“We are here,” an alluring voice coming from a woman. “Skely, gather your team. We’re having one last briefing for the mission,” she instructed to me.

“Roger, Lucie-san.”

“Call me Sexy Demon when we’re in a mission,” she angrily shouted at me.

“S-sorry.”

Of all things, why Sexy Demon? The enemy can easily determine your a succubus, you know.

You know Skely, we’re already connected via Aria’s telepathy. I can hear you loud and clear. [Lucie]

“I… I never said anything.”

Sorry, Skely. [Aria]

Engulfed by the void of silence, broken only by the songs of birds, we were surrounded by trees; oak and birch. It was a forest only few kilometers away from Dover. Not far from us, there stood a small wooden building, believed to be the lab of Dr. Albrecht. It was surrounded by barbwires with a number of guards stationed around it.

We’re raiding that house? But, it’s too small for a lab. [Hiiro]

Skely, don’t let the appearance deceive you. Our spies have detected some sort of structure just below that building. [Lucie]

An underground facility? How did the spies even find it? [Hiiro]

There’s no time to explain. Skely, do you remember everything you need to do? [Lucie]

Yes. [Hiiro]

Our plan was to use my magic to hack the security system of the lab and gather data from the inside. If my theory was correct, Dr. Albrecht should have a server storing information about the Shadow Purgatory and the Human Kingdom. After that, my team would go inside to plant bombs all over the place. We would then detonate it after we escape.

“Execute Project: Zero.” Compared from before, the lights produced was reduced to a significant amount to avoid drawing too much attention while transforming. The design of the suit was also altered, having a dash of silver on both of my hands and legs. “It still not finished yet, but I’ll adjust the design later.” If you ask me where did I get the inspiration from, it was taken from Iron Man. However, it was far from being completed. There’s still a lot of things I want to add to the suit. After the transformation, a female voice spoke inside Zero.

“Welcome back, Master Hiiro.” It was Emi, an AI I created to assist me while using the suit. Her name was taken from ‘Emily’ when I recorded her voice for this AI a day before we started this mission.

“This is bad. I suddenly remembered that awkward moment of ours while recording her voice.”

Skely, is something wrong? [Aria]

Nothing. Sorry, I spaced out a little. [Hiiro]

“Emi, scan the area for hidden cameras.”

“Scanning… Master, I found 15 CCTV in the area.” Emi replied.

That’s a lot cameras. Looks like I don’t have a choice.

“Emi, Deploy: Invisibility Cloak.” Slowly, the suit turned transparent, but it never showed what’s inside. Zero, including me, completely disappeared.

I never thought the day would come where my past habit of reading random scientific facts on the internet could help me in the future. The process is still too slow though.

In 2015, there was an article talking about a real-life invisibility cloak created by scientists. However, the product was not yet finished. By curiosity's sake, I researched that technology for a whole day since it was a weekend. Using the information I got from that and combining it with magic, I was able to create a device able to bend light, rendering myself invincible.

“You know Skely, even though we’ve already seen you do this a bunch of times, I’m still amazed on how you’re able to turn yourself invisible,” Lucie talked. “Anyway, based on our intelligence report, there are 10 guards stationed across the area. It should be easy for you to invade. If you don’t have any questions you can go now.”

“Roger.”

Quietly, I snuck towards the entrance. The cloak was not yet perfect. Even though the enemy couldn't see Zero, they could still hear or feel it if they happen to step a little closer to me. Reaching the door, I stopped for a while. Suddenly opening the door would be too suspicious; I had no choice but to wait for someone to open it for me.

“Come to think of it. Some guards doesn't even look like human.” As I stood waiting, luck found me. One guard opened the door and entered the warehouse so I followed him until I reached an elevator going underground.

Outside, Lucie used her memory reading on one of the guards to visualized the map of the lab. She could view the memory of someone at most 50 meters away from her. She said it took her years of practice to do that. Aria then relayed to me what Lucie saw using telepathy. She was also using it as our way of communication. At most, she could maintain this state for about an hour depending on the distance.

“Emi analyze the effectivity of Aria’s telepathy.”

“Analyzing… Master, based on our current distance, the telepathy will last for about 30 minutes,” Emi replied.

“I knew it. I need a USB port, fast.”

Meanwhile, at a different area of the lab…

“Who’re you? How did you get inside?” a goblin wearing a uniform shouted while pointing his gun to a mysterious person. Three other goblins then surrounded the man, each holding another gun.

“Shit, I’ve been discovered.”

What are going to do now, Soro? [a voice of a woman]

Please… You already know what I’ll do. [a voice of a man]

After the mysterious man slowly raised his right hand in front of the guards, he made a tremulous grin. Those who witnessed it felt a terrifying sensation; it was like a looking at death itself. Immediately, they shoot the man nonstop until their guns wouldn't fire anymore. But, the man just stood there like nothing happened. The sounds of the guns should’ve also alerted the other guards, however, due to unknown reason, no one came. “HAHAHAHAHA!” The man made a maniacal laugh while looking at the guards with his piercing gaze. “Is that it? You can’t even scratch me with that puny weapon of yours.” He opened his palm which seemed to be holding something that couldn't be seen. As he made a fist, the guards felt a sudden pain in their chest. “Die. Die. Die. You fucking small fries.” The man opened his hands again, and the guards fell on the ground in unison; all of them not breathing.

