As promised, third chapter on the third day.^^

The next week I will re-read the last 3 chapters and sort out some spelling and grammar mistakes I made.

Happens if I don't read it at least twice.

The next update will hopefully be at the end of January.

I have exams before that, so I need the time to prepare.

I really enjoy writing these chapters, but it literally takes hours to write them.

For those of you who are afraid that I drop the story: is not going to happen^^

As always: please rate, comment, leave your thoughts, point out grammar mistakes, etc.

Enjoy :)

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Even though we tell public, the GMW up to the SSS-Rank Squads, most of the generals, apart from the highest of their respective countries and nearly every scientist that the GMW will be linked with their dream partner so to say, this is just a blatant lie.

In theory you can just grab 2 random people and link them together.

In practice this is not recommended and can lead to unstable links.

Unstable links will lead to death, insanity or the linked GMWs will go berserk.

The reason for this should be quite obvious: every person has a different personality and if you put two too opposing personalities together these people can’t live with it.

If you are deeply interested you can ask our psychologists about it, they are the ones who recommend which GMW we should not link together and which we should.

The second reason is actually scientific: some genetic markers in people block each other out.

We still have no clue why.

This is really rare, but we test all GMWs for it to later have the most and best options when we choose who will be linked with whom.

In the first decade of the DCF they actually didn’t know that, and created sometimes some terrible accidents this way. But after sometime they found the reasons for it and now the linking ceremony has improved by leaps and bounds.

This was one of the many top secrets, we as Head and Vice-Head of Research in the UK must tell you after your promotion.

Next will be[…]

-Dr. Orahara Yuuki, Vice-Head of Research UK, 2041, after the promotion of General Marc Winter to Headmaster of the HQ Academy in the UK; other people present: Dr. Frank Stein, Head of Research UK

---Time: 2054.07.06, 22:12---

---Location: Europe, England, London, ADCF, Underground Laboratories, Level: not existent ---

---Population estimated: 12.233.000---

---Dr. Yuuki Orahara---

I watch closely from behind the mirror as the needles pierce the 2 test subject.

Test subject 20014689 and 20014690 are first injected with a green liquid and then 3 minutes and 45seconds later with a transcendent white liquid.

I can remember their last names being something like Everdeen, their village was attacked roughly 6 months ago. They were wounded in the attack, taken for treatment and then brought to the headquarters research facility. Officially they are dead. Their 2 daughters are apparently compatible with angelic genes and the higher ups probably wanted to avoid complications. This method to get rid of people who might influence a military asset and complain about the DCF is often used.

Not that I mind, we get test subjects and so we shut our trap.

Stein stands right behind me, hugging me. We are anxious about the result.

I can feel how my husband is slightly shaking in excitement.

They are already the hundredth pair we test this on.

The other ninety-nine were a success and we continued to monitor them for negative long-time effects, but after roughly 4 months of nothing happening we were sure about the safety.

Sure, long-time effects were in most cases measured in years, but regarding this project they were either imminent or in the next 3 months.

If this test on the last two subjects is successful too, we will move on to the next part.

The application.

On us of course.

As soon as the green liquid is injected, they test subjects start to budge on the metal table, but the fixations are strong enough to hold them down.

Their heart rate quickens quite a bit, but is still in safe levels. I can hear their muffled screams of pain.

Stein hunches down a bit, and starts rubbing his chin on my head.

I can’t remember when he picked this habit up, but it seems to calm him a bit.

I just grab his hands a bit tighter.

The process itself is not nice, but the outcome is more than worth it.

The price is just paid in pain, nothing else. No lasting crippling effects on the mind or the body.

It is just incredible.

2 minutes after the injection of the green liquid their screams and heart rate go down a bit.

When the transcendent white liquid is finally injected their screams start to get louder again.

Their heart rate increases quite a bit again, this time getting close to dangerous levels.

I look at their brainwave activities. They shoot through the roof.

The DNA sample they are injected with is an angelic one for the female test subject and a demonic one for the male. After another 5 minutes a third liquid is injected.

It speeds up the whole process. It will still take 2 weeks to complete this, but this a joke compared to 2 months.

