Point-of-View: Selesa Jeule
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I was practically holding my breath the whole walk back to my room, trying to keep myself together. The moment I reached my room, I entered it and locked the door behind me, collapsing onto the bed as my body broke out into a cold sweat and began trembling all over, my breathing ragged and shallow.
"Wh-what the hell...I-I thought I'd b-be able to handle this a lot better, and h-here I am, shaking like a leaf," I muttered to myself, unable to stop shivering.
It took me a while to calm down and regain my composure, burying my face into the pillow with a sigh as my heart rate slowly got back to normal. I can't let this overwhelm me...I can do this, I'll...I'll just have to get used to it.
It's almost time for me meet Les, I should get going to the Pawn Tier area. As I made my way through the gates, I noticed that the guards were once again staring at me...now that I think about it, I hadn't seen many other lapdogs visit the Pawn Tier area, and I doubt any did so frequently. This was my third time in five days, and they had clearly noticed.
Hm...better make this the last time we rendezvous before we leave, and if my past visits turn out to be a problem, I'll just say that I've been looking for a slave or something.
Uhh, it's kinda hard to focus...all those screams and all that blood, it was all fresh in my mind. I need to pull myself together, what had happened today was likely to happen for the next two or more days...and I can't afford to keep losing my mind over it. The three researchers didn't seem to have noticed my nervous demeanor thanks to being completely engrossed in their own test subjects, but I can't keep relying on that, I'll end up blowing my cover in no time.
After I met with Les, I told him that this should be the last time we meet before leaving. After that, I informed him of my progress over the last couple of days.
And I got an unexpected yet very pleasant surprise...
He hugged me! He hadn't voluntarily hugged me since he was like, seven or eight! Oh, fuck yeah, I'm totally revitalized now...I CAN DO THIS!
...
The experiment went on for three more days, before finally concluding on the ninth day of the infiltration, and I was mentally worn out. Over the past four days, I had tortured nine test subjects, seven of them dying and the two survivors were psychologically broken beyond repair.
The assignment concluded as a failure, with a different group of researchers assigned to take over from these three. They had killed nearly all the test subjects but had failed to find a torture method that would be sufficiently effective for interrogation.
Dr Guyen was pretty unhappy about that, he had gotten the closest to accomplishing the objective of the assignment, Dr Matist had come up with a few effective methods too, but as for Dr Lehosa, he just had fun tearing his test subjects apart with torture tools. I hadn't been very effective either, but since I was just a lapdog and lab assistant, not much was expected of me.
"Absolutely useless, I shall certainly be putting in a word regarding your lack of dedication, Lehosa," Snapped Dr Guyen with a look of frustration, heading out the lab with a click of his tongue.
"Old bastard...," Lehosa growled as he left, before turning to me, "Hey, lapdog bitch, get me some water."
"O-oh, er...forgive me, doctor, but Dr Guyen forbade me from assisting you in any way, and he does outrank you, so I- agh!" I began, before he cut me off by grabbing me by the throat and slamming me against the wall.
Crap...
"Don't you fucking talk to me in that manner! I'm better than you, I rank higher than you, I'm more important than you! You bitch, I'll kill you!"
W-woah, this guy had a serious superiority complex...I'm guess someone put him in his place in the past and that messed him up.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you, you know that wasting manpower without just cause is forbidden, especially someone in a relatively significant role," Chimed in Dista Matist, as she absent-mindedly mixed up some chemicals.
He loosened his grip slightly with a frown, before turning his attention to his box of torture tools. Oh, no...
He took out the fingernail ripper and held me down, before inserting my right index finger into it. I began to resist, but he immediately tightened his grip on my throat.
"Don't you dare resist, you bitch!" He snarled, before slamming down on the tool and ripping off my nail.
I let out a shriek of pain as a sharp sting went through my finger, while he stared down at me with an amused look.
"Now, then...let us move on to the next finger!"
He ripped off my right middle fingernail next, my scream of pain definitely giving him pleasure. My fingers both hurt like crazy and felt numb at the same time. I began trembling, as he began to move on to my ring finger and inserted it into the tool...
