Eva is suddenly reminded of her classes a few years ago. 

Mutations.

Formerly humans, animals and plants that had been infected by unknown origins. The only leads they had is that the infection began with a plant releasing dangerous spores. The origin of the plant was unknown. These monsters can come in humanoid, animalistic and plant forms. They are considered dangerous as they crave human flesh, infect those around them and wreak destruction in all paths they roam.

They weren’t exactly easy monsters to deal with. They had unbelievable strength, they could ram through the walls and lift heavy objects with ease. They can be insanely quick as well, making it difficult to ever get away from one. Some of the older mutations also gain enough intelligence to begin mutating their own body to suit their needs and survivability. What’s worse is that they can regenerate missing body parts. The younger, the slower and the older, the quicker. However, if one were to target vital body parts or completely damage their body, then the chances of regeneration are slim and do not take effect at all.

There’s also seeds, which plays into the revival part.

Fighting monsters like these were near impossible for humans to deal with. Weaponry and skill weren’t enough…So that’s when CORE came along. After years of experimentation, CORE produced biological weapons to fight against the mutations. 

It was no mystery to all that these biological weapons were once humans. They are called Mutation:A or Axelyas, a human-mutation hybrid with inhuman abilities. They share the same abilities to that of regular mutations, however, they are far more conscious and aware. 

Eva stares at the seed on her palm, lifting it towards the sun. “If I were to plant this, he’ll come back to life, right?”

“Don’t even think about it.” Benjamin frowned as he was burning 23’s body and the rest of the other corpses.

“Hm.”

Seeds are unique to those who are mutations and axelyas. All of them carry a seed within and it acts as their core. This core allows them to revive through planting. If Eva drops this to the ground right now, it would automatically bury itself into the soil and revive the Axelya. When the Axelya revives, their seed will be within their chest. 

In this case, they are now free.

For Axelyas and overseers, seeds act as a collateral. 

However, that’s something to learn for another day. The important thing for overseers to keep in mind is to make sure an Axelya’s seed never falls into the hands of the owner, the Axelya. Which is what happened today. Fortunately, the Axelya was cooperative.

“And if I burn the seed, he won’t be able to revive anymore.”

“Don’t even think about it.” Benjamin repeats more sternly, watching all the bodies burn slowly.

“They truly are mysterious hybrids.” 

“They’re too complicated.” Benjamin sighs.

Once there was nothing left but ash, Benjamin breathed a sigh of relief then stretched. “Okay, shift is over. We can finally go.”

“Ah, I see.” Eva follows Benjamin back to the gates.

“Oh, you can just hand the seed to the inspector. He’ll send it over to the containment facility.” Once they are inside the inspector’s building, Benjamin makes his way over to Elias, who had hunched over his desk. They could only see a mop of brown hair and his back.

“Good morning Mr. Inspector!” Benjamin knocks on the glass.

Elias groans and lifts his head. Honestly, he could be mistaken for a corpse. He was a mess with his hair all over the place. He looked mentally drained as Eva expected, knowing full-well that he had to deal with uncooperative people.

“We’re here to drop a seed.”

“Oh.” Elias finally sits properly and adjusts his uniform. Eva passes the seed through the small gap and Elias examines the seed before handing a form through the gap. Benjamin takes the paper form and takes the pen that was tied to the table. Eva peeks over, wondering what he was filling up. It was about the Axelya…

Number, overseer, time of retrieval, and other questions. 

Eva diverts her attention and looks at what Elias was doing. The inspector was holding a cylinder-shaped container. He turned the lid and a burst of white air emitted from the container. He carefully places the seed inside and closes it.

“Number?”

“#0023.”

Elias then sticks a piece of paper on top the lid and wrote #0023. With that, Elias places the container inside a white box at the back of the room.

“Is that their containment?” Eva asks.

“Yes, well, temporary containment.” Elias answers, sitting back down. “Once my shift is over, I’ll send the box over to the main facility.”

“I see. What is their main containment like?”

“Definitely bigger than the ones in the box.”

“So you’ve seen it.”

“Just from the outside.”

“How does it feel to be guarding seeds?”