The screams get louder again. I suddenly hear bones breaking and muscles ripping and stiffen up a bit.

I know this was going to happen, but it still is unnerving to hear.

Their bodies are destroyed and restructured as the new gene-mix makes the proper adaptions for the body to house the increased physical and mental capabilities.

The entire skeleton is literally dissolved and rebuild from scratch, the new molecule structure being something as close to indestructible as you can get.

This structure is really superior to most materials ever found anywhere.

I, Stein and a select few scientists know that better than most.

We had done research into partially strengthening humans with specific traits of the Completes.

Increased muscle power, better skeleton, better immune system, increased mental capabilities and so on.

We tried it for years and were partially successful.

The first few years it was just one failure after another, but after 5 years they had a small breakthrough and their first success.

We were able enhance some people with increased muscle power.

Excited by the news I used myself as a test subject for this.

The procedure was successful, but I barely survived.

I was 4 months in hospital until I was released.

I was young and naive at the time, but I learned my lesson.

Never use something on yourself unless it is 100% safe.

But the experiment was successful and I still have increased strength.

Sometimes I need to be careful not to destroy things.

After my release Stein told me he stopped the work on the project.

The success rate was only 5%, no matter what we did.

The biggest problem is we never found any solid clue to point to who will most likely survive.

It seemed to be random.

A poor kid from the slums, a well-trained elite soldier or an old, wrinkly woman.

Stein theorized that it probably is related to willpower.

But how do you measure that? We have no idea.

We don’t even know how to train that.

I look back at our test subjects in front of us.

“Come darling, let’s turn on the cameras and the automated defence system. It is getting late.

Let’s go to bed, you still owe me something from last night. And I want more hugs.”-I

“But it is getting interesting sweetheart! Look in about 3 minutes their screams will create an interesting sound as their vocal cords are restructured!”-My tired and weird husband Stein

“Serious? We have heard it already 99 times! And we have it on record. You can watch and listen to it anytime you want.”-I

“But it is not the same as hearing it live. Hearing your band live at a concert is still a thousand times better than hearing the recorded version!”-My tired and weird husband Stein

“Aaaah, just shut up and come.”-I

“But-“-My now confused husband Stein

I just grab him and pull him along.

Having strength which is close to a Controller really is useful sometimes.

“Yes, yes, just come.”-I

“But-“-My disappointed husband Stein

“Stein! Just come along already! Otherwise your most treasured toy will suffer!”-I

“Whaaat? You are going to destroy my newly acquired microscope? The CT1109-XT is really expensive and it’s unique abilities-“-My stupid and confused husband Stein

I just facepalm myself as I pull him along. Sometimes I really wonder if he is doing this on purpose.

“Hush! Just follow me”-I

As we leave the laboratories I activate the automated defence system and the cameras.

---Time: 2054.07.11, 12:03---

---Location: Europe, England, London, ADCF, Underground Laboratories, Level 20, Canteen ---

---Population estimated: 12.233.000---

---Dr. Yuuki Orahara---

The canteen is full and overcrowded. Hundreds and hundreds of researches are swarming to the place right now, trying to get the best food. They try to push past each other, hoping to be first to reach the line.

They behave like little children afraid to not get their food.

You might think the smartest minds in the UK would be able to behave like proper adults and might work out a proper solution to this kindergarten, but if you just look at the scene it tells a different story.

Nobody in charge really botheres enough to change this scene.

Stein and me are too busy with important projects to actually work out a solution.

I walk up to a still small line promising some meat with curry, Indian cuisine.

Quite rare these days in the UK, if you don’t have some friends with Indian background.

It is far too spicy for most Europeans, but I like it.

When I finally get my food I start to look around for Stein.

Normally we don’t eat lunch together, it is safer this way, but we still need to work out something.

General Winter wanted to know how we plan to move Ragnar back to headquarters without stirring up his suspicion.

At the time we had no idea.

But now something popped into my head and I might just discuss it right here and now.

Other co-workers might help as well.

After 5 minutes or so I finally spot him.

He sits together with 2 other researches at a table in a far corner.

