Part 1

In a forest, thousands of miles away from the one where Ryu was battling, stood a small brown coloured cottage. However, appearances can be deceiving. Three hundred feet below the ground existed a labyrinth of exaggerated proportions. Somewhere within this labyrinth, was a room that resembled a war control room. Three large screens were lined up in the front of the room like the screen in a cinema hall. There were also dozens of screens hanging from the walls; each screen was displaying dazzling blue or green light and flowing black text or images. In addition to all of this, there were several desk monitors manned by twenty personnel. If one had to describe what a room would look like during defcon 1, then this war control room would serve as the best example.

However, this war control room had nothing to do with a nuclear strike or a war. It was the control center from which the thirteen cloaked robots were being controlled.

“Yuri-Sensei, we are ready to engage martial artist code named Emperor.” A young man spoke as he stared at the large screen which was a real time view of one of the thirteen robots.

“….”

Not receiving any response, the young man turned around and faced his commander; an old dishevelled man who was resting on a wheel chair. The old man was bald and his body was thin and weak. His odd posture in his wheel chair hinted that he suffered from paralysis. Furthermore, his weak condition was enunciated by the numerous tubes connected to his arms; forcing a concoction of chemicals.

“Sir?” The young man called out. However, he received no response; the old man named Yuri was lost in his thoughts….

Part 2

Twenty years ago…

A vast forest filled with pine cone trees, covered in snow, a bone chilling wind is blowing continuously over the region making it completely inhabitable for humans. Yet, humans, who have always defied and conquered nature, made no qualms of claiming this region. In this vast and lonely forest, there stood a small brown coloured cottage. It was the only manmade object that could be seen for miles at a stretch. An ordinary looking slanted roof-wooden cottage, a few decades old - maybe. Though, it seemed like an unreliable place to live – as the question would arise whether it would keep anyone warm in this weather? Surprisingly, this cottage did a good job of keeping the heat out. Even though the roof and porch was covered with inch thick white pristine snow, not an inch of coldness could be felt once inside. It was the perfect get away cottage for couples and family vacations…..or at least that is what it is supposed to appear like.

This cottage is not rentable on any website nor is it located on any map. The house is located in the portion of the forest which has been earmarked as a conservatory area, to protect the local wildlife population, and any human presence/activity in the region is forbidden. On paper, the government built this cottage as an observation deck for scientific research purposes but due to various incidents any documentation of the existence of such a place ceased to exist – more specifically all documentation regarding this ‘observation deck’ were destroyed under the direction of senior state officials. Why go such lengths to hide such an ordinary looking cottage?

The cottage / observation desk was just a façade and in actuality the cottage served more of an outpost. Although chances of discovery this place, in the middle of nowhere was close to nil, if it were to be accidently discovered the government could simply declare that this was an observation facility owned by them and that the appropriate documentation had been destroyed accidently. Of course, this rouse would be easily seen through by other governments and conspiracy loving individuals however this rouse was meant to deceive the general public. Furthermore, as mentioned before this cottage is an outpost / checkpoint. Even if the public were to discover this cottage, the research facility would continue to remain undiscovered from public and as such the cottage served as a distraction.

“This is Alpha One, I have picked up some activity in sector 4A.” A burly man spoke through a radio transponder. Although it was risky using a transponder, the channel they spoke on was encrypted. Furthermore, several other precautionary measures were taken such as speaking in coded words etc.

“Negative, Alpha One. Satellite thermal images indicate no activity. Suggest you recheck the motion sensors or maybe it is just the wind~.”

The man sighed, satellite images came with significant delay – the other side was treating this too lightly. If the motion sensors were working perfectly, which they were as they had been checked last month, then for someone to avoid giving off a thermal imprint while making their way so deep into the forest could not possibly be a good thing. Furthermore, who is the rookie on the other side, suggesting it is the wind?

“Negative, operator. The movement is definitely not wind.” The burly man replied back in frustration. If this was an attack, then he needed to be prepared.

The other side went silent for a long time before responding, “This is ‘Central Command’. We are faxing you the guest list. Apologies for not having sent it over sooner.”

What the hell!! The man thought to himself as he relaxed his grip over the shot gun. “Alpha One, over and out.”

Just when the conversation ended, there was a knock on the door, followed by a man’s voice. “Yuri Ivanov here.”

The burly man had a strange look on his face. Sector 4A was at least fifteen miles from here. Not a minute had passed by since the motion sensors went off and the person was already here? Impossible! Were the motion sensors working properly? Could they have really malfunctioned? Many thoughts were coming to Alpha One, however, he decided to drag it out.

Alpha One, tightened his grip over the gun, he asked with uncertainty brimming in his voice. “Yuri who?”

“….”

“This is a restricted area; you are not permitted to be here. Please back away from the door.” Alpha One spoke out as he raised his weapon pointed at the door. Although, Alpha One had to stretch his hearing, he could hear the other side mumbling something ‘strange not to have informed about me sooner’.

“It is really cold outside, can’t we have this conversation once I am inside?” The man, claiming to be Yuri, shouted out.

Alpha One stared at the door stupidly. Was this guy an idiot? Why would he let an absolute stranger in?

