“So what are you going to name him?” Gram asked Kyrion as though one would ask about a puppy. The older man was currently wiping down a very large gun-shaped device with various buttons and flashing lights.

“He’s a human, not a pet.” Kyrion squinted at the old man. He was looking for the smallest acknowledgment of guilt. There was none, it was the same with Maldain, and his mother, though slightly different. Gram didn’t care for the lives of people outside of his inner circle and couldn't care less if humanity failed as a whole so long as his family lived.

“Of course, but Sean O’Brian has been dead for three years, has no next of kin, and no living relatives. He died in the emergency room after a head injury. At least that was the cover they chose. Looks like you discovered a way to reverse the Esper brainwashing.”

“So…The first method seasoned the cast iron pan, while my method was the dish soap and elbow grease that got rid of the sticky stuff. .”

“More or less correct. This must have been the state he was in after the accident. Amnesia seems to be his original state, and due to the injury being old I doubt he’s recovering any time soon..”

“They took advantage of him, planting another identity inside his brain. Then stripping away his free will.” Kyrion saw the glimmer of rage but it was hidden away before it could be confirmed.

“Correct. Thus he will need a new name and identity. How about spot, or Yeager, maybe–” Gram turned to polish his device, a faint squeaking sound coming from a careless wipe.

“So this is what you wanted me to investigate. How much of this are you already aware of?”

“You only missed one thing. The Jac series isn’t the only Espers I want you to examine. While there are some human rights violations, these aren’t the only ones. I suspect you’ve discovered mine. I can’t act against the slayers for reasons I don’t wish to discuss with a child..”

“I see, let's leave the name to me. Or someone more qualified.”

“I’ll figure something out…Pound? Deca? Milton?”

Kyrion realized why his dad never got to name any of his siblings after Bill Jr. Gram was terrible at names.

“Sean is fine. Maybe it will help him recover.” Kyrion sighed.

“Right, Kilo will be ready to return to school on Monday, but you’ll need to look after him. His new body isn’t quite done yet.” Gram stated.

“He’ll be in his physical form?”

“Correct.”

“Great. Now that this island thing is behind us, when will you tell me where my sister is?”

“You would have been taken there this weekend if it hadn’t been for that incident.”

“This isn’t my home and I shouldn’t be interfering here. I’ve already caused a bit of trouble, and I can get worse.”

“Stay on your best behavior for a month and I’m sure we can find an opening for the two of you to meet.”

“Aren’t I always?” Kyrion said with a smile that radiated evil.

“If that is your best, I don’t want to see your worst.”

“Fair enough.” Kyrion turned to leave.

“One last thing. Mr.Park will need to get his powers remeasured, along with quite a few of the NEU.”

“Mr.Park? NEU?”

“Jin. That's what he goes by at school, technically Agent Park is a bit too on the nose. The North European Union. The Hungover Brigade is something I’m certain is your fault.”

“I thought his dad owned a shop.” Kyrion tried to change the subject.

“He does, as do many guard dogs in Cerberus. It’s the nature of the job. Kyrion, run any alcohol-based products by me. We need to keep power gain minimal.”

“I think I get it, he has a back room for the special customers and lets them work on their mech kits there.” Kyrion didn’t acknowledge the stinginess.

“You aren’t budging on that. Fine, sure, let's say that and move on. It’s like I’m dealing with the Kraken Queen all over again.”

----------------------------------------

Kyrion was beyond concerned, first, he’d need to deal with an emotion-filled Kilo, and then he’d need to wait and spend a month on his best behavior, which wasn’t as hard as it was irritating. What did his best even look like, it was clear, that not everything he did here was normal. But the abnormal aspects were hard to figure out.

“I need to check on my investment.” Kyrion stepped through a tear in space and appeared at the front door of Billy’s candy shop. He’d been aiming for it, but some type of magical defense kept him out, which was a first.

Going through the front door, he saw Billy behind his counter, with various new products on his counter.

“Curious,” Kyrion stated as he approached the new confections.

