Jin’s POV
   “Before anyone asks, there is no presence of alien technology at the base.” Shannon informs all of a sudden.

   Even if Aldenia is wearing a mask which covers her entire face, Jin could still tell that she has an extremely shocked and disappointed look under it.

   “So, no alien spaceships? No aliens?”

   “Sadly, no.”

   Aldenia hangs her head while sobbing softly.

   “My whole life is a lie…” she moans pitifully.

   “You weren’t even in this world for one whole year.” Jin points out.

   “It was a figure of speech. You know what I mean.”

   “How do you suppose that baseless rumor has ever begun in the first place?” Audrey asks Shannon.

   Shannon shrugs. “People have wild imaginations in general. When they were not allowed to visit here, they formed their own conclusion on what’s being kept inside.”

   As the conversation is ongoing, the jeep is mere minutes away from reaching the one and only Area 51.

   And there it is, the world’s most mysterious military base. Jin and the Graylock siblings are probably the first group of non-militants who were given permission to go inside.

   The jeep they were riding stops at the entrance, which is a huge sliding door. The driver had to wait until it’s fully opened before he could drive the vehicle through.

   Jin wasn’t sure what he was expecting, but the interior is like a regular military base that he has seen once on the television. There are soldiers and different kinds of vehicles all over the place, not to mention bunkers, barracks and other buildings of unspecified purpose.

   The jeep stops right in front of one of the said unknown buildings.

   “This is our stop.” Shannon tells the trio. “You may put away your disguise if you wish. The secret of your identity is safe with us.”

   Upon hearing that, Jin puts away his armor. The Graylock sisters do the same with their masks. They then follow Shannon’s lead and exit the jeep.

   “What’s this place for?” Jin asks Shannon as they head inside the building.

   “This is where our researchers conduct R&D.” Shannon replies. “It is also the location we stored the remains of the homonculi we managed to destroy.”

   “I guess we should check them out before we head out to help destroy more of them.” Jin says to Audrey and Aldenia.

   “Indeed.” Audrey agrees.

   “In addition, our head researcher has produced some prototypes. She would like to test them out on you.” Shannon adds.

   Jin stops walking at once.

   “...Did you casually call me over so that you could treat me like a lab rat?” he asks quietly.

   Shannon looks at Jin with a stunned expression. As he watches, the surprised look quickly turns into a nervous one.

   “I, um, please, believe me when I say that I have no such intention!”

   “Uh-huh.”

   “Aren’t you taking this way too seriously, Minase?” Aldenia asks Jin.

   “I’m just against being asked to do something without the right to object against it.”

   He was about to add that her, of all people, would know about that. After all, she’s the daughter of a nutcase who enjoys using fellow human beings as lab rats, with or without their consent. He managed to stop himself on time. She has probably seen nightmares beyond horror. Best not to remind her of it.

   “Just tell me beforehand next time.” he says to Shannon instead after letting out a soft sigh.

   “Of course! Certainly!” Shannon promises enthusiastically.

   “And this head researcher of yours. Is she trustworthy?”

   “What you’re really asking is whether she’s another Jacques Bouchard. Worry not. She has been with us for almost five years now. We can trust her.”

   Jin shrugs. He trusts Shannon, but he trusts his own judgment more. He’ll just meet this head researcher and see for himself.

   “Fair enough. Lead the way to her first.”

   The interior of the R&D Department is pretty much like the two UCI labs that Jin went to. The only differences here are that those who work here actually look alive, and there are soldiers who’re standing guard.

   “Is Miss Silva here?” Shannon asks a random researcher.

   “She’s inside Room 12.”

   “Many thanks.”

   Shannon brings the trio to an area with a heavy set of doors complete with a palm scanner. She puts her palm on it to let it scan her palm. Three seconds later, the tiny screen next to the scanner reads “Authorization Approved”. The heavy set of doors open up, revealing the content inside.

   There are multiple tables in the middle of the room. There’s a futuristic-looking gadget placed on top of each table. Tending to one of the said gadgets is a woman who’s facing her back on them.

   Shannon clears her throat. The woman showed no reaction and continued to fiddle with the gadget. Shannon clears her throat once more. Still no reaction.

   “Maybe she’ll turn around if I wreck half the room.” Jin suggests.

   “Please don’t.”

   “Ah, you’re no fun.”

   Jin made do with walking over and standing next to the Silva person. She’s a woman in her late twenties. Her long hair is blonde and tied to a bun. Her eyes are green. Like all the other researchers in the facility, she’s also wearing a lab coat. There’s an ID tag hanging from her neck. The ID shows a photo of her face and the name “Marian Silva”. Upon closer look, the gadget she’s fiddling is an orb the size of a grapefruit. Multiple wires and parts are sticking out of it, and the researcher is messing with them at an astonishing speed.

   “What does that do?” Jin asks her casually.

   “At the push of this button, it produces a strong force field.” she replies while pointing at a button on the orb with her right thumb. “So far, the force field is strong enough to stop bullets fired from a sniper rifle. I plan to keep on modifying it until it can stop a grenade fired by an RPG, even a nuke.”