Before he could rip off the nail, the door suddenly opened, and two men walked in. One was Dr Guyen, and the other was a man wearing a white coat...according to Kuro, the ones wearing coats were the members of the Retribution Tier. From what I'd seen, the researchers wore labcoats while the pawns and lapdogs wore robes...huh, I wonder what their leader wears.
He had dark brown hair that was combed to the right, with the sides and back trimmed off, with piercing green eyes and a neat stubble. Lehosa froze in fear and let me go, standing up hurriedly and bowing to him.
"Sir Sicario, it is an honor to see you!" He greeted, trembling slightly.
...fucking kiss-ass. Huh, even that Dista woman was bowing before him with fear in her eyes. On another note...ow, my fingers hurt like pig dicks dipped in lava right now.
"What is going on here?" He responded with a raised eye, staring at me.
Wait, was that...an Italian accent? The people in this world didn't really have any particular or distinct accents, and considering that English was the only language in this world, it stood to reason that second-language accents simply wouldn't exist. That can only mean that this guy had his old memories.
Nobody said a word, I certainly didn't, as the tension in the room began to rise. This Sicario dude had some serious presence.
"I believe I can surmise what has happened here, Sir Sicario, if I may," Dr Guyen finally broke the silence.
"Amusing, let me hear your deduction, we shall confirm its accuracy by asking your assistant if you got it right."
"You see, I forbade my assistant from assisting Dr Arg Lehosa here, and due to his lack of dedication to the assignment, I did reprimand him, I believe he was taking out his frustrations on my assistant," He theorized.
Woah, that was basically exactly what happened. How did he...actually, on second thought, it was kinda obvious. Uhh, I don't know, it's hard to think right now, my right hand was throbbing with pain, blood dripping down off of my nailless fingers onto the ground.
"Well, is that correct, girl?" Sicario asked me.
Okay, I should probably address him as 'sir'.
"Y-yes, sir, that is pretty much exactly what happened."
The next half hour or so was a nerve-wracking time, as Sicario informed us that our next assignment would be in Lab 25, and was currently the main project that The Empire was working on. Lehosa was scrapped from that and was instead assigned to a different, and much more minor, project instead. It was kinda hard to pay attention though, my hand was killing me.
"Do not worry about being under-staffed, I shall assign another researcher to the project as well. Now, I must be going, I have the Lapdog Elite Squad training camp to attend to," He remarked, heading out with a nod.
As soon as he left, it felt like a weight was lifted, everyone had been so tense while he was here.
"Retya, you may go to Lab 19 and request a healing Spell Card, give whoever is in it this if they ask you anything," Said Dr Guyen, scribbling something on a scrap of paper and handing it to me.
"O-oh, uh...thank you, doctor, I am humbled and grateful for your kindness," I replied...maybe I laid it on a bit too thick there?
"An assistant cannot perform her duties with an injured hand, it is as simple as that."
Huh, he wasn't being tsundere, he definitely meant what he said, he stated it pretty bluntly and indifferently. Anyway, I should go get this healed already, it stings like a fucking bitch...
...
After I got that taken care of, getting a good look at the Spell Cards as I did, I headed back to my room. Talk about convenient, especially compared to the bulkier Spell Scrolls I was used to. My finger was still a bit sore, the spell had stopped the bleeding and healed the skin, but it's not like it grew back my ripped off fingernail.
Damn it, that bastard Lehosa, if it wasn't for the fact that I was on an undercover mission, I would have shredded that fucking arrogant pile of cum-glazed shit...!
...chill the fuck out, I can't let myself get too emotional. I knew from the start that this mission was gonna be rough, but even so, this was fucking ROUGH.
I had to say though, from what I've seen so far, it didn't look like they're in any hurry to attack any of the allied nations of Silvland, Bronztan or the Rustlands. Right now, they just seemed to be focusing on preparation. Even when I went down to the gun production chamber, they seemed pretty relaxed and easygoing, there was no sense of rush or urgency.
