The next day

Kiochi’s body felt like it weighed a ton and his muscles all ached, from his head to his toes.

His memories of what had happened the previous night were still fresh in his mind and he clearly remembered the declaration he made in front of Camila.

He was going to face the council he once served in search of the truth.

It was a new day and the morning rays pierced Kiochi’s eyelids and forced him to open his eye’s.

He was in what looked like a hospital.

Numerous machines and monitors were hooked up to every part of his body.

Aside from the intense pain in his body, Kiochi’s mind was clear.

His doubts had all been cleared the night before and he was prepared to face the council.

‘Eve, what happened last night? My skin- my whole body felt different.’ Kiochi asked the existence that lived inside his mind.

Eve remained silent.

Kiochi wondered if maybe she was preparing for another nightmarish body purge.

He didn’t wish that fate on his worst enemies.

‘Of all the time to keep quite, you chose now, when I have the most questions’ Kiochi sighed.

He sat alone quietly in his hospital bed.

He enjoyed the silence that solitude accompanied.

But it didn’t last long because just as Kiochi’s mind was beginning to relax, the room door flung open and Yamamoto stormed in.

He was accompanied by Ichika, Dalila, Dr. Tahiri, Yassine, David Freeman and Rin.

“Boy, you have a lot of explaining to do!” Yamamoto said loudly as he sat on a couch to Kiochi’s left.

“Uhh.” Kiochi tried speaking but his voice came out as a weak wheeze.

“Do you know what we found inside you?” Yamamoto asks excitedly.

“We found traces of a super carbon compound in your skin. That explains the phenomenon we saw yesterday when your skin darkened and you deflected those bullets.” Freeman said as he flipped through his notepad.

“Hey, I wanted to tell him!” Yamamoto whined.

Kiochi wondered If Yamamoto was just a little boy wearing the face of an old man.

“Ahem, What Mr. Freeman said is true. It seems like you can body can cover itself in a thick layer of the carbon compound as a defensive measure. What is this super Carbon compound we keep mentioning? It is an Ultra-high-molecular-weight-polyethylene. I know you probably don’t want to hear all the science bits but you must know that it is fifteen times stronger than Kevlar.” Yamamoto paused to let what he just said sink in.

“We don’t know how just yet, but your body is storing the carbon compound under your skin as loose microbial plates and then as soon as your body senses danger, the plates are all transferred to the surface of your skin and somehow, they all combine to create a tough shell that’s quite hard to crack.” Yamamoto added.

Kiochi gave him a pained nod.

Rin walked over to the bed and pulled out a laptop.

“Kiochi, the amount of damage you took yesterday was far beyond what even a Kynigoi can handle and yet after the doctors concluded they’re scans, they found almost no internal damage. The only thing worth noting is that your blood sugar was extremely low.” Rin opened the laptop and placed it in front of Kiochi.

“This is footage from yesterday.” He said as everyone gathered around.

Kiochi watched as the Boom Brothers broke into Saito headquarters and make their way to the eighth floor.

He relived the moment when Trevor launched several grenades directly at his body.

Rin was right, even an elite Kynigoi shouldn’t have been able to walk away from all that.

The footage changed and displayed the roof.

Kiochi relived his fist fight with Aaron and watched as he entered the helicopter.

“According to Dr. Tahiri, you underwent a drastic change as soon as you touched the Ovum Vitae.” Rin said.

Kiochi saw something exit the helicopter.

His eyes quivered with fear as he saw a tall, dark skinned, faceless being, towering over the Boom Brother’s.

It was clad in torn up combat gear and had no hair.

It had two black horns protruding from it’s forehead that looked like those of a kudu.

He watched as that faceless being spoke to Camila and saw it slowly behead Aaron.

The footage then showed Camila jumping off the roof with Trevor in her hands.

Then the horned being suddenly collapsed.

It shrunk and it’s skin lightened, revealing an unconscious Kiochi.

Everyone in the room silently stared at Kiochi, but he was just as surprised as they were.

“What on Earth is going on here?” Yassine gasped.

Freeman flipped through several more pages on his notepad and read something in silence.

