The Story so Far... It took quite some time, and many obstacles had to be overcome before our hero was ready to take on the greatest tragedy that had ever befallen onto the Kingdom of Vale.
However, after months of training and hardships, the group was finally ready to scale the mountain, with some unforeseen help of course. Though while entering the city proved to have its own set of challenges, the real conflict was from within the former facility of Merlot Industries.
Our heroes entered the building with the intention of obtaining information that could possibly lead them to the whereabouts of Victor. Rather than obtaining this information, however, the man himself made an appearance to the group.
It was revealed that the man wishes to recreate the monster that decimated the city all those years ago in hopes to create the perfect specimen that would lead humanity towards the next phase of its evolution.
Though in a failed attempt to strike down the group, the Doctor decides to completely destroy the facility itself while our heroes were still inside. The explosion could be heard from all throughout the city, and the Academy had already sent a group of Huntsmen to take care of the situation.
Now, the story shall continue onward, only this time it will be told through a new set of eyes, as well as present a wide variety of troubles and challenges to overcome.
...
Maralyn
I don't really know what happened, all I really recall was some sort of force around my torso and the sound of the explosion that was the result of Victor activating the failsafe that was installed in the buildings security system.
The program was installed in case the secrets that the building held had been threatened to fall into the hands of those who would use it against humanity. Every single member of the staff had to sign a waiver, saying that they were willing to accept all the consequences that would follow in case there was a situation where the failsafe was activated.
However, from the looks of things, the time was changed from five minutes to about five seconds. Though the rest is a little clouded, I can't really remember anything else past the explosion.
Not really sure where I am at the moment, I suppose I lost consciousness once the explosion hit us, though the fact that I'm even regaining consciousness in the first place means that whatever plan that those two hatched worked in some form or another.
So if I'm alive, then there's a good chance that those two survived as well. Hopefully, the prototypes didn't make it through the explosion, otherwise we're gonna have a whole new set of problems on our hands.
Hmm, I can hear someone from the distance. It doesn't sound like either of those two, does that mean that there were others within the area when the explosion happened? Great, as if there weren't enough problems present as it is. I can feel something stirring, I should be able to open my eyes now.
Though once I actually awoke from my unconscious state, I saw a rather peculiar sight. I was expecting there to be rubble and flames all around the area, though from the looks of things, I'm in some sort of bedroom.
My bedroom to be more specific, although it was a lot cleaner than I originally remember. Now that I think about it, I don't really remember a whole lot from before, all I'm really able to recall was the sound of an explosion and two well-armed men standing in front of my eyes.
Other then that, nothing's really coming to mind.
However, before I could think upon the situation any further, the sound of someone knocking at my front door quickly brought me back into reality. I was slightly dazed from the sudden sound, though I quickly regained my composure and proceeded to head on downstairs in order to answer the door.
I gripped the doorknob and opened the door to see an old postman standing on the porch to my front door. "Oh, hello." I simply said while rubbing my eyes.
"Good morning Ms. Maralyn. I hope I didn't disturb you at this hour." The mailman said with a kind smile. "Here, I have a package with your address on it." He said as he pulled out a small box from within his bag.
"Oh, thank you," I said before I grasped onto the cardboard surface.
"Not a problem. Sign here if you will." The old man said as he took out some sort of clipboard with a pen attached to it. "Just sign here and here." He said while pointing towards the areas to where I had to give my signature.
I nodded and proceeded to do as the postman had instructed. "I must say, a package from Merlot Industries is quite the treat." The man said to me with a jovial laugh in his voice.
However, I was still rather dazed at that strange dream that I had. I don't really remember much of what happened, though all I do remember was the explosion that rang throughout the facility.
"Are you okay? You seem rather amiss." The man asked.
"Oh, yeah I'm fine," I responded in hopes to ease the man's mind. He was still rather concerned, though he eventually shook it off. "Hmm...There we are." I said as I finished all the required paperwork for the transaction.
"I suppose it is, wasn't exactly easy to get this job though," I said in response to the man's statement.
"Ah! Right! You were given a position on the companies research team, were you not?" He questioned, to which I simply nodded my head. "My, what a position indeed! I see you are living out your youth to the fullest!"
"I'm twenty-seven," I responded.
"None the less, I wish you the best of luck on the first day of your job!" The postman said as he started to head back towards the postal truck. Once I closed the front door to my house, I started to open the package that had just been delivered to my doorstep.
From within the box, I could see some sort of badge with that stated the position I had from within the company. The logo could be seen on the back of the badge, as well as some sort of barcode.
There was also a stack of papers that held the various research notes that would no doubt be useful to me in the near future.
"I suppose this helps," I commented to no one in particular as I flipped through the pages of the notes. There were a lot of notes to go over, though I was able to gather that we would be creating some sort of Artificial Intelligence Unit. Once I had finished skimming through the research notes, I neatly organized them and placed the slips of paper into the travel bag that I had.
After I made my final preparations, I started to make my way over towards the main building of Merlot Industries.
The building was located in the current expansion of Vale, which was being called Mountain Glenn by some of the locals and workers. It was still being developed, though there were companies that had decided to set up a facility of their own there, Merlot Industries being one of the few who had managed to buy some property.
It was rather loud, though I suppose that was only natural given how this whole area is a construction site. Construction workers were either talking amongst one another, or busy working on building some of the structures from within the city.
The Military of the Kingdom of Vale could be seen patrolling the area, each soldier was well armed with some of the finest weapons that command had to offer. Though amidst all of the workers and members of the military, a few individuals stood out from the crowd of people.
I had seen my fair share of warriors during my studies, and there was no mistake about it, there were indeed some of the Academies Huntsmen and Huntresses roaming the area with their respective weapons at hand.
Once I saw the presence of these warriors on the construction site, I started to question the motives of each individual warrior. Determining why the Military was there wasn't exactly a challenge, every soldier was here simply because their commanding officer ordered them to.
Though the same can't be said with the Huntsmen and Huntresses of the world. The Council only picks which jobs are available to them, not which jobs they pick to begin with, so it's rather difficult to tell the intent behind each warrior here.
Some could be here to honor the code that the profession stands for, to protect the people of this world from the dangers that lurk, though on the other hand, some could be here simply because the pay is good.
I suppose it doesn't really matter why they're here, as long as they do the job they were tasked to doing then it isn't much of a problem. Once I exhaled heavily, I proceeded to make my way over towards the tallest building from within the city, the main facility of Merlot Industries.
The building was well fortified, not only that though it was well guarded. I could see various patrol vehicles circling the area around the facility while some of the Huntsmen and Huntress conversed amongst one another.
Before I could walk over towards the building, I was quickly stopped by one of the members of the military. "Hold! This is a restricted area! Please vacate the area immediately!" She said.
The only response that I have her was to reach into my pocket in order to pull out the I.D that was given to me earlier. Once she actually read the I.D, her attitude quickly changed.
"Hmm. Oh! Terribly sorry Ma'am! I did not know you worked here! Please accept my sincerest apologies!" The member of the military said once she saw the staff I.D that was given to employees of the company.
"It's alright," I said as I walked past the woman with the travel bag I had at my side.
"Do you want me to escort you into the building?!" She asked.
