• Remember back in 2008 when British scientists found a way to combine human and animal DNA? They called them ‘admixed embryos’ and the Catholics made a huge thing about it, this was back when Mr. Gordon Brown was Prime Minister, and back then it was illegal to culture the embryos for more than fourteen days; in fact they only managed to keep them alive for three to maybe six.

    But somebody decided to experiment a little bit more, behind Mr. Brown’s back.

    Welcome to the year 2034, twenty six years after the discovery of admixed embryos, the world has changed a lot in that time-especially England- the Royal family was wiped out over the years; it began with Prince Harry, he died in Afghanistan when he was sent out again and was caught in a road side bombing. The rest were assassinated over time after that; despite efforts to protects them. Now Britain is ruled over by Parliament which merged into one huge party- The British Social Society; they made promises to make Britain a better place, promised to bring the troops home from Iraq/Afghanistan and wherever else they were, and they promised to be environmentally friendly. That was in 2016; eighteen years later you have the present.

    In the present you have successful living hybrids.

    This was something the BSS conveniently forgot to mention. The admixed embryo experiment continued under lock and key from 2008 until 2016 when the first two embryos survived in a womb for eight and nine months and continued living out of the womb, when they reached the age of one, they were labelled a success and others were produced.

    You’re probably thinking this is like some whole ‘Maximum Ride’ thing, right? The avian-human kids on the run from the school. Yeah, I’m sure a lot of Max Ride fans thought that too, but instead of avian-human England have cat and dog-human. For you Japanese Anime lovers out there feel free to call us Neko-humans and Inu-humans, we don’t mind.

    Yeah, we. Hi, I’m Marshall, five foot eight, seven stone-ish and a cat hybrid; and believe me, after the boring explanation I just gave you about the changes in Britain it can only get better from here and I beg of you not to turn you back on me-on us, my team.

    You see, from a young age the four of us were raised in military bases to be weapons, and unfortunately for the rest of the world they succeeded because we were made to be assassins, to do as the BSS command. As cat hybrids we are stealthy, we see well in the dark and are excellent acrobatics- I know cats aren’t that acrobatic but with our balance we’re so much better at it than humans. We look like humans but have cat ears and a tail for balance but both are easy to hide.

    I suppose our real story begins at a military base near London, I was called into the head office where the Commander, David Hale, was waiting for me. He’s in his late forties and has tired hazel eyes with bags under them, short greying black hair and is wearing the new standard non-battle uniform-all black. We’ve never met before so when I enter his brow rises because he expected to see a young, strapping eighteen year old boy and instead he gets me-scrawny looking girl; I ignore the look he gives me and salute. He clears his throat.

    “I was expecting a boy a…Marshall.” He says as he checks some papers.

    “I am Marshall, Sir.”

    “An unusual name for a girl…” He trails off and clears his throat again. “Do you know why you are here?”

    “All I know is that I will be receiving my orders from you, my team will be dispatched shortly after.”

    He nods, impressed, and slides a piece of paper across the desk; I pick it up and quickly scan it. “This is your target, all the necessary information is there and I suspect this will be a quick and easy mission for you. Any questions?”

    “Will there be anyone with the target?”

    “There shouldn’t be but if there is…” He trails off again and I nod. There are to be no survivors.

    “Understood.” I salute again and make my way back to the sleeping quarters where my team waits and when I enter their eyes are on me. My team consist of an explosives expert and my right hand man-Edge, an information officer-Tabby, and a medic-Nale.

    “So what did he have to say?” Edge asks as he picks the dirt from under his thumb nail with the tip of a knife. Edge is a good six foot-odd, twelve to thirteen stone; and muscular but that doesn’t slow him down. His ears and tail are pitch black, and his eyes are a gold-yellow colour; he blends nicely into the night.

    “He has a job for us.” I walk over to the table where Tabby and Nale are sat and place the paper down, Edge strolls over and peers over my shoulder. “This target, Martin Shaw, has been seen reading a bible.” Back in 2020 the BSSdecided that all practicing religions should be disbanded within the country and if you’re caught with a religious item you are to be punished; they figured that the war wasn’t just about oil or terrorism, but also about religion. “He’s been given three warnings over the last five months and has not complied, he’s to be eliminated.”

    “What sector of the city are we looking at?” Tabby asked. Tabby is the ‘middle child’ of the team at sixteen, she has tabby cat coloured ears and tail, and dark brown eyes and hair. She’s five foot five and weights pretty much the same as I do.

    “Sector four.” I watch her quickly tap away at a laptop. Sector four is the middle class, I’m not quite sure on the year but the cities were split into different sectors; sector one is Parliament class, you were either a part of or worked for the Parliament, sector two is military, sector three is upper and so on until sector five- the lower class.

