I looked at the human slash monster that was strapped down to the table in the secure research building. I then looked back up Jacob Copper. He had explained how he had captured this thing. But even now I was having a hard time believing it. I had met Jacob Copper in the past and I knew of him, but he had been someone on the edge of my knowledge. One of Doctor Katz’s many assistants that was focused on flesh and energy.
“Impressive, check his blood,” I said after considering the situation.
“Of course,” Jacob said. He picked up a knife on a nearby table and cut the back of his hand without hesitation, letting the blood drop onto the table. I had been worried the monster had replaced him, but the energy was the same in the blood as it was in his body.
“You have made a request that came to my attention. Take the son of the Divine Empress into your research. Why and for what purpose?” I asked. If I was going to trust this man, then I wanted to understand why he was making the moves he was doing. He had touched on several sensitive issues but hadn’t done anything wrong.
My gut reaction was that he was playing politics. “I am curious in his conception and development. In addition, I hope to steer him away from the path of violence to a path of research. The reason behind this is personal,” Jacob Copper said, and I frowned.
“That requires an explanation,” I replied.
Jacob Copper let out a long sigh and shook his head. “I would ask you to dismiss your soldiers. What I have to say is for you alone.”
“A trap?” I asked amused.
“I suspect what I will say will have a huge impact. It should not be spread around. I would also ask that I not be killed as the favor for capturing this being. A pre-emptive pardon,” he said. Now this was interesting, and I considered this request. Well, it wasn’t like was a mortal enemy and a betrayal would be interesting.
“Captain Francis, you and your people are to wait outside this research lab,” I said.
“Yes Emperor Michael,” he replied, and they filed out. I was glad he didn’t make any pointless objections.
“Now, what do you want to tell me?” I asked.
“I used to work for the Divine Empress,” he replied. I tensed up at that and eyed him carefully. “I have no doubt it would come out one day.” I wasn’t sure how I felt about this.
“Really? You have gotten away not saying anything this long,” I replied and he shook his head.
“That is foolishness. Energy has many secrets. Thinking I can keep my background secure is foolish. But I am not a fighter. I am a scientist. Pushing the boundaries of what is possible. Understanding how energy interacts with life. What I want to do with this thing, is not something that can be explained without the knowledge I have.”
“You have been trickling out innovations,” I accused him, and he nodded.
“All mine originally and I have been doing other research. When you attacked the Forbidden City, I fled with my life. Now I wish to plunge into the mysteries once more. And unlike the Divine Empress, you won’t skin me on a whim,” he replied. Probably an assistant of the Master Fleshcrafter, since I had melted him. The Avatar said he would come back, but I wasn’t so sure about that.
“Who were you exactly?” I asked. “You aren’t Asian in appearance, so you clearly changed your looks. Since I doubt the Divine Empress would keep you around otherwise.”
“My old name is long gone, but I had a title. Master Fleshcrafter,” he replied. Instantly I brought my hands up and took a step back and my eyes went wide. He then bowed. “Here and in person and of service to the new Emperor.”
I didn’t know what to think. I was not expecting this. I let go of the tension in my body. He clearly didn’t plan on attacking or betraying me. “So you want this thing to study, for what?” I asked.
“How it melds energy. You see the fault lines yourself and its unique life structure,” Jacob straightened up and replied.
“The kid, you said it was personal.” I narrowed my eyes.
“Truly I wish for him to settle down and live a decent life. I was there when he was born. I was an uncle. I want to make sure the Divine Empress is well and truly buried. Also he is interesting to observe,” Jacob replied.
I didn’t like any of this. “And what proof I have, that you didn’t plan this out?” I asked.
“If I could make that, then I would be quite impressive. But you can clearly see the melding of energy at a fine level.”
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“And me melting you?” I asked.
“I was annoyed, but things happen. Revenge has left me long ago. But secrets have a way of coming out at the worst time. The Avatar would speak up, since she was keeping an eye on this creature. I couldn’t keep hiding. Better to leverage this and come clean,” Jacob said. It was impressive decisiveness. “She dislikes me greatly after I removed her body parts.”
“That was you?” I asked.
“Yes, it was. She annoyed the Divine Empress quite a bit. Even after multiple warnings, she thought she couldn’t be harmed. What I did to her allowed me to get the Divine Empress’ favor.”
“Well I have no objections to turning that horrible woman into a human nugget. I have three concerns Master Fleshcrafter, or Jacob Copper. The first is you making some weapon or plan to take me out.” I raised my hand and he shut his mouth. “Your work will be reviewed, but you will be allowed to keep that thing. Don’t let it escape, no matter what.”
