It happened to be a quiet morning the next day, more than I expected it to be at first. The school for younger students remained close because of the incident, settling the concerns and reassuring all the parents is something they needed time with. If they were to just continue the school as if nothing happened it could provoke a backlash from the parents, and so the school informed all parents of the incident, along with the news of the culprit having been caught and that it was one of the students. On my request the principal did not include the kid's name, so he wouldn't need to change schools or similar.

Due to the school remaining close, on their request and Fi's persuasiveness, my three daughters were allowed to stay up late, playing alongside Fi. While as a father I shouldn't have allowed them to stay up late, till 2 a.m. at that, but it was only for once, and so I allowed it, knowing they won't make a habit of it.

At around 10 a.m., as I sat in the living room, reading through Flash's report on all the doctors which went missing in the past five years, the kid entered the living room along with Kesshō. I did not feel the need to divert my attention to him even when he started talking, sounding somewhat worried and shaken up.

"How much do you know about her?" The kid inquired after standing quietly for a few moments.

"Not a lot," I answered him, still not looking up.

"Is she human?" The kid questioned.

"Of course she is, what else would she be?" I answered, looking up as I did, noticing what made the kid question that.

From what I could tell, and remembered, she did not have any ears on top of her head, which looked similar to those of a fox's or wolf's, neither did she have tentacle-like projections hanging down from her back. She didn't is what common sense and memory said, but my eyes disagreed.

"The, what?" I mumbled, having no clue how to react and wondering if I was dreaming.

"I am asking you, did you know this?" The kid exclaimed, clearly worried about several things.

"No, I did not know that, and calm down, screaming isn't going to help." I replied, trying to think. While my mind refused to accept what I saw, the fact that her ears twitched and the tentacle-like projections swayed slightly, it seemed impossible to refute it. "I don't even know who to call in this situation," I mumbled, holding my face in one hand.

"Isn't she your daughter? Why do you not know?" The kid questioned. "I knew something was wrong with her but I never thought this, are you one of those evil scientists from the movies which make monsters? Is she a monster?" He mumbled, turning her towards himself and eyeing her. "Too cute, can't be."

I picked my phone from beside me, calling Flash right away. He picked up after two calls, clearly having been asleep from his yawn. "Get up, I want you to see this, slap yourself awake if you have to." Clicking a picture of Kesshō, who was still glancing around, unaware of why everyone seemed worried, I sent the picture to Flash. "See that picture?"

"Yes, your daughter is adorable okay, but did you really need to wake me up to show that? It's 4 a.m. man," Flash mumbled sleepily.

"I want you to focus on the top of her head and the things hanging down, I want you to tell me what in the world those are before I say things to you I normally wouldn't, more so in front of kids." I replied, being completely confused and lost myself.

"Is that the cosplay thing that people do?" Flash questioned, seemingly more awake than before.

"Those are not accessories, I would not have called you if they were," I mumbled.

"What do you mean?" Flash questioned, snapped awake from the confusion.

"Those were not there yesterday, I don't know what they are but not something a normal human would have, and they are not accessories, I just want you to see if you can find something, and also, don't you dare let anyone else know of this, just why I sent it on your private number." I commanded before hanging up, not willing to take any risks before being certain of things. "As for you, when did you find this out, and why are you the first one to find out about it?"

"I don't know, when I went to sleep she was with everyone else, when I woke up she was sleeping beside me. When I got up and looked at her, I noticed the ears, and these, they grabbed my hand when I got off the bed, it was scary, and I thought I was about to die." The kid answered, not lying in the slightest from how worried and confused he seemed. "Look at this, two are still wrapped around my arm." He gestured to his hand as he raised it to the side. "They don't do anything as long as I stay near, but if I try to walk away they just pull me back."

"Kesshō, unhand him," I commanded as I looked at her. The two tentacle-things slowly unwrapped themselves from his arm as she turned and glared at them. "Not how I expected this to be, but now what that guy said makes a lot more sense, the 'devil' and stuff, seems reasonable, even though she still seems more like an angel," I mumbled to myself, attempting to organize my thoughts.

I turned as my phone rang, startling Kesshō and making her jump slightly. The nine tentacle-things raised themselves off the ground and pointed themselves towards my phone, lowering down as Kesshō turned and glared at them, again. I slowly picked my phone up, not knowing what to think of anything at this point.

"Nothing, never seen anything like these, those ears look like the ones wolves and dogs have, but those tentacle things are like nothing I could find," Flash informed as soon as I picked the call.

"Well, this is going to be a long day," I sighed. "Can you do something for me?" I inquired.

"Sure, just say the word."

"Fly here by tomorrow, I have something in mind but I will need your help, and you being here would make it much easier," I requested.

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

"She is still just as adorable," Fi squealed as she hugged Kesshō.

