Neither Dr. Kroner nor Ryan had the time to second-guess each other. Once Ryan made his request, the doctor ran back to the control room.

One of the assistants tried to get his attention, but the doctor waved them away as he focused on the AR control panel. What he needed took thirty seconds of menu navigation to find while Ryan shuddered on the operating table.

"You'll only get an instant."

Ryan's words echoed in Dr. Kroner's mind as he set up the paternity test. Thankfully, the giant's biometric information was on hand already because of the nanites in his system.

Fortunately, the clinic had access to the civil registry. Otherwise, they would have to wait for the information to be released to them.

As the doctor raced to fill out the forms, the implication of what he was doing started to creep in.

Ryan wants me to run a paternity test against John Sr, The Immortal. If he really is his son...

Dr. Kroner swept his gaze over the read-out detailing Ryan's past torture.

Then how the hell did this happen to him?

The doctor's career during the Gene Wars brought him in contact with the Titan General more than once. Each time Dr. Kroner left the meeting in awe of the man's sheer drive. The Immortal's story was a legend, but only the public part of it.

Few outsiders, except the Titans themselves, knew the full extent of what had been done to the famous revolutionary.

Soon the doctor had the paternity test information completed. The left side of the AR screen displayed the biometric data for John Sr., The Immortal. The opposite side of the screen filled in with the prepared info for Ryan's data.

The team of assistants crowded around their own AR screens as they watched what the doctor was doing. Then, as the true enormity of who might be lying on their operating table settled in, the team started to freak out.

At first stunned, the team of assistants quickly began to tremble as fear crept in.

The same assistant who teared up when they watched Ryan's skeleton fill with scars clenched their fist. Just beneath her own fear was a swell of pride and admiration.

Of course, his son wouldn't die from something like this.

Righteous determination filled each of them as they continued to watch their AR screens.

Despite the stressful night, Dr. Kroner never felt nervous until now. Longevity and experience afforded him a cooler head than his assistants.

However, the consequences of Ryan's condition and what the doctor was about to do scared the veteran surgeon. No matter how he looked at the injuries, the doctor could only see evidence of a Lunatic.

The radical moon-based Intellegen supporters were a threat the Unification Army battled to this day.

Ryan's face appeared on the screen, next to the Titan General's, and Dr. Kroner's doubts vanished. Their facial features, eyes, nose, and jaw matched perfectly. However, that wasn't what convinced the doctor.

The same look of determination and internal fire which radiated from John Sr.'s eyes was echoed less than an hour prior by Ryan.

When the young Titan declared that only he could fight back against his torturer and that tonight was only the first step.

Without a doubt in his mind, Dr. Kroner hit "continue" on the screen.

Despite his own certainty, Dr. Kroner's heart pounded with anticipation as he waited a few moments for the test results to come in.

No sooner had the doctor thought about it when the AR screen flashed a pleasant green tone.

If it weren't for the doctor's previous revelation, he might have been too stunned to notice. The pleasant green affirmative from the AR screen was enough. However, the doctor heeded Ryan's advice.

"You'll only get an instant."

After the test results displayed themselves for just a fraction of a second, Ryan's real name showed in bold at the top of the results.

Dr. Kroner had just enough time to read the first name before the screen flickered. The green color changed to crimson as "Ryan Donovan Harringer" filled the screen.

The test results currently presented an abject failure. In no way was Ryan Harringer related to The Immortal.

It was too late, though.

Dr. Kroner had seen enough. His heart thundered fired through his veins as the doctor roared to his team.

"We're back in business!" The doctor spun to face his team, only to find them already wheeling a second vat behind the operating table.

The assistants acted as one, disconnecting the original vat and hooking up the new one in nearly the same moment.

Dr. Kroner smiled wide and summoned a new AR screen. The doctor wrote a single word at the top of the new patient surgery form, just beneath one, larger one.

"Orion"

REDACTED!

The doctor gleefully copied and pasted the same two words into all the surgery documents. By the time he was finished, his team was back in position, and the new vat already hooked up.

Dr. Kroner smiled again and called out, "Are you with me, son? To penetrate your bones, I need to max out the nanite RPMs." The veteran doctor sighed, "Sadly, that means you will have to endure even more pain than you already have."

"Do you still want to proceed?"

From where Ryan lay on the operating table, he looked towards the control room and nodded.

"Finish it, doctor." The giant kept his eyes open as he waited for the pain to start again. Whether he lived or died, Ryan refused to wear his brother's brand anymore.

