NightSkin Prologue and Chapter 1

Prologue

Rei Newman hardly had any rest these days. Although he was genuinely happy to be promoted at such an early age to such a prestigious title, he never had the time or the energy to celebrate. He did not want to celebrate. His predecessor, Lyran Richter VIII, suddenly went missing, leading to his promotion as he was his assistant.

Rei was hard at work on a prototype gateway that he and his mentor started working on, so he brushed off his worry for his mentor. His mentor had always cautioned him to never stop working, as their work saved lives for every achievement. The old man, a father figure to him, brought him up with such a mentality. Again, he had to wipe his eyes as he worked on the gateway apparatus.

The Soldat guarding the door were ever vigilant for any signs of enemy activity. After space flight became commonplace, the Army, Marines and Navy were consolidated to be called Soldat. And now, Rei had to deal with jarheads while he was working. It would have been fine for them to guard the door from outside, but they also had to guard him while he worked. The stench of the squad leader Sergeant Gregori Kargadan distracted Rei as the soldier was breathing down his neck.

“Would you stop that? I can’t work here with you all sticking in my personal space.” Yelled Rei.

“Orders are orders, Mister Newman. We are here to escort you and ensure you deliver us to the other side of the gate.”

“It’s Doctor Newman. And yes, your job is to get to the other side, but not to smell my neck. Your incessant prodding isn’t going to help us move along.” Rei retorted.

And with that statement, the sergeant backed off and muttered an unintelligible curse. The Soldat have developed their own efficient language for their operations so that infidels cannot intercept messages. Still, to Rei it just sounded like dog barking.

Having the soldier off his back made things less stressful, but then gunshots were heard outside the laboratory. Newman’s eyes widened at the realization of what was happening outside, but the large frame of Kargadan returned and immediately turned his head back to his work. The stress was back, but this time, it was no longer coming from the large beefy man at his back, but was from the screeching noises from outside the laboratory.

When he was already sweating profusely, he had suddenly managed somehow to connect the last few conduits on the gateway. He stood back to watch the engine come to life, but only saw several flickers of light and electricity come from the archway. Disappointed and at a loss, Kargadan suddenly pushed Newman aside and kicked the archway of the machine. Suddenly, a humming sound echoed through the room, and Kargadan helped Newman up with a chuckle.

Newman, at first sighing at the barbarism of the soldier, was now distracted by the increasing brightness of the archway of the machine. The archway had begun humming more and more violent and with a higher pitch as the archway was being filled with a sheet of light. As Newman, Kargadan and the other soldiers and technicians wondered at the growing gateway, explosions suddenly rocked the building.

“The eggheads are coming, Doctor. Can you make this thing go faster?” yelled Kargadan, in the midst of the noise around them.

“I don’t know Sergeant. This is the first time we’ve succeeded in opening a gate. We haven’t even made tests yet. Are you sure you want to go in this thing?” replied Rei.

“Orders are orders, Doctor. We have express orders to send the best fighters inside and make our way. We have to bring the war to them.” Shouted Kargadan.

“I know! The Animas-” Rei paused as a piece of paper slapped his face, as apparently, the gate has completely formed. Resuming his statement “Again, the Animas are energy beings; we don’t exactly what’s beyond that gate. We don’t know how hostile or arid their habitat is. At least let me send a probe first.”

Kargadan was signalling his men to form up while he shouted a reply in the mist of the noise, “No time, Doctor. We have to change the way this war goes. I have no time and clearance to explain to you our mission, and you have done your job, so let us do ours.”

Amidst violently flying papers and lab materials, Rei found it hard to get his bearings straight. Though he wore the latest protective exoskeleton suit, his suit was by no means a match for the heavy suits worn by Soldat soldiers. Rei watched only as the soldiers lined up before the gateway, and then motioned for his colleagues to make way.  As he walked past the soldiers, a pair of hands suddenly pulled him from the last ranks of the Soldat, only to be put around his neck. It was Psyche Hemlocke, the only elite Soldat female combat instructor, classified spy, and his ex-fiancé.

“Oh dear, I’m gonna miss ya.” Said Psyche, as she stroked his hair.

“Well, I won’t.” retorted Rei.

“Oh, you’re still mad about that. Don’t worry, let me mak-” She was cut off by Kargadan.

“Captain Hemlocke, though you outrank me, this team was commissioned and assigned to me. I would appreciate it if you were to focus at the task at hand.” And Kargadan pulled Rei away.

Rei swiftly walked away while his ex and the commanding officer bickered. For once, he was thankful to the belligerent man. He then continued his walk towards the back end of the room, near the doors. Non-Soldat personnel were instructed to evacuate once the gate was opened, and Rei intended to follow that order.

He already motioned the other technicians to evacuate while he was “held” by Psyche, and now he was the only scientist in the laboratory. Though he hid the fact that he had combat expertise and could actually participate in the incursion, he only wanted to go back to his wife, Nelumbi.

As Rei was about to reach for the door, he stopped himself as he heard screeching sounds mingled with death throes from beyond the metal slabs. He then turned to warn the soldiers inside, but then the door exploded from behind him. In the blink of an eye, he was off his feet and was flung into the air. The explosion did minimal damage as he had protective gear, but Rei was more concerned that he was flying head first into the Void Gate.

Chapter 01 – The Lost War

Section 1

The Empire was losing the war. Essentially, the Empire had already lost the war. The Royal couple had already been assassinated, and only the Prime Minister held things together as Regent while the Crown Prince was still underage and in hiding. The Crown Prince, a spoiled brat raised by an ambitious Queen, had retreated immediately from the Royal Palace at the first sign of attacks, abandoning the Emperor and his Queen, his parents, without any second thought.