“Oh and it appears that all the augment and implants that the council gave you are gone. How is that even possible? I thought that all Kynigoi undergo multiple surgeries from when they are little, but for all of that to disappear… and to make things even more confusing is that you are extremely healthy.” Freeman said as he rubbed his temples.

Dr. Tahiri stepped forward and pushed her rather small chest outwards.

“What we witnessed yesterday was truly amazing. I wish to investigate further on captain Kiochi’s Link with the Ovum Vitae. What we discover may alter the way mankind sees himself and the universe completely!” She announced.

Yamamoto waved his hand in dismissal.

“Now, now. One step at a time. First we need to see if Kiochi can even stand. For all we know, he may be paralyzed. So let’s take a step back and observe what happens before coming to any conclusions.” He said as he stood up to leave.

“He need's his rest. Come on.”

Everyone followed Yamamoto as they left, leaving Kiochi alone once again.

The image of how his body looked on the Saito headquarters roof haunted him.

He looked like the things that killed his men, although he looked considerably different.

Was this Eve's doing? He thought.

Or had the council modified him to this extent?

He didn’t know.

Kiochi closed his eye’s and thought about how the last few days had been.

Part of him hoped that after confronting the council and demanding answers, they’d tell him everything he wanted but he knew that it wasn’t going to be that easy.

The council was hiding something and they really didn’t want anyone to know.

Maybe Camila knew. Kiochi thought.

She was rank A-1 after all.

Kiochi’s eyelids fell and he found himself sleeping again.

.

..

Four years earlier

Mt. Takao, Japan

There was a loud ringing coming from somewhere.

Like a hammer striking the anvil that was his skull, Kiochi opened his eyes and the morning greeted him with a migraine.

He sat himself up and surveyed his surroundings.

He recalled what had happened and touched the back of his head.

There was blood but other than a few Knicks and bruises that was all.

He stood up and shook the dust off his body.

After checking if all his gear was present, he heard familiar voices nearby.

He did some light stretches and walked towards them, unsheathing his combat knife in the process.

He walked out into a clearing where he saw Ito gathering what must have been firewood.

Next to him on the ground was Watanabe, Izanagi and Ena.

Watanabe looked like she was injured, because she sat with her back against a large rock.

Kiochi approached them and they noticed him quickly.

“Oh, thank goodness you’re ok. I’m sorry I didn’t have enough strength to search for you.” Mrs. Watanabe apologized.

“It’s ok ma’am. What happened to everyone else.” Kiochi asked.

Watanabe explained about how she told the student’s to turn back and go to the training site where an emergency unit would be sent after three days.

This was because the council had created a system where if during any exercise’s the students were unable to return in three days, they’d send out a rescue team.

Why didn’t the teacher’s call the base camp?

Well, all their phones and radios had been mysteriously damaged during the fall.

“My star pupil has arrived! Come on, help me set things up.” Ito beckoned.

Kiochi walked over towards him and helped him set up a small fire.

The equipment and gear they had ensured that they would be able to survive on their own for about two days.

But everyone there was also an elite soldier or soldier in training, so hunting and foraging would not be a problem.

The group’s camp was in a small clearing in the middle of a forest near Mt. Takeo which was a rather popular tourist attraction, however their exact location was regarded as off limits by the government and so they wouldn’t run into any tourists there.

The day went by rather smoothly and everyone had their roles to fulfil.

Ito was supposed to hunt for any live game in the nearby location. Not because he needed to, but field rations were rather bland and tasteless, so they all agreed that a freshly roasted animal would be much better.

Izanagi was on lookout duty and Ena was tasked on foraging and camp maintenance.

Watanabe couldn’t move, apparently she had broken her legs in several places during the fall.

What was Kiochi’s role?

Well, he was the security guard.

Since he had sustained the least damage and Ito was not the most reliable person, the role fell on Kiochi.

The night came quickly and the temperature dropped severely, even though it was in the middle of summer.

Kiochi sat quietly by the fire and tossed a few twigs to keep it burning.

Izanagi kept Ena company and her giggles could be heard as Izanagi made poor attempts to imitate Ito.

The two had always been close.

