• Chapter 1: Lazarus
    Sunlight dimly filters through the murky smog that envelopes Purgatory, a place for the stragglers, the wanderers, and the completely lost. The light breaks its possessive hold from one greedy cloud, shimmering in an amber glow across the polluted lake, and is constrained once again by the dense shroud that hangs close to the land. The effect continues to occur, sometimes as frequently as a light switch, and during the droughts of light it can prolong to be weeks without the sight of a fading shimmer.
      Miasma, pollution, poison – it is the air that these fallen angels and refuted devils breathe. When one has left the Domain, this thickly tainted air can cripple. It steals an organ, a sensory gland, or a bone. In other instances, it shatters memories. Then there comes the very rare occurrence that the miasma invokes. It bestows.
      A lone figure pads barefoot along the rusty dock. It does not reach far out in to the water source, which is slowly being drained by the parasitic inhabitants nearby. The air does not draw close to the small lake, but is smeared high above like a ring of grime coating a bathtub. Slowing his pace, the figure reaches the end of the barge-like structure, and peers across the lake. He seats himself on a rusted plank, detailed with decrepit nails slanting in every direction. Glancing down, the young man can see a surprisingly clear reflection of himself in the stagnant body of water.
      Lean, not muscular, but a bit skinny and pale. His face is unblemished, and slightly concealed above both eyes by frayed and chopped black bangs. The features on his face could be considered quite handsome, but the expression rarely changes. He lethargically kicks his legs above the water in small swinging movements, vigilant enough not to disrupt the placid liquid surface. He emits a sigh, tinged with boredom and apathy.
      A ray of light pierces through the amber waters, giving the young man’s normally hazel eyes a green accent. Tugging on a piece of dank hair before letting his arms fall to his sides, he crosses his ankles and allows his shoulders to fit back to their usual slope. This wasn’t the first day he’d been to the dock, but he had a suspicion it may be one of his last. He possessed abnormal intuition that never ruffled him – even if it were to nag that he might be castrated or flayed. But those options were rather medieval for the time he was in.
      Tossing a rusted nail in to the shrinking light patch, the figure watched as the piece of eaten metal was viscously engulfed and then disintegrated. He had been warned about the center of the lake; it was impure. Pollutants that ran from the Domain’s turrets or was dumped by the sanitation division’s massive androids ended up in some part of Purgatory. As for the amber acid – which was called sucinum by the tribe that greatly relied on it – it was visibly toxic. Smirking a bit at the connection the word shared with sucus, which meant juice, the young man imagined a parched human foolishly drinking from the amber pool.
      His thoughts were interrupted as another figure tapped his shoulder. He turned slowly, already knowing who would be standing near him, and stared with his eyes hung at half-mast. He was correct, though it wasn’t that much of a challenge.
      A tall female with short peach colored hair pressed her lips to form a line, a habit she had when about to communicate to her friend. Bringing her lightly tanned fingers together, she pointed to the sitting figure. Then, just as she was about to gracefully begin her own form of sign language, her company interrupted.
    “Ezekiel wants me to come back now.” He stated with an almost monotonous voice – he had expected that she would wander over to fetch him for this reason.
      Slowly breaking in to a warm smile, the young woman nodded knowingly. He could truly understand her and that was why she usually accompanied him on his seemingly strange outings, save more than a few times his vibes expressed he wanted to be alone. The peachy haired girl did not mind, however. He was her only friend – besides her brother, if that counted.
      Rising from his slouched position, the young man pressed his hand to the small of his back and applied pressure to the overly stiffened spine. Tensing his muscles around the vertebrae, a muffled crack was heard and the pair of figures began their walk back to the main lands. The female remained deadly silent and fixed her gaze on the deep maroon and brown shelters her vision could make out on the hill.
      The walk wasn’t very long, roughly around twenty minutes – the main lands weren’t too far off from the acid centered lake. Rubbing the back of his neck, the man approached a small mechanic hideaway on the western edge of the camp and looked back over to the woman. She gestured her hand in the “so-so” fashion, referring to her brother’s mood.
      He nodded and lethargically moved the heavy clothing away from the sheltered tent’s entrance, the other following him quickly from behind.