"No, I think I can handle it." I simply responded while walking towards the front doors of the structure. Once I actually entered the building, I could see various members of the staff wandering through the lobby of the building.
At the top of the receptionist's desk, I could see the slogan for the company written in bold letters on the billboard. Merlot Industries, the next step in humanity's evolution.
"Can I help you with something, Miss?" I heard the man behind the desk asked.
"Hmm? Oh, yes. My name is Maralyn Naturae. I'm one of the researchers that received a position here in the company. Could you point me in the direction of the meeting room? I'm supposed to be there in about ten minutes." I requested.
"Ah! Yes of course. I've heard about you from some of the staff. Youngest scientist to have ever been assigned onto a research team. It's on the sixteenth floor in the room to the far left!" The man said as he pointed his finger over towards the elevator. " Just use the barcode on the back of your badge to access the research room. Have a wonderful day, Ma'am!" He said before he returned to the stack of papers that he had on his front desk.
I made my way over towards the elevator and hit the button with the number sixteen on it. Once I felt the metal box moving upwards, I started to think back on the projects that we would be working on.
Time was of the essence, so I only really skimmed through what we were working on. I was able to get the gist that we were going to work on an Artifical Intelligence Unit, though I don't really know what the program is for.
Not only that though my mind was still on that strange dream that I had. It felt so real, the sound of the explosion, the sudden force that hit me before it actually happened, it was all so strange.
However, I can worry about that at a later time. Right now I need to focus on the task at hand. Once I got onto the floor that I was told to go to, I began to look for the staff meeting room that was on the left of the building. Eventually, a large door in the far left corner of the building was within view.
I stood before the door, trying to determine whether or not I was actually in the right place. Though after searching for a good minute, I managed to locate the scanner that would allow access to the room
So I took my badge and swiped the barcode across the surface, causing the console to turn green as the doors unlocked. I took a deep breath and stepped inside, though once I did I could see a group of people from within the room. They were all conversing amongst one another and didn't seem to take notice of my presence.
I found an open seat next to one of the scientists, who was rather muscular. He seemed to have a rather disinterested expression on his face, though I decided that it would have been best to keep quiet for the time being. A few moments went by before the head of the research team stepped into the room with some sort of clipboard.
"Alright. Everyone settle down. We have a lot on the agenda today." The man said before he put his glasses on in order to read the stack of papers that had been given to him earlier.
"First off, we have a few things to address before we get started. Firstly, we've been given a new task by the head of the company. You've all gotten research notes in the mail today." He said to everyone. "Don't worry if you didn't read it, lord knows I didn't." This caused everyone in the room to let out a slight chuckle.
"We'll be going over the more important parts of the notes shortly, though secondly, we have a new recruit to our research team." He said before staring directly over in my direction.
"..." I merely sat there in silence as everyone's eyes were drawn over to where I was sitting.
"This is Maralyn. She will be creating Artifical Intelligence Units for the machines we will be developing." The man said as he flipped through his notes. "Alright, so let's go over what we'll be doing for the rest of the year."
However, as the man was going on about what we needed to do, I noticed something off about a part of his statement. He never said anything about an Artifical Intelligence Development Team.
"First off, the Council has presented a new project before us. As all of you know, the Creatures of Grimm have been getting smarter and smarter as the days go by. As such, they want to know why that is, as well as how to counter this sudden spike in intellect." He said. "That's where we come in. Thanks to some of the Huntsmen and Huntresses that were within the city, we have been supplied with some test subjects."
Murmurs could be heard from within the room, though I suppose it was only natural considering a project like this was so out of the norm for this company. It was founded on the development of A.I that aid in data management.
Though from the sounds of it, the one we would be creating would be more combat focused. "It will be our job to understand how these monsters have suddenly spiked in intellect, as well as making an A.I program that can help the Military and the Huntsmen out in the field." He said.
"Now that's where our new recruit comes in. As all of you know, combat isn't exactly this companies strong suit. We're more focused on more practical ways to help humanity." The man said. "However, Maralyn here just so happens to be an expert when it comes to combat A.I."
This, in turn, caused everyone to stare at me while talking amongst themselves. It was rather uneasy if anything, as I wasn't really accustomed to being the center of attention.
"She will be in charge of actually developing the computer program while we will focus on creating a machine to run it. Not only that but we will also be studying the behavior of the Creatures of Grimm, as it now seems to be more of a priority to the council." He said.
"I understand that what we're doing isn't exactly the safest project in the world, though we have a job to do." He said. "You all know your roles, this is the starting point for a new age." The man said as he gathered his papers.
"You are all dismissed." He said as he proceeded to walk out of the room.
...
The sound of the crackling fire from the blast could be heard from all around the area once I actually regained consciousness. The air was hot and the smell of smoke and debris lingered, causing me to let out a few coughs in response.
My vision was blurred, though, after a few moments of attempted to get in touch with my surroundings, I was eventually able to stand up. "Agh!" I grunted once I felt a sharp pain on my side.
"That went badly," I said before managing to regain my footing. I started to look around for any signs of The Giant or The Archeologist, though neither one of them could be seen from within the cavern that I had fallen into.
I started to pat down my pockets to see if the Relic that Shade had given to me had been lost during the fall, and I let out a rather audible growl once I grabbed the empty space of where the object should have been.
"Damn it," I swore as I proceeded to search the area in hopes to locate the Relic in question. It took me a few moments, though I let out a sigh of relief once I saw that the object wasn't too far away from where I was.
Not only that though I could see the blade of the spirit wedged in a rock near the object. Once I had gathered the objects, I proceeded to debate on what the next course of action should be.
Right now it would be best if I began to search for The Giant and The Huntress. I was still able to fight, though right now it would be better if I had some backup, as I was still within the most dangerous set of caves known to the Kingdom of Vale.
I looked around the area in case there were any threats that lurked on the horizon, though once I was certain that there were no monsters in sight, I started to walk down the hill of debris that had formed.
The sound of some of the buildings falling due to the explosion could be heard from the distance, as well as felt from within the ground. Things didn't seem to be looking up anytime soon, though right now all I needed to focus on was finding those two and getting the hell out of this place.
However, before I could continue my search for the duo in question, the sound of a growl made it's way over towards my ears, which in turn, caused me to raise my guard in order to prepare for the oncoming threat.
Though just as I thought the situation couldn't get worse, the sight of some sort of strange creature proved otherwise. It wasn't like any other monster I had seen, as it didn't even look natural.
It had a similar appearance to that of a Worgen, though it's upper body was unnaturally big and the white bone on its body had been removed for some reason. Not only that though it emanated some sort of red aura as it snarled over in my direction. Before I could attempt to get a solid grasp on the situation, the beast charged at surprising speeds for its size.
Fortunately, I was able to dodge the oncoming attack, though it was only inches away from ending my life. Once it slammed into the wall, I proceeded to run in the opposite direction in hopes to lose the monster.
I wasn't about to fight a threat that I knew little to nothing about, especially something that was made by the madman that caused the Massacre of Mountain Glenn all those years ago.
The sound of the beasts roar could be heard over back from where the hill of debris was, causing a chill to go down my spine. I could hear it's thunderous footsteps coming from behind me.
It was clear that running away from this monster was no longer going to be an option. I was going to have to get the jump on this thing somehow, though to do that I would need to find a suitable hiding spot.
