“So that’s what happens when someone dies and is brought back by the Resurrection Rubik’s Cube?” Being a resurrected individual myself, I could relate to the information Rodent shared with me.

Apparently, darkness was congruent with after-death experiences, which sometimes feel like an eternity. Then followed the faintest glow. Although faint, it was bright enough to illuminate a person’s consciousness.

Listening to Rodent’s explanation, I learnt that he lost a portion of his recent memories prior to his death. The Red Ants chase sequence coupled with the massacre I unleashed underground was displaced from his memories. When I reminded him about what happened, especially the part about Big Red’s demise, he was shocked as if he wasn’t there on the boat when he died.

“Big Red is dead? You killed him?”

“Yes, I did and I also killed you, but I’m sure you already know that.” Rodent swallowed a mouthful of saliva when he heard what I said. He got curious about the details of how he was brought back to life. While I was in the process of telling him this account, I didn’t get to finish.

“Grah! Ah!” Rodent began wilding out like a beast. A short while after his outburst, I witnessed his gradual transformation back into a full-fledged Smokepire. The GA-28 formula didn’t produce permanent effects. This discovery didn’t bother me much because I was getting closer to what I desired.

“Grah! Grah!” Since his reversion to monster form, Rodent became hostile. During his rowdy behaviour, he knocked over a few apparatus I had setup and turned over a few tables.

“That’s enough out of you. Settle down now!” Remotely interacting with the exposed Resurrection Rubik’s Cube in Rodent's chest, I easily shut down his motor functions. Afterwards, I placed him on the vacant operation counter and strapped him down.

So far, my experiment with the God’s Anus formula had borne precious fruits. Without it, I didn’t know what I would have done to tackle this research. Thankfully, I came across the special grade Rubik’s Cube when I did. And I also owe my luck to that smart autistic brat who saved me the trouble of unlocking the damn thing myself.

You see, I wouldn’t have been able to unlock this Rubik’s Cube otherwise, because of my low Permutation Key level. I hadn’t been roaming the streets lately, racking up dead bodies, therefore the System didn’t give me any upgrades. I couldn’t complain though, for I was making considerable progress in my experiment.

Later, I tested several other variations of the God’s Anus formula. The final product was a special ashy substance that I dried and turned to power. I also created a pack of cigarettes from it. My ingenious idea to tackle the monster reversion was a continuous supply of God’s Anus vapour. This would keep the humanoid Smokepires from turning back as long as they were absorbing it in their system. Additionally, it would make them dependent on me for I was the sole provider of this drug.

When this was all said on done. The time came for actual testing and practical application of what I had in mind. I injected the more potent intravenous GA-28 into the 3 Smokepire’s Resurrection Rubik’s Cube. After they successfully returned to human form, I woke them all up using the agitating agent including patient zero.

All 3 of them were disorientated after they regain consciousness, so I spent a few minutes easing them into their current reality. When the debriefing was over, I gave them each a cigarette that consisted of fresh GA-29 particles. The results were as expected. So as long as they were inhaling the special vapour, they never revert into Smokepires. However, they still had the power of their heightened physical attributes. I put them through rigorous testing to figure this out.

They finished the first batch of GA-29 particles very fast so I had to create more cigarettes to feed them. My supply of this raw material wasn’t infinite, so I had to caution them to take their time with it. One cig could give them an extra 4 hours at best. Coupled with their original timeframe, this came to a total of 9 hours in human form.

The best part about this drug was that the more they use it the more dependent they became on me. The results were very similar to enslaving them with my Enslavement Rubik’s Cube because they were willing to carry out whatever order I gave them. This unwavering loyalty lasted as long as they were human. Just to be safe though, I modified their Resurrection Rubik’s Cube and attached an Enslavement Rubik’s Cube to each of them. Now if they revert to being an insane Smokepire they would still know where their loyalty was placed.

With my latest achievements in the biological field, I was now equipped with the curative I needed to revert Himeko to normal. All that remained was to locate her whereabouts.

Turning to the recruits in my army, I said to them, “I’m going to head out. You guys stay here until I get back and don’t mess around with my shit.” I trust that they would follow my orders and didn’t cause a fuss in the lab while I was out. On my way outside, I saw Razi and told her to keep the basement door shut.

“Is that all that you have to say to me?” She found my plain language very disrespectful and went on to ask, “What have you been up to all this time? Do you even have a clue what has been going on in the city?”

“Don’t know, don’t care.” I ignored what she had to say and went outside. The night was feeling chilly.

Author’s POV:

At Crystal Nightclub, the most renowned centre for adult entertainment in Clown City, a mediocre turn-up of people was evident. Compared to what business was usually like, this night was dry as sandpaper, even the gorgeous strippers couldn’t add any moisture to it. As they danced, their bodies were shaking with terror.

“Hey, yow what the fuck?” A disgruntled customer didn’t feel like wasting any more of his time in that lame-ass place, so he stashed back his coil of money in his pocket, got up and walk away.

Madam Plastic was observing the customer leaving from her viewing window upstairs. She too felt that the vibe of her prime establishment was dying out. “This can’t go on much longer. Our interest has plummeted ever since that damn video went viral.” She was so fed up that she cracked the wine glass in her hand.

“Ma, did you injure yourself?”

“I’ll be fine.” Madam Plastic searched a shelf for something to wrap her hand with. The person who was with her in the private office was a tall muscular guy who looked slight in the head. He was her favourite grandson, Teedo.

“Ma, let me help you with that injury.” Teedo offered to help wrapped Madam Plastic’s hands after she found a suitable cloth. While this was happening, they continued their conversation.

“Teedo, isn’t there any news yet about the capture of that creature?”

“I’m afraid not, Ma. The gangs haven’t found anything yet.”

“As long as that thing is out there, it threatens the productivity of my business. Not even the damn cops can do anything about it. How utterly useless.” Madam Plastic involuntarily slammed her wounded hand on the desk. “Ouch!”

“Calm down, Ma. Remember your blood pressure.” Teedo tried getting her to restrict her anger from causing further harm to her biology. Although Madam Plastic looked like a 25-year-old babe, she was truthfully an old hag who was suffering from certain illnesses that came with being more than half a century years old.

In the dressing room downstairs, the strippers were disoriented and dissatisfied with the turn-up of their audience.

“Tonight blows. This is by far the worst night ever in this industry.”

“I agree with you, Diana. The most I made tonight was 5,000 Crowns. On a regular night, 25, 000 Crowns is usually the lowest I’ve ever earned. If I knew my earnings would be this diminished overnight, I would have probably chosen another profession.”

Hearing what this woman had to say, another lady voiced her opinion, “It’s all due to that leaked footage that is circulating on social media.”

“Are you talking about the one with the monster?”

“Yeah, that’s the one.”

“Someone sent me the link in my DM. I’ve watched it, but can such a creature even exist? Maybe some internet goofball is trying to prank us all.”

“I don’t think the video is fake. There have been a lot of cops patrolling the streets lately. So maybe it is real. Why else would everyone be so shitting scared? There are also reports of grotesque murders that is far beyond the scope of what this city is usually known for.”

“I agree with you, Candy. This city has gone to trash. That’s why I’m hurrying to get the hell out of here. I don’t want to stay out any later than I have to. The boss lady already gave her approval so it is fine.”

“She did, then I’m leaving as well.”

“Me three”

“We live on the same block. I’ll give you girls a ride.”

The ladies dressed in something decent then said goodbye to Madam Plastic before they moved to the exit. All 5 of them were unaware of the calamity that was soon to follow.