Their brother-sister relationship was rather heart warming, considering the fact that they were both being trained to become killing machines.

Kiochi decided to take a quick nap.

He found a comfortable position on a nearby rock, but just as his eye’s closed he heard the only two adults around arguing.

It sounded like Watanabe was drilling the fact that Ito was in trouble into his head, but his stubbornness persisted, even after all that had happened.

Kiochi got up, unable to sleep and walked towards the two.

He saw Ito standing over the sitting Watanabe and he was yelling at her.

Why wasn’t she in extreme pain from having suffered such severe injuries?

Kiochi had once heard that elite Kynigoi have implants that reduce the amount of pain one can feel.

“How many times do I have to tell you that what happened was out of my control. You can’t report it as incompetence or anything like that! How could I have known that the pathway was going to fall apart?” Ito yelled.

Watanabe sighed.

“Nothing you say will change my report.” She sighed.

But then Ito’s anger flared up and he couched over her.

“If that’s the way you want to be, then why don’t you also include the part where you watched it all happen.” He growled.

“What I say is up to me and what I saw were the irresponsible actions of a certain soldier.” Watanabe said calmly.

Kiochi saw Ito flinch, but before anything happened Kiochi walked over to them.

Ito noticed the boy, relaxed himself and stood up, walking away from Watanabe and into the forest.

“I’d advice that you keep your noise levels to a minimum. We don’t want to attract any nearby predators.” Kiochi lied.

“Tsk!” Ito stormed away into the woods.

Kiochi honestly didn’t care about any of what had happened.

All he needed to do was follow orders and ensure that there was no friendly fire.

That directive reduced the load on his brain.

He had conditioned himself into the perfect soldier.

Casting away any doubt when it came to decision making.

This was simply because of his train of thought.

If someone told him to do something, even if it meant killing, wouldn’t that make it easier?

“Come here Kiochi.” Watanabe patted on the ground beside her.

She was covered in a thick dark green blanket that covered her legs.

Kiochi sat next to her.

Watanabe looked like your average Japanese woman.

Her silky long black hair and pale skin made her look almost like the perfect woman.

However, the one thing that flawed her outward perfection was her inner sadistic nature.

She was an elite Kynigoi who thrived in covert operations and so she had many faces.

Kiochi kept his guard up because he knew her true nature.

“You’re pretty interesting for a little boy.” She said as she ran her hand through Kiochi’s hair.

“You’re smart and strong and that’s a very rare combination. Come on, loosen up. I know your guard is up. I won’t bite.” She gently said.

But it wasn’t her words that put Kiochi’s mind at ease.

It was her facial expression.

Kiochi combed through his mind searching for where he might have seen a person making the same expression, but found nothing.

She looked sad. Almost wistful.

Like she was longing for something most precious yet completely unattainable.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to be a mother.” She said softly. Her voice mere decibels above a whisper.

“But the price of becoming an elite Kynigoi is loosing the ability to create life. We can only take and take.” Her usually deadly stare was now gentle and warm.

Kiochi was confused.

Why is she telling me any of this? Kiochi wondered.

“I- I don’t understand. Why are you-" Kiochi couldn’t understand any of what was happening.

She continued messing up his hair with her rather cold tiny hands.

“You’re a strong one indeed. You’ve sealed off everything that makes you human. Everything that makes you weak in battle. Come here.” She pointed at her lap.

Kiochi’s eyes shot open.

Human?

Kiochi was still very human.

Wasn’t he?

What the hell is this woman talking about it? Kiochi thought as he placed his head on her lap.

“I watched you closely during training. It didn’t take me long to realize that you’d grow up to be the perfect soldier. But then I wondered if that’s truly what you wanted to become. You didn’t have a say in any of this and yet here you are. Even now I know that your rank in the future will definitely be B or even A. But why? Why must such an innocent boy be forced to fight, to kill?” Kiochi felt something wet land on his face.

It wasn’t raining.

He glanced up and saw that Watanabe was crying.

Why is she crying? Kiochi wondered.

He tried to ask but then he noticed that he too was sobbing.

His breath was hot and his face was on fire.

