The Strange Bird

The Strange Bird is the product of a specialist lab outside the city.

There were four once. One by the desert, one by the sea, one by the forest, and one by marsh. Her
own origin come from the lab by the sea, beside the red and orange coastal orchards.

The lab for the strange bird holds trauma, but also the slivers of memory from a past life as a human.
She seeks to escape but always feels the push to go back, to find her long lost love, Sanji, a fellow
scientist whom worked with her at the lab against their will. This is one life though. You see, The
Strange Bird is “full of animals”, and signatures from all the creators who were involved in her
creation.

She stands in some way (in an allegorical sense) to the ark, and for all animals being carried to the
new world. There’s beauty and an element of hope in the Strange Bird for helping carry the wishes,
dreams and love of the humans who passed on messages in their absence. The original intention for
this bird was to distribute organic/genetic material across the world as it flew, in an attempt to
reseed the planet with the microscopic organisms it lost.

As such, she’s heavily modified, so her nervous system actually stems to the feathers, not just in the
head. Her brain exists all across her body. She also has a vast vocal range for singing and imitating;
can easily recall sentences from any lifeform she encounters; and has an advanced tracking system
that can sense life across the very wide expanse, regardless as to how weak is maybe.

There are also other modifications, but they’re unfinished by the scientists. Skills she hadn’t known
existing suddenly ‘flicker’ on and off without warning.

She’s designed to always sleep with one eye open. She watches. Often as a side party, and judges
the actions of others from afar.

Unsurprisingly then, she meets another neutral party, the foxes (though they’re clear of their
general dislike for humanity), who provide her the support needed to make the new world.

Her history is clouded in ambiguity. For some reason the human part of her, and her partner are
separated prior to or during her creation. Whether this be because the unnamed lady is killed,
moved or placed in the bird is debatable. Sanji continues to work on this bird, and modifies her
secretly to allow for more “human functionality and decision making”, by pouring a part of herself
into it. The hope being that she can exist in this new form long enough to find her partner, and tell
her everything she couldn’t.

This human element brings to the Strange Bird dreams of her previous life, and an inner compass of
emotion that drives her back ‘home’. This compass is all consuming. The Strange Bird constantly
feels she needs to escape to the vast blue sky, above the tragedies of human destruction.

She’s brave, strong and comforting to some. She sides with the animals, as she knows nothing of
love/compassion from humans.

She’s alone in her voyage. Cannot physically associate with any other ‘real birds’, as there’s too
much in her for them to recognise her as kin. All she has as company is the part of Sanji in her, the
human consciousness that persists within her, and drives her forever southward.
First Form

The Strange bird is large (about the size of an average person), and made solely from a mixture of
creatures; Moths, Chameleons, Birds, Homo Sapiens, squid etc. All of which is organic.

One of her strongest assets is her natural camouflage, which is designed to be dark from above/light
from below (to blend in with the earth/sky).

However, she also learns to bend it to her will. When captured by the ‘Old Man’, the strange bird
alters herself to appeal to the old man’s concept of ‘beauty’ and ‘good’. She puffs out her feathers,
and turns more iridescent. The colours fly across her feathers “like wildfire”, seeping and leaching
across her body. Light in some parts, and then dark in others.

She learns from the foxes to ‘ghost’, in an attempt to escape. She stays incredibly still, and the
neurons of her brain alter her camouflage accordingly. Dulling the iridescence, and matching the
hues of the environment around her.

Unfortunately, this skill is hunted down by the Magician, who dismembers and repurposes the
Strange Bird as a cape.

Her bones, wings and beak are removed. She’s reduced to a mere rag of flesh, wherein she’s carried
around by the Magician, and forced to bear witness to the latter’s journey.

Second Form (reborn)

Wick and Rachel finds her injured, worn and ragged as a cape. Discarded by the Magician and left for
dead. It’s takes a considerable effort for them to decide to revive her, instead of putting her from
her misery. The damage is so severe, she can no longer see or perceive as quickly as she had.
However, against their better judgement, Wick decides to try, feeling sympathy for this abused
creature.

She revived as something else. A new form that strips away all the unnecessary elements of self, and
that retains the compass (the only fully remaining aspect that’s undamaged). She’s built for the sole
purpose of finding Sanji.

In the end there’s four of her. All of them making the one. All with the memories of the other, and all
of them the strange bird. They’re swift, quick and clever. Each as small as a finch, and identical. They
recognised each other as themselves, and each as the original. Darting. The lightness of their bodies
is an utter relief. They are winnowed down to something purer.

Bestiary (An Allegorical Lesson written by a mad employee at ‘The Company’)

And the lord told the scientist to build an animal. An animal that could carry all the others across
miles of ocean waters and land. An animal that could spread life far and wide, just as he’d intended.
Mord becomes the force of destruction and the bird, the force of growth. The two are to be praised.
It is her that will give onto life upon the earth, and give the worthy a form of which to reach heaven.
The uniting of the kingdom of animals and the worthy to carry Mord’s message will be spared. Into
one body, and one soul. Giving voice to his undeniable truth. The others will perish, for it is his will to
eradicate the blight of our world. The men and women who make a mockery of him, and claim to
have taken his place, will know their foolishness. They will go no further.
Other Previous Designs

1- The Night Meddler is a creature of avarian and reptilian descent. The feathered scales of this
creature can lure creatures of varying species together, before letting them fight it out and
eating whatever’s left. This bird’s light display and scent, can attract either species, before
pitting one animal against the other, and disappearing into the cloak of night once in close
enough range. This creature hasn’t been seen, but is recognised from its shedding
skin/feathers left after its feeding.
Once the fight is over with, the ‘Meddler’ has to shed its scales (grown quickly for that
specific trap/attraction) to allow for a different pair of predators to encounter. This allows it
to be opportunistic in whatever games nearby. The bacteria responsible is present in all
these creatures, from their drinking of the toxic waters, but the ‘Meddler’ can use it to its
advantage.
2- The Lesser Blue Crest, is 3rd generation product of genetic engineering, from ‘The Company’
deep sea lab. The small animal is given its name from the striking, biolumicent tuft of
feathers that fringe the birds head. As social creatures, they use this glow for both group
socialisation and as a confusion tactic when the group is attacked by a larger predator.
3- The Greater Blue Crest (known also as a ‘shellback’) is a larger bird, and not keen on close
interaction with its own kind. It’s the 2nd generation product of genetic engineering, from
‘The Company’ and has close associations with its ‘Lesser’ counterpart. Bioluminosity is used
by this bird as a method of counter-illumination, so to camouflage itself in the water. This
makes it unnoticeable to small insects that skim across the waters. It resembles the filtering
light in the shallow regions.
The bird does most of it’s hunting from the waters, possessing genetics from both a
mammalian and avarian variety. Due to the toxicity of the waters, the greater blue crest has
evolved to safely assimilate the waters toxicity. The bacteria that lives in the lake in fact is
what gives this bird it’s bioluminosity. The bird’s bioluminosity often changes according to
the bacteria living in the water. The aura/colour of the waves therefore, is often replicated
and aids in counter-illumination.