Subject name: Sarvad [Blank]
Origin: Purchased from the Hero Guild of the Empire
Project: Daemonium Renatus
Description (abbreviated): The subject has the appearance of an average 18-year-old human male. No bloodline or mage core has been recorded. There is evidence to suggest that the subject was to be used as a host for various cursed artefacts by the Hero Guild due to its high mental adaptability. Testing may not have returned satisfactory results, as the subject was authorised for sale.
Addendum 1.1: Further testing has revealed the subject’s high affinity towards manipulating its mental essence. Constructions inside the mindscape have proven to be far more solid than those made by a normal human. Further testing required to see limit.
Addendum 1.7: Subject seems to have developed a sentient protection system inside its mindscape. Knowledge Seekers note that it resembles an elemental made out of mental essence. No previous records of such an occurrence could be found. Relaying file to Overseer command.
Note by Second Overseer: The classification of this project has been officially raised to Phoenix. As the subject was located by one of my subordinates [Knowledge Seeker: Eleura Panzinho] I will take control of the project. Any unnecessary staff will be blanked and relocated to a new facility.
Eleura sighed as she laid down the file. It had been a while since she read it, but the nostalgic feeling remained. She wasn’t one to belittle her abilities, but without a lot of luck, she wouldn’t be where she was today. It was mere happenstance that she took an interest in the subject. Her main field of expertise had always been life essence, not mental essence. However, the body and the mind were closely related so she had decided to branch out. What a truly lucky decision.
With a shake of her head, she placed the file back into the folder and closed it. It was unusual for an Administrator to carry a copy of a file with her, but this one was special to her. A reminder of what had been and of what was to come. A smile played along her lips. This was the first time in weeks that she felt truly relaxed.
10 minutes ago the news had arrived. The subject had been captured. Finally, there was an end in sight. The boulder on her chest, which had been slowly crushing her, had suddenly disappeared. She still didn’t know what happened to Facility X or Milgram but that would sort itself out. Hell, if Milgram was still alive, which was doubtful, she would make him wish that he was dead. The Facility Lord had somehow failed so catastrophically, that the entire facility was wiped from reality. In some ways it was impressive.
A knock on the door interrupted her thoughts. “Come in.” The door opened and her assistant walked in. “Facility Lord Werth requests a meeting, regarding recent actions that he had not been made aware of,” the older woman mechanically rattled off.
Eleura barely suppressed a sigh of annoyance and waved her assistant away. “Send him in.” The woman disappeared and soon returned with the Facility Lord, whose face bore an ugly expression. The Dryam motioned for him to take a seat and waited until the clicking of the door signalled the absence of her assistant.
She calmly leaned back in her chair and clasped her hands together. “My assistant has made me aware of the fact that you are displeased by certain… events that have transpired,” she stated while putting on a fake smile. “What specifically are you referring to?” Eleura could sense his clenched fists underneath the table.
Werth cleared his throat before beginning to speak. “It has come to my attention that you have sanctioned several missions using this facility’s resources. This in itself doesn’t present a problem, however, I am curious as to what reason I wasn’t informed of them, Administrator.” Eleura nodded along to his words. “I understand your frustration, Facility Lord,” she responded. “But the reason why you were not informed was because I didn’t deem it necessary.”
Werth frowned at her response. “With all due respect Administrator, as Facility Lord it is my responsibility to know everything related to this facility. There are incomplete reports which show that you have spent significant resources for some nebulous goal. From what I can tell it is to recapture a research subject that escaped from another facility, but the files regarding these actions have been horrendously vague. I can only presume that your assistant did a sloppy job in filling them, since an esteemed Administrator like yourself, would never commit such grievous errors.” His last sentence was filled with such sarcasm that it was hard to miss. Despite the veiled insult, Eleura only smiled. A real smile, not the fake one she had started this conversation with.