“Nick. Jane”-I

I nod shortly towards the other 2.

“Stein, I think I have an idea regarding Ragnar.”-I

“Let me hear it Orahara.”-my husband

“How about a tournament?”-I

He looks at me for a few moments with a cold and calculating gaze, then he nods

“That might work, but what exactly do you have in mind?”-Stein

I sit down and start to eat my lunch.

“How about something along the line of gathering the middle-school years in headquarter for a competition to find out who is the best? Let them compete as a class or individually, it doesn’t really matter, does it?

I mean he teaches the middle-school classes and he is a homeroom teacher, so he would need to go with his class. If we invite them from all over the country we won’t stir up his suspicion.”-I

“Don’t you think you are overdoing this just to avoid suspicion?”-Nick

“No, not if the new linking turns out successful. After that he will be more powerful than 10 SSS ranked Completes and that is just using brute force. He will be in a completely different league from any force we have right now. Taking out one of the 4 Overlords of Hell….if somebody is able to do that on his own he or she can be considered a weapon of mass destruction.

So using this much to avoid his suspicion is more than worth it.”-Stein

“You 2 sure think a lot of him. From what I heard he won’t just peacefully accept the new linking ceremony.”-Jane

“You are right about that. I want 3 SSS ranked Squads at standby. I don’t want him being able to escape or fight his way out of this, nor do I want him to die.”-Stein

“Do you already have somebody in mind?”-I

“Yes. Blue Flower, Raging Fist and Flying Shadow.”-Stein

“Flying Shadow? Never heard of them.”-Jane

“That isn’t surprising, they are our latest addition. They rely on speed and precision. It is said that nobody is able to hit them and they simply slide past an enemy’s defence, directly killing them.”-Stein

“So you are going to use Raging Fist for brute force, Blue Flower, who excel at everything, and Flying Shadow for speed.”-Nick

“Hm, it is said that Blue Flower excels at everything, but that is just wrong. For an SSS ranked Squad they are intermediate at everything. As you know every S ranked Squad and higher starts to specialize in some field, but they just didn’t do that. It is more accurate to say they have no weakness, but also no strong points eithers. They are the most balanced squad from S upwards.”-I

“I think your idea is good enough, good work Dr. Orahara.

You will go and personally report this idea to General Winter.

Just make sure he understands our intentions, has the 3 requested SSS ranked Squads here at the time of the tournament and that he is responsible for working out all the rest of the details.”-Stein

You mean bastard! That is your job! Go and do it yourself!

I curse silently, while I just nod and continue to eat my lunch.

I will get my revenge on him.

---Time: 2054.07.16, 10:49---

---Location: Europe, England, London, ADCF, Underground Laboratories, Level 5 ---

---Population estimated: 12.233.000---

---Dr. Yuuki Orahara---

I read a last time over the file we got.

Selene Atkison. 13 years-old, already 1,77m tall, inserted with angelic genes at the age of 7.

Green eyes and a mix of white and red hair. Participant of project Fire until her partner died a few months ago.

The most promising Controller candidate of project Fire.

The reason why they were still not linked at the age of 13 was another part of project Fire.

They would just link them at the age of 14, see if that influences anything.

There were many groups of project fire. Always containing 300 to 500 people.

They would test different training methods, variations in the linking process and so on.

Stein and me know about at least 4 different groups for project Fire, but there are certainly many more.

We were lucky that she belonged to one of the groups who are linked quite late.

Her combat proficiency is quite high, just as her most of her already developed Controller abilities.

Surprisingly she was already able to use telekinesis. She could control her body nearly perfectly with her abilities, either calming herself close to apathy or enraging herself to something similar to a bloodfrenzy.

The list just goes on and on.

I sigh.

What irritates me the most is the missing report on how her partner died and how her mental stage changed.

It would bother most people, to say the least.

But if she is hurt, she probably fits perfectly with Ragnar.

They might be able heal the mental wounds of each other.

I’m entirely sure about that, but whatever.

The whole experiment is already a huge gamble.

I put the file down and nod towards my husband who sits to my left.