The female Prime Minister, Viktoria Oksana Renata, held the enemies at bay while the Royal Couple tried to evacuate once the Palace Guards fell. Holding only the extraction point with her own personal Soldat unit, Viktoria failed as an energy grenade threw her off her feet and out of a window. Though her landing was rough, she was saved by her sturdy armor, but was aghast to see the room that she came from become only a blazing inferno. She gritted her teeth at her failure and struck a nearby wall with her metal arm making a dent. Another Grinner unit squelched from her communicator and asked if she was fine.

“I’m not fucking fine you morons! The Emperor is dead! You maggots, I will have to whip up your arses once we’re done here. Track that damn coward of a scum Prince Derald down. I’ll be damned if he becomes the next emperor, so for now I’ll be taking command.”

“Affirmative, Prime Minister. We will prepare another extraction point, standby.” Said the voice on the communicator.

“And get me some fucking coffee, these shit eggheads killed my boss in the wee hours of the morning and I’ve yet to get some coffee. Dump one shit-whole bottle of coffee in one mug, hell I need the caffeine.” Yelled Viktoria as she walked angrily across the corridors, shooting down enemies as she went along.

“Affirmative, Prime Minister. We’re waiting for you; transmitting coordinates.”

“You better be there you shitheads! Imma kill you if you fail me again. Renata out-” Viktoria then tucks the communicator into her belt pocket as an enemy suddenly came bursting out of a wall. Viktoria’s eyes narrowed, and as the creature screeched at rushing her, she immediately sidestepped and slammed her metallic arm into the creature’s neck, effectively decapitating it. Viktoria merely grunted as she turned her back to the fallen creature.

The carrier was showing some damage but was humming its engines perfectly. Viktoria begrudgingly stepped inside while some Soldat covered her back. When they had all boarded the ship, the pilot immediately initiated take off sequence and lifted off the site. Viktoria felt several direct hits from the underside of the carrier, noting that the Animas are still ferociously firing at them.

After clearing the Palace airspace and gaining some altitude, Viktoria opened one of the protective visors to the window beside her. She looked down to see that the Imperial Capital was burning, not with fire, but with the energy weapons that the Animas used. She seethed with anger at what she saw and again punched the wall with her right fist. The impact suddenly made some alarms blare, but Viktoria then motioned the alarmed men down.

“Madame,” said one Soldat “the area is still unsafe and the condition volatile. Perhaps it would be wise to put the visor back down and-“

“Oh shut it soldier! I’m perfectly fine, and don’t you fucking call me Madame dammit! Do I look like a girly airhead lady to you?!” snapped Viktoria at the man, who had resigned back to his seat. Viktoria rubbed her eyes as she sat down properly again. Her thoughts where on the late Emperor, Giacomo Mikado, of whom she was having a conversation not more than an hour ago. Nevermind Queen Ekidna, the ambitious daughter of a general that slithered her way into royalty, but the Emperor was important. Important to her.

At a younger age, Giacomo was once her lover, and though the once prince was a womanizer, Viktoria still had lingering attachments to the man. Attachments that led to her to be determined enough to become a general herself, and eventually Prime Minister. Now the man is gone, and his only known remaining legacy was a coward brat, whose paternity was even in question as the Queen had been playful. She swore to herself that the Empire that his beloved Giacomo loved more than her will not go down under her watch.

Snapping out of her stupor, she takes her communicator and contacts her second in command. “Viktoria here. We are now airborne and heading out of the capital. ETA to base in,” she looked towards the direction of the pilot, where the pilot held up three fingers then made a circling motion, “ETA is 30 minutes. I asked you guys to track the prince, where’s that bastard going?”

“Confirmed your position, Prime Minister. We will prep the docking bay for your arrival. As for the prince, though he was using a stealth carrier, our scans have picked up an exhaust discharge large enough for escape velocity. Calculating the vectors seems to indicate it’s headed for Sedna.”

“That sonuvabitch!” Viktoria slams the handle of her seat, completely destroying it. “All high hell is loose here on Earth and he fucking runs away to the farthest colony? That bast-“

The Prime Minister was suddenly tumbling forward as the carrier leaned heavily face down. The carrier was suddenly being pushed forward from behind and anyone not strapped on was lifted off their seats. When Viktoria regained her footing as the carrier stabilized, she immediately went back to her window to see what was happening.

The people in the carrier were fortunate; for as Viktoria ventured a look outside her window, only a crater filling with seawater came into view.

Section 2

Despite the large burns that it suffered on its tail end the carrier landed without any trouble. The Soldat disembarked first to make way for the Prime Minister, who was looking pale after the ordeal. Though looking obviously pained, Viktoria looked forward with determined eyes and walked head high into the lined up teams of Soldat saluting her approach.

Walking midway down the aisle, Viktoria looks back to peek at what happened to the carrier. She let out a sharp sigh as she saw that the tail end was still smoking and sizzling hot from its ordeal more than half an hour ago. She then proceeds towards the end of the procession and finds the Minister of Defense already waiting for her.

“Where the fuck have you been?! We were taking heavy fire, well, we took heavy fire earlier and you’re here sitting pretty on your pretty little hands.” Viktoria shouted as she insulted the veteran Soldat that had two large mechanical prosthetic hands.

“As graceful as ever Viktoria,” said the silver haired man in a raspy voice, “I always enjoyed your company. I was about to tell you about my beautiful day, being shot in the spine, getting both my legs incinerated, and having pretty little legs attached.” He then pulled up the sides of his pants, showing prosthetic legs. “I was at Hartford, defending the last few nukes we had from the previous century, but I guess these eggheads are backwards compatible. Hahaha.”