Both the kid and I sighed, Sapphire and Crystal nodding their agreement with Fi as they sat on the opposite side of her from me and Kesshō. "So, you knew about this, sort of?" I questioned as I turned to Kristine, sitting on the small sofa beside the kid.

"A bit, not this exactly, just that she didn't seem to be a human," Kristine mumbled with a shrug.

"How and when exactly?" I inquired.

"The day you brought her here. When bathing her I realised that many things weren't there, like her entire body just has a humanoid shape, without any of the features that a person has from the neck down," Kristine answered.

"What features?" Fi inquired.

"She looks like a mannequin pretty much, just a completely plain and smooth body," Kristine shrugged, not planning to go into detail.

Both Fi and I exchanged glances as it clicked in our mind at the same time. "How is she even– how are you even alive?" Fi questioned as she held Kesshō's face between with both her hands.

"Anything else?" I questioned Kristine.

"Her ears are also, different. I don't know what they resemble, birds don't have ears otherwise they would have kind of resembled theirs I think, they have feathers covering them." Kristine informed as she scratched her head.

Fi lifted Kesshō's hair to reveal the side of her head, and just as Kristine said, there were two ears where normal ears would have been. Elongated, similar to elves from fantasy books in shape, but covered in light pink feathers with brightly colored feathers at the end.

"She looks adorable but I still don't understand what she is," Fi mumbled.

"She reminds me of monsters from horror movies," the kid mumbled.

"Not from horror movies," Fi replied, "maybe from cartoon movies, she is too cute to scare anyone."

"Well, not much point thinking too hard about it when we know absolutely nothing," I sighed. "Just do whatever you all usually would, and don't disturb me for a while, I have some work to do." I informed as I got up from the sofa, heading to my workplace, a room at a corner of the mansion.

I pressed a part of the wall, pushing it in slightly before sliding it to the side. After that, I retrieved the key from inside, the part of the wall closing twenty seconds after I removed the key. Opening the door I walked inside, turning on the lights as I did. A workbench sat in one corner of the room, several tools kept in its compartments. A computer setup was kept in the opposite corner, the wall behind the setup lined with several guns, a table to the side possessing the ammunition for them placed on it, along with several other equipment.

I sat down at the computer with a sigh, wondering what to do regarding the current problem. Not having close to any knowledge in the related fields, I looked through the database for people who did, searching through their background history as well and selecting ones which I found fit for this.

I needed people who would refrain from leaking any sort of information anywhere, trustworthy people who also possessed a high level of skill and knowledge in their fields. I did not contact any of them for the moment, only listing them for Flash to run a much more detailed background check on.

I did however, send a mail to one specific person, an old friend who simply did not have anything to do at the time. While he did not have any expertise in any of the required fields, I still invited him over, just to meet him after many years. Although, due to his field of expertise, I did suspect he might have some usable information regarding this.

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

"It looks much bigger from here." Flash mumbled as he looked around, just having gotten out of the car, a black Mercedes.

"Yes, it is very big," I replied. "Did you run the background check on those people?" I inquired as two servants retrieved his belongings from the car.

"Yes, I think they will work. I hope you do realise they are freaks for the sake of science, and they won't care much about the fact that she is also a living and intelligent being," Flash informed.

"I know, I don't plan to let them near her anyways," I informed Flash, earning a confused glance from him. "Neither am I calling them here nor am I going to send her to them, they will get a video recording of the experiments and tests they suggest, I will decide if those tests will happen or not."

"You plan to conduct experiments on her yourself?" Flash questioned.

"Kind of, nothing too complicated, and nothing that might cause any harm to her," I shrugged.

"Reasonable." He nodded understandingly. "You said there would be a third guy, who will that be?"

"You know him, I don't think you like him but you know him," I informed.

"Please don't let it be who I think it is." Flash shook his head in despair.

"He should be here soon, set your differences aside, he isn't a bad person, otherwise Fi would have shot him in the head." I patted his shoulder as another car entered through the gate, a white Lamborghini.

The car stopped to the side, not far from the entrance. Its gate flew open, my old 'friend' stepping right out from it. He wore his usual all white clothes, his blue eyes and white hair adding to it. "Didn't think you will be waiting to welcome me." He smiled as he turned to me and Flash.

"You sure look like vanilla ice cream," Flash mumbled.

"Come on man, are you still holding a grudge for what happened all those years ago?" He questioned.

"Frost, let me remind you, you shot me in the leg, on an infiltration mission," Flash exclaimed.

"It was an accident, I would never want to shoot my good friend." Frost shrugged as he stood in front of Flash.

"Says the person who has picked a mission to kill both of us in the past," Flash groaned.

"You don't get to complain about that, I spared you, he can complain about it, because he spared me," Frost replied.

"Can we stop the fighting?" I questioned, getting fed up of the two already. "We have bigger problems at hand."