“Denied. Unless, I get your details….” Just as Alpha One was speaking, the fax machine began printing out the guest list. Alpha One was just at distance where he could see what was being printed, it read –

Guest: Yuri Ivanov

Permission: Granted

That is all Alpha One needed to see. Relaxing his grip on the shot gun slightly, Alpha One opened the door to find an old man wearing a mink fur coat and a wolf coloured ushanka. The old man had unkempt appearance, with his white hair going all over the place. His wrinkly skin and delicate body frame indicated his age should be well over sixty. Alpha One was fairly impressed such an old man walked all the way here, despite the bone chilling cold wind. However, Yuri did not mind the cold weather. Yuri found the weather nostalgic and reminded him of his homeland.

“Ah, thank you for opening the door. Am I permitted inside?” Yuri Ivanov spoke with a gleeful smile, revealing several gold teeth and gaps.

Alpha One took a deep breath, as though he were sniffing Yuri, and then nodded his head. A human sniffing another human might seem strange, but Yuri appeared completely expecting it. Alpha One nodded his head in satisfaction – the person in front of him had no scent of malice. The person in front of him was indeed Yuri Ivanov.

Part 2

Several hundred feet below the cottage, an underground bunker operated in complete secrecy. The underground facility covered an area of more than twenty football fields stacked one on top of the other.

Hundreds of walk ways, one on top of another, some running parallel and some running in a zigzag manner, connected two sides of the crevice beneath the earth. The gap between the bedrock was the only ‘open’ area in this underground facility. The lower reaches were illuminated by vast stretches of slow flowing magma and the upper echelons were lit by numerous neon tube lights. Despite the suffocating heat, there was plenty of human activity to be seen; numerous people in reflective astronaut like suits on segways were going about their daily schedule. The reflective suit maintained a cool temperature inside the suit. However, not everyone was suited in the reflective material. There were some who had been down here long enough to get used to it.

“Rather tight security you have gotten here, Chika-san?” Yuri spoke with a smile as he walked on a metal ramp, casually observing his surroundings. Yuri was one of the few people who did not require a suit. “Every conceivable modern technology is located in this facility. I counted three retina scanners, a bio-thermal signature scan hidden in the ceiling, finger print readers at all the door ways with an embedded DNA tester, and last but not the least a neuro path digital signature scan running through the entire facility…..but…these are just the devices I recognize. There are so many that I haven’t even seen before. Many of these technologies are decades into the future. So what is the secret your government hiding here?” Yuri’s smile stretched from ear to ear – he knew he was on to something.

The woman accompanying Yuri scowled for a moment before resuming her casual host like smile – this man had been in this facility for less than thirty minutes, yet he already identified so many hidden instruments which were monitoring them. Although, this woman was wearing a reflective suit she was certain Yuri could see her expressions. When she was told by her seniors that there was nothing that escaped the eyes of Yuri, she suspected it to be an exaggerated rumour. However, he clearly betrayed her expectations – he even exceeded those of the rumour. Even though, Yuri is an aged man, his senses did not decline in the least bit.

“Yuri-Sensei, is too kind with his words. I am sure Yuri Sensei has seen better facilities around the world. Furthermore, given monsters we deal with this amazing technology won’t save us any face.” Chika replied in a slightly coy and meandering manner. Her words implied that even if her government was decades ahead into the future, it meant nothing if they couldn’t stop the enemy. She also hinted that there was nothing being hidden here that he wasn’t already aware of but this too was vague in its own way.

Yuri raised his brows slightly as he heard her carefully chosen words. “What more could Chika want to secure this facility?” He asked while pretending he had no idea what Chika was talking about. Yuri didn’t bother with subtleties and his question sounded rude. The tone of voice carried with it a tiny hint of scorn, indicating that everything she had the world’s best – so surely there can’t be anything more that she wants?

Chika laughed bitterly for a moment as she noticed the glint in Yuri’s eyes. Her choice of words was seen through and Yuri knew that her government was up to something. Chika didn’t need to hide anything from Yuri since he had been invited here to inspect the facility….but she didn’t want to give away the big surprise just like that….

Chika’s eyes flashed with mixed emotions; fear and excitement. They were truly dealing with monsters; humans who exceeded the limitations of the human body. Although, Chika feared these monsters, she could not help but get excited at the prospects of being able to research them. Her hands would quiver with excitement every time she made an incision on one of her subjects – what secrets did their body hide? Chika wanted to know them all!

Chika cherished knowledge more than life itself. She wanted to learn everything there was to know about these monsters. Naturally, Chika would make use of this opportunity to learn more about the monsters and the mysterious world where they hid in from Yuri Ivanov – the world’s most renowned bio-robotics engineer. In addition to his many academic achievements, Yuri had spent the last twenty years of his life researching techniques which enabled human beings exceed their limitations. In Chika’s eyes, Yuri was a living god of knowledge and such an opportunity could not be wasted.

After a pause and careful consideration to her thoughts, Chika spoke. “In this day and age aren’t these technologies that we have a little too old fashioned? Nearly every test you mentioned would not detect you if decided to hide your own presence. Even if you stood next to me I would be unable to see you unless you wanted me to….” While, Chika spoke those lines, she shuddered for a moment.