“These Animas are not a bloody laughing matter Osiris!” Viktoria shouted as she grasped the man at his collar. She looked up to the tall but slender man’s eyes and said, “The Royal Couple are dead, and Yamata is nothing but a crater now thanks to those eggheads. I didn’t think they could also imitate old technology like them nukes.”

Osiris merely brushed away her hands and responded, “I know, I heard the reports. And besides, looking at your sullen face, I believe it now. Emperor Giacomo is dead. The capital, now gone.” Osiris gave Viktoria a calm look. “So what now?”

Viktoria always hated the nonchalant personality of the old man. He had been friends with previous Emperor Giacomo’s father, and could have been Prime Minister now, but instead opted to serve his old title of Minister of Defense. Viktoria had respect for the old man’s exploits, willingly giving up body parts for the Empire, but she hated conversing with the man.

She rubbed her left eye with her remaining flesh arm as she tried to think. The old man’s chuckling did not help. She looked back at the smoking tail end of the carrier with her hand still on her face, closed her eyes, breathed deep and then sighed.

“How many nukes did you manage to keep?” Viktoria then asked Osiris.

“Several handfuls.” Replied Osiris jokingly while wiggling his thin prosthetic hands.

Viktoria clenched her teeth as she grasped for self-control. Her metallic right hand, squeaking at the pressure she was exerting, she manages to calm herself. “I need to see old man Richter. We just lost our capital, so it’s about time those fucking eggheads lost something too.”

“Well that is going to be a problem. We hav-" Osiris was cut off.

“What the fuck now?!” Viktoria shouting again, “I’m not in the bloody mood for your jokes old fart. We just lost Yamata. We just lost the Royal Couple. We just lost the Emperor. We just lost Giacomo. I jus-" she was cut off in turn by a slap in the face.

She turned to return the blow, but what she saw stopped her in her tracks. It was Osiris’ face sporting a serious look. She had confidence in talking down the old man, but was hesitant in actual combat.

“Settle down. I had to cut you off before you said anything inappropriate. Emperor Giacomo is indeed gone. But emotions aside, we have to move on.” continued Osiris in a serious tone. “The late Emperor was like a son to me, but we have a duty to our citizens first.”

Viktoria touched her cheek and nodded, stopping herself from crying.

“As I was saying earlier,” Osiris regaining his giddy demeanor, “There is a problem with Doctor Richter. He is missing.” Osiris paused to sigh. “And on top of that, I think it was an inside job and not the eggheads. Richter was working in an isolated facility on a high level security area. You just can’t secretly smuggle somebody outside that place without leaving any trails.”

Viktoria, now calmed down, asked, “Well, that’s not very secure is it? Since the cat’s out of the bag, where was Project Cuculida being done?”

“On an asteroid near Sedna.” Replied Osiris. Viktoria merely raised an eyebrow upon hearing the answer.

Section 3

“…but in 2035, the prominent theory the Theory of Relativity in the 20^th century was disproved by Doctor Samantha Yandere-Hemlocke. Working with CERN, she had figured out the consistency of photons. Apparently, basing on the fact that photons were in fact affected by gravitational pull as-” Doctor Rei Newman toggled his screen for the next slide to show in front of the lecture hall. “-as shown here.” He points out on the holographic projection that was showing a white line that was being dragged down into a funnel.

“Here at the event horizon, we can see that photons are disturbed and are eventually dragged down into the core of the black hole. By creating miniature black holes in the facilities of CERN, Doctor Samantha made several experiments on photon mass measure by using the constant gravitational pull of a controlled black hole.” Doctor Newman toggled another hologram to project from his handheld display.

“At first using light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation with your usual gain mediums, keeping energy sources and resonators constant, she hoped to isolate a constant by varying the said gain mediums. But after several failed attempts, she opted to use a highly volatile mixture of anti-helium and anti-neon, the antimatter equivalent of the usual helium-neon gain medium in old lasers.” Again, Doctor Newman toggled for the next presentation.

“Using antimatter was serendipitous success as she was able to create an acute response. Instead of being dragged down by the gravity, the antimatter generated laser deviated from its path and refracted unto another direction.” A student raises his hand.

“Yes Mister Siubjieni?” Asked the lecturer.

“Professor, at this point, as antimatter was used as the gain medium, what were the characteristics of the light radiated?”

“Good question Mister Siubjieni. The light radiated from antimatter at that point was actually invisible to humans. Since the light receptors in humans respond only to photonic stimuli, any anti-photon stimuli cannot be absorbed. The laser generated by anti-helium and anti-neon combination gain mediums are measured using residual radiation on Carbon plates. As you know, antimatter half-life is very short.” Another student raises his hand.

“Mister Yangskii, if this is one of those questions of yours, I’ll be deducting points from now on.” Doctor Newman crossed his arms.

“No, no sir. I was just meaning to ask. What happened to Doctor Hemlocke? Don’t all that radiation turn her into a mutant or something? I know the Hemlocke family still lives on today, but they’re normal. In fact, their girls are hot!” The class started laughing altogether.

Rei rubs his face. It was one of those questions again. He sighed deeply before answering, “Again, Mister Yangskii, you never disappoint. But first, you should have used ‘Did not’ and not ‘Do not’ in your question.” The lecturer pointing out the grammatical error. “Second, CERN facilities, even back then, were completely furnished with safety installations, and that experiments were held from remote locations. So, to answer your question, the Hemlockes are not mutants. And yes, as per your own words, they are perfectly formed.” Newman rolled his eyes as he remembers his ex, amidst the laughter of the students. But then a voice echoes from the back of the lecture hall.

“Why thank you Rei. I didn’t think you’d praise me in public again.” Said a sultry voice from the darkness of the lecture hall. Though Rei knew completely who the voice came from, his mood did not allow any interference on his lectures. He was expecting to see only a scantily clad female that would be taunting him, but when he pushed the “illuminate” button on his handheld device, he was surprised to see a large group of Soldat at the back end of the lecture hall.

