A rather short chapter with only 3.700 words.

Too lazy now and tired.

Fun fact: The once planned chapter 5 turns into chapter 6.

I hope I can finish it sometime next week.....or earlier.

I go the date wrong when posted it, it is now fixed.

Enjoy :)

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“You guys know that all the stuff I’m going to tell you is classified and doesn’t leave this room, right?

Even as much as indicating to another person outside of this room the truth you have learned here today only leaves one option. That is an unpleasant death.

As everybody of you knows when the Demons first invaded Angels came and helped us.

As opposed to public knowledge they didn’t come from the sky, but just like the Demons through a Dimension rip. We still have to figure out how they are able to open a gate to another Dimension.

So far nothing is different from public knowledge.

After the first few months it was decided to try to contact the Angels to gain their knowledge, power and help so we could defend ourselves.

What we actually learned about them shocked the contact-team to the core.

These so called Angels were not even interested in us and just laughed at the team.

We tried it a few more times, but the results were the same.

Remember: at the time people were religious and seeing something you believed to be the personification of good laugh at you was quite the shock to them.

The important part comes now.

Since they didn’t want to impart us with power or knowledge to protect ourselves and they weren’t here to actually protect us we caught one of them alive.

Yes, Ladies and Gentleman that is the real secret we have kept from the public.

At the time he was already heavily wounded and in no real shape to actually fight back, even against us humans.

Shortly afterwards we actually were able to catch a demon.

Even though both died not long afterwards, they are the starting grounds of the DCF as we know it today. Somehow the so called Angels might have figured out that we caught one of their own, because shortly afterwards the decline of Angels appearing started.

The most important truth that we found is that both of them are actually of the same species.

You wouldn’t believe it, if you just looked at them.

And the reason you are here today is to study their corpse. Yes, we still have them!

And we will preserve them as long as possible.

So follow me now and I will show you the rest.”

-Dr. Frank Stein, 2041, Head of the genetic trait group at the time, Underground Laboratories, Level U111, classified

---Time: 2054.03.05, 10:25---

---Location: Europe, England, London, ADCF, Underground Laboratories, Level U45---

---Population estimated: 12.233.000---

---Dr. Frank Stein---

I take another look through my microscope at the blood sample in front of me.

It’s demonic blood, real demonic blood.

We so far never had the chance to actually take a look at pure demonic blood.

Sure there are lots of battles and many death demons and therefore quite a lot of blood from them, but we never got a pure sample. At least not from a Demon Lord. There always was human blood mixed into it, or dirt or other things.

It was really annoying.

Now we have our own test-subject.

This is just so exciting, thinking of all the possible tests I have to perform on him.

Suddenly something wet hits my right hand and I look at it.

I actually drooled.

I didn’t think I had fallen this deep into the scientist pit.

The first thing we actually did, was to use some of his blood on Ragnar.

It will be interesting to see what happens to him over time.

The fool thought we used human blood on him. Like we would let that happen.

We couldn’t tell him the truth, the idiot isn’t able to actually keep a secret.

Normal people you can scare with the Discipline Squad, but what about somebody who has nothing to lose and isn’t afraid of death?

I like him, but some things must actually be kept a secret from him.

I take another look at the blood sample in front of me.

It is so different from human blood.

No red blood particles, instead they are black and angled.

Really weird. Is that metal in between there?

Maybe Hellsteel? Or something else? A still unknown metal?

Suddenly the door to my lab slides open and somebody storms in.

I hate interruptions while I’m in the middle of my research!

Hopefully this person has a good explanation!

I turn around and look at a guy in his mid-forties, 1,75m high, bald, overweight, glasses.

“Dr. Stein, the Demon Lord woke up!”-Bald Scientist

Oh, that will be interesting to watch. Let’s see what he tries.

I stand up and walk out of the room, leaving without a reply.

Shortly afterwards I arrive behind a mirror and look into a chamber.

Dr. Orahara is already there.

We just nod at each other and stare through the mirror.

The Demon tries to break his metal restrains, but he can struggle as much as he wants.

The entire room is made out of the only material he can’t really break: Hellsteel.

It had taken us years to gather enough material and find a way to actually melt and reform the shape. The solution isn’t cheap and takes large amounts of energy, partially of a Controller, partially electricity.

But after some years we were successful.

