away from it, Nile desperately moved his arms and legs. Unable to walk, he crawled forward, and only when he reached the screen did the child let out some incomprehensible, happy mumblings, almost as if Nile had conquered the most significant obstacle that the world could offer to him.
Putting his soft hands on the old television screen, he stood up, repeatedly slapping the screen of the television with his tiny palms. But his little mind was unable to comprehend why he could not step through, step into the world inside of that gate of fantasy, and touch that mighty creature.
The creature was covered in shining white scales, its wings so large that with a single flap, they could cause hurricanes. The beast soared through the blue heavens, blocking out the sun and casting a shadow over a portion of the sky. Its golden eyes symbolized itself as the mightiest Apex creature in all of existence.
The creature that could breathe fire from its mouth, its power unmatched, uncontested by any, whether it would be on land or in the skies. That species of creature that could do whatever it wanted, whenever it wanted, representing the very concept of absolute freedom. No chains existed that could tie down that species.
The narrator's voice from the TV reached his ears; his mind didn't fully understand the words, but his adventurous heart did.
The race bestowed with the Breath of Fire...
Eyes of the Hunter…
Claws of the Tigers...
Height of the Mountains…
Maws of the Sharks….
Defense of the Turtles..
Strength of the Whales…
Sorcery of the Spirits…
Presence of the Sovereigns…
And…. the wings of Freedom…
THE DRAGONS….
A species blessed by the very world, born with everything that humans ever dreamed of, aspired to be, but could never hope to be. And from that day onward—
Nile vowed to make the dragons real.
Since that day, he only lived and breathed for that one purpose… and one purpose alone. Despite his humble beginnings and the hardships he faced as he climbed the ranks of society, he never once faltered from the true goal his child self had set.
Maybe it was a foolish notion, an impossible one even. But he didn't care.
If the Wright brothers could make a construct out of wood and steel that could fly like a bird.
If humans could achieve the absurdity of stepping onto the moon just through their intelligence.
Why could he not bring the dragons to life?
Nile aced every single exam, every test, interview, learning anything and everything, gifted with a powerful memory that was almost photographic. He was a genius of the highest caliber.
At the mere age of 22, he had achieved the highest honor in the field of genetics by developing a revolutionary method of genome sequencing, with the potential to restore complete DNA samples of extinct species that no longer roamed the earth.
By 27, as the best in his field, he was officially appointed as the Head Researcher of the most ambitious project on Earth, a project to revive the extinct species of Dinosaurs.
Recreation of the Dinosaurs was merely the first step; his real goal was always the Dragons.
Boundless regret washed over his soul, despite dedicating his entire life, for him to meet such an untimely end, before he could even take a significant step towards that impossible goal.
As if the heavens were barring him to prevent that possibility from ever manifesting into reality. Alongside his body, his dream would also be buried in the grounds.
But he couldn't accept it - this premature end, such a pathetic end - he couldn't accept it, no matter what.
So much effort….
So much struggle...
All of it was for naught….
For he had yet to fly….
The coldness of death embraced him tightly. Only a profound darkness filled his vision, and an eternal numbness enveloped his body and soul. His thoughts stopped, and only silence prevailed.
After what felt like an eternity, or maybe it was just one second, stretched into infinity.
He didn't know, but out of nowhere, he heard something— the unmistakable sound of lightning. A divine thunder, so deafening in its might that it felt like his eardrums might shatter.
'Wait a minute?' Nile questioned himself. 'What eardrums?'
And when he finally felt some semblance of sensation return to his body, he instinctively opened his eyes, yet even that felt like a struggle.
For a moment, his vision blurred. As his eyes cleared, the first thing he saw was a terrifying lightning flash, so thunderous that it almost lit up the night sky, filled with clouds.
He hurriedly tried to move his body, to do something, but he only saw impossibly tiny arms flailing in his vision. The sound of a child's crying reached his ears, and he realized the voice was his own.
Had he become a child?
Now, wait a minute...
Wait a damn minute, if he had indeed become a child?
Why was he under the open sky on a stormy night, flashing with thunder?
And something or someone was holding him up as if they wanted the child to be struck by lightning?
A shiver ran down his childlike body, cold raindrops soaking him wet, fear gripping his heart.
If that was indeed why he was in that situation, what would even be the point of that rebirth?
What sort of batshit crazy…psychopath would want an innocent child to be fried by a thunderbolt on a rainy night? His cries grew louder as his childish body struggled madly, unable to make sense of the situation, overwhelmed by terror.