The Birth of Harrison
The scene opens in the dry heart of Nevada. A lonely figure walks through the burning desert, the horizon trembling in the heat. His cloak ripples behind him as the wind howls across the dunes. The air is filled with dust and light, and before him, far in the distance, stands Voyage City...encased in a shimmering dome that reflects the fading sunlight like glass over a dying world.
Evolve walks silently, each step sinking into the dust. His expression is calm but his eyes are distant, locked in quiet thought. Beneath the calm, deep inside the shifting current of his body, something stirs...Harrison, the fragment of the man he once was, the man who lived before the power.
"My name is Harrison," the voice whispers within siren
"And before I was anything else...before the energy, the trials, or the thing inside me they now call Evolve...I was just a boy born under the dull buzz of fluorescent lights and the sharp scent of antiseptic in a small public hospital on the edge of Las Vegas, Nevada."
He pauses on the desert path as if seeing those memories in the heat waves ahead of him.
"I remember it," he says softly.
"Not through my own eyes...I was a newborn
but through stories, dreams, and broken fragments that come to me when I close my eyes."
They say his mother wept softly the first time she heard him cry. It was not just pain that filled her, but a deep exhausted joy. His sister, Cecilia, only twelve years old then, stood beside her. She held her mother's hand like she was already grown, her bright eyes filled with that fearless hope only a child could still possess. She looked down at him, tiny and wailing in the nurse's arms.
Then came the voice that shattered that fragile peace.
"What the hell is this child? Another girl?" The words came from his father, James Macaulay, a heavy man in his early forties, his voice thick with alcohol and disdain.
"It is for you, my love. I would never betray you. He is our son," Christine, his mother, said softly, holding her newborn close to her chest, taking him gently from Cecilia's arms.
But the man only sneered.
"He doesn't look like me. And besides, he has green hair. I hate children with green hair and green eyes. I hate that child. Throw him in a dustbin or something. I won't pay a cent to raise him." He turned and began to walk away, his steps echoing coldly down the hospital corridor.
The midwife's voice trembled as she stepped forward.
"Sir, I'll need you to calm down. Every child is a blessing from God. You have no right to hate a baby, whether he is yours or not."
James's face twisted with rage.
"Shut your mouth!" he barked. "First she gave birth to this useless brat standing there and now she's giving birth to this waste of DNA. He's not my son." His voice filled the room like poison, denying his own blood.
Christine's voice broke through the noise, desperate and trembling.
"How could you say that? I just gave birth to our son,our first son. Why are you being so cruel? Don't you have any love for your family or fear for God at least?"
James struck her across the face, but before his hand could swing again, a doctor stepped forward and caught his wrist.
"Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave," the doctor said firmly. "You're disturbing the ward. If you refuse, I'll call security."
With a glare, James pulled his hand free and stormed out, his curses fading down the hall.
Minutes later, Christine and Cecilia were standing at the edge of a quiet neighborhood. The doctor who had helped deliver the child, Dr. White, had offered them a ride home. As he stopped in front of their small house, his eyes lingered on Christine longer than they should have.
"Thank you very much, Dr. White," Christine said gently, still holding the newborn close. "I really appreciate it… but what do I do now?"
The man smiled thinly. "Don't worry, I'll help you file a lawsuit. But…" He leaned closer, lowering his voice. "I'll have to collect some tips from you… if you know what I mean."
Christine's eyes widened in shock. She clutched the child tighter against her chest. "I'm sorry. I can't do that. No matter what my husband is, he's still my husband. I swore before God to remain faithful."
Dr. White sighed with a smirk, adjusting his coat.
"I see. You'd rather be faithful to a man like him. Then you'll lose a lot of benefits." He tossed her a small business card as he stepped back into his car. "Call me when you're ready to change your mind."
The car rolled away, its tires stirring dust into the evening light, leaving Christine standing alone with her newborn son and her frightened daughter. The desert wind carried their silence into the setting sun.