      “Oh, so now you show your face? About time, Laz.” A white-haired head popped out from under a large mechanical device he seemed to be tuning, some oil spattering on the side of his darkly colored face.
      The tall, young man gave a small shrug and only stared back, his eyelids remaining in their tiredly half-lidded manner. To this response, the white-haired man pushed himself out from under the large, bronze structure and glared.
      “How long have you been out there? Three days? Five? A week?!” He grabbed a rag and began scraping at the oil, “I’m supposed to make sure you’re recovering.”
      “I did recover. About a year ago to be exact.” The dark-haired male answered as he looked up at the impressively constructed sky light, lackadaisically slouching again.
      “Oh, that’s right. Yeah. Well, don’t come crying to me when you fall in that damn lake and your bones are nothing but chalk.” Snapping back, he dropped the oily rag and felt his persistence fade.
      “I wouldn’t be able to cry if that were to happen. And Maggie could have the chalk.”
      “… Lazarus.”
      “Ezekiel.”
      The white-haired man walked over to the lanky figure, his glare losing its effect as he had to glare up at least six inches. He opened his mouth, about to spit a nice insult, but then closed it and sighed.
      “You exasperate me.”
      “That’s fantastic.”
      “No, it’s not. Now, shut up and help me with this engine’s manual.”
      The girl who had been standing on the side lines, Magdalene, kept her hand over her mouth as she silently laughed at her friend and brother’s one-sided bickering.
    Chapter 2: Tek
    My name is Tek and once I had a dream of blue skies and angelically white winged creatures, small and covered head to tail with feathers, soaring through equally white clouds above emerald green and almond brown landscapes specked with beautiful colors of all sorts. In this place of fantasy's and wonder, there were no buildings, no people, just tall trees that towered like skyscrapers and small furry brown creatures that lived in them. I could almost feel the grass beneath my bare feet and smell the pine on the trees, I reached up one of my thin hands so that my pale skin blended into the white clouds, and my hair blended into the blue, blue sky, I smiled, me and the sky matched in this dream of mine, while in reality the sky was brown and only my hair was that sweet, light blue. There, in that dreamland I was happy, but in a single moment that was shattered, when I felt the needle bury itself deep in my arm, my mind melted to black before, with a flutter of my black lashes, I opened my lavender colored eyes.
    “The stimulants should take effect within 5 minuets, that is, if all goes well. But, his heart might not be able to take this high of dose, so there is a high possibility that he could die from heart failure.” I couldn't focus enough to see who was talking, I assumed that it was probably one of the four scientists that was constantly pumping things into my small 17 year old human body, that was nothing new.
    “It doesn't matter, he was meant to die the last day Urahata visited anyway, now he's just a useless guinea pig , he's just an interesting study now is all.” came another unknown voice. “Pump as much in him as you want.”
    “P-please...” I had hardly any strength to speak. “I...Want to... Live...” My entire body was numb, I didn't even feel the burns, the cuts, bruises on my body, nor the tears running down my cheeks.
    “in 1 more minuet they should activate” The man who spoke first chuckled at my pleas for life as they all often did at those kind of moments.
    “A-Ah!” Sensation returned abruptly to my body, followed by a burst of inhuman energy, warmth and pain ran through my body sharply, I felt my heart speeding up and skipping beats. I screamed agonizingly and listened as my heart monitor beeped ferociously, my mind spun in a frantic manner. I tried to move my arms but they were bound to the table, I tried to kick at the twisted figures in my line of vision, but my legs were just as refrained as my hands. I swore I was trapped, I was going to finally die, after 17 years of torment I went limp...
    I felt them loosening my restraints, I was alive by some miracle that deep down I cursed. I heard the scientist whispering amongst themselves, hate burned in my gut. “The damn little brat finally went under...” They thought I was dead, I realized I wasn't hooked up to any of my regular machines, not even my heart monitors. my heart must have stopped for quiet a bit, I figured, if they were claiming me fully dead. “No one could live an hour with their heart out, even this freak of nature.” I was hoisted up off the bed and thrown to the ground, and without another thought, they stepped on my hand to get some object to disintegrate my body. “Urahata's going to laugh about this one.”And that's when I snapped, and memories flooded my now frenzied mind...
