Chapter Text
It doesn't make sense to welcome the world with cold. I've dealt with it many times throughout my life, so it's an experience-based opinion. Hence when a nasty draft developed in my bedroom, I shelled out good money to have it fixed.… So why has it still been happening to me for the past week?!
Grumbling like a storm cloud, I force my eyes open and toss aside my blanket. As if to spite me, the damned chill sweeps over in that instance and I instinctively curl into myself. It was just one headache after another with this dilapidated shack of an abode. If it wasn’t a draft, it was a leaky pipe. If it wasn’t a leaky pipe, it was a bout of faulty wiring. If it wasn’t a bout of faulty wiring, it was some rabid animal gnawing on the house itself! All of which has added up to a revolving cast of repair costs.
“Guess that’s the price I have to pay for solitude…”
That insufferable squeaky floorboard added to the foul morning soon as I touched it. Something that I should have fixed, but can’t. It was an annoyance that I couldn't do anything about. The worst kind. I would know. I’ve been living with one going on, oh, only my whole life.
“Alright,” kicking a discarded something out of the way as I shambled out towards the kitchen, “where the hell did I put those damned repairmen's business cards?”
I did my best to avoid any manual labor myself; not because I think I’m incapable or too good, but because professional medical help is slim pickings. And that first aid kit I had stashed away wouldn’t do jack shit for me if I wound up snapping my spine. Still. There’s a notable drawback to relying on professionals. These bastards are price-gouging me. Living as far out as I do, many would spend more money on the gas to get back and forth than they’d make to fix anything was willing to accommodate for travel! Unfortunately for me, the ones that even heard me out were the conniving, scumbag type…
It doesn’t help that they've started sharing their “experiences” with “the hermit in the hills”, either. Scaring away any competition from their little nest egg. The sigh that escapes my lips leaves me deflated. My eyes scour what’s been my world for the past two years: this repurposed cabin with its splintering wood frame, rusted hinges, lawn permeated in forgotten lawn ornaments the original owners left behind, and the stench of stagnation. Heh. As far as falls from grace go, it’s not half-bad. Ah, to hell with it. The draft isn’t going anywhere and I don’t feel like socializing today. Changing course for the living area, my eyes scanned around for the TV remote amongst the junk. I really should clean the place up a bit. If there was one thing worse than possums in the trash, it was cockroaches and possums digging through the trash together. Finding the remote underneath an empty carton of takeout, I flop onto the relatively unscathed loveseat before flipping the power on.
“In today’s news, a recent EVO attack has left dozens without homes and a select few with grievous injuries. Many believe that the fallout would’ve been much worse without the swift response of Providence-”
“Oh, of course, this is the first thing I see,” I snorted.
EVOs. Exponentially Var-something Organisms. They’ve been plaguing the world going on five years now with no end in sight to their terror. It’s a true horror show made real; that at any moment you or someone you love can turn into a skyscraper tall monster, hellbent on destruction. Or an amalgamation of flesh that wants to consume everything. Or some other form of eldritch abomination that would make Lovecraft either shit his pants or take notes. And all thanks to some asshole scientists that triggered what the world knows as “The Nanite Event”. Nobody truly knows what was going on behind the scenes that led to it, but one day, these academics triggered an explosion of epic proportions. It scattered these little machines called “nanites” all over the world and infused them into every living organism on Earth. Plants, animals, people, nothing was spared. And whenever these machines decide to activate inside any of the aforementioned…
The grotesque visage of some tiger EVO filled the screen as the replay continued on. It must’ve come from some zoo or animal sanctuary, maybe even a traveling circus. A sonic roar destroys several windows in the city it rampaged in before Providence agents enter the scene, blasting with their patented EVO blasters.
“Hmph. Providence.” My thoughts on the organization were… mixed.
Providence originally served as the world’s Hail Mary against the EVO epidemic. Guess people could only take living in fear for so long before the world decided enough was enough. Funded with the collective support of the world’s governments, the military operation has been at work these long, five years. Was it good work? Depended on who you asked, I guess. As well as when you asked it.
“And here comes the golden boy,” Providence’s secret weapon came crashing into the picture… literally. Rex Salazar, sporting his patented “Smack Hands” as he calls them, knocked the rampaging EVO somewhere off-screen before the camera zoomed onto him. His existence was as much of an enigma as his abilities. Obviously, he was also an EVO but one that had kept his humanity. Now, that wasn’t what made the teenager so special; it wasn’t as uncommon as people think, animals could even gain human intelligence after turning EVO. No, what made the kid so special was what I saw unfolding on the television. Tiger subdued and tired, Rex deactivated his weapons and went in for the kill. One touch to the shoulder and lines of blue circuitry appeared over the captured creature’s body: it lost the grotesque features the nanites had given it, the split tail reformed into one, the massive claws returned to normal size, and the feline returned to normal. And the crowd that had formed cheered. They cheered for the only sign of light at the end of the tunnel. Their only hope.
