LIBERI FATALIS: The Therianthrope Chronicles

by Eddie-E

A crossover between Ace Combat, Katmandu and another, surprise famous furry comic. A Japanese scientist during the onset of World War II in Europe devises a groundbreaking theory of evolution whose effects will resonate not only on Earth but also throughout the universe for centuries to come. Rated M for language and mature situations.

1. Genesis

Act 1: Genesis

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot.

-Carl Sagan

September 7th AD 1939, Imperial Cathedral of Saint Bartholomew, Frankfurt, Germany

Kyrie... eleison,

kyrieeeeee eleiiison...

kyrie... eleison...

A feminine voice and at the same time with a somewhat sinister tone was heard inside the church. They were the voices of some nuns singing Kyrie Eleison, the song that marked the beginning of the mass. Although the Kyrie Eleison is sung to ask God for forgiveness for the sins of mankind, the tone and intensity of the voices evoked something darker and even gave the impression that it foresaw something terrible that might happen in the distant future.

And to make matters worse, the sound of lightning falling in the city after an atrocious rain was heard on the street, making the prevailing atmosphere in the streets more depressing...

Obviously, those things were not of any interest to the two men at the church's gates, and in the meantime, an elderly beggar came to them begging for money.

-"Please, young men, could you give this poor, old man some money?"-

-"Sorry, I don't have any money right now."- One of the men responded in an attempt to evade the subject.

The old man looked visibly disappointed and at the same time in despair, for it was more than evident that he had not tasted food in days and needed to make some money at that moment from those two men.

-"C' mon you guys, I haven't eaten anything in the last six days! Did you two happen to have any Christian charity for me?

That man began to lose patience, and without further ado, he raised his voice in a violent tone against the old man.

-"I said NO! Aren't you ashamed of yourself, you old fart? If you keep insisting again, I'll be compelled to call the police!"- That young man replied, making the old man run away, fearing the worst.

Meanwhile, that man can't help but curse at having to deal with such people as that old man, and yet when he had more important things to worry about.

-"Damn it! Old people like him should be in a nursing home instead of stinking up the streets..."-

-"Oh, please! Why do you have to be so rude to everyone?"-

Those two men, dressed in laboratory coats and one of them is from foreign origins, were walking in the drenched streets of Frankfurt, when a heavy rain has just happened a few hours ago.

-"Hey, kiddo! Do you want some fresh bread?"- Another man tried to offer his wares to the foreign-looking man.

-"No, thanks."-

-"Please! This bread has just come out of the bakery oven, fresh and ready to eat! Don't you want to try some, young man?"-

The young foreigner saw the desperate eyes of the baker who was trying to sell him bread at the cost of anything, and he would have bought some bread, if not that, apart from having no change, he could not eat at the job he was going to go to on that day, so he kindly refused his request.

-"No thanks, seriously, I don't have change, otherwise I'd be happy to buy something from you, sir."-

-"OK, as you wish."- The baker responded resignedly to the foreigner.

The foreigner's partner saw the attitude of his colleague with contempt and disgust, but he decided not to say anything. Meanwhile, the foreigner didn't hesitate to make a bit of a mockery of him.

-"See? You don't need to be so rude to people. Sometimes it's not good to have to needlessly bring attention."-

The other man, who was obviously a German, decided to remain silent in response to criticism from his foreign colleague, but he could not hide his irritation easily.

And considering what he saw on the streets of Frankfurt, he had every reason to be likewise upset.

The streets were dirty, smelly, full of mud and trash, and there's lots of beggars, prostitutes, and people who already lost everything they had, even hope, thanks to the Great Depression and the side effects of the Versailles Treaty Germany was subject after losing the Great War. The German mark was devalued so much that many people used the bills as toilet paper and campfires, because those bills were worthless.

Germany was under the iron-fisted rule of Hitler's Nazi Party, while the country itself was preparing to a large scale invasion to his neighboring countries. While many of the citizens were happy, because the Fuhrer promised to make Germany great again after the painful defeat their country suffered in the last war, and driving Germany to one of the worst crisis the country has suffered in their history, on the other hand there is some people who are worried about what kind of sacrifices they have to do for reaching such kind of goal...

... None of those concerns matters for some people, especially people with no concern at all for human suffering.

---

A young woman knock a door from a office.

-"Mr. Von Verschuer?"- the woman says, while keeping knocking the door -"I need to talk with you, sir"-

-"What the hell do you want? I already told you I don't want to be bothered right now."-

Those harsh words came from the mouth of Otmar Freiherr Von Verschuer, a doctor from Frankfurt's Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. Von Verschuer, normally a very busy man, was annoyed by the persistence of his personal secretary.

-"Well, sir. Your personal assistant, Dr. Mengele, wants to speak with you"- The secretary says, a little bit scared due of the tone of Von Verschuer's voice -"It's about his friend's work, as maybe you could be interested on it."

-"You mean Mengele's stupid Chinese friend who came here with a scholarship from the government of his fucking backward country?"-

-"Actually, sir, he's Japanese."- The woman corrects him with a soft voice.

-"Whatever!"- The doctor replied angrily to her. -"If Mengele himself really wants me to see his friend's work, that's because it's REALLY important. Right?"-

-"Indeed".

-"OK, let those idiots pass here, I hope it really worth it."-

In an instant, the secretary let both men to enter Dr. Von Verschuer's office as quickly as possible. One of those men was Josef Mengele, Dr. Von Verschuer's personal assistant, who hails from Munich. His other friend was an Asian man, who was almost the same size as Mengele's, having a very curly brown hair, wearing glasses and formal clothes. Despite all those differences, he was a good-looking man, with a very gallantly expression.

And even with all those points, that was not enough for the German scientist for even raise a smile to him.

-"Good afternoon, Dr. Von Verschuer"- Mengele says, while shaking his mentor's hand.

-"Good afternoon, Mengele"- Von Verschuer replies in a very dry manner, while trying to hide the fact he feels extremely annoyed from being bothered by his own student, not to mention the fact Mengele brought to him a foreign student from Japan.

Even if Dr. Von Verschuer was painfully aware the Japanese Empire has recently allied with his own country in Germany's quest to win the war, along with Mussolini's fascist regime in Italy,that doesn't hide the issue of Dr. Von Verschuer being a repentless racist and a Nazi sympathizer, but even if he likes nazis maybe too much, just like his student Mengele, Von Verschuer himself wonders in his head why someone as Mengele would have a Japanese for a friend, no matter how much he shares the same mindset of him or many of his countrymen.

-"And who is this young friend of yours, Mengele?"- Von Verschuer questions Mengele about his Japanese friend. -"I didn't ever know you have Asian friends".

The young Japanese man politely answers Von Verschuer in a very flawless German, something that surprise the German scientist a lot, considering his prejudices against Asians.

-"Komatsu, sir. Yoshinori Komatsu , from Hiroshima, Japan."

-"OK, Mr. Komatsu", - the German scientist said with a very dry tone on his voice. -"What brings you here at this time of the day? "

-"Well, Dr. Von Verschuer, I hope my friend Mengele already told you sir about my thesis I was working since few years ago when I was in my home in Japan. "- The young Japanese scientist keeps saying to a very unemotional Von Verschuer, who was only keeping a very annoyed look to him.

-"Mengele didn't told me anything about any kind of thesis you were working previously, young man." -

-"Indeed."- Mengele answers in a very nervous tone, since he knows he forgot to tell his mentor about Komatsu's work previously.

-"OK, no problem anyways, but I must say I was working in this theory while I was in high school and also while I was studying in the University."- Komatsu continue to explain to the German scientist, while Von Verschuer was reading Komatsu's curriculum. Even if he was not very interested, he was somewhat surprised how a man like Komatsu could have a very detailed and important list of accomplishments for such a young man.

-"OK, let's see: Yoshinori Komatsu, age 22, born in Hiroshima, Japan in January 1916, parents are Mitsuyo and Hironori Komatsu, attended University of Tokyo and graduated magna cum laude with a PhD in Biology and Natural Sciences. Received a master's degree in zoology. You also received a scholarship from the Japanese government last year, so you can study abroad here in Germany. It's that right?"-

-"Yes sir"- Komatsu answered in a very cheerful disposition, as he knows how important Dr. Von Verschuer is, even if he doesn't look very happy to see someone who, from his Nazi point of view, is just one step below from being human, but he tried to behave as professionally possible.

-"Well then, let me see your thesis, so I can give my opinion."-

Komatsu handled to Von Verschuer the copies of his personal thesis he was writing so far. Luckily for the German scientist, the thesis was translated into a flawless German, something that surprised Von Verschuer even more.

-"Mr. Komatsu, as a matter of a compliment, both your spoken and written German skills are flawless, possibly even better than mine."-

-"Thank you, sir"- Komatsu politely replies to his German superior.

-"No need to thank me right now, I need some days to read this thesis carefully, so I can give you an answer. Other than that, you and Mengele are dismissed until you receive a phone call from me."-

-"Thank you, sir. I will wait for your answer".- Komatsu replies.

Both Komatsu and Mengele leaves the doctor's office in a very quickly fashion. Komatsu was happy to show the thesis of his lifetime to someone like Von Verschuer, while, on the other hand, Mengele doesn't look too thrilled at all, partly he doesn't know how his mentor could react to Komatsu's work, a work whose even a shrewd man like him thinks it's extremely unusual for German, or even human standards.

Not that even cares for Komatsu, who was very enthusiastic about how Dr. Von Verschuer seems to took an interest about his work. Mengele, on the other hand, was somewhat skeptical about his Japanese friend's work.

-"Komatsu, with the due respect, do you think Dr. Von Verschuer could be interested in your work, taking into account some of the... most unusual parts of it?"- Mengele starts questioning Komatsu, after he watched how his mentor has decided to give a look to his friend's thesis without asking Komatsu for more detailed questions about it.

-"Well, if someone like Dr. Von Verschuer has decided to see my thesis, that's because my work could be interesting to see, right?"- Komatsu answered to Mengele's questions in a very proud tone, something that his German friend seems to dislike.

-"STOP PLAYING DUMB WITH ME! You know VERY well that thesis of yours is nothing but more than pure and unadulterated BULLSHIT!"- Mengele yells to him, while pointing his finger to Komatsu. - "Do you think someone like him is going to took an interest on bogus theories about evolution and give such shit some kind of practical use? You are starting to sound like that kike scientist and his fucking theory about relativity, it's nothing more than goddamn nonsense!"-

-"You mean Dr. Albert Einstein?"-

-"Who cares the name of that shitty Jew right now? He's maybe sucking some Yankee dick right now, and as far I am concerned, he is a traitor to his country, period! Kaput!"- Mengele keeps yelling in a very angrier voice, trying to make it clear his own bigotry towards Jews, a fact that makes Komatsu feel awkward, since he's Japanese, a race whose many nazis would like to see wiped out from the face of the earth if they weren't the allies of Mengele's Germany. But Komatsu doesn't want to keep arguing with his German peer right now.

-"Maybe you are jealous because it's not your idea. At least it's much better than those western ideas about racial superiority you and some of your countrymen seems to be interested."-

That argument cause Mengele to be more angered that he already was, and the German scientist slams Komatsu's back against a nearby wall, while looking to his Japanese friend's eyes furiously and keeping his finger pointed to him.

-"One day, I swear, one of those fucking days, my dear jap, that attitude of yours will cause your own doom. Even if I will not possibly live to see that day, I will glad to see you sunk hard, probably by one of your own, fucked-up ideas."-

-"What are you trying to imply with that, Mengele?"- Komatsu replies loudly. Even with Mengele threatening him, the Japanese scientist tries to keep a straight face, with almost a defying look against his German "friend".

-"What I am trying to say is you should watch your own step. Do you think trying to play God is a good idea for you?"- Mengele keeps yelling at Komatsu. -"Or do you plan to become into some kind of Dr. Frankenstein, trying to overstepping the natural limits of nature?"-

-"Don't be ridiculous! I'm not that arrogant, at least, not on such levels! My thesis at least has some basis on scientific theories, unlike your ideas, which are nothing more than thin-veiled justifications for commit manslaughter."-

-"WHY YOU LITTLE...!"- Mengele yells furiously at his Japanese peer, while almost trying to choking him with both hands, but Komatsu remains calm and he quickly put Mengele's hands out from his neck.