At the corner of my eye, I could see a small little cavern that would allow for an easy hiding spot from this beast. I jumped onto the ground and backed up against the wall of the hole in hopes to shake the monster off of my trail.
The footsteps of the monster could be heard from around the corner, it's red eyes scanning the area around it in hopes to locate its prey. I quickly poke my head around the corner to see what exactly the monster was doing, though from the looks of it it was still rather busy searching the area.
Once the monster started to walk away from the small cavern, I was able to deduce one of two things. One, this monster wasn't able to sense negative emotions like some of its predecessors, even though my heart was racing at a hundred miles an hour.
Not only that, this meant that getting the jump on it would prove to be far less challenging then I had originally thought. There was no way I would be able to fight this thing in single combat.
Acting quickly in response to the monster's movements, I ran towards one of another hole in the wall before I hid behind one of the corners once again. I could hear the beast growly as it's started to come closer to where it had heard the sudden sound.
Its breath could practically be felt crawling down my skin as it was right above the hiding place I had found. Though it eventually moved on from where I was hiding, and once I was certain it was a good distance away from the hiding spot, I summoned every ounce of strength that I had in order to run towards a small passageway.
The beast roared as it proceeded to rush towards me with a savage expression on its face. Once I ran into the cave, I could see the monster flail and roar wildly in attempts to grasp onto its prey.
After a few moments of it struggling later, the monster eventually gave up its pursuit for the time being. I took a deep breath and proceeded to lightly job down the stone passageway in hopes to lose the monster, though once I dropped off of the small cliff in order to reach the ground below, I could see the monster searching the area once again.
I hugged the wall while maneuvering around the monster as it started to walk around the stone pillar that was keeping the cave from falling apart. I contemplated on whether or not I should use this opportunity to strike, as the beasts back was turned, though I needed to be certain that I would be able to deal a devastating blow to the monster before I initiated anything.
Though after a few moments of hiding behind the wall later, I could eventually feel the monsters breathe from around the corner. Once I caught even the slightest glimpse of the monsters head, I came out of the hiding spot and jammed the blade of Shade into its eye, causing it to shriek in agony.
It started to flail on the ground wildly while clutching its head, though rather than rolling over to die, it simply got back up from off the ground with an audible snarl coming from its snout.
"You gotta be kidding," I swore under my breath before I started to run away from the monster while it was recovering from the blow it had received. I ran as fast as any man could run, using the force of the spirit to propel me up towards a cave that was a little higher up from the ground.
I half expected for the beast to struggle to enter the small cavern, though through it's rage it was able to push itself through the small cave. Adapting to the sudden change in the monsters approach, I ran over towards one of the small cliffs from within the caves in hopes to lose the creature.
Seeing as it wasn't able to push through any further, the beast eventually gave up on this approach before proceeding to make its way out of the cave. There was some sort of stone bridge on the other side of the cave, one that could possibly put me in the right direction when it came to my search for the monster.
Once I was sure that the beast was nowhere in sight, I started to sprint across the stone structure in hopes to lose the monster for good. The original plan was to find a chance that would allow me to strike down the beast, though seeing as how it seemingly walked off a blade to the eye that plan was out the window.
Though just as I had thought that I had lost the monster, I could hear it roar from within the distance. It slammed into the center of the bridge with great force, though this caused the structure to cave in from beneath us.
I wasn't able to get to the other side of the bridge, though I was able to land on a small cave entrance that could be seen on the walls of the large hole. The beast landed on the ground with an audible thud.
With the beast off of my trail, for the time being, I leaned on the stone wall in hopes to catch my breath. I haven't actually had to ever run from a threat, not since the first day I had arrived here.
However, the situation here was different. This was a completely different kind of threat, one that was man-made, as such it was bound to have some strange quirks, as seen by the fact that it was able to walk off a stab wound to the eye.
After finally catching my breath, I proceeded to make my way through the caves in hopes to locate someone. The caves were pitch black, making it rather hard to see where I was going.
Though just as I had thought that I had lost the monster, I could see its blood red eyes from within the darkness, scanning the area in hopes to locate its prey. I internally swore to myself before I started to maneuver around the caves, or at least attempting to do so.
It didn't really help that the caverns were near pitch black, though as strange as it was, the light from the monster's eyes allowed some light to shine from within the dark passageway.
Rocks started to fall from off the edge, causing the monster to growl in response. I started to move quickly in hopes to lose the beast, though as fate would have it, some of the wildlife had attracted the attention of the beast in question.
This gave me the distraction that I needed, and I started to bolt towards one of the buildings in hopes to lose the abomination. Once I entered the building, another cave could be spotted on the other side of the structure.
Hoping for the best, I started to walk down the pathway. Though once I reached the end of the cave, I reached a dead end, as there was no way I would be able to jump down from this height without hurting myself in some form or another.
I was just about to head on back through the caves to see if I couldn't find another way around, though the sound of the growl from the monster bellow stopped me from backtracking.
From the looks of it, the beast hasn't noticed my presence yet. An idea popped into my head suddenly, I'll be it not a very safe one, though it was an idea none the less. I took a deep breath and started to walk back a few meters in order to get a running start before I bolted off the side of the cliff.
"Hey!" I shouted in order to get the attention of the monster and from the looks of it, the monster took the bait as it wasted no time jumping up into the air. Just as it was about to grasp onto me, I maneuvered myself in order to ram the blade into the head of the monster.
The two of us landed on the ground with an audible thud, though the monster was able to break the fall. It wasn't moving, from the looks of things the monster had finally been taken down.
Letting out a sigh of relief, I pulled my sword out of the beasts head and proceeded to walk off into the distance. That was until I heard the monster growl, sending chills down my spine as I slowly turned around to face the beast.
It was stumbling a bit, though sure enough, it was back on its two feet once again. I started to back up slowly while sweat started to fall down my forehead, though before the monster could take a step further, it was stopped by a sudden force coming from behind it.
As fate would have it, the giant could be seen right behind the beast with a rather ferocious expression on his face. He roared as he proceeded to throw the monster over his shoulder and onto the ground.
"My friend! I found you at last!" He said. "I was afraid that the rubble from the blast would have ended your life."
"Thanks, though I don't think we're out of this situation just yet," I said, which in turn, caused the man to turn around to see the monster getting up from off the ground with a snarl.
"I presume that this is one of the Doctor's prototypes?" Yatsuhashi questioned as he readied his giant blade in order to prepare for the next phase of the oncoming battle.
"Yeah, this is one of them at least. Considering this one even survived I can only assume that some of the other experiments made it." I said while glaring at the monster before us.
"Things just seem to get more and more complicated." He said in response.
"No kidding."
...
A few months went by ever since I had been hired into the company known as Merlot Industries, and things were going rather smoothly for the most part. The machines that would help run the Artifical Intelligence Unit had just been completed.
Right now, all that was needed was the actual A.I in question. I had never made something this complex before, though after a lot of hard work and about a dozen cups of coffee a night, I had managed to finish creating the computer program.
"Come on..." I said to myself as I made the final finishing touches on the console for the Artifical Intelligence. "Done!" I shouted before I threw my hands up into the air in order to celebrate.
As if on cue, I could hear a knock on the front door of my office. "Come in," I said as the head of the project walked in with a clipboard in his hand. "Oh, hello Brock. Is there something you need help with?"
