Thank you for clicking on this story, the only one I've actually had the courage to write. As it stands right now, Im unsure of how long this it will be. I have a rough outline, but I feel like if I place a set chapter amount I'll put too much pressure on myself. I do hope you enjoy it, and feedback would greatly be appreciated.
*Southern Atlas, 7:40 A.M.*
The wind was light this morning, thought Doctor Shian Lee as he stood next to the landing pad that rested outside of outpost twenty-three, the base of his research team. That was a blessing in this land, the wind always a brutal, biting cold. Even in the 'warmer' months this held true. So he was thankful that if he had to wait for a ship to come in to greet the occupants that mother nature was cutting him a little slack for the time being. The white lab coat was hardly any protection from the elements.
He ran a hand through his short, cropped black hair as his steely eyes scanned the skyline for the incoming airship. "Come on, where the devil are you?" He muttered. The call from central command had been labeled as 'urgent', which in the Atlesian military wasn't something that was done lightly, so why were they dragging their feet getting here? He was considering heading inside, orders be damned, when he heard it. A humming sound that slowly filled the once quiet air, the ship coming into view rather quickly after that.
It wasn't what he was expecting. He'd expected a Titan class transport carrying a few uniformed officers, maybe a member of the command staff. Instead, they'd sent a Striker, heavily armored with heavy guns mounted on the underside of either wing. When the doors opened, two soldiers carrying standard issue pulse rifles, faces obscured by their light blue face shields, stepped out followed by a woman in a dress uniform. She had dark brown hair that was tied back in a ponytail and cold jade green eyes. He recognized her instantly.
"Lieutenant Akers. I hadn't expected you to be here," he said holding out his hand to shake hers. She did so, and then tucked her hand back to her side. "Especially not with an armed escort in a gunship," he said not bothering to hide that he was more than a little on edge now. Akers must have noted his discomfort, because she waved her hand to the soldiers who stepped back, standing at ease by the ship as she nodded towards the main building. He nodded as well and led her towards the doors.
"I apologize for the worry my arrival and security detail must be causing you, but I assure you that the information I am carrying warrants it. Command wasn't comfortable sending me on an unarmed transport and regulations require at least two infantry on every gunship." Lee nodded, though now he was wondering what this 'information' was. His team, along with the other scientists in this outpost specialized in grimm studies, specifically the physiology of them and the possible methods of stopping them through non-military methods. It had to be something related to that, but for the life of him he didn't know what it could be.
"Well, I am certain that we can be of some assistance. My office is this way," he said pointing down one of the hallways. He was relieved to be back inside, the warmth provided by the central heating grid keeping the temperature comfy, but not overly hot either. They passed by several viewing windows, behind which several scientists worked on their various projects.
This outpost was one of about thirty or so scattered throughout the kingdom. None shared one similar goal, they all were focused on different tasks that the military or the council deemed worthwhile. Though the military, in true Atlas fashion, got their priorities seen to before anything related to everyone else.
They arrived to a door marked with his name and showed her inside. It was a sparsely furnished office, his desk taking up most of it, with a couple file cabinets in the right hand corner and a couple chairs for guests in the left. He rolled one over to her and after he took his seat, she dug into the pocket of her uniform and handed him a small data drive. "Its all on here. Please pull it up and we can begin discussing this," she said calmly, but sternly. He gave her a nod and inserted the drive into his computers console.
Once he went through the process of opening the files he frowned, reading through it slowly. Most were grimm sightings, marked as 'odd' or 'mutated'. This wasn't unusual. The grimm were an adaptive species, to be sure and even that was a gross understatement. The reports had pictures attached, and he felt his nerves become even more frayed as he studied them. They were of all species. Ursa, Beowolves, even a few Boarbatusks. They were all far more gruesome than the garden variety ones typically encountered.