“Are you a journalist or something?” Benjamin comments as he finishes with the form. He frowns at Eva, who tilted her head at him. Elias chuckles at them and answers in a mix of amusement and exhaustion,

“Fucking terrifying.” 

“Why?”

“It’s because of last week’s incident.” Benjamin sighs, shivering at the thought of recalling it. 

Elias explains, “The former inspector accidentally dropped the seed.”

“...But the floor in your office is concrete.”

“The seed decided that it wasn’t going to let concrete get in its way.” Elias says quietly, but it was loud enough for Eva to hear and go quiet herself. How determined. Eva concludes mentally, So that’s why it’s important to never let a seed fall to the ground.

“Anyway, you two can keep up the interview, I’m going to sleep.”

“Ah, rest well.” 

Benjamin waves his hand at them lazily then walks through the other gate. Elias then speaks, planning to head out himself. “With that, my shift is done. See you later tonight.”

“Yes, of course. Thank you for answering my questions.”

“No problem, Ms. Journalist. Put me on the front page, will you?” Elias waves at her, then moves to place the box on a platform trolley. Now that she is all by her lonesome, Eva decides to go to the canteen after hearing her stomach beg for food. Right, she had forgotten she was hungry. 

After dropping off the revolver to the guards inside, she goes back to the dorms first to wash up, then change into something more comfortable. She had changed into a dress shirt and a pair of pants. Now cleaner and rid of blood, she heads to the canteen and spots a familiar face sitting at one of the tables.

It’s Pella. She seems off…She wasn’t touching her food at all, just staring at it and poking at the vegetables with her fork. Eva goes to grab a tray of food before sitting beside Pella, hoping her presence would snap Pella out of whatever trance she seemed to be in. It was very unusual behavior for Pella.

“Oh! Hey Eva!” Pella greets, flashing a familiar smile at Eva.

“Good morning. How was your shift in the basement?” Eva asks.

Pella grins and throws her arm over Eva’s shoulder, drawing her closer to hear her whispers. “It’s…not much.”

“...What?”

Pella sighs and pulls away. “It’s nothin’...”

She sounded really disappointed. 

“Huh? What do you mean it’s not much?” 

Now Eva is curious. They’ve heard a lot about the basement. Well, it’s formally called the CORE Basement Storage. It protected several equipment and tools for Axelya purposes. There were several ghost stories, as many like to call it, surrounding that basement. Children liked to say that the virus originated from the basement, describing it as the plot twist of the century. They’ve definitely watched too many movies, that's for sure…

Some say that it’s secretly an execution chamber.

A feeding chamber for the Axelyas.

A secret weapon.

A document that contained some truth.

The list goes on and on. There were too many stories, too many theories and too many rumors. They were all probably hoax, but it’s not like Eva could prove it otherwise. Nobody knows what’s inside the basement, well, unless you’re a high-ranking officer and a member of CORE, then it would be a different story. However, since there was an emergency yesterday, a low ranking officer like Pella was able to get in and guard whatever was in there.

Now the box is open.

There’s at least some form of evidence.

“I just don’t like the basement.” Pella confesses, “It’s just…creepy down there. I don’t like it.”

“But isn’t the point of the basement? Being creepy. That’s what we heard from the rumors.”

“No, Eva, you don’t get it. It’s…creepy. Like, creepy, creepy. I don’t know how to describe it.” Pella sighs, ruffling her hair in frustration. She pouts and continues to play with her food, an even deeper sigh escaping.

“What’s in the basement?”

“Equipment…You know like…machinery and stuff. For Axelyas.” Pella answers, “There was nothing interesting.”

“So the rumors are just exaggerated.”

“Yep, pretty much.”

“Hm…but I still don’t understand how you find it creepy if that’s all there was. Are you just basing it on your instinct?”

“...” Pella looks at Eva in the eye, then leans closer to whisper again, “In such a large basement, there was only one light.”

“...But you aren’t afraid of the dark.”

“No, I’m not…but…isn’t it strange? The basement is warehouse size, Eva. How can there be only one single light? Also, we weren’t allowed to bring flashlights or lanterns in the basement, so I just…stood there by the single light by the door.” She was still whispering.

“...That is strange.” Eva agrees, “However, it could be that they just intended for you to guard the door. It wasn’t necessary for you to explore the rest of the basement, hence, they wouldn’t let you bring a light.”