"I was coming to get an update on your progress, though considering the done could be heard from inside your office, I don't think that's really necessary." He said with one of his eyebrows raised.
"Right. Just needed to make some of the finishing touches before we run any tests." I said before I grasped the small console in the palm of my hand.
"So are you going to activate the Artificial Intelligence Unit?" The man questioned.
"In time," I said.
"Not really sure about you, though I would just like to make sure that the program actually runs properly before we hook it up to the machine for testing," Brock said in response.
"Listen, I spent over four months of non-stop work on this program. I didn't do nearly twenty all-nighters just so that the program could fail on us. The A.I will function, you can be certain of that." I said.
"Just want to be sure. Can't ever be too careful."
"...Fair enough." I grumbled before I activated the Artificial Intelligence Unit. It took a few moments due to the various other programs that were running as it booted up, though eventually the figure of some sort of gray man could be seen on the top of the device.
"Where am I?" The program questioned as it scanned its surroundings. "Who are you two? What's going on?" His series of questions didn't seem to stop any time soon, so I decided to stop it before it could continue.
"You're in an office, to be more specific, you're in my office. My name is Maralyn, and this here is Brock." I said before I turned my head over towards the man in question.
"Hello. Good to meet you...What do we call you again?" He questioned.
"..." I sat there with a poker face once I suddenly realized that I had forgotten to come up with a name for the program. "You're name is...Granite." The computer program seemed to accept this name.
"Right." It said in response.
"Do you know what you're purpose is? What you were created for?" I asked.
The computer program pinched its digital chin for a few moments before coming up with an answer. "Things are still rather unclear, though I think I can answer that question at least. It has something to do with fighting." He said.
"Exactly, you were specifically created in order to aid someone in a combat scenario. Whether it be managing equipment or coming up with a plan of action. " I said with a grin.
"That sounds about right. Though what are we fighting in the first place?" He questioned.
"Well, that's a bit complicated. It seems as though humanity is in a never-ending battle against a wide variety of threats. Though currently, our main problem would have to do with the monsters of this world." I said.
"I'm not sure what you mean." The Program said.
"That's the problem. The monsters we told you about have been growing in intellect within the past decade. The cause of this has still yet to be revealed, however, at the moment our attention is more focused on how we're going to adapt." I said. "That's where you come in, Granite."
"What do you want me to do about it?" It asked.
"Simple, we want you to do what you were programmed to do," Brock said.
"To be more specific, we'd like you to help with countering these new strategies. These monsters grow smarter and smarter as the days go by, there's no telling how they'll strike next." I said.
"Hmm, coming up with strategies is the reason I was created. So I suppose I can help you out, though I don't believe I had too much of a choice in the matter, to begin with." He said.
"I wouldn't describe it in that way. Though I suppose what you say holds some truth to it." I said.
"Very well, where do we begin?" The program asked.
"First we'd like to run some tests. There don't seem to be any glitches in your programs, though we just want to make sure that everything is running correctly before we move on to the main experiments." Brock said.
"Understandable." He said.
"I'll have some of the staff gather one of the Huntsmen from the Academy." The head of the project said before he proceeded to walk out of the room. I picked up the small console and proceeded to follow the man down towards the research lab.
Everything had been set up, the combat arena had been prepared and the turrets were armed in case there were any problems that suddenly arose. The Huntsmen that was requested walked into the room, the man had messy green hair and some sort of beige trench coat.
From what I heard, this was one of the more newer additions to the Academies staff, Bartholomew Oobleck. He's the new Historian of the School, as well the History Instructor.
"Whenever you are ready, Professor," Brock said into the microphone. The man said something in response, though due to the windows being soundproof, we weren't actually able to hear it.
Once he had made his final preparations, the man proceeded to signal us that he was now ready for the test. The head of the research team looked at me with an expression of approval, in turn, causing me to transfer Granite over to the man in the ring.
"Hello." He greeted, startling the man suddenly.
"Oh my! Terribly sorry! You gave me quite a surprise!" He said.
"Understood. I am an Artifical Intelligence Unit designed to aid in a combat scenario. Though you may call me by my designated name, Granite." The Program introduced.
"Excellent! I am Doctor Bartholomew Oobleck." The man introduced.
"I will store that name within my memory banks. Though I understand you are aware of the reason you have been called here." He said as the Doctor nodded his head to confirm his statement. "Excellent, then let us begin the test."
The man readied his weapon as the metal door started to open from the other side of the room, though just as the beast was released into the arena, everything around the Artifical Intelligence Unit had started to slow down.
Granite proceeded to move over towards the monster in order to get some information on what kind of beast the man was fighting. It was a rather large bipedal creature with various spikes around its shoulders and back.
It took a few moments to identify the type of monster that this Grimm was, though the program was eventually able to deduce that the thing before him was none other than a Gargoyle, a rather powerful monster that used the use of deception to take down its prey.
The beast also had retractable wings on it's back. Once he had identified the type of monster that the man would be fighting, he started to come up with some sort of battle plan in order to take down the beast.
Being a combat A.I, the program in question had access to most of the combat records found within the Military and Academies. He started to run various records of encounters with Gargoyle's in hopes to locate any possible weaknesses.
Once all the recordings had been stored within his memory banks, he turned around in order to predict the monster's method of attack. A grey silhouette of the beast could be seen charging towards the Huntsmen.
He thought to himself that the Gargoyle's relied on their speed in order to get the upper hand on the battle, so he started to implament a way to sever the wings of the monster into the strategy.
The strategy of cutting off the monster's method of flight would put Oobleck at a strong advantage, though the people spectating were expecting nothing less than perfection when it came to his performance.
He started to analyze the weapon of the man, and he identified that he used a type of Fire Dust in order to create fireballs from the canon on the top of his weapon. He figured that if he were able to shoot a fireball at the monster while it was still airborne, the sudden ignition of flames could possibly throw its trajectory off course.
On the other hand, that plan relies heavily on the professor's accuracy and considering that the man was currently wearing a set of spectacles, it would not be a wise decision to rely on the man's vision.
An idea occurred to the program, and he proceeded to map out the possibility. Rather than shooting the Gargoyle from within the air, perhaps a more direct counterattack could benefit the man more.
He began to judge the explosion radius of a possible explosion from the canon on the top of the weapon. The radius would severely damage the monster, not only that though the sudden flash of light would temporarily blind it, opening it for an assault.
Though even after all the blows, it would still not be enough to kill the beast. The A.I started to map out every possible outcome that the beast could take, whether it be taking to the skies, charging in for another assault, or backing off.
Either way, he had planned a counter attack for each possible outcome, as well as any other possible ones. Once the A.I was certain that the plan would result in victory, things around the program started to move at normal speeds.
"Move back!" He said to the doctor in question.
The man followed the instructions of the A.I unit and jumped back a few feet, causing the Gargoyle to slam into the ground with an audible thud.
Once that phase of the plan was complete, the Artificial Intelligence program continued with his set of instructions, which in turn, caused the man to charge his shot within his weapon before releasing it, causing an audible explosion to echo throughout the arena.