“Each of these can be used to impart or enhance somewhat basic powers. But power is power, all the same, and humans will pay a lot for something like this.” The goat man said with a soft tone

This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

“Figured as much. I must assume you’re making quite a bit off of my raw ingredients. Have you seen this before? It’s a fruit tea.”

“No. That’s hooch. Booze. Spirits. Alcohol.”

“Huh? So this isn’t tea.”

“Listen, I have a skill that lets me hear intent. The word you're saying isn't tea, it’s wine. You must have mistranslated something.”

“So you’re saying, I've been making alcohol?”

“That would be apt.”

“Some potions have used it as a base. So it isn’t too bad, but that would explain why people have been passing out.”

“Passing out?”

Kyrion put a potion bottle filled with his Fire wine on the counter.

Billy didn’t drink it, no he pulled a lizard from under his counter and had it lap up a few drops of the liquid. Its muddled green scales turned crimson and its spikes of fire shot from its back. The creature continued to morph until it looked like a tiny dragon with an oversized head.

“Huh, a Drakit.” Billy seemed unperturbed.

“And that is?”

“A lizard that can breathe a little fire, but that's it. Some keep them as exotic pets where I’m from.”

“So, they turn animals into monsters?”

“Reptiles adapt the fastest to mana for some reason, followed up by avians, then amphibians, sea creatures as a whole after that, then mammals. Due to this, it’s easier to test how effective your items are if used on reptiles. When I say adapt the fastest I don’t mean that they need less for more, I mean it literally, what would take a human a few days of growth and observation to show up in seconds for reptiles.”

“So what's the difference?”

“The alcohol creates an artificial organ that allows them to store and amplify their fire magic when they breathe it out. I believe it’s the nucleus of a core. It could solve one of the Esper limitations, not that I'd want to.”

“Me either, the A.E’s are suspicious to me.”

“As they should be. Human experimentation is always bizarre, and using volunteers, or deadmen as guinea pigs isn’t as ethical as people try to make it out.”

“Define deadmen?”

“People that are either on death row or for some reason, are pronounced dead in a hospital.”

“Is that so?” Kyrion suspected that this was an excuse to kidnap more than just the brain-dead.

“So, how many potions do you have?”

“I want one of each of your new candies. Or at least one of each element.” Kyrion put twelve vials on the counter.”

Billy placed a bag of wrapped confections on the counter. “Don’t consume more than one a day.”

“Got it.” Kyrion considered sneaking them onto people but instead decided to just hand them out directly.

“Did you need anything else?”

“Nope. This will do.” Kyrion made his way out, maybe he’d get a light snack before heading home.”

----------------------------------------

Ander and Chiyo stayed behind as the funeral service ended. Quite a few people had come, and gone, people he’d saved, mentored, fought with and against, lovers, and even a few people claiming to be his descendants.

Surprisingly the sole inheritor of the estate had been given to Ander as a dowry. Even in death, the old man was trying to tie him to this world.

“Why didn’t he leave everything to you instead?” Ander held the side of his head.

“You were strong enough to slay a world-ending threat with an attack capable of leveling a mountain. They saw the measurements, and unlike me, you are too risky of a threat to target.”

“You’re people would go after you?”

“My faults can be overlooked if money and power are on the line, and I'm alone.”

“Sounds annoying.”

“It is. But you know how things are.”

“No, I don’t. Why don’t you visit my world for a while? You may even be able to return sooner rather than later if you want.”

“A trip would be nice, a vacation abroad as your friend calls it.”

“It won’t really be a vacation, there will be fighting and a tournament back home. You’ll need to get a lot stronger, fast to survive there.”

“So it’s more dangerous?”

“I mean, yes, we have our world-ending threats, and many will die fighting them. But we will be stronger for it. Also, there is a bit of a time dilation gap. One month here seems to be at least a year there. Enter time dilation chambers for training and we can stretch our time further.”

“So I'd be able to become even more powerful before I return.”

“Correct.”