“Perfectly formed. Hmm, I like the sound of that.” Continued Psyche Hemlocke, as she smilingly continued down the walkway of the lecture hall. “I’m sure that Medea will like that too if she were to-" And Psyche was cut off by a hand on her shoulder. It was the Prime Minister, Viktoria Renata. Rei’s scowling face turned into panic as he saw the Prime Minister. He made a small bowing notion and the students suddenly stood up and bowed also.

The Prime Minister motioned a wave and a small smile to the students then nodded to Rei. Rei understood and took the attention of his students, “Everyone, I’ll be cutting it short today. Continue reading on the Yandere-Hemlocke Theory in sections 18 to 21 of our source material. There might be a small examination on our next meeting.” The lecture hall resounded with loud sighs and groans of disappointment from the students.  “Now, now. We have to keep up with the lessons if we are to finish basic theoretical physics this month. Dismissed.”

The waves of students suddenly gathered their materials and started exiting the lecture hall in droves. As the last few students were exiting the hall, the Prime Minister walked down towards Rei. Rei was nervously awaiting the Prime Minister but was then distracted by the slamming sound of a body hitting the ground.

Rei and the Prime Minister turned to look, only to find that a student, Mister Yangskii, was lying on the ground as Psyche was walking down the steps and cleaning her hands. Rei just shook his head.

After Mister Yangskii painfully cleared the lecture hall last, the Soldat sealed the doors and stood guard. Rei had already motioned a chair for the Prime Minister, but the woman merely waved it off. The Prime Minister started off the conversation.

“No need. We’re not staying that long.” She said.

“Ah, yes Prime Minister. What can I help you with?” Replied Rei.

The question fell on deaf ears as the Prime Minister was running her left hand on a student chairs back rest. She did not answer the question, “You know I did my studies here also, right? Old man Richter was my professor back then. You surely got his strictness on students.” The woman commenting on Rei giving out reading assignments.

“Ah, yes Prime Mini-” Rei was cut off.

“Viktoria.” The Prime Minister said as she was still admiring the lecture hall.

“What, Prime Minister?” Rei was clueless.

“Call me Viktoria. We’re not that too far apart in age after all.”

“Uhm, well, ma’am formalities and all, but-” cut off again.

“It’s fine I said. And don’t fret Psyche,” Viktoria addressing the fidgeting lady seated on the lecturers table, “I’m not here to snatch him from you.”

“Uhh, Prime Mini-,” Rei was stopped by Viktoria’s sudden direct eye contact, “I mean Viktoria, I’m already married. Well, uhh, I’m not pertaining to you, but about Psyche there.” Rei then looked towards Psyche’s direction, which then blew him a kiss. “And also, you were talking about dad? As far as I know, you guys had him on a project of some sort.”

Viktoria stops at a window sill to look outside. “Dad eh? I suppose so. Old man Richter is your adoptive father. Right? Prince Mor-”

Rei suddenly changed his tone to cut off the statement “Do not finish that line. I’m Rei Newman, a mere professor here at the university.” Rei paused to look intently, “Now what do you want?”

Psyche jumps down the table and approaches Rei. He eyes the woman, and pays no heed to her clinging to his side. She then whispers in his ear, “Touchy-touchy, dear. Only I and the Prime Minister know, Prince Mordred.”

Rei’s eyes narrow and he speaks in a low voice, “And how did you come to know about that? I didn’t tell you that back then when we were, well, engaged. Now how am I to be sure that you did not come to me just to know that fact?”

“Oh, my dear prince. I only knew after I became head of the Intelligence Division. If I had known you were a prince, then I would have come to our wedding and became a princess.” Replied Psyche in teasing manner.

Rei pushed Psyche gently away and retorted “But you didn’t.”

Psyche was again approaching Rei when Viktoria spoke, “Enough. Talk is cheap, and I apologize for that little segues. I’m not here about your parentage, Mister Newman, even though we could use an emperor right now. I’m here about your work, or rather, your work with Richter.” Viktoria motioned Psyche to fall back. Psyche followed the order with pouted lips.

“Fine.” Said Rei, still doubtful of the women, “but which work are you referring to? I’ve done many projects with dad. And why would you need me? Dad’s the more senior researcher.” Rei paused to cross his arms, “Also, it’s Doctor Newman, Viktoria.”

Viktoria made a small grin, “Well, Doctor Newman, your Dad is currently unavailable. Thus, we’ll need you on the project. It’s the project about the void gates.”

Section 4

Rei had always resented the father that deserted him, deserted them. Rei and his mother had had numerous problems due to Rei’s parentage, and only his adoptive father, Doctor Richter, offered to help when his mother finally sacrificed herself to save Rei.

It was an NanoScour incursion on the slums of the Tudor settlement. He and his mother had escaped from the Imperial Capital into the makeshift squatters’ area near the Trade Union mining facility. The Trade Union accepted any labourer willing to work cheap and without questions, so all sorts of people made a living near the facility

Rei’s mother, though born into an aristocrat family and well educated, chose to flee Empire territory for fear for her child. She had been the latest lover of the promiscuous Prince Giacomo, and the child she bore the man was the target of several nobility vying for the throne, especially of Ekidna Hemlocke, the fiancé of Giacomo himself.

Ekidna had sent more than a few assassins to kill the mother and son, but due to the sacrifice of the Lamperouge clan, Ariadne, Rei’s mother, was able to escape from the Earth capital of Yamata unscathed. Ariadne was instructed to contact assistance from the aristocracy based on Neptune, but was unable to reach that far due to her damaged ship. Having landed and destroyed her craft near Jupiter, she was able to find kindness from the poor people inhabiting the slums of the Tudor facility.

