“…This concludes my report,” Academician said, dropping back into his seat.

He hated these mindless distractions. Once a decade, the elders of the Organization gathered to report the results of their work in their zones. As if there was any point in any of that! When the failed test subject ravaged the Oathtakers’ Northlands, he called Spaniad, and the two joined forces to help Sovereign seize the perfect opportunity.

Members of the organization enjoyed a great deal of autonomy in decision making, to the point where their elders could be replaced by lower-ranking operatives and the mission would still continue, though Academician fought tooth and nail to preserve the lives of his peers.. They shared an idea, a common goal to achieve, and such camaraderie thrilled him. Useless meetings only dragged him away from his laboratories, stalling the development of the magnificent weapons.

This place was oval in shape, a vast hall capable of housing thousands of operators, assistants, coordinators, and other specialized personnel. In the days before the Extinction, before the ultimate betrayal of humanity had happened, this room was part of a crisis center to operate the expansive web of weapons and automated logistics system. The people here could flawlessly handle any catastrophe, including a sudden evacuation from the Red Planet or the Moon. No single cataclysm was a threat.

When humanity faced a myriad of them all at once, it faltered and came to a halt. This place lost connection to all stations everywhere simultaneously, so the people working here ventured outside to help. Some perished. The Organization took in the rest, forming a core of burning vengeance and dedicated hope.

“The designed lifeform.” Sovereign pressed a finger to her thick lips. She arrived alone, without any guards, dressed in a strict gray uniform that hid her impressive, burly, deceptively fat physique. Academician had long since summarized that she, like him, wasn’t afraid of any backstabbing. He could respect such trust. “This Chosen Prince. Is it dead?”

“Based on my investigation, yes.” Academician put his hands behind his head. Green Valkyrie, his personal operative, coughed, and he rolled his eyes, reading her mind. Come clean, or I will. Such a busybody. “Of course, I never expected him to come to life again in the first place. So there is still some room for a small margin of error.”

“You let an S-Class run rampant and don’t even know its full potential?” Sovereign stood, her gloved fingers bending the metal of a round table. She was in charge of the extensive training of the operatives and agents who served directly under the elders. The woman took great care in molding these men and women into the pinnacle of the human race, both mentally and physically, and judging by the fact that not all of them had attempted to assassinate Academician despite his best efforts to provoke them, Sovereign truly knew her craft. “Have you gone completely insane?”

A single source of light illuminated them, a holographic projector creating an image of their leader sitting in his seat, calmly listening to the reports. Darkness reigned in the rest of the room. Several agents took it upon themselves to sweep the dust, bored by the long meeting. Others preferred to stand behind their elders or take naps in the shadows, treasuring the precious moments of true security when betrayal was impossible. Flags of long-dead nations still adorned the walls, abandoned but not forgotten.

“Why ask a question when we all know the answer?” Spaniad teased from his seat.

The bronze-skinned and muscular man in elegant robes of gold and crimson arrived accompanied by beautiful women, some of whom he had taken straight from Academician’s laboratories. Worse, several of them were mutated Abnormals. He paid no attention to the promises of violence and dreams of vengeance in their little heads; if anything, he welcomed the chance to wipe the mutant filth.

Thoughts of his fellow elders remained concealed from him. In the past, it wasn’t so. Academician could read each of them as easily as an open book. Such a one-sided rivalry, a game that could not be lost, offended him, and he performed an operation on each of his equals, rewriting their brains in such a way that it would be impossible for his power to read them, or for any Abnormal who possessed a mental ability to subject the Elders to their will. Academician wasn’t shy about admitting that the temptation to enslave his colleagues was there. He was proud to resist it, keeping the word he had given.

“There is no cause for concern, Sovereign.” A metal tendril slithered from underneath his lab coat, bringing a capsule of yellow liquid to light. The Ravager’s downfall. His ultimate weapon to make that bitch pay for bringing him low centuries ago. His fellow elders believed it to be poison. They couldn’t be more wrong. No, when his rebellious daughter finally meets her end at his hands, it will be in a fight. As fair as it can be. Because humanity always triumphs. “There is a rule when it comes to bioweapons. Be they airborne, more physically based, or those that transmit through touch… you get the idea. Never create something you can’t stop. A rule ignored by so many fellow researchers. Well, I am still here, despite the Extinction and they are history.” He shrugged and leaned back, observing Spaniad’s agents. “Must your inhuman whores sully our presence? If you cannot dismember them, give me a sign, and I’ll do the deed.”

“All women are goddesses,” Spaniad purred, placing a hand on an Insectone agent in a black business suit. He pulled her closer and kissed her, stifling the urge to reach for a weapon and shoot Academician. “And should your touch tarnish even a sliver of their magnificence, a divine punishment will scourge you, my friend.” His eyes turned into two balls of pure yellow, and an aura of warm light radiated from the elder, melting Academician’s pen. “Show your mug in my sector or dare threaten my agents ever again, and I’ll give you something you can’t stop, filthy sadist.”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Academician kept smiling, swapping overheated remains of plastic off his armrest. He had visited the Inner Lands not too long ago, even picked up a few gifts, stirring the Ice Fangs pot a little. And Spaniad was none the wiser. The man may be an apocalypse incarnate, one of the seven recorded Abnormals in the world, capable of ending the civilization for good. And yet, he wasn’t a threat. Beneath his handsome appearance and posture was a dull and stupid little man, unworthy of a seat on this council.

