Gary held firm his gun as he slowly walks on the door. There it goes again, a shadow overlap – passing through. He quickly kicks the door and aimed at the presumed position. It was only a rat. A rather large one, just as the size of a cat.

Gary shrieked and shot it. He stared at the other rats creeping around the corner with beads of sweat streaming down to his chin. As Gary tried to open the door—it crumbled down on itself. He looked at the hinges and notice that it is rusty. He sighed in relief. If he ever not removed his hand to the door, he might have injured—or worse, he might get infected by being wounded.

As of now, Gary is taking the route in the engine room on another lower level in the right section of the research and development area. What led him here is a strange noise coming from below. A loud clanging of metals had caught his attention.

So far, he hasn’t encountered any kind of monster. Not that he’s complaining, but it’s better to have the rats as a company rather than being chased by a horde of freaks.

On his way back then, an old model of camera has caught his attention, then he remembers what Lance had told him before about gathering evidence. Thankfully, the camera is still working and the storage is oddly empty. Who could’ve bought this without using it? He thought. It’s better to have one than none.

Entering the dark engine room, he tried to turn on the switch. Only a few of them stopped working. Of all places, the only section of the facility that is normally working in the research and development section. All the energy of the previous location he whence is none operational to barely operative.

Over the walls to the window of the operation panel and the machines, blood-smeared like an abstract painting on a canvas all over the place. The foul stench coming from ripped-off organs hurts his nose and no matter how he covers it—the strong odor managed to find its way to his snout. He holds his breath while walking.

The door has been unlocked and he enters it. The panel seems functioning properly. He read the notes and found out that its function is to maintain the level of supply energy to the other sectors. Gary decided not to mess up with it. Even he wants to, this knowledge is out of his league. Instead, he took a picture of it and to the machines, including the gory parts.

Decided to follow the trail, Gary had prepared his ax as he came out to the engine room and another unknown sector. Nothing would be more insane than to come out unprepared. A flickering light across the hallway, the beat of falling objects coming from the unknown, and the loud wheezing are enough to alarm him to a near state of paranoia. But that’s not enough to hamper him.

There’s no mistake of it, Gary heard a footstep coming from the left side on the four crossways. He quickly ducks and hide in the fallen craters near the room. His watchful gaze is waiting for the incoming person.

His hearing didn’t fail him. There is someone. One step closer to his sight, he can already hear the insensible low tone of yattering of an old man speaking alone. His hands keep plastering to his bald head as if he has hair to curve. He paused a moment and look down at his charts. He picks out a pen on his white lab coat and began to write something.

He yawns and arranges his disarrayed glass lining it on his sight. His freckles were saggy as his eyebags. When he’s finally done, he moves forward out of Gary’s sight. Gary opens the door and run in a hushed movement and came out to the other one.

His eyes trailed back to the man and followed him with a discreet gait. Gary made a sprint to the turning point, onto the right where the old man went. He turns on his camera and captured the old man’s back.

Gary continued to follow him, but he noticed that there was something amiss to the place. No monster dares to get close to him. He wonders why. The old man stood in front of the door. His face is grey, then shifted into a frantic one looking back at his charts and to his tablet. He seems to be in a hurry but reluctant to languish.

In all the years that Gary spends time in headquarters, doing paper works, being a lapdog, there’s a familiarity that distinguished his looked from his thoughts. His gaze can easily read like a book. He’s in distress, the old man must’ve done something that could make his superior mad.

His watchful eyes are set ahead to the old man as he finally took it all and gulped. Gary followed him as he rose from crouching with a fixed distance between them. The old guy goes inside which seems to be a small sector laboratory. He passes through the wooden craters and to the stairs leading to the panel room. Gary hastened his movements still in crouching position to the walkway and up to the ladder, staring down at the scientist.

Not too long, he heard the door slide open. The scientist gasps. Gary could see only the feet of the person that the scientist had to meet. He couldn’t hear what they were talking about so moves closer to the right and moved forward, unloading the ladder down carefully near the door.

He moves and crouches quietly and listens behind the transparent glass. Just as he settled in, the old scientist shouted at the man wearing a red trench coat. His long plain goldenrod hair covered his bored expression and the smirk twisted on his face.

At a certain point in their conversation, the old scientist burst out in anger.

“What d-d-do you mean delay?!” He shouted as he slams the chart on the table, “Do you have any idea how delicate the experiment is?”

“Calm down, doc.” He calmly said. “The circumstances are out of our hands. With the previous explosion – the public has been eyeing us. On top of that, there are still unknown variables that needed to be unveiled. We can’t afford to continue without expanding our security first. Lest you want the Canary found out what we’re doing here?”

The old scientist sounds to be defeated. He clenched to fist.

