Volume 7 : Chapter – 6 : THE GIRL WITH A MISSING HEART (2)

THE LABORATORY

The Doctor watched the whole scene unfold on a blue flash Magitite screen broadcasted from the containment chamber where Alicia had captured the homunculi girl in her strange magical webs.

Alicia had successfully apprehended the homunculi girl and the Doctor could not let that happen since that would go against his ideals.

Ultimately he decided to show up himself and take charge of events from there. His research was still in work and he could not let the word of this get out after the breakthrough he had made with the girl.

“I can’t believe a mere childish girl would take down all the chimeras I had prepared. Either way, I wanted them to be disposed of. It is an irrefutable truth that the old and defective need to be destroyed and replaced by that which is new and perfect. But I want to know this are you an S-rank adventurer sent by the Adventurer’s guild? Or perhaps seeing your excellent control over magic an imperial court’s mage. But those ranks will still not be enough for you to defy my ultimate creation.”

Alicia simply looked in the Doctor’s direction without answering his questions.

“Who are you? Are you the one who brainwashed her?” Regis seeing her chance could not stop herself from being impulsive.

“That’s correct.” The Doctor looked at her and without any hesitation accepted all of his crimes in a single confession.

“How could you do such a thing? How can you pretend that nothing of this is wrong and insane.” Regis screams at the Doctor.

“Even if that is true there would be nothing to worry about once I have achieved my goal. I will release all humans from the premise of death and taking pity on you I promise I would inculcate you in my research as perfect magical material once I take you down.”

The doctor laughs and on the command of his fingers running over a display remote, hundreds of laser launcher devices eject out of the wall. Surrounding them from all three sides and taking aim on Regis and Alicia with an intense burning destructive red light about to eject out.

Regis quickly pulls the string on her bow and instantly releases the string several magical arrows launch at accelerating speed with a trail of sharp hazy red light. A single strike on the wall and most of the laser canons explode while others get demolished in the successive explosions.

Regis did not like the Doctor’s attitude toward them at all. As a result, her nerves were twice as on edge as normal.

“I would never want to become any of those ugly creatures you call chimeras and I will never forgive you for any of this…”

“That’s right. I am a villain, after all.” Expressionless, the Doctor took a step forward.

“Does this balance I am so eager to bring upset you despite its ubiquity throughout nature? All life is subject to selection. The most capable monopolizes power and resources. There are valuable people who contribute to progress and there are the worthless ones who serve no purpose. A system is built around to accommodate all such people. But once all that crumbles there will be suffering everywhere.”

“I don’t believe in such things.” Regis sternly disagrees. She was of a straight mind and only listened of her own.

“Tell me this haven’t you yourself ever tried to prove your worth to prevent yourself from feeling worthless or incapable?" The Doctor obtusely looks at Regis waiting for her response as if he had already read through her.

“That is… it can’t be… True.”

“I think I am right there. It’s nothing to be ashamed about. You knew on an instinctual level that you had to fight your way to survive… for that is the truth of this world. But my creations are perfect and they need no instincts of survival to thrive in this world. Everyone will have equal power, strength, and happiness.”

Regis who was until then staunch and confident starts hesitating.

“I guess your friend here might think differently. She seems to know a lot about magic and her strange magic spells are intriguing nonetheless. Surely she would understand that such a future is what we should all aim for.” The Doctor felt an ecstatic chill run down his spine for demonstrating his true purpose. Even Erebus was not aware of his final plan.

Regis and the Doctor turn to the third person in the room quietly watching the homunculi girl still resisting the restraints around her like a wild animal and without any sense... Without recognizing the people around her, she felt alone.

‘I know Alicia is not obedient or charming enough to take any of this lying down.’ Regis thought to herself as she looked at her with hopeful eyes.

“⸺I totally agree,” Alicia whispers without looking at the two.

“Alicia you can’t be serious. This is no time to joke around.” Regis's face color fades completely.

“If we are in complete agreement then there is no need to fight if you understand the significance of this extraordinary project. For defeating my chimeras you are more than capable enough. I welcome you with open arms and you can then ascend into the perfect future which I will build.” The Doctor extends a hand acknowledging they were on similar terms.

Alicia turns around with a mute face. The Doctor could not tell what she was thinking with the mask on her face and neither could read her body language.