“Drop this foolishness.” General Secretary’s deep, dispassionate voice restored order.

Academician jumped to his feet, bowing low to the one man he called his master, and Spaniad nodded. The man who had founded the organization, who had opened Academician’s eyes to the greatest lie permeating human history, raised his hand, his body obscured by a holographic projector. Besides from Academician only one other person knew General Secretary face-to-face.

“The Numbers are to be removed from the Reclamation Army and Oathtakers,” their leader said.

“We have passed the information to the local authorities. No need to use our own forces,” Elder Securitas replied. “Yet these parasites are still lingerer in the Ravaged Lands, trying to sneak into Iterna.”

“Acceptable,” General Secretary said. “Eliminate Maximilian. The man has to go and stay dead. Request aid from Academician, if needed. These distractions have cost us enough time. Elder Academician.”

“Sir?”

“Find the L-File. We must know the locations of the Glow. Elder Pharaoh. To you, I leave the invasion of the Living Lands. If there is any Glow there, it must be ours. If not, ensure the Dynast’s influence won’t grow overmuch,” General Secretary commanded.

“I require some aid for this mission,” said a thin man in a brown business suit. His homeland had suffered greatly during Armageddon. Gone were the noble pyramids, held in stasis by technology, and the last noble of his land had renounced his title, entering the ranks of the organization as a junior operative. His skills brought him to the top, and he and Spaniad got along well, despite an obvious age difference. “I was thinking about Nixon.”

“The mass murderer?” Academician and Spaniad asked together. He glanced at his rival, and the apocalypse motioned for him to continue. “I planned to cut him open and see if we could replicate his power.”

The Organization has worked hard over the past three centuries. First, they secured their base and access to pre-Extinction technologies. Then they expanded their reach, each elder taking oversight of their own section of the world. By carefully stoking the fires of hatred, they helped humanity rise up against mutated oppressors, opening access to even greater material resources. And through it all, they hunt certain individuals.

Those who wield too much power. Those who have caused too much chaos. Any of them could potentially become pawns for their enemy. None of them were part of the future. Some of them they killed. Or manipulated to be killed. Most useful, they captured to dismember or indoctrinate into their forces. The Organization prepared for the day of reckoning by building, training, and equipping its own army of monsters.

“Then you will do without it. You shall have him,” General Secretary decided.

“Elder Academician calls another a murderer. High praise indeed. Worry not, my friend.” Pharaoh raised a glass of wine, saluted Spaniad, and ignored Academician. “The little freak won’t cause humans any more trouble.”

“Sovereign. Is the training facility ready?”

“It is and awaits fresh students.” Sovereign’s gaze dug into Academician.

“No material, no soldiers.” He shrugged. “I can’t recreate them from nothing. We’d already have a student if it weren’t for a certain temperamental gentleman.” He looked at Spaniad, seething with rage.

“You shall have the cadavers. I will take care of this myself.” General Secretary rose, his dark shadow stretching all the way to the ceiling of the meeting room, his size magnified and distorted by the projector. “Lord Steward, Hive, Dominator,” he named three great champions of the Oathtakers. “Redeemer, Lightbringer, Artificer,” he recited the names of the Elites. “Ravager, Outsider, Devourer, Wyrm Lord. The balance is breaking.” General Secretary let the words sink in.

The very existence of the Organization depended on the constant rivalry between the Three Great Nations. These countries were an affront to humanity; rather than making a stand against the inhuman oppressors, they integrated them, seeking coexistence, never understanding that there could never be an equal partnership between creatures far more powerful than man. Given time, the mutants would realize this and end any hope of the Normies’ growth. Different species always clashed, and only the strongest survived.

Fortunately, all three competed against each other. And as more civilized times encroached on this part of the world, one country had gained the upper hand. It couldn’t stand. The mistrust, fear, and rivalry must burn so that the Organization can operate unnoticed until it grows strong enough.

“The balance shall be restored, sir. Let me handle it,” Securitas asked.

“See that you do. Elder Academician has detected spatial trails near Stonehelm. Our enemy is on the move.” General Secretary’s silver eyes met theirs. “For too long, we have allowed our brethren to be subjugated and dominated by mutant filth, threatened and murdered by the madmen who seek to destroy our race. No more! Nothing is forgotten, no one is forgiven. Humanity ruled this rock by right, and I’ll be damned if I let the inhuman filth breed us out. Since the dawn of time, humans have always adapted. Unable to hunt great beasts with their bare hands, they invented a spear. Our ancestors tamed even the lifeless void of space, creating subservient artificial intelligences to herald the eternal glory of our people. Mutants, artificial, non-humans, and any other obstacle threatening mankind’s supremacy or existence shall be trounced underfoot. We will reclaim this world from the clutches of madness. We will heal each and every festering wound inflicted by the non-humans. Our might shall see order restored and fallen nations rising from the dead soil, spreading life to the farthest poles. And when the world is restored, when the sheer scope of humanity’s reach and greatness haunts the nightmares of those responsible for its downfall… We will hunt them down, avenging every child, every soul, every potential taken by the Extinction!” he roared. “To that end, complete your missions! This meeting is now adjourned. Humanity Prima! Ave freedom!”

“Humanity Prima! Ave freedom!” Academician chanted with his colleagues, and the room became dark. General Secretary disappeared, leaving the elders to find their own way outside.

The coming years promise to be interesting indeed.