Janus and Ana were currently back at the HMDD base. It’s been a couple of hours since the backup arrived and the entire factory was investigated.

Since then, the HMDD members swept through the factory and took anything that they could to analyze them and see what they can find. Meanwhile, the pair were doing their field report, explaining what they did on the field.

It was currently evening since it took a couple of hours for the HMDD backup to arrive and then sweep through the factory. By the time they made it to the base, it was well close to evening by then.

The two were at their desks, writing out their report. There was an awkward silence between the two. Neither of them said a word, and there was a bit of tension in the air, between the two.

After a little while of them writing, Ana stopped as she laid her pencil down and turned to Janus.

“What did you do to the mother?” She asked.

“…What do you mean?” Janus stopped writing as well and looked at Ana.

“I’m talking about her vampirism. How did you cure her?”

“What makes you think she was a vampire?” Janus, feigning ignorance.

Seeing Janus’s behavior, Ana’s mood shifted to annoyance rather than curiosity.

“Oh, I don’t know, her pulse?” Ana played along, bitterly. “When you checked her pulse, there was nothing. Then she suddenly sprang back.”

There are many signs that can tell you if a person is a vampire. One general sign is their missing pulse. Vampires are undead, which aren’t of the living.

And since they’re dead, they don’t need a pulse.

“Her pulse could’ve easily come back when she woke up. I didn’t do a follow-up to make sure it was gone while she was fully conscious.”

It was true that Janus didn’t check the mother’s pulse afterward. However, Ana knew he was just playing games.

“What about her fangs, huh? Those are pretty common traits for vampires.”

Aside from the absent pulse, another and more generic sign of a vampire is their fangs where their canines should be. They’re longer than the rest of the teeth and are used to puncture their victims’ necks and drain their blood.

“What fangs?” Janus tilted his head in confusion.

“…” Ana said nothing as her annoyance was growing by the minute.

Noticing this, Janus simply sighs as he leans back in his chair, looking up at the ceiling.

“Let’s say, for the moment, that I did cure the mother’s vampirism. What exactly would you think?”

“I…I would think it would be good for the people to develop this cure and mass produce it. Usually, when people turn into vampires or other monsters…the only cure for them is death.”

Since the beginning, when a person is turned into a monster, the only thing you could do was to kill them, to put them out of their misery. That is how it has always been.

But, with this serum that Janus has developed, that would no longer be an issue. Parents don’t have to kill their changed children and vice-versa.

The future of mankind would be bright…but there lies a problem.

“Let’s say for the moment that it is mass-produced…what do you think the number one problem would revolve around this cure?” Janus asked.

Ana pondered for a moment, trying to figure out what he meant. “I-I’m not sure. I guess the monsters since there’s a cure?”

“Close, but the problem isn’t monster-related. It’s human-related.”

“What do you mean?”

“Human greed,” Janus said with a stern expression. “Human greed is probably the one thing that would cause a lot of problems with our so-called theoretical cure. The moment the cure is mass-produced, there will be greedy humans trying to make a profit from it. People who will do just about anything to get their hands in the cure and use it for their own gains, not the gains of the people.”

Aside from monsters, the next problem humanity deals with is humanity itself. If monsters weren’t such a threat, humanity would be fighting itself for countless things. And it will always stem from one factor or more. Greed.

Once a cure for vampirism and any other monster infection is created, there will always be someone that wants to take advantage of it. That is human nature, plain and simple.

Ana processed what Janus told her, staring at her paperwork. Janus notices her expression and sighs once more.

“Look, while I’m afraid that greedy people will try to take advantage of it, I’m not saying I’m not going to try and develop it. It’s currently in its experimental phase, so I don’t want to rush things. Try to understand that. And by that, I mean don’t mention this to anyone else.”

“Does that include your father?” Ana turned to Janus as she asked this.

“…” Janus says nothing as he turns away.

After a few moments of silence, he soon gets up from his desk.

“It’s getting late, and I didn’t sign up for the night shift yet, so I’ll get going.”

“Ah, I see…” Ana said, looking a little down.

Janus quickly packed up his things and started walking away. Just before he was gone, he stopped and turned to Ana.

“Despite what happened…it was nice working with you, Anastasia.” Janus smiled at her.

“Yes…likewise,” Ana returned a smile to him.

And just like that, Janus left the precinct, likely heading back home and calling it a day. Meanwhile, Ana returned to her desk and continued working on her paperwork.