Though born from a wealthy background, Ariadne made a living as a humble metal looter from the Trade Union dumps to make ends meet. For her, though poor, living safely and content with her son were the best days of her life. She home-schooled Rei while she was not working, and merely found peace in looking at him play with other children in the neighbourhood before she went to work.

But one day, as she was halfway through her work in the dumps, there came smoke and screams from the slums. Her eyes widened at the horror of hearing the roar of the NanoScour amidst the screams. She then dropped her loot and ran with all her might towards their makeshift home.

Rei by then was left alone to fend for himself as everybody ran for their lives. He had seen a friend of his, Vivi, about to be attacked by a charger but he threw a rock on its head to distract it. The charger now changing its target; madly rushes Rei instead. Rei shouts to Vivi to run, and dashes into another direction himself.

He scampers into a narrow alleyway he knows, but is then terrified to see that the exit has been blocked by fallen debris. Hearing the stomping noise the mutated quadruped made get closer and closer, Rei frantically searches for a way through but fails. He spots a darkened crevice to his left and dashes to fit himself in.

Halfway through the darkness, Rei feels the walls close in on him and realizes he is stuck. His fears escalates as he realizes that the stomping sound is now gone and a snarling sound is now present at the opening of the crevice. Rei freezes in fear but then a several droplets of liquid suddenly begin trickling down his shoulder. Slowly looking over his shoulder, he spots the feet of the NanoScour at the opening of the crevice.

Finally able to look at the thing slowly trickling down his side, he reels back in silence as he sees it was blood. He looks up towards the source and sees a severed leg dripping blood from the rooftops. He had stifled himself successfully from making a sound but then the leg suddenly jerks and is pulled back forcefully, making him jump in his place and collapsing several metal materials to the ground. The sound alerts the quadruped and he screams in panic as the creature roars.

The creature starts crawling and clawing into the crevice and Rei tries to push himself further into the crevice. He screams as the jutting metallic scraps of the walls dig into his flesh but he was determined to survive. Inching himself more and more into the crevice, he spots the other side of the darkness collapse and give way; giving him hope as light flooded his eyes. His strength bolstered by what he saw, he ignored the roaring mutation behind him and pressed on.

He was then crawling towards the bright light when his eyes finally adapted. What he saw then changed his mind and stopped him in his tracks. All he saw was a multitude of corpses being eaten by the NanoScour, just a few meters from where he lay. Tears ran down his cheeks as he recognized some of the bodies from the torn clothes they bore; some of them were the children that he was playing with just moments ago. The image of a desolated space mingling scraps of metal, dilapidated bodies and roaring NanoScour wrenched out any hope he had left.

His eyes extinguished and blurry, he turned around to the monster slowly clawing itself closer and closer to him. His thoughts sank down, knowing that he was now alone, as the direction of the desolated space not only bore his former friends, but was also the direction of the dumps where his mother worked.  He merely sat still as the mutation was only two meters away and its stench filled his nose.

The mutation roared louder and louder as it came nearer, but Rei was apathetic now. The creature missing his feet by an inch, it roared and hissed at its frustration. Rei knew that this moment was the end and was already resigned to his fate, but then felt a twinge of curiosity upon realizing that the loud noises stopped. He looked up to only see the creature lie motionless inches from him.

Acting upon chance, he decidedly approaches the monster only to be surprised at its sudden movement. Tumbling down, he was bewildered to see the creature be dragged backwards. After clearing the entryway, she then saw the shining face of his mother.

“Rei! Rei! Come here!” Ariadne shouted.

“Mom!” Rei burst out in tears again as he tore his way out of the crevice and into the arms of his mother. “You’re okay mom! I was afraid you’ve left me.” He shouted as he sobbed.

“Hush now. It’s okay my little Mikado. Hush.” Ariadne said as she stroked the hair of the boy crying in her arms. “You’re friend told me you ran this way.” She paused to look her son in the eyes, “I’m very proud of you my son. You saved someone. Now stop crying, you have to live up to your name, okay? Little Mikado?” Rei’s mom telling him about his proud heritage.

“I’m not little and I’m no Mikado! I’m a Lamperouge!” the boy smiled as he stifled his sobs.

“Okay then, Rei. You’re a Lamperouge. You’re a new man now!” beamed Ariadne, as she bent down to wipe his tears. “But now we have to leave. It’s not safe here. Come.” And she held the boy’s left hand as she rose. She felt Rei’s hand clamp down on her right hand and she smiled.

“Okay, Mister New Man, lead the way!” She teased the boy to lift his spirits up.

Rei only nodded with smile, still sobbing. Still clutching his mother’s hand, he tugs at it and runs toward the domed facility still visible on the smoky horizon. Seeing Trade Union dropships ejecting numerous pods from afar, Rei then visualized a way in his mind towards the Trade Union reinforcements. Ignoring all the horrible sounds around him, he focused only on running while clutching to the warm hand.

After what seems to be an eternity of running through alleyways and tunnels, Rei felt his mother’s grip on his hand tighten. “Rei,” he heard his mother speak, “promise me something.”

Surprised and distracted, Rei was only able to blurt out “Mmm-kay” whilst running.

“Mikado, promise me you’ll grow up to be a good man. Be a good man and save our people. Just like what you did for your friend there, okay, honey?”  Ariadne asked her boy.

Nonchalantly, Rei responded while stopping to catch his breath and regain his bearings. “Mom, that was just one guy,” Rei remembered the scene where he saw the remains of his other friends, “Vivi was just one guy, I wasn’t able to save the others.” Rei steeled himself not to cry again.

“Still, promise me.” Ariadne replied. “Promise me that you will never stop trying to save others. You are a Mikado, Rei; it’s in your blood.”