“There is only one future I ever look forward to. Every moment, every second is so precious and dear to me… I know what in this world is most important to me and I want nothing more. I am going to find her no matter what… And I am alive in this world for that one reason only.”

“⸺Alicia.” Regis wondered why did Alicia felt that strong for the person they were searching for.

“The future that I desire is the one that exists right here.” Suddenly there’s a change in Alicia’s voice as it turns a bit antagonistic. “And I regret wasting any of my time fighting against someone despicable like you.”

Alicia’s demeanor changed, even Regis could not tell whether she was feeling angry or sad with her voice.

“Why do you go against my plans if you know there is no shred of salvation waiting for anyone at the approaching end of this world.” The Doctor bellyaches.

“I will do what I like and I will remove anything in my path that hinders me. That’s what I have learned in the depths of the abyss.” Alicia made her final stand as she stared coldly at the Doctor. Her eyes glow faintly red, her magic potential reaching its limits and started seeping from her silhouette.

The Doctor had realized that she was someone from an unknown origin making it this far here, which should not have been possible for an ordinary person. She was neither a hero nor someone special with a legendary title.

“I see. I am of a strong mind and intent that uncertainties and unstable factors in life like you must be quickly dealt with. Finally when all my research work is coming through... no, I am the one that is finally making it. And that’s why I will not let you or anyone trample over it anymore.”

For the moment the Doctor seems to be preparing something and before the thought of stopping him could either pass through Regis’s and Alicia’s minds.

A strange cacophony of moving machinery produces from the backside of the shady laboratory and then it suddenly stops except for the slithering sound of some water flowing through the underground pipes ending with the blop sound of bursting bubbles.

“Ahhhhh!” An anguished scream from the captured girl caught Alicia’s and Regis’s attention.

“What’s happening to her?” Regis worriedly asks when the homunculi girl cries in pain.

Something that was happening inside there was causing the girl agony.

“It seems that she is resisting the orders from the System to hand over her authority. If it hurts so much then why don’t you just give up?” The Doctor looks at her with condescending eyes.

“I …wan..to know…mo, agh!!!” The homunculi girl tries to speak something. “Aahh... agh, gya, GAAAAAAAHH!!” The pain finally reaches her brain and she screams more fiercely than before.

The horrifying shrieks from the homunculi girl finally stop too while the two girls did not know what was going to happen next.

“Behold…. Witness the completion of what I’ve long desired. The birth of the most advanced and perfect race that will eventually replace this forsaken humanity.”

[IMPERIAL ORDINANCE SYSTEM. Initializing Awakening. Beginning Evolution. Stability: Maximum Output Exceeded. Life Source: Unable To Verify. Code Name: Eabhloid. Authority: !#*#??]

Jets of steam fire from a pod as a green radiance surrounds the place. Strong unbelievable magical outputs coming from a singular pod made Alicia a bit worried.

THUMP….CRAAA…CRACK.

With a single thrust, the magitite glass breaks into shards and falls off.

The pod was at a large distance from Regis and Alicia but the huge shape of the figure that emerged out from there could not be concealed so easily.

“What the...?” Regis is speechless. She continues to murmur in disbelief at the huge hideous creature that twisted and writhed as it advanced with loud, clattering footsteps.

“It has no face.” Regis gasps in disbelief.

Its skin is peeled back and something that shouldn’t be there was there. It could probably be called a spiral of meat placed as its head. It had neither eyes, nor mouth or ears. Everything human about it seemed to be absent.

It almost looks like a clump of intestines, and as the two girls watch, it rhythmically pulses throbs and squirms. A copious volume of blood spurts out with every pulse, dripping sloppily down its neck and staining its thick brown-skinned chest deep crimson.

Eabhloid illustration - Click here

Nothing makes sense. Everything about the creature screamed of ‘danger.’ Unlike the other chimeras, this one had a proper form and typically being anthropological.

Any normal person’s heart would take a step back in terror on seeing such a creature’s grisly body. Regis’s heart especially felt as though it was being squeezed. She clutches her chest and shrinks backward.

“W-What is this thing... I’ve never seen anything like this, Alicia!” Regis calls out to the person she cares for and felt like retreating for the moment.