   Silva has the look of a proud parent. At least, Jin thinks that she does. After all, his parents have never looked at him the same way Silva is looking at her creation.

   “So, how am I supposed to help here?”

   “For starters, I need you to-”

   Silva turns her neck sharply and looks at Jin.

   “Who are you? How did you get in here?” she demands.

   “Miss Silva, that’s Mister Minase! You know, Silver Wolf?” Shannon informs.

   Silva looks at Shannon, then at Jin again.

   “How do I know that you’re not an impostor?” she asks suspiciously.

   Blimey. Jin actually had his identity doubted twice in a row.

   “Why don’t you just take her word for it? It’s better that way.” Jin suggests.

   Silva thinks about it for a moment before shrugging.

   “Fair enough. If you’re willing to help me in my research, I don’t really care about who you are.”

   Jin gestures towards the Graylock siblings.

   “Those two are Audrey and Aldenia Graylock.” he introduces.

   Silva nods at them politely. The siblings nod back.

   “I don’t mind more visitors as long as you abide by my rules. Still, what brings you girls here?” Silva asks them.

   “We feel that we have the responsibility to do something about the creations made by our father.” Audrey replies.

   That got Silva’s attention.

   “Those humanoids are made by your father? Does that mean that you know how to make them too?”

   “No. Father has never shared the knowledge, nor do we wish to know.”

   “A pity. Those, whatever-they-are have so many intriguing features in them I could study them for years without getting bored!”

   A pause.

   “At least, that’s the conclusion I drew when I looked at their exposed body.”

   “Why are you here instead of messing with them, then?” Jin asks.

   “I was banned.” Silva pouts while glancing briefly at Shannon.

   “It’s for your own safety, Miss Silva. Who knows what sort of horrible traps those homonculi contain?”

   “So, now that he’s here, I can mess with them, right?” Silva asks excitedly while pointing at Jin. “Right right right?”

   “Um…”

   “We would like to take a look at them as well.” Audrey requests.

   Shannon looks at Jin. He shrugs his shoulders.

   “Very well, let us go.”

   Silva lets out an excited cheer.

   “Right this way, people!”

   Silva brings the others to Room 15, where the exterior is exactly the same as Room 12.

   “In this room, we-” Shannon begins.

   Before she could finish her sentence, Silva slaps her right palm on the palm scanner and opens the door. She then charges inside without waiting for the doors to be fully opened up.

   “No need for long, tiresome words! Let’s just do this already!” the researcher says impatiently as she’s going in.

   Shannon lets out a sigh and shakes her head.

   “Is she always like this?” Jin asks.

   “Pretty much. Her mental age and attention span could shift in a matter of seconds. To be completely honest, it is quite tiresome. The only fortunate news is that I don’t have to deal with her all the time.”

   “Why are all of you still outside? Just get in already!” Silva yells from inside the room.

   And that’s exactly what they did.

   Whereas Room 12 is a laboratory, Room 15 is a storage room. Everywhere Jin looks, there are objects of unspecified name and purpose stored in all sorts of manner. One odd thing about them is that most, if not all of them are partially or fully wrecked and/or broken.

   “We found these objects scattered all over America. We could not fathom their function nor their place of origin, which is why we keep them here way out of public eyes.” Shannon explains.

   “Does that mean that some of them might be UFOs?” Aldenia asks with sparkling eyes.

   “Sadly, no. We have examined them thoroughly. All of them were made with technologies developed by humans. Besides, the majority of them do not possess the capability to take flight.”

   Aldenia’s excited look turns into one of disappointment at once.

   “Aww…”

   “So, where are you people storing the homonculi?” Jin asks Shannon.

   “Right this way.”

   Jin and the Graylock sisters were brought deeper into Room 15. Along the way, Jin sees more piles of wrecked garbage. Most of them look pretty harmless, but what does he know?

   Eventually, they see a grumpy Silva standing in front of a room with its own set of doors and palm scan while crossing her arms.

   “I hope all of you are enjoying your tour so far…” she mumbles dryly.

   “We could do without the sarcasm. Just open the door already.” Jin tells her.

   “Yes yes, right away.”

   Another palm scan, and the door is opened.

   There is a huge pile of humanoid bodies in the middle of the room, followed by lots of black barrels placed next to them. Those said bodies and barrels are surrounded by four glass walls with a glass door in the middle at the side where the gang is facing. However, none of those things mattered. All this while, Jin was looking at one thing and one thing only. The unmistakable emblem of the Graylock House.

   “Audrey?”

   “That is indeed the emblem used by our family.” the elder Graylock sister confirms.

   “Great. And now here comes the million yen question: what are they doing here?”

   Silva raises her eyebrow.

   “What do you mean? Isn’t their daddy trying to cause trouble by unleashing his toys?”

   Jin shares a troubled look with Audrey and Aldenia.

   “Honestly, I have no idea what he’s thinking.” Jin confesses. “This stunt he pulled basically told us his general direction. I don’t really know the man well, but I at least know that he’s not the type to make this kind of stupid mistake.”

