Chapter 97: Survival, growth, evolution
Anthony's Analysis of the Animal Sanctuary he suspects Diana is within:
It was perfectly normal on the surface. A petting zoo, an actual zoo, other labs where they ran research using the animals there. Yet, I couldn't help but feel something... off. It was to do with my powers, I'd spoken as usual to them, but there was this strange tension I could sense in the way some of the workers answered. To my ears, it was fine... but to my powers? I just couldn't help but imagine like they were keeping something from me, something they didn't know themselves...
What the hell is going on there? I know that whatever it is, it's something... beyond my power. And that one worker, especially, seemed off to me. Her name is Emily Kaisel, she was friendly, but her eyes always appeared distant and unfocused. I could even call her clumsy, and the weirdest thing is I didn't feel anything from her. It was like there was nothing in her mind for me to resonate with.
At least, towards the end of our conversation. In the beginning, I had felt something. It was vast and whispering, but then it was gone. Like a shark submerging into the water. She knew about my ability, she had to...
By the Founders, Diana, what did you get yourself into?
August? Or September?
Diana
Awakening in my room, for once I wasn’t alone. There was Aliya seated there in the corner, smoking a cigarette.
“Awake, Silvereye?” She asked.
I nodded in my drowsiness. “Yeah.”
“I’ve barely seen you the last few… days? Yeah, I think it’s been days.” Aliya said thoughtlessly. “What’re you even fighting for? You can’t escape.”
“Whether I can escape or not isn’t the point.” I pushed myself up, pain drilled through my whole body. “I just won’t give in.”
“But why? It’s… so much easier.” Her face held a deep sadness in there. “Unless… are you immune?”
Her question caught me by surpirse, but it was the exact question she needed to ask for me to know that it was her and not Soul Killer. “I’m just very hard to infect. That’s why they’re constantly testing me out.”
“He can infect Tier IIs, even IIIs… why not you?” The spite in her voice couldn’t be hidden. I didn’t blame her for it, she’d been here for nearly two decades… “The things I’ve lost in my time here, I wished I never even tried to investigate the bastard… but what makes you so special?”
“It’s hard to say, luck… coincidence… a whole lot of random fuckups that turned out to be not-so-random brought me where I am right now. I’m confused myself… and often asking myself the same thing.”
Why me?
But sometimes a thought came to my head, what opened up the box in The Toxin Club if it wasn’t Ripley? It seemed to be linked to the whims of this Mr. R character and the Dogwhistler. It had to be some sort of sudden, unforeseen variable they knew would give them more power in the end than tearing New California’s police force down.
Think, Diana.
Could it have been me and Ripley? Or just maybe one of us? What was the reason why they had such perfect compatibility… was it them or would it have been granted to anyone who took their Implants. Or was it really because her hand had been cut and his claw had been partially digested?
Or was there something else?
Some hidden quality hidden behind the curtain of their eyes.
Mr. R had access to a MALtitan in some regards. Or atleast, The Uncaged did. The Allseeing. The titan entombed within the OldNet, at the Source of the Old_Data.
Source. That word again. The one thread linking them together.
I wished I had some ability to pry into the depths of my soul, to tear it open and divulge into the machinations of my SIM. Exactly what Soul Killer was doing right now.
The power in my blood was far greater than it should be. Even for a Gold, it was beyond unique. My growth was phenomenal, endless.
Infinite.
The Infinite. The MALtitan that had destroyed The Free City of The Floridian Gulf lining the east coast. I’d only ever seen videos of it during my time at the Cradle, but it was… horrifying. A creature with a strangely fungal appearance, it spawned stalks of buzzing of wires and flesh that entwined in nearly endless combinations to create extensions of itself in the form of monsters.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Back in the auction, all of those MALtitan chunks, I felt a strange disgust towards all of them except for that of The Infinite.
Why?
There was only one answer. It had to with my SIM… was it somehow linked to the Titan? That would explain its qualities to grow phenomenally but… how was it even acquired…? What was such a precious resource doing in the hands of The Uncaged?
All the answers led to more questions, a seemingly never ending spiral that dug me down to the depths of the abyss. And I knew what lurked at the bottom.
Aliya's voice rose up again, but this time it wasn’t her speaking. Soulless eyes quenched my hope. “Time for lunch, Diana.”
“…Yeah.” I felt so weak agreeing to them.
———
As I chewed on the steak of MAL flesh and Soul Killer rambled on about the molecular genetics of my powers, I found myself distracted with the lack of progress I’d been having.
Sure my Genes were steadily climbing… but my actual development had halted. The last fight had only ticked me up a whole percent. From 93% to 94%. It seemed like my worst-case scenario was coming true, if I was to gain 100% Development then I would need to push both Electromagnetic Telekinesis and Electrical Flash-Freeze up to their maximum development as well. But I’d only received them just… six fights ago.
Their growth had been phenomenal, but I’d felt it myself how much development slowed down as it climbed up higher in the percentages. Both of them were Energy genes, altering the properties of natural phenomena under the reality-bending qualities of my Gold Energy. Esper Genes which were supplied by Warlock-type Malformed. Most of the MALformed I’d be fighting were Chimeras and held Mutant Genes.
