BRIING BRIING
[ALARM] rang and Chief wrapped up the last folder to organise and quickly packaged the rest of his collection for his next spare time.
At the break of dawn, the Chief left the roof to scout the suburb, or banlieue, making note of every building on [MAP]. Ever since he got rid of [SYSTEM], he had to manually look through every nook and cranny for the area to be under his surveillance. With the use of [DISTORTION] and [SILENCE], he's able to go through every building and add it to the [MAP].
However, he did not register the mansion yet as it was rude to do so. Since he was getting to know the family and will be going into the lab later, he'll slowly add the details onto the [MAP].
After mapping around, Chief had a cup of latte with two croissants during the morning rush hour. In the distance with [TRUE SIGHT], he was able to see some of Jonas' daughters in their friend groups going to school.
Chief made sure to mark Jonas and all his daughters on his [MAP] as they were very important to this world as the origins of their [CURSE]. He needed to know more to prepare himself to tackle this apocalypse and felt their existence might be a breaking point. However, this was all speculation as the origins of the Gastrea Virus was never explained and these characters were never explained.
The dogs were happily chewing his serving of croissants and they went around some gift and confectionary stores as presents for the children.
"Okay, Ollie, T-rex. Listen up!"
Chief was seated on a park bench while petting Ollie lying on his lap. T-Rex was running around, trying to snatch a piece of bread from the nearby pigeons.
"I need to do experiments with that scientist and need to monitor him so that he doesn't mess around with my samples. So while we are both busy, can you keep his children occupied?"
Ollie nodded immediately, not caring one bit about having to deal with kids. T-Rex just grunted but still agreed as well.
"Also, don't release any skills around anybody. We are still in the pre-apocalypse era so we can't just make some random thing up. Especially the children, their curse is still inactive but if one of you boys gets it activated by messing up..."
Chief pointed to Ollie,
"You get no more head pats."
Chief then pointed to T-Rex,
"You will get no more snacks for 666 years."
Both dogs whined in protest at the absurd punishments but Chief pointed out that they just don't mess up.
Chief wandered around, buying a bit more gifts before returning to the mansion, arriving around their appointed time.
DING DONG
Chief rang the doorbell and a ruckus was heard inside.
"Coming!"
Jonas opened the door and welcomed Chief inside. They passed by Libra who was taking care of her three younger sisters, toddlers that were still crawling on the floor and a smaller one still in the crib.
"Why aren't you in school, Libra?" (Chief)
"I had to drop school to take care of the house. Papa can't take care of the house since he is so busy with his lab and Mama taught me all the necessary skills for the house." (Libra)
"Admirable! Great job. Jonas, why did you let such a kind girl drop school? She's going to miss out on her education and she doesn't get to hang out with her friends."
"I said the same thing! However, she's smart enough to help with my research on some basic parts and she said her family is all she needs. Let me clean up and then you can come to the lab," Jonas then rushed off to the left side of the mansion.
"....So, you have no friends?" (Chief)
"Chief! That's a mean thing to say! I do have friends, I just don't hang out that often but still go out!" Libra pouted after getting teased by the Chief.
"Sorry sorry. Let me apologise by giving your family some presents," Chief proceeded to give gift bags to Libra, who was happy and excited while two walking toddlers leaned over and took some treats to snack on.
"Also, Libra, can I leave my dogs here? They can entertain the kids while I work with your dad. They are both little boys and can understand everything you say. Just don't feed them anything as they just beg for more. This is Ollie, smart and loves pets. The other one is Glutton, who eats too much and is too lazy."
"Woof!"
"Okay, okay, his name is actually T-Rex. He still eats too much though, that's a fact."
The two dogs walked inside when they were introduced and circled the little toddlers before laying down. One green-haired toddler, Virgo, got curious and wobbled towards Ollie and petted her. The other brown-haired toddler, Sagittarius, flopped on top of T-Rex and slowly nibbled on a chocolate bar. T-Rex didn't care and just kept licking on a giant lollipop wheel. The last child, Scorpio was napping in her crib.