   “True. Our father is much more cautious than this.” Audrey agrees.

   “Perhaps he was ordered by his new employer King Atwood.” Shannon suggests.

   Jin isn’t even going to ask how she knew about that tyrant.

   “Hmm, that’s a possibility. But what good would it do if one of his most valuable pawns is lost before the big day?”

   “Ah, enough about these mad scientists and psychopathic kings already! Can I go and check out those homonculi or whatever?” Silva asks impatiently.

   “Hold on.”

   Jin scans the homonculi with the Eye of Truth. No traces of mana are leaking out from them whatsoever. Neither do they contain any dangerous booby trap, hidden spy cameras or anything that’s deemed to be dangerous. As for the barrels…

   “What’s inside those barrels?”

   “Oh, those? The oil that was inside those homonculi.” Silva replies.

   “We made sure to extract each and every drop of them from the scene, just in case they are dangerous.” Shannon adds.

   “Well? Are they?” Silva asks.

   Jin scans those barrels thoroughly.

   “Hmm, I don’t see anything that might cause problems, so the answer’s a no.” he reports.

   “Indeed. I do not detect anything from my side as well.” Audrey agrees. “What about you, Al? Do you see anything suspicious?”

   “I don’t either, nee-san. That said, I don’t think my Eye of Truth is efficient enough.” Aldenia says timidly.

   “Nonsense. Your proficiency in the Spell is valued as much as mine and Minase-san’s. Isn’t that right, Minase-san?”

   “Yup.”

   “What exactly is that “Eye of Truth” thing?” Silva asks curiously.

   “It's a type of magic that we can use if we have mana to spare. Think of it as X-Ray vision.” Jin replies.

   “Interesting. Well, not as interesting as those homonculi, at least for now anyway. And speaking of them-”

   “Yes, you can mess with them now.”

   “Woo-hoo! Wait here while I get my tools!”

   Once Silva went and got her wide arsenal of tools, she wastes no time in taking apart the homonculi in order to satisfy her curiosity. The tools she’s using are making a great deal of noise, so much so that it’s hurting Jin’s ears. The noise is slightly softer than how loudly Zheng speaks, but only slightly.

   Surprisingly, Silva only messed with the homonculi for five minutes, give or take a few seconds.

   “You were so excited about being able to check them out, and you’re fine with only spending a few minutes on them?” Jin couldn’t help but ask once she came out.

   “Hey, I’m not so rude as to have fun on my own while my esteemed guests just stand at the side and watch, okay?” she replies. “I’ll have some alone time with them once you guys are gone.”

   She looks at the Graylock sisters.

   “But I at least want to know this first. Do you know how those things were made?” she asks them.

   “I am not clear on the details. However, I do know that our father made them by using both magic and alchemy.” Audrey answers.

   “Alchemy, as in the magic science thing that can change iron bars to gold?”

   “That is correct.”

   “Cool! I wish I knew alchemy. That way, I can get all the money I want!”

   “That is basically a criminal offense, Miss Silva.” Shannon warns.

   “I’m kidding, of course!”

   “You sure didn’t sound like you were kidding…”

   “Why DO you want to learn alchemy?” Jin asks Silva with a serious tone.

   The researcher looks at Jin straight in the eye.

   “I know what you really want to ask me. You want to know whether I want to make artificial lifeforms of my own if I was ever given the chance. And my answer is no.”

   Jin was honestly taken aback by that.

   “You don’t have to be that surprised, do you?” Silva demands. “Not every scientist and researcher wants to play God, you know?”

   “Why, then?”

   Silva shrugs. “I’m curious, that’s all. Ever got the feeling that a whole new world has been opened up to you? This is exactly how it feels.”

   Jin sees Aldenia nodding her head a few times with an expression that says “I know that feeling extremely well” from the corner of his eye. He decides to keep quiet about it.

   “...Fine. I’ll stop pestering you about this. But be warned. The moment I hear you doing something that has crossed the line, consider your research career over.”

   “Yes yes, I definitely won’t try to make homonculi of my own. While I’m at it, do you want me to promise that I won’t make something crazy out of the parts we gathered?”

   “That would be nice-”

   …Oh no. Oh no no no.

   “Is something wrong, Mister Minase?” Shannon asks Jin after he became quiet for a few seconds.

   “These homonculi. Did they only appear at America?” Jin asks instead.

   “I believe our agents who were at China, Russia, England, and several other countries reported that those countries were invaded by the same homonculi as well.” Shannon recalls. “Why do you ask?”

   “Silva here has assured us that she’s not going to create her own homonculi or make crazy inventions out of the parts you guys found. Did the researchers of the countries you mentioned promised the same thing?”

   Upon hearing the question, Shannon stops breathing for a few seconds. Both Audrey and Aldenia have their face completely drained of colors. Silva, on the other hand, is impassive as usual.

   “Mister Minase, are you perhaps suggesting that…”

   “I wish I’m wrong. I really do. But if I’m right, Austin Graylock might end up starting World War 3.”