After a little while of working, another HMDD member approached her.

“Excuse me, Ms. Carnell. The chief said that he wants to see you.”

“…Understood.”

Now it had finally started. The report.

The reason why Anastasia was Janus’s partner was to be his supervisor. Her main mission is to watch over Janus and his actions and report back to the Chief, who is also Janus’s father.

Getting up from her desk, she walked over to The HMDD Chief’s office. Arriving at the door, she was about to knock until…

“You can come in, Anastasia.”

Despite not even knocking, The chief knew that Anastasia was right in front of the door. Not wasting another second, Ana opened the door and entered the office.

This was her second time in the Chief’s office. Her first time was when she was first assigned as Janus’s partner/supervisor.

The office was about average size with a couple of display glass cases and a desk and bookshelf at the far end where the chief was sitting and working on some paperwork.

He looked a bit like her father. Her adopted father, anyway, Edward Carnell. The only difference between the two fathers is that the chief…looked tired.

The bags under his eyes could be seen as clear as day, even from where Ana stood in the office. She wasn’t sure why he was so tired, but she had a few guesses, though she made sure to keep them to herself.

The chief, Viktor Van Helsing, then looked up at Ana, his eyes piercing through her. Despite his tired expression, the chief still had a stern look at him.

“You can sit down, Ana. We have a lot to talk about.” Viktor looked back down and worked on his paperwork.

As Ana walked over to the desk, she then pulled out the chair in front of it and sat down. She postured herself upright as she waited for the chief to speak.

A few moments passed before the Chief stopped working on his paperwork and looked directly at Anastasia.

“You can let me know if I’m taking too long, you know?” Viktor said.

“I didn’t want to be rude, sir…” Ana said hesitantly.

Being part of the Carnell Family, even if only adopted, she’s well acquainted with the Helsing Family, since the Patriarchs are good friends. In fact, Viktor sometimes visits her father and they discuss a lot of things from work stuff and family stuff.

She even met him when she was young. Though her first impression of the chief wasn’t all that good. He had a frightening and scary appearance, making the girl fearful of him.

However, she’s grown used to his overwhelming appearance, to where she no longer feared him. But, she was still respectful towards him, since she felt it was still appropriate for her to do that.

Viktor sighs as he puts aside the papers and focuses on Anastasia.

“Do you know why I called you here?”

“It’s about my report, yes?”

Viktor nods his head, not changing his stern expression. “I’m assuming you…got to know my son, Janus…and his behavior.”

“A-ahahah…” Ana laughed slightly, not knowing what to say about that.

She definitely got to know Janus, though it wasn’t what she was expecting. Noticing Ana’s expression, Viktor groans as he cups his face with his hands.

“It was that bad, huh?”

“W-well, there were some issues, but…”

Viktor groans once more as he stares at Ana. “I guess I’ll be hearing all about it from your report. Let’s begin then.”

“Understood,” Turning her gears, she switched to a more serious tone.

And thus, the first report of Janus Van Helsing has begun.

…

“To start off with…he’s very free and reckless,” Ana stressed. “He doesn’t follow protocol and does things on his own. Even with his healing factor, the majority of what he’s done is very careless. It’s even borderline suicidal!”

“I see…”

“Instead of calling for backup, he does everything on his own. Even barging into a Vampire Nest all alone! I know that his profile sheet said that he’s done this before, but this kind of thing just isn’t something a normal person should do.”

“I see…”

“There is strength in numbers, and even if this person has the strength of a thousand men, it wouldn’t kill him to ask for some assistance every now and then.”

“Hmm…”

Viktor sat there for a moment, contemplating what Anastasia had told him. It was obvious that Janus hasn’t changed at all when it comes to his methods as an HMDD member.

Due to his healing factor, Janus has constantly abused that ability of his and ran head first into any dangerous situation he sees whether it’s a pack of werewolves or a Nest of Vampires. Since he can heal super-fast, such risks were meaningless to him.

“So, you’re report is that Janus’s behavior is still the same…and is in need of some correction?” Viktor asked.

“A-ah, yes, sir,” Ana concluded, looking a little stiff after her little rant. “His actions are too extreme while I’m his supervisor, and I think he needs to slow down a little. Either that or…”

“Request some help?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Hmm…” Viktor pondered over it.