At this rate, it would take maybe another ten or so fights to max them out. Which was still unprecedented progress… it was just… too slow. Every wasted hour here meant that Anthony could waltz in here and fuck things up…
Sorry, no, that was harsh. I- I’m worried.
He was coming here for me, I should have been grateful. Instead, I’m cursing him. He deserved better.
Maybe when I do get out of here, I’ll give that date a try.
“Developed a taste for MAL meat?” Simon Jugosla, without red eyes, spoke. “They all come around eventually.”
“It’s cooked well.” I commented, in truth it was superb, I’d bet there were hundreds willing to stay in these conditions to be fed daily by an award-winning chef.
“You certainly aren’t a critic.” He lazed back in his chair.
“You cook human flesh too?” I asked, prodding my steak’s scraps.
He raised an eyebrow. “Occasionally.”
“Then I’m going to kill you.” I stabbed the meat, my eyes focused on his with an intensity that came easily. “All of this is wrong, and you’re complicit in this. Soul Killer in your head or not, you’re a fucked up man, Simon.”
“That’ll be for the judges to decide, if they can catch me. Actually, I’m cooking dinner for one later this week.” He smirked off, but I didn’t miss the bead of sweat rolling down his temple.
“You’ll be lucky if I let you meet them.” I took a final bite, pushing myself off the chair and walking away. All of this was taking too long, would I be impatient if I… fought my way out?
I was more confident in myself now, but I didn’t know the depths of Soul Killer’s powers. Whereas they had seen everything I was capable of. If I were to escape, it would be predicted, hell they probably dangled that open elevator over my head as a taunt, daring me to go ahead and try.
But even earthquakes could be predicted, a force of nature didn’t care if they were known or not. The outcome would be the same.
Maybe it was because I’d been snuffed out of my ability to reach into my Warp Energy, but I’d grown more sensitive as I searched for it. I was on the cusp of something else, some deeper meaning in the nature of the power bestowed upon me.
If I couldn’t reach Tier II, then maybe that was my key to escaping this place, but as my thoughts carried me down to the couch, they were torn away by the eyes of curious children.
“Miss Aliya told us you’d play with us, Silvereye.” The kid with shabby red hair, Kimbley, grabbed my hand. Olivia was there too, holding a doll and raising it up.
I settled in for a few minutes where I played games with the children. It was a good distraction, but somehow it only made my mood far more somber.
Would these children ever have a life? Or would they end up like Dr. Kaisel, as one of Soul Killer’s thralls. Once I make my escape, would I have to… would they stand in my way? I fastened my emotions. No, I could remove Soul Killer’s influence, I just needed to train that ability.
It wasn’t long until crimson eyes corrupted the children around me, their jovial smiles becoming vessels of horror. “We await you.”
Picking myself up, I began traveling down to the arena. My thoughts submerged me the entire time, Compact Tissues had finished growing and my body had pretty much reached its peak physical strength at this stage. Mineral Assimilation was nearly at its peak as well, and Electromagnetic Telekinesis was nowhere strong enough for me to properly fly.
But I did remember what Stormspinner did to mimic that effect.
Strolling in, I was surprised to see Soul Killer actually standing in the arena rather than whatever booth they usually observed from.
“The last few days have been quite eventful, you know.” Soul Killer stretched wide. “What do you know about a character named Dreadwire?”
“Never heard of them.” I answered, confused.
Soul Killer chuckled. “Well, they’re a new Gold-Grade Mercenary with one of the most bombastic entrances I’ve ever seen in this city. Your police friends are real worried about him… Mikail’s practically tearing his non-existent hair out in excitement.”
Gold… grade? Ripley?
“What happened?” I wasn’t all too sure about what was happening, but it was unnerving.
“Just a good old heist on one of the five corporations. Yuzhou’s reputation has taken a sure nose dive, I’m curious to see how things’ll change around here. I wonder if Kensuke had anything to do with this? Then again, Muramasa’s been a shit show ever since Mikail got engaged to the Bladedaughter.” Soul Killer smirked, then waved it off. “Enough about that, you must feel like punching something.”
The more I looked at their face, the more I agreed. I just huffed, staring at the elevator above. The distance was daunting, but I was growing more and more confident in my abilities to reach it.
“What do you have planned for today?” I rested my gaze on Soul Killer.
“Nothing too special.” They began to walk outside, and soon the elevator began to descend… and it wasn’t Anthony… my breath eased.
I don’t know why, but every time that elevator came down, I half expected to see Anthony with crimson eyes. The image terrified me into sleepless nights, but so far, it wasn’t a reality.
Two Bronze MALformed, bipedal and bulbous, shook in huge glass tubes.
Warlocks… exactly what I needed.
I wasn’t sure of it at first, but now, I was growing more and more confident in my hypothesis. Soul Killer was trying to bring me up to Tier II. He was trying to build my Mutations up… to get them to converge in a way that would… serve their goals?
But what for?