“As with many things, you are wrong. I did write those reports.” Werth waited for her to elaborate, but she didn’t. “But that goes against every regulation! You can’t just-“ He was silenced by Eleura lifting her finger. At his silence, she smiled. “Please, remind me again, how would you rank the four main managerial positions in our esteemed organisation?” The grinding of Werth’s teeth filled the room. Eleura calmly stared back. “That was an order.”
“Facility Manager, Facility Lord, Administrator, and Overseer,” he practically spat out. Eleura smiled and clapped her hands together. “Perfect! Now, what position do you hold?” The Facility Lord rolled his eyes. “This is entirely unnecessary and-“ The Administrator slammed her fist on the table, making him stay quiet. “Wrong,” she answered, still calm, despite the outburst. “You are a Facility Lord. A very respectable position, I am sure. You are in the upper echelon of the Institution, privy to knowledge that kings and queens would kill for. But that doesn't matter in this case.” Her smile turned shark-like. “Do you know why? Because I am a goddam Administrator. Everything that I do has a purpose and it isn’t your place to question it. Oh, and don’t worry. All my actions are in accordance with the will of the Overseers. You’re dismissed.”
Werth remained silent for a while after her monologue. Then he stood up and bowed to her. Eleura smiled at seeing his clenched fists. It felt good to humble one of her enemies. “I understand, Administrator. Please pardon me for questioning you. As what should I archive these missions?”
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The Dryam smiled at his subservient tone. “Simply classify it as recontainment of an escaped test subject. The details are unnecessary.” Daemonium Renatus was a project of the Phoenix category, meaning that even Facility Lords didn’t automatically have access to information pertaining to it. If Eleura had her way, Werth would never learn about the project. Its existence and Milgram’s failure presented a weakness that was just begging to be exploited. But with the capture of the subject, this nightmare had finally ended and she could begin to cover her traces. As long as nothing unexpected happened, everything should go smoothly.
The Facility Lord was about to leave when Eleura called out to him. “I must admit, you are clever. That whole Lifebloom incident? Impressive. You almost had me.” Werth stopped but didn’t turn around. “I am not sure what you are getting at, Administrator. The incident was an unfortunate accident, but thanks to your might, nobody got hurt.” Eleura almost laughed at the brutal dismissal of the Knowledge Seeker who had been killed by the test subject. “Yes, of course. You’re dismissed.” It didn’t actually matter whether or not he confessed to the assassination attempt. The only thing that mattered was that he was aware of the fact that she knew. A little fear would be what the would-be assassin needed. The Administrator leaned back in her chair and sighed. Everything was going her way.
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Werth stormed past the Administrator’s assistant, who didn’t spare him a single glance, and out into the hallway. Knowledge Seekers quickly got out of his way and the guards saluted him as he made his way through the compound. Soon rumours would be flying around about a conflict between the Administrator and the Facility Lord.
Only when he entered a sparsely populated part of the facility did he slow down. If there was anybody around to witness Werth, they would have seen a small smile on the usually stoic Facility Lord’s face. “Project Daemonium Renatus…,” he muttered. “Interesting.” Mind Read proved to be such a strong ability. He could only read the surface-level thoughts of the people surrounding him, but that was already enough. A plan was forming in his mind and it had something to do with a certain test subject that had just been captured.
Once Werth reached his office, he instructed the guards to let nobody disturb him and locked the door behind himself. Locking the door was a bit unnecessary, as all of his immediate subordinates were also followers of the master, but one could never be too safe. After making sure he was alone, he walked behind his desk and pushed a hidden button under it. With a click the secret compartment opened and he pulled out a communication orb.
If anyone had witnessed this, they would have been outraged. A member of the Creator’s Church would have immediately arrested him for possession of a heretical artefact. An Enforcer of the Institution would have immediately apprehended him for possession of a restricted item. All artefacts used by the Institution needed to be catalogued before being handed out and this one was definitely off the books. But it was necessary for his end goal.