His tears were in sync with those of Mako Watanabe.

“When I first saw you, I thought about how if I ever had a son I’d want him to be just like you. But then I was terrified of the fact that you’d end up having to kill one day.” She continued.

Kiochi’s eyes were beat red and his breath had become irregular.

“Kiochi, can you make me a promise?” Watanabe asked.

Kiochi sniffled as he nodded.

“When the council sends you to on your future missions, promise me that you’ll never kill an innocent person. Promise me that if they’re not trying to kill you, you won’t kill them. Ok?” Her voice reached Kiochi’s core and his eye’s trembled.

The council had spend the last ten or more years making Kiochi into the perfect killing machine.

But Watanabe was asking him not to kill? Kiochi wondered.

His fists were clenched so hard that his nails dug into his flesh.

“Ok.” He managed to choke out.

“One more thing, can you call me mom. Just this once?” She asked.

Kiochi’s heart beat speed up to levels far higher than before.

“Ok…” he paused and looked into her eyes.

He saw the gentlest shade of brown he had ever seen in his life.

“… Mom.” His voice came out as a whisper but that was enough for Watanabe.

She rested her head against the rock behind and let out a deep sigh.

Kiochi continued crying.

He didn’t know why, or how, but for the first time in his life, he felt true comfort in the arms of someone.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and held her so tightly as though she would be snatched from his very arms at that very instant.

Watanabe caressed Kiochi’s head and moved her slender fingers though Kiochi’s hair until his breathing stabilised and he fell asleep.

.

..

Present day

Roppongi, Tokyo

Kiochi was awakened by the sounds of someone sobbing.

He opened his eyes and saw that it was night time.

He was still on a hospital bed and had several needles and various other devices attached to him.

He heard more sobbing.

‘Eve, is that you?’ he asked internally.

[Yes, you big dummy!]

She replied loudly.

‘Where were you earlier?’ Kiochi asked as he took off the many patches and needles that were in his skin.

[I was doing a deep diagnosis, but then suddenly I was interrupted by that dream you just had.]

She said.

Kiochi got up and did some light stretches.

His body felt light, yet sturdy.

He looked closely at his hands and his skin was still the familiar shade he remembered.

‘Care to explain what happened on the roof that night?’ Kiochi asked Eve as he sat on the couch near the bed.

‘Did the council turn me into one of those things?’ He asked.

[No. I believe that you’ve always had these abilities. However, you couldn’t manifest them yourself and so I helped.]

She explained calmly.

Kiochi froze.

Didn’t that mean that he was an Aethon?

But that was impossible.

Weren’t Aethon’s beings who lived on a higher plane of existence?

For as long as Kiochi could remember, he was always human.

Kiochi pondered deeply.

[It’s ok. I’m running the calculations and mapping your genes. Maybe we’ll find the answers there.]

Eve reassured him.

Kiochi had noticed that Eve’s voice had a calming effect on him.

‘Eve…?’ He called.

[Yes?]

She responded, but Kiochi remained silent.

His usually calm and logical mind was a mess.

He needed answers.

‘Never mind. Where are we?’ Kiochi stood back up and walked to the door and opened it slightly.

[We are still in Saito headquarters.]

Eve reported.

Oh? Yamamoto had such advanced medical facilities in his own building. Kiochi thought.

It made sense, since Yamamoto was growing older, it would be easier if he had doctors with him.

Kiochi walked down an empty corridor lined with other hospital like rooms until he found an elevator.

He went to the top floor and entered his room.

There he saw a set of casual clothes, a bulletproof vest, his Nodachi and a note.

“Mr. Suzuki, I hope you’re well rested. Everyone is probably on the eighth floor, so get dressed, eat up and meet us in the lab.” Kiochi read aloud.

Kiochi dropped the note got dressed and made his way down to the eighth floor.

There he saw several construction personnel repairing the door that the Boom Brother’s blew up.

Kiochi carefully walked past them, making sure not to disturb any of them as they worked.

“Kiochi, you’re finally up! Wait until you hear this, ha!” Yamamoto yelled from across the room.

“Indeed, this is far more incredible than I ever imagined it could be.” Dr. Tahiri said while jotting something down on her notepad.