The Gargoyle screeched while it gripped its head with its massive hands, struggling to regain its vision due to the sudden flash of light that had consumed it. Once the Professor recognized the opportunity that had been presented with this sudden turn of events, he proceeded to rapidly slam his weapon onto the figure of the monster, causing it to stumble back a few feet.
It attempted to fly up into the air in hopes to fall back for the time being, though with the instructions of the Combat A.I told him to use the power of his weapon to propel him up into the air.
He used the stored up Fire Dust within his weapon to maneuver around each of the monsters attacks until he eventually landed on it's back. With another shot from his canon, the wings of the monster had been blown completely off of its backside.
With the monster grounded, Oobleck continued to strike at it until he raised his club up into the air before slamming it down onto the head of the beast, causing it to evaporate into the air.
A buzzer was sounded from within the arena, signaling to the staff that the test was successful. "Good work to the both of you," Brock said. "Now, I think it's time we began the project."
"Right," I said as I called back Granite.
"So did I pass the test?" He questioned.
"That you did. You did really well! It'll be good to have you on the team." I said, however, before we could continue with the project in question, the sound of one of the crew members shouting quickly halted our progress.
"Sir! We have a situation down in the main lab!" One of the workers said.
"What?!" Brock shouted.
"Granite! Head down to the main laboratory! I'm sending you the layout of the facility now!" I said while giving the data to the Artificial Intelligence Unit in question. Once the layout of the building was transferred to the program, he proceeded to make his way over towards the main lab.
"Follow me! We're going to take control of the situation!" The head of the team said.
I nodded my head and started to follow the two over towards the research laboratory. "What in the hell is going on?!" Brock questioned the worker that had retrieved the two of us.
"One of the containers holding the substance that Doctor Merlot created shattered open! Some of the liquid spilled into one cage's!" He said to the two of us. "We're not sure what's going on, though it's nothing good I can say that much!"
"Damn it! Get every Huntsmen and Huntress on the scene!" Brock ordered.
"Yessir!" The worker said before running off in the opposite direction.
It took us quite some time, though once we actually arrived on the scene, what we saw was quite mind-boggling, to say the least. The monster that had been captured for the project was currently ramming its fist on the fortified glass that was trapping it, though the purple substance could be seen leaking into the body of the monster.
The beast flailed wildly as its body grew larger and larger, though the most confusing part about the whole situation was the fact that the bone armor that was on the body of the beast started to fall off until it eventually ripped off its bone mask while shrieking into the air.
Once all the bone from its body was removed, it proceeded to shatter the glass with every ounce of strength it could summon. "How in the hell?!" Brock shouted as every worker started to run away from the lab in a panic.
"Both of you get back! Now!" They heard an old man's voice call out.
Doctor Oobleck and a white-haired man dressed in red walked into the room with their respective weapons at hand. The monster roared into the air before slowly making its way over towards the two men.
It was clearly having a rather difficult time moving around due to its sudden increase in upper body mass. The two Huntsmen charged towards the monster in hopes to take control of the situation.
"What in the name of the gods is going on down here?!" The voice of the director himself, Doctor Merlot, could be heard from behind the duo.
"Sir!" The head of the team said. "Stay back! The Huntsmen are handling the situation the best they can!" He said while preventing the man in question from walking any closer to the monster.
"Did the staff make it out! Were there any casualties?!" He questioned.
"We can't say for certain yet! Though so far there haven't been any deaths reported from the members of our staff!" The man said as he turned around to spectate the battle between the unknown monster and the two Huntsmen.
"Come now!" The old man said while firing a few fireballs over in the direction of the monster, though the fire didn't seem to have any effect on the beast. It merely shrieked over at the duo before it slammed its fist over in the man's direction though due to its increased mass, its movements were much slower than before, this allows the professor to use his mallet to jump up into the air.
The old man quickly maneuvered around the monster before he slashed at his back with the axe on the end of his Blunderbuss. However, this didn't seem to phase the monster as it quickly grabbed the professor underneath him before it threw him over at one of the walls.
The Doctor in question jumped up into the air in order to dodge the oncoming projectile, though the old man was able to ram his axe into the floor in order to stop himself.
However, the doctor failed to notice that the monster was right above him, and before he could dodge the attack, the monster had already rammed its fist onto the side of the Doctor.
In a fit of rage, the old man's aura flared around his body, causing him to charge towards the Beast in question. He slammed his fist onto the stomach of the Grimm, sending it sliding across the rocky ground.
However, the beast didn't seem to mind all that much as it quickly rammed its head onto the figure of the man.
The two continued with this power struggle, though what the beast lacked in speed he made up for in strength. It was easily able to overpower the man before it slammed its fist onto his back.
Once the man got up, the monster slammed its fist onto the figure of the professor, causing him to let out a rather pained grunt as he flew back towards some of the machines.
"Port!" Oobleck cried out once he recovered from the blow he had received from before. The man rushed towards the monster, causing to screech in response as it slammed its arm down in hopes to crush the professor, though, with his quick movements, he was able to maneuver himself around the beast while attacking the monster.
The ground started to shake due to Professor Port's Semblance. His body grew to a similar size to that of the monster and his eyes glowed with a grey aura. "Aha! Now, this is a battle! A fight against an unknown beast! It shall be a wonderful story to tell to the future generations!" He roared before he rushed over to take on the beast.
His footsteps made audible thuds before the monster eventually got into the man's range. Oobleck quickly jumped away in order for the two titans to clash with one another.
The two giant started to exchange blows, causing a small gust of wind to blow past us as each attack connected. However, eventually, the professor was able to kick the monster in the stomach before he slammed his axe onto the head of the beast.
"Aha! Now let us end this battle once and for all!" Port said with a laugh, though his time of joy was quickly cut off once they saw a rather unusual occurrence coming from the beast in question.
What they hadn't expected was for the beast to stay alive for a few moments after receiving such a devastating blow to the head. It glowed with a bright light and its body started to expand.
"Hmm, what is this?" He questioned, though the Historian was able to piece together what was happening in order to warn his partner about the oncoming threat.
"It's going to explode! Port!" Oobleck shouted, causing the man to voice his understandings. The professor rushed over towards the monster and wrapped his arms around it. He ran over in the direction of one of the windows before proceeding to throw the monster out of the facility.
Once it was outside of the facility, the professor aimed his weapon at the beast before pulling the trigger. The beast exploded into ash once the fireball made contact with its body.
With that, the mysterious monster had been vanquished thanks to the two professors.
Port let out a hearty sigh before reverting back to his original form. "Now that was close. Lord knows what would have happened if the beast had been allowed to self destruct from within the compound."
"Let us be thankful that it did not come to that," Oobleck said. "Is everyone alright?!" He shouted over at the rest of the staff.
There were a few people who had been injured, though fortunately for us, no casualties have been reported. "Everyone from within the building has been evacuated. Minimal damage was reported." Granite said as he appeared beside the two of us.
"Good, lord knows what would have happened if the Huntsmen didn't come to our aid," Brock said with his arms crossed.
"Right."
"So what was that thing? How was it able to cause such a ruckus?" I questioned the Artificial Intelligence Unit in hopes to shed some light on the situation. The program merely stood there in silence while searching through his files.
"There is no known information on that creature." He said, which wasn't exactly reassuring, to say the least.
"What do you mean we don't have information on what that was?!" Brock questioned.