"Thank you. I don't have to keep all three occupied. Would you like to stay for dinner?" (Libra)
"Maybe, depends on whether Jonas and I finished by that time. We might even take longer." (Chief)
"I'll finish on time! Can't miss out on having dinner time with my family," Jonas came back and gave Chief a lab coat and some safety glasses, "Let's make haste!"
"Okay, see you later," Chief waved before following behind Jonas.
'...Wonder what I should make for dinner?' Libra skipped into the kitchen, elated that she received some free time.
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Chief and Jonas are inside his personal lab, made with most of his government funds from previous projects. He found it too convenient to be able to work from the next room and had the space for it.
"Let's take a look at one of your daughter's samples first." Chief suggested.
They were both in hazmat suits, as recommended by Chief. He knew the dangers of introducing new bacteria to a frail human body so he wanted to take necessary measures.
"Sure, let me grab it," Jonas wandered around in the freezer compartments before finding the right vials.
"Which one do you want to look at?"
"Any."
"We'll take Libra's then."
Jonas came back while Chief was setting up a strong double-headed microscope to inspect the sample. He grabbed a slider and dropped some samples before placing it back under the lens.
"I don't remember having this weird microscope."
"That's mine, It's called double-headed so two people can take a look at the same thing."
"How does the lens even work if it is trying to feed two sources instead of one."
"Dunno, it is quite an old relic I got from an old friend."
"Interesting. Let's take a look."
They both looked into the microscope and Chief was able to see the effects of the Curse for the first time.
It was a sample of some blood cells as well as other essential cells, floating around and seemingly inactive. However, as they slowly heated up to room temperature, the cells moved exponentially. Despite their fast momentum around the slider, there was something in between them that shifted them like tugging through the mud. There was no discolouration or change in fluids, but both of them sensed that it was very viscous and eerie.
"So this is the curse. Fascinating." (Chief)
"Their speed makes no sense in such liquids."
"The fluids might be injecting something into the cells."
"I thought that as well. I tried to amplify the magnification but it wouldn't see anything between the contact of the cells and the liquid.
"....Something's wrong with these cells but I can't quite see it."
"No, you're right. These cells from my daughters are accelerating at a faster rate and thus increasing their body capabilities."
"Elaborate please, Jonas."
"Some of my daughters exhibit higher intelligence and stronger physique, as well as faster maturity. For example, Taurus partakes in multiple sports without breaking a sweat, Aquarius has made her own business in investing and marketing, Libra is well-versed in guns and Capricorn absorbs all information from the library."
"Wow, you love to brag about your daughters."
"Of course, they are my pride and joy! Anyways, I have some samples from similar ages and they are vastly different in development."
Chief took those normal samples and compared them to the cursed samples, seeing the activity between them significantly different. However, the fluids are still weird and Chief grew annoyed having to deal with scientific methods.
"I will need to use my bag of tricks."
"Huh? What do you mean?"
[TRUE SIGHT]
He cast the skill onto the lens of the double-headed microscope so that Jonas can also see the slider.
"What was that?"
"Don't worry, let's take a look at the microscope."
"...Okay."
Looking at the slider that contained Libra's sample, they were able to see the true state of the liquids that surrounded the cells.
Demonic dark faces flooded the slider, varying in size and shape and slithered around. They held a smirk, and a sadistic smile and used their sharp teeth to sink into the cells. But instead of snacking a part of the cells, they seemed to inject their essence into it. They then wilt and die, quickly replaced by another batch that repeated the same process of injection.
"What the hell are these?" (Jonas)
"I think this is the curse." (Chief)
"...I can't believe these things are in my daughters. I need to get them out!"
"I don't think so, they seem to be injecting something and accelerating the growth of the cells. Such things don't seem easy to remove if they existed in a bloodline for generations."