He pushes a small button and the door slides open.

Selene enters, wearing a sad and emotionless mask as a face.

Well, most people might be fooled, but I and Stein work with a lot of Broken and we see Ragnar on a regular basis.

We know what real apathy looks like and even Ragnar was never entirely apathetic.

He was as close as a human can possibly be, but compared to the other Broken he still has lot of emotions and cares about some stuff.

What she tries to show is just a weak imitation of that.

“Ah, look there Stein, a teenage girl whose hormones are running wild. She tries to pretend to not care about anything, but fails miserably. Welcome Ice-princess.”-I

She still tries to not care about it, but I can see the surprise clearly. It is only micro-movements of her facial muscle, but I and Stein are well accustomed to read these small signs. We are probably better at reading these signs than most people in the world.

“I’m not sure what we should do to wake her up. You think if somebody raped her she would wake up?”-a weird and fucked up Stein

My head immediately turns to my left to look at him. I know him well and I know that this was supposed to be a joke, but first this is not funny and second I know, that he really is wondering about this. It is Stein after all. I hit his head hard enough for it to hurt.

“You know this is not funny. Don’t make any jokes about something like that or I will report that to the Discipline Squad. And we both know real apathetic human, namely Broken, wouldn’t even care about that.”-I

“Well, I wonder about that. We never did run any tests about something like that. Hm, I think I will need to persuade General Winter afterwards about that. Give me please a minute, I need to write it down.”-a seriously fucked up Stein at the moment

My jaw drops as I watch him really writing this down.

WHAT THE FUCK?

I know that he is really going to try to run some test regarding this.

I just shake my head and look back at our guest.

She dropped her mask and has a concerned, disgusted, scared and angry look on her face.

Well, that is still better and more honest than pretending to be the ice-princess.

“So, you dropped your act Selene? That is much better.

You know why you are here?”-I

“I’m going to be linked with another Armour.”-Selene

“Good. We just have some questions for you.

First one: you weren’t linked yet?”-I

“Don’t you have my file?”- surprised Selene

“Just answer the question.”- a cold Stein

“No, I wasn’t linked yet.”-Selene

“Good. Second question: Why weren’t you linked yet?”-Stein

“Because we were supposed to be linked around the age of 14. Don’t you have that in your file?”-irritated Selene

“Anybody can write these files, but we can’t ascertain the truth from that alone.

Third question: You were inserted with angelic at the age of 7? Any more modifying of your body? Something similar like an insertion process? Anything you might deem unusual.”-I

“Yes, angelic genes at the age of 7. And …eh no that other questions.”- confused Selene

“Fourth question: How did your partner die?”-emotionless Stein

Silence.

Selene stares at us with wide eyes, biting her lips.

“Seleeeene? Just tell us the truth as you experienced it. We only have one sentence in your file about what happened to your partner. This one sentence simply says he died. That can mean anything.

From dying on the battlefield, to some failed experiment, a natural cause, disobeying orders, to desertion or anything else.

So tell us.”-I

Stein simply nods approvingly.

I know he is just as interested as me in what really happened.

For a few moments she just looks from me to Stein and back again.

I can tell that she is nervous and she seems to try and figure out our intentions.

Maybe she thinks this is some kind of test or a trap?

After what seems like an eternity she finally told us.

After she finished her story we understood her a bit better and tried to cheer up somewhat.

She cried for quite some time. Her story wasn’t nice, I think gruesome is a better word to describe it.

I wonder who authorized such a waste of still perfectly fine test subjects?

Not that I and Stein are the ones who should criticize people about needlessly wasting useful test subjects.

I mean we used over 200 healthy people just for one of our personal researches.

I don’t really want to know how many lives only I ended over the entire time of my career.

A civil court would probably consider me a mass murderer and sentence me to death.

Yeah, they would and then the DCF shows up and claims it was for the greater good and pulls me back to my labs.

Somehow ironic and funny.

---Time: 2054.07.21, 12:17---

---Location: Europe, England, London, ADCF, Underground Laboratories, Level: not existent ---

---Population estimated: 12.233.000---

---Dr. Yuuki Orahara---

Our last test was successful. We just did the linking ceremony right after we removed their straps and watched them.

