Hoshiko Child of the Stars

As I slowly opened my eyes, I found myself in a dimly lit room, strapped to a chair. Panic set in as I realized I couldn’t move. Suddenly, I heard footsteps approaching me. The door creaked open, revealing a mad scientist standing before me. His eyes were cold, calculating, and insane. He held a syringe in his hands, filled with an unknown substance. I struggled against the hard, cold, metal of my bindings to escape, but the restraints held me tightly in place. The scientist approached my struggling body, a sinister smile spreading across his face. Holding no remorse. “You’re probably wondering why you’re here,” he said in a chilling voice. “Well, I have finally perfected my injection, and you’re going to be my first subject. Sweet Dreams.” 

Terror consumed me as he approached closer, the needle pierced my neck and I felt the burning substance entering my system. I hear my screams echo off the walls, my veins turning black as the burning spreads further into my body. My throat burns as my screams silence, black dots fill the corners of my vision, and the last thing I hear is the crackling of the scientist. When I awoke I felt the lingering pain from the previous events but a new pain was present on my ear. I looked around the room noticing that there was a twin-sized bed in the corner, a small curtain blocking my view from something, I’m guessing a bathroom set up. I spot a mirror hanging off the back of a door. I walk over to the mirror and see that my eyes have dark bags underneath, the veins in my neck are faintly black near the injection location, a bandage is seeable from the base of my neck, and my clothes are too large on my petite body. That's when I noticed the black marking on my ear, so I got closer and saw that it was a number, 001. I was so horrified I didn’t notice the door open. The soft chuckle of the scientist brought me out of my haze, I looked at him and backed up.

“Calm down Hoshiko, I'm not goi-”

“That’s not my name!” I yelled.

“Oh, but it is. You are a child of the stars now, so you deserve a fitting name” He said with a sickening grin. As the days dragged on my appearance changed, I woke up for breakfast and waited for the light above the door to flash signaling I’d been cleared to go. For the first time, I saw a few others who were at different stages of the transformation in the hall, but I noticed that their numbers differed from mine. The lowest one I found was 10, As I thought about it I realized with a pit forming in my stomach, that innocent people suffered the injection but didn’t survive at some point. When I walked in I did the typical routine, prick my finger on the needle, let the nurse gather a sample, grab my tray, use new powers to get food, and sit down at my assigned table. When I sat on the cold bench I looked up to see the others looking at me with horror in their eyes, I shrugged my shoulders in response and ate my food. Later that day I was summoned to the “Master’s” office, he spent his time talking about this morning's results from my sample.

“You will be the main supervisor from now on. You have full range of the facility, but don’t touch anything in the lab.”

“I could help you get faster results if I had access to the files and permission to alter the solution,” I said.

“We have talked about this. I will deem when it’s safe to proceed.” I left the office when I arrived back at my room I saw that it had been updated. My bed was now full-sized, with a new wardrobe, and a desk. I walked over to the desk and looked at everything it contained; books, a laptop, files of the live subjects, and lastly writing and drawing supplies. I looked at the files and noticed they were addressed as Subjects not given names as I was. I grabbed the drawing supplies and started to put together something. I thought back to what he called me when I woke up the first time, You are a child of the stars now. I spent the rest of my day working on my project when I finished I walked into the hall and plastered it to the door.

It read, ‘Hoshiko Child of the Stars’.

~Three Years Later~

Hoshiko has been the Main Supervisor for three years now and has gold star pins on their lab coat for every year they have been a supervisor. Hoshiko has been working on an antidote for the other subjects, they came to terms with their new life years ago and want to be able to help others.

Running down the hall holding one of the new subjects in my arms, feeling his body getting cold I run faster. I run into the medical hall and take the first available room, I grab the itchy bandages and quickly soak it in cool water. I wrap it around the subject's leg where he was attacked. Sometimes the injections affect subjects negatively, and often we have to put an end to them to protect others. I was the one who brought the current subject, that I’m trying to save, into the experiment. The “Master” wanted to see if he could change a kid into an alien without negative effects. I was sent out to the open world to find a child, I went to an orphanage to not tear apart a family just for the Master's evil plans. I found this kid when he was only three, every other kid and adult ignored this poor kid. I walked over and picked him up feeling him cuddle into my cold body. As I walked away I almost wanted to leave my life at the lab behind but knew it wasn’t a choice. When he turned 4 I held him in my lap and watched his small body shiver as the substance took effect, I had begged the Master to allow him to live in my room, he saw how I had taken a parent role over this kid. I focused on stopping the bleeding, I radioed the Master when he entered the room he saw the damage. He left once again but came back with amputation tools, I felt a pit in my stomach from just seeing the equipment. I started a new project once his leg heeled, I had given him the name Cosmo. His skin was different from mine. I had mostly a pale purple with a pink hue at my feet and hands. Cosmo’s skin was a pale green with blue splotches littered on his skin. I started to work on a prosthetic limb to replace his leg. I was struggling to make it move like a natural leg. I hear a knock on the door, I open it to find the master. I notice the bandage on his forehead but know not to mention it. 

“Cosmo has been such a great outcome that I want you to help me with my next step,” He says, grinning from ear to ear. I hesitate but follow him to the dreaded room. When the door opens I see a pregnant lady who is terrified and confused. When we make eye contact she freezes, and I realize that she isn’t the one getting an injection. I notice the master asking me into the hall.

“I know that you are confused, I wanted to see if there is any way for reproduction, but I thought I should see if the injection can be used on an unborn child,” I stare at him horrified, I never wanted to believe that this could ever happen.

I know I can't do anything to stop him without risking the lives of me and the others who have been turned, but once I finish the antidote I can save everyone.