"Maybe the previous cursed girls didn't have a scientist, this is ground-breaking to our research. Hold up, let me get my recording equipment."
"No, they didn't have my skills. We'll record later, help me do something and we might have a better path. After all, weren't we going to research about me?"
"But this is important for my daughters!"
"This will also be important. Come and help me out and be careful. Listen to everything I'm about to say, otherwise this lab will blow up."
Jonas was very confused and concerned when the possible state of the lab was mentioned and he had to calm himself down after seeing the results of the curse.
"So, what do you want to do?"
"Easy," Chief smirked and pulled out a thin glass box from [INVENTORY], "Hold this."
"Wait, where did thi-"
"Don't worry, I'll explain afterwards" Chief pulled out a small bayonet and started to cut his thumb, "Open the box and close it when I say."
Jonas fiddled around with the thin box before being able to find the lid and popped it open. At the same time, Chief managed to cut and dropped some blood into the box.
"Close it, quick!"
[NEGATE]
The cut on his thumb instantly closed and Jonas closed the lid tightly.
"Place it on the ground and back off."
"What? Wh-"
BANG!
The thin box bounced on the ground, and the blood inside expanded and spread in all different directions, trying to find a way out of the container. It squirms around, like a malicious slime.
"...I have so many questions." (Jonas)
"Just look in the microscope while I do this little experiment." (Chief)
"You better explain everything."
They went back to the microscope and still saw the slide of Libra's curse. Cautiously, Chief moved his blood sample, still in the box, close to the slider. Only until the box and the slider made contact, the scientist managed to see a change.
The sadistic smiles of the demons turned grim, their faces were heightened and alerted by the presence of an unknown threat. They didn't know what it was but their instincts went haywire and quickly sent their essence into the cells before they died from exhaustion. The cells immediately grew and bloated with life before wilting away.
"...What happened to them? Did they get scared by your blood?"
"Seems so."
"Let's take a look at what your blood has."
Jonas went ahead and replaced the dead slider with the Chief's box.
They looked.
Chief was indifferent.
Jonas was in shock.
"...What the hell are you?"
Under the microscope, there were no blood cells. There were no human cells to be exact.
Dark Green cells are intermingled, dissolving and rearranging into whatever shape and size they please. When one dies, it regenerates two more cells, identical copies. However, there were also black cells, vibrating at a fast pace and growing a wolf-like face on the surface. They held a ferocious aura and started to snap their jaws at everything around them. Black cells ate everything around and the green cells felt their threat and multiplied at a rapid rate. They created a perfect equilibrium of green being prevented from multiplying too much and weakening the black cells from devouring everything since they exert energy to eat the green cells.
There were no other cells on the sample except for these hungry black cells and regenerative dark green cells.
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{Little Segment}
"PLEASE TRAIN ME!"
"Why?"
"I need to be stronger to protect my friends and humanity. It's my duty as a hero of humanity to become strong and defeat the Enigmas!"
The hero knelt on one knee and placed her longsword on the side. She had immense respect for her teacher in front of her.
"...Even if I am a villain?"
"I don't think so. You have been a respectable teacher ever since I joined the academy. Those rumours of you being the biggest threat to the world are lies and I won't hesitate to cut them down."
"Even if they are true?"
"...What do you mean, Chief?"
"What if those rumours of me being the Leader of Enigmas are true? What will you do?"
"..."
"Will you have the resolve to cut me? Or watch the world be devoured?"
"...It can't be true. NO! There must be some mistake! They must have held you hostage or something Chief! I can help you!"
"What if I told you that I was the one who brought upon the Enigmas to this world."
"!!!"
"800 years ago, I brought them to this world to seek new prey, devouring the humans and demons. What will you do, little hero?"
The hero was weakly sitting on the floor, looking at her teacher's unwavering red eyes.
"Will you cut me down, little Rosa?"
Her world crumbled as she was torn between the duty of the hero or the love of the student.