"Right, did you have find out anything about the girl?" Flash questioned.

"I didn't find out anything about any girl," Frost replied with a shrug. "But," he added, "I found out about something that might connect back to her, and I brought something from it back with me." He retrieved a small vial from his coat pocket, containing a black liquid with a hint of red and blue in it.

"What is that?" Flash inquired.

"Blood, as far as I know anyways." Frost shrugged as he pocketed the vial. "I found it in one of the safes of a millionaire in America when I went to assassinate him, along with this I also found many documents and papers, all of which I brought with me because I thought they might prove useful in negotiations, but I did not need to do I just kept them."

"Actually did something helpful, appreciate it." Flash nodded.

"Sometimes I feel like I should not have killed those forty people after shooting you in the leg to save you, maybe I should have just left you there," Frost mumbled.

"Where are the documents?" I questioned.

"In my car, want me to get them for you?" He responded.

"Yes, get them and then help search through them, give the keys to Earl he will park your car." I informed as I walked back to the mansion, Flash following behind me.

"So, he is still continuing his work as an assassin," Flash mumbled.

"Yes, it's not a stretch to say he is made for that line of work. Elusive, aware, cunning, everything he needs for the job, along with a family history in the line of work." I informed as I opened the door and entered, waiting right there for Frost.

"I find it hard to believe his hair is white because of some genetic thing," Flash mumbled.

"It isn't, he dyes it, he just likes to spread the rumor to make people scared of him, he thinks that's how it works atleast. Even other than that, he is someone who likes to weaken his target as much as possible before finishing them off when they are at their lowest," I mumbled, reminiscing some not great memories.

"He came after you as well before, how far did he succeed?" Flash questioned.

"Almost succeeded, he made the mistake when he got Fi involved," I shrugged.

"I am not someone who expects someone to just become a complete monster when their loved one's life is on the line." Frost shrugged as he entered. "Like, I am holding your girlfriend at gunpoint, how am I supposed to expect instead of surrendering to save her life you will go berserk on me. Like you hospitalized me for seven months. I am a changed man since then, I do not want to make you mad in the slightest."

"Keep your distance from Fi and you won't, and don't forget I got the chance just because you got outplayed by a seventeen year old little girl," I sighed. "Anyways, follow me to the back of the mansion now, most people usually don't go there except me so you two will be staying there."

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

Time: 2:27 p.m., 8th March, 2015.

"Hello?" I inquired as I picked the phone.

"Kurai, I have found something out of the ordinary," Flash informed.

"What do you mean by that?" I questioned.

"A bird, bigger than a fighter jet, it attacked and destroyed a military base before flying away and disappearing, or so the intel says," Flash answered.

"Good grief, where did that happen?" I inquired as I parked my car to the side of the road.

"The United States, want me to book a flight?" Flash questioned, seemingly prepared to do so.

"No need, I will just fly from a private jet, it might cause more chaos if left for ten hours, and possibly end up making news, you inform the military till then," I ordered.

"Affirmative, this is your first chance, and probably the best chance, don't let it be wasted." Flash said before hanging up.

I sighed as I called Earl, waiting for him to pick up. "Pack my bag, I will be gone for a day or two, book a jet as well, and keep her ready too, I will be there in about forty minutes."

"I shall need forty five for all of it, but I will be done with what you need right now before then." Earl reassured before hanging up.

"Finally after more than half a year of wait, I was starting to lose hope here." I mumbled to myself as I floored the gas, turning around and driving ahead, just at the speed limit.

I arrived at the mansion after forty two minutes, finding Earl and Kesshō standing right at the gate, along with Dark. I parked my car right at the gate after turning it around, letting Earl open the door and place my bag in, along with letting Kesshō sit inside. Dark stood quietly and watched, glancing sadly at her.

"She is not going to die, cut out that sad look," I sighed.

"How are you so sure?" He inquired.

"Experimentation, none of which hurt her, so rest assured, this would be a piece of cake," I reassured. "As for you–" I turned to Kesshō– "keep your ears and tails hidden, sit tight and be prepared, you may or may not have to fight something."

Kesshō nodded before pointing to the top of her head, where there were no ears currently.

"The two extra minutes you took allowed me to book the jet as well, I have messaged you the details." Earl informed as he closed the door of the backseat.

I smiled to Earl before driving away, hoping to return by tomorrow evening at most. Kesshō sat quietly as I drove to the airport, looking out of the window as she usually did in car rides. She did not seem to oppose the idea of having to fight, which made sense because she was made to kill in every way possible.

The papers Frost possessed revealed much, her skeletal structure, genetic structure, a detailed analysis of the structure termed 'Core', her scales, a surprise as I didn't think she possessed any, along with many other things. It even contained many speculations, like how each of her tails possessed approximately eighty billion neurons, making the estimate of the total number of neurons in her entire body between eight hundred billion to a bit over a trillion.