    * * *
    “He is awake, Dr. Urahata” The voice was a female one, a woman that worked as a sort of “nurse”, her name was Lee.
    “Dr. Urahata is here?” My voice cracked dryly, I was strapped tightly to a medical bed, my sky-like blue hair fanned out damply over my young, six year old face from pained sweat and tears, I tried to smile, but my bottom lip cracked painfully and bleed when I did, I had had no water or liquid of any kind for two days.
    “Yes, you rodent, now shut your trap so that the doctor may take his blood samples from you.” Was Lee's cold reply. Though the reply was bitter and still my lip bleed, the answer to my question made me smile more. Dr. Urahata, though odd, was the nicest doctor who ever visited me, he was the only one of them who ever complemented my frightful hair and eyes, and though he only did it once, and never spoke directly to me again, I enjoyed his company.
    “Please silence him, nurse, that dehydrated and rough voice of his is rather distressing, can you not at least take proper can of him when he has people coming to test him? I can barely even get the blood I need he is at such a lack of water.” Dr. Urahata spoke softly but with a bitter hint on each word. “What is this foolish experiment for anyway? To see how long someone can survive with out liquid? If you are trying to figure that out, it's three days, maybe more if they do absolutely nothing and are very, very lucky, but I know not anyone who has ever survived four days without any liquid.” I could not see either of their expressions through the full body protective suits and masks they wore, but I was sure that Dr. Urahata's face was fixed in a glare.
    “No sir, i-it's so that his systems will be clean of all food and liquid for his next experiment, he can't have anything to interfere with the experiment.” was the woman's startled reply.
    “D-Dr. Urahata I-I'm happy to see you again” I needfully broke through the conversation, craving just an ounce of simple non-scientific attention, but my outburst was rewarded but a slap on the cheek by the man I found nearest to a father, and the demand to put me to sleep, but that was normal, even for Urahata, though it made me sad, it was something I had come to fully except, I'm not sure why this is the one I remember the most vividly at this time in my life.
    * * *
    “Like the sky once was, like freedom, like a way to slip away from this cage called society...”
    * * *
    The artificial wind felt good against my 16 year old face, this was the first, I was ever let out of the underground laboratory that I had lived in for years. I couldn't stop smiling up at the artificially blue sky and white clouds, even with the android guards that fallowed behind me and Urahata watching my every move, I felt free. Little did I know that that was the day I would witness someone reach true freedom... And the day I would first lose my mind... I remember seeing a commotion at the city gates, I wasn't sure what was going on, but I heard what they were saying, that someone was escaping, that he was leaving the “dome” is what they said. I saw as the guards briefly opened the city gates to chase after the man, the sky outside was the first thing I noticed, it was brown and I couldn't see very far past the smog, and the second thing I noticed was the bitter smell that burned my nose. I was shocked, and amazed, there was more out there then just this city, it was an entirely different world, dark and covered with smog, but it was free, I could tell just by the feeling I got when those cage doors opened for that brief second, out there, I could be free, just like that man. Just as the thought of freedom began to swell into a dream and a possible future, I felt one of my guards grab my shoulder with a cold hand.
    “time to go, rodent.” came the deep voice of the android as he began to drag my away, this upset me greatly.
    “No, please, let me stay just a little longer, please!” I plead with him, eyes still glued to the gates, although they were now closed. “T-this is my first time out, please, let me stay longer!”
    “Please, Mr. Tek, calm yourself, such acts as begging are very unbecoming of a 16-year-old boy.” It was the child Urahata had brought, apparently his son, who spoke to me, he was a very polite boy, though I had only met him this once. “I'm sure if you ask Papa politely he shall allow you to stay.” The boy turned to his father, I thought he might be smiling, but, like I told you earlier, everyone wore protective suits when around me, the kid was no different.
    “Fine.” Urahata replied after a moment of thought. “We shall stay for an hour more.” Some of the androids seemed to find this a bad idea, but said nothing in protest, which was the real “bad idea”.