-"Admit it, Mengele. You know very well I'm right on this one. I'm not interested on your ideas about racial purity, or anything involving human beings at all. My goals are much specific and more interesting than even other similar theories. Hell, this theory not only will revolutionize the field of biology, but also will do to other fields of science. It will be as revolutionary as Charles Darwin's theory of evolution."-

-"Revolutionary? I would call it sheer madness."- Mengele snarks from this. -"You don't have the slightest idea about what kind of forces you are dealing with. It could even dangerous for you or even the entire human race! I really doubt Darwin was neither as insane like you, nor his theories were so fucked-up like the ones you are proposing!"-

-"As a scientist, I understand the risks of such theory, but the benefits could outgrown any kind of risk my work could have. Just think about the potential it could even have right now due of the war we have: We don't have the need to even use soldiers in the battlefield, or even have to use... that kind of workforce in the prison camps to do the dirty work for us, and the best part of all of this we can get as much as workforce for almost FREE!"-

-"That's the thing I worried about your batshit insane theory! How the fuck can you guarantee that work of yours aren't going against us someday if they found out what are their main purpose?"- Mengele continues to argue with Komatsu in a loudly fashion. -"No sane being likes to find out he or she was created for being the slave of someone else. It's like if a real angel came down from the heavens and it starts to saying to the human race the real reason why the humans were created in first place. Or you can replace angel with another living being from goddamn knows what kind of place he or she came from."-

-"Mengele, my friend. Don't tell me you believe in such kind of nonsense?"- Komatsu replies to his German peer in a very defying tone.

-"What kind of nonsense? About the angels and stuff?" Are you not a religious person, by the way?"-

Komatsu takes a break and started to look towards Mengele in a very angrier look, like if Mengele himself has pushed some kind of berserk button to him.

-"Let me answer your questions carefully: In first place, I don't believe in gods, angels, and that kind of religious beliefs the rest of the humanity still clings to this day, and that includes Jesus, Yahveh, Allah, Muhammad, Baha'i, Buddha or whatever name the humanity wants to give to their supposed creators, if they ever existed in first place, and second: I don't believe in the existence of intelligent life beyond this planet either."- Komatsu replies to Mengele with a very furious looks in his eyes, causing Mengele to step back at that.

-"How you can be so sure about that?, and why are you taking this so... personal? Not that I care about what you believe, but I find your mindset a little bit odd for my own taste."-

-"I have my personal reasons to believe the lack of intelligent life outside planet Earth, but I don't think you're going to believe me even if I explained that to you. Besides, it's just a personal theory of mine, and I don't pretend to impose my viewpoint to anyone else on any sense."- Komatsu says, while he decides to walk off from Mengele's position and he keeps walking. -"If you excuse me, my friend, I have important things to do right now. We see you later next time."

After all that verbal bout both scientists had, Mengele was really puzzled about the attitude of his Japanese friend, since it's more than evident he is holding some kind of personal agenda on his sleeves.

-"I wonder what kind of man Komatsu really is."-

Meanwhile, his mentor's personal secretary appeared right now, apparently trying to speak to him.

-"Mr. Mengele? Dr. Von Verschuer wants to speak with you right now in his office. Seems to be important."-

-"Tell him I'm going, just give me a few minutes while trying to catch my breath. I had a heated discussion with that jap."-

-"You mean Mr. Komatsu?"-

-"Yeah, that guy. One of those days, he is going to end in the short end of the stick with that attitude of his."-

-"What do you mean with that, sir?"- The woman questions him in a worried tone.

-"That's none of your business right now. I'm going to speak with the doctor, so don't bother us unless it's important. It's that clear?"-

-"Y-yes,sir!"-

---

After having a hard day with Mengele, and above all, having delivered his thesis to Dr. Von Verschuer in the Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene, Komatsu heads to his apartment in Offenbach, a small town near Frankfurt, just crossing the Main River. While walking around the town, the young Japanese scientist watched the extreme poverty the people of both Offenbach and Frankfurt lived. He even got to go through a place that previously belonged to a Jewish family just few weeks ago, but now it's inhabited after the people living there were expelled by a furious antisemitic mob. The whereabouts of that family are now unknown, but personally for Komatsu, the fate of some people is not of his personal concern right now.

After reaching his temporary home in Offenbach, he is greeted by a middle-aged woman, who was his landlord of the building he living to. She seems to want to speak with him.

-"Mr. Komatsu, you have received some mail a few hours ago."-

-"Thank you, Mrs. Schmidt! I was afraid you couldn't able to get it, since it was written in Japanese!"- Komatsu greets her, while Mrs. Schmidt gave him the mail in his hands.

-"No problem, it seems the addressing info is written in English. At least I was able to get the mail easily this time, unlike the last time when I was dealing with the guys from the Postal service trying to figuring out which person is the owner of the mail. There's very few people here in Germany able to understand Japanese, you know."-

-"I know that. Thanks for the help and sorry for bothering you with this, Mrs. Schmidt. "- Komatsu keeps greeting her, while going straight to his apartment.

-"You are welcome."-

Komatsu went straight into his apartment after receiving the letters from Mrs. Schmidt, the landlady. The apartment, while not exactly being luxurious or elegant, or even nice for that matter, at least it is very clean, something that Komatsu appreciates a lot.

Before opening the letters and reading the mail he received from Japan, Komatsu decides to turn on the stove, so he could boil some water and trying to prepare green tea. Then, he went straight to his sofa and starts to read the letter carefully: It was a letter from his mother.

Dear Yoshinori:

How are you? I hope you are doing fine and well in Germany. Your father and me are doing fine here in Hiroshima, albeit he is recovering from an annoying cold he caught a few weeks ago after returning from a business trip to Hokkaido. You know very well how your father really love to work, especially when dealing with animals, being a veterinary and all, just like you, who really loves animals. One of the reasons why you decided to study biology and zoology is because you wanted to know more about animals and their internal working, since those kinds of stuff aren't very well researched compared with human biology, and you want to change that.

How did it go with your thesis? Did you show that work from yours, the one you were working since high school? I understand if you change your mind if you think your teachers in Germany feel that your ideas are strange. Even the greatest geniuses could had problems with their ideas at first,just ask Charles Darwin and his evolution theory. He had to deal with all the criticism at first and you know what happened later.

Your father is planning to travel to Kaohsiung in Taiwan next month, but with all the stuff regarding the war makes it very difficult to travel abroad. You are very lucky since the government payed the scholarship to travel to Germany and study there after you graduated from University of Tokyo with honors and you don't have the same restrictions we have as civilians.

No matter what is happening, I always going to support you in anything you could need. This is always was your lifetime dream and now you're living it. Please, make your parents, your country, and above all, yourself proud and do something that makes your name well known around the world!

With love: Your mother Mitsuyo.

-"Mother..."- Komatsu smiles after reading the letter from his mother, while drinking a cup of tea he prepared previously before.

He knows very well how his family saved a lot of money to pay for college, especially for paying the entrance to a very expensive university like the prestigious University of Tokyo aka TouDai1, even more that his family went from rags to riches after making money from farming and working with animals in the Japanese fields, something that has become more difficult due to war since the Emperor Showa2 and later on, the very militaristic prime minister Hideki Tojo rised to power, joining the Axis with Germany's Adolf Hitler and Italy's Benito Mussolini. While, like everyone else, he is somewhat worried about the war, his worries aren't related about the effects of the war in his personal life or the people outside his immediate family, but about how the war can affect his lifetime work. He understands very well he is living in a country with a official policy about racial discrimination against anyone who is not Aryan and the only thing that protects him from being a victim of it is the fact he came to Germany due to a scholarship he received from the Japanese government, on the grounds Japan is a member of the Axis.

-"Well, I should write a letter to my mother later so she would not worry about me."-

With that in mind, Komatsu finished drinking his cup of green tea, and after checking his clock, he decides to go to sleep, since he needs to return to the Institute tomorrow and he needs to rest well, so he takes out his clothes and after reading his thesis one more time in bed, he decides to turn on the radio, so he can hear some music. Unfortunately for him, the only thing the radio is spitting out are patriotic Nazi songs and Hitler's arousing speeches, something he is not interested to hear right now, so he turns off the radio anyways.

-"Damn, why the people of this country are interested to hear all the crap that fellow Hitler is spitting out from his foul mouth ?"- Komatsu wonders out in a annoyed tone. -"And I thought Tojo is already insane enough."-

And without further distractions, Komatsu goes to sleep immediately.

---

-"Yoshinori! What the hell did happened to you?"-

We see some scenes from a previous past, a distant past from many years ago. We see a young 7-years old boy who has his clothes shredded after having a accident somewhere.

-"Mom, I was playing near the mountain and a bear appeared, and it slapped me in the chest."- The young boy said while being somewhat surprised and scared. Obviously enough, her mother was in shock.

-"By anything sacred! That bear could have killed you in an instant, and you still say that as it was nothing serious, Yoshinori? "- The mother of the boy continues scolding his son due to the boy's reckless behavior.

Meanwhile, a young man, apparently the father of the boy, appears in the scene. While he looked worried, he tried his best to pretend he was not upset with his son, since he seems to understand what happened exactly with him.

-"Come on, sweetie! Give that poor kid a break! He only went to play like any other boys of his own age, there is nothing wrong with getting a little bit bruised, you know..."-

-"You should stop spoiling Yoshinori like you always do, Hiro! He's our only son we have!"- The mother angrily says to his husband, Hironori Komatsu.

Hironori Komatsu is the grandson of a former lower-class samurai, whose title was stripped like many other warriors at the beginning of the Meiji Era and he was a little known member of the Shinsengumi under the orders of Isami Kondo, one of their founding members. After the disbanding of the organization, his grandfather went into hiding and it changed his family name to Komatsu as a result, being his original name unknown even for the rest of the family. His grandfather also gave up the life of a samurai, and he preferred to raise a family, moving to the Japanese countryside to raise animals and becoming a farmer, something the rest of the family decided to follow suit.

Hironori studied veterinary medicine in Kyoto after his father saved money to give his son a better education than the rest of his family and while he was studying there, he met a beautiful woman named Mitsuyo Fukuda, who was a hostess in a tea house near Gion, the famous geiko[^The word used in the Kyoto dialect for Geisha.] district. While Mitsuyo wasn't a geiko, she was a very beautiful and kind woman anyways. He married her, and after moving to Hiroshima due to a work offer there from a veterinary school, they had a son, who was named Yoshinori after his grandfather.

Yoshinori inherited from his parents the same love for animals they had, and he always tried to help his father when he needed an extra hand, either to milk a cow, in the birth of a farm animal or other assistance regarding his job.

Obviously, that kind of mindset somewhat caused some problems to the young Yoshinori when he got maybe too friendly with some wild animals and sometimes he ended being hurt by them at the end.

-"Yoshi, my son, you should be careful when playing near the mountains since one could never know what kind of wild beasts can be wandering around. Not to mention you are going to give your mom a heart attack! HA HA HA!"- Yoshinori's father laughs loudly, while patting Yoshinori's shoulders.

-"HIRO, STOP SPOILING YOSHINORI LIKE THAT!"- Mitsuyo loudly yells to his husband, while Hironori just keeps laughing at the expense of his poor wife, even if he didn't tried to be mean with her.

The next scene happens in the following day, when the young Yoshinori went to the elementary school and he walked near a Shinto shrine who was located on the top of a hill in the northern outskirts of Hiroshima. That shrine was notoriously big and beautiful and, while Yoshinori never was particularly religious in his life, the curiosity caused him to enter the temple.

The entrance of the temple were "protected" by two statues of Agyo and Ungyo, the two guardian gods or Niō3.The rest of the road were a set of stairs leading to the top of the mountain, and the temple itself is a beautiful pagoda-style building, with statues of many gods adorning the surroundings of the place. The young boy was seriously aghast after watching such beautiful place that looked more like a castle worth for the Emperor of Japan than a humble Shinto temple.

-"Hello there, what I can do for you?"-

Yoshinori heard a soft feminine voice that came out from the entrance of the temple. The young boy was scared because he thought he had entered the temple without permission.

-"No-nothing! NOTHING AT ALL! I was just watching the temple, that's all!"-

The woman at charge of the temple appears in person in front of Yoshinori. She was a beautiful miko4 with black, short hair, being short sized despite being an adult woman, and the most strangest thing of all, having big, beautiful green eyes, something very unusual for a Japanese woman, or for an East Asian person at all.

