"Raven! We have to hide!" Darla was scared, she didn't want to end up like the man in the chair.

But there was nowhere to hide, the room had many objects. However, each was out in the open or couldn't cover the two completely. It would be like a grown man hiding behind a stop sign.

Darla hesitantly tried multiple spots, but it was too late.

Click!

The door opened. Doctor Ivan and another man in a lab coat entered with an entourage of guards.

The guards must've been on break when Cain and Darla entered, or perhaps there were other entrances that required more attention.

"What is this?! Why is there a child and a bird?!" Doctor Ivan exclaimed.

The man in the lab coat beside Doctor Ivan stared at Cain with shock. "Is that a Raven? What the...."

Before anyone made a move, Cain's soul energy spread out and went to surround the group. But surprisingly the younger man in the lab coat also had a strong soul! His soul energy reacted and defended against Cain's!

'So he's the one with the refined soul!'

Cain wasn't surprised there were not more strong people. From what was gathered, this operation was to be hidden. Diverging more resources would make a trail, a trail others could pick up on. For the best chances of not being found, the government made sure to keep security to a minimum.

It was fate that Cain and Darla found this place!

"S-Such a strong soul!" The young scientist was overwhelmed.

Cain sneered as his power exploded, the opponent was propelled back into some equipment causing some wiring to go haywire.

"Doctor Braun!" The guards went over to help.

Doctor Ivan even took a step, but Cain's soul invaded his own.

(I wouldn't move. You fear death don't you?) A charismatic voice entered the old man's mind.

"W-What sorcery is this?! H-How do you-"

(Fear not, I know what you are doing here, you should know Immortality in this way is impossible. Perhaps extending lifespan might work for a decade or two but not true immortality. I'm afraid everything must die, some existences might live until the end of time, but then with the end, death comes as well. The laws exist for a reason, and laws are eternal Doctor. To escape death would be to escape to a place without such a concept as life, and I'm afraid that too is impossible.)

Every word that entered Ivan's mind was compelling. Because of that, Ivan became even more fearful.

"W-What are you?" His voice shook, he felt like he was facing straight into the abyss, a pitch-black darkness.

(Me? I'm simply an interested academic. This project you all are working on interests me, I have a feeling it will help in my understanding of this world greatly. I might even have a way for you to get your wish.)

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

Doctor Braun was helped back up. The guards were about to attack but Doctor Ivan fell to his knees. He began to plead.

"Please, I'll do anything oh Great One! Anything to live!"

Everyone stopped, their eyes turning to the small girl with the raven on her shoulder. But their eyes diverted from the oblivious Darla to the bird on her shoulder. The bird radiated arrogance, looking down at the pleading old man, its black eyes holding mysteries.

"The bird is a what?" Doctor Braun was muddled.

This time, Cain's voice entered everyone's head, all except Darla's.

(If you truly mean those words, prepare quarters for me and the girl. Tomorrow I will lecture you on why the current direction of your research is wrong. If we can complete this research, and you do well, I might be interested enough in you to keep you by my side well past your mortal lifespan.)

"Ah...ah! Of course Great One! Of course, right away! It will be done!" Ivan was ecstatic, he stood up and immediately gave orders to the guards and then took Doctor Braun with him, going back through the decontamination chamber. "Please wait here Great One, I will return when everything is ready!"

The door shut and the trespassers were left behind.

Darla was almost drooling. "Uh.....what just happened? Raven?"

For the first time, Cain's soul energy enveloped her as he spoke, (Don't fret, I have everything under control.)

At that moment, something came over Darla, her heart began to beat faster. It fluttered, she at last received recognition from Cain.

Of course, Cain knew all of this, her soul was under his control after all, at least superficially. The mark wasn't embedded deep enough for control over life and death, the connection wasn't even deep enough for Cain to examine her soul, he could only understand her emotions and thoughts, and could control them with a bit of guidance.

'How cute, she's like a pet whose owner came home.'

...

"So...that's it?" Lexi sat down on the giant corpse to catch his breath.

Melina crossed her arms, her staff standing still next to her. "Ya think? Thing's more dead than a rodent in the hands of a starving vagrant. Or maybe that's a bad analogy, I've seen some eat them alive..."

As the cultists conversed, Laimir stood next to the Arbiter at the highest point of the body, far away from the others.

"So, what do you think Miss?"

The Arbiter stopped looking at the corpse, her helm tilting upwards. Her hair which was restricted by the helmet became free, the thing that constricted it vanishing in thin air.

Laimir gazed at a beautiful pale woman with black hair, her eyes a dazzling blue and red lips like roses. Yet he wasn't fazed, there was no emotion in his eyes.

"I think we must find that Raven you described. None escaped the Bureau, which means this one is wild. Strange, don't you think?"

Her gaze narrowed on Laimir, he shook a bit under her soul's natural pressure.

"I agree, my partner told me he saw a girl take the bird and escape before the cult leader turned into a monster. Some others recounted the same thing."

The Arbiter's eyes glistened, "Interesting...."

...

The doors opened again and an excited Ivan walked through.

"Everything's prepared oh Great One! Follow this servant!"

Cain and Darla were led through the compound. They were brought to a nicely furbished room with all the baseline necessities covered.

"Rest well! I am excited to receive your wisdom!" Ivan left.

"So this is our new home?" Darla curiously looked around, picking up anything that wasn't nailed down to get a closer look at it.

'This will do, they gave us a large room. These people might play fair. Ivan doesn't seem to be lying either, my words worked. This is good, this research will help me learn more about souls and the nature of other people's minds!'

For the rest of the day, the human and bird rested. On the next day, Ivan visited again around lunchtime.

"I hope I'm not disturbing you Great One. How do you like the room?" His voice held anxiousness within.

'Even with subduing these researchers, if I don't show results they'll kill me. Even as normal humans, they are humans. I'm just a bird right now...' Cain read the situation how he saw it. Perhaps he could stretch recovering from his long imprisonment for a day or two, but the humans would attack him if he dragged things out.

'I don't even know if they told their bosses about me yet...I must find a chance to mark them! But with that other researcher, he's wary of me, and I have to take things slow to conserve energy. The mark also has to seep into the soul slowly, it's easy to catch early on....'

Cain had a lot of thinking to do, nonetheless, he responded to the old man.

(The room is good. Come back in five minutes, then we'll go to your lab and I'll show you the faults in the research.)

Ivan's face warped with excitement, "Of course, right away!"