Legend:
Sword – narration
"Sword" – person speaking
Chapter 0: To reforge a sword II
Current Era, Year 1999, January 1st; Location: Babylon Labs, Russia
A long-haired blonde man sitting in his office, leaning back in the chair of Schicksal's Overseer, hums and thinks to himself about the issues he is currently facing.
"Hmm, the problem of artificial stigmata is still persistent… More Valkyries are dying due to them not absorbing Honkai energy properly and mutating before killing the users. Babylon Labs is already working on a solution… yet I cannot help but wonder if it will be enough. The sacrifice of those young ones on the laboratory tables must be worth it in the end."
The man known as Otto Apocalypse thinks back to his past, thoughts drifting to another line of experiments he had conducted, and how it had unexpectedly resulted in him gaining a granddaughter to cherish.
"Theresa's creation in 1972 was a miracle… born of Kallen's DNA and a Honkai beast, she has been more of a success than I ever thought possible. I was vaguely aware of the soldiers known as MANTISes in the Previous Era and how my experiment ended up as an inferior imitation by accident. Still, Fu Hua's reaction to my granddaughter's origin and her subsequently allowing me to study her own MANTIS genes has meant that I can attempt to better recreate the MANTIS procedure compared to Theresa's halted aging… Perhaps borrowing some more data from World Serpent could help. Babylon Lab's experiments are also similar to Project Stigma according to Fu Hua and recovered World Serpent files… what is one more experiment line to recreate supersoldiers?"
The Schicksal Overseer smiles to himself, then frowns as he thinks of something.
"But what Honkai beast to use for the new experiment line, and whose DNA to use? The Previous Era MANTIS procedure had a rather high fatality rate… I would rather not see more Valkyrie deaths that could have been avoided. There is less guilt if I continue growing batches of clones… at least their life is expendable should the experiment not succeed."
Sitting up, Otto decides to search for answers in the Schicksal organization database, before he comes across a report.
"Oh, the frozen remains of two Judgement-class Honkai beasts have been excavated from a collapsed cave in England! I remember Fu Hua happening to mention that one of her fellow MANTISes had to deal with those Honkai dragons simultaneously; an impressive feat, and proof of the power of MANTIS. I started excavations there according to her descriptions of the battle, and it seems to have paid off. Wait, the DNA of the remains is still viable for extraction, even after centuries? My, perhaps this is fate, for me to discover this right as I think of the new experiment. Now, I just need the human DNA of someone to clone."
Some time passes as Otto scrawls through personnel records, before a flash of red hair and orange eyes catches his attention.
"This girl looks similar to one of the Honkai dragons, the one named D'draig with fire powers… Name: Murata Himeko, daughter of employed scientist Murata Ryusuke, mother passed away recently… my condolences. Low Honkai adaptability… If she ever chose to become a Valkyrie, she would have to retire in her 30's or risk death. I'm not quite sure why, but I have an urge to use her DNA for the experiment clones. Well, it's not like it will be hard to borrow her DNA from Schicksal hospitals… Then I will now start a new experiment here in Babylon Labs, to be conducted alongside current operations: Designate new Experiment Model HM-01, clone series using DNA of Judgement-class Honkai beasts 'Albion' and 'D'draig', perhaps both at once, and DNA of human subject 'Murata Himeko', to be kept under top secret, Overseer-access only files."
Satisfied, the man who has existed for 500 years in order to correct his greatest mistake leans back in his chair.
"And should this experiment be a success, I will have the means to create supersoldiers of my own to combat the Honkai, and be one step closer to attaining the answer I seek."