-"Don't worry! I'm not angry with you, in fact I'm just glad to have visitors right now, since we didn't had anyone since many weeks ago."- The miko answers him in a very happy tone, and quickly she seems to want to say something else.

-"By the way, I forgot to ask your name. My name is Rina, Rina Fujimoto. It is a great pleasure to meet you. What's yours?"-

-"Yoshinori Komatsu"-

-"Oh, I see."- The miko says with a nice, soft voice.

The boy keeps looking to his surroundings, while he's still surprised to see how big the shrine is.

-"This shrine is really big, How could you and your family build such a place?"-

-"Well, this shrine was originally an ancient fortress build during the Sengoku era by orders of Ieyasu Tokugawa after defeating Terumoto Mori in the Battle of Sekigahara and it stood as one until the Meiji era, when it was abandoned. My family found this fortress years later and, with government permission, we rebuilt this place as a shrine. My father and I spent lots of money to rebuilt it and turn it into a peaceful sanctuary when the people can pray to the gods."- Rina answers Yoshinori's question, while looking to the temple.

-"Oh, I see. It's beautiful."- Yoshinori suddenly took a look at his watch and he figured out he was late. -"Oh, crap! I have to go before my mom starts to worry about me! See you later, Miss Rina!"-

-"See you later, Yoshinori! You are welcome to return to this temple any time!"- The miko says goodbye to Yoshinori, while she is still cleaning the entrance of the shrine.

The following scene happens in a very dark place without any kind of visual description beyond being darker than black, and we can see Yoshinori standing still in the middle of nowhere, completely scared because he's unable to find his loved ones...

-MOM? DAD? WHERE ARE YOU? WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? WHAT THE HECK IS THIS?"-

Suddenly, the dark background changes quickly to a very detailed one, like the one from a city. The city looks like any other modern city that Yoshinori can remember by its shape, except for a very blatant detail:

Not only that city doesn't look like anything Yoshinori can identify like Japanese, Western, or any other kind of city on Earth, that city was suddenly the target of a sudden military attack by forces he cannot quickly identify as humans.

Yoshinori quickly figured out they looked more like rabbits with human shapes, slaughtering anyone standing in their way, including women and children. He was shocked to see all those atrocities, but for some reason, no one in the battlefield is able to see him or notice his presence.

-"WHAT THE HELL IS HAPPENING HERE? WHY I'M WATCHING ALL THIS?"-

While Yoshinori is trying to find some kind of sense on all the carnage he is watching right now, and while looking to front of him, he looks to another, humanoid figure:

That figure has the shape of a woman, a very beautiful girl carrying a gun he hasn't ever seen in his life, leading a group of soldiers against the humanoid rabbits, like some kind of modern Joan of Arc fighting against the modern equivalent of the British invaders who invaded France during the Hundred Years' War. But there's something that was not quite right about her: She had reddish brown hair, very beautiful green eyes, like the ones that miko named Rina Fujimoto had, and the most bizarre thing about her is the fact she had brown fur, and she had ears like the ones a cat has. For some reason he find all this in a unholy mix of surprise and also utter terror.

Suddenly and without any warning, he hear a voice coming from nowhere, a very feminine voice that sounds like a mix of creepiness and, for some unexplained reason, a quenchless fury:

-"Yoshinori Komatsu, this will become your destiny. The path that will lead you to your own doom."-

-"WHAT DO YOU MEAN ABOUT THIS WILL GOING TO BE MY DESTINY? WHO ARE YOU ANYWAYS?"- Yoshinori screams in pain after watching all those terrible scenes that were crossing before his eyes.

-If you do not stop what you are going to do, you will find it out, sooner or later.

-"WHAT DO YOU WANT OF ME? WHY ARE YOU SHOWING ME ALL THIS?"-

-"This is just a warning for you, Yoshinori Komatsu: If you dare to become God, sooner or later you will cross the path of Shura, the way of carnage and lunacy reserved for those who dared to overstep the natural limits of life.

And before he could do something else, that feminine, feline shadow aims Komatsu with something that looks like a Colt. 45 revolver and she comes closer to him...

-"DO NOT COME CLOSER! WHAT DO YOU WANT? WHAT DO YOU WANT?"-

The shadow pulls the trigger and a gunshot is heard, being the last thing Komatsu hears...

---

-"MR. KOMATSU! WHAT'S GOING ON THERE? OPEN THAT DAMN DOOR!"-

September 8th, AD 1939, Offenbach, Germany. Appartment Block

Komatsu suddenly wakes up, completely drenched in sweat, and his heart beating furiously like never before in his life. He heard a sound from the door of his apartment, and it's the voice of Mrs. Schmidt, the landlady, who was screaming because something happened with him when he was sleeping.

-"It was... just a dream."- Komatsu thinks, while trying to analyze what he was dreaming.

-"MR. KOMATSU, ARE YOU OK?"- Mrs. Schmidt keeps knocking the door hard trying to figure out what happened with her Japanese guest.

Komatsu quickly gets dressed as far he can, and he proceeds to open the door to Mrs. Schmidt. The German lady had a face that reflected concern and anger in that moment and the young Japanese scientist could not blame her for the events that transpired while he was asleep.

-"I just want to know what was all that noise? I heard you were screaming something..."- Mrs. Schmidt questions Komatsu about what happened in his apartment.

-"Screaming?"- Komatsu asks, as he managed to figure out he was speaking while he was asleep. -"Oh, I see. I just had a very bad nightmare. Sorry if I worried you, Mrs. Schmidt. Maybe I had a bad dream because I had an argument with a colleague of mine the last night in the Institute and maybe I was thinking too much about he said."-

-"May I ask you what you and that guy were arguing about?"-

-"Well, let's say, and without delving into the subject, that person and me had some... creative differences"-

-Differences?- Mrs. Schmidt asks.

-"Yes."-

-"Well, anyways, you just received another mail from Japan, I think."- She proceeds to give to Komatsu a mail.

Komatsu quickly noticed by the sender that the letter came from the Japanese embassy in Germany, and the sender was no one else than General Hiroshi Oshima, the ambassador himself, who was very close to Hitler.

-"Why General Oshima wants to speak with me? Even if I'm Japanese, I think he has better things to do than speaking with an ordinary guy like me.- Komatsu speaks with himself internally, while reading the mail from the embassy.

-"Is something wrong?"- Mrs. Schmidt ask to Komatsu politely.

-"No, nothing. It's a mail from the Japanese embassy and maybe it has something to do with my legal paperwork here."-

-"Oh, I see."- Mrs. Schmidt responds.

-"I cannot let her know I received a letter from General Oshima for some reason. This is something really serious for me, especially if is from someone too close from the Fuhrer's circle of associates.-

Komatsu puts his hat on and he prepares to go out to work

-"Well, Mrs. Schmidt, I have to go to work. See you soon and I am sorry for whatever happened while I was asleep."-

-"OK, no problem. See you later and be careful out there."-

---

While Komatsu was asleep, another series of events happened previously in the Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene, when Josef Mengele was summoned by his mentor, Otmar Freiherr Von Verschuer, to his office to discuss important issues regarding specific topics.

Mengele was somewhat surprised that his mentor wanted to speak to him at the middle of the night, since Von Verschuer rarely invites people inside his office at night, no matter the reason or the problem, so he deduce it could be important.

-"Please take a sit"- Von Verschuer says, while offering one of his chairs to him.

-"Yes sir "-

While sitting in the chair, Von Verschuer goes to the ledge that was behind his desk and opens a bottle of wine, something that surprised Mengele, since Von Verschuer never shared his drinks to no one, much less to his students.

-" Do you want some, Mengele? It's Chianti, dated from 1920. It was a special buy for me from a travel I did to Italy five years ago. "- The doctor says, while pouring the wine in a very expensive-looking crystal glass."

Mengele cannot refuse a good glass of such a expensive wine, especially from the man who taught him everything about medicine. He noticed the color of the wine in his glass, a very dark and sinister blood red gloss.

-"This wine is delicious, nothing better for finishing the day in a perfect way. "- Mengele says while enjoying the taste and the aroma of the Chianti in his nostrils.

-" You really say it, Mengele"- Von Verschuer agrees with his student , while also enjoying the taste of a good wine.

-"Say, sir, what do you want from me at this time of the night? I don't think you called me just to drink some wine. "-

The scientist put his glass on the desk and he pulls off some books from a shelf near him. On them it was included the thesis of Yoshinori Komatsu, Mengele's friend, who was arguing with about few hours ago.

-"Before we move to the next topic, I need to know one thing: What do you think about that young man Komatsu?"-

Mengele gulps the wine he still had in his mouth, since he didn't expect his mentor wanted to speak about him in private.

-"Eh... Well... What I can say about him... as like many Japanese, he is a very hard-working man and a very diligent person, not to mention being extremely intelligent, possibly even more than many people that I know. On the other hand, Komatsu can be a little bit... eccentric , for a better way to describe him."-

-"Eccentric, you say?"-

-"Yeah, I noticed Komatsu seems to be worried for the well-being of animals than the well-being of people. Most of the work he did when he came here to Germany is related with zoology than humanities and most of his conversations are associated with topics relating with wild life, animals and sometimes, even pets. I'm completely aware Komatsu was raised in a farm when he grew up back in Japan, but his attitude sometimes irks me to no end."-

-"Oh, I see."- Von Verschuer replies, while finishing his glass.

-"Do you have a specific opinion about him, sir?"-

-"Well, I'll be very frank with his work that he has shown me so far: While I have read his thesis for a few hours, the only thing I can say is I'm deeply surprised by the sheer quality of his work and how technically how this thesis has lots of revolutionary scientific theories that I have never seen before in my whole life..."-

-"Anything else, sir?-"

Von Verschuer takes a very deep breath, while trying to continue his opinion on Komatsu's work.

-"On the other hand, what worries me on extreme level, is, for all intentions, and to be absolutely honest on this young man's work, this kind of theory cannot be the work of someone else other than a complete sociopath who have lost the notion of humanity on him."-

Even if that statement in theory should not surprise Mengele taking into consideration what he knows about his Japanese friend, the fact that his mentor considered Komatsu a madman does really shocked him. Calling him a sociopath is maybe a gross exaggeration, even what he knows about his friend's lifetime work definitely couldn't be a work for someone considered normal, and taking into account neither Mengele nor Von Verschuer are exactly examples of being remotely nice people.

-"With due respect, sir, what is the problem with Komatsu's work, in specific terms?"- Mengele tries to get an answer from his teacher, drinking quickly the remaining of his glass of Chianti.

-"The problem here is the fact Komatsu's theories are beyond the scope of the natural limits of every field of science, and not only regarding zoology, but also the thesis includes the theological implications of how such theories could work. He is basically outright stating the creation and design of what I could call genetic constructs, basically a living being created using a human as a base and adding genetic material from animals in an attempt to speed up an evolution process that normally it could take possibly centuries or even millions of years. In few words, he wants to create a completely new anthropomorphic life form that can live along humanity."-

While Mengele was completely aware of the basics of Komatsu's thesis, he never inferred the implications of the aspects from it, but by hearing that from the mouth of his own mentor he completely understood what kind of person Komatsu could be and what kind of potentially dangerous theory they have in their own hands.

-"I knew Komatsu's ideas sounded really insane, but trying to play god definitely reachs this whole situation to another level, if I understood right, sir.- Mengele responds while trying to grasp what Von Verschuer said.

-"That"- Von Verschuer drinks another glass. -"Or that boy has really twisted ideas about doing with his potential "creations". According to his thesis, one of the possible applications of his research is the creation of armies of potential soldiers without having to bothering to recruit human soldiers, so we don't have to worry on losing people on the battlefield. In an another less... insane application, he propose their use as Guinea pigs in social experiments in an isolated territory, so we can observe them from a safe distance and see how they can develop their culture without own help."-

-"Isolated territory? In which kind of place that lunatic jap wants to shove his creations? Mars? The moon? Africa?- Mengele laughs hard after hearing such idea. -"I knew the Japanese have some fame of being weird, but this poor fellow definitely could win a prize for being the weirdest of all of them. HA HA HA HA!

-"Indeed"- Von Verschuer agrees with his student while still gulping wine like a raging maniac. -"No wonder they have sent us that asshole here. Maybe they thought we can cure him by dumping him in a Western country so he cannot cause any kind of harm."-

-"Anyways, there's something that irks me out about the whole thing, sir"- Mengele says in a malicious tone.