Working with many hired scientists, all of which stood true to their word and did not leak any information regarding her, we were able to confirm many of these theories, along with get many more theories. The most stretched theory being the assumption of her being near immortal, one with many bases, but not one we could confirm.

They also confirmed the potency of her venom, which she also possessed, a mix of neuro, cardio, and hemotoxins, a deathly venom more than capable of starting a death sentence in multiple ways at once, allowing your body to decide which the cause would be. The death of the brain, the popped heart, or bleeding out, the first two having the highest chances of happening.

The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

We also confirmed that her scales were, very much, bullet proof, easily causing a point blank range sniper bullet to ricochet off like a rubber bullet. They were also very shock absorbent, easily capable of reducing the impact enough for her to barely even notice anything happened from a long range shot. Along with that, there were about five to ten layers of these scales, three at the joints though, with only the bottom most layer being connected to the nervous system.

It did not come as a surprise when they confirmed her genetic structure also possessed some similarities to humans, and that she was most likely a result of some hybridisation experiment, very likely illegal or a top secret experiment by some government, something we were yet to find out. All notes on her seemed to belong to scientist named Ross, the surname not having been included.

There were also some clues of the facility in the reports about her. We could tell the facility was constructed somewhere underground, in the United States, and around a barren wasteland like area, with a decoy abandoned house directly above the facility. No such facility was found in the United States, making the trail go cold right then and there.

While these confirmations told much about her, there was only one confirmation Fi cared about, and paid any attention. According to the reports, Kesshō was born on December thirtieth of the year two thousand and ten, just as Fi guessed, a coincidence she didn't stop talking about for a few days.

There were many answers left to be answered, but we did get one answer which concerned us more than anything else. The blood of something was used in making her, a vial of black blood with blue and pink hues, blood that did not match any creatures we know of, but was a ninety percent match to Kesshō's. We could only guess there were similar things from similar experiments somewhere out there, and we chose to simply wait and bide our time till one was found, which would grant the perfect opportunity to strike a deal.

From the car ride all the way till the flight landed, Kesshō simply sat quietly, eating chocolates, something she could be allowed to do as much as she wished. They did not harm her in any way, even if she only ate them it wouldn't really matter much, though she still prefers to eat other things as well. Eating in general as it turned out, was the healthiest thing for her.

The 'Core' in her body was compared to a nuclear reactor by the reports, largely due to the massive amounts of energy it generates every day from constant unknown processes going on inside of it. But, on a much more thorough investigation, which Kesshō didn't mind us doing, it seemed much closer to a black hole in function. It simply absorbed any matter that came near it, even non-reactive metals like gold and platinum were easily absorbed, not even diamonds were safe. It didn't mean it simply absorbed everything that came near it, apparently it seemed to be somewhat conscious as it only absorbed matter under certain conditions.

The only seemingly general condition was to absorb matter not connected to a living creature. This remained the only condition as long as the Core remained inside of her body, and yes, while it appeared to be the equivalent of a vital organ, she could survive easily for over a month even without the core, though in that time she slept a lot more, around sixteen hours a day, and preferred to be in sunlight as well as keeping her body warm.

As for the removal of the core, it looked to be a painful and suicidal process, though she didn't to have been hurt in the slightest. When we were talking about it with the scientists, who wanted to experiment on the core if possible, and we declined them as we believed it would be the equivalent of wanting to experiment on a normal creature's heart, she walked to us and dropped a small pink crystal on the table before going back to read her book.

It came as a shock, mostly because not only did she survive without much trouble for over a month without the core, it also seemed as if at the end of the month, the crystallization of a second core begun right beside her heart. When we returned her core to her, she simply ate it, as for what happened after that, we are unable to even guess.

She only gets scarier the more we find out about her, but even after revealing about herself, she has not changed her behaviour and nature in the slightest. Along with that, it doesn't seem that she is capable of speech. She can growl and hiss, even purr and chirp, but human speech doesn't seem to be possible for her, or perhaps she simply does not feel the need of using it, something even the reports from those who created her guessed.

Finding out more about her would still require finding out more about similar creatures as well, if any exist. As for a bird bigger than a fighter jet, it seems very possible for it to be somewhat similar. Even for Kesshō, it would not be the slightest problem to make her body a replica of another creature, like an alligator or a bird. As long as the Core is intact, the rest of the body could be regenerated, and from our guess, even changed, to some extent if not entirely.

About ten minutes before the jet landed Kesshō's ears stood up as she sensed something, an alertness she very rarely shows, though this seemed different than other times. Her eyes were narrowed and her side ears oscillated at a fast rate, appearing to almost not be moving, something that happened when she used her echolocation, another rare occurence.

"You good?" I inquired as I placed my hand on her head.