    “Two bed roomed house, he lives with his roommate Charlie Dunn-female; it’s going to be a simple one.” She explains and shows us the layout of the house. “A quick sweep should tell us which room he has.”

    “Says here he’s a student.” Naletaps the sheet. He has white ears and tail with black spots on the tips, blue eyes and stands at five foot nine with blonde hair; he’s probably going to be as tall as Edge and is the youngest at fifteen. “And stays out late at clubs.”

    Edge grunts. “Nobody will have that luxury when the curfew comes into effect, the hounds will have them.” Hounds are what we call the dog hybrids and they’re a little less human than us-more on them later.

    “If we have to wait we have to wait, but I’d rather get him at home where there’s less commotion.” The team nod. “We’ll go across the rooftops and see if we can make a clean break in through the bathroom window. Understand?”

    They nod in agreement and we set out. Leaping across rooftops is no big deal; if we should fall we land on our feet and we’re dressed in black so we can blend into the night. The air is warm considering the time of year, its January and climate change has made itself known; it feels like summer most of the year round and it has been like that since 2026, it doesn’t snow at all anymore but when it rains it pours; good old Britain for you.

    “You look pissed off about something.” Edge says as he pulls up beside me. “Did the Commander confuse you for a boy?” He smirked.

    “I’m used to it.” I glance at him; his dark hair is caught in the breeze as we hop from roof to roof and brushes across his neck. “Get a hair cut.” I order. “Or start tying it back.”

    “Yes ma’am.” He salutes mockingly. We eventually arrive at the target’s house just before midnight; we leap onto the roof and lean over the sides to look in the windows.

    “The female’s bedroom is this front one.” Tabby says. “She’s not home.”

    “The target’s room is next to the bathroom, Edge and I will head inside; you two keep watch and let us know when the target arrives home. I know this is an easy one but stay alive.”

    “Yes ma’am.” They nod and Edge and I make our way down the drain pipe. They’ve left the bathroom window open so we just open it as wide as it will go and slip inside.

    “Go check the female’s room, see if she has anything.”

    Edge nods and slips into the room across from the bathroom, becoming invisible in the darkness; I can just make out the sound of him opening draws and make my way into the target’s room. It’s simple, with a single bed, nightstand next to that with a lamp and alarm clock on it; I open the draw to find a red covered bible, and it’s small so I suppose it’s like a pocket bible.

    “Bingo.” I feel my lips pull into a smile until I hear a wood pigeon call. Edge seems to suddenly appear in the doorway and slips behind the open door; there’s enough room between the wardrobe, which is against the wall, and the door frame to let me press against the wall. The front door opens and somebody stumbles slightly as they step inside.

    “Who added another step?” The voice is male, it’s our target. He slowly climbs the stairs and enters the room; that’s when I notice I’ve left the draw open. Oh well. The target makes his way over to the draw and that’s when we make our move. We creep nearer and I slowly draw my blade, putting it to the back of his neck.

    “Martin Shaw, turn around slowly and put your hands where I can see them.” He raises them and slowly turns to face me, his eyes widen for a moment before he sneers.

    “You.” He growls. “I know exactly who you are.”

    “Then you know why we’re here.”

    “What gives the Government the right to dictate whether or not we have religion in this country? Has the war stopped because we’ve given up on our Lord? No.”

    “It’s not my place to say.” I tell him and he laughs.

    “Of course it isn’t, you’re just the BSS’ mutant puppet.” My brow rose, mutant was a new one. “Our Lord created life; he created humans and animals as two separate beings; you have no right to be alive, monster.”

    I actually thought about what he said, I usually don’t, I’ve heard it all before after all; but I guess after a while it begins to sink in. Suddenly the target thumps the side of the nightstand and a secret compartment slide open; he kicks me back into Edge and pulls out a grenade.

    “Grenade!” Edge yells at the top of his lungs, wraps his arms around me and jumps onto the bed and out of the window. The explosion follows shortly after and we roll across the grass; Edge covers me as parts of the room fly over us. “Marsh, you alright?”

    “Yeah…” I sit up when he gets off me and run a hand through my hair. “I let my guard down…”

    “It happens to the best of us.” He places a hand on my shoulder.

    I nod. “Thanks for the save back there.”

    “Can’t let our fearless leader die now, can I?” He stands and helps me to my feet.

    “Marshall, Edge!” Tabby cries as she and Nale leap into the garden from the neighbouring roof; she dives into me and wraps her arms around me. I place my hand on her head and gently stroke her hair.

    “We’re alright, Tabs.” We all look up at the burning room and I sigh. “Sloppy, too sloppy.”