"Indeed." The voice of Doctor Merlot said as he started to walk towards the three of us. "I would like to know as well." He said with a serious expression on his face while his hands were behind his back.
"I am outfitted with every known information about the monsters of this world. However, I do not believe that this sudden transformation was the result of the continued evolution of the Creatures of Grimm." It said.
"Then what pray tell could this be the result of?" Merlot questioned.
"Mutation." He said.
"What?" I asked as I was still rather confused with the whole situation in question. There was still so much we didn't know about these creatures, though we've never heard of any instances of mutation before.
"I have reason to believe that the strange substance that the director had developed was the cause of the sudden mutation. Once it was exposed to it, the beast began to change rather rapidly." He said.
"...Oh. I see, so the mutation was because of the most recent experiment." He said.
"We can't have these things around when we're doing the project. Not unless we want something like this to happen again." Brock said. "Sir, I request that these tubes be moved to a different location."
However, his words fell on deaf ears as the Doctor seemed to be rather lost in thought. He was staring out towards the hole that the beast had created once it had self-destructed, not only that though his eyes wandered over towards the testing tubes as well.
"Sir!" The head of the project said in a raised tone, bringing the man back to reality.
"Hmm? Oh yes, of course. I will have a team transfer the tubes to a different location at once." He said as he proceeded to walk off into the distance.
...
"Rah!" The giant roared as he slammed his fist onto the stomach of the beast, causing it to crash onto the stone wall while some of the rubble fell on top of it. The sudden impact created a large dust cloud around the crash site, though the red eyes peering out through the dust told us that the fight was far from over.
"He's a persistent one. Unlike any beast I've ever fought." He commented while the monster in questions started to rush towards us at rather fast speeds. "Get back!" The man warned as he put up some sort of barrier in hopes to block the oncoming attack, though it had no trouble breaking through.
The beast crashed into the wall and the two of us were sent airborne for a few short seconds before landing on the ground with an audible thud. "You okay?!" I asked while attempting to stand.
"Just barely!" He responded as he got up from off the ground, using his sword to help himself up. Though before either of us could react, the abomination started to rush us down once again.
It was just about to strike, though the spirit pushed out his palm suddenly in order to stop the beast. It stumbled back a few feet, giving the giant an opportunity to hold the monster in place for as long as he could.
Using this opportunity that was presented before us, I summoned the spirit once again in order to ram its fist onto the figure of the beast. It stumbled back a few feet once again, though before it could attempt to rush us down again, the giant slammed his foot onto the ground in order to knock the monster off its footing.
We were trying to prevent the beast from actually charging towards us, as neither of us had any real tools to counter the abomination's speed and power. So instead we were just trying to prevent it from using it in the first place.
The more we continued to rush it down, the angrier it started to get until eventually, it let out an ear piercing screech before slamming its hands onto the ground. Rocks started to fall from the ceiling, forcing the two of us to focus our efforts on not being crushed.
However, this gave the abomination an opportunity to strike. It rushed over towards the giant and slammed him back onto the ground, and just as he was about to get up, the beast was right above the man in question.
It started to rapidly slam its fist onto the man in question, causing him to use his semblance in order to block each attack. Once I landed on the ground, I ran over towards the monster and latched onto it's back.
The beast attempted to reach behind it in order to grasp onto me, though due to its large mass, doing so was proving to be quite the challenging feat. I started to ram the fist of the spirit onto it's back and sides in hopes to take it down, though once I saw that the monster was attempted to crush me under its weight by falling over, I jumped off rather quickly.
Once it fell onto the ground, the giant grabbed its legs and threw it over towards one of the stone walls once again. It started to rush us down once again, though just as it was about to reach us, the spirit appeared in order to ram one of its knees onto the head of the monster.
With a new opportunity in sight, Yatsuhashi ran over towards the monster before grabbing one of its arms. Now with a large reserve of energy, the giant proceeded to toss the monster over in my direction.
"Incoming!" He shouted.
"Got it!" I shouted while preparing for the oncoming monster. Once it was within range, I used the strength of the spirit of Shade in order to ram it's fist into the stomach of the beast, causing it to go flying towards one of the stone walls.
"The Beast looks like it's slowing down! Perhaps it's close to falling!" He said while gripping his blade.
Before I could voice my response however, the sight of the monster in question charging towards the giant silenced the both of us. The giant used the remaining energy he had left in order to uppercut the monster.
This gave me an opportunity to dive kick the abomination while the giant rammed his fist into its chest. It stumbled back a few feet, struggling to stand on its two feet while some sort of purple liquid started to ooze out of the wounds it had received.
However, we didn't have the time to wonder about the strange looking substance. The giant grasped his sword and charged forwards, his footsteps echoing throughout the caves.
Once the monster regained its footing, it attempted to rush the two of us down once again. Though it was too late, as the man had already rammed his giant blade through the chest of the abomination.
It slowly started to reach out to crush the man with its barehand, though once he pulled the sword out, it started to stumble back towards the wall of the cave. We were about to celebrate our victory, though the sight of the beast starting to expand and glow caused us to raise our guard once again.
"Get back! Now!" I shouted at the giant. The man in question nodded and proceeded to back away from the monster, as we were both unsure as to what was happening. The monster roared to the sky before bursting into a cloud of fire, the explosion echoing throughout the caves while making a visible hole in the wall behind it.
However, once the smoke from the blast had cleared, a much larger monster could be seen from the distance. It had two very large arms and its body was twice as big as the monster we had just fought.
The sound of the sudden explosion seemed to have grabbed its attention, and its red eyes were staring over towards the two of us. We stood there in silence for a few moments while contemplating on what to do next, though once we heard the sound of the beasts roar, the two of us proceeded to run in the opposite direction while the beast gave chase.
"How many of these things are there?!" I asked the man as we continued to make our way through the caves.
"I don't know! Perhaps we can worry about the number of monsters at a later time! For the time being, let us focus on escaping this one!" The giant said while the two of us jumped across a small ravine in hopes to escape the monster.
...
It's been two years since I was given the position I have today in Merlot Industries, so far the project has been a success for the most part. We were able to come up with effective counter plans for the sudden intelligence spikes, however, there has yet to be an explanation as to how this happened in the first place.
Though for now, I had other matters to attend to. At the moment I was tasked to make some adjustments and modifications to the system that we had been using for a few months now.
It was supposedly going to further our progress when it comes to discovering the truth behind the matter. "Maralyn, you shouldn't consume as much caffeine as you are now. It could be detrimental to your health." Granite said.
"I can drink what I want," I responded while taking another swig of the coffee I had made.
"I am just making a suggestion. It would not do you any good if you missed out on your work. Which seems ironic due to how you are consuming coffee to do more work." He said.
"So it has less to do with care for my well-being and more for the integrity of the project," I said.
"That's not entirely true. While I do care for the integrity of the project, it has more to the fact that I was programmed to prioritize these factors. However, at the moment it is coming from a friend. One who cares for your health." He said.
"...Fine. I guess one quick little nap wouldn't hurt anyone."
"I suggest a nap of three hours, thirty-four minutes and forty-seven seconds. You be able to get the required rest you need, but you will also be able to complete today's minimum work capacity."
"Right," I said as I leaned back in my chair.