The doctor immediately began to release the new vat of nanites into the young man's body.

While the second reservoir bubbled down the tubes, one of the nanite assistants finally grabbed the doctor's sleeve and dragged him over to their AR screen.

"Doctor, I need you to explain this to me," the nurse, Odo, pointed at a black mass attached to the back of the Titan's heart.

"What is this? Should we remove it?"

Dr. Kroner chuckled, "This is your first time working with a Titan, so you wouldn't know this. Don't touch that mass. That is the 'Titan Heart.'"

Odo nodded, then shook his head, confused, "What in the world is that?"

Dr. Kroner walked back to his workstation as he explained to everyone, "The Titan Heart is an organ unique to a Titan's physiology. It's why you can't just be tall and call yourself a Titan. Their chest cavities are naturally about six centimeters deeper to accommodate the organ."

"I'm sure everyone has heard of a Titan's Rage?" The doctor looked around as he and his assistants began conducting the nanites inside Ryan's body as the youth struggled on the operating table.

"The Titan Heart is the source of that dreadful ability. Much like an adrenal gland, the Titan Heart secretes a hormone to assist a Titan in a life-or-death situation."

"The hormone is unique to the genetic code of each Titan. As far as medicine understands it, the substance released 'activates' the Titan's genetic code in unusual ways." The doctor sighed. He and his team were nearly done setting up the nanites again. This time they focused on the entirety of the giant's musculoskeletal structure.

"However, as you all know, the "Rage" is a double-edged sword. It allows them to overcome insurmountable damage and perform incredible feats, just like normal adrenaline."

"There is a cost, though. If a Titan remains in their Rage for too long, they will go too hot, breaking down their brain and internal organs like the worst fever imaginable." Dr. Kroner closed his eyes as he shoved away images of Titan soldiers forced too far, with liquidized organs spewing out of their orifices.

"Damn," One of the old school medical assistants couldn't help but mutter the curse aloud. Even most medical professionals, the ones who didn't participate in the Gene Wars, didn't know the full extent of the backlash from a Titan's Rage.

Most of the information on Titan physiology was a state secret. But, if it weren't for doctor-patient confidentiality, Dr. kroner and his team would face repercussions for their work that night.

With all the nanites in position, new and old, Dr. Kroner decided to throw caution to the wind. He doubled down on the fuel consumption to utilize all the nanites currently inside Ryan.

Before he started, the doctor warned Ryan and his assistants what his plan was. Before the nanites ran out of fuel the first time, Dr. Kroner realized that Ryan's bones grew denser the deeper the nanites went inside. So he had to max out the drill RPMs to finish the job.

An idea occurred to the doctor, and he once more ran out to Ryan.

"I need you to activate your Rage, son. Without it, what I'm about to do will almost certainly kill you." Dr. Kroner wasn't actually certain if Ryan would die from the pain. However, he wasn't willing to take the risk.

A Titan's Rage was indomitable and increased the young giant's chance at surviving to nearly one hundred percent. Blood cell production, oxygen retention, regeneration, synapse response time, strength...the Titan Heart forced the behemoth's body into a mode considered superhuman even for a Titan.

"I don't know how," Ryan groaned between clenched teeth. The doctor, in his haste, never returned Ryan's "bit piece."

Dr. Kroner stumbled, lightheaded after all the blood rushed away from his head.

"W-wahaat? What do you mean, you don't know how to activate your Rage?" The doctor lost himself and shouted down at the supine giant.

Ryan closed his eyes, his senses overloaded, as he growled, "My dad abandoned me when I was four, and I haven't seen him since." A wave of pain from his already compromised bones rolled through Ryan, forcing him to stop talking for a few moments.

Once the giant controlled himself again, he continued, "I was never taught how. I don't know the first thing about being a Titan..." Pain echoed from Ryan's voice, belying the depths of despair he felt.

Dr. Kroner swallowed the rock in his throat and nodded, his eyes wild, "Okay, okay, okay, okay. Listen to me." The doctor leaned down to face Ryan, "I need you to go to your darkest place. Whatever makes you angriest, whoever you hate the most in this world, I need you to focus on them."

"You need to get angrier than you ever have before."

Ryan almost laughed. Angrier than I ever have before? If that's all it takes, then I should have "activated" my Rage years ago.

"Listen to me, son." Dr. Kroner threw propriety to the wind and grabbed Ryan's shoulder, forcing the Titan to look at him.

