NOVEL NEXT Project Darwin – Subject 73
After taking a shower and drying herself, Charlotte carefully wrapped the bandages around her right arm.
Though she perfectly remembered how the nurse did it, she could not quite get it right. It was difficult from the start, but getting used to it was easy for the girl. Before long, her arm was bandaged up completely.
And when she exited the bathroom, the food was already laid there on her desk. So fast...
Issac said her breakfast would be ready in 30 minutes, but the time took Charlotte to shower and bandage herself up was roughly around 15 minutes.
Not questioning the chef's speed, Charlotte sat down and quietly ate her meal. Today it was beefsteak with a side dish of mashed potato.
The meat was easy to bite through and seemingly melted in her mouth. It was not too salty or too bland, just the perfect amount, adding a spoonful of potato in her mouth, gave rise to the meat itself.
Charlotte suddenly remembered the words Athen had spoken yesterday. She was too quiet and did not voice her opinion at all. While it was fine for her, she felt like she should take Athen's words to heart.
"Good"
Huh... Charlotte did not feel any other words could describe her feelings about the food, no, she was incapable of describing the taste in finer details.
In any case, Charlotte continues enjoying her breakfast in silence. It was more of her style to do that.
Once in a while, Charlotte glanced at the two books she chose. She wanted to read them, but she had objectives to complete.
Leaving the dishes on the table, Charlotte laid bed with her phone in hand. There was a file, that file was about Charlotte Silvi, PD-73.
[12/4/2005
At the end of the Greco-Civil War, many children were left without a home or family. So the organization, under the direct order of Director Issac Apocrypha, took in a total of 45 children under the age of five.
Charlotte Silvi, or PD-73, was chosen by Project Darwin Manger Adam Tell to take part in Project Darwin when she was 3 months old]
[12/1/2006
PD-73 first mind wipe was successful, at this time she rarely talked despite being capable of conversing but was quite active. No changes occurred after the mind wipe, no abnormality was found]
Over the years, things more or less are the same. So Charlotte scrolled down, skimming through where she would find interest, she did not need to look further.
[6/6/2012
PD-73 shows a great ability to notice and memorize certain patterns of people. Yesterday, 5/6/2012 she stole food from the kitchen, late at night, despite the high security. We were only able to capture her sneaking around due to the hidden cameras.]
[15/6/2012
PD-73 snuck out again and successfully obtained a jar of cookies despite the randomized guard routes. We requested doubling the guards, but were rejected by Director Issac Apocrypha.]
[22/2/2013
PD-73 resumed her nightly activities, seemed that she once again learned the patterns and successfully stole foods.]
[30/4/2013
While doing the routine psychology test, we found signs of psychopathy. We requested termination, fearing she would be a danger to the organization. Termination request was rejected but isolation was approved]
So that room... was my isolation room...
[12/1/2015
A Gem was found in the possession of PD-73, we tried to stop her from getting out of control via tranquilizers but it only had an effect for a minute. The result of the confrontation was the comatose of 6 guards, 10 permanently disabled scientists, 2 and 5 injured task force members. We requested termination again, but were rejected by Director Issac Apocrypha]
Charlotte looked at her phone, seeing the date today, 14/1/2020. So I got my Gem 5 years ago...
[13/1/2015
PD-73 lost consciousness due to a long period of activation. The East wing of the facility was burned down by an unknown cause, causing massive escape from Project Darwin's other subjects, losing valuable resources.]
The next reports were different, they did not contain dates but were listed as experiment logs.
Charlotte read a few logs, but the more she read the more disgusted she became.
[Log 12.
We fed PD-73 rat poison, and after a few hours of spasm she gained immunity to the poison.]
[Log 15.
After many deadly poisons, we decided to feed her cyanide. PD-73 entered a coma for a day, after retrying the poison, she had complete immunity to the substance]
[Log 21.
Testing PD-73 psychological state was unsuccessful, something was blocking the scanners from seeing her brainwave, either the reactions were too extreme or too unresponsive]
[Log 33.
[Log 34.
PD-73 went rogue again, this time killing 30 out of 50 researchers as a result of burning down 90% of the site. Director Issac Apocrypha denied her termination once again]
At this point, the experiments were getting crueler and crueler. No longer did it feel like researching for the better of humanity, it felt like whoever was doing these experiments was doing it out of spite against what Charlotte did.
She closed her phone and then threw it onto the bed. There was so much graphic information in there, so much torture her body had endured. She currently has an attachment to them, but still, she wants to make them pay for what they did to her old self.
