Chapter 1: College
Pages 3-6

Chris Taylor sat at his desk while clicking through icons on his computer to back up his files before he finally disconnected the cables to pack it into a large box. As he jig sawed the tower, monitor, cables, and other hardware into place, his mother entered the room carrying an armful of odds and ends, which consisted of everything from canned food to a toothbrush, clothes, and jackets. With a worried and nearly frantic look on her face, she dropped the pile of mismatched items into an open briefcase on the end of his bed before she started folding and organizing everything to fit. 

Chris shook his head and laughed to himself. "Mom, really, canned food? I am going to college, not to camp in the woods. Not that there's any woods left to camp in," he protested with a slight chuckle.

She took a moment to breathe, before she responded. "You're not just going to college. You’re going to that city of freaks. Why couldn’t you have picked somewhere else? Anywhere else? I've half a mind to not let you go at all!” she threatened, as she feared her worst nightmare was to come true.

"Mom, I'm studying genetics, what better place to do that than in a city full of genetic hybrids? Don’t call them freaks. I'm sure they're not all that bad. They’re just different. They said in school the same thing happened, back when black people and white people couldn’t get along. Someday this is all going to blow over and they won’t be trapped in a dome anymore," Chris explained again as if she hadn’t heard it all previously.

His mother looked at him as if he was crazy, but relented. "Maybe you're right, but I still don’t trust them. They're animals whether they stand on two feet or not. What if they have rabies or something infectious? Or how about if they can’t understand civility and proper behavior? They could go off fighting in the streets like stray cats and dogs or worse!" she continued to complain despite how hopeless she knew her efforts would be.

"People do that anyways, mom, just with less fur and claws…," Chris couldn’t even finish the sentence before she interrupted him. 

"Claws! Exactly, they don't even need to sneak a knife or a gun past a metal detector. They have built in weapons. I hear some of them are even poisonous! They are living weapons and preditors. It's lunacy. I worry that you'll end up being a victim to it,” his mother ranted as her panic returned despite her best efforts.

"Mom, it'll be fine, trust me," Chris assured with a shake of his head before he went back to packing his computer. His mother was typically a very accepting person. She didn’t hate or discriminate against anyone without reason. That is, until Chris had told her that he was going to be attending Furton University, while living amongst the hybrids as he earned his degree in genetics. At the very mention of it, she turned into a raving symbol of oppression against them. She was constantly ranting on about how they were less than human and no less dangerous than wild animals. Despite her view on the subject, he was as excited as ever to finally see them. The first hybrid had been created fifteen years ago. Chris remembered watching the excitement during a news feed even though he didn’t really understand what was happening at the time. Since he had been in elementary school, he had heard both positive and negative points of view about the Hybrids. It was admittedly more negative than positive, which was most likely due to the biased media. They had always held his interest and served as a galvanizing factor into what occupation towards which he wanted to work. Despite all of that, the hybrids had been quarantined in Furton City only three years after that initial breakthrough in science. Chris, like most people never received the chance to see one in person.

The field of hybrid creation had advanced leagues in those fifteen years. At first only mammalian hybrids were created: canines, felines, equines, and primates, so on and so forth. Since then, Chris had heard of all kinds of hybrids were being created, which ranged from insectoides and reptilians to even avian and aquatic hybrids. Unfortunately, information on the non-mammalian hybrids was limited and mostly conjecture. He couldn’t even be sure if they really existed, but soon he would find out for himself.

Chris closed the box containing his computer and carried it to the storage shed next to the house. He couldn’t take the computer itself, but all of his files were backed up on memory sticks. 

The letter Chris had received from Furton University mere weeks ago was quite possibly the biggest shock of his life. The University had simply refused to send him any information about prerequisites, tuition, or how to apply for enrolment, scholarships, or financial aid. Hell, he hadn’t actually received an application form from them to complete. He had sent numerous requests for information since he began high school and he had been relentless his senior year. However, his acceptance letter was enclosed with more information than he had ever received from them previously. It also listed all of the things that would be provided to him on his arrival, which included a top end personal computer, linked data pad, furnished dormitory, and access to food and drinks at the University's commissary around the clock. All he really had to bring were personal effects and clothing, all of which would be decontaminated upon his arrival to prevent any outside contagions from getting into Furton's enclosed environment. The letter also mentioned a variety of facts about the University; it had roughly one thousand students living in the on-site dormitories and attending classes. However, he had the impression that there were no other human students. In fact, in all of Furton, there were only a few dozen humans, and all of them as far as he could tell were Kaspersky foundation scientists seeing to the creation of new Hybrids or teaching classes at the University itself. The entire city was run by and for the hybrids.

Sorting through the random items his mom had dumped into the suitcase, Chris finally zipped it up and set it by the front door just as a bus arrived to pick him up. He hugged her, while trying hard to ignore her hysterics and assure her that he would be all right.

“Try to stay safe… and I am sure your father would have been proud,” his mother finally whispered into his ear through her tear soaked eyes.  

Then Chris finally boarded the bus with all of his possessions in hand, as he tried to ignore her comment. He didn’t like to think about the freak industrial accident, which had removed his father’s head and taken him from his life before he was born. 

A ten-hour ride later, he would be standing at the foot of the dome, where he would enter Furton city. He could not deny that he was slightly nervous about what life may be like at his new home for the next four plus years.