Kiochi sat down on one of the dirty couches nearby.

“Well, what is it?” Kiochi asked.

“The Ovum Vitae is some sort of energy source. There is a new type of energy inside it that could alter the way we power the world.” Dr. Tahiri explained excitedly.

“How did you find this energy source? I thought that after scientists found the first one, they concluded that it was just a very well made ancient decoration.” Kiochi asked.

“Well, actually we didn’t exactly find it. But look at this.” Yamamoto took Rin's laptop and showed Kiochi some footage.

“This is from when I transformed.” Kiochi said.

But Yamamoto pressed a button and the footage changed.

“Ah, but look at this. This was captured by one of the thermal cameras we had up there and look at this. At the moment you entered the helicopter and touched the Ovum Vitae, your body temperature spiked upwards at an alarming rate.” Yamamoto explained.

Kiochi saw a bright yellow blob on the screen and his eye’s widened when he saw the temperature reading.

“That’s- that’s impossible!” Kiochi exclaimed.

Yamamoto nodded his head proudly as though he was the mastermind behind everything.

“Exactly, your body temperature at that point was ninety five degrees Celsius. This is far too hot for the human body to handle, but at this point I’m starting to wonder whether you’re human at all.” Yamamoto remarked.

Kiochi was dumbfounded.

Was that why Eve wanted him to touch the Ovum Vitae?

[Yes. I identified an unknown energy source and I absorbed it into your body. I’m still unsure what the energy actually is.]

Eve explained.

‘I see.’ Kiochi noted internally.

Kiochi was about to enquire ask Yamamoto something when he heard someone yelling.

“What on Earth happened here?” An old man wearing a luxurious black suit said as he walked into the hall.

“Brother, you’re back early! How was your trip?” Yamamoto greeted the man, but the man scoffed at him and looked around the hall.

“I leave for a couple of days then I hear that you’ve already blown the building to pieces!” The man yelled.

“Calm down, Kaijin. It wasn’t entirely my fault. We were attacked.” Yamamoto explained.

“But who would dare do such a thing?” The man known as Kaijin asked.

Kiochi could clearly see a vein bulging and throbbing on his forehead.

“It was the Boom Brother’s, Trevor and Aaron.” Yamamoto explained.

“What? What the hell did you do to get those two involved?” Kaijin sat on one of the dirty couches while rubbing his temples.

“Nothing much. I’ve just decided to go against the council.” Yamamoto declared.

Kaijin was silent.

His brain must have been fried by Yamamoto’s words.

“What- what did you say? You want to go against the council?” Raijin stuttered.

Yamamoto gave him a nod.

“Oh, you’ve really done it now, brother. Ok, fine. I understand that you are determined, but why? What gave you the impression that the council is the enemy?” Kaijin sighed as he asked.

“several things actually, but the two main reasons were this young man here and this.” Yamamoto pointed at Kiochi and the Ovum Vitae.

Kaijin's face hardened when he looked at Kiochi.

“I see.” Kaijin stood up and walked away.

“Do what you want brother. But know this, I will not abandon the council. Even if that means that one day we may be enemies.” Kaijin said clearly enough for everyone in the room to hear.

Kiochi wondered why Kaijin made such a angry expression when he looked at him.

Kiochi didn’t have many enemies since most of them were in the afterlife.

So he couldn’t understand why Kaijin displayed such animosity towards him.

“Oh, right! Kiochi, I have some more big news.” Yamamoto exclaimed.

Kiochi crossed his arms and leaned back in anticipation.

“Firstly, you’re going to get examined even more and there’s someone here who’d like to meet you.” Yamamoto said excitedly.

“Who?” Kiochi raised his left brow suspiciously.

“Father?” Rin gasped.

Everyone turned to face the door, to find a middle aged Japanese man.

He had several grey streaks in his hair and his wrinkled face made him look older than he probably was.

“Yes, son. It is I. Aren’t you happy to see your father after all this time?” The old man said with a wide smile.

The scene that unfolded in front of everyone was rather heart-warming but Kiochi was still a bit confused.

Why did that man want to meet him?