However, just as I was about to drift off to sleep, I could hear the door to my office open. "Ugh, can it wait, Brock? I'm trying to get some shut eye right now." I said while turning my chair over towards the front door.
Though my heart temporarily stopped for a few seconds once I saw the Director himself, Victor Merlot, standing at the front door. "D-Director! Terribly sorry! I'll get back to work at once!" I said.
"No need to worry. You have been working hard for the past couple of weeks. It's only natural that a break is in order." He said with a chuckle in his voice.
"Oh. Whew. Thanks." I said while slumping back into my chair.
"Well, not at the moment. Right now I need something from you, something that requires your set of skills." Merlot said with a rather curious expression on his face. Needless to say, I was intrigued as to what the man could possibly need from me.
"Not sure I follow," I said.
"Come, all will be explained in due time." The man said as he proceeded to walk out of the room. The Program and I looked at one another in a rather confused manner before we eventually decided to follow the director.
The trip was rather quiet for the most part, every question was met with a rather vague or dismissive response. From the looks of it, whatever Doctor Merlot had in store was meant to be kept quiet from the rest of the staff.
Not sure if I should be honored or skeptical of that, only one way to find out. Though once we actually arrived in the man's office, I could see the head of the project, Brock, standing in his office as well.
"Maralyn? What are you doing here?" He questioned.
"I could ask you the same thing," I responded. "So are you going to tell us what this is all about?"
"...We're at a new age. There is a war going on, one that we will eventually lose if we do not adapt to the creatures as well." Merlot said. "However, I believe I have found the clue to our success."
"...Not really sure what you mean by that." Brock said.
"Come with me, I have something incredible to show to the two of you." The man said as he walked over towards one of his bookshelves. He started to pull various books out from the shelves until there was an audible click coming from behind the wall.
We were both rather surprised to see that there was some sort of secret passageway behind the shelf. "This way. All will be revealed in time." The Director said while the metal doors opened.
Brock and I stared at one another for a few moments, as we were both unsure as to where the Doctor was going with this. However, we decided to trust the words of the man and proceeded to step inside the elevator.
"Sir, where are we going?" I questioned.
"To the ground floors." The man said, causing the A.I to appear in front of him.
"Director. I have a rather detailed version of the layout of the building. There is not a single mention of the ground floors anywhere within these plans." Granite said, though this only made Victor chuckle in response.
"It wouldn't do anyone any good if I gave away the location to the secret laboratory." He said as he typed in some sort of code on the console of the elevator. Once the doors closed, we could feel the metal box begin its descent.
The rest of the trip was relatively silent, though that all changed once we felt the elevator stop. "Ah, here we are." He said as the doors leading towards the secret laboratory opened.
Tubes could be seen scattered all throughout the room, filled with the same substance that created that mutated monster from two years ago. However, other types of strange looking monsters could be seen within the tubes.
"What is this?" I asked.
"It's been two years since the mutation was discovered. Ever since then I had hoped to recreate that beast, though one that would aid humanity rather than against it." The director explained.
"...What?!" We both asked.
"Do you not understand? With this mutation, these creatures can be experimented on. Not only that though perhaps we can change the way they act." He said.
"Perhaps?! Director, you mean to tell us that you've been experimenting on these creatures for the past two years only based off a simple theory?!" I asked as I was completely baffled at the actions of the man.
"Of course not. If even the slightest possibility of this going wrong even crossed my mind, I would have stopped this little project of mine." The Director said. "However, once I was certain that these beasts could be tamed, I pressed on." He said as he turned around to face the two of us.
"See for yourselves."
A sudden chill went down our spines once we heard those words leave the mouth of the man. We slowly turned around to see some sort of mutated canine standing there, it's eye's peering into the very depths of our souls.
Rather than pouncing though, it merely walked past the two of us without a second glance. "See? Mutate some of the wildlife alongside the monsters we collect, then you have a powerful specimen indeed, though most importantly, an obedient one." He said.
"So...it can be tamed?" Brock questioned.
"As you can see." The man said while reffering towards the canine that had just recently past us.
"...What exactly are you hoping to accomplish here?" I questioned. "I understand that creating mutations hold a wide variety of possibilities, though I don't understand what this is supposed to accomplish."
"Glad you asked. I am working on pushing humanity to the next stage of its battle with the monsters of this world. With this newfound mutation, I hope to create a being that will push the tides of this battle into our favor." He said.
"We don't follow," Brock said.
"For the longest time, mankind has been in a constant stalemate with the Creatures of Grimm. We've created walls, built communities, developed weapons and yet it's still not enough." Merlot said. "Even now, these beast's continue to evolve in ways we could not possibly imagine."
"..." Neither of us could really deny that.
"Though once I saw the mutation that occurred all those years ago, I saw an opportunity." He said. "If we cannot defeat the monster with the weapons we have at our disposal, then perhaps all we need to do is create monsters of our own."
"..."
"This is why I have asked the two of you to come to my lab. I want both of you to aid in these experiments, to help create the monsters we need to fight this war." Merlot said.
"I specialize in engineering. I'm no scientist." Brock said with his arms crossed. "Not only that though Maralyn here creates Artifical Intelligence Units. You're really the only one in this company who knows anything about genetic mutation."
"You will all be able to play your roles. I need machinery to help with the mutation process, one that isn't so destructive. I'm sure you've felt the tremors in the office for the past couple of years." Merlot said.
"Hold on, you were behind that?!" I asked.
"A slight setback. Failure in genetic modification tends to be rather explosive. I wish to prevent such setbacks from happening again." He said to the man before turning his head over towards me.
"I need you, as you are rather experienced when it comes to Combat A.I. We would need one that could allow us to analyze the compatibility of the two specimens before we mutated them."
"Hold on, two specimens? It might have been two years ago, though I clearly remember there only being one mutated monster." I said.
"Indeed, though a few modifications had to be made in order for the mutated beast to be tamed. We need to merge the Creatures of Grimm with more sentient wildlife, otherwise, we would just be creating a more powerful Grimm, which is the opposite of what we want."
"So what, you've been going out into the wild to collect these specimens?" Brock asked.
"Of course not. I merely have some of the robots I've developed do it. With the aid of the underground tunnels in Mountain Glenn, I am able to safely transport each animal to the laboratory."
"..." Honestly, we were both rather taken aback by the sudden reveal. The Director of the company we worked for had been creating these things in secret, so naturally, we were a little skeptical.
"I understand that this is a rather sudden offer. You do not have to accept the offer, no harm no foul. Though I'm close, I can feel it. I'm close to creating the perfect specimen. All I need is a little assistance." He said.
"...Have you been using humans in your experiments?" Brock questioned.
"Of course I haven't. Just some of the local wildlife, no one shall be harmed." Merlot said.
"Hmm, if nobody's getting hurt then I see no reason to be skeptical. I'll need the schematics of the machine you want me to build, not only that though I would need some assistance. I can't exactly build a machine designed for genetic mutation overnight after all."
"Not a problem, I shall have the bots bring you the materials you need, as well as aid you in the development of the machine." The Director said. "What about you, Ms. Naturae?"
"...I'll need some time to develop the A.I. Making Granite took me two months to complete." I said.
"Take as much time as you need. You two will have to continue your original line of work alongside this new project. It would look rather suspicious to the staff if you two were to suddenly disappear."
"Right," Brock said.
