Chapter 4

Fenrir Far East Branch, 2071

Four Years Later...

Johannes von Schicksal stood with his hands behind his back, as he gazed through the glass that overlooked a wide chamber room bearing tears and wears over the steel wall and flooring. Particularly, his piercing, blue eyes were fixed on the young man that just entered the chamber. The boy in question could have been somewhere between fifteen to seventeen years of age, sporting brown hair and innocent blue eyes. He wore the distinctive Fenrir formal uniform that consisted of blue jacket with the trademark wolf head emblem emblazoned in the back, over a white shirt and black pants; it was the standard attire issued to recruits and still worn by some veteran God Eaters.

The Director of the Far East Branch skimmed over the recruit's profile one last time over the tablet. He was a local lad of Japanese ethnicity, as are many of the God Eaters who have been recruited into the branch. Some time ago, he used to live outside the walls during his early teen as a scavenger and has survived long enough to reach the city on his own. He passed the test for the potential compatibility match for a God Arc and was subsequently allowed into the city. And only a week ago after he was laid off from his previous job as a factory worker, NORN database had believed him to be a match for a God Arc. And not just any God Arcs, it was a rare and recently developed kind, which the Fenrir engineers are proud to call it their finest work yet and believed it could be the trump card they needed to turn the tide of war against the very monsters that has tormented and threatened their existence. The New Type.

Should this young man passed the Aptitude Test that awaited him, he'll be the first ever New Type God Eater to join the Far East Branch, and could prove to be a valuable asset to himself and the fellow God Eaters he'll be serving alongside in the future; it was an outcome Johannes can't wait to see it happen as it would further his goals.

"Final checks are completed, Director Schicksal," One of the support staff announced, while she was starring into a monitor and tapping around the keyboard. "All systems nominal. Our latest projection estimates this recruit's compatibility rate to be at 85%."

"Good, then let us begin." said Johannes.

With such a high compatibility rate, the Director seemed fairly confident of this recruit's success like he didn't believe anything could go wrong at all.

"Welcome to the Far East Branch," he began, his voice coming through the speaker. "This is humanity's last line of defense. Fenrir. And here in this chamber, we shall test your compatibility to join the Anti Aragami Punitive Force. The God Eaters."

Johannes stopped for a pause, as he gauged the recruit's reaction. The young man seemed anxious to say the least. It was as though he was having second thoughts about joining the God Eaters and considered the idea of running away. His nervousness was pretty understandable.

The Director could imagined the kid had never thought the day would ever come when a Fenrir recruiter would go knocking on his doorstep and hand him a piece of paper that demands him to undergo the Aptitude Test to become a God Eater. Instead, he thought he'd go on living his comfortable life inside the city with a modest job and nothing else to worry about. However, there can be no turning back. The test was compulsory, which every potential compatible candidates should have understood and accepted whilst living under Fenrir protection. And Johannes wasn't about to let this golden opportunity to slip away from his grasp.

"Please, do try to relax," he continued. "I assure you there is nothing at all to fear. You are after all chosen. We would not have picked you otherwise if we did not believe you could succeed. When you're ready, place your wrist at the device in the center of the room. And the test shall begin."

It took a moment or two before the recruit finally mustered the courage to step forward, and approached the reddish machinery in the center of the room. Upon closer inspection, he gazed in awe at the peculiar weapon laid bare on the table in front of him. It was a long black blade that gleamed under the fluorescent light. He also noticed the half circular shape of matching color between the blade and the handle, which resembled a shield. In addition to the shield, there appears to be the barrel of a gun sticking out on the other side. It was to be his God Arc - the instrument of tool for battling against an Aragami.

After a big, deep breath, he extended out his arm until his hand grabbed the handle of the God Arc, and his wrist was placed firmly on the half reddish armlet. Then, suddenly without any warning, the lid slammed down. To his surprise however, he wasn't in any pain. When he opened his eyes, he saw the lid had stopped short of his arm. Instead however, he noticed the top half of the armlet had attached itself to his wrist, completing it whole.

'That's not so bad.' The young man thought to himself, as he breathed a sigh of relief, his fears alleviated. However, his relief had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived when a sudden pain spiked through his wrist. To him, it felt as though a hundred of needles had found their way into his flesh. His pain however, did not end there.

What came next was a horror that shook him to his very core.

He heard the sound of an animalistic growl coming from inside the machinery. His eyes widened as he dared a peek between the gaps. The God Arc had been stirred alive. A blob of black flesh protruded out in the middle of the weapon, followed by a pair of amber orbs that resembled eyes. He saw a reflection of himself in the orbs, where his face revealed his scared expression. Another growl escaped from the flesh before numerous tendrils sprouted out and made their way inside the holes of the armlet. Terrified, he screamed and tried yanking his arm out of the device, but it was no use; the clamp had locked onto his wrist tightly. Nothing short of superhuman strength was going to break him free out of the lock. His agony had intensified further; he wanted no more than this torment to finally end.

"Oh no..." The support staff gasped, her face pale with horror. "Director... The readings have dropped off. At this rate, he'll..."

"What!" The Director had an incredulous look on his face, as if he couldn't believe what he was hearing. He liked to have believed his staff member had simply miscalculated and was looking at the wrong reading. However, the inhumane cries that bellowed out from the chamber had proven him wrong.

'No, this can't be...'

The Aptitude Test for the New Type God Arc should have been successful, which he expected to happen. Instead of the desired outcome, it had all gone horribly wrong, and now this young man inside the chamber was paying the price.