[He is not a Kynigoi. But he’s strong for a normal human.]

Eve cautioned.

‘I see.’ Kiochi noted.

“Greetings everyone, my name is Kazuki Takahashi. Pleased to meet you.” The man introduced himself and walked over the clutter that littered the hall towards Kiochi.

He was a few inches shorter than Kiochi who stood five foot eight inches of the ground, but Kiochi knew better than to underestimate him.

“Once I heard that the great Kiochi Suzuki himself was in Tokyo, I couldn’t help myself and decided I should challenge you to a battle.” Takahashi declared.

Kiochi tilted his head in confusion.

“You want to fight me? Why?” Kiochi asked.

The Mr. Takahashi pulled up the sleeve of his yukata, showing his muscular arms and which he proceeded to flex.

“I’m not getting any younger and its not every day you get to fight a legendary warrior, such as yourself.” Mr. Takahashi said.

Kiochi knew that the old man was just flattering him, but he was serious about his challenge.

“I accept. However, I have few things I must do first. You don’t mind, right?” Kiochi asked.

“I completely understand. I don’t mind waiting, beside this could give my son and I some time to catch up, right boy?” Mr. Takahashi teased Rin as his embarrassment shrunk his body.

“Good. Now that that’s settled, Kiochi please come here.” Yamamoto had an evil grin.

He pointed at a large machine with a bed at its centre.

His grin reached both his ears as Kiochi approached the machine.

“please get in.” Yamamoto asked.

His excitement seeped out if his eyes.

Kiochi sighed. he didn’t know much about Yamamoto, but one thing was very clear.

Yamamoto was a mad scientist.

The kind who enjoyed massive explosions all in the name of “research”.

Kiochi entered the machine and laid down on the bed.

David Freeman walked towards the machine with the Ovum Vitae in his hands.

He placed it inside a slot on the machines side.

“I’m telling you, nothing is going to happen. What happened that night was Kiochi activating his secret Kynigoi augment or something. It’s hard to believe that he actually absorbed the energy directly from the Ovum Vitae, right?” Dr. Tahiri asked.

No one responded.

Yamamoto pressed several buttons on a touch screen console them suddenly the machine Kiochi was in burst into life.

He could almost fell the electricity running through the machine as it let out a low pitch hum.

“Ok. Everyone, here’s a display showing Kiochi’s various vitals and the other screen is showing the Ovum Vitae.” Yamamoto explained.

Kiochi couldn’t see the screens though.

“Kiochi, do me a favour and do what you did that night?” Yamamoto asked politely.

‘Can we do it?’ Kiochi asked Eve.

[Of course. I too would like to know more about that strange energy source.]

‘Ok. Do it.’ Kiochi said.

[Roger.]

..

[Preparing to siphon unknown energy source.]

..

[Current capacity: UNKNOWN]

..

[Absorption speed: UNKNOWN]

..

[STARTING: ABSOBTION SEQUENCE]

..

Jolt!

Kiochi felt a wave of something powerful entering his body.

“My goodness!” Dr. Tahiri exclaimed.

“Mr. Saito, what is happening?” Mr. Takahashi asked.

“It looks like the energy that lies within the Ovum Vitae only responses to Kiochi. Actually it might be fair to say that without Kiochi’s presence, the energy might not exist at all.” Yamamoto explained.

“As you can see, Kiochi’s body temperature is rapidly increasing but the shocking thing is that this doesn’t seem to affect him at all. His heart rate is slightly elevated but that’s just about it. His brain is operating at normal levels as well.” Yamamoto continued.

[Status report: ENERGY CAPACITY CALCULATED!]

Eve reported, but Kiochi was too concentrated on the ecstatic feeling the newfound energy gave him.

[Quantifying data…]

..

[Process complete. Energy capacity is now at 100% or 150 points of energy.]

..

[WARNING!]

..

[WARNING!]

..

[Capacity has been reached!]

Eve warned.

“Stop! That’s all I can take!” Kiochi yelled.

Yamamoto pressed a single button and the machine’s low him faded slowly.

Kiochi emerged and everyone stared at him, shocked beyond words at what they witnessed.