-"What is it, Mengele?"-

-"You just told me that Komatsu considered the theological implications of his thesis,right?"-

-"That's correct."- Von Verschuer affirms. The effects of the wine are starting to manifest on him, causing his voice to become somewhat slurred.

-"Komatsu just told me when we were arguing in the afternoon that he does not believe in God. And judging by his tone, he felt offended when I implied his religious beliefs. That could mean many things: Or Komatsu doesn't believe in God because he wants to become one, or he simply stated we should take into account how those... genetic constructs could see us, in the same way how humans we see God. Besides, there's another thing Komatsu said that freak me out about his work."

-"What else? hic"- Von Verschuer replies, now visibly drunk.

-"He also told me that he doesn't believe in the existence of extraterrestrial life outside Earth either."-

Von Verschuer was surprised to hear that, but he also released a good laugh, a product of his drunkenness.

-WHAT? You said Komatsu doesn't believe in aliens, hic? And wazza big deal with that? He is a scientist after all, not some shitty cheap-ass astrologist finding martians on a telescope. Maybe he's not as crazy as I thought."-

Mengele look closely the book where Komatsu's thesis was written, and he starts thinking about what kind of utility Komatsu's work could be useful.

-"By the way, Mengele hic, you told me a few weeks ago you just joined the SS, rite?"-

-"That's right, sir."-

-"Do you have some way to speak with a high-level officer from the National Socialist Partyi or even better yet... even with the Fuhrer himself?, hic"- Von Verschuer asks Mengele now obviously drunk.

-"Well, I know personally Commander-in-Chief Heinrich Himmlerii, why do you ask, sir?"-

-"Himmler? Oh boy! You really know how to ally yourself with important people, especially when you have a bastard like Himmler as your commander! HA HA HA HA!"- Von Verschuer keeps drinking copiously. -"I heard that guy is even more methodical and practical than the Fuhrer himself."-

-"Well, he loves efficiency in all aspects of the life, that's for sure."-

-"Anyways,hic I am going straight to the point: Why you don't speak with him, so he could speak with the Fuhrer in your behalf, and show him that guy Komatsu's thesis?"-

Mengele was intrigued by his mentor's proposition, as he just said Komatsu's work is insane, and he thought someone like Himmler, much less Adolf Hitler himself could take an interest on a foreigner's work, much less a Japanese one, even if he hails from an ally country like Japan.

-"With due respect, sir, I don't know what kind of utility could serve showing that kind of stuff to Commander Himmler and the Fuhrer. I think they have better things to do right now than reading... pseudo-science, for using a more descriptive name."- Mengele points this out to Von Verschuer, worried that his teacher had perhaps drunk too much. -"Besides, the commander himself is in preparations for a mission in Poland right now and I doubt he has the time to read stuff"-.

-"It would not hurt if you show his work to him, so at least if Himmler and the Fuhrer could see the benefits of his ideas, at least they have the resources to make it happen. hic"-

Mengele think about what his mentor said and he gave Komatsu's thesis a second look.

-"I'll see what I can do, but I cannot promise anything. I will travel to Berlin tomorrow morning to reunite with the rest of the members of the SS for two days and I will try to speak with the commander."-

-"Very well, Mengele. I count with you on this."- Mengele's mentor stops drinking and he closed the bottle, while returning it to its place. -"You can retire right now and I hope we can get a positive answer from Himmler."-

-"Yes, sir"-

---

The next scenario switchs back to Komatsu, who was in his way to his work in the Institute. Meanwhile, he begins to read the letter that the ambassador of Japan in Germany, Hiroshi Oshima, sent him in the morning. But before that, he went to a grocery store near downtown Offenbach to some food for eat on the road.

While reaching the store he noticed a blond, good-looking soldier who was standing right next to the door of the store. He looked somehow bored, but in good disposition, something unusual for Komatsu because the German soldiers he knew normally were very serious or they gave him a displeasing look because he is Japanese, but not him, oddly enough.

-"Good morning, sir"- The soldier greets Komatsu with a big smile.

-"Eh... Good morning."- Komatsu politely replies, surprised that the soldier bothered to speak to him.

-"Going to buy some stuff, sir?"-

-"Yeah, I'm hungry... And I need to eat something first"-

While he kept a look at the wares of the store, he also took a good look on the machine gun that German soldier was holding in that moment. It was a MP-40, a quite common gun used by German infantry...

-"Excuse me, my friend. Can I take a look at that machine gun of yours?"-

The soldier was obviously surprised by that unusual request of that foreign man, but he figured out Komatsu wasn't a dangerous person, so he got close to him...

-"Well, no problem, just don't do anything stupid, OK?"-

After that obligatory warning, the German soldier gave to Komatsu his machine gun, so he could take a look at it. The Japanese scientist start staring at the gun very careful and he noted something who was of his personal interest:

-"Erma Welke"-

Komatsu whispered the name of the manufacturer of the machine gun, who was engraved in the barrel of the weapon, in a silent way.

-"You mean the name of the maker of this? It means "Erfurter Maschinenfabrik", since it was built in Erfurt..."-

Before the soldier could continue with his explanation, he noticed Komatsu was standing still, without saying anything else, and causing the soldier to be concerned about him.

-"Sir, are you alright?"-

On that moment, inside Komatsu's own mind, he was having a strange feeling he never felt before, a deja vu, like that word could hold a meaning.

And in that instant, Komatsu remembered that strange and bizarre dream he had last night, and the first mental image he came to his head was about that feminine and feline figure he tried to kill him in his dreams.

-"Eh? Oh, sorry! I was thinking about something else that came in my head! Here's your gun, my friend."-

He quickly returned the machine gun to the German soldier, and without giving more explanations, he bought some apples and he proceeded to leave the grocery store, causing the young soldier to wonder what happened with that foreign man in that instant.

-"Gee, I wonder what's the problem with that guy. He looked really screwed up."- The soldier said while scratching his head.

Meanwhile, Komatsu was walking in a very accelerated pace, almost as he was running, while wondering himself why the name engraved on that machine gun hold a eerie, macabre meaning for him. He was trying to figure out what was dreaming last night and why all those mental images about his past were along those terrible images about anthropomorphic rabbits killing people, and above all, that feminine feline image he saw trying to kill him with a Wild West-era revolver.

-"What the hell I was dreaming last night and why I was dreaming about my family and all those murdering animals? And why that name scares me a lot?-

Komatsu puts his hands to his head in nervousness, since his mind is right now a real mess, because he knows very well there's something really unusual in that dream, but he is unable to find out in that moment.

-"Perhaps what Mengele said about my work yesterday messed up my head, but why my family and my past has to do with all this?-

While thinking about the whole thing, the Japanese scientist reachs the doors of the Institute, unaware the whole problem about his nightmare induced him to forget everything he was doing since he bought the apples in that Offenbach's grocery store and the whole road from there.

-"Either way, it's time to forget about this whole thing and get back to work."-

While entering the building, Komatsu saw Dr. Von Verschuer's personal secretary, who was typing some information in her typewriter. She quickly gets up and greets him when she saw him.

-"Good morning, Mr. Komatsu! What brings you here at this time of the day?"-

-"Well, let's say I had a very bad sleep the last night."-

-"Oh, I see. That's terrible"-

-"Yes, I know."- Komatsu answers the woman with a somber face. -"By the way, don't you know if Mengele came here today?"-

-"No. He told me that he will travel to Berlin today in the morning and that he would be out of town for about two days."-

-"Oh,I see."- Komatsu replies to her. -"I also want to know another thing: Do you know if my specimens that I ordered last week arrived as I requested?"-

-"Yes, in fact, your specimens came today morning at six o'clock. Let me confirm the species you requested: A rabbit from the Schwarzwald[^Black Forest, one of the most important forests of Germany, located at the south of the country.], a horse from Dalian, China, a Siberian wolf from Russia, a red fox from Wales, a Grey mouse from the Netherlands, a bobcat from Canada, and a domestic cat."-

-"Just a cat, you say? Does the order doesn't mention which country that cat come from, and which breed the cat belongs to?"-

-"Eh, no, at least not here in the documents I received from the border customs."- The secretary said in a nervous tone.

-"Do you know where the animals are right now?"-

-"They are in the warehouse, but they aren't quarantined yet, sir"-

-"Doesn't matter. I want to see them right now."-

The secretary knows very well Komatsu rarely accept a no for an answer.

-"OK, this way, sir"-

Both Komatsu and the secretary went straight to the warehouse when the animals he requested for his work are located. The warehouse was behind the Institute and it was normally used for storing all the required furniture and working property for use. Normally, living specimens like animals are kept in zoos and veterinary clinics before being used inside the Institute, but due to the unusual request from Komatsu, the Institute, under the orders of Dr. Von Verschuer, decided to make an exception for him.

The animals were somewhat nervous, but in very good health. Komatsu takes a good look to his specimens, while checking any detail they could have.

-"OK, let's see:"- Komatsu took a look at the animals while cross-checking the list from the customs with his own:

Specimen Number one: Rabbit from the Schwarzwald, no name given.

Specimen Number two: Xiaoma, from a stable in Dalian, China.

Specimen Number three: Siberian wolf from Russia, no name given.

Specimen Number four: D, red vixen from Wales.

Specimen Number five: Tijd, grey mouse from a research laboratory located in the Netherlands.

Specimen number six, Kylie, a bobcat from the forests of Ontario, Canada, and..."-

Komatsu put special attention on the domestic cat, since there's something unusual on that animal. He didn't took too long to find out that cat didn't had a tail.

-"That's weird. Why this cat doesn't have a tail? It doesn't seem to be previously mutilated by someone or something.-

He quickly noticed the cat does have a tail, albeit a very small one. This caused Komatsu to trying to deduce what kind of race the cat is.

-"It could be a Manx cat from the Isle of Man, in the United Kingdom, but it doesn't look like one.-

The Japanese scientist rapidly found out the label when indicated from which place and country that cat comes from.

-"Specimen Number seven: Eiko (えいこ), a domestic cat sent from the Department of Zoology of the University of Tokyo, Japan.-

Komatsu was surprised to find out not only that cat was sent from his homeland, Japan, but also the feline was a very unusual one. Not to mention the name of the cat.

-"Eiko"-

Eiko, being written in Kanji as 栄子, it could be read as glorious child, but even Komatsu, being Japanese himself, couldn't figure out why they chose that name for a cat, other than being female. Maybe he deduced whoever selected that name, it really pick a stupid one for a cat.

-"Such a dumb name for a kitty, if they ask me."-

-"Dr. Komatsu, are you alright?"- The secretary said after Komatsu didn't say a word for a while seeing the tailess cat.

-"Yeah, I'm alright. I just was thoughtful after seeing this weird-looking, female cat. Do you know why they sent me such unusual specimen from Japan?"-

-"I don't know. As far I know those specimens were randomly selected from many different research stations from around the world, and the only thing I know about the selection process is Dr. Von Verschuer authorized to bring the foreign specimens here in Germany."- The secretary quietly explained this to Komatsu. -"In fact, I heard Dr. Von Verschuer had lots of problems to bring some specimens here, taking into consideration we don't work with animals here in this Institute, sir."-

Komatsu noticed how the secretary snarked about his own work in his face, but he doesn't want to start an argument with her. He is happy to see Dr. Von Verschuer followed his wishes, and taking many pains to do so.

-"With due respect, what do you plan to do with all those animals, sir?"-

-"I need them for some of my research I'm doing here, and to prove the validity of my thesis. That's one of the reasons why I'm working here in Germany."-

-"Oh, I see."- The secretary replied him. -"And I have to suppose you're planning to sacrifice those animals during the research, right?"-

-"OF COURSE NOT!"- Komatsu yells to the German woman, as he felt really offended by that commentary. -"I'm not that kind of scientist! Who the hell do you think I am, a butcher? I'm not fond of doing such kind of brutality on my specimens, unlike you Germans are doing with your own people!"-

The German secretary was both surprised and, obviously enough, angry of being yelled by some strange foreigner, much less from Komatsu, a Japanese man, not to mention it was the first time she saw him choleric like never before. But she decided not to answer his statements because she already had experience dealing with neurotic men, like many of the workers from the Institute.