Ryan winced as he met the doctor's eyes before he nodded. I'll give it a shot—doctor's orders.

The giant looked inward, forcing himself to think past the pain. For once, Ryan was slightly grateful for John's constant torture.

It made directing Ryan's thoughts all too easy.

*****

One after another, Ryan discarded memories from his upbringing, trying to stoke the fires of his rage.

He recalled the very first time John ever hit him, imagining it from his younger self's perspective after only a second; Ryan discarded that memory.

Come ON! There has to be one memory that works!

Ryan remembered the first time his brother hit him just because. Just because the bastard wanted to hit me, that's all it was. After I stopped getting answers wrong, John just snapped and beat me bloody when he didn't have any other excuse. He was smiling...

Ryan remembered what it was like. The despair when he realized the truth after so many beatings, that his brother beat him because it was fun.

At least, that's what Ryan believed. But, unfortunately, Dr. Kroner had thus far failed to tell Ryan that he found enormous quantities of old nanites inside his body. The doctor strongly believed that whoever tortured Ryan was trying to stunt his growth manually.

Ryan stepped past the memory of his crippling because he knew it wouldn't work. The Titan ruminated on that moment every day of his life- forced to by his deformity.

Eventually, Ryan forced himself to think about something he suppressed more than any other.

The truth was, Ryan was the youngest of four siblings. John was his eldest sibling, followed by two older sisters. They were kind to Ryan the few times he got to see them.

Carmen was like John. Although they were both the children of a Titan, neither of them inherited the gene. They were by no means short. John stood at nearly two meters tall, with Carmen trailing a few centimeters behind him in height.

Then there was the younger sister, Olivia. Eight years older than Ryan, Olivia was the only other Titan in the family, other than their father. She was delightful to Ryan when they met. Kind and gentle, like the mother he had never even seen.

Both of his sisters, the cold Carmen and the sweet Olivia, tried to save Ryan from the pit he was kept in.

They were punished for it.

Carmen tried to help him in little ways. She brought him snacks, and he had his first piece of candy when he was nine, thanks to her. She read him stories and inspired his first love for fantasy novels.

When John caught her, the maniac beat them savagely and branded his sister in front of the mortified and silent younger Ryan. After that, Ryan was moved, and he never saw Carmen again.

Try as he might, as much as the memory pained him, it didn't make Ryan angry.

There was still one worse.

After John moved his little brother to a new holding facility, Olivia found him again.

And she tried to break Ryan out of his pit. The giantess kicked down the door of Ryan's containment unit when he was twelve.

Already two meters tall, the young Ryan was awed by his older sister. Crippled by John when Ryan was six years old, Olivia stood 2.3 meters tall and carried her emaciated little brother in her arms as she bulled past security.

Olivia never wanted to fight, only wanting to save her brother, so she never hurt anyone during her break-in. The gentle giant shielded her younger brother with her body as she ran rover security teams, ignoring the plasma shots that riddled her body.

It wasn't until they were nearly outside the facility when Olivia started to slow down. She endured too much damage in her bull-headed attempt to save her brother without killing John's security personnel.

After all, there was only so much running someone could do when they barely had functioning legs anymore.

The entire time, Ryan was cradled against her chest, his sister's blood covering his skinny body as she continued to shield him.

But he was waiting for us.

John waited patiently as the torn and bloody figure of his giantess sister struggled to stand upright in front of him.

Then the psychopath laughed at her and said, "Well, it was a good try."

John pulled out a Titan-Grade cattle prod from behind his back and stabbed his little sister in the stomach. Then, like it was just another day for him, John dragged the still-spasming Ryan out of Olivia's embrace.

Even though Ryan was larger than his brother at that point, he was helpless. John ground his heel into the deformity he engineered in Ryan's back and pinned him to the floor.

John forced his little brother to watch as he laughed and taunted their sister. John tased Olivia until she was a drooling mute, shuddering on the floor.

And, then, he kept going.

Olivia never woke up. John went too far and electrocuted his little sister into a coma that night while forcing Ryan to watch.

If only, if only, if only, if only, if ONLY I hadn't cried!

More than anyone, Ryan blamed himself for being weak. Took weak to resist his brother, too weak to save his sister, even though he was bigger than John. He should have been able to save her.

He should have been able to save himself.

The twelve-year-old Ryan couldn't take it. So he broke his one rule, not to give in to his brother no matter what.

Ryan cried and begged as he tried to drag himself toward Olivia. He screamed for John to stop, but it only made him laugh harder and grind the cattle prod into Olivia.