They seemed just as confused as all the other test subjects at what happened.

After a few minutes though they calmed down and smiled.

They looked happy. Their brainwaves were normal, their heart and everything else too.

And then we killed them.

Not just them, but all the remaining test subjects of this experiment.

We are at the last stage of our experiment, the application.

So better destroy the other test subjects to leave no evidence the Discipline Squad could use.

The bodies are first burned and the remains are crushed to dust.

We only have 2 copies of all of our data on different devices left.

And they are well hidden.

I applied for 4 weeks of vacation.

Luckily only Stein needs to approve this.

I’m first to go through the whole insertion process.

Well, it is not the real insertion process, since we are not genetically adapt for it, but instead we force our body through it, but how else should we call it.

We could both do it at the same time, but that would just invite trouble.

The Head and Vice-Head of the research facility disappearing at the same time for 2 weeks?

And what happens if one or both of us need outside help while we go through the whole process?

Far too risky, this way we might be able to save each other and lessen suspicion.

If something goes wrong during my insertion process Stein will just take responsibility and pretend like he kidnapped me, or something.

That is at least what I think he will do.

He never told me, probably because I wouldn’t approve it.

I’m walk into our room where we so far always did this insertion process.

My stomach tightens and something cold and sharp rushes through my body.

Fear.

The last time I felt fear is many years back. Most of my time I’m in my laboratories doing some experiments and the daily routine associated with life. There is no reason to feel fear.

I know why I’m afraid.

The procedure is painful.

Reeeaaalllyyyy painful.

More painful than anything I ever felt.

I’m glued to the spot beside one of the tables and slowly move one of my hands softly across it.

My hand is shaking.

To be more precise, my whole body is shaking.

Stein looks at me and realizes what is happening.

I start to stare off into empty space and start to imagine all the things that could possibly go wrong.

Suddenly I feel somebody hugging me.

I look up and see my husband smiling down on me.

“You know there is nothing to fear.”-my beloved husband

“That is really easy to say, if it is not your turn.”-I

“No, I’m quite certain I will still say the same the moment it is my turn.”-my beloved husband

He takes a quick glance at the metal table and all the straps. I know he lies, and I know that he knows that I know that he lies.

Suddenly my husband takes my head and kisses me deeply.

Then I feel a short prick of a needle and lose conscious.

I slowly open my eyes again. I’m sleepy and confused and my vision is blurry.

A bright light is directly shining into my face.

As I try to sit up I’m met with resistance and I try again.

Suddenly I release where I am and yank my eyes open.

Stein stands at my left side, looking down on me.

He has a guilty smile on his face.

My bastard husband used anaesthetics on me!

I glare at him and his smiles only widens.

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but I already anticipated this problem. I doubted from the beginning that you would just jump on the table willingly. So I used a little friend. Promise me to not get angry when this is over.”-my stupid bastard husband

I pout and just glare at him.

“When it’s my turn just don’t knock me out with a punch or something like that, ok?

You want anything before we start? A juice? Coffee? Water? A snack? Nothing?”- my stupid bastard husband

I signal him for a kiss and he moves in to kiss me.

But instead of a kiss I give him a short and powerful head-butt.

Stein stumbles back a bit and needs a few seconds to regain composure.

When he finally does, he just shakes his head, smiles a bit and starts to leave the room.

“I will be watching the first 30 minutes, to make sure everything works out right. I love you.”-my beloved husband

“I love you too.”-I

The light illuminating the room starts to dim down to the bare minimum and I’m barely able to see anything.

A robot forces something in my mouth to prevent me from biting through my tongue.

Then a machine moves in closer. I can see the needles filled with liquids and my heart starts pounding really fast.

I’m afraid of these needles, because I know what will happen afterwards.

I watch unable to move as the first needle starts to move towards me.

The whole thing seems to take an hour before it finally pierces me.

Afterwards the only thing I can feel is pain.

I start to scream and bulge against the fixations.

This pain is indescribable and I only want it to stop.

I scream and scream.