Johannes shot a glance to the staff members around him. "Shut it down! Quick!"

A moment later, the clamp that held onto the recruit's wrist had released itself, the lid pushed back up. The young man crumbled to the ground in a heap, writhing around violently as though something was tearing his innards from inside. What was once his own fleshy hand had now turned black and monstrous. The red armlet that was connected to his right wrist before has shown signs of cracks before shattering apart and hitting the ground in a clatter. Purplish fumes emitted as the black flesh slowly spread up to his elbow. He was infected. Without the Bias Factor which the armlet contained, the Oracle cells will completely devoured him, and then he'll turned into the same nightmare that has haunted humanity for the last few decades.

The rest of the staff members inside the observation room were horror-struck, their trembling hands covering their mouths, cold sweats trickled down their spines; it wasn't very often they have witnessed the severe consequence of a failed test right before their very eyes. They felt every inch of the young man's agonizing pain. A few of their colleagues could bear it not longer, and hu leave the room to escape the horror.

Sighing, the Director leaned his forehead against the glass, his eyes closed.

"Put a merciful end to that young man's life." he said, softly before turning away.

The hydraulics hissed as the door leading inside the chamber slide open. In came a hooded figure draped in a long blue jacket, stepping into the room. The attire almost made the individual resembled an executioner. In the figure's hand, he carried a large and thick sword with numerous saw teeth on one edge. It seemed beyond human to carry such a massive weapon with one hand, and walked with no difficulty. However, the individual in question was no ordinary human being, as indicated by the red armlet which every God Eaters worn.

The God Eater's face was revealed to be a young man of dark completion, with pale blond hair and icy blue eyes. He stopped in his tracks, just as the infected recruit managed to lift himself up, and remained on his knees with his back facing towards him. By now, the corruption has gone past his elbow, and engulfed his entire arm. Like wildfire, it had spread too quickly. The recruit to his credits, tried his damnedest to fight back the infection with his willpower alone. But no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't reverse his dire condition, and soon he'll lose everything that makes him human.

The God Eater took a deep breath, and then he raised his God Arc in the air, holding the massive blade above his head and pulled his arms back, ready to make a vertical swing. It was then he saw the recruit turned his head round and their eyes met.

"Save me..." he heard him begged, with the despair look on his face.

Clearly, he could tell the recruit had no wish of dying. However, fate can be pretty cruel sometimes, damning even those who didn't deserve it. After clenching his teeth and averting his eyes for a moment, he looked back at the young man. With a roar, he swung his blade down without any hesitation. Then, a thick geyser of crimson shoots up in the air instantaneously.

The recruit lay dead before him. However, his job wasn't completed just yet. There was still one final and unpleasant task he had no other choice but to do. Even with the lifeless corpse, the infection continued to spread, reaching out to the back of the body. He pointed his God Arc at the dead body, and soon the weapon changed form, materializing into a black beast. The artificial Aragami growled before lunging towards the fallen recruit.

Then it was all over.

"How could this have happened?" Johannes inquired one of his staff members back in the executive office. The Director poured a glass of whiskey for himself. Having witnessed the horrific episode moments ago, he needed the drink. "Are you most certain you've performed all the correct steps required for the test?"

"I did, Director..." The man answered, sighing. "My team had even double checked just prior to the test. You can take a look at the logs if you want. I assure you we did nothing wrong on our end."

"And yet the test still failed?"

Another sigh escaped from the subordinate's lips. "While it's true the candidate in question has a pretty good chance to succeed with his high compatible rate of 85%. I'm afraid it doesn't necessary mean his guaranteed to pass the test, sir," he explained. "There's still that 15% chance he could fail. And sadly on this most rare and tragic occasion, it did happened..."

After a swig of whiskey, the Director leaned back against his chair. His gloved hand rubbed his forehead, as if he was trying to soothe an ache. "I trust you have taken the necessary procedure to deal the aftermath of the candidate's death?"

"Yes, I have, Director," The staff replied, looking down on his tablet. "Fortunately, the candidate doesn't have any living relatives inside the city. It's possible he may have a few friends of his own. If they come here and asked any questions, we'll just say it was a training accident or he was killed out in the field. And the story can end right there."

"Good. Then pleased get to work."

Once his staff left the office, Johannes leaned forward from his seat, and laid his chin down on his intertwined hands, pondering in deep thoughts.

'I was so close...'

Ever since the New Type God Arcs were developed a year ago, the Director of the Far East Branch has aggressively pursued compatible candidates from all over the world. Only one candidate so far has proven to be a match. He thought he had the golden opportunity right in front of him, only to be left quite disappointed when it turns out the young man wasn't the chosen one after all. He didn't know when another chance would come by again. Perhaps, weeks. Months. Even a whole year.

Sighing, Johannes realized he didn't have any other choice but to wait patiently for the appearance of the chosen one. He took one last swig at the whiskey, feeling it burning down his throat and settling inside his stomach. As the Director got up from his desk, and thought about heading out the office in order to retire to his bed, he noticed the green blinking light coming alive on the screen of his terminal - it was a signal that one of the operators was calling him. He wasn't in the mood to answer the call, but his responsibility as the Director compels him to do it.

The Director sat back down at his desk, tapped a button on the keyboard. He waited for the operator to speak up.

"Pardon me for the interruption, Director. But NORN has found another match for the New Type God Arc," The female voice said over the transmission. "I'm sending the data over to you, now. Please have a look, sir."

As he gazed at the screen, his eyes lit up, and then a smile crept up on his face.