This ‘heart jam’ of yours is always fascinating to see. Being able to kill them with nothing but your mind. [the voice of a woman]

If you have time to talk, why don’t you use that to swallow them with your shadow and hide the evidence. [the voice of a man]

Okay. Okay. Geez, do all males in your country always this cranky? [the voice of the woman]

Meanwhile, Hiiro found an unoccupied room with a computer…

“Nice, I’m inside. Well, hacking the password of this computer is easy compared to a server owned by our government."

It’s time.

“Emi, Summon: Flash Drive.”

When I discovered my father’s secret, I got curious and asked him to teach me how he programed the worm he used against America. Based on his explanation, the worm only needed to be stored in any flash drive. After an unsuspecting victim plugged it to a computer or any gadget with a USB port, the worm would travel to the main server where the gadget was connected. Once there, the worm would start sending information back to my father’s computer via the internet.

By hacking the computer I found, I was able to connect Zero to the WIFI of the lab, granting me access to the internet. Based on what I found, the range of the WIFI should be at most everything inside the lab, which meant I could receive information as long as stayed underground. Also, the worm would stop sending data if the power was cut. The suit also have a function that hides its IP (Internet Protocol) address so that my enemies won’t be able to find me.

“Now, to disable the security system.”

Suddenly shutting down all CCTVs would be too suspicious. What I did was to rewind what the cameras saw for the past five minutes repeatedly. This way, even if someone looked at the footage they wouldn’t see anyone walking through a CCTV. After that, I disabled all the traps and alarms inside and outside the building so that my team would be able to go in easily.

Skely to Lightning. The security system had been disabled. I repeat. The security system had been disabled. Team B can now enter the lab. Over. [Hiiro]

Lightning to Skely. Team B led by Wolf is entering the lab. I repeat. Team B is entering the lab. Over. [Aria]

“Good. Everything’s going according to plan. But, why do I feel uneasy?”

After getting the message, Team B attacked the guards unconscious then went inside.

“By the way, Lightning. How’s your current relationship with our Wolf,” Lucie talked as they gazed towards Team B running. “She hadn’t spoke anything throughout our journey. She wouldn't even answer even if I asked her.”

“I… I don’t know,” Aria replied with a sad look in her eyes.

“It’s okay. I believe Wolf will open up to you someday and be back to your old happy days. I think she’s just shy,” Lucie said while patting Aria’s head.

“Thank you, Sexy Demon,” Aria responded.

Lucie stared at Aria for a moment. “By the way… How about Skely? Do you like him?”

“W-what are you talking about?” Blushing, Aria stuttered with a loud voice.

“Hahaha. Sorry, I’m just messing with you. You’re kinda cute when you blush,” Lucie giggled.

As Lucie laughed, they were suddenly interrupted by a soldier who seemed to be holding a person.

“Commander, we found someone lurking in the bushes,” the soldier reported.

“Is it an enemy?” Lucie asked.

“No, ma’am. It’s a little kid,” the soldier replied.

“I am not a kid,” the girl shouted. “I’m already 22 years old. I’m an adult.”

“An elf?” Lucie carefully looked at the girl. Noticing her face, she realized something. “It can’t be. Your Highness? What are you doing here? Why is the sole heir of the Elven Kingdom in this kind of place? Princess Arisa Kobayashi”

At the main room of the lab...

“Erstaunlich (amazing), using magic to go inside my guard’s shadow, then control him to get inside the lab, this guy is something... Hmm, where did I saw this before?” the man pondered while looking at the screen of his computer. “Now I remember. An ability to turn oneself to a different form of matter, this is the magic of a dragon.”

“Doctor Albrecht, we have detected an unauthorized person inside the facility,” a guard reported while panting from running.

“There’s actually two of them. I’ve been watching them all this time. One of them seems to be hacking our servers too…” the man replied as he looked back at his computer. “Heh. It seems a lot have also entered the lab. ”

“You heard the doctor,” the guard instructed his subordinate. “Capture all the intruders. If they fight, kill them” He turned to the man and bowed his head. “I’m sorry of our uselessness, doctor.”

‘It’s okay. It’s more fun this way. Also, I’ve already completed everything that I need to do. In this moment, I don’t care even if the lab gets destroyed,” the man replied. “They will be first one to see my greatest invention.” He gazed at a different screen showing a woman inside a cylindrical tank made of glass, and full of liquid. “Ada, my daughter, the time has come.” The man spoke as he caressed the monitor of the computer. “Still, the guy in a suit is amusing. To think he could turn himself completely invisible. Even the Human Kingdom still hasn’t reached this stage yet. Good thing I installed heat sensors all over the lab or else, I wouldn’t be able to track him.”

In the meantime, Hiiro was busy reading the files he hacked from the lab’s servers...

“What... is this? This… This is sick. I can’t believe someone would do this to their own daughter.”

At the title page of the article, it was written, “Artificial Demon Android: Project A.D.A.”