"O-Ok, I'm going to let pass this outburst, but for your personal, ridiculous information, I don't like being yelled at all. You're very lucky you have the favor from the director of this Institute, but I should warn you that you are not neither in a position nor in a country when you can get away with such kind of behavior, because the next time something like that happens again, I will not be responsible for anything that could happen to you, Dr. Komatsu. You could end in a jail, deported back to your country, or worse."-

Komatsu quickly figured out he let his personal quirks get the best of him, and he knows what that woman said was right.

-"Oh, s-sorry. I guess.. I wasn't thinking straight. Sorry if I offended you and unleashed my rage on you, Miss.."-

-"Luitgard. Freja Luitgard.-

-"Oh, I see. Sorry, Mrs. Luitgard."-

-"You know, I already have experience dealing with weirdos like almost all the people working here, albeit to be honest, and just between us, you are pretty normal compared with Dr. Mengele and the director. Those two men are always giving me the creeps and they always in bad mood or spewing all that shit the National Socialist Party are pouring everywhere. At least, you recognize you did a mistake at yelling at me, because those two jerks will never admit they are wrong if they did the same thing."- Freja said what she thinks with an unusual honesty for a woman who works with such important people like the director.

-"I understand."-

-"Well, if you excuse me, I have to return to work. I ordered to some employees to send your specimens to your laboratory at this instant. Be careful of not doing anything stupid out there, Dr. Komatsu."-

-"I will keep that in mind."-

With that advice from her, Komatsu and the warehouse's employees bring the animal specimens to his laboratory. Due to the necessities of his research, his lab is bigger than similar ones inside the same place, since it include cages and kernels for the many kinds of animals researched there.

-"Where can we put your specimens, Dr. Komatsu?"- The employees said while trying to find the best way to unload the specimens inside the laboratory.

-"Put them in that zone, please."- Komatsu order to the employees where to put the animals in his laboratory.

The men finished to unload the animals in the laboratory on their respective places, and they proceed to leave the place.

-"OK, let's begin."- Komatsu said to himself aloud. -"Today I will begin with Eiko first."-

Komatsu plans to begin his today's work with Eiko the cat first, party due to the sheer curiosity of being a cat without a tail. He brings the cage when Eiko was located and he put that pen over the table. Then, he proceeds to take out the cat from his confine without any problem, as the feline was very cooperative with him.

-"OK, little kitty, what I'm going to do with you today?"-

Komatsu went straight to a box near him, and he brought to him a veterinary-grade syringe, as he plans to took a blood sample from Eiko.

-"Well, this is going to hurt a bit, sweetie."-

...and he proceeds to extract the blood from the cat slowly and carefully. For his personal surprise, the cat didn't seem to be too much in pain as Komatsu tried to do the process as quickly as possible. He successfully got the sample from the feline without causing her unnecessary suffering.

-"Nice girl."-

Komatsu put the blood sample along with the rest of the samples he already got from other specimens days ago inside a refrigerated container for samples, but not before taking a small sample for studying on a microscope. Also, he gave to Eiko some cat food as a reward for giving him the blood sample he needed.

-"Let's check this out in the microscope."-

But before he could put a sample in the device, he accidentally spills a few drops of Eiko's blood in his arm while trying to adjust the microscope.

-"Damn!-

While trying to clean the blood from his arm, he suddenly sees some images before his own eyes, causing him to fall to floor, completely in utter shock.

-"WHAT THE HELL IS ALL THIS?-

He started to see the same images he saw in his dreams last night, including the scenario when he was in a strange looking city being razed by humanoid-looking rabbits and that feminine, feline figure, complete with her green eyes and her reddish hair and brown fur. And the same scene when that figure shoots him with a revolver. All these scenes take place one after another, without Komatsu can fully understand their meaning, only to cause him absolute terror and fear, and the last scene he saw before his eyes is how a bomb falls down over his head...

-"STOP IT! STOP IT! STOP IIIIIIIIIIIITTTTTT!-

-"Komatsu, are you OK? Wake up, goddammit!-

When Komatsu regains his consciousness, he realizes that he is in the Institute's infirmary, complete with an intense headache and some nausea. He's trying to figure out how he ended up there but his head is right now a complete mess, being unable to remember other than few parts of what really happened. Meanwhile, a doctor was in front of him checking his vital signs while Komatsu was in the infirmary's bed.

-"What... What happened to me? Why I'm here?"- Komatsu said while he was lying on bed in a notable painful tone.

-"You had a very violent seizure a few hours ago". The doctor said in a somewhat cheerful voice, despite the whole situation.

-"Wait, wait a minute, did you said a seizure?"-

-"Well, from what I managed to see, it looked like one. Besides, you were screaming like a nutless lunatic, if you ask me."- The doctor tries to describe how they found Komatsu in his lab, while being outright vulgar. -"Luckily enough, you didn't get hurt by yourself, as much of the seizure were mostly screams and nothing else."

-"I see. DAMN IT, MY HEAD STILL HURTS!"- Komatsu said, while his head still giving him intense pain because of the seizure.

-"You should thank Mrs. Luitgard for finding you quickly in your lab and sending you here before something worse could even happened.

-"Where is my specimens?"-

-"You mean the animals? They are OK. The cat that was in the table was standing in its cage when the whole thing happened, but your animals are safe."-

-"Thank goodness they are alright."- Komatsu sighs of relief after hearing that.

-"You know, Mrs. Luitgard is right now somewhat pissed off with you because she told me you and her had an argument in the warehouse this morning."-

-"Yes, I know that."-

-"You should take a break, at least for a day. While I don't know much from you, besides being Japanese, it's not healthy to work almost every day without taking breaks, even in Sundays, as far what she told me about you."-

-"Yeah, but what about my research? I just had began with it today and..."-

-"You can resume it tomorrow, don't worry about it. Otherwise, you will end returning to Japan in a coffin, pal. HA HA HA HA!"-

The German doctor cannot avoid making a dark joke about his situation, but Komatsu is not in a mood for jokes, much less for hearing stupid German black comedy.

-"sigh Anyways, where is my belongings, Doctor...?"-

-"Erwin Kiefer, that my name, kid."- The doctor replies him with a smile. -"Your stuff is in the table next to you. There's also a letter written in Japanese, so I supposed that mail is very important for you."-

-"Thank you very much! Dr. Kiefer!"- The young Japanese scientist greets Dr. Kiefer, while he picks up the letter from the Japanese embassy. -"By the way, do you know what I was screaming when I was unconscious?"-

-"Something about "stop it!", and incongruent yelling. For a minute I thought you went insane after hearing all that, but it's nice to see you are OK."-

-"Geez, even while being unconscious I was screaming in German?"-

-"Well, yeah. By the way, kid, your German is flawless for someone who hails from Asia, if I can say so."- The elderly Dr. Kiefer jokingly says, trying to pull a smile on the face of Komatsu, who was wearing hospital clothes for that moment. -"I would even say you speak German better than me. I'm Bavarian, by the way, and many people has problems trying to understand my accent, but you, a Japanese, has no issues on understand me well."-

-"Let's say I took an intensive course before traveling to Germany when I was attending the University so I could learn not only the language, but also all the nuances of it, including the dialects."-

-"Oh, I see. You are pretty smart for such a young man."-

-"Sort of. Anyways, how long will I be hospitalized here?"-

-"Let me check your blood pressure and your cardiac rhythm, and if I don't see any other issue, you will be out of bed in less than two hours."-

-"Thank you very much."-

-"No need to thank me, young man. Meanwhile, you should get a rest and forget whatever problem you had right now. You will really need it."-

Komatsu decides to take the advice of the physician at heart, and he chooses to stay in the infirmary of the Institute, but not before open the mail from the embassy and read it in his infirmary's bed, as he doesn't have anything else to do:

EMBASSY OF JAPAN IN GERMANY

Date: Showa 14 (AD 1939) September 5th

For: Yoshinori Komatsu

From: General Hiroshi Oshima

Mr. Komatsu:

You are receiving this letter because you have been invited to a party that will be held on September 30th in the Japanese embassy in Berlin, Germany, as a member of the Japanese community in this country and also as a receptor of a scholarship from the government. Because certain issues will be addressed personally, we ask you, Mr. Komatsu, absolute discretion about the reasons for you should travel to Berlin, and under any circumstances should NOT discuss this letter with anyone else, including your German superiors. In the case you don't want to agree with our conditions, destroy this letter immediately and ignore you received any mail from us.

Yours Truly

General Hiroshi Oshima

Ambassador of Japan in Germany

Komatsu was disturbingly puzzled by the content of that letter and the requirements imposed to him. Why the ambassador required him to travel to Berlin in the most absolute secret and why they especially want him? He already has enough problems to deal with in Frankfurt, following what just happened with the strange nightmares that he just suffered today, including the seizure as well.

But, suddenly, he thought that worry too much about the whole deal only would cause unnecessary headaches for him, so he decided to take this opportunity to rest for a moment and then thinking on what might happen next.

---

Berlin, Germany. September 9th, AD 1939. SS Headquarters. Heinrich Himmler's Office.

-"Come in."-

A man enters inside the office of one of the most feared men inside the National Socialist Party besides Adolf Hitler himself, and the leader of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, very well known inside the Nazi Party for being a emotionless and ruthless man, and having a fame of taking his job very, very seriously, to the grade he has never took vacations or any kind of break in his job. But this time, Himmler himself decided to took a small break to read a book.

The man who entered his office was nothing more and nothing less than Josef Mengele, who was a member of the SS for some time ago and recently arrived to Berlin to speak with him. Mengele does the Nazi salute as part of the party's protocol.

-"SIEG HEIL, COMMANDER HIMMLER!"-

-"Sieg Heil for you as well, Mengele."- Himmler responds in a dry voice. -"What brings you here?"-

-"I just wanted to know if you already read the book I asked to read for you and the Fuhrer as well."-

-"You mean that book a foreign friend of yours wrote as a scientific thesis in Frankfurt for approval from your mentor, Dr. Von Verschuer?"-

-"Yes, that one."-

Himmler closed the book he was reading in that moment and he put it in the front edge of the table.

-"If you want to know about that, I am reading that thesis right now, Mengele."- The Nazi commander said, pointing his finger on the book.

Mengele looks the book his officer was reading a few moments ago.

-"I just want to know if you and the Fuhrer had already read the thesis and I want to know you and his opinions about that work."-

Himmler takes out his glasses off and and he sets his sights on Komatsu's book once again. His face takes on an extremely serious and gloomy countenance, as if something really disturbed him. Mengele know very well, taking into consideration the kind of man Himmler really was, a person well known inside the Nazi Party for having a disturbing taste for the occult and for convincing Hitler somewhat on applying his ideas in the ethos of the party, there was something in that thesis that really set him off, as he wasn't the only one besides him and his mentor who thought there was something abnormal about that thesis.

-"Well, Mengele, to be completely honest about what I had read since yesterday and to this very moment, there's some points that absolutely worries me, especially regarding the theological and even the technical aspects of this theory."-

-"Which points, sir?"-

-"That will be further discussed in the war room with the Fuhrer and Goebbels, and you will be present there, since we will need you for explaining to them all this... thing."-

Mengele was notoriously nervous about the possibility of speaking in front of Hitler himself, along with Joseph Goebbels, the notorious Minister of Propaganda of the party. But deep inside him, he knew if he wanted support for Komatsu's ideas inside both the party and the Fuhrer's circle of associates, he need to speak load and clear with them, even if Mengele himself doesn't believe in Komatsu's theories either since he is doing all this just to make a favor for his mentor, who was completely drunk the last time they speak. Besides, it could help him to raise his personal figure inside the party, something he really need at any cost.

A few hours later, we see Mengele, Himmler and many important members of the Nazi Party inside the war room of the SS headquarters, a room located underground of the building and only important people of the party knew its location. Outside the already mentioned persons, everyone thought the reason why they were reunited there was to discuss about the invasion of Poland and the preparations for the imminent war. They didn't know the reason for that meeting was completely different...