Janus is not the type to work together with people. Mainly because not many can keep up with him…except for his siblings. If it were them…

“No…” Viktor muttered, as he slightly shook his head, dismissing the thought. “That’ll only cause more trouble…”

“Sir?” Ana called out to Viktor, looking curious. “Is something on your mind?”

“Ah, well, I was wondering who I should send to your group to assist you in supervising Janus…but there aren’t a lot of people that are capable, and the only ones that can are my other children.”

“A-actually,” Ana spoke up. “Having another Helsing assist me in supervising Janus is most likely our only choice…I’ve been thinking about this, and I don’t think I’m enough to supervise him.”

Viktor looked up at Ana, noticing the hesitation on her face. Realizing that Anastasia is showing that, he needed to straighten things out.

“Ana, you’re the only one that has the means to keep supervising Janus. Not just in your physical skills but also in your mentality and persistence. You told me in your report, that you constantly pressed the issue about following protocol to Janus, yes?”

“T-that’s right…”

“And even when he didn’t listen, what did you do?”

“I kept pressing the issue…telling Janus to follow the rules or things will get worse.”

Even when Janus didn’t listen to Anastasia, she didn’t quit and kept telling Janus over and over again about the HMDD procedure, because she knew that following it was the safest option. She never gave up.

“And that’s why you’re doing this,” Viktor told her. “Other HMDD members would’ve given up in dealing with Janus, but you…you kept going. You have the patience to deal with him, which is why you were chosen.”

“I…I don’t know…”

Seeing as how Ana was still hesitant, Viktor decided to pull out what last resort.

“Ana, you are probably the only person that Janus can actually connect with. You two are very similar in some cases.”

“You mean because we’re both adopted?”

“…In a manner of speaking, you could say.”

Before, Viktor told Janus that he didn’t choose Anastasia because she was adopted like him. This was clearly a lie.

“Even when I took in Janus…he still felt isolated, alone. And after everything that happened with…my wife, things only got worse. Of course, I’m also to blame for not doing much about it…”

Viktor took in Janus, and despite that, there was something like a wall between the boy the rest of the Helsing. Even when the other children talked to him, he was hesitant to talk back, like he was holding himself back.

And…it only got worse when Viktor’s wife died…and Janus was blamed for it by his siblings. What’s even worse was that despite this situation, Viktor was too broken at that point to try and fix anything, only for the situation to escalate.

For his whole family…to fall apart.

“Ana, you and Janus have a certain connection that not many can have. You both know what loss is and what it’s like to be isolated. To not really connect with your adopted family.”

Ana looked away, trying not to show her face to the chief.

She knew well what it was like feeling isolated. To be part of a family yet feeling so out of place that you don’t belong there. Especially when your family was a famous monster hunting group.

Still, something was different about Janus. Ana could tell that he didn’t just feel isolated…it was like he felt alienated. Like he wasn’t even human.

It could be because of his healing abilities. There’s no one else in this world that can do what Janus can.

His wounds can heal no matter how battered he is. That fight with the vampire boss showed just how durable and powerful he is…and it was thanks to his regeneration ability.

To have such an ability, Ana can see why Janus keeps himself isolated from others. The funny part was she wanted to know more. She wanted to know the true and real reason why he was so isolated. Why he prefers to be alone.

And that’s likely one of the reasons for her next statement.

“I’ll keep supervising him, sir…”

Hearing this, Viktor sighed with relief.

“However,” Ana continued. “I can’t be the only one to do this. I need the help of the other Helsings. At least one of them.”

The moment she said this, Viktor’s expression turned grim.

“That’s not going to be easy. The relationship between Janus and his siblings is…very strained, to say the least. Hell, none of the siblings talk to one another anymore. They all…became as isolated as Janus.”

Viktor gripped his hands on his desk, trying to keep his composure. He then took a deep breath and then looked back at Ana.

“What you are asking will be difficult…but if this will help you in your supervision, then I have no choice.”

“I understand, sir. And thank you.” Ana saluted to Viktor.

Viktor leaned back in his seat. “That’s all for now for your report. I’ll call you again for the next one or if I need anything else from you.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll be leaving then.”

Ana then leaves Viktor’s office, leaving him alone once more. As he continued to lean back in his chair, the Patriarch of the Helsing Family groans, knowing that things were only going to get worse from here on.

And yet…

“I hope…that things can change in the future. For the better.”

Viktor said this to himself as he looked up at his ceiling.