She turned to me and nodded before looking out of the window. Not much could be seen nearby from the window due to the dark night sky, though being in the air, the lights of two helicopters flying in the distance could be seen, even if barely. She only looked outside from the window, not doing anything else, suggesting it should be fine. I also waited for the flight to land, as she was doing from the looks of it.

The second the flight landed she got up and nudged me ahead, gesturing me to hurry. Not knowing the reason, I hurried ahead, leading her to the FBI's car that waited right outside the airport. There were three agents in the car, two in the front seat, one in the backseat. They started the car right after I sat in, driving out of the airport.

The phone of one of the agent's rang, which he handed to me after a few moments. "They will drive you to the place, you can handle the rest," Flash informed.

"Okay, do they know everything?" I inquired.

"No, they don't about that. Also, the military is currently trying to take it down so they won't be able to take you too close to it," Flash explained.

"What about the thing?" I questioned.

"Bullets don't have any effect whatsoever, rockets and shells can damage it still, along with some heavy machine guns. They have not been able to take it out of the sky yet, or cause any considerable damage." Flash explained the situation, sending a couple photos of the bird as well. The pictures were blurry, but it appeared to be similar to a falcon or eagle in looks, just much bigger.

"Do you think it's stronger than..." I trailed off, saying just enough for him to be able to guess.

"Based on what we know she could do, and what the bird has been seen doing, not in a million years," Flash replied.

"Keep an eye on the situation and let me know if something happens before I get there." I ordered before hanging up, laying back and sighing. I wonder how this will go, hopefully as expected.

As we got closer Kesshō seemed to be getting more attentive towards her surroundings, her head turning from side to side every now and then. The other agents seemed to be somewhat confused as to why I brought a kid along with me, but they didn't say anything. The car stopped some time later, right at the start of a dirt trial leading away from the road into the woods.

"We will have to walk from here," the driver informed.

"Okay then, you are free to wait here." I mumbled to the agents as I got out of the car, looking in the sky in an attempt to see a massive bird flying up there. "What will you do?" I inquired as I turned to Kesshō.

She tilted her head at me, glancing down the dirt trail every few moments.

"You are free to act as you wish, I will go ahead, come when you are ready." I sighed as I walked down the trail, Kesshō looking above the tree cover, standing on her toes to see higher, not making much difference.

It happened to be a near fifteen minute walk till I noticed the military soldiers surrounding the perimeter. I waved to them, making sure they noticed me before approaching. After confirming my identity they allowed me to pass, offering an assault rifle for safety, which I declined.

"It will be too dangerous to engage with just pistols," one of the five officers informed.

"Don't worry, I have prepared beforehand, you all keep guard and make sure no civilians get anywhere close." I waved to them before walking ahead.

"You might want a vehicle, it would take you nearly half an hour to get there on foot," The soldier called out. "We have a dirt bike you can borrow." He offered as he gestured to the bike, the keys in his hand.

"I will accept that offer." I gestured him to toss the keys, which he did. Catching the keys I walked to the dirt bike, getting on it and turning the keys to start it. I took off down the dirt path, tracks of heavy military vehicles easily visible on the path not far down. The half an hour walk got reduced to about three minutes with the help of the bike.

I could see the bird even before I reached the location, hovering just above the tree cover. It swooped down once before I reached, again flying over the tree tops, what seemed like a jeep clenched in its talons. It dropped the jeep after a few moments, having dropped it on something based on the metallic sound.

I stopped the bike just a short distance from where the bird hovered, getting off it and dashing to some soldiers crouched beside a tree. There were three light tanks there, all aimed at the bird. A heavy tank also sat there, it's top crushed by a jeep. One of the three soldiers crouched beside the tree stepped out and shot a RPG at the bird, crouching back under the tree as the shot hit. The bird stalled for a split second before regaining control of its flight, shaking off the hit like nothing even happened.

"What's the situation?" I questioned, being able to guess much of it.

"That *blip* just refuses to go down. Tank shells, rockets, bullets, *blip* doesn't work against it." The soldier who shot the rocket informed.

"Okay, you are free to retreat now, if not then stand down for now, tell that to the others as well." I commanded, receiving a confused stare from all three. "Do as you will." I sighed as I stood up, realising the chances of them knowing me were nearly non-existent.

Walking out from the tree cover I walked nonchalantly to the side, standing in an opening, in clear view of the bird. It stared directly at me, seemingly contemplating something for a few moments before shaking its head and glancing between the trees and the tanks.

"Not necessarily hostile, most likely got attacked first, or just hates the Americans for some reason," I shrugged. "Well, she should be coming here soon."

The bird hovered in the air, not paying any mind to me and searching for any remaining soldiers. It did not seem to have any desire to land on the ground, knowing it would lose much of its advantage by doing so. Such a large creature would need some time to lift off again as well, only adding to its disadvantages on landing.

