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Character Story: Jack Bulton

Airinie Azhar

Jack, in a box.

It has been quite some time since he had breathed the sea air - the sharp tang of salt and waste nearly made him gag - but it was clean, nevertheless. He climbed out of the box that he was in, having removed the large metal lid with ease.

It had taken him 2 weeks to muster enough currency to pay the smugglers to take him across the Channel to the land of his birth. And rebirth. His eyes in the moonlight sparkled green – the effects of his mutation clearly showing signs of rapid changes to his body.

Slowly walking towards the edge of the ship, his knees creaked in unison with the boards below his feet. They had put him on a boat that was barely seaworthy for the Channel. But he could see that everything is different. It was calmer than he had ever remembered. The Channel was never calm. She was a woman with a fiery temper, his father once said. Treat the waters with respect, and she will treat you right.

The invasion had changed everything - even the sea currents don't obey the laws of the universe anymore. The laws of this universe, at least.

He can feel his mind coming and going – he would have moments of clarity and everything makes sense to him. Moments later he couldn't even count his fingers.

One.

Two.

Many.

Lots.

This mutation has made him strong, but the change is making him lose himself in rage at those opaque moments. Stupid Jack. Angry Jack.

Rumours abounded in the Junkyard of an alchemist who had worked on mutants. Englishman. He is an Englishman. Memories of watching HMS Pinafore with his grandmother at the Savoy as a child came unbidden – damn this boat. For in spite of all temptations. He wouldn't have returned to London if it wasn't for this Englishman Alchemist who had worked on mutants. Created mutants. Reversed mutations. Killed them. Killed us. Experiments.

He could feel his dark cloud approaching, and anger is rising within him. I will wring the necks of those smugglers when I see them next, he thought, unaware that the rickety boat is taking him far away from the swindlers.

Walk back to box. Jack safe in box. Jack, in box.


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