The perfect spiral of flesh on its face warps into an oval. As if it’s smiling at them.

Alicia instinctively felt something strange about the creature. The Doctor had emphasized before having control over each of his creations, but this one did not retract the same restriction imposed on the homunculi girl.

“Eabhloid decapitate them. Complete your mission and return to me, your Master.” The Doctor issues an order to its brand-new creation. The perfect being he so much flaunted about.

As soon as the creature looked in the direction of the Doctor screaming its name and praising his creation its head turned and fixing the spiral back on its head, it slowly started drawing closer.

The creature suddenly raises its balled fists above its head. And above everyone’s expectation, it dashes towards the Doctor.

The monstrosity swings its fists full force into the ground it lifts itself up. For a normal person like the Doctor, such an action could only be life-threatening if he ends up getting hit by one.

“What are you doing? Listen to what I say…” the Doctor lets out a brief scream at the unpleasant thought of being attacked by his own creation.

Regis and Alicia were already surprised by the unsightly display of the beast that the Doctor had summoned. Neither of them had any reason for stopping it to bring such a fateful end to his life.

But a gale passes through them, only to realize it was the homunculi girl that reaches out for the doctor.

No matter what the reason was, the cost, or the pain she suffered. She silently stood in the path of the charging Eabhloid and the flummoxed Doctor.

Seeing the homunculi girl so out of place in this bizarre situation.  Alicia looks back with disbelief at how the girl set herself free from the restrainment webs.

A lump of flesh, a distorted set of hands, and legs remain attached to the web restraints as they slowly disintegrate into the black webs. She had freed herself by tearing away most of her body parts while living through the pain of doing so.

“But why?” She asks herself softly so no one could hear her. Even Alicia had no answer to that.

“That is not how you ought to behave?” The Doctor shrieked as he saw his doom approaching. He closes his eyes before the giant could crush his body with a single collision.

Thump.....!

Swiiiiwww…. The flesh on the creature’s flesh twists with a jerk as if it was angry.

“But why would you save me?” The same doubt clouds the Doctor’s mind.

In front of his eyes, the homunculi girl he so easily discarded without a second thought stood in front of him with a gaping hole in her abdomen. The perfected creature shrieks madly to resist her hold on its heavy hand which passed right through the middle of her body.

“I need to know… my name? ⸺⸺What am I?” the girl replies as she spews blood from her mouth. Bawling uncontrollably like a real infant crying made the Doctor hesitate in a rare moment of uncertainty.

Something landed with a wet splat right next to the girl. Unable to breathe properly, she also vomits the entire contents of her stomach.

Staring her golden shining eyes directly into the hollow pale eyes of the Doctor possessing the same color. She should have already magically started processing back her body. In an instant, she would have been fine with her illogical skill at play.

But then the creature too started acting weirdly. Its unsightly face had reshaped itself into sharp blade like protrusions and had started twisting and spiraling. It picks up the homunculi girl with its other hand and stares at her, bringing her face closer to its own.

Exuding a cold air, a golden light appears to leave the homunculi girl's body and get drained by the tentacles that had hung outward from the creature’s face. The process continues until the girl stops pushing herself out from her other hand.

With no life in her eyes, everything came to still and the tentacles recedes back licking all over its face.

“What happened to her?” Regis asks with a painful expression and confused.

“Eabhloid devoured her skill and authority. And it still looks hungry for more.” The Doctor studies the new being, Eabhloid. The perfected shape of Humanity.

“Alicia why isn’t she healing back, didn’t you say she could survive even through death.” Regis now seeks an answer from Alicia who was so sure about it.

“Her system had halted after she lost her skill and her soul realm is being torn apart.” Alicia bites her lips while she speaks. She had never encountered a being that could snatch away other's skills and devour souls in their alive state.

But even more, watching the girl tightly clutched in its hands bleeding and in a vegetative state, pained her heart.

The only reason Alicia might have been attached to the girl was that she felt they were close to each other and it was only by watching her she remembered the solidarity existence of her past life again. Unable to control her emotion this time the mask could not hold off the magic powers radiating from her body. Her eyes were burning with red and as if the creature could feel that surging energy it now turns and tilts its head at Alicia, smiling with its creepy tentacle face.