“Mmm…I guess that makes sense.” Pella shrugs, “Don’t tell anyone about this, I feel like it’s a big deal.”

“I understand.” Eva nods.

They concluded their conversation and began to eat quietly. Pella was in a better mood now, not her fullest but better than her last. At least she was focused on quelling that growling stomach of hers. As Eva ate, she continued to think of the basement. Navigating such a space through the dark is dangerous, especially because of the important equipment. Eva had made up two scenarios in her head. The first being that they simply wanted the basement to be guarded, nothing else, nothing complicated going on and they didn’t want the guard to be distracted by exploring. There were so many rumors about the basement after all. It wouldn’t be a surprise if it reached the high ranking officers, hence, limiting the temptation of exploration.

Second, they were hiding something. 

It’s been five years since Eva had moved into Ciltonria. Sure, there were plenty of rumors and stories going around, but most of them weren’t real. There wasn’t anything suspiciously dangerous in Ciltonria or anything that was out of the ordinary in their apocalyptic times. Ciltonria’s government isn’t that bad either, and so far, every decision has been for the best of the citizens. Sure, there were some decisions that Eva personally doesn’t agree with, but they weren’t life-threatening decisions.

Pella suddenly nudges Eva’s side with her elbow. Eva snaps out of her thoughts to look at Pella, who gestured near the doors to the canteen. There are two girls looking at them, whispering about something. They weren’t exactly being discreet with their expressions. Clearly, they didn’t like them.

“Xenophobic assholes...” Pella muttered quietly. Ciltonria was welcoming and unwelcoming at the same time. There was an invisible divide between the people. People kept to themselves about this divide. Nobody outright says it, but it was clear that some Ciltonrian citizens didn’t like non-Ciltonrian in their space. It was only because of the apocalypse that people were forced to enter Ciltonria for shelter. 

“Instead of worrying about foreigners, they should worry about the mutations. They’re getting too comfortable.”

“That means we’re doing our job well. The fact that they’re able to worry about useless things means they feel safe.”

“Ever the optimist.”

“Not exactly…Just…I don’t want to deal with those kinds of things. Worthless.”

It had been five years since Eva and Pella had immigrated to Ciltonria.

Pella and Eva were the same, they came from outside Ciltonria. Eva was originally from a place called Valewith and Pella from another place called Pondmere. The moment the pair knew they were outsiders, they immediately joined forces against the prejudices. However, they eventually became official citizens of Ciltonria with the help of their official training as soldiers for this city. 

“Anyway, let’s not focus on that topic anymore.” Eva directs their conversation somewhere else. She feels that it didn’t really matter where they came from. It also doesn’t bother her that some people don’t fully accept them. Like Pella said, there were much more important things that mattered. 

The mutations, the axelyas, their survival.

“Are you still going to the basement tonight?”

Pella shakes her head, “Back to guarding that stingy lieutenant's office.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“You don’t have to remind me.” Pella sighs, “You?”

“Officially an East Ciltonria Border Guard.”

“Oh! I forgot to ask, how did your shift go!?” There’s the Pella Eva was accustomed to. 

“Executed some infected…Actually, there was a pregnant woman and her husband.” Eva frowns, “She begged for her husband to enter Ciltonria with her, but…he was infected.”

“Oh shit…” Pella inhales sharply, then pats Eva’s back. “We’ve heard of so many sad stories, but experiencing it first hand must be really bad. Sorry you had to go through that.”

“There is no need to apologize.” Eva replies cooly, “It comes with the job. There is no choice, we must follow the rules. Even if we let that man in and imprisoned him, we’d be left with a mutation ready to wreak havoc. And how long until CORE finds the cure? Keeping him wasn’t the best option.”

“True…”

“...Haa…” Eva sighs, “Other than that, I met an Axelya.”

“...YOU MET ONE!?”

“Yes, I did.”

“What was it like!? Are they scary!? Did you talk to them!?”

“We had a very fruitful discussion.” Eva smiles, sipping her cup of coffee.

“Oh don’t tell me…” Pella grimaces, “You didn’t, did you? Oh crap, you interrogated them, didn’t you?”