The Facility Lord drew out a symbol on its surface and infused it with a drop of divine essence. It immediately lit up and started pulsating with a golden light. A soft voice emanated from the orb. “Ah, Werth. How have you been? I didn’t expect you to call so soon.” Despite the friendly demeanour, Werth could barely stop his body from prostrating itself on the floor. The divine essence was bubbling inside of him, as it sensed an even greater source of divinity. Even the voice of a Champion was enough to cause a stir in the ambient essence.
The Facility Lord graciously returned the greeting and started recounting what he had found out. The Champion patiently listened, while sometimes asking pointed questions. After Werth was done he paused and awaited new orders. The communication orb remained silent for a couple of minutes before the Champion’s voice emerged again.
“Daemonium Renatus is a project that we have known little about. Our brothers and sisters in the Eternal Library only managed to gather snippets of information. The bigger picture alluded us, but your discoveries have helped our cause tremendously. The Master is pleased.” Werth bowed his head without responding. One had to wait for a question before directly talking to a Champion of the Master. They were his voice.
The Champion continued. “This is a time of celebration. It won’t be long before our guardian is reunited with us. The Master had decided: Operation Exodus shall commence.” Werth’s heart started pounding as he heard those words. Every follower of the Master had an understanding of what this meant. The time was nigh. No more would he have to take orders from monsters and false believers. Ignoring customs he proclaimed, “Glory to the Engineer of Humanity!”
The Champion chuckled but didn’t reprimand him for his breach of protocol. “Glory to the Engineer of Humanity indeed. His return will signify an end to the rott that is permeating this Institution and finally return us to our roots. And you will play a big part in it. Daemonium Renatus has been deemed to be too big of an unknown. Destroy it. Do you understand?”
Werth prostrated himself before the communication orb. “I hear and obey. The will of the Master shall be done. Glory to the Engineer of Humanity.” The Champion returned the statement before the orb went dark. Werth quickly stowed it away before taking a seat behind his desk. So many possibilities and plans were unfolding before his eyes. He was free from the need to stay hidden. He could do whatever he wanted. A smile played across his lips. Glory to the Engineer of Humanity.
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Lilith immediately noticed that something was wrong. If she hadn’t been on high alert, then maybe the assassin would have missed the clues. In her current state, they were obvious. An unusual number of bootprints marked the mixture of sand and dust that covered the ground in these alleys. This remote route was only used by few, and never this early in the morning. Moreover, several areas showed signs of dried blood. Not a lot, most people would have missed it, but that only made Lilith more suspicious. The amount seemed to indicate a shallow cut, but the spacing of the droplets was too wide. Almost as if someone had tried to remove the evidence.
All of this led to one conclusion: She was too late. Whoever Entar was working for had succeeded. Lilith managed to suppress a wince of pain. Most of the smaller cuts had already healed, but her arm was hanging limply by her side while hurting like hell. Probably broken. She knew from experience that the bone would have to be realigned before her improved healing would activate.
As her hideout got closer, she slowed down. Someone had been here, but the question that remained was if they were still here. She estimated, that one hour had passed since her involuntary expulsion from the guild. A guild that may or may not exist anymore. Lilith slowed down and activated Shadow Meld. She was starting to run low on divine essence, but it would have to do.
Her wariness quickly paid off, as she noticed a shadow peaking over the rooftops. With a quick roll, she hid behind a corner and took stock of her surroundings. For the next couple of minutes, Lilith stayed still and analysed what she was up against. There were at least three people keeping watch on separate rooftops, which were one to two buildings spaced apart. From how they acted, she could tell that they were skilled, though not as skilled as some of the assassins from Noctu’s Dream.
Lilith had some difficult choices to make. The safest option would be to use the hidden exit from the altar room to sneak into her hideout. This would allow her to scoop the situation before taking further action. Her issue with that was how long it would take. Crawling through the small tunnel wasn’t fast and right now speed might be very important. Moreover, it would allow her enemies to trap her, which would be a death sentence. Of course, the other option was to simply deal with the people guarding her hideout and go from there. A bloodthirsty smile spread across Lilith’s face. What good was her skillset as an assassin if she couldn’t use it?