Looking around for a safe way to cross the main streets, Rei irritatingly responded, “Mother, how many times do I have to tell you, I’m not-”

“Promise me.” Ariadne demanded.

“Fine, I promise.” Rei responded with a sigh. “I promise to uphold the old Mikado code you always make me recite.”

“Thank you.”

Rei rolled his eyes and frowned, but then saw the opportunity to cross the main street to the Tudor Facility when he sees the NanoScour being driven away by Trade Union employees with their equipment. Once he spots that the NanoScour slowly being unable to fight back a horde of small mechanical tanks, he tugs at his mother’s hand and says, “Mom, let’s go. This is our chance.”

Sensing no response from his mother, he tugs and calls out repeatedly to the person behind him. Finally looking back while tugging again, he was suddenly flung to the ground as his last tug was not met with resistance. Still clutching his mother’s hand and out in the open, he scrambles quickly to his feet only to freeze in horror upon standing up.

He was clutching the severed hand of his mother; the severed end still bleeding but badly torn from the limb. With wide opened eyes, he turns to look at his mother. Her left arm bleeding from where the hand was, she was bubbling at the mouth and mildly jerking her body. Now her eyes had become mix of red and green, and she was now jerking in a stooping position. She had been infected.

“Mother!” shouted Rei.

“Thank you, R-Rei.” Ariadne started stuttering. “Y-you promi-mised.” Tears mingled with blood and pus ran down her cheeks as she starts walking painfully backwards away from Rei.

Still clutching the severed hand, Rei starts to run to his mother, but then a mechanical arm clamps painfully down on his right shoulder. A hail of bullets suddenly tears his mother apart, but he sees her still trying to get away from him. Moments then, a bullet hits her left eye and it explodes, but a mutated replacement suddenly grows out from the wound, still letting out tears.

Repeatedly shouting and trying to get away from the mechanical arm, he sees several Soldat move simultaneously into position in front of him. He keeps shouting and letting tears out, but his voice and tears fall muted within the gunshots. A Soldat solider finally uses a flamethrower and lights up what was left of his mother.

He finally got himself free from the person holding him, but he was too late. The last thing he saw from the gaps between the Soldat formations were his mother’s lips, smiling, mouthing the words “I love you.”

Section 5

Rei continued shouting for his mother, but then a new hand came upon his right shoulder.

“Rei.” The voice called out.

He was still crying out to his burning mother.

“Rei!” the voice called out louder, and the hand jerking his shoulder woke him up.

Rei’s eyes opened while he drew sharp breaths. He was sweating profusely despite the coldness of the room. He tried to calm down as his eyes adapted to the darkness of the room. He looked to his right only to see his wife, Nelumbi, anxiously looking at him.

“Calm down Rei.” Nelumbi told her husband as she placed an arm around him and held him close. “It’s okay now.” Nelumbi rubbed his naked chest to calm him down. “Was it your mother again?” she asked, looking up to his face.

Her husband only nods, still breathing hard. Rei rubs his face with his left hand and takes a deep long breath. He gradually slows down his breathing and looks lovingly towards the naked body clinging to his side. He presses his lips together as he runs his hand on her back and sighs.

“Sorry about that.” Rei finally spoke with a hint of embarrassment.

“I’m fine. It’s you I’m worried about.” Nelumbi speaks with her eyes looking away. “It’s happening again. You’ve gradually stopped having these dreams a few years ago, but recently they’ve come up again. Is there anything bothering you?” She looks up to question him again.

“Well,” Rei jokingly replies, “aside from us losing this war and the NanoScour still roaming out there, I guess nothing much. Hahah-” Rei’s laugh cut short by the disapproving look his wife shot him. He sighs, closes his eyes, and looks at her again. “I don’t know, Nel. I don’t know. Recently I’ve been feeling off, and I just can’t explain why.” Rei tapers off with a sad tone.

“Is it because we still have no children?” Nelumbi asks painfully, her eyes getting watery.

Alarmed, Rei suddenly raises his position on the bed and embraces his wife. “No. No! It’s not about you, or, that. I’m perfectly fine with us. Having children would be great, and I know one will come in time.” Rei smells the hair of his wife, “It’s just, I don’t know, I have a bad feeling something bad is going to happen, and I’m going to be alone again. I guess. I don’t know. I’m actually afraid, of something.”

Nelumbi wiping her eyes and smiling, jokes in turn, “You, afraid? A Mikado prince and the great scourge of university students?”

It was Rei’s turn to shoot a disdainful look. “I told you, I’m no prince, though admittedly some students do hate me.” Rei chuckles. “I guess I took that after the old man.” Rei pauses as he remembers something, “By the way Nel, I forgot to tell you earlier since I found you already, uhm, well, naked, but Dad is missing. Someone smuggled him out secretly from one of his government projects.”

Nelumbi, accustomed to hearing that Doctor Richter always had trips on his own asked, “Are you sure? Isn’t it just one of your Dad’s peculiar wanderings around? I know he likes to take a stroll from time to time away from his projects. Didn’t he always contact you whenever he went on his walks?”

“That’s the point. Psyche suddenly showed up in my class an-”

“Psyche?!” Nelumbi suddenly pouted and turned away from her husband, “What were you doing with Psyche in school?”

Rei slapped his own face mildly and cursed himself for blurting out his ex-fiancé’s name, which was taboo in Nelumbi’s presence. “Nel…” Rei coaxed his wife, “She was there with the Prime Minister.”

“You got the Prime Minister too?! How far are you going this time?” Nelumbi asks angrily.

“What do you mean by ‘this time’? There has never been a ‘time’.” Rei rises to faun over his wife while rolling his eyes. “And did you hear what I said earlier? Dad is missing. And the Prime Minister herself came to tell me.”