The bird snapped it's head to the side, letting out a high pitched whistle. It swerved to the side just as a projectile shot past it, seemingly a ball of blue flames. The projectile landed on the ground, dispersing the flames to the surroundings in a short radius around it. Luckily, the only thing that caught on fire happened to be an already fallen tree.

"Careful with that," I called out.

Kesshō glanced at me and lowered her head, an apology from what I have been able to guess for the part year. Having apologized, she again turned towards the bird, both of them staring at each other for nearly a minute, making no moves. Kesshō let out a hiss as she raised her wings above herself. The bird responded with a low-pitched whistle, blowing a gust of wind by violently flapping it's wings.

Kesshō launched herself upwards, turning her body and axe-kicking the bird's head before it could turn and dodge. The bird lost it's balance and fell out of the air, crashing on the ground on its back. Kesshō landed right beside it just as the bird got on its feet. She again hissed at the bird, not attacking it, simply threatening it.

The bird glanced around before lowering it's head and spreading its wings as wide as they could go, seemingly a bow. From my estimate the bird happened to be around four meters in length, it's height around three meters, and flexing a wingspan of nearly nine meters. In terms of appearance it seemed to be an exact, oversized replica of a peregrine falcon.

The result of the confrontation also seemed to be fairly strange. I did not tell her to attack it, yet she did, despite being the most peaceful thing I have ever witnessed. It seemed as if the moment the two spotted each other they prepared for a fight without any provocation. The fight did not last long either, just one attack deciding the result, despite neither of the two suffering any injuries whatsoever.

The two showed no sign of ever having even fought, Kesshō having returned to her normal cheerful and curious self, inspecting the bird as it inspected her, lightly poking at her with its beak. The falcon pulled her close with its beak out of nowhere, closing its wings around her, shielding her. A RPG hit the falcon's wings just then, causing it to emit a high pitched whistle, seemingly in pain.

I glanced in the direction the attack came from, the soldier still reloading the RPG. Before I could call out the three tanks also open fired, along with all the other soldiers that were hiding between the trees. I sighed, knowing full well what the outcome would be. As I looked back towards the falcon I got knocked off my feet by a strong and heavy gust of wind, the tanks also being pushed back along with the trees.

As I looked back I noticed the falcon laying on the ground, slowly getting back on its talons. The most noticeable thing however, happened to be the face, easily visible in the night. Blue-pink pulsating lights glowed in the dark, resembling the face of a giant monstrous creature with four eyes, two larger and two comparatively smaller right under the larger eyes. The face looked lower towards the ground before disappearing with another strong gust of wind.

I glanced to the side to notice the soldiers frozen in fear, their heavy breathing audible even where I lay. I sighed as I pushed myself back to my feet, dusting my coat as I did. One of the tanks fired another shot at the place the face was a moment ago, the shot exploding into a burst of flames right there.

I heard the sound of metal being crushed and bent as I glanced to the side, only to notice the tank floating in the air. "Kesshō, put it back down, now!" I ordered in an angry tone of voice.

The tank crashed to the ground a moment later, blowing the loose soil and knocking into the tank beside it. Kesshō appeared right in front of me, having used her camouflage earlier to turn visible. She tilted her head at me before beckoning the bird to come over to us.

"Not now, we are leaving, tell it to follow us if you want." I ordered as I walked towards the bike. Hearing a high pitched whistle followed by a growl I turned around. "Follow however you want, just don't wander off, and don't be noticed by anyone," I sighed.

Kesshō nodded cheerily from her spot on the bird's back, sitting with her legs crossed. The bird spread its wings just as I started the engine, launching itself into the air as I started moving. I did not see them the entire way till the unit I borrowed the bike from, where I stopped to return it. I did not spot them even as I reached the car, not even spotting them as I reached the airport.

I started to get somewhat worried when they didn't appear even as I sat in the plane, putting my trust in her to do as I said and follow. I only got the chance to breathe a sigh of relief when I noticed the momentary blue glow in the distance when the plane was flying, being brief but enough to let me know the two followed.

The plane landed in the morning, after which I made my way back to the mansion in my car, easily noticing a bird flying in the sky due to the light of the day. It appeared to be the same size as a normal bird, drawing no attention from anyone who might look up at the sky. I reached my home not long after, stretching as I got out of my car, Earl, Dark and Fi standing beside the gate.

Earl took my bag out of the car as Fi and Dark glanced at each other in confusion, staring at me right after. "Where did she go?" Fi mumbled.

I pointed up at the sky with a yawn just as a strong gust of wind blew from the side. The bird landed on the ground right outside the gate, lowering it's body and letting Kesshō off right after. Jumping off she rushed right to Dark, giving him a brief hug, which he did not return due to the shock he just received, before hugging Fi, being embraced and lifted up just as she did. Dark stared at me with a confused expression, glancing at the bird every few moments.