“So… the Ova's energy is inside him? What do you call it? This… mysterious energy?” Dr. Tahiri asked.

Yamamoto puffed his chest outwards, but before he could say anything, Freeman spoke.

“Ethereal energy.” He said.

“Aww, I wanted to tell them that! Besides, weren’t you against the name in the first place?” Yamamoto whined.

Freeman ignored the old man’s griping and wrote something on his notepad.

“Ahem! Like Mr. Freeman said, we’re calling it Ethereal energy. This is because of it’s source. Think about it. The Aethon’s left the Ova behind as a gift to mankind. We must use this energy to its fullest to show our gratitude to the Aethon’s, no? Maybe if we use this to change the world for the better, they’ll change their minds about killing all of us.” Yamamoto said.

“That’s too optimistic. For all we know, they just forgot the Ova on Earth when they left.” Dr. Freeman pointed out as he walked away.

“Good point. For now, let’s just focus on harnessing the Ova's energy.” Dr. Tahiri added.

Everyone was in agreement.

“Excuse me, but yesterday Mr. Kiochi transformed. Was that the effect of the ethereal energy he absorbed.” Yassine asked from behind everyone.

“I’m not sure. Remember when his skin changed when he was being shot by Trevor’s men.” Dalila pointed out.

They all turned to face Kiochi but he was just as clueless as they were.

“Is that part of your special augmentation or something?” Dr. Tahiri asked.

Kiochi stood up from the bed and did some light stretches.

“I’m not sure.” Kiochi confessed.

Freeman returned, but his face was rather pale.

“Have you already forgotten about what I told you? Kiochi does not have any implants or augmented organs or tissues for that matter.” He announced.

“What? That’s impossible! Don’t all Kynigoi get all sorts of body mods?” Dr. Tahiri asked.

“Yep.” Dalila admitted.

“Yes.” Rin confirmed.

“That may be true, but look at these. The machine did a full scan on Kiochi, but look carefully at the images.” Freeman walked towards the console where Yamamoto was and pressed a few buttons, changing what the two monitors displayed.

The one to the left showed a see through image of Kiochi’s body and the one to the left showed an X-ray image of Kiochi’s entire body.

It looked like the body of an average person, except for the well defined muscles and rather lanky bones.

“You see? Perfectly normal. No implants and no augments.” Freeman pointed out.

Everyone’s gaze alternated between Kiochi and the monitors.

“So how is he still so strong? He beat the living hell out of the Boom Brother’s and even killed one of them. No normal human could do that.” Dr. Tahiri gasped.

“Well, actually… he may appear normal but as we discovered, he is very far from being normal.” Freeman explained.

Everyone pondered on what this meant.

“Kiochi, can you harden your skin at will?” Yamamoto asked.

‘Well? Can I?” Kiochi asked Eve.

[Yes. I even gave it a cool name for your convenience. It is called PHALANX MODE. This ability consumes 50 ethereal points per use and lasts for about two minutes if used continuously.]

‘Ok. Cool. Thank you for that. But… how do I activate it?’ Kiochi asked.

[Our thoughts are linked. It’ll instantly activate once you think about it.]

‘Ok.’ Kiochi confirmed.

“Everyone stand back please.” Kiochi cautioned and everyone complied.

[PHALANX MODE!]

Kiochi could actually feel how much that drained his ethereal energy reserve.

His skin rapidly darkened and hardened.

The most shocking thing however was the membrane that formed over his head.

He was now a bald, black and faceless being.

“How do you feel?” Yamamoto asked, his eye’s were opened so wide you’d think that they’d pop out.

“I feel ok, I guess.”

Kiochi moved around.

He felt stiffer. Not heavier.

His movement was a little restricted.

“Can you take off your hoodie?” Dalila asked.

Kiochi tilted his head in confusion, but he complied non the less.

He removed his hoodie and unstrapped his vest revealing his black torso.

Dr. Tahiri was the first to approach him.

She placed her small hands on his chest.

She felt around his torso attentively.

“Can you feel my finger’s? Actually… can you even speak?” She asked.

