Prelude - Creating Potentiality
Welcome everyone to my re-imagining of the Attack on Titan series! It's gonna be a long ride so strap on in. Leave your comments or concerns in the reviews! I'll be sure to read them all. This chapter should basically just serve as an introduction to the context of the story.
"Tell me, Henry, do you believe that everyone is born with potential?" said the well groomed man. He stood tall and confidently before Henry, with a pronounced jawline, his dark eyes and his black tuxedo, the man conveyed the look of a classy man. Henry stood there for a moment, he eyed the man standing before him.
Henry put down the page he had been reading onto the desk behind him and turned back towards the man, "The natural human response to that question would be yes; every human being is born with potential." Henry answered, facing away from the man standing before him; almost as if he was too scared to look him in the eye. "However…" Henry added, "We both know that isn't actually the case. You were the one who taught me that, after all." He finished, finally looking the man in front of him in the eyes.
The man that stood before Henry gave a small smile before he began talking, "That's right, Henry." the man's smile turned back into a neutral expression that was almost void of emotion, and it sent a chill down Henry's spine. "We eldians… We will never be born with potential." the man continued, making motions with his hands to emphasize his words. "You know well that our race deserves extinction, we are the devils of the world."
Suddenly, the man paused and walked closer to Henry. "But even so, I do not wish to die. I wouldn't wish death on any eldian." he continued as he approached Henry even closer. "I can not wish death on a race if I too do not wish to die, it is truly a dilemma." the man finished, now just a metre away from Henry.
"I… Understand that, Willy. But what does that have to do with potential?" Henry spoke, his tone filled with a hint of confusion. "Tell me, Henry, what if we could… Create potential?" Willy spoke with a sudden tone of curiousness. Henry once again stood in silence, eyeing Willy over once again. Willy eyed him back intensely, demonstrating his seriousness in the aforementioned question.
"Create… potential? Willy, what are you saying?" Henry finally spoke, breaking the intense silence in the room; his voice was filled with doubt and confusion. "What's more is that I still don't understand how that ties back to your talk about your talk about us as eldians…" he added, letting out a sign and shaking his head.
Suddenly, like a bolt of lightning, Willy closed the distance between himself and Henry and grabbed him by the collar of his vest. "Listen to me, Henry." Willy spoke with a firm and confident voice, "I know what you're capable of. Although we said humans aren't born with potential, you built that potential through your studies. You're a genius, Henry, and you know that." Willy finished, letting go of Henry's collar. "So what if we created potential for all of the eldians? Just like you created your potential." He began using his hands again to emphasize his words, "But I don't want academic potential, no, honestly I could care less about that. What I need is to create potential in power." Willy finished his sentence and than stared at Henry directly in the eye, "I want you to create a titan."
Henry could do nothing but stare at Willy, his jaw practically on the ground. He was filled with confusion, fear and doubt. He took another moment of silence before finally formulating some sort of response, "Create… a titan? A-Are you mad? Do you even understand what you're saying?" Henry waited for Willy to answer him for what felt like forever, but Willy simply stared him down. "Willy! What would we even gain from creating a titan?" Henry demanded an answer.
"I know what I'm asking of you, Henry." Willy finally answered him, with a frown. "I know that the current nine titans exist because of Ymir's death. To think that we, mere human beings, could create such a titan is foolish." Willy finished, filling the room with silence once again. "Even so…" he spoke, his voice shakier than before, facing the ground. "I believe… That we can create a direct replication of the powers that Ymir once wielded." Willy continued, lifting his eyes up from the ground with new found confidence, "I know it won't be easy, but with you, Henry, I know it'll be possible. Do you remember that theory you brought up a few years ago at that meeting?" Willy finished, waiting patiently for Henry to answer.
Henry repeated what he had done multiple times before in the conversation, looking with concern at Willy, standing in silence, before finally answering. "...The titan blood theory, is that what you're referring too?" Henry asked. Willy simply nodded, "I see… I stopped working on that theory a long time ago, Willy." Henry let out a disappointed sign and walked up to one of the many bookshelves in the room. After quickly sliding his fingers along the lines of books he picked out a dusty red book. Walking back over to Willy, he offered him the book. "That book is probably my finest work, it's the only reason I'm relevant here." Henry exclaimed, letting out a slight chuckle as he did so, he remembered the times he spent day after day, night after night working on his theory.
"From what I remember… A brief summary of it would be something along the lines of; through delicate and precise blood samples taken from individuals who possess the split power of the original founding titan you can create a new blood type. It's still unknown why the blood does it but only very rare and hard to execute combinations can be done. After one of the first ever samples was created, it was immediately tested on a human being; more precisely, on an eldian." Willy paused for a moment and tightened his fist, "The results were… Catastrophic, the experimental blood type began killing all of other blood cells and repopulating at ludicrous speeds. The human test subject died within thirty minutes. As such, the project leader, Henry Schmidt, cancelled the project and refused further funding." Willy finished, a little bit of sweat dripping from his forehead, looking at Henry for confirmation.