“Interrogate is not the word. We simply conversed and he shared his perspective regarding my inquiries. He was very straightforward and pleasant.” Eva recalls, smile growing, “He has also proved his loyalty by surrendering his seed.”

“Wait, what? Where was his overseer?”

“Deceased.”

“Oh…So uh, what did you two talk about?”

“The ethics concerning human-mutation hybrid consuming human corpses.”

“Why don’t you just start a research paper, dammit.”

“Now I’ve learned that Axelyas do still have some conscience. The one I talked to refused to eat any corpses, it was a fascinating conversation, Pella. I wish you were there to listen.” Eva now frowns, realizing that her closest friend wasn’t able to join them.

“Then be out in the cold for what? Six hours!?”

“Fortunately, Benjamin was there to be our timekeeper.”

“Yeah, otherwise you’d keep that poor axelya there until sunset.” Pella sighs. When Eva began to talk and question, there was no stopping her. However, Pella wouldn’t want Eva in any other way. Sure, it got a bit annoying sometimes, but Pella knew Eva didn’t mean any harm. She is simply a person who hungers for an answer, to feed her stomach full of curiosity. 

“What’s his number? Maybe he’s famous.”

“#0023.”

“WHAT!?”

“Is he famous? You reacted so strongly.” Eva flinched when Pella suddenly jumped from her seat, grabbing everyone’s attention in the cafeteria. Pella’s face turns red as she smiles awkwardly at everyone before taking a seat.

“23 is kind of famous.” Pella answered, “Used to be.”

“Used to be? Explain.”

“You know how numbers kind of indicate the time they were made, right?”

“Yes…0001 being the oldest and 1189 being the eldest. 23 is one of the older ones.” Eva answers.

“Seed #0023, once known as the “Youngest Axelya” due to his success for surviving through the experimentation at a very young age. I heard he was seven years old when he entered CORE enterprise’s labs.”

“A child…was experimented on?” Eva’s jaw drops. 

“Yeah, really fucked up when you think about it. Heck, even #0001 was sixteen when they became an Axelya.” Pella says, “Maybe his parents sold him to CORE or something…There’s no way he’d be able to properly consent to becoming an Axelya.”

“...” No wonder his demeanor was lifeless and cold. Eva is reminded of that bloody Axelya’s face. He was drenched in blood that dawn, she doesn’t know whose, the mutations or the overseers, perhaps even his own. Now she wonders how he could be so loyal to the humans who forced the virus upon him, just to make him a weapon. She remembers being pleased that he was loyal, now she had mixed feelings about it. Objectively, she’s glad that he didn’t choose to betray them. At the same time, she wouldn’t blame him if he did choose to betray them.

He was just a child.

Becoming an Axelya wasn’t something a child could easily decide. It isn’t like picking a story book from a bookshelf or choosing what to wear the next day. 

Eva began to calculate, “Axelyas were established ten years ago...That means #0023 is seventeen years old right now. We’re all the same age…” 

Now Eva imagines her child self, facing the same situation as 23. Curious and knowledgeable as she was at the age of seven, her brain wasn’t developed enough to fully understand the weight of choosing to become an Axelya. Becoming an Axelya gives away so much of your humanity that it was downright terrifying for her. 

You become a weapon.

A weapon that humans take off the shelf to use, then put it right back. 

You’ve given your freedom.

You become a tool. 

When the concept of Axelyas were revealed, CORE enterprise opened it as a voluntary experimentation. From what Eva knew, all Axelyas choose to become Axelyas. Those former humans decided to become weapons for the benefit of mankind. They gave up their freedom for the sake of humanity’s survival. Now, the thoughts in her head were swirling and changing. Most of the Axelyas choose to become Axelyas. 

“Sorry, I killed the mood, didn’t I?” Pella frowns, apologizing softly. Eva couldn’t almost hear it, which meant that Pella meant it. Eva shakes her head to deny her, she didn’t need to apologize. It wasn’t her fault, Eva knew she asked for this, to learn more about Seed #0023

“It’s okay.”

“What was he like? Personality wise.”

“...Though his demeanor was cold, he had his own way of seeing things and he was firm about it.” Eva answers, “I believe him to be strong.”

“That’s good.”

“Let’s finish up eating so we can rest.”

“Mhm!”