The Demon Lord tried as hard as he could, but was unsuccessful.

“You little bastard won’t get out of here so easily! Who is a little helpless Demon Lord? Yes, you are! Yes, you are!”-Me

Dr. Orahara gives me an elbow to my ribs, while smiling, and I realize that I just spoke out loud.

The other scientists give me a weird look, but I don’t care.

I’m the head of the research in the whole of the UK, so I can behave like I want in my research labs.

“Dr. Stein, he tries to open a Dimension rip!”-unimportant Scientist

“Alert the guards. And activate our little surprise. I hope you and your team did a good job Mr. White, otherwise this will turn nasty.”-Me

A Dimension rip starts to form and is slowly opening. The Demon Lord grins, knowing the moment it is fully open, there will swarm in troops to free him and annihilate this place.

Suddenly the Dimension rips closes and the smile of the Demon Lord disappears.

The Dimension rip interception device(D.R.I.D.) works.

It had taken over 30 fucking years to create this marvellous gadget!

For now it was just gigantic, clunky and not portable, but over time this problem would surely be solved too.

Now they finally had a method to close the Dimension rip whenever they wanted.

We can just close the fucking thing right under the nose of these damn Demons!

Loud cheers erupted within the small chamber.

“Good work Mr. White. You and your team can take the rest of the day off. I will issue a rise in your paycheck. From tomorrow onward work on the miniaturization of this thing, we need it as a portable device as fast as possible. I give you six months, no wait that is too long, make it in three.”

Yes, I need to push my subordinates, otherwise we would still not have this thing.

The Demon Lord continues to struggle, but to no avail.

I watch him for a few more seconds, fascinated by his attempts.

“Dr. Stein, can we test the new experimental weapon on him?”-My sweetheart/Dr. Orahara

“Are will still having a testsubject if it works?”-Me

“Depends on high we set the output.”-My sweetheart/Dr. Orahara

“Meaning?”-Me

“Well, he will at least lose a leg or arm.”-My sweetheart/Dr. Orahara

I look into her pleading eyes. She looks so cute!

I fight with myself for a moment. If the output is too high, the Demon might be blasted to tiny pieces and we don’t know when we will get a new one.

But if we don’t test it, we won’t be really able to. It is just as clunky and gigantic as the DRID.

What a stupid name.

And my wife will pout about it for a few days.

I don’t like her pouting. Pouting means trouble.

I wish we had just a normal demon to test this thing on.

Damn, a few years ago we still had an able Hunter team, which supplied us nearly every month with some specimen to test our newest inventions on.

Somehow Demons set up a trap and ambushed them. We still don’t know how they gained the necessary knowledge about our Hunter team.

But most of them died and the only survivors are now Broken.

They either joined the Retaliation Platoon or sit in a cell staring off into empty space.

“Fine, but set it to the minimum amount. And you own me a favour. And a big one if our new toy is blasted to pieces.”

She just smiles at me and then waves her hand at some scientist I know, but never bother to remember the names.

The door to the room with the Demon opens and something is cart in.

Lots of cables are connected with some metal pieces and most of them leading outside of the room. We can’t really bring in all the stuff, it would just be too big.

And actually moving the Demon Lord out of the room isn’t an option either, the table he is fixated on is not moveable, so he would just free himself and kill everybody the moment we open the Hellsteel fixations.

The Demon looks arrogantly at the new machine-parts we push inside the room.

After a few minutes everything is ready and set up.

The scientists leave the room hastily and close the door as far as possible without breaking any cables.

They look at Dr. Orahara and she looks at me.

I shrug my shoulders.

“Your call.”-Me

She then picks up some kind of control remote and pushes a button.

The machine inside the room starts to hum and vibrate, lights start to blink.

Suddenly a flash of light shoots out of it, too fast for our eyes to actually see it properly.

The right arm of the demon disappears in a shower red mist.

The metal was gone as well and behind him the wall was partly melted.

Fuck, now we need to create another one of these Hellsteel plates.

But the weapon worked. The first working plasma weapon.

Let’s see if the demon can still regenerate even after that.

The Demon starts to howl in pain.

A few minutes it is quite clear, that the arm is not going to regenerate.

At least not so fast that it would be visible.

Might be worth watching out for over the months.

But if he doesn’t regenerate this will change our war against them.

“Dr. Orahara fix up the damage to the wall und continue working on the plasma weapon.