The membrane around Kiochi’s face dissolved and sunk into his skin, revealing his eyes, nose and mouth.

His face looked normal, except his eyes were now pitch black. The only thing that hinted that those were his eyes was the feint brown colour of his irises.

Although they had a feint purple hue to them.

“Surprisingly, I felt everything you just did. Every touch was enhanced in a strange way." Kiochi explained.

“Oh, I see.” Dr. Tahiri said as she stepped backwards.

The next one to approach Kiochi was Mr. Takahashi.

He eyed Kiochi intently.

“How durable is it? This armour of yours.” He asked as he stepped backwards.

“It can deflect low calibre bullets. That’s one thing.” Kiochi said.

Mr. Takahashi nodded in understanding, then walked away.

He left the hall for a few seconds then returned holding a case.

From the case he pulled out a sword.

It looked like a katana.

It’s scabbard was beautiful.

It was black but had intricate red markings all around it, unlike Kiochi’s scabbard which was just black.

Mr. Takahashi withdrew his sword and walked towards Kiochi.

“May I?” Mr. Takahashi asked.

Kiochi hesitated.

Only an idiot would want to receive a direct hit from a katana.

But he was rather curious about whether his armour was slash proof.

He raised his blackened arm and gave Mr. Takahashi a nod.

Mr. Takahashi lowered his stance and focused his vision on Kiochi’s arm.

In an instant, Mr. Takashi struck Kiochi’s arm at an incredible speed, but his sword bounced off.

Mr. Takahashi's eyes widened and he took a closer look at Kiochi’s arm.

There wasn’t a single scratch on the black hardened lava like surface of his skin.

“Amazing!” Yamamoto exclaimed.

Kiochi’s black armour dissolved and his skin returned to normal.

“What else can you do?” Rin asked.

“Oh yeah, you looked different on the roof. Your skin was light grey and you looked like an alien with horns.” Dalila said.

“Oh yeah, can you do it again?” Rin asked.

‘Can I?” Kiochi asked.

[Not currently. There’s still a lot I don’t know about ethereal energy and I’m still getting your body accustomed to using it. Using that form altered your body by consuming and cycling vast amounts of ethereal energy throughout your body. I took a risk when I did that and for now, I’d like to avoid using it unless it becomes necessary.]

Eve explained.

“Sorry, I think that was a one time thing.” Kiochi said.

Everyone nodded in understanding.

“Do you have any other abilities?” Yamamoto asked.

Should I tell them about Eve? Kiochi thought.

[I see no problem in letting them know of my existence.]

Eve reassured him.

“No. That’s all I can do for now.” Kiochi said.

He didn’t know to what extent his powers would grow and he still didn’t fully understand what Eve was, but he was sure of one thing and that was he could trust her.

Everything she did seemed to what was best for him, regardless of the circumstances so she was the most important gift he had received since all this began.

“Ok. If that is all, I’d like Kiochi to come with me to my dojo. You too, Rin.” Mr. Takahashi asked.

Kiochi put on his bulletproof vest, then his hoodie and followed the middle aged man and his son out of the hall.

The construction crew made quick work of the door and it looked as good as new.

“I’ll go analyse the readings we got from the Ovum Vitae.” Dr. Tahiri said.

“Come on, Yassine.” She beckoned.

Yassine who looked like his brain had burst a fuse snapped back into reality.

He followed Dr. Tahiri as she left.

“I’m going to rest for a bit. All that information was too much for me.” Dalila said with a yawn as she left the hall, leaving Yamamoto, David Freeman and Kobayashi.

“You do realize that the council is going to want this information, right?” Freeman asked Yamamoto, who lazily sat himself on one of the many dirty couches in the hall.

“I know.” He replied casually.

“And you’re not worried they might send Camila to kill us in our sleep?” Freeman asked with a tinge of worry in his voice.

“Nope. The council has failed mankind and personally, I do not care about the risks. All I want is to create the future that his father would have wanted his son to live in. That is all.” Yamamoto said, his voice contained feint traces of sadness.

“I see. Then I will stand with you.” Freeman said

“All a parent ever want’s t do is create a world in which their child can live happily.” Yamamoto whispered.