“Mmm-kay.” came the response from Nelumbi, apparently curious but adamant to give in.

“That’s the hard part; they want me to continue his current project. The Prime Minister came to have me work on the project instead. Apparently, Dad was continuing the project on the Void Gates we did before. But if I remember correctly, the void gate project I did with Dad back then was just a continuation of an older, abandoned project.” Rei’s brows met as he tries to remember, “We abandoned it also after…” Rei paused.

“After what?” Rei’s wife apparently curious but still turned away. Rei merely admired the lithe outline of her body with his hand.

“…after the Trade Union bought it for a high price. We handed over the research data to the Trade Union at the time, but Dad never told me why he sold the research. It was actually an exciting project, but I never did understand why he gave it up that easily. In my opinion, he was pressured into doing so, but that’s just me.” He shrugs his shoulders as he rubs his wife’s shoulders.”

Section 6

“This is Viviane Trinidad. She’ll be in charge of your security from now on.” Beamed an older officer as she patted the stiff standing woman on the shoulder. “Unfortunately with Dr. Richter, we did not apply the same security measures. We apologize for the inconvenience, but Officer Trinidad here will be following your ass all over the base from now on.” Rei looked at the sturdy yet slim woman and caught a quick wink from her. Rei reeled back a little but then watched as the older officer patted the shoulder of the woman with his hand.

Rei immediately recognized the metallic appendages.

The silver-haired man noticed Rei’s apprehension and spoke, “Yes, my prince, it is I Osiris. I grieve for your mother, for her family was a patron of mine.” And Osisris bowed.

“No,” Rei intervened, “I should be grateful to you for saving my life.” Rei maintaining etiquette and stifling his anger towards the man who burned his mother.

Osiris still bowing, “My prince, I can never replace a mother, but with all my heart, I loved your father as a son. Please allow me the honor of serving you also.”

Rei wavered for a moment and spoke after exhaling in defeat. “General Osiris, please lift your head. I am no prince, I am merely a scientist in your care. All I ask is you locate my father, Doctor Richter.”

With all surprising zeal, Osiris suddenly stood straight and shook the hand of Rei. “Hahahahaha! I see you haven’t changed!.” Osiris kept laughing, “When I first had words with you, you had the same cold stature you had, even as a child, even after…” Osiris faltered for a moment, “even after what happened.”

Osiris then slapped the woman’s back and walked away. “Officer Trinidad will show you to your labs Professor. Please excuse me, I have eggheads to kill.” And they watched as the old man walk away with a small jig.

After a few awkward moments with the woman still standing still, Rei was first to talk. “Uhm, at ease?” Rei new that the Soldat had strict discipline.

Officer Trinidad immediately slouched and exhaled deeply. “Oh my god, thank you, Rei. That old perv was getting on my nerves!.” She stretched her back and hands then started walking towards a long corridor. She turns back quickly, “Well come on Rei, work! Work!”

Rei whispered to himself, “Huh? ‘Work! Work!’ Where have I heard that before?” but then he realized that he was falling long behind and sped up to catch Officer Trinidad.

After a long walk accompanied by Officer Trinidad’s humming, Rei finally came upon a set of large blast doors. Rei was bewildered and asked the woman “I thought you were bringing me to the labs? What’s this? A nuclear bunker?”

“Yes and yes.” Officer Trinidad spoke. “We outfitted the latest nuclear bunker with your father’s research equipment.”

“And why would you do that? Void Gates are unstable, but hardly a weapon of mass destruction, Officer Trinidad.” Rei almost hysterically asked.

“I guess you don’t know yet huh? We’ve cordoned off all physical and information access to it.” Said Officer Trinidad while innocently looking at the ceiling.

“Know what? You drag me into this place and tell me nothing. Actually, I don’t know how far father has furthered his research. But that’s my business. What’s with the blast doors?” Rei was now obstinately curious.

“Well,” Officer Trinindad started, “ the eggheads have now learned how to make and use nukes.”

“What?!” Rei exclaimed

“And the eggheads nuked Yamata.”

“WHAT?!” Rei exclaimed further.

“And the Royal couple is dead, while Prince Derald ran away into hiding, and Prime Minister Viktoria is the current regent. And the eggheads seems to be looking for our void gate testing sites. So that’s why we have nuclear blast doors for you.” Officer Trinidad finished.

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAAT?!” Rei was shouting. “The Empire Capital is gone, there has been a change in the government and the Anima have weapons of mass destruction are looking for this place, and you don’t tell me?” Rei took a moment to regain himself. “Wait, wait, shouldn’t you guys tell the nobles and the masses about this?”

“Uhm, nope.” Officer Trinidad answered. Rei gave an exasperated sigh. “Well there is one thing you should know.”

Rei, now hesitant to know any further truths from the Soldat, still spoke “What now?”

“Please call me Vivi, like you used to before. Heehee.” And Officer Trinidad winked and blushed at Rei.

Rei’s jaw dropped and merely uttered, “What?”

Section 7

“Nel’s going to kill me if she hears about this…” Rei thought.

Officer Trinidad, or Vivi from his childhood, was apparently a girl. Moreso, a cute well-built girl who keeps on winking at him whenever given the chance. Add to that, Psyche, his spy ex-fiancé, is part of the Soldat detail in his research lab.

Psyche would lovingly rub her body on Rei whenever she came and Vivi would scold her “for security purposes”. The worst came when Medea, Psyche’s tall sister came as part of Viktoria’s security detail one day. Without thought, Medea just started clinging to Rei just like Psyche.

Rei was already having a headache as he was having problems concentrating, but then, then Prime Minister Regent had to do a visit.

