The Heaven-cleaving Fortress, as the main line of defence against the demon invasion, naturally had their own research and development department. Most of it, however, was owned by the Republic of Francois, and it was jealously guarded by seasoned soldiers who wouldn’t hesitate to fire on anyone who had bad intentions. They showed no respect whatsoever for anyone who came over; their favourite pastime was slamming their hands on the counter and demanding visitors for their documents.

“I’ve been here a few times,” said Marie, “but I still can’t get over how non-descript this building is, for all its importance.”

Aziz nodded, but he wasn’t too bothered about that bit. Rather, he was reliving his memories of trying out the Mark I Humanoid Exo-Skeleton. It was an artefact in the form of armour, meant to enhance one’s strength and speed. However, the memories of him trying it out were rather…painful. The artefact was an incredibly responsive one — a single thought was enough to set it into motion.

The concept behind the Exo-Skeleton was to let the armour handle little, unimportant things like movement, and let the user focus on the big picture. There were other goals too, like the ability to carry absurdly heavy items without needing to have an overwhelmingly strong body, as well as to effectively double or triple the user’s stamina.

“Well, it would be a problem if the other nations caught wind of top-secret projects being stuffed there, wouldn’t it?” Aziz asked.

“Bold of you to assume that the other nations still don’t know about it,” Marie replied. “But the products that come out from that building are top quality. Remember Eventide’s Sigil Printers? Yep, that came from there.”

The image of five floating balls flashed through Aziz’s head, and the colonel bobbed his head up and down. “You just raised my hopes for the Exo-Skeleton, then.”

“You should be,” Marie replied. “They’ve added a defence component too; it now comes with a Barrier.”

“A Barrier?” Aziz asked. “Not a Shell?”

“Yes. It does seem to be that case. I guess you can call it a weaker, stripped-down form of an Engine.” Marie rubbed her nose. “And it’s powered by an internal power source too, so it won’t drain your qi reserves.”

“If we had this in the past…”

“Yeah. If only we had this in the past.” The marshal sighed.

Their conversation came to a halt as they arrived at the building gates, where a checkpoint for entry had been set up. A captain stood at the checkpoint, weapons on full display. There was a bracer on her left hand, one that had a Display embedded inside; it was an accessory that would free the wearer from the need to hold the artefact.

“Halt,” said the captain. “Produce your proof of entry and all relevant documents.”

Without saying anything, Marie took out a bunch of papers, while Aziz handed his identity card over. The documents required for entry were all with the marshal, so he only needed to provide a proof of his identity. The captain glanced at the papers, and then matched the details on it with the words on her Display.

After three minutes of intense silence, she nodded at Marie and Aziz. “Ma’am, sir, you’re cleared for entry. You will be escorted to room oh-three oh-four; do note stepping away from the escort is grounds for immediate incapacitation and imprisonment. Any attempts to resist will be met with lethal force. Am I clear?”

The two nodded.

“Finally, any attempts to record, via audio or visual means, will be met with lethal force too. Do not attempt to do anything beyond what is written here, no matter what happens.”

“Got it,” said Marie. “Thank you.”

The captain looked at them in the eyes for a few seconds, and then waved them past the checkpoint. Another officer — a lieutenant who looked barely a day older than twenty — saluted, and then silently gestured for them to follow. Aziz glanced at the young man, but whatever training school that had taken the youthful fellow in had done a good job in hiding any clues about his true vocation.

The open space around the building was full of guns pointing up towards the sky. They were artefacts meant to shoot down anyone who tried to break into the compound from the air automatically; whatever few birds that were still residing in the Heaven-cleaving Fortress had learned to keep a wide berth from this place.

A shiver ran down the colonel’s spine as they entered the building. Cold air was gushing through pipes, each of them carrying a rather odd smell. The interior was clean to a point, and people wearing white coats would walk briskly in silence, towards whereabouts unknown.

“Follow,” said the young man.

After a few turns and twists, Aziz found himself inside a rather large room. Piercing white light shone down on him and Marie, casting painfully clear shadows on the ground below them. As the two looked around, the young lieutenant headed over to one of the researchers, before doubling back with the researcher on his tail.

“Marshal Marie, Colonel Aziz…nice to meet you two again,” said the researcher.

“You’ve aged quite a bit in the time we haven’t met,” said Marie. The colonel followed her gaze, which fell on the old man’s white hair. It was particularly blinding under the intense white lights, and Aziz found himself turning his eyes away moments later.

“Can’t be helped, since our bosses are so demanding.” He turned to Aziz. “Colonel. Good to see you too. It’s been some time.”

Aziz himself couldn’t quite remember the fellow, since that little test had been a very minor incident in his career. Therefore, he settled by smiling at the old man, while trying to think about his origins.

The researcher guffawed at his expression. “It’s alright if you’ve forgotten about me, laddie. We only met for what, three days? Feel free to ask away anything you might have forgotten.”

Aziz forced out a cough. “Um. What’s your name again?”

“You’re starting there?” Marie shook her head. “You have got to be kidding me, man.”

The old researcher chuckled. “I’m Doushi Chishiki, although Shiki would do.”

“Ahh!” Aziz bounced on his heels. “You came from the East, right? I’m beginning to remember now!”

“Good. Baby steps.” The researcher smiled. “Anyway, let’s get this show going, shall we?”