That’s what made Rex so special. He could cure EVOs. After five years of terror, people didn’t have to live in fear of becoming something that had to be put down. Or dissected. Of losing themselves and hurting those they loved. Of ending up alone because people feared you, no matter what you said but because of how you looked and putting your life on the line because they couldn’t understand you were just as scared as them and-
FZZZHT!
… Ah. It seems my TV has given up the ghost. Leaving me to stare at nothing but my reflection. Suppose as far as EVOs go, I could do a helluva lot worse.
I didn’t look dangerous… so long as you can see past the velociraptor claws. And blades on my forearms. Blue fur covered most of my body and much of the rest was black, mainly the markings of my muzzle and chest. My tail was long and prehensible to an extent, but the tip still stubbornly refused to regrow fur. Why the hell not was beyond me. My two front paws served as hands, despite being three-digited with no thumbs. Yes, this made grabbing things a bit of a problem at the most inopportune times. Then there were these… things on the side of my head below my ears. I don’t know what they are or what their purpose is, but fuck, they could get annoying! Like having two sandbags dangling from your skull.
Sigh. Well, the TV going out leaves me with no choice but to call those repairmen. I can mitigate a draft with blankets, but no TV meant no access to the rest of the world. I’m all for isolation but not that much. Luckily, the cards had been hiding away on the couch itself, so I just grabbed the closest one before heading for my phone. An outdated piece of technology. Yet… the memories associated with it made me stubbornly hold on to it, anyway. Dialing the number as fast as I could, I hit the speakerphone button and waited for that familiar nasally voice.
“I was wondering when you’d call,” Right on cue. “Always a joy to hear from my number one customer~.”
“Yeah, yeah, whatever. I got two problems and one of them should’ve already been taken care of,” a pointed tone to show my displeasure. Not that it matters.
“Oh, forgive me. I’ll fully admit that the draft fix was a rush job.”
“Rush job? What the hell could you be rushing for? Do you even take calls from anyone but me?” Now I was getting pissed off. They do their damnedest to bleed me dry and can’t bother to do a half-decent job?!
“Not recently, no, I’ll give you that. Guess I’ll have to start, though.” Huh?
“And why is that?”
“Well. I’m not in the business of taking business from EVOs.” The word is spat out with enough venom to kill ten men. I almost freeze up, but keep the conversation going.
“What the hell are you talking about? I’ll admit I ain’t the prettiest guy around, but that’s harsh, isn’t it?” Deflect. Deflect. Deflect.
“Save it. I know what I saw,” a pause, “you had me fooled for a minute there. The money blinded me to all your little ‘eccentricities’. But not anymore.”
Fuck me. “... Okay, look. How much do I have to pay for you to keep your mouth shut?”
“You’re used to throwing money at problems to make them go away, aren’t you?”
“Just name your price!”
“Hah! Even if I wanted your money, it’s too late. I have already notified Providence~.”
‘Damn you, you rat bastard! Why throw this away?! Do you really hate EVOs that much?!”
“You should thank me! That freak they have on a leash could cure you! And if not,” a sadistic chuckle, “least you can get put out of your misery~.”
Nothing else needed to be said. I hung up on the miserable waste of skin and immediately started thinking up a game plan. When did I slip up? I was so cautious; covered head to toe in clothing or blankets whenever anyone came, kept a firm distance, there should’ve been no way-! Oh, what was the point in bitching now? Best to conserve my energy. That contempt in his voice - there’s a strong possibility that he marked me as “dangerous” and “hostile” to have Providence come in guns a-blazing. If I show even the slightest hint of aggression, they’ll be all too happy to riddle me full of holes.
The tinks of my claws against the laminated flooring faded as I returned to the carpeted living area. I could always run. I’ve procured a couple of safe havens like this one over the years, so it’s a possibility. Yet, I can’t deny - that same possibility fills my stomach with a vile sensation. Because what would I be running to? The rest of my life spent hiding from the world? Never knowing connection with another human being again? Even if I didn’t look human, I still felt human. Thus, loneliness was an emotion I’d dealt with for a long time.
“‘Could cure you’,” I muttered, “can I even hope for-!!!”
My ears stood at attention. It was faint, almost too much so, but I heard it. Air turbines. Can’t quite pinpoint how far they are, though. Yet… that’s the only thing I can hear. No armored vehicles crashing through the brush, soldiers clomping over the lawn ornaments, nothing to signify an invading presence. Suppose one EVO living in the middle of nowhere, dangerous or otherwise, wasn’t a top-tier threat in their eyes. Small blessings and whatnot. I move to the nearest window to try and catch a glimpse of what was coming - fucking clouds were out in force and made it hard to see anything. Wouldn’t even need to activate their cloaking shields how white their ships are. “Wait,” a flash of something caught my eye. A flash of metal and… orange? The grass billowed underneath twin turbines as none other than Rex Salazar himself descended onto my lawn.
“Six, I’m at the location we got that tip about. But for an EVO hideout, I have to say, this place is a solid 3/10.”
“....Interesting turn of events.”