“If that’s your decision. So be it. But you need to get the girl from that lowlife Hoarder. She’s the only sole survivor of our successful experiments.”

“We’re currently working that.”

“How hard can it be? Just pay the bastard.”

“It’s not that simple.” He clicked his tongue. “We threatened him, remember? I don’t have evidence, but I knew he will drive a hard bargain just to take advantage of us.”

“Perhaps you’re right. We have been facing a lot of mishaps ever since Don Trifalgo’s men failed to protect the product we purchase from the black market in Rauthin.”

“I understand your concern, doc. There’s no need to fear Theo. He’s not dumbed to think the inconvenience of this is your fault. Certainly, he wouldn’t lash his anger at you. That is the reason we lend our automatic robots to the city’s police so that we have an eye to the citizens, that includes adventurers, hunters/mercenaries.”

The old scientist walks to the drawer and tried to reach the folder on top of it. He raised his body tiptoeing as his hands finally make it through. And when drawn back to normal, his backaches. Bones crackles as he groaned. The old man's legs are wriggling to balance.

“My back is killing me again. D’ya mind if you help this poor old man, Cain?”

Cain grunted. He drags a roller chair to the old scientist position. The old man sat down his face is in relief as his tottered body had eased.

“Glen, how’s my father?” Cain asked. “Is he in his quarter?”

Glen’s eyes tightened.

“I’m afraid, he’s out.”

“I see.” He was crestfallen hearing the condition of his father. Although, Cain already expected it.

Cain gazed around the room, finding something. His disquietude only prevails stronger knowing that he heard the explosion earlier. Finally, he stood in a panel looking at the monitor where there is closed-circuit television attached to some part of the ruin.

Since there are monsters are lurking in other sectors, they decided to place the CCTV in certain sectors where the monsters couldn’t reach. The way is either blocked by barriers or guarded by automatic weapons.

His eyes squinted as the light suddenly brightened and focuses on the surroundings. He noticed that there’s a CCTV that is not working. That part was set in the hallway at the entrance of the Research and development area. It only captured the shockwave in front of the door.

“Do you have any idea how the gas tanks explode?”

“I have no idea. But this is not something you should be surprised about. It happened sometimes.” Glen looked and clutches the folder to his armpit pulling the chair close to Cain. “Although, I can’t say that we should allow this routine further.”

“What do you mean?”

Glen did not move, did not stir, his expression remain unfettered from the impending predicament. He leaned forward to the table and open the folder. He began to read the charts, vitals, and results from the various test he conducted.

“Your father might be fallen on under numerous psychological disorders if the stigma of Blight can’t be controlled.”

“What?” He stares down at Glen. “You said he has a few more years.”

He sighed. “The beast inside of him is the reason he’s like this. It keeps struggling to gain control. No matter how much amount of Ativan, diazepam, and temazepam, it couldn’t hold him down.”

Cain slams his hands to the panel.

“Damn it.”

“We should consider taking him down.”

Cain glowered down to Glen. Glen was drawn back and kept at bay by his murderous stare.

“What I meant is to restrict his movements,” Glen explained. “He may have the collar dampener beneath that armor, but he still possessed a destructive physical power that can level this entire facility. You of all people know what extent your father is capable of.”

Cain stood silent for a moment. His eyes are seemingly distant like staring afar to a distant sea, his thoughts are filled with worries, not for him but the future of his father. A single click of fingers had brought him back to reality. Glen hesitated for a second before muttering the right words.

“I know it’s hard. Believe me. As a scientist and as a researcher, I had to neglect my emotions to have a fruitful result for the betterment of the many.” Glen said. “Your father is no different than that. He served his country well and yet—”

“And yet they turned a blind eye on his condition.” He cut off. His eyes reflected disgust. “After what he did, the sacrifice he made during the war, they mocked him behind our backs. How ungrateful they could be, they even attempt to steal his title as a lord, claiming they have the right to take over since he is incapable to think, a wrathful beast that must exterminate.” His words were not only filled with sadness but his heart was also filled with loathsomeness to certain people.

“You truly detest them, eh. ‘Can’t blame you.” Glen concurs. “They will do everything to broaden their power. Very few in the Arbiter council I knew that remain pure to our goal.”

Hearing those sympathetic words allay Cain’s expression. He sounds at ease now.

“If it weren’t for Nephirius and his son Theo, our position in the empire wouldn’t last long.”

“Speaking of which, who is ruling your land now?”

“My mother.”

“Ah, I see.”

In all these years he had spent working with Cain, Glen learned two or more things about him. He’s a man like his father, calm but outrageous in battle. He has the gravitas as a comandante but at the same time, his procrastinating attitude bested the good parts of him. He may have worked hard a day but the rest is equal to twice as that. He was kept here to help plan the route for supplies, weapons smuggling, money laundering, and other unspeakable activities that they had done. Almost all the tasks that were given to him, he accomplished.

