-ACCESSING H-SEC WEAPONS LAB 856416 NETWORK: ARCHIVE
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-BEGIN PLAYBACK LOG: 1_"Hayden"
Fortune, it would seem, has smiled upon me.
In the days following the "incident" aboard the Zariman, the survivors (exclusively children oddly enough) have been quarantined: and myself assigned to study them and the… abilities they manifest. It's a shame, really, that Kaleen was so inept. I rather enjoyed her insight at times, but her lack of caution was, and is, inexcusable. The little Daemon (Kasha, I believe it was) that burned her was to be held alone in a fireproof stasis chamber; but then the others started panicking, and dangerous "conditions" started to manifest, and… ugh. I have never been fond of children, but these… things... are beyond intolerable! They are being held together in a repurposed childrens school; lined to the brim with Void-worthy plating, null-shielding, and stasis-sealant. It could serve an Imperial command barge for a Master if not for the lack of engines and the… inhabitants.
A child psychoanalyst has, voluntarily, been stationed within the vessel (the "Crucible" we have come to call it). She… oh what was her name? Arula? Ar- Mmmu... Maru?... Oh whatever- SHE has proven awfully resilient in her efforts to, shockingly naive enough, Comfort the children; having already been endangered at least twice now by violent "manifestations" produced by her charges! I give her a week before she's injured and/or killed, and subsequently fired.
Speaking of Fire, the little sh-... LITTLE GIRL responsible for the removal of my lab assistants FACE was supposed to be my first subject. Her temper, however, is… dangerous; and my examination room isn't fully hazard-proofed yet (something about the forma supplier needing more Neural Sensors). As such, we arrive at the first subject of my examination: a sprightly young boy named Hayden.
The first note one makes of the boy is his unusual fitness, relative to his age. From what I understand, he used to be an athlete; specializing in the Ancient Earth "Hurdled Sprint". The boys calves are prodigious, and his heart seems to be bursting with energy. Just as well, because the physicals issued to him were extensive. Once we realized the exhaustive therapy routine had virtually no effect on his vigor, we experimented with his limits. All tests seem to point towards a huge, but present, limit in his stamina, but nothing else. I was rather disappointed, hearing rumours what the other children could do. Until, of course, danger was introduced. As his therapist was helping him out of the magnetic gyro, the Ayatan circuit flared, and an inactive camera drone came flying at them. With a blinding flash of light, and Inhuman speed, he surged forward, and struck the drone.
It was CUT,
Clean.
In.
Half.
Later review showed the boy manifesting Void energy as some kind of "Hardlight Blade", and using its energy to enhance his speed. The void is complex, and anyone who spends long enough studying it knows that details are everything. The Manifestation of power under duress tells us little besides his ability to use energy the same way our void engines do in an emergency. The accuracy and unthinking reflex of the cut though… that speaks Volumes. For instance, it tells us that he has used his… lets call them "Powers", before, done so under life-or-death circumstances, and has MUCH experience with it. Protective instinct is to be expected in any group of disaster survivors (especially with younger, more vulnerable members present), but lashing o-... no Striking Purposefully at a threat to your group with an almost routine preparedness and PERFECT precision is the mark of a self-appointed protector. It's obvious in the way some of the group defer to him that he is a guardian to them; a slayer of beasts, who has repeatedly risked his own life to save one of theirs and has gotten VERY good at it.
The question then becomes, why hide his powers from us? The answer, naturally, is that he views this as a hostile environment, and is avoiding tipping his hand to the enemy too early. Smart of him, no doubt, but if even one of the older (and more level-headed) of the group has become so jaded and cynical, what effect could the horrors I imagine they've seen have on the weaker-minded ones? Said individuals, however, are for another time, but the prospect of weaponizing their talents looks promising, but only time will tell. The fate of the empire may hang in the balance.
Or more importantly, my position as head of this division.
No Hayden is not THE Hayden Tenno. Just thought I'd clarify; people seemed confused on the Forums.