We will keep an eye open for any possible regeneration over the following months.”

I leave the room and walk back to my personal lab.

White corridors and pristine white light everywhere.

Perfect, spotless white, not even a speck of dust could be found on them.

Always the same, boring and empty corridors.

Sure, they kind of look futuristic and seem to promise progress, just like they did 20 years ago, but the mind of a scientist needs creativity to come up with a solution.

And these walls didn’t spark any creativity, they were just bleak walls.

While I walk back to my lab I think about the evening I will spent with my wife.

I say wife even though we are not married, neither will we ever marry.

We are not even officially engaged. Nobody knows about our relationship and that is the way we will keep it. Making it official just invites trouble. There would be rumours about me favouring her just because we are a couple. The truth is, she is just as capable as I’m and probably the only one who would be able to lead this facility at the moment, apart from me.

I specialize in genetics, chemistry and biology, no matter if on a cellular level, smaller or bigger, she first also took to genetics but after a few years started to get more interested in physics and engineering and related areas.

We have our own secret project running, which nobody knows about.

There are so many test subjects and tests conducted on them no one really has a good survey of it.

Apart from me, I mean I’m still the Head of these labs.

And that is the real reason why we keep our engagement quiet.

If the Discipline Squad would actually know about out it, they would kill me for blasphemy.

So if it ever will be discovered I will take all the blame, every bit of proof will point to me as the single mind behind this all.

My sweetheart doesn’t really like the idea, but over many years I finally got a halfassed approval.

Back in my personal labs I sit down on my chair.

I just wanted to resume my work on the blood samples when my lab phone rings.

What the hell?

I pick it up, just to be shouted at by the Headmaster, or General Marc Winter as his proper name would be.

“Frank, what the hell are you doing down there? We have a power shortage and even had a blackout for a few seconds!”-Marc

Oh, I didn’t really notice the blackout. I was probably too absorbed with my observation.

Ehm, I guess we still need to drug the demon and turn the DRID off.

That will ruin the purity of the blood samples.

“Hm, we tested a few toys and both of them worked. I will tell you in person when we have a meeting. About the powershortage: you will have full power back in a few minutes.”-Me

“Get your ass up here. I have the requested file for you and you know the procedures about something like that. And while you are up here you can tell me about your new toys.”-Marc

He ended the call before I had any chance to answer him.

We somehow ended up on good terms, although he somehow isn’t able to like me.

He probably hates the idea of normal humans being used for experiments.

But what else should we do?

Most of the land in the world is now abandoned, and the rest of the population is tightly packed into a few centers spread across their respective countries.

So we face some kind of overpopulation.

Officially the people we experiment on are either death or missing.

Genetic engineering works best if you can directly work with the end material.

I think the only reason why he still likes me is, that I deliver good results.

In my time I was able to increase the compatibility and the survival rate for the insertion process quite a bit.

On my way to the next lift, which brings me out of the labs, I instruct some people to drug the Demon to sleep and shut the DRID off.

To get to the Headmaster’s office I need to use at least 3 different lifts, quite time consuming, but it is a precaution to deny intruders easy access to all levels.

When I finally arrive I don’t even bother to knock and just open the door.

Marc looks up and seems a bit displeased.

“Can’t you at least knock?”-Marc

“Why? Did you have some private time?”-Me

“Maybe.”-Marc

I raise my eyebrows and throw him a questioning look.

He sighs.

“Obviously I didn’t have any private time. You could just learn to knock. I hate unannounced visits.”-Marc

“I wasn’t unannounced, you called me.”

He sighs again.

“Just forget it. So why was there a power shortage?”-Marc

“We tested the DRID.”-Me

Silence.

“So what exactly is that?”-Marc

“Ehm, Dimension Rip Interception Device. You can obviously close Dimensions Rips with it. Until now it was just a theory, but a few moments ago we tested it and it was a success. It still sucks quite some energy and is gigantic, but I think in due time we might be able to solve both problems.”

The eyes of the General lighten up at my news. All previous generations tried to achieve this and now we seem to hold a partial solution to our problems in our hand. A small smile appears on his face.

He is probably going to throw a big party the moment we actually have the first portable und working device.

