Post by mo money on Feb 22, 2008 0:35:18 GMT -5
T H E E X P E R I M E N T
YEAR ONE
day 1
It is the year 2300, and the world as we know is gone. The structures are of similar design, here and there, with small little mementos to remind us of the past. Most would choose to forget, really, of those New Dark Ages.
Technology is beyond simply advanced; there are cures for most every type of disease. And yet, there is still a phenomena that baffles the scientists of the world. What, you may ask, is such a thing to utterly confuse to world's greatest minds? Human beings born with the ability to transform into animals. They are shape-shifters.
The citizens of the world were terrified by the notion of such a thought; such wild and beastly things inside of our children? Impossible. You see, in this future, there are no imperfections tolerated; everything must be perfect. It is a shame that those poor creatures were flawed. Mobs formed in the streets against them, and the government was forced into action. They destroyed all traces of the adult shape-shifters, leaving only their children behind.
The citizens handed over these children without mercy, fully expecting them to be exterminated immediately. That is, but a few group of scientists who wanted nothing but to exploit the 'creatures', to learn about their abilities and use it as some sort of a weapon. Imagine the possibilities!
Thus began the experiments. These poor things were put through tests of mental and physical strengths that normal humans could not endure. Most of the teens showed signs of stronger physical abilities, and slightly more primitive minds; more instinctive than deductive. The amount of test subjects kept pouring in; reaching in the hundreds. Most were exterminated after testing, especially the older ones (the scientists worked to keep the younger minds allied with them).
The government scientists devised quite a simple plan; they would relocate the 'creatures'. There was an abandoned city, spanning back to the year of 2008, that was the ideal spot. After a year's worth of construction, the enclosure was finally complete. Thousand and thousands of miles of huge, standard bullet and explosive proof glass, standing two layers thick, formed a beautifully exact square around the perimeters of the city. The inside hadn't been touched; only the enclosure was now climate controlled (the scientists could change the weather, seasons, anything they so desire).
At first the government was hesitant to allow such a study to take place. The scientists argued that they needed to know more about these beings. They would study their behavior and social skills, their relationships and interaction with others of their kind. To discover if they were more human than animal, or more animal than human. Would they revert back to instinctive survival methods? Or would they reform as a civilized culture?
The scientists ran into a huge roadblock; where would the funding for such a long term experiment come from? The idea came about to open the enclosure as an exhibit; each visitor would pay 20 dollars to view these 'rare creatures'. Thus, the Menagerie came to be.
The scientists became known as 'The Keepers', for they deliver food and supplies to the children, once every month or so.
In the short year that the Menagerie has been opened, there have been startling observations; the children of the Menagerie seemed to have formed social groups. They call them the 'Rings of Order' ; three of them have yet been formed, and it is presumed that in the future there will be even more.
As test subjects keep flowing in by the day, decisions are to be made. What will you become? A savage Carna? A dignified Fulsi? Or a member of the docile Fallen?
Plot Ideas © Mourge of The Menagerie, 2008.