Each had spiky, bony growths sprouting all along places that normally were exposed to attack. The bones themselves were a yellowish color, rather than the stark white they should be, and looked jagged, like they forcibly twisted inward once they were exposed to air. Beyond the growths however, were the green tint to their normally red and gold eyes. A glowing, sickly green hue also spread in spider web like lines all along their black flesh. The entire sight of this made his stomach lurch. This was more than your typical mutation. His eyes looked up to meet Akers expression seeing her face set in a darkened look, her military demeanor fading a bit.
"Most of those pictures are from Mistral. We didn't think anything of it for a while, but...now were hearing similar reports from some of our outer bases. That turned Lee's guts in a very unpleasant way. Strange mutations were not uncommon, sure. But it was blue moon rare that the exact same mutations were spread across kingdoms, least of all between Atlas and Mistral. They were separated by an ocean. This led to only one of two conclusions, neither of them good.
"This is...this is no good," he mumbled, eye narrowed as he re-read some of the reports. Scrolling down, he found a red folder marked 'viral warning'. He paled as he clicked it, showing new pictures. These were of pale looking men and women, some huntsman and huntresses others normal civilians laying on beds in medical wards or some soldiers resting on military cots. "What do these have to do with the grimm?" He frowned.
"That is what has command as spooked as they are. Anyone wounded by these mutant grimm, soldier or not, aura or not, becomes ill not long afterwards. Near as we can tell its strictly contact related, not airborne, but still." That changed everything in Lee's mind.
"And you want us to begin research, not only on these strange grimm, but a cure for this contagion they seem to carry," he said. Akers gave him a nod. He sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hand. "Very well. But I'll need samples. Blood from the infected, samples of the mutants, the works," he said rattling off the checklist.
"You'll get whatever you need, I assure you. Whatever is causing this, it makes the grimm tougher. Those bony growths your seeing on them are like armor. We've had to start authorizing armor piercing ammo for any military patrols that are within the radius of known sightings and the hunters are being told to not engage if there are more than a few at any given time," she said.
"That is the least we can do. Once I have those samples I'll put my entire team to work researching this, you have my word," he said. He stood, and they shook hands again. Akers smiled, though it was strained and nodded. She departed, leaving him with the data disk. He re-read the reports again and again, particularly the symptoms of those infected by their encounters with the grimm.
Fever, chills, aches and pains were the initial onset symptoms, which is probably why the connection took so long to click with the military. Those sounded like your typical cold or flu symptoms and for soldiers who drilled in icy weather, hunters who travelled for missions or civilians with jobs that caused them to be outside or in cramped quarters the occasional cold or flu was a part of life.
The rest though, the patients who had been infected for some time now, suffered from severe problems. Seizures, and other neurological symptoms as well as the rupturing of blood vessels in the lungs chief among the immediate concerns. He was just about to get over the intercom to call a staff meeting when someone knocked. "Come in," he called. This was one of his assistants, Maya. She noticed the sullen, worried expression on his face and whatever question or concern she'd come to him with died before she voiced it.
"Doctor Lee? What's wrong?" She frowned. Lee sighed, waving her over to the computer, pressing a palm to his forehead.
"Where do you want me to begin?"
*Unknown Location, Three days later*
The crackle of the flatscreen tv was what drew his eyes away from his instruments. Sighing angrily he smacked the top of it, trying to clear the static that tried to black out his view of the news report. It was downtown of the main city of Mistral, outside the councils building. The woman in front of the camera cleared her throat before beginning. "More sightings of the mysterious mutants grimm have been reported, according to a source within the corps of Mistral's hunters. The military has been deployed to Kuchinashi and Saiyo, with further deployments expected to be coming once the council adjourns from session."
She was handed something from the man behind the camera, a small blue paper. She read it, her eyes widening a bit before she composed herself to continue. "We've also received word that the Atlesian researchers have begun, at the request of both the Mistralian and Atlesian councils to research the origins of the mutations. More info will be made available as we receive it. Please, in the meantime, remain calm-" the tv turned black as he clicked the remotes power button. Atlas had gotten directly involved. Not good.
He pulled his laptop from the shelf beside his table and unlocked it. He cleared away his research tabs before sending a message out.
It began simply: 'Doctor Watts, we have a problem'.