Chiyo flinched as a ghost appeared in front of her in the form of a sheathed katana. “Gramps!”

Ander turned his head and scowled. “Is that how you choose to return?”

Junichiro seemed to ignore Ander. Though not purposefully.

“Ah, I see, fine. We’ll do that.”

“Do what?”

“He wants me to go to your world and settle down for a while before returning. If years truly pass in months then I’ll need to use it.”

“I’m fine with that. What does "settle down” mean?”

“Who knows? What do you want to do after this?”

“Train, I won’t let myself be too weak to protect you, ever again.”

“We’ll start tomorrow. You said that you wanted to be a teacher right?”

“Ah, right, you’re a fledgling spirit master now.”

“And?”

“You’ll need to focus on compressing your mana, and building your body a little more.”

“I get the feeling that this is going to be annoying.”

“More painful than annoying.” Ander turned to the incense and prayed for a long moment before the duo left.

----------------------------------------

“It seems we’ve lost Gamma.” Said a man with dark brown eyes, his face hidden by an opera mask.

“Gamma was efficient but his mind was weak. Vulnerable to being overwritten due to the limitations of our tech at the time of his creation. Lamda is showing promise, he managed to kill me right after his powers were given to him. Though his violent tendencies led to every other experiment in his batch being slaughtered by him instead of the third.”

“And you didn’t have him put down?”

“He’s ruthless and ruthlessness is what we need sometimes. He’s the counter to any Jac unit that goes AWOL.”

“It is too risky to send him after Gamma. He’s in a protected area. Such a thing will tip your hand. Have Beta capture that Kyrion kid.”

“Use Beta to draw out Gamma, then when both are alone, use Lambda to dispose of all three.”

“Try not to get caught.”

“Please, do I look like a novice to you boss?”

“Given your track record for incurring rage, I'd say yes.”

“It isn’t that bad.”

“If you end up dead in ninety-nine percent of your trials then it is that bad.” The voice behind the mask stated.

“It was your idea to use mostly criminals as a base for memory rewriting. How that Alpha came to be surprised even I.”

“He was sick, not a criminal.”

“Semantics, we essentially replaced one addiction with another and now he’s the baseline for the next-gen.”

“An addiction that makes him more effective than he could have been. If I could have had my son back, they would have been like Alpha. Still, I don’t want you to give up on Project Omega.”

“I’d say it was going swimmingly but it’s like harnessing chaos.”

“I see. Keep it up then. An army of ethical Espers can absolve us of quite a few future sins.”

“Because serial killers and walking corpses will be missed?”

“Many of those walking corpses had a false diagnosis and may have woken eventually.”

“Or they would have died in their sleep.”

“We don’t know that for sure. Which is the issue. Huh, it appears that Delta has just swiped their access card. You should go.”

The scientist nodded and jumped into a computer just as a dagger-wielding woman entered the room. Her expression was irritated.

The man removed his mask and combed his hair back. The expression on his face was tired and wistful.

“Father?” A dark-haired woman asked.

“Pumpkin! It’s been a while. How was the mission I gave you?”

“The one where you asked me to monitor, Albrecht seems to be on the move and has made contact with that demon.”

“When and where did they make contact?”

“On the island, Albrecht was working with the grunts and participated in the booze experiment that broke Gamma’s mind.”

“Just in case, order your active brothers to avoid drinking anything the red-haired demon offers you.”

“I will. Do you have any other missions for me?”

“The red one, try to obtain some of his DNA, records say that his blood awakened a demon that lives deep within the earth.”

“Like hair or saliva?”

“Blood, skin cells, anything you can get. Just try not to start a fight. Be discreet, there is something we need to confirm, but revealing your allegiance could end with them becoming an enemy. Finally, if you find information on Alpha, don’t please update us. He’s been different ever since that mission in Madagascar.”

“Yes, father.” The blond woman turned and left her room. Her dark eyes roved over the area as though she sensed something that shouldn’t be there. In the split second before she left, it appeared as though the computer terminal near the exit shut off for no apparent reason.