Henry stood in silence, his eyes were filled with regret as he looked towards the floor. "That is the bare minimum, yes… I'll never forget that day. I'll never forgive myself for what I did to that test subject." Henry clenched his fist, his voice was shaky. "H-However… There's something that I never told anybody... " Henry suddenly added. Willy gave a small look of confusion and interest as Henry spoke those words. "Although the test subject did indeed die… The experimental blood cells didn't. They live on to this day."
Willy's eyes opened in shock as he got closer to Henry, "What?! Henry, you announced that the experimental blood type was lost at that meeting, it's the only reason the council allowed you to stop working on the project! What's the meaning of this?! Why did you lie?!" Willy shouted at Henry, but Henry didn't show fear or concern, his face remained one filled with regret. "Answer me, Henry!" Willy shook Henry's shoulders.
"...After I found out that the blood cells had in fact survived, I learned about another terrifying fact." Henry spoke, his tone no longer shaky, but emotionless. "The test subject wasn't dead either." Henry finished, unable to look Willy in the eyes. Willy simply stepped back in shock, unable to speak. "At least, that's what I had first thought…" Henry suddenly added, "The test subject was more like… A host at that point. His original self truly was deceased." Henry finished once again, gently taking the book from Willy's hands. He set the book down on the desk, running his fingers along the cover, "I'm not sure who it was that talked to me that day… But, they told me why what happened, happened." Henry opened the book and flipped through a few pages before he landed on page 114, "When we inserted the blood, we documented that it began essentially killing the other blood cells in the body. However, that wasn't what was actually happening. The truth is, something that was beyond my comprehension took place." Henry looked at the page for a few more moments before fully closing the book. "That blood actively examines each individual blood cell in the human body and determines whether or not the person is suitable for the role." Henry finished, finally facing towards the shocked Willy once again.
Willy stared at Henry in shock and confusion before barely forming a sentence to respond to the abnormal story that Henry had described, "You're telling me… The blood took over that subjects body… And talked to you?" Willy paused, thinking for a moment, "Is that even possible…?"
"I'd hardly blame you if you didn't believe me, Willy. Quite frankly, for the longest time, I didn't believe myself. The complex combination of blood I performed created something alive… And it terrifies me. That's why I refuse to go through with creating a titan. I'll never subject someone to the torment of being judged by some sort of experimental blood cell." Henry declared, finally regaining his posture and calming his nerves.
As Henry finished his sentence, the room was engulfed in complete silence. The only sounds that could be heard were the ticks and tocks of the grandfather clock in the room. Willy placed one of his hands on his forehead and began to reflect on what he had just been told. Henry's expression remained one filled with regret, he still couldn't look at Willy in the eyes; he knew that the information he had kept from the Tybur family could easily cost him his life. Henry told Willy this information despite that fact purely because he trusts him more than anyone, the two of them share a unique bond.
"Someone just has to pass that examination… That's all, right?" Willy finally broke the silence, his voice was quiet yet assertive. "If someone were to pass the examination done by that blood cell… We'll have created a shifter through science." Willy finished, finally setting his arm down and looking towards Henry. Henry stood there, his face that had been filled with regret quickly shifted to one of shock.
"Willy… Y-You're joking, right?" Henry shakily asked.
"I've never been more serious in my entire life." Willy quickly retorted.
Henry had to step back a bit. "Willy, w-we can't… There's too much at risk here. This is about more than just you and me…" Henry spoke, looking Willy right in the eyes as he did so. "Do you understand what'd we'd be risking here? What would the council do if they found out about this?" he continued, his voice getting louder and louder.
"If we have success, the council won't be mad at us, Henry. They'll praise us. We'll be crowned as the most intelligent eldians alive." Willy spoke confidently, almost as if the shock he had felt before was all a mirage. "With this… We can create potentiality." he finished, clenching his fist.
"B-But… Who? Who would meet that criteria?" Henry asked, his voice filled with concern.
Willy grinned for a moment. "There's a certain somebody… A certain somebody that just so happens to meet that condition of power." Willy began, he rose his arm and moved it from time to time to emphasize his words. "One that came oh so close to being powerful enough… But fell short at the last moment." he continued, "One that, with said failure, has mentally reached a level of power more impressive than even the chosen few."
"N-No! Willy you don't mean-...!" Henry lunged forward a bit towards Willy in concern.
"There's a certain somebody that came so close to becoming a warrior. But in the end, the others proved more capable. It would be a waste to throw away his potential… Wouldn't you agree, Henry?" Willy finished, a full on grin formed on his face.
"Willy… I won't allow this… You don't seriously mean…"
"That certain somebody… The next test subject for this titan created purely by science…" Willy paused, looking towards Henry for a moment to make sure he was looking at him.
"Henry, it's none other than your son… William Schmidt"
Silence engulfed the room once again.
"Come, Henry. Let's change the world."