    “Thank you! Thank you so much!” I remember grinning happily and wishing to hug both Dr. Urahata and his son, but I restrained myself, though it gave me great sorrow.
    We stayed around unpopulated areas of town and only went to old, rather empty shops, I bought a small doll from one, it was a creature called a “cat”, it was an antique, the man had told me, something found from long ago. Finally my time outdoors was about to end, and I didn't want to leave.
    “It's time to leave now, Tek.” Urahata finally announced after far more then an hour, it seemed like he had had fun as well. “It is getting dark, we need to get you back so that you can get to bed, plus it's past Rem's bed time, I must leave.”
    “Oh...” I had pouted, not wanting to go back to that terrible place, then I made the terrible mistake of hugging Urahata and asking: “can I live with you?” I could tell Urahata flinched, then he smacked me hard in the face.
    “Don't you ever ask anything so disgusting again you rodent, you're not my son, I only treat you so kindly because I want to know how something like you continues to live, don't you get the wrong idea that I care about you, you are a monstrosity!” Came Urahata's angry reply. “Get him away from me, this will be my last visit, tell the others he is all theirs.” He had told the guards as he turned away from me, taking his real son's, Rem's, hand.
    “I am sorry Mr. Tek” I heard Rem say before the guards descended on me, I was at first to shocked to struggle, then something in me broke loosed, a long pent up anger swelled inside me, coupled with a core deep loneliness and sorrow.
    “G-Get the Hell AWAY from me” Was the last thing I remember saying, I only can recall a dizzy struggle, I remember the death or rather destruction or two of my guards, I felt strong, and I felt free, then I heard Urahata son yelling to me, through my madness.
    “Tek you are the sky, a sky that is free, a sky that is blue, a sky that cries and gets angry, the sky that I remember! Don't be ugly like the people who destroyed you!” For some reason I began to dream of the sky again, beautiful and blue, and I saw myself fly with those winged animals, and finally I felt my self calming. As soon as mt sanity was regained I felt massive splotches of pain in my arm's and legs, they had shot me in there to immobilize me, I screamed in pain and toppled to the ground sobbing. The remaining 2 guards tranquilized me, gathered up my little doll and the remains of their partners and dragged us home. I woke up hours later with no memory of that afternoon, I only remember 6 months later, and I didn't snap again for an entire year, until the day they claimed me dead, today, The birth of my freedom
    * * *
    Finally the memories slowed, I was 17 now, not six, not 16, this was the day the stimulants almost killed me. Finally I had control over myself again, I looked down and noticed that my bare body was covered with blood, I had killed both of the doctors where they stood and I had destroyed two of my “nurses”, I screamed in fear, and backed away from the bloody mess, quickly I grabbed my white medical blanket, my little cat doll and my computerized journal. I noticed I could leave, there were no guards around, they had been sent to other sectors to guard still living patients, there was a straight run out of here, and just a little detour to make it to complete freedom. So I ran, and ran, and ran. I had learned over the past year that there was a exit for the dumping of trash and other waste deep inside the underground laboratory, and I had figured out were it was, it was near a secluded room no one ever entered, the door was rusty and labeled “De-Angel”. I had slipped away and came here several times before, but was never able to leave, they always found me before I made it out, but there was no one left to find me this time, they were all gone, or dead. Now I am writing this for anyone who cares to read it, I am hiding near the rusted door, I'm about to leave this damned place, and maybe this will help someone else like me, if there is anybody, or maybe this will just be destroyed, but either way, I am writing this now so that someone may read it.
    Goodbye,
    Tek.
    ~ * ~ * ~ * ~
    Tek shut the laptop with a nervous sigh and slipped in under the rusted door, hoping it would be found by someone in need of it, he thought he heard a soft chuckle from beyond the door, but he ignored his suspicion. He warped his blanket tightly around himself and his doll, and looked towards his gate way to freedom, he couldn't help but smile shakily. “I'm going to live...” He opened the door, an alarm buzzed loudly, he clung to his doll and jumped, he was free.