“I will need things to feed it. Humans and monsters.” I nodded at this. “You can use human test subjects under the restrictions that have been set up. Your work, both successes and failures will be submitted to Doctor Katz for review.”
“I can accept that, but I want my own research lab and proper funding. I want to look merging and flesh construction again. It had great promise,” he demanded.
“Second,” I said while ignoring his demand for now. This wasn’t a negotiation, and I wasn’t going to let it become one. “Knowledge is just as dangerous as stats. Don’t let Qi Ji Long become a threat, or I will not be happy.”
He nodded at that, clearly getting on the same page that these were my red lines. “Third, how did you change yourself, like this?” I waved my hand at him, and he chuckled.
“Resonance resurrection,” he replied.
“And you have something like that set up?” I asked.
“Yes. Took a while, but I managed. But it does have downsides. Like losing stats, since those are died with the body. And there are weaknesses to such a thing. I already submitted a research report on this,” he replied.
“I know, I considered it. But the downsides…” I trailed off and shook my head. “Pardon granted. But no separate research lab where you can hide in the shadows. You will get more funding, and more research assistants, some who will be reporting to Clarissa,” I replied.
“That is fine. But she would be the only one who will know about my identity other than you. I don’t want some person on a quest for revenge,” he replied.
“That is fine Jacob. Now this thing, what have you discovered,” I gestured at the collapsed pile of robes on the table.
“It doesn’t have a physical body. But its origin is human. Look here in the headspace, you can see human thought and stat points weaved into its being. A pure monster wouldn’t have something like this.” He pointed it out and I noted the energy he was talking about. “And it talked to me. Sometimes the obvious is the obvious.”
“A meta-point,” I replied and he nodded.
“Yes, watch this!” he said excitedly. He got a metal poll. He then poked it into the folds of the things cloak. He then pulled it out and it was bitten off. “This entire thing is one big mouth. The cloth skin is just the outer boundary of its existence. But look, it is taking on the energy of the rod!”
Jacob’s excitement was the proof I needed he really was a scientist. Just had to not let him make any furniture. “A skill to eat things and take on their properties or stats,” I replied.
“Their energy as well, but yes. Just need to figure out a way to exploit this. I want to feed it several humans, and then monsters. Using humans as a baseline, then monsters to graft things on. I will also attempt a personality transplant as well to make it more compliant.”
“Personality transplant?” I asked.
“Part of the secret conditioning process the UCS worked out and we stole. Great for creating loyal agents or sleepers. The trick is to pulse energy of a certain type through their brains. Slowly only that one thought will be left. Kind of. These things have a lot of failure points, and creativity can be lacking. The Envoy was terrible at doing stuff,” he replied with a shake of his head.
“It feels weird to be talking to you about these things. I realize I have a lot of questions. Like that throne with the screaming heads?” I asked.
“That was a pain in the ass to make. A literal pain in the ass, since if it was the tiniest bit uncomfortable, my skin would be ripped off my ass. But that is the Divine Empress for you. She wanted her enemies to suffer forever.”
That is why I didn’t ask why he didn’t run away until the end. There was nowhere to run away to. The Divine Empress was a grave threat. He was a genius, but he was completely uncaring and was only looking out for himself.
“I couldn’t do a half-hearted job. I had to merge their very being with the energy of the throne while keeping their physical head alive. Nothing like a crazy lady to get you motivated in the morning. Now the Inquisitor, she was the breakthrough I needed on the layers. That and the restricted zone and things that I want to look into.”
“You want to poke everything, don’t you?” I asked.
“Indeed. I don’t have the Astrologer’s skill in layer transitioning yet, but I think I should be able to figure something out. But some research could be a bit risky. Trying to restrict me is a pointless waste in time. I showed I have patience, with how long I laid low.”
“You just want to skip to the end?” I asked.
“Since I am forced to reveal myself and captured this thing, I think I can be afforded some trust. I haven’t done anything against your interests while here,” he countered.
“The restricted zone is a serious matter. We can’t afford an accident there, since the Almighty System directly intervened once before,” I replied.
“Wait, really? That was true?” he asked.
“I was there, along with the Astrologer Homunculus which was destroyed,” I replied.
“Oh, how interesting. You will have to share everything and perhaps another expedition out there. The flesh landscape is particularly interesting. I want to see what happens, when we give a drop of it to this thing,” he replied.
“No creating a super monster,” I firmly said. I preferred Jacob when he was in hiding. Now he was unleashed.
“Well, if it ends up like that, we can use it against your enemies. Flesh battle automations. Great to take energy damage and to hide among. Also seeing how the energy reacts would give me more of an idea about energy density and using energy. That summoning chamber was quite brilliant to summon a level 7 monster, if I say so myself.”
He also saved the city with his research, even if indirectly, as hard as it was to admit.