The mission was still a difficult one though, the people in this place are totally heartless. And the ones I was working it were especially so. I mean, I got a fingernail ripped off even though I didn't do anything wrong, for fucks sake! Well, I suppose it has helped prepare me for the last five days, if nothing else.
Whatever we were going to be working on in Lab 25, it surely couldn't be worse than the last few days...right?
Little did I know, that I was in for an absolutely shocking surprise in Lab 25...
...
Well, this is annoying...I had arrived in front of Lab 25 half an hour early, but it was locked. It was now the tenth day since infiltration began, and while I had found out some useful information, it wasn't nearly enough.
Let's see, there was the poison stuff and the gun manufacturing, I had begun to look into Spell Cards but decided to abandon that lead after I found out that Kuro was pursuing it too. What else...the torture methods and human experimentation were quite fresh in my mind, I certainly won't be forgetting any of the details regarding that anytime soon. The freaking voodoo doll in particular was hard to forget.
And from everything I had found out, it was safe to assume that an attack from The Empire was a long way away, they certainly were in no rush. In which case, it might not be a bad idea to attack them while they're still in the middle of preparations. That's not for me to decide though. So, yeah...that's the extent of my investigation over the past nine days.
And now, here I was, standing outside the lab where the next assignment that I'd be part of would take place, waiting for someone to come and open the door.
A few minutes later, a man in his late-fifties or early-sixties arrived, with gray hair, a thick mustache and really creepy eyes. They looked like bug eyes, it was really weird. Could he even see normally with those? He glanced at me as he approached the door, I quickly bowed respectfully as he did.
"Hm, you must be Balat's lapdog assistant, yes?"
Huh, who-?...oh, right, Dr Guyen's first name.
"Yes, doctor, that is correct. I am Retya Posmer," I replied.
He didn't seem to care, losing interest and staring at the door.
"Still locked, I see...perhaps I ought to have arrived a bit later," He murmured with a slight sigh.
Well...this is awkward. Thankfully, not long after that, Dr Guyen arrived...but he didn't have the key either.
"Perhaps Dista has the key...if so, how dare she be late-!"
"Not to worry, Dr Guyen...I have the key," Came a voice from behind him, causing him to stiffen up.
It was that Sicario guy, and as soon as they realized it was him, both doctors quickly bowed, as did I. Dr Matist then arrived as he began to unlock the door, a nervous look on her face when she saw him. She quickly limped forward, using a wooden cane as support.
"Dista, you should know better than to keep Sir Sicario waiting!" Snapped Dr Guyen.
Dude, you just got here yourself like five seconds before he did.
"N-no, that wasn't my intention-!"
"At ease. Regardless of rank, I would not have wanted to keep a cripple waiting on me. It is a trivial matter, so do not worry about it. Let us go in, I believe it will take some time for you all to process what is inside here."
That, uh...sounded kinda ominous. I felt my heart begin to pound as I followed in after them. What was in there? More human experimentation? Something even worse?
As they switched on the Light Crystals in the room, my eyes widened in shock, and I just barely stopped myself from gasping in surprise.
No. Fucking. Way...
"Woah, what are those things?" Dr Matist inquired with curiosity and intrigue.
"I have never seen anything like these...are they a type of monster?" Added Dr Guyen.
Nope, those were...
"I cannot believe my eyes...so they aren't extinct in this world?" Remarked the doctor with the creepy big eyes.
Okay, so this guy definitely had retained his memories from his previous life.
"Indeed, these animals were discovered under Platinberg about half a century ago," Sicario explained, a glint in his eyes, "Quite a sight, aren't they?"
"Under?" I blurted out before I could stop myself, "O-oh, er, forgive me, sir! It's not my place to-."
"There is nothing wrong with a little curiosity. I shall explain. A hidden cave entrance was discovered in Platinberg fifty years ago, leading a few miles down, into a vast underground space that is lit up by glowing stalactites, the spikes that hang down from cave ceilings. And I do mean vast, the underground space spreads out under more than half of Platinberg and then keeps spreading out further north of Platinberg, extending past the sea to the north of the nation, before ending a few miles short of the south of the Rustlands, somewhere under the Death Zone-infested toxic desert wasteland to the south of the Rustlands. In other words, the area of this underground space is bigger than any of the nations. Anyway, the residents of Platinberg discovered this space after going down the hidden entrance, finding that it is filled with these dangerous reptiles...these are called dinosaurs."