    Chapter 3: Koe
    Log 1: This is the first day of my experiment, my name is Koe Urahata, I am 20 years old, this very project should take until I am about 30, that is, if all goes accordantly. I am re-building my baby boy that was killed, his name is Rem, the government of the “dome” has killed him, why you ask? Because he was born through sexual interaction, rather then the perfect test tube births. He was only 1 month old, me and my wife were so proud of him, he was beautiful, and though my wife was slaughtered as well, I shall only re-build my son who was yet to make memories, I shall make him ten years old when I finish him, the age he would have been were he alive at the end of the experiment. I shall create artificial memories of childhood for him, and give him artificial emotions that are fully capable of developing like a normal humans, he shall be perfect.
    Log 2:This is the second day of my fully illegal experiment, it may take longer then I thought, I have been given another assignment, I am to study a boy named “Tek”, a genetic mess up. The child is 5 years old, with blue hair, white skin, and lavender eyes, he reminds me of freedom, and of the sky from long ago, a sky that cried when it was cold, a sky that raged when it was angry, and a sky that smiled with all colors when it had finished it's tears and rage. The child is interesting, but he is certainly not my top priority, Rem is. I also need to continue my research on the ancient android I have been assigned to study, De-Angel, I am becoming a very busy man these days...
    * * *
    Log 1245: I have been working on my son for over 3 years, I have his physical form nearly finished, I used a mixture of human and android body parts, so that he may bleed, breath,cry, and eat just like a normal human, not mentioning more disturbing functions that I included in him, this alone has taken me so long. My next task is to develop his mind so that he can think on his own and feel emotion as a human does, this will take much longer I fear. I have also taken more of an interest in the “Tek” project, it seems he is more unstable then we may have thought, he is almost 8 years old, and is getting surprisingly emotional, he pleads to go outside, and to see me. He has been calling me papa recently, I must put an end to this, I shall punish him for these disgusting things more harshly from now on, my son is Rem.
    Log 1246: I went to visit my first project, De-Angle this evening, I hadn't gone to him for 4 years, not since my son's death, and the other scientists were getting onto me for it, since I was the one assigned to this ancient android. This thing seemed to have developed the crazy fantasy that he was God in my absence. He rambled crazily of the lies of religion, and I believe I finally realize what he was made to do, but I still have my doubts, so I shall wait to add it into my files. I also, this evening, gave my son a suitable voice, it is cute, and slightly feminine, but I believe it is quiet suitable for his body, it took almost the entire night to just download the proper settings for him, since it is not an average voice for androids, and even then, he also in not an average android.
    * * *
    Log 3814: It has been a little over 10 years now, and I have finally finished my little Rem! Today he woke up for the first time! He smiled at me and called me Papa with a perfectly human sounding voice, and hugged me, he was warm like a human, and soft like one, I was proud of both myself and my perfect little boy. I tested him a lot today to make sure everything worked properly, and what I tested, did, in fact, work. I must admit there were three things I neglected to test, such as if his more “sensitive” areas could feel correctly, if he can, well, ejaculate, and if he could cry, but I am sure he can figure those three things out on his own, I was not going to harass my own son, nor make him cry, even if it meant making sure he worked properly. I was so happy to see my little boy walking and talking, I had missed him so much, I had never felt so joyful as I did the day he was first born, and the second he opened his eyes today. The memories I implanted in his mind seemed so wonderful when he spoke of them so happily, believing each moment had actually happened, he was my sweet little flesh and blood angel. My little Remy is absolutely beautiful, with his cute little smile and his pure, hateless heart, I will never let anything bad befall him again, to this I swear!
    Log 3815: This is the second day that my son has been activated, and he is as sweet as can be. I have found that I love to run my hands through his caramel brown hair, to mess it up, he usually complains about it and whines lightly in protest, he is a little bit of a cry baby, but that's just how I wanted him to be. I've found that his favorite things to eat are strawberries, though expensive, I can afford them for him. Rem is so sweet, he always says please and thank you, and always listens to what I say, and though he's only been alive for a day it seems like he has always been alive and growing up with me as his beloved father, I feel so complete with my little boy, I finally have something to live for! He likes to give me hugs, and hold my hand, and he never wants to be away from me, maybe it's because he's just awoken, but he is like a kitten, always with it's mother, or in this cause, father, he is more clinging then I had expected, but I enjoy it none the less. This morning to awaken my son, I ruffled his hair and kissed his little cheek, telling him that is was time he opened his eyes and say the new day, in reply he kissed my cheek and called me silly papa and told me he loved me, I was so happy that his re-birth had not been a dream. At this very second his is asleep, his bed time is nine, and it is midnight that I am writing this, he is cuddled up next to me, hugging my arm, I am so happy he is here.