Cain fell in silence and think deeply before accepting the cold-hearted decision. What choice does he have?

“I’ll handle this situation.” He said with certainty in his voice. “I can’t let this be a hindrance to Theo’s plan and certainly my father won’t forgive himself if should he ever become a liability. We’ve come here for healing and to stay away from mishaps back on our homeland, but it seems that we’ll eventually become a burden to Theo.”

“Don’t be so hard on yourself, Cain. Nephirius supported to improve your father’s recovery. He's the one who ordered Theo to help you and he willingly complied.” Glen said. “If it weren’t for that Thebas, your father shouldn’t be in pain right now.”

“I wish I will meet that bastard and have my revenge, but he’s dead. All of my murderous had fallen into naught.”

“Don’t be a fool. If he were alive you won’t stand a chance against him.”

“Is he really that strong?”

Glen nods, “He fought Nephirius all by himself and came out alive.” He rubs his chin and closes his eyes as if he’s remembering, “I can still remember back then, the unforgiving flames scourging throughout the land when I was less old than now. They fought with incredible battle prowess that shook the land, but in the end, none of them could best each other. The fight ends when the bomb that Nephirius men created which led to the destruction of Taronda.”

“I never heard of that.”

“Because you haven’t been born at that time yet and neither Theo.” Glen professed, “Theo’s father, Nephirius was ordered to take over Taronda, but he fails many times on slaying the five great generals of King Ignis. When at last he gained hold fort on the bay, that’s where it begins. With the power of the Blight, enemies succumbed to hysteria, a large scale of hysteria that resulted in killing one another. But, Thebas, who’s immune to it – fought the entire armada and prevent them from marching forward.”

“A one-man army, huh,” Cain said. “And what happened to this Blight you spoke of? I heard that it exists only in bedtime stories.”

“No. It really does exist. Nephirius found it and culminated into a weapon of destruction but it didn’t last. Blight was sealed none other by the Thebas master, Ace Kosturi.”

“But clearly that’s not all of it, right?”

“Of course. I speculated that the Hemil Klust is the remnant of the lost fragment of what the legends so-called Brigante Ark. A powerful weapon that once subdued humankind. Theo and his father intend to know its capabilities whether it has the same prowess as the last one he found or not.” Glen looked down and stare at his reflection on the window. “But I do not think that’s what they’re looking for or could hope to control.”

“What do you mean?” Cain asked. “Is Hemil Klust truly cannot be controlled?”

“Yes and no.” Glen sigh. “Long before the end of the War of Blights, the first one who when the plague spread across the land. There’s this powerful clan of predators that didn’t fall into madness and had the plague sealed by the power of Brigante Ark. But no matter how we try to make sense or research about it, we could find no correlation as to how do the Brigante Ark stopped it or where did it go.”

“Clan that is not immune and called Predators. Aren’t you talking about the House a Retoliam?”

“Their bloodline is false. Even if their claim is true, the dominant genes have long diluted to none. They are not the formidable clan that was once known.”

“Because it happened five thousand years ago.”

“That’s right. The annal of those events have gone and there is no telling what have they’ve done after that, only speculations.” He brushed his chin, “If we ever could possess Thebas remains, I could get look at his DNA structure and have an idea how could he be able to resist the power of the Blight, maybe… just maybe I could culminate his genetic information and apply it to human subjects.”

“What makes you think his remains have values?”

“Aren’t you paying attention?” He gazed at him with disappointment for a moment before returning to normal. “As I said, he’s immune to the Blight.”

“Hm. I can see where are you coming from.”

“Have you heard about the Discarded Genes Possession Theory?”

“I’m afraid not.”

“This was explained none other than Roydo seventy years ago. It’s a fascinating theory. It’s an evolutionary theory that emphasized the possessing of the same genetic information from the individual ancestor to the far ahead lineage of bloodline through the affirmation and the process of clustering of scrap genetic information. From first-generation dominant genes passes to next could become recessive of the previous dominant possession and the process will repeat again, the genetic information will be discarded as scrap information and will continue to be hidden until a certain bloodline who will possess the hidden scrap information will breed possessing it and became the dominate genes. I believe that Thebas inherit those genes and became dominant and that is why he is immune to the Blight. I wouldn’t be surprised if he has an ancestor with similar stature.”

“I know that passing genes abides filtering the genetic information so that there could be no error in genetic makeup happen to the future offspring. How could that he possessed it?”

“A stroke of luck. That is one of the billions of chances to acquire those genetic traits.” Glen amusingly said. “His parents – no, his bloodline coming from both of his parents must be connected to the family of the first line of the Predators.”

“A genetic information reincarnation, so to speak.”

“Right.” Glen agreed.