"I did not know what to do with it, so I brought it along, it's nothing too shocking." I sighed as I walked past him and embraced Fi.

"Really though, why did you bring this jurassic bird here?" Fi questioned with a giggle.

"I did not feel like leaving it there, what happened there could serve as a pretty good negotiation advantage," I shrugged.

"Did she get hurt?" Fi inquired as she looked at Kesshō.

"No, nothing they have is strong enough to hurt her, except a nuclear warhead maybe, which I doubt they would use so carelessly, I hope so atleast," I answered.

The bird seemed to be looking around, not touching anything, simply observing as it slowly walked around. It walked to Dark and poked his head with its beak, inspecting him from the looks of it. Dark simply sighed and walked away, not wanting anything to do with the bird.

"So, how long do you think they will take to call you now?" Fi questioned.

"They did, while I was in the flight, I should call them before they send the military." I sighed as I released Fi and walked a few steps away.

"I will head in with Kesshō," Fi informed. "The bird stays outside, it's too big to enter anyways." Fi said to Kesshō as she tapped the bird's head before heading in.

Apparently, the bird seemed to be unreasonably calm and collected. Not even trained falcons and eagles are usually this calm around strangers, more so when those strangers are lunch-sized. It seemed more interested in its surroundings than eating, simply walking around and looking at things, not touching them for some reason.

I dialled Flash's number with a sigh, the call being picked up almost instantly. "What's the situation?"

"They want an explanation, about the bird and the girl. It could very much end with your family's contract with the UN getting revoked," Flash informed.

"Like I care about that," I scoffed. "Are they willing for a call?"

"Do you want to talk to the president directly?" Flash questioned.

"No, I would prefer to talk with the UN representatives of all the nations, if it can be arranged." I shrugged, pacing back and forth.

"Most likely not right now, I can give it a try though," Flash sighed.

"Sure, give it a try," I replied.

"Why not just talk with the US president?" Flash inquired.

"I don't want to ally myself with any country. You should also be aware with how these things are built wiping out entire armies is a peace of cake. I would never ally myself with any country or even favor one because I know just how these people are," I responded.

"Okay, will you be free in the evening?" Flash questioned.

"Yes, I think I will be. Has the facility been built?" I inquired.

"It has and the scientists are also there already, the primary group at the very least."

"Good, I think I will send the bird's blood sample for testing, just to see what things they mixed together to get something like this," I informed.

"I will contact you when it's time, clocking off for the night now," Flash yawned.

"Okay, see you later then." I replied before hanging up.

The bird, having gotten bored seemingly, turned to inspecting the gardens, stepping around the flowers so to not trample them. It's blood sample would explain much about it considering by comparing the reports and records with Kesshō's blood the scientists were able to grasp a basic understanding of how it worked.

The reports Frost found were just printouts of the many reports saved in a pen drive. The pen drive contained many more reports than what were printed, mostly about Kesshō's behavior and mental capabilities. It even referred to her as 'the smartest creature to ever exist, but with the mentality of a five year old'.

Considering the number of neurons she has, it's only a matter of time till she matures and starts to use them more and in complex ways. Calling her dumb would be far too blunt, and slightly inaccurate, very clumsy and a simpleton feels far more accurate. She simply searches for the simplest way to do anything, no matter what it might be. The terrifying part being, even while doing something in a ten times simpler way, she rarely ever sacrifices the quality of the work.

The scientists also wanted to figure out which kingdom of living organisms she would technically belong to. At first glance it would be easy to classify her under the kingdom animalia and work from there, it would be if not for one major problem. Her cells from what was found, possess cell walls, which would make her either a fungi or a plant. It would have been sorted if not for another major problem. Her Core generates energy, which would technically make her mode of nutrition autotrophic, but she eats pretty much anything, so calling it heterotrophic seems to be correct as well.

In simple terms, she is a living contradiction to everything we know, which does make her closer to Fungi. For now however, they have agreed on not classifying her as anything, and instead petitioning for a new kingdom, which they have yet to decide upon. It would only happen once more such hybrids are found however, and if any are found.

The bird as it seems, is far more important from a scientific perspective than it appeared to be at first. The scientists do greatly hate just how uncooperative Kesshō could be at times. The reports Frost found did mention that they suspected she could easily tell they were trying to learn about her, and that she purposefully didn't let them learn many things about her. It seemed more a matter of if she wants us to know about something or not, many things of which she doesn't.

A good example of this would be her camouflage. Its not from chromatophores as everyone assumed at first, afterall she possesses no chromatophores, it's from something entirely else. What might it be from? We have no clue, and it is quite obvious she doesn't wants us to have any either.