Holy fucking sweet baby Jesus, dinos exist in this world!? Huh, but then...
"Um, sir...if these are animals, does that mean some people have these 'dinosaurs' as their Animas?" I asked curiously.
"Mm, good question. The answer is yes, a few Platinberg Adventurers do...since no other country seems to have anyone with a dinosaur Anima, perhaps it is not possible to get an Anima of an animal that you yourself do not know exists. Sometimes the type of animals you are around as a child, or an animal you find a great interest in, can influence your Anima when it manifests. Platinberg has kept the existence of dinosaurs a secret from the other nations for some reason, even we of The Empire didn't find out till about five years ago. Of course, thanks to some of us having the memories of our previous lives, we were already aware of what these animals are."
Woah, wait a sec...he just spoke about the subject of past memories and nothing happened. This one time I tried telling Les about my reincarnation, and that creepy-voice and bright light showed up and told me that's taboo. So, what gives?
"Indeed, like you, sir, I too have my past memories. Seeing dinosaurs in the flesh is a truly fascinating," Remarked the bug-eyed old man.
"Ah, you as well? True, these creatures were long extinct in my old world, so seeing them here is quite an experience," Agreed Sicario with a nod.
I had to agree too, this was kinda cool, except for the fact that I was in enemy territory...and I was just noticing that this room was soundproofed, well that explains why I hadn't heard any roars or anything. They looked almost just like they do in the movies, except that they had a few feathers in certain areas...as for how they sounded, let's just say that Jurrasic Park got it right in that regard.
There were about eight dinos in here, in cages. There were some other animals too...oh, yeah, Les told me that they were capturing wild animals. I think one was a velociraptor, it had those hooked claws on each foot...and that one's a pterodactyl, I think...I don't know the names of the other ones, they were all smaller species of dinosaurs. I knew the names of some of the well-known ones, but not the more obscure ones.
As for animals, there was a crocodile, cheetah, hyena and a python.
"Now, then...let me explain your assignment. First, you will extract Anima Orbs from these animals, and then...you will inject them with Dark Magic. You will receive a batch of human subjects later today, insert the Anima Orbs into them after extracting their existing one. Any questions?"
"If I may, sir...what is an Anima Orb?" Inquired Dr Matist neevously.
Oh, thank God, I really didn't want to be the one to ask.
"Very well, I shall explain in detail, so pay close attention. When I reincarnated in this world, I was quite curious about the difference in the human bodies of this world and my old one, thus joined the Magic Research Group and began creating spells to find out. It took a lot of trial and error, but I eventually ended up creating a spell that, when activated on a person, would extract a purple orb from their bodies, and remove their Anima from their body as a result. Interestingly, a person with a removed Anima cannot use their magic anymore. Of course, that is assuming they survive...there is a ten percent chance of the subject surviving the extraction procedure spell. And if they do survive...you can use the spell on an animal to extract an Anima Orb from them. Interestingly, an animal will not die no matter how many times you use the spell on them, after about a hundred times they will show signs of drowsiness, that is the extent of the side effects to animals. After you have successfully extracted a person's Anima Orb, it'll dissipate after about half an hour, though the ones extracted from animals do not disappear. If the person survives the extraction, you can then insert one of the orbs you extracted from an animal, though the subject will only have a five percent chance of surviving the implanting procedure. Implanting an Anima Orb is simple, if you press it against the bare skin of a person who had his or her original Anima extracted, their body will automatically absorb the new orb into itself. Of course, even if the subject survives all of it, there is every chance that they will not be any stronger than the were before, so this project is admittedly rather...wishful. Now, then, I really must be on my way, I need to observe how the Lapdog Elite Squad training camp is going," He turned around and left after finishing his detailed explanation.
...woah. This was big.
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