“Mister Newman, I see that you’re enjoying your new post.” Sarcasm from Viktoria.

“Professor.” Rei pointed out his distinguished title. “ And no, I am not enjoying myself.”

“Come on kiddo! Two girls clinging to you shouldn’t be that bad eh?” beamed Medea as she placed her bosom on his head as she hugged him. Psyche merely rubbed her own bosom on his arms and shot a teasing look towards Vivi.

“Hardly, Commander Hemlocke. Well both of you Commanders.” Rei paused to ponder “Both of you are high ranking officials yet you act this way in front of your superior.”

Viktoria stepped forward. “I give them some leeway when it comes to you, Professor. I know your history together. Besides, we’re practically family, my Prince.” She smiled. “ In truth, in another time and place, I could have been your mother.”

The notion did not surprise Rei, rather, he merely shot the Prime Minister a grim look. She shook off the two Hemlocke sisters and took to some papers on his desk. After a moment, he compile several paperwork into a single container and handed them over to the Prime Minister.

“Here.” Rei merely said.

Viktoria opened the container of papers and motioned the sisters to back down. The sisters did so with a whimper and a flying kiss to Rei. Rei merely rolled his eyes. Vivi then tried to inch her way into his side, but Rei merely looked at her and she sped away to her post.

“Is this supposed to be a joke?” Viktoria almost shouted after reading the papers.

“Have you known me to do so?” replied Rei.

“No, you’re much the opposite of that old fart. But this, this, this is unacceptable.”

Rei gave her another set of papers. Rei spoke as she poured over them. “The void gates only allow inorganic materials to pass through. Interference will fry anything organic.”

“I can read that.”

“Yes you can. But the problem with it is that none of our current suit technology can keep up with the energy output requirements for the designs me and my father made for passing thru the gates. We need something more cohesive, compact and efficient in protecting its wearer.”

Viktoria slammed the papers on a table near her. “And this is what you propose? Do you know the implications and risks this new design will means?”

“Quite frankly, yes.” Rei replied. “We’ll be using nanoscour skin.”

Section 8

“The NanoScourge infection started off as a benign cure for a disease that was plaguing mankind for centuries. Developed by Doctor Typhus Nacht in 2204, it was a viral agent developed using nanotechnology that manipulates cancer cells into healthy cells.

The nanovirus was programmed to make use of any materials it could to cure the diseases and to ensure the survivability of its host. Just ten years later, after several years of testing on serious cancer cases like small-cell carcinoma, brain cancer and colon cancer, it got approved for general use. It proved to be very effective and basically cured cancer for mankind, up until the point that it thought for itself.

Cancer cells are theoretically immortal. That fact and the meeting between the nanovirus and a particular strain of Human Papillomavirus or HPV16 gave birth to the first nanoscour. The nanovirus had simply spread as fast as any STD but only mutated its host slowly over decades with respect to the stress its host body takes. Body builders would gain more body mass, office workers gained better eyesight and the list went on.

Unfortunately, the mutations gradually became faster and faster as people let the growths go unchecked. And in the end, the mutations grew more and more grotesque, turning people into monsters with bullet proof skin and shock resistant organs.” Rei finally turned off his presentation and returned the lights in the room.

“And you’re making us wear their skin? Am I right?” Asked a large soldier in front of the audience.

“Simply speaking, yes, uhhh, Sergeant…” Rei trailed off

“Kargadan. Sergeant Azimov Kargadan.” And the soldier stood up. Rei merely motioned his hands noting that standing up was unnecessary.

“This was part of a separate project that my father and I started a long time ago. It did not sit well with the scientific community, as you may well infer. So we had to stop the project. That, and the lack of materials and volunteers. But we were able to suit up a hamster.”

“A hamster. A small hamster? And you want us to wear that?” Prime Minister Viktoria beamed.

“Yes.” Rei replied.

“Wait! Is, is that little Joey? My missing hamster?” Psyche stood up.

“Yes. I had no live specimens at the moment and the timing was right.” Rei smiled a little. Psyche merely sat down and blew air thru her nose. “Don’t worry, he’s still alive.”

Psyche stood up again, this time in surprise. “What? That was when we, uhh, I meant, that was more than seven years ago. How is he alive?”

“Alive and jumping around.” Rei smiled widely now. “The suit has extended his life. He now jumps one and a half meters straight in the air and is resistant to being stepped on. He’s actually my wife’s pet now at home.” Psyche merely sat down with a thump and muttered curses.

“Well that’s all well and good, but we need soldiers on the field, Professor.” Said Viktoria as she motioned for Psyche to calm down.

“I see no problem with that. We’ll just strap the suits we made on the Soldat.” Rei smiled sarcastically this time.

Kargadan stood up. “I’m sorry, but I have no intention of putting up my men as lab rats for this man.” He then made a bowing gesture towards Osiris and Viktoria then went on his way.

“You don’t need to. We’ve tested them. We’ve tested them for years.” Rei spoke to stop the man from leaving. Kargadan stopped in his tracks and face the man.

“Do you mean you’ve been experimenting on Soldat all this time?” Kargadan rushed and grabbed the collars of Rei’s lab coat. “You put those disgusting things on our men?”

“No.” Rei grabs Kargadan by his arms and overpowers him. He takes off his gloves and labcoat to reveal a white gray suit hugging his body. “By saying ‘we’, I meant ‘I’. I’ve tested and used the skin on several times. I call it NightSkin, named after Dr. Nacht.” And Rei attempts to jump straight up, surprising the audience, only to crash and get himself stuck on the high ceiling of the large meeting hall.

Viktoria rubs her face and speaks, “Yep, hamsters.” Osiris’ laughter fills the hall as the Soldat, especially Vivi, Psyche and Medea, rush to Rei’s aid.