Another example could be her fire, a result of the combustion of unknown compounds possible only in the present of sulphur dioxide. The combustion occurs due to a reaction between the compound and sulphur, the oxygen seemingly just helping quicken the process, ignited by an electromagnetic pulse from her Core. The compound would have been studied and possibly discovered, if she let us, which she did not. Unlike her camouflage, it's not something we could even try to study without her permission as the compound is present inside of her mouth, and it's not possible to do so without triggering her jaws, which are deadly to say the least.

While Kesshō seems to embody the very concept of contradictions and unknowns, the bird seems just like a plus sized falcon. Its possible they are not similar in the slightest, but this bird seems to be much more intelligent than any others of any species it resembles, and if a species of such a massive bird ever existed it would not have gone unnoticed for this long.

With nothing else to do for now, I chose to first take the bird to the facility, seemingly not an easy task which turned out be even easier than dealing with Kesshō. "Hey, can you follow me while staying high in the air like you did just then? I will bring you somewhere safer," I offered, not expecting it to even react.

Not only did the bird shatter my expectations by reacting, it nodded at me before launching high into the air, reaching high enough to look like a normal bird in less than a minute. It circled overhead, not flying away in any direction. I got in my car and drove ahead, stopping some distance away and looking up to see it still circling directly above me, surprising to say the least.

I drove all the way to the facility, the bird not flying lower at any point during that time. I reached the port and paid for a boat to Svalbard, continuing further ahead on foot for a short distance after arriving, reaching a cleared area surrounded by trees. I circled the area, one of my hands held out to touch the trees as I did.

I stopped as I felt an odd lump in a tree, pushing the lump to the side to reveal the lump to be a wooden container, containing a key. I walked to the center of the clearing just as the bird landed near it, blowing the snow away. While it didn't plan to just now, it still helped by clearing some of the snow away.

Brushing some more of the snow to the side I revealed a door in the ground, flipping a small hatch at its edge to reveal a keyhole. Inserting the key in the hole I turned it three times clockwise, twice counter-clockwise, once clockwise and then three times counter-clockwise, hearing a click from the door just as I turned it the last time. I again turned the key twice clockwise to hear another click, the first click being nothing more than a fake alarm for those who were not invited and simply happened to guess the code.

Grabbing the handle of the door I pulled it open, the heavy metal requiring much of my strength. The bird glanced at me as I shuffled down the ladder, failing to find enough space to fit in himself. Standing at the bottom of the ladder I breathed for a moment, my clothes failing to protect me from the cold this time, afterall, while they looked the exact same, I possessed different work clothes for cold and warm environments.

I pressed the blue button close to the stairs, the bird letting out an alarmed whistle as the platform slowly descended. It did not overreact luckily, simply seeming to have been startled at first, quite similar to Kesshō. I stopped the platform by again pressing the button and closed the door I opened first, allowing the platform to fully lower and fit perfectly with the surroundings.

I gestured the bird to walk ahead, letting it step off the platform before raising it again with a red button below the blue one. After being done with that, I led the bird ahead, and it followed me to my surprise. It did not seem to question anything, simply seemed to be amused by everything inside. Walking through the wide path, wide enough for even a whale to slide through easily, I opened the door at the end, placed at the corner of the large wall the hallway ended with, and entered, closing the door behind me.

I pressed a red button right beside the door, opening the big gate which looked like a wall from the outside, pressing the button again to stop it just wide enough for the bird to enter. I waited a few moments for it to figure it out by itself and enter, but it didn't. I walked to the big gate and looked outside, only to find the bird looking around and inspecting the pillars that held the large path in place, making sure the roof did not collapse, the long ladder an evidence to the depth the path was built at.

I gestured the bird to enter, going unnoticed by the curious raptor for a short while before it chirped an apology and followed. It slowly walked through the big gate, looking around as it did, looking somewhat disappointed to only find an empty all white room, a grey metallic door at the opposite side of it, the same size as this one. After some wait two of the scientists entered the room from a door at the corner, one of them getting a look at the bird with a scanner from the door while another approached it.

The bird watched curiously as the guy inserted a needle and extracted a blood sample from it, the blood being red and the bird not being armored like Kesshō as it turned out. It did not seem to mind them either, simply staring at them as they did their work and left, turning back to me afterwards. I shrugged before gesturing it to follow, making my way back to the platform.

The bird stepped back onto the platform as it lowered again. I also stepped on the platform with it, pressing the red button to raise the platform again. The platform clicked into place as it raised completely, allowing me and the bird to walk off easily. I placed the key back before turning to the bird, only to find it still looking at me.

"Uhm, you are free to do as you please around here for now, just avoid other humans, if you want food you can hunt, or just come to tell me, you already know where I live." I gave it a thumbs-up with a nervous smile.

The bird nodded at me before spreading its wings and flying off. It did not circle overhead this time, instead it seemed to scour the environment. I sighed as I turned away, preparing to return back home and rest, having told the boat to wait for me beforehand.