-"THE FUHRER HAS COME! HEIL HITLER!-

All the members inside the war room did the mandatory Nazi salute when the Fuhrer himself, Adolf Hitler appears in front of them. Oddly enough, Hitler looked somewhat in a hurry and he lacked in that moment his trademark determined face he normally sports in public. In fact, he looked like somewhat was disturbing him, and it was more than evident it wasn't related with the war. He didn't even bothered to reply his subordinates' own salutes. Along with him, Hitler was with Joseph Goebbels, the Minister of Propaganda of the party, who also shared the same concerned look with the Fuhrer. Then, Hitler sit in his chair and he began to speak:

-"Gentlemen, I thank everyone for coming all the way here to Berlin, especially when we have a military operation in Poland right now and we know we should do our best to make this mission a success, especially if we want to have the upper hand as quickly as possible. I know that many of you must be thinking the reason why I summoned everyone here has something to do with the attack on Poland..."-

Hitler took a breath and he look piercingly towards everyone in the war room.

-"However, the real reason why I summoned all the members of the party here has nothing to do with the invasion, or with war at all."-

Obviously, all the members of the party, barring Mengele, Himmler and Goebbels, were deeply surprised by the words of their own Fuhrer, since they thought Hitler summoned everyone for some banal reason.

-"The real motive for why I asked every important member of the party to come here to Berlin is this book."-

Hitler shows to everyone in the war room his copy of Yoshinori Komatsu's book with the thesis he was trying to be reviewed by his superior, Dr. Von Verschuer, but thanks to Mengele and Himmler, it ended in the hands of the Fuhrer himself for his personal review.

-"What's so special about that book, My Fuhrer?"- A man asked to Hitler.

-"That book contains a very revolutionary, but unproven theory, that allows the creation of a new form of sentient life based in both domestic and wild animals. That theory claims that, mixing and creating new genetic material from animals and using an human base, we can create a new anthropomorphic, sentient life form that could live along the human race."-

Everyone in the room begins to mutter strongly due to such a statement from the same Fuhrer. They thought from which person that kind of idea came from.

-"That idea sounds really daring, in my humble opinion, but, do you think it could be doable?"- Another man said in the room.

-"Personally, I think that theory is pretty insane, but if we pull it off, it could save us money and hundreds of men, and the best part of it, we can churn out soldiers for almost free, other than training them and teach them about war. Not to mention animals have have instincts and abilities we, the human race, don't have."- Another Nazi officer said in a more pragmatic tone.

-"The idea looks interesting, but how much money we have to invest in such daring project and which kind of guarantee we are going to have that kind of stuff is not going to blow on our own faces?"- Yet another officer pointed out his concerns about Komatsu's thesis.

Before everyone could continue with the discussion, Hitler himself slammed his hands on the table, visibly enraged like no one else has ever seen him before. Something about the discussion really angered him in a way no one expected, and for a very good reason.

-"Gentlemen, I think everyone here has COMPLETELY MISSED THE DAMN POINT ABOUT THE WHOLE ISSUE!- Hitler raise his voice, completely enraged about what he perceived the ignorance regarding the whole implications of Komatsu's theories -"We are not here to discuss if those theories are workable or not, or if we going to use them, either on the war or any given point here in Germany! The only reason I summoned everyone here is to denounce this nonsense! The Third Reich is and will always be ruled by humans and for humans EXCLUSIVELY! Our land and this world has no place for inferior races, much less another race created by the science. If someone have to live or even die for Germany, it will always be another human being, no more and no less! Whoever thought we, the mighty and proud Aryan human race, should share this world with another inferior race, much less another race created from filthy animals is completely and utterly OUT OF HIS OWN DAMN MIND!"- The Fuhrer keep slamming his fists against the table, shaking it in the process and scaring everyone else in the room. -"WHO WAS THE INSOLENT FOOL WHO THOUGHT THIS KIND OF THEORY COULD BE A GOOD IDEA?"-

There was a deathly silence inside the war room, since no one dared to say something to Hitler. He continued to yelling towards all the present members of the party in the room.

-"It was you, Himmler? I know you are a fan of this kind of stuff, right? Or you, Eichmann?"-

Obviously enough, Adolf Eichmann, who was present there, was offended by the supposition of being involved in freak experiments, but he tried to be as diplomatic as possible, taking into account who he was talking to.

-"My Fuhrer, you should refrain on accusing me of being involved in such kind of sick... theories involving inferior species. I can swear I am definitely not doing anything that could put the Reich in danger, much less attempting to overstep your authority. Besides, I am not interested in the fields of science anyways."-

All the eyes in the war room turned towards both Josef Mengele and Heinrich Himmler, who were the ones who gave that book to Hitler. The Fuhrer set his eyes in both men and he pointed his finger on them.

-"HIMMLER! You were the one who gave me that book, along with Mengele. I guess both of you has something to do with it."-

Himmler tried his best to reply that accusation the Fuhrer was trying to pin down to both him and Mengele,since he knew how much was in risk in that moment.

-"Well, sir, technically speaking, we didn't write that book, since that theory was devised by a Mengele's foreign coworker. I just sent a copy to you so you could read it and give your opinion about it, since I thought it could be useful, since it was recommended by Mengele's superior, Dr. Von Verschuer."-

Hitler looks toward Mengele with a very menacing look...

-"Who was that "foreign coworker" of yours, Mengele?"-

Mengele gulped, since he knows what could happen.

-"His name is Yoshinori Komatsu, from Japan. He works with me in the Institute, under a scholarship from the government of his country."-

Hitler's eyes went wide-open due of the surprise that theory was written by a Japanese man. But he also knew very well the political implications of trying to punish him for trying to supposedly overstepping Hitler's authority, even if was never Komatsu's intention attempting it. Hitler cannot afford right now on antagonize with the Japanese Empire, especially when he needs a powerful ally in the Eastern front. The best thing he can do is doing something less drastic for now.

-"Yoshinori Komatsu, eh? Looks like the Japanese really loves to send their lunatics here. And this poor Asian idiot surely dreams big for someone who eats rice and fish at daily basis"- Hitler snarks loudly. -"Albeit to be honest, his German is one of the best I had ever read in my whole life."-

-"My Fuhrer, I beg you reconsider about rejecting this theory. Just think about how much money and resources we can save by creating our own soldiers for almost nothing, and also you should think about the potential for the Reich. An army of powerful humanized beasts would make Germany completely invincible and no one would dare to ever mock of us again."- A very enthusiastic officer gave his opinion to the Fuhrer in an attempt to convince Hitler to reconsider his plans.

But for someone as disturbed like Hitler, that kind of theories are too way dangerous to ever consider apply them in the battlefield, much less when entering into the very dangerous uncharted waters of genetics, especially involving animal ones.

-"Gentlemen, who the hell do you think I am? Do you think I'm so eager to win this war that I should rely on using such kind of stupid ideas in a misguided attempt to get the upper hand, without any regard on the consequences? Do you think I'm going to expose this country to such unproven absurdity? What kind of guarantee I'm going to receive those... creatures aren't going to rebel against us? I would never let such a thing to happen! IT'S THAT CLEAR?"-

-"Very clear, My Fuhrer!"- Everyone in the room pledge their loyalty towards Hitler without any questions.

-"My Fuhrer, what we should do with that man Komatsu? Should we arrest him, and make him rot in prison?"- Adolf Eichmann said with a sadistic grin in his face.

-"No, that would not be necessary. I don't want to have any unnecessary problems with the Japanese if they find out we jailed one of their citizens who went here under a scholarship program."- Hitler said, trying to find the best way to deal with Komatsu without angering his government and ruining the alliance Germany had with the Japanese Empire. -"The best way to deal with that man is if Mengele's Dr. Von Verschuer could expel him and that man should return to Japan by himself, so the Japanese can take care of him by themselves, and save us lots of trouble by sending him to a jail. Besides, I doubt very much neither the Americans, the British, the French, the Soviets nor his own government could be interested in his theories in the case he turns his work on them. They surely are going to dismiss them and consider him insane."-

-"I will talk with Dr. Von Verschuer, so he could take care of him immediately, My Fuhrer."- Mengele proclaimed towards the Fuhrer, knowing very well that he would win much sympathy within the party if he takes care of a potential troublesome opponent.

Hitler turns his gaze toward Mengele in a coldly manner.

-"I expect results from you, Mengele."-

-"Yes, sir."-

-"If no one else has anything else to say, this meeting is adjourned. All of you are dismissed!"-

---

Frankfurt, Germany. September 15th, AD 1939. Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene. Yoshinori Komatsu's laboratory.

Several days have passed since Komatsu suffered a mysterious seizure inside his lab, forcing him to take a break in his research. He was still wondering the meaning of the nightmares he had and why those bad dreams were so severe to ever hurting him and leaving him out of action for many days.

Luckily for him, after that batch of nightmares and the following seizure, he recovered quickly without any problems at all, and he returned to work since yesterday, while trying to resume his work. And right now the young Japanese scientist is working again when he left off last time with Eiko, the tailess cat, again.

Komatsu is analyzing a blood sample from the cat, a job he planned to do the last time, while being engrossed in the microscope analyzing every detail of that blood sample.

-"Amazing, this specimen has many biological details not found even in wild felines, much less in domestic ones. She could be a good candidate for any potential research."-

While he was doing his job, we see a man entering into Komatsu's laboratory without even bothering to ask permission to do so. Not that he need it anyways...

-Hello, my dear friend! How have you been? I heard you had a hard time a few days ago!"-

Komatsu recognized that voice, much for his own personal chagrin: It was no one else than Josef Mengele, who had recently returned from Berlin.

-"At least you had taken the trouble to knock on the door for a change."-

Komatsu noted something absolutely disturbing about Mengele: He was dressed on his SS uniform, the uniform used by Germany's paramilitary force, rather than a lab coat.

-"I see you are now a member of the SS, Mengele. Did you plan to go to the war or something like that? Or simply did you come back here just to show off how nice you look in that uniform?"-

Mengele ignored that last quip against him, since he only wanted to speak with him.

-"Not for the moment, just decided to return here for my personal belongings in the event I need to stay away from the city for a long time."- The German scientist said with a very fake smile planted in his face, not that Komatsu cared about that in first place. -"What are you doing with that cat, anyways?"-

-"Checking her biological imprint."-

-"Biological imprint?, you said?"-

-"I'm analyzing the viability of the DNA of this cat, so I can see how factible is to work with this specimen. And this beauty really have very good genetic material to work with it."-

Mengele noticed how excited his Japanese colleague was, as he was very absorbed on his microscope, and he was only paying attention on his German peer just because Mengele was behind him.

-"What kind of potential use could have the checking of the biological imprint of an animal? Personally I don't see neither the utility nor the point."-

-"The biological imprint is required to verify the quality of the genetic material of any specimen, especially any specimen being worked for my project and verifying the validity of my theories"-

-"That sounds... somewhat insane for my personal tastes, if you ask me."- Mengele answered, with a very annoyed look in his face.

Meanwhile the German scientist put his eyes on Eiko, as he noted that cat didn't had a tail, making her a very unique specimen.

-"By the way, isn't that animal of yours a Manx cat? I haven't seen one in my life."-

-"No, but I don't blame you if you think otherwise. She was sent to me from Japan, oddly enough, despite I never requested anything from my homeland. Eiko is a very unusual cat, since she was born without a tail, due possibly to a genetic mutation in her DNA. Also, in her..."-

-"OK, OK, I get the point!"- Mengele interrupted Komatsu as he was not interested in hearing all his rambling about the topic. -"What really grind my gears is the name of that cat,because it's a dumb name for an animal."-

-"I didn't name her, and I agree with you the name is kind of stupid for me as well, even if I am Japanese. Her name means "heroic girl", at least when you read the Kanji of her name."-

-"Oh, I see. Anyways that's a really cute little kitt.."- Mengele put his hand to pet the cat.

But the cat started to growl furiously against the Nazi scientist and without any warning, she bite his hand.

-"AHH! YOU LITTLE BITCH!"-

Mengele tried to hit Eiko with his fist in a violent attempt to hurt or even kill the cat, but before he could do that, Komatsu stops him right away.

-"What the hell are you planning to do with my cat, Mengele?!"-

-"WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU THINK I'M DOING NOW, DUMBASS? I'M TRYING TO KILL THAT BITCH!"-

Komatsu hold Mengele's fist before he could do anything else.

-"In the case you are forgetting it right now, this is MY laboratory and this cat and all my animals are MY personal belongings! I will not allow any kind of damage against my property, much less coming from someone like you!"-

Mengele right now was incredibly outraged, as not only he was attacked by a cat, but also he was chastised by Komatsu, a person who not only he already had enough of hearing Komatsu's, from both his and his Nazi superiors' point of view, crazy ideas, but also the fact of being challenged by a Japanese man.