“Good news, I always like good news. There are far too few these last years. Did you know that apparently there was a newspaper called “Good News”? They printed just that. I wish we had something like that, it would make my days a tiny bit better.”-Marc

“What happened to it?”-Me

“Ehm?”-Marc

“You said there was, so I assume they don’t print anymore.”-Me

“Yeah, they went bankrupt in less than a year and closed down. People apparently didn’t want to know who has it better, who was saved and so on. It probably is easier to live your life if you read about the misfortune of others and can always think about how happy you are to not suffer this fate.”-Marc

Silence.

“About the GRIP-“-Marc

“DRID.”-Me

“Sorry, DRID. Why don’t you guys just call it Disruptor? Much shorter, has a nicer sound and everybody knows what it does. DRIG-“-Marc

“DRID.”-Me

“Yeah, whatever. The name just sounds horrible.”-Marc

“Hm, yeah it actually does. Nobody down there actually has a proper naming sense. Maybe we should open a Naming Committee with you as its single member.”-Me

I grin at him and he smirks back.

“Making fun of me, eh? Well whatever. You said you tested 2 of your devices.”-Marc

“Yes, we did.”-Me

Silence.

“Seriously Frank? Sometimes I’m not sure if you are doing this on purpose.

Sooo, what did you test? And tell me its name so I can make up a proper name.”-Marc

Now he grins at me and I chuckle.

“A plasma weapon, the first functioning one. It works and the arm of the Demon Lord has yet to regenerate. Before you start throwing a party: It is the reason for the blackout. The weapon really consumes a lot of energy. The Disruptor might put a strain on our power supply, but I’m sure we will be able to solve this, but the plasma weapon…..

It will still take years before we are able to actually produce a first portable prototype. At least for normal soldiers.

I’m sure we can build big stationary defence systems with it in the foreseeable future.

I will start a new subgroup for this research project, testing the possibilities of Controllers powering it with mental strength.

And I think Plasma Cannon is a good name.”-Me

He nods and the light in his eyes turns even brighter.

“I think the moment we have something like that on the battlefield we will be able to gain a superior position over the demons. Together with the Disruptor this will mark the start of a new era. The moment we are actually able to take back our land and secure it. The step after that is to be able to open a Dimension Rip on purpose and invade their land to bring the war to them.”-Marc

There he goes off again about humanities superiority and taking revenge.

I just wait for him to shut up and roll my eyes in annoyance.

“So what about your human gene project?”-Marc

“Which one exactly?”-Me

He stiffens a bit and his eyes turn cold.

“The one about increasing the compatibility rate with demonic and angelic genes. The last time you increased it was over 10 years ago. I haven’t heard of much progress in the last few years. Maybe we should stop the project?”-Marc

I grin at him. Even though he wants to stop it, he will not. The possibility of finding an answer one day might exist and he can’t risk to throw it away.

“Hm, true true. And I can’t deny that we hit something like a wall for now. I stopped large scale tests already 6 years ago to prevent any unnecessary sacrifices. 10 years ago my idea was revolutionary and is still used. Maybe someday we will get a new idea and work with a completely new thesis, so we will be able to deliver better results.”-Me

“Hm, fine, I hope you will soon find a proper solution for that. I will give you the requested files for now. They contain everything about the Controller you want to link with your Broken.

Even the top secret files and nothing is blackened. Now if you would kindly leave my office?

I still have work to do and I’m sure you have too.”-Marc

I greedily grab the files and start reading them while I leave the office.

I don’t even bother to answer him.

On my way back to my personal labs I finally find what I was looking for in the files and grin.

I grin like a mad scientist and chuckle to myself.

With things set like that everything will work out perfectly.

The real reason I wasn’t able to actually increase the compatibility rate with demonic and angelic genes in the last 10 years was partly connected to a theory I wanted to test.

Most of my time was spent researching this theory, so I left another research team to my previous project.

And now, after almost 10 years I would be able to finally test it and see the results.

The secret project of my wife and me was also in the last stages.

We would put it into action at the same time.

As soon as I’m in my personal labs I start to laugh with a loud booming voice.

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA…..KUKUKUKUKU…HAHA….HAHAHA!”

Luckily for me my lab is sound proof, so nobody outside can hear me.

Unluckily for me someone was already in there. I hadn’t realised it.

A hard slap to my head and I lose consciousness.

The last thing I see is my sweetheart.

She has a displeased face.

I forget that she hates it, when I laugh like that.