As if realizing Alicia’s pain the hideous monster looks at the homunculi girl squeezed tightly in its giant hands. It then silently stretches its gore-drenched hand and holding her body in both hands starts to twist them.

“Stop!!” Regis yells.

And at the same time, a sharp scream leaks from the spiral of the creature's head as it continues to rotate.

Regis and the Doctor unbelievably look at the place. But the homunculi girl was nowhere to be found.

The monster angrily raises its arms high in the sky and continues its screeching.

The reason was simple both its hands were cut apart and it only stopped jumping around after they reappeared and got attached magically.

The other person missing in the room was Alicia which Regis noticed just then. Her eyes follow the structure of the room only to trace her location back to one of the spare pods vertically kept in the corner of the laboratory.

Alicia after teleporting, properly rested the unconscious homunculi girl in the pod shell and closed the container. She had used her healing magic and this time it worked.

But she was now an empty shell without the skill to support her life. While saving the Doctor she was no different than an alive being but now she had gone back to becoming a doll.

“Rest for now. I will come back once I have taken care of all of this.” Alicia blankly looks at the homunculi girl, thinking whether she could still hear her not.

“Do you really think you can save her? How long do you plan on continuing to resist when it will all be meaningless.” The Doctor settles his laboratory coat and wipes the dust from his shoulder. He remembered he had his own plans and ambitions to follow. Not be sidetracked or fret over irrelevant behavior that was typical of being human-like.

“As long as she does not try to stop herself or realize who she is,” Alicia replies.

“She cannot be like other kids. She cannot laugh. She would never cry. She is incomplete. But Eabhloid is eternal. It’s the ultimate creation no one can defy now not even Gods or the System when it cannot be killed.”

“Yes she can't be normal, but that’s more the reason I won’t let her bear a great sorrow not when it’s not her fault. The hope, the despair I want her to see it all by herself.” Alicia had now made sure that the homunculi girl’s condition was stable. Her healing magic had healed her wounds and there was still the lingering effect of the skill on her body until it entirely fades. There was still time before she would be completely lost.

The creature lets out a low moan as the spiral on its face continues to rotate despite having lost its prey. It was now back to its original state and had also stolen the homunculi girl’s ability to come back to life.

Alicia charges full force toward this unknown being. In an instant, she is beside it, and on the verge of slicing through it with her wind fan, she casts wind magic.

The monster’s spiral rolls angrily toward her. Its left-hand swings down next to Alicia with incredible force and dodged Alicia’s wind slash spell only to be pushed back putting a great distance between them.

Alicia realized immediately that just like the homunculi girl the creature was learning from all her movements and won’t fall for the same attack again.

Alicia teleports back near Regis while Eabhloid still locked its sight on her.

Before the creature could lunge at her again Alicia decides to use her most effective magic against them.

[BLACK FLARE]

Great black flames reach out from her hands, as she puts no restraint this time on using her magic power. In an instant, the creature is engulfed in the glowing black.

“Did we get it?” Regis wondered as the black starts to fade away.

“Hahaa… My creation keeps on evolving and learning from all the stimulus reactions it is put through.” just as the Doctor foretold Eabhloid stood unharmed in the flames.

It was not simple healing magic or regeneration but as if the events had never happened that led to it being cut. Alicia extrapolated all the facts she had been keeping an eye on.

“That’s correct again. Eabhloid can alter the principles of causality and shape its present by rejecting all the futures in which it dies. Don’t you agree now that Eabhloid is the one final true being that will break the chains of fate and the order of heaven.” The Doctor once again relishes in the glory of his creation. It did not matter to him if Eabhloid did not listen to his orders. He had finally brought his idea into existence and that was more than enough for him. But now it was time to prove that he is right and he was willing to go to any lengths to do just that.

“All I see is an unstoppable, immortal, unkillable bioweapon. And I am going to eliminate it.” Alicia says with disgust in her voice.

"Why is it that you have to deny my creation? This World, the System and humanity which needs it the most..." the Doctor asks himself frustratedly remembering his past where everyone denied going further with his research.

"It's simple because it lacks beauty and kindness."

Alicia no longer needed to hold back once she knew it was necessary to eliminate this monster before it could wreak havoc in the outside world. For all the people she had met and was going to meet, nothing mattered to her more.

***