-"You are very lucky no one can touch you because of that fucking scholarship of yours, Komatsu, because if it wasn't for that,"- Mengele yells at Komatsu, while pointing out his finger on him. -"I swear for anything sacred that I will FUCKING KILL YOU!"-

Komatsu remained silent, in a attempt to defuse an already volatile situation. But before any else could happen, Freja Luitgard, the personal secretary of Dr. Von Verschuer appears right now in scene after hearing both men screaming loudly.

-"What's going on there? Oh! It's you, Mr. Mengele."- The woman said, trying her best to hide her disgust towards Mengele. -"I didn't know you had recently returned from Berlin, sir."-

-"That's not of your personal concern! That fucking cat bite me in my hand!"-

-"And do you need to kill her because of a simple accident, Mengele? Maybe she doesn't like you at all..."- Komatsu smiles maliciously towards both Mengele and Mrs. Luitgard.

-"DON'T FUCK WITH ME, YOU PIECE OF WORTHLESS JAPANESE SHIT! I hope you make yourself responsible for this thing!"-

-"OK, THAT'S ENOUGH, BOTH OF YOU!"- Mrs. Luitgard yells at both men, after having enough of their antics. - "I don't care who began all this mess, but I don't want both of you to start to kill each other for some childish mistake, so behave yourselves properly!" -

Both men remained silent after hearing Mrs. Luitgard's rant against them.

-"Anyways, I also came here because the director wants to speak with you, Mr. Komatsu."-

-"With me? Oh, I see! Perhaps he wants to talk about the thesis that I asked him to read a few days ago."- Komatsu said with a smile on his face, knowing that his lifetime work was analyzed by him and he wants to hear his opinion about it. -"Please tell him I'm on my way."-

The German secretary proceeded to notify his boss, Dr. Von Verschuer, that Komatsu was on his way.

-"I hope you enjoyed your stay here... My friend."- Mengele said in an ominous tone. Komatsu ignored him, because he thought Mengele was angry with him due to the whole incident with Eiko.

-"We see about that. Maybe you should worry about my work overshadowing yours, Mengele."-

Komatsu leaved his laboratory and he went straight to Dr. Von Verschuer's office. He brought with him both the original Japanese text of his thesis and the other remaining copy from the German translation of it, while he gave to Von Verschuer another copy previously.

-"OK, Mr. Komatsu, you may enter."-

-"Thank you very much."-

Yoshinori Komatsu entered inside Dr. Von Verschuer's office quickly. The German doctor was sitting in his chair, while the other copy of his translated thesis was over the table where the doctor was sit.

-"Hello, Mr. Komatsu! I hope you are OK right now after that incident you had days ago, isn't that so?"-

-"I'm all right, thank you for worrying about me, sir."-

-"No need to thank me for now, I just wanted to talk with you, but before that, how about a nice drink?"-

Komatsu found out that attitude of his immediate boss, who previously addressed him like a complete unknown few days ago, somewhat suspicious, not to mention he offered a drink to him, despite being technically his subordinate.

-"No thanks, sir. I don't like to drink alcohol."-

-"Then, a cigar?"-

-"Unfortunately, I don't smoke as well."-

-"Oh, that's bad."- The German doctor said, while he brings a bottle of his Chianti with him. -"Anyways, you may sit right now."

Komatsu quickly sat in the chair, while Dr. Von Verschuer sat with a glass of wine and proceeds to drink it. The young Japanese scientist felt somewhat uncomfortable watching his senior drinking such expensive wine in front of him.

-"I have to assume that the reason why you wanted to talk to me is about my thesis, right?"-

-"Exactly, I want to talk about your work, young man, but before that, I need to ask you some questions..."-

-"Questions, you said?"-

-"Yes, many questions."- Von Verschuer said while gulping his first glass of Chianti.

-"Which... questions do you want to ask me, sir?"-

Von Verschuer slams his glass right into the table, and after settling into his chair, he steepled his fingers, without losing sight on Komatsu.

-"Do you use any medication?"-

That unusual question took Komatsu by surprise, since he never expected being questioned about his health.

-"I.. I beg your pardon?"-

-"I said if you are using any kind of medication, especially for psychological or neurological issues"-

The scientist quickly understood what his boss was trying to imply, but tried to remain calm, even if his face said otherwise,as he could not risk worsening the situation by showing anger.

-"Of course not. If I had any mental or psychological problem, I would not be here in first place."-

-"Then, Mr. Komatsu, can you explain to me why did you had that unusual seizure at September 8th? Mrs. Luitgard told me everything that happened that day, not to mention what the doctor told me as well, despite I didn't came to work that day."-

-"What are you trying to say, sir?"- Komatsu said in a very worried voice.

-"What I'm trying to say is I'm really, REALLY CONCERNED about your mental state, Mr. Yoshinori Komatsu"- Von Verschuer continued to verbally slamming him without mercy. -"Or can you at least explain THIS?"-

Von Verschuer pokes furiously his finger on Komatsu's thesis. The cover of the book said Advanced Genetics And Genetic Design for Accelerated Evolution of the Species, by Yoshinori Komatsu.

-"Do you have some kind of problem with my thesis, sir?"-

-"Yes, many of them, to the grade trying to listing them could take me all the damn day"- Von Verschuer raised his voice violently. -"I never, in all my life as a man of science, had read such level of absolute inanity that could make Gregor Mendel[^Gregor Mendel, considered as the father of modern genetics] wallow in his grave!"-

Komatsu could no take it anymore, and he tried to politely reply the accusations against him.

-"Wait a minute, sir! Are you trying to imply that I am insane?"-

-"Calling you insane would be an grave insult against people with mental issues, young man!"- The German doctor was still raising his voice. -"You are definitely something worse, a sociopath with delusions of grandeur! A man who pretends to BECOME A GOD!

-"Hey! Maybe my ideas are somewhat ambitious, but I'm not that arrogant! I do not pretend to becoming a god or anything like that!"- Komatsu tried to defend himself by explaining the main point of his theory. -"I'm just want to create another lifeform that could help humanity in many aspects, including war, but we need to analyze them first in a secure area before letting them live along us."-

Von Verschuer rose from his chair violently and he starts shouting to him, while pointing his finger on the already surprised Japanese scientist.

-"That's not my problem, YOU SICK BASTARD!".

Komatsu was completely shocked by the serious accusations his German boss was yelling at him.

-"Sick, you say? What's wrong with my theory? Is there anything wrong with experimenting with evolution, so we can create another lifeform?"-

-"YES! You aren't simply trying to create a new lifeform, you are trying to create an entire society of those abominations, with their own language, culture and you even considered the religious implications of your own work, despite being an atheist! Or you are planning to involve the rest of the human race in your lunacy, or you are looking for becoming a God to them!"-

-"Sir, I think I can explain my points about this theory carefully if you at least allow me to explain to you..."-

But before he could even speak, Komatsu is suddenly interrupted by Von Verschuer, who had no intention of let him speak.

-"Yoshinori Komatsu, in the case you had forgot, this Institute work exclusively with human beings and THIS IS NO ZOO!"- Von Verschuer keeps yelling. -"The only reason I allowed an exception for you is because I thought your work could be useful in some form for both the Institute and the world, but now, after reading your theory completely, I regret having made such foolish decision! Your work has no scientific value for neither us, or for anybody else and, if I had my way, I would order you locked up in a madhouse!.

Komatsu was completely silent, as he wasn't in a position to refute any Von Verschuer said about him, but that doesn't mean he couldn't at least give it a try.

-"In that case, that means I'm not so different from you and the rest of your countrymen and your leader, who also wants to take over the world, and killing everyone who doesn't agree with point of view of his and the rest of his barbaric inbred bastard followers."- Komatsu defiantly said against Von Verschuer. - "At least my theory will save you the problem of wasting the blood of many brave soldiers and all the potential collateral damage caused during a war, but, instead of hearing me, you dismiss my ideas because you think they are too revolutionary for your own German ego to even stomach them."-

Von Verschuer was absolutely angry to hear such daring tirade against him, much less coming from an Asian man like Komatsu, who dared to raise his voice against not only him, but also against the whole country of Germany and even against the Fuhrer. But he couldn't afford to worsening the situation even more, since it was against the orders he received from Adolf Hitler himself via Mengele.

-"You had such a big mouth for being a stupid oriental like you, Komatsu."- The German doctor said in a very creepy, almost sadistic tone that could not sound out of place from a horror movie. -"If you don't like to work for such barbaric, inbred bastards like us anymore, why you don't return to your country? Maybe you will feel better in home with your kind there. So, consider yourself expelled from this place."-

Komatsu didn't uttered any word after hearing that, but he knew he maybe spoke too much for his own good.

-"Be glad I will not going to call the police to arrest you, because I'm not in the mood to call for something as trivial as this, so you'd better vanish from my sight before I change my mind, China boy. Also, If I were you, I will leave the country as fast as I can, before something bad happens to you. You can also take your stinking animals out of this Institute, if you wish."-

The young Japanese man rose from his chair and then he proceeded to leave the office to his laboratory to pack his belongings, but not before having at least the last word for his now former boss:

-"One of those days, you will regret this."-

While walking towards his lab, Komatsu saw Mengele in the corridor of the building, leaning his back on the wall, and sporting a devious, Cheshire smile in his face as he saw Komatsu angered due of the whole situation. Not that her cared a single bit anyways because that was his and Dr. Von Verschuer's plan all the time via Hitler, but by removing a potential threat for both the country and his own career, he knew that he will gain the sympathy of the Fuhrer by taking care of dangerous persons like Komatsu. But Mengele decided to make Komatsu's life even more miserable...

-"Hello, Komatsu. I heard you pissed the good doctor with your ideas, because I heard all the yelling both of you had a few moments ago. That's so bad you had to go back to Japan, because I will miss all your crazy ideas you already had in that thing you have for a head. HA HA HA HA HA!

Even if his head was a volcano ready for erupting in any time right now, Komatsu decides not to answer Mengele's taunts. But Mengele still wants to twist the knife on Komatsu even more.

-"What's wrong with you, Komatsu? It seems that you don't like losing. Not always in this life you are going to win, especially when not everyone will think like you regarding your insane ideas, my friend."-

Komatsu keeps ignoring Mengele while entering to his now former workplace, and the German doctor-turned-SS-officer was following him with sole intention of making fun of him.

-"What do you pretend to do now? Return to your country and do the hara-kiri because you failed here, or you could end up executed by your country? Not that anyone will care about you, Komatsu, because no one will care a shit about you. That or your own ideas will end you killing you first, sooner or later."- Mengele keeps continuously trashing him without any kind of remorse.

Suddenly, Komatsu set his sights on Mengele, while putting his stuff in boxes, so he could take them to his home. His gaze became extremely sinister towards Mengele, to the grade the German man was surprised about seeing Komatsu reacting in a violent way.

-WHY ARE YOU LOOKING ME LIKE THAT, YOU FREAK?-

Komatsu resumes with his work, but Mengele remained silent.

-"If you excuse me, I have to go now, I hope you are now happy for this, Mengele, because the next time we meet again, I will erase that smile of yours from your face."-

Meanwhile, Mrs. Luitgard, Von Verschuer's personal secretary, appears suddenly in Komatsu's now-former laboratory, in an attempt to deflate the situation.

-"I'm really sorry for what happened with you, Mr. Komatsu. All I can do right now is ensure that all your specimens are sent to the place you want. I have to assume you want them sent to Japan, right?"-

-"Probably."-

-"Where?"-

-"I don't know. Probably to my home in Hiroshima, or Tokyo. I'll have to go to the Japanese embassy in Berlin these days anyway, so they can take care of the rest."-

Mengele, who was sitting motionless in a chair, watching all the events, decided to get up, but not before having the opportunity to make fun one last time of Komatsu.

-"Well, I have better things to do with my time. I hope you enjoy the little time you have left here in Germany, and send my regards to your emperor, FUCKHEAD. HA HA HA HA!-

Mengele left the lab laughing like a rabid hyena. The Japanese scientist cannot do anything else other than tolerate his situation the best he could, while Mrs. Luitgard tried to confort him.