If I wasn't so weak! If I wasn't so stupid! I could have resisted years ago! I could have stopped him from crippling me. I could have saved Olivia...

Unknown to the Titan, tears leaked down the sides of his face. A minute passed in silence as the doctor, and his team waited for some sign that Ryan had succeeded.

Inside Ryan's head, the scene played over and over again, his self-hatred building to a crescendo.

Quietly, Ryan begged, "Please, doctor...I need the pain..."

Dr. Kroner stood still, his fists balled up, as he watched the emotions shifting on the young Titan's face. Despite all the pain Ryan endured that night; nothing made him cry until now.

It went against everything the doctor stood for, but he steeled himself and ran back to the control room.

"We start now."

Wordlessly the nanite assistants began working on their assigned tasks. One of the assistants directed the nanites to start drilling into the major load-bearing bones in Ryan's body.

At the same time, the second assistant directed their nanites into Ryan's muscles and joints, reinforcing ligaments and lacing his existing muscles with neuro-adaptive carbon fibers.

Dr. Kroner manually deactivated the last of the nanite's safety protocols and maxed out the RPMs. All across the young Titan's body, the nanoscopic drills started to produce heat.

The increase in temperature and pain felt like the doctor opened up Ryan's body and poured lava into his bones. The vibrating in Ryan's skeleton overwhelmed his senses and forced his thoughts into white noise.

Ryan's world was pain. He couldn't focus on Olivia.

Finally, Ryan roared out, "I can't!"

Dr. Kroner heard Ryan and hurriedly spent a few moments setting up his cloud of nanites to continue drilling in predetermined patterns.

"Connor, prepare 2 milligrams of epinephrine and an eleven-centimeter syringe." Dr. Kroner barked the order to one of his old school aides.

Connor immediately waved his hands to direct his AR screen. Normally the operating surgeon would use the second set of tubes connected to the table to administer medicinal adrenaline, but the aide didn't question him.

A few moments later and a cylinder rotated out of the wall. Connor retrieved the enormous syringe from inside and handed it carefully to the doctor.

Dr. Korner accepted the syringe, then threw caution to the wind and sprinted to Ryan's side.

The normal depth used to reach the heart was precisely 5.5 centimeters, but the doctor's 11-centimeter syringe wasn't meant to reach Ryan's heart.

"This is going to hurt."

Dr. Kroner stabbed down hard without another word, penetrating Ryan's breast bone and shoving through the cardiac tissue.

When the syringe tube rested against Ryan's chest, the plunger automatically depressed and forced two milligrams of adrenaline into the organ attached to the back of Ryan's heart.

The syringe pierced directly into the Titan Heart and released its payload.

Ryan jerked on the table, feeling as if a spear of fire shoved itself into his body. The Titan Heart reacted with the adrenaline, swelling, and coming to life inside Ryan's chest.

The Titan's back arched, jaw clenching, as a new, cold heat spread through his body.

Dr. Kroner sprinted back to his control station after retrieving the syringe. The AR screens all over the control room flashed as new information came in from the nanites.

Inside Ryan, a massive change was happening. The hormone getting pumped into the Titan's body activated dormant parts of his genetic code while simultaneously lighting up previously dark sections of his brain.

At their core, the nanites were meant to read a patient's genetic code and maximize it, to reinforce what their body was supposed to do and manually improve others.

The new information flooding the AR screens displayed an overload of information that the team couldn't make sense of. Maybe if they had a few weeks to sort through it, they might begin to understand what the Titan's Heart was doing to Ryan.

Back on the operating table, the heat inside Ryan felt like it swept through his skull. The pressure forced Ryan's mind to the edges of his sanity until the Titan snapped.

Ignorant of pain, Ryan's lungs inhaled fully for the first time in over a decade before the Titan threw himself against his restraints and roared.

All Ryan's pain, despair, anger, and self-hatred forced itself out of him in one all-mighty, guttural release. The sound was so loud it was audible outside the sound-proofed operating room.

As Dr. Kroner and his team recovered from the attack on their senses, they resumed their tasks on the AR screens. Then, slowly, behind their translucent screens, they noticed Ryan's body begin to change.

Their work doggedly continued into the morning as the doctor, and his team gave their all to improve Ryan. Hidden behind the [REDACTED] surgery file that night, the team did their best to give the young Titan every advantage, performing modifications otherwise illegal.

Protected by Ryan's real name, the team would never speak of what they did or the form they saw Ryan take that night.