Doctor Merlot walked over towards the two of us before putting his hands on our shoulders. "This will be the beginning of a new age. Together, we will push humanity towards the next phase of this war." He said.
"Now...get up." The Doctor said.
"Huh?" I asked.
"Get up."
"Sir, we're not-." I began, however, I was quickly cut off once the man shouted.
"Get up!" Suddenly, a sharp pain could be felt from within my side. All of a sudden, everything came rushing back, what happened during the last three years of being under the employment of Merlot, as well as the ten years to follow.
"Gah!" I gasped as my eyes shot open. I looked around to see a rather familiar sight, that being the sight of the rubble of the former building of Merlot Industries. Rocks fell to the ground and fire could be seen raging all throughout the area.
"You're awake! Thank goodness." The voice of one of her students said.
"Huh?" I questioned as I stared at the two boys that were also caught in the blast. "I don't understand, what's going on here?" I asked while clenching the side of my torso with my right hand.
"Long story short, Doctor Merlot blew up the facility and now some of his experiments are free from their cages. We took one of them down, though it wasn't exactly an easy fight, to begin with." The boy I had hired said with a serious expression.
"Hold on, the prototypes are free?!" I asked while going into a state of panic.
"That's what I said." He stated.
"Which ones got out! I need to know which prototypes survived the explosion!" I yelled.
"Keep it down, will you?! Look, we don't know which ones survived! We've only ever encountered the two!" Brandon said while placing one of his fingers on his lips in hopes to keep me quiet.
"Hold on, you mean you haven't killed the other one?" I whispered.
"We were barely able to kill the first one! This abomination is twice as big as the first one!" The boy whispered. "Right now we've been trying to find a way out of this godforsaken hole!"
"Then where the hell is that creature you've been running away from?!" I asked.
However, before the boy could answer the question, the sound of the stone wall beside us breaking open quickly silenced us. Sure enough, one of Merlot's Prototypes could be seen climbing down towards us with its eerie red eyes staring into our souls.
"Damn it! Run!" The boy shouted as he pulled me off the ground. However, we weren't exactly going to make it very far as the beast charged forwards and broke through the wall leading to the underground city.
We all landed on the ground with an audible thud, causing the monster to roar to the sky before slowly charging towards us. Though just as it was about to pounce on us, a set of fireballs hit it on the side, causing it to fall to the ground once again.
The three of us turned to our right to see Oobleck, Port, and Glynda all standing there with their respective weapons at hand. "Do you three need some assistance?!" Oobleck questioned, causing everyone, including myself to nod profusely.
"What in the name of the gods is this creature?!" The Combat Instructor questioned.
"Remember the monster that caused the Massacre of Mountain Glenn ten years ago?!" I asked, which in turn, caused the three professors to stare at me with rather surprised and horrified expressions. "This one was one of the prototypes that Doctor Merlot made! It's not as powerful as the one you fought through!" I said.
"I thought we had purged these creatures from this world! It seems we must do so again!" Port said as he activated his semblance.
"Perhaps you have a plan of action to strike down this creature?!" Oobleck questioned while spinning his weapons around in order to charge up his semblance. I sat there in silence for a few moments before an idea eventually sparked.
"Keep the thing distracted! You two! I need your help with something!" I said before I got up and started to run towards one of the buildings. The three instructors nodded and proceeded to rush towards the giant beast with their respective weapons at hand.
Port started to fire various fireballs from his blunderbuss while Oobleck and Glynda focused on restraining the beast as best they could. The prototype roared and slammed it's massive hand onto the ground, causing some of the rocks to fall on the old man in question.
However, thanks to the use of his semblance, he didn't take nearly as much damage as the average person would. "So where are we going?!" Brandon questioned as we ran on some of the railroad tracks.
Though his question was quickly answered once our eyes fell on a bomb that was at the end of the tracks. "Whew. It's still here." I said while making my way over towards the back of the bomb.
Miners from before the massacre used these to blow open holes from within the mountain in order to make railroad tracks. I opened up the main console and started to rearrange some of the wires.
On the flipside, the Historian let loose a storm of fire from the top of his canon, causing the beast to shriek in agony. Port roared and threw his axe over towards the monster while Glynda kept it restrained to the ground with the use of her telekinesis.
"So how exactly do you know how to arm a bomb in the first place?!" Brandon asked.
"I had a friend who was the head of engineering for the company! He was the one who created that failsafe that nearly killed the three of us. I learned a thing or two from him during my time with the company!" I said while making some adjustments to the arming system.
Back to the battle, the beast grabbed the weapon of Peter before slamming its head against his body, sending him flying through the open cavern. He was about to charge forwards, though the sight of the three of us pushing a bomb towards the monster.
"Guys! Get ready!" I shouted.
Once the two remaining instructors caught sight of the bomb, they were able to piece together the plan of action rather quickly. "Okay! Once this thing goes off we're gonna have to be out of this sector of the underground city!" I said.
"These monsters were genetically modified to self destruct upon a near death situation! So-!" I began, though I was cut off once the monster picked up the bomb with one of its claws.
"Come on!" Port shouted.
"You get the idea! Just run!" I said while the three of us started to run towards one of the large holes in the ground. The timer on the bomb had reached its final countdown, though fortunately for all of us, we had managed to gather into the large hole in order to take cover.
Glynda summoned every ounce of strength she had within her in order to create a barrier that would shield us from the blast. Once the timer had reached it's designated stopping point, it proceeded to explode, causing the self-destruct mechanism within the beast to activate as well.
It took nearly everything that the combat instructor had to keep the barrier from breaking, though after a few moments of relative silence, the woman lowered the shield while exhaling heavily.
We all slowly started to leave the hole that we had taken cover in, and sure enough, there wasn't a single trace of the monster left. All that could be seen to indicate that it had been killed was the purple substance used to create the prototype, to begin with.
"...It's dead." Brandon said with a sigh of relief.
"That seems to be the case," Yatsuhashi said while placing his massive blade back into its sheath. However, before we could begin to find a way out of the mountain, we could feel the cold stairs of the three instructors on us.
Especially Glynda, who looked absolutely furiously. "..." We merely stood there in silence as none of us were really sure what to say in response.
"We have a lot to talk about." The combat instructor said.
...
Thus, another chapter of our story comes to an end. Upon arriving at the former facility of Merlot Industries, the woman known as Mary had begun to relive some rather unpleasant memories.
Memories of the days where she used to work under the employment of Victor Merlot, as well as with the team that was run by a man known as Brock.
On the other hand, the rest of our heroes have begun to encounter the prototypes of the perfect specimen that Victor Merlot had dedicated the rest of his life to creating, and they were perhaps some of the most powerful enemies that they had ever encountered.
Fortunately, with the aid of some of the Huntsmen and Huntresses, our heroes were able to take down two of the prototypes. Though that begs the question, if two of his experiments survived the blast, then perhaps some of the others did as well.
The Archeologist secretly hopes that the memories of days of old will not resurface once they leave the mountain altogether, with no intention of returning mind you.
However, our heroine will soon come to realize that not all things can be forgotten. Some memories you will have to confront head on, no matter how harsh they may be.
Though that is a story for another day.
Credits
Writer: Quebec
Editor: Smitten
...
Next Chapter: The Massacre.