-"That Mengele can be such a pain in the ass. No wonder why Dr. Von Verschuer likes him. One of these days he'll end up regretting all this in his face."-

-"Indeed."-

-"Any other ideas you have in mind right now?"-

-"No, the only thing I can do right now is return home..."-

Komatsu leaves the laboratory, with a sad expression in his face, but trying his best to at least leaving the building with some semblance of dignity.

---

A few hours later, we see Komatsu returning to his apartment in Offenbach with most of his belongings he could take from his laboratory. Mrs. Schmidt, his landlady, watched him coming to his apartment and she wondered why he left his work earlier.

-"Hi, Mr. Komatsu! Why did you come here so earlier? And what is all that stuff you had there?"-

Komatsu cannot do anything else but sigh.

-"Well, I was expelled from the Institute."-

-"EXPELLED? Why was you expelled from there?"-

-"My thesis was not liked by my superior and he branded me insane. That's all."-

-"God, What do you plan to do now?"-

-"Probably I will have to return to Japan, that's for sure."-

-"Oh, I'm really sorry for that, Mr. Komatsu"-

-"Yeah, I know that. I really enjoyed being here in Germany, but it can't be helped."- Komatsu sighs sadly, knowing that he doesn't have any more choices for now.

-"I see."-

-"Now, please leave me alone for a while..."-

-"OK, just call me if you need any help, Mr. Komatsu."-

The German landlady went downstairs, leaving the Japanese scientist alone. When Komatsu decided to enter his apartment, he took a flower vase and he breaks it in rage...

-"GODDAMN IT! WHY THE PEOPLE CANNOT UNDERSTAND MY WORK? I JUST CAME TO GERMANY FOR NOTHING!

Komatsu suddenly put his sights on an old photo of him and his family when he was in Japan...

-"ONE OF THESE DAYS I WILL MAKE ALL THOSE SKEPTICS TO BELIEVE ME, AND MAKE THEM EAT THEIR OWN WORDS WHEN I SHOW THEM WHAT I CAN DO! I SWEAR IT!"-

---

-"Sir, did you managed to get rid of Komatsu?"-

-"Yes, now that stupid kid will have no choice but return to his home country. That will save us from trouble with both the Fuhrer and with the Japanese government."-

We see both Josef Mengele and his mentor, Dr. Von Verschuer talking between them about what they did with Komatsu. Both men were drinking again as if both were good friends rather than being master and student instead.

-"Anyways, is there a risk that Komatsu will sell his theory to the Allies? They could be very interested in his ideas."-

-"Don't be ridiculous, Mengele! The Allies would not be interested in such outlandish nonsense!"- Von Verschuer said while drinking copiously from his glass. -"Even in the case that any of the Allies could be interested in the theories of that crazy jap, they most likely they will end up tucking him in a loony bin. Assuming, of course, they will not end up executing him first!"-

-"Indeed."-

-"Just make sure that kid doesn't try to enter to another school, institute or university here in Germany. We don't want more problems with him, or the Fuhrer will want our heads instead."-

-"Yes, sir."-

---

Berlin, Germany. September 30th, AD 1939. Near Brandenburg Gate.

It's been 15 days since Yoshinori Komatsu was fired from the Institute, and we see him walking around the city while trying to reach the Japanese embassy in Berlin. He was dressed with a very nice-looking tuxedo, as he was going to attend the party hosted by the Japanese embassy in Berlin.

After a few hours wandering around the city, he managed to find the embassy and, after giving his invitation to the security guards, Komatsu was inside the building, when the party was raging on.

Despite being the Japanese embassy, the party was more European-style than Japanese, as all the guests were dressing formal western clothing, being the only things related to Japan were the language and some food. Most of the guests were members of the Japanese business community who were working in the country, employees from the embassy and even Komatsu managed to identify there were some members from the Japanese nobility between them. Not that he cared too much about them anyways.

-"Hey, young man! What are you doing here alone without a cute girl on your side?"-

A obviously drunken man was yelling at Komatsu after seeing him wandering on the party without any female company. The man was a very short, obese and bald person, and while he was dressed with very expensive clothes, his sense of fashion leaves too much to be desired.

-"I beg your pardon, sir?"- Komatsu answered nervously towards the man.

-"Yes, I'm talking to you, boy! hic Do you know who the hell I am?"-

-Beats me, sir."-

-"Then, clean those ears of yours, because I'm the Regional Manager of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries from the Kansai region, Minato Nishimura! Don't forget it! hic"-

-"I will not, sir."-

-"Oh, crap! There you are!"-

Komatsu heard a voice and another man, dressed in a military uniform with lots of medals in his chest, appears quickly before the situation could had gone out of control.

That man was no one else than General Hiroshi Oshima, the actual ambassador of Japan in Germany, and being very close towards the current German government, especially with Adolf Hitler.

-"I'm terribly sorry for whatever inconvenience Mr. Nishimura did for you, Mister..."-

-"Komatsu, Yoshinori Komatsu, sir."-

-"Oh!, so you are Dr. Yoshinori Komatsu, I suppose?"-

-"Yes, it's me."-

-"I see, I wanted to talk with you, but we need a more... private place when we can speak with more freedom, if you know what I mean."- The general said in a very serious tone.

-"WAIT A MINUTE, GENERAL! I WANTED TO TALK WITH THIS BRAT FIRST!"- The executive said while being under the effects of the alcohol.

General Oshima tried his best to deviate Nishimura's attention towards other topics, and he quickly found out the perfect way to do it.

-"Don't you want to drink another cup of shochuiii, sir?"- General Oshima tried to convince Nishimura into drinking another cup of wine, while trying to speak with Komatsu in private.

-"All right! You just convinced me! Bring it on! hic"-

After requesting a butler to bring a bottle of shochu to Nishimura, both Komatsu and General Oshima went straight to the General's personal office, who was upstairs from the dance ball and far away from all the noise from the party.

-"First of all, I am deeply sorry for the behavior of Mr. Nishimura. When he is completely drunk, he can be a royal pain to deal with him. He always enjoys a good party when he can, but when the alcohol is up to his head..."-

-"Yeah, I already noticed that. But who is he anyways?"- Komatsu asked about that annoying man.

-"Mr. Minato Nishimura is the Regional Manager of Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, specifically from Osaka. He was sent here to Germany to find business opportunities for his company by arranging contracts with many branches of the German government, but I can't understand why these idiots from Mitsubishi sent the most vulgar man of all to do that job."- The general complained without mincing words about Nishimura.

-"I understand. It must be hard to deal with such people like him all days."- Komatsu sighed a bit after hearing what General Oshima said about that man. -"Either way, and sorry to change the subject but, why you asked me to come up here to Berlin to speak privately with you?"-

The general quickly figured out he went off-topic with him and he had to give his reason why he requested that Komatsu came to Berlin.

-"Ah, I see! Sorry about that! Sit down there please."-

General Oshima sat on his chair, and he took a bottle of shochu he had in his desk.

-"Do you want some shochu, or maybe some sake?"-

-"No thanks, sir. I do not drink, and in the case you ask, I do not smoke either."-

-"I see, just asking in case."- The general put the bottle in place again. -"I just want you to ask you some questions, and depending on your answers, that will depend my offer I want to give to you."-

-"An offer you said, sir?"-

-"Yes."-

-"What kind of offer you want to offer me, sir?"-

General Oshima leaned back in his chair, while trying to sound as formal as possible.

-"Recently, I heard you were working on a very revolutionary theory when you were studying back home in the University of Tokyo, according to many of your professors, and according to your thesis you wrote, right?"-

-"Yes, it's true."-

-"I also heard you were expelled from the Institute for Hereditary Biology and Racial Hygiene in Frankfurt after your German superiors did not appreciate your work and they considered you clinically insane, because many points from your work probably scared them. It's that true?"-

-"Yes, but, how did you know that?"-

-"We have our own... methods to find that kind of information. Dr. Komatsu."-

-"I see."-

-"And now you have to return to Japan, having being expelled from a foreign institution and, by default, also losing your scholarship as well, with all that situation implies for you, am I wrong, Dr. Komatsu?"-

Komatsu gulped hard, as he knew very well he could be involved in a very serious legal problem when he returns to Japan, including being arrested and jailed.

-"Well, I have a solution for you, and I hope this is an offer you cannot refuse at all"-

-"What do you want to offer me, sir?"-

-"I want to offer you the chance to continue with your work regarding your thesis, as long you join a secret Army unit created for doing special and unusual ops for the country. In exchange for that, I will not press charges against you for this incident, and the only thing you have to do is to report your current work to your superior."- Oshima lights on a cigarette, and blows out the smelly smoke towards Komatsu.

The young scientist knew he doesn't had a choice other than accept the offer of the general. He also knew very well the consequences if he refused it, and it would not be very nice.

-"Well, seems that I don't have a choice on this, so I gladly accept your offer, sir."-

-"Very well said, young man. I'll take care of your personal belongings that you still have here in Germany, so they can be shipped to Japan without problems."- The general said. -"Once you are back home, you will report with your new superior, General Shiro Ishii, and you will receive further instructions from him in Japan. It's that clear, Dr. Komatsu?"-

-"Yes, sir!"-

-"Then, I hope I can count with you. Don't dissapoint me, Komatsu and you can do something great for your country."- Oshima gave Komatsu a strong handshake as a way of finish the deal.

-"I will, sir."-

---

Offenbach, Germany. November 5th, AD 1939. Apartment Block.

Some months are passed since the fateful embassy reunion with General Oshima in Berlin and we see Komatsu's apartment completely empty, as he was planning to return to Japan, and all his personal belongings were sent beforehand and Komatsu was only going to bring some personal stuff with him. In that moment, his now former landlady, Mrs. Schmidt, was going to give him the last goodbye.

-"So, Mr. Komatsu, you are going to return to your home in Japan, right?"-

-"Yes. The Japanese embassy will take care of my heavier belongings, and my specimens, so I don't have to worry about it. I will going to Istanbul, and from there taking another route to Shanghai in China and I will take a ship to Hiroshima from there. I don't know how much time it will take to reach home, but it will take months for sure."-

-"Do you feel bad for having to return home in such shameful way?"-

Komatsu sighed a bit, as he understood well what she was trying to say.

-"Yes, I feel terrible, like you have no idea. But it can't be helped anyway."-

-"Please, stop with that it can't be helped crap you were saying from the last few days. Do all Japanese people are so damn fatalist about everything?"-

-"If you know the story of my country, you will understand why we like to say that, but I'm not in a mood to discuss such banal things."-

Mrs. Schmidt tries her best to have a more positive attitude around his now former tenant, but it's more than obvious that Komatsu is not in a mood for hearing anything else.

He knew well he is basically going to work in a secret military unit, despite Komatsu loathe anything related to war, basically against his will probably as a punishment for being expelled from a foreign school and wasting thousands of yen worth of money. According to General Oshima, he will probably be sent to China, and anything that could happen there will depend of the desires of that General Ishii, who will be his new superior. He never felt so bad in his life, as he never cared a single bit about his country or anyone else other than his family and animals.

Suddenly, both Komatsu and Mrs. Schmidt heard the sound of the claxon from a taxi that will take him to his transportation to Istanbul.

-"Well, it seems I have to go now. It was a pleasure for me to have such a nice lady like you. I hope someday I can get back to see you again someday, somewhere."-

Komatsu proceeded to carry all his belongings into the street, where a taxi was waiting him in front of the apartment.

-"JUST WAIT A SECOND, YOUNG MAN!"-

Komatsu saw how Mrs. Schmidt went downstairs just to speak with him for a last time.

-"Do you want to say something to me, Mrs. Schmidt?"-

Then, Mrs. Schmidt gave Komatsu a kiss in the cheek, something that utterly surprise him greatly.

-"WHAT ARE YOU.."-

-"Consider this a good luck charm. I hope someday you can show all those people who didn't believe in you what are you ready capable to do. So, do your best, young man!"-

-"Thank you, Mrs. Schmidt. I will."-

Komatsu climbed the cab and the vehicle went straight to downtown Frankfurt, when Komatsu was waiting for the vehicle who could take him to Istanbul and from there, to Asia. Mrs. Schmidt cannot prevent to sigh a bit after seeing him disappearing from her sight.

-"I hope someday I can hear good things about you. I believe one day the name of Yoshinori Komatsu will be known by everyone in the world."-

And then, this is how a part of a chronicle, the story of Yoshinori Komatsu, began...

END OF ACT I