    * * *
    Log 3906: It has been three months since I gave life back to my son, as I look back now, these logs became more like a womans diary then a scientific log, I am ashamed, some of these entries sound like the dribble of a mad man. Though I am still thrilled at my child's new life, I am not quiet as engulfed in only him, I have returned to my other jobs as of today, I had to go visit the boy known as Tek, since today was his 16th birthday, and tomorrow I am scheduled to see De-Angel. The boy, Tek, has been suffering terribly since my absent, they have been testing very dangerous new experiments on him, such as exposing him to intense amounts of pollutants and toxins, no one is quiet sure how he has survived the conditions three other patients died from in the first tests. Tek seemed very happy to see me, and seemed even more thrilled when I invited him outside of the laboratory in a week, he said he wanted to meet my son I had told him about earlier today, and I agreed, my son would surly find his appearance thrilling I told him, and Rem agreed as well after I told him.
    Log 3907: I was forced into visiting the deranged android De-Angel today, he didn't speak much this afternoon, though it seems his god complex has sky rocketed into complete and utter delusional fantasy and insanity, all he did was laugh and scream and said only one thing to me, that I was “inadequate to be near 'God'”, if he weren't so damned dangerous, I would send someone in to deactivate him. I was very glad to return home this evening, and to be greeted happily by Rem, who always had dinner waiting. Sometimes he seemed more like a wife or maid, then a son, and I could not help but feel bad from time to time, however, he claimed to enjoy it. Damn, I beginning to ramble about him again, I truly need to stop doing that. Anyways, in 6 days I am to escort a mentally unstable test subject to the surface with my son, I need to stop worrying about De-Angel and my unhealthy obsession with my child, and start worrying about that, it could get dangerous.
    * * *
    Log 3913: Today went horribly wrong, I had taken my son and the test subject, Tek out into town, when he lost his mind, Tek attacked his guards like a deranged animal. He dismantled two of the guards in seconds, it was both frightful and amazing, it seemed like nothing could stop his rampage, the still active guards couldn't even slightly subdue the boy. Strangely enough, it was my son who finally calmed him by claiming that he was like the sky, something similar to what I had told him the day I first met the thing. We retreated home promptly after that, never to return to that hopeless doll of a person.
    Log 3914: It seems my child has become just as infatuated with me as I am with him, he has began begging to sleep with me, pleading for me to kiss him, and clinging to me since the incident last night. I consider that the emotional break down of the other boy might have effected him, so now I am awaiting to see what is to become of my son. I am happy to be off work for a little bit, and obviously Rem is happy as well, I see by the odd way he is behaving.
    ((Chapter two To be continued[is irrelevant to the next part))
    Chapter 4
    He had not yet awoken. The fall between the Domain and the outer world was more than often fatal. There comes times, however, when one estranged soul lives, that the thick miasma that envelopes the lower world takes, however. It greedily clutches the sun's rays, raping her of the divinely warm light she bestows on nature, or what is left of it.
    A harsh wind whipped off from the mainlands -an area barren to life- and collided against the very minutely inhabited area. Thick rugs and tapestries hung over doorways while sheet upon sheet of metal created huts, a lake, or rather a small water source, was right next to the village. The inhabitants stayed quiet on the outside, murmuring to close friends or relatives how they thought this new outcast would fare, or even if they would at all.
    Inside the shaman's tent, an elaborately peaked hideaway snuggled in the center of the living quarter, a group of onlookers crowded the doorway. They wanted to hear, was it a devilish outcast?, or see, does he have the dominant alleles?, and mainly they wanted to know: was he flayed by the winds? Were his organs functioning? Could he speak? Was he like the other?
    “Magda, keep the children to their houses,” A load , rich voice carried over the medical area
    ((To be continued))