The cold wind whipped against my cheek as I clutched a crystal and ran. I swerve to the right as I narrowly dodge a bullet being fired at me. The snow-ridden ground beneath me crunched as I ran on it and a frosty vapor escaped from my mouth every time I exhaled.

It was winter. Soft fluffy flakes of snow rained down from the sky and to the ground, blanketing it with a cold, white carpet of snow. The snow draped over the lampshades and houses, giving the city the look of a winter wonderland. The sight was enough for one to stop and snap a picture of the picturesque snowy landscape. However, I wasn’t doing any of that. I was busy running -- running for my life.

“No. 167, stop running at once or we’ll shoot!” a guard shouted, while trying to aim his gun. Once he took aim, he pressed the trigger and fired at me. However, due to the low visibility caused by the falling snow and wind, he missed.

I looked back at him for a moment, rolling my eyes. Who in the world would stop when told to by a captor, especially if you are trying escape? It is like trying to ask a mouse to stop when it is being chased by a cat.

Clearing my head of unnecessary thoughts, I shook my head and focused on running. I could feel frostbite on my limbs and hypothermia setting in, making my body feel lethargic and numb. Not good. I need to find a place to hide and warm up – FAST.

After running for a while, I found a narrow alleyway and squeezed into it and hid behind a trash can, hugging my body to make it as compact as possible.

“Sir, we lost No. 167.”

“Useless bastards, hurry up and find him! He stole an important item from the facility! The loss of that crystal equates to the loss of years worth of data. We must find him at any cost!”

“Yes Sir!”

Holding my breath, I hugged my body tighter and pressed against the cold hard metal of the trash can. Only when I heard their footsteps subside, then I relax my body and exhale. As I calm myself and let the adrenaline pumping inside me dissipate, I realized how exhausted I am. How can I not be when I was chased by people who were hell-bent on catching me? As I look at the crystal in my hands, I felt my memories came flooding back towards me.

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Year 2020, the year of technological revolution which technology is a part of everybody lives. Humans, with the power of technology, tried to play god and an era of human experimentation was born. Humans wanted to create the perfect ‘human’, just like how god wanted to create a perfect being. However, unlike god, humans wanted to create these perfect ‘humans’ for one reason-WAR.

In order to achieve this insane goal, the government began taking away children from poor families. They come down like an angel from heaven, giving the parents a choice, in exchange for their children, they would be provided with money and basic necessities needed to live, or suffer living in a poor, malnourished environment, while their children suffer with them.

Now one might think that there is no way parents would sell away their children in exchange for their own well-being and survival. Parents love their children too much to do such a thing. However, humans are very selfish creatures and have an extremely strong sense of self preservation. Their will do whatever it takes to keep themselves alive, just like how a knight will use his fellow men as a meat shield to save his own skin. I for one, found out this truth the hard way.