*Cough* Cough* Yuri interrupted Chika’s train of wild thoughts. “Chika….your imagination runs a bit too wildly….” Yuri scoffed at her while staring into Chika’s eyes which sparkled with anticipation (as though she were about to see a great magic act).

Sheeesshh is she seriously expecting me to disappear while talking to her?

“While it is true, I can deceive your eyes, but I can never fool a person viewing me through a camera on the monitor. This is not a wuxia world, where men can fly hundreds of miles through the air and dodge bullets at point blank range…just like our normal world, the mysterious world that we are studying is based on science and logic. Do not blindly believe that these monsters can triumph over the advancements of science!”

Chika could only sheepishly reply with a, “Is that so?” –clearly disappointed. Her knowledge was definitely lacking in the field of the mysterious techniques and arts when compared to Yuri’s. Nonetheless, in her heart she was moved when she heard his admittance….he was capable of disappearing from her view….she greedily memorized that piece of information… just how many people are capable of using becoming invisible to the human eye? Chika was curious to know more about this technique and how it worked.

Yuri ignored Chika’s knowledge greedy otaku like expression and continued speaking, “Let me repeat it for you, science has come a long way from the middle ages. You should not believe rumours that men can fly and are impervious to bullets….I have studied martial art techniques and discovered some which provide a degree of flight to a physically capable body and there are techniques to harden the body….but there are no absolutes in the mysterious world. In the end, a bullet is always faster than a human and if it isn’t, it can always be made to go faster…” Yuri’s lips curled up into a smile as he spoke the last sentence.

Chika happily nodded her head in agreement. Once again she learnt something invaluable. Normally, gaining even this much information about the mysterious world is impossible as there are no established frameworks or reference materials.

Most of the mysterious arts and techniques knowledge had been systematically destroyed in the middle ages by progressive thinking influential groups. Furthermore, with rapid advancements in science and technology, the people of the mysterious world lost their place in society. A bullet fired through a gun was a thousand times faster than an arrow and a carried with it hundreds of times the force. Martial art experts could no longer rely on their techniques to reign supreme. Bombs could incinerate entire armies where martial arts experts could kill a few tens…the disparity of power only grew as science advanced further and further….till the monsters of the mysterious world became redundant.

The society at large believed ‘wuxia’ like warriors were something to be born from imagination – a thing of fantasy. The governments around the world were happy to keep it that way. If people knew wuxia warriors existed it would create unnecessary fear, panic, resentment, discrimination and chaos. This was something stable countries did not require. Hence, a council was established, which represented the martial arts experts, and ensure that their ‘world’, the Murim, stayed in the shadows avoiding unnecessary conflict with the [mundane world].

For many experts, their role in the present society was reduced to ordinary white collared jobs….they fitted well with the ways of the [mundane]. There were some who were less willing to let go of their proud roots and continued the way of the warrior. Those who continued on the path of bloodshed and violence were akin to assassins and spies. Governments employed their services in complex operations which required precision and stealth.

However, not everyone was satisfied with such a balance between the mundane and Murim. There was a tiny fraction which resisted merging with the mundane ways. These problematic people would crop up time to time and be dealt with the Murim Council or the governments. Those who were lucky, were killed and the unfortunate were imprisoned in facilities like the one Yuri and Chika were in. They were considered unfortunate, since the aim of these facilities was to research martial artists and their techniques.

Part 3

The two researchers had been walking and chatting for some time. Yuri finally spoke up as he realized their reached towards the bottom of the facility and Chika extracted all the information he was willing to share. “Chika-san, I think you got what you wanted from me. You won’t be so greedy and impolite not to share anything with this old man, now would you?”

Chika smiled – a smile of gratitude and one that indicated she had a big surprise in store for Yuri. She quietly pulled out of one of the files she was holding on to and handed it to Yuri.

Yuri hastily grabbed the file, lest the inquisitive woman change her mind. He opened the report and began flipping through it in blazing speed. Yuri furrowed his brows and his reading pace slowed…his expression appeared to be conflicted. A bead of sweat trickled down his temple as he ready the report slowly. “These stats…..this just can’t be right…” Yuri murmured as he rechecked the numbers. “Is he even human?”

Chika beamed a smile at Yuri’s question – she was not willing to confirm or deny his assumptions. Seeing Chika’s naughty smile, Yuri could only guess that this report had not been falsified.

Yuri and Chika stood in front of a thick iron door. It was at least six inches thick and weighed several hundred kilograms. No normal human would be able to push it open. Chika stared at the camera next to the door and flashed her ID. “Visiting prisoner code named Emperor.”

Part 4

“Yuri-Sensei, we are ready to engage martial artist code named Emperor.” The young man repeated himself louder than before. It was loud enough to gain the attention of his commander.

“Capture him alive….at all costs he must be captured alive.” A soft voice creaked from the shadows. The old man did not move his lips yet his voice was communicated from several speakers in the room.

The young man hastily turned around, facing his computer screen, he punched in several commands. “We have clearance to engage. Engage Emperor.”