Not knowing what to do, Charlotte thought of the words Issac spoke.
"Kill...", that is too nice for them
What would be the best way to pay them back? There is also the problem of Amelia, which showed her kindness, did she participate in the torture? Or was she unaware of what had gone on behind the scenes? There is no telling unless Charlotte investigates herself.
Too much thinking... too complicated...
With no idea coming up, Charlotte took one of the books 'Wonders about our nature'. She began where she left off.
The next one is about a creature known as a bee, Charlotte never heard of this creature before, and Akashic gave her some vague answers, but not as specific as the answers to the tests.
'According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way a bee can fly. But it flies anyway. Flapping its small wings to carry its fat body around, because the bee does not care what human thinks.
In all seriousness, bees are amazing creatures and a keystone in our ecology. Without it, our lives would be very different, since for most of ancient history the product made by bees, honey, has been a valuable resource for the people before the invention of sugar. By working tirelessly, they bring back pollens from flowers to bring them back to their hives, where the pollens will be processed to make honey. Honey was viewed as the nectar of the god due to its sweet taste and sometimes narcotic effects due to contamination of the hive.'
"Honey... I want to try it."
The valuable treasure of ancient times sounds cool.
Distracted, Charlotte got her phone on the bed. But she threw it away in an instant after seeing the reports again. Her mood was now soiled.
Her mind went back to how to deal with Project Darwin. Her eyes wander around the room, picking up on any idea.
Then her eyes landed on her bandaged arm.
"Reverie..."
She got an idea. A very sinister one at that.
"Reverie."
On command, Reverie flooded her hands. If Reverie can absorb damage and expand she can inject it into the researchers, letting the goo expand over time to destroy their inners.
But who can I deliver this to them?
A person popped into her mind, Issac Apocrypha. He is the person running the show, surely he can get some arrangements done. With that problem solved, Charlotte decided to try and figure out how to call Issac.
She just cannot figure it out, she opens several different apps, but they are all symbols, no words. No matter how hard Charlotte tried, all was in vain.
Reverie, a little help?
Like always, Reverie was silent, no information was given either. There must be some conditions for it to speak.
"Hellooo~ little one"
Her attention shifted to the mischievous voice. Without Survive her presence had gone unnoticed. It was the Project Manager, Silla Arco. The woman gave Charlotte a scare for a moment.
Not caring about Charlotte's mood, she continued, "So, what cha' doing?"
Right, this person was supposed to help me.
After calming herself down, Charlotte asked, "I want to call Issac"
Her unchanging smile widened and Charlotte could hear a soft giggle coming from the strange researcher.
"Oh? You don't know how to use a phone?", another amused giggle escaped.
"No"
"The moonshape symbol thingy.", Silla pointed at the the blue brick phone symbol.
Charlotte did as she was told, it was blue and the one she thought was some sort of number-visualizing app. From there, the girl was stuck again.
"Just swipe right"
"Huh." it worked.
There are two names on it, the first was 'Arco the best' and the second was 'Director Apocrypha'. Ignoring the first one, Charlotte pressed on the second one and a menu popped out under.
"Press the moon thingy again"
The phone rang, and a second later Issac picked up.
[What is it, Charlotte?]
"I...have an idea...after reading those reports"
[Oh, so have you decided what to do with them?]
"Yes"
Charlotte could see Silla giggling in excitement, her eyes widening in anticipation.
"My powers, can I use it on them?"
[Aah, so what will you do? Explain to me and I can get it set up]
"My Reverie, if I can get it inside them..."
[Could you explain more? I get the gist of your power is collapsing things, can I get finer details about how it works]
"Reverie... only I can see it... is a black liquid that can expand when it is hit, if I retract it the expansion will be permanent, which can..."
[Say no more, I can already envision how dangerous it is. I will prepare a suitable container for you to store it]
"Oh, and can I get some honey? I would like to try it"
[Hm, Arco should have some with her. She may be a little unsettling but she's a good person... probably... her nickname was "Absolute Evil" after all... anyway, about Athen]
"Athen?"
Silla perked up from hearing the assistant's name.
[She needs some time to cool off, being hot-tempered and all. You won't see her in a few days or weeks, but she will be back for you]
"Thank you, Issac"
[No problem, it's just my duty]
Issac ended the call, Charlotte lowered her phone to the ground. This prompted Silla to jump the girl.
"Lovely! Now I have you all to myself, little one!!"
The researcher cupped Charlotte with her hands. Charlotte tried to push her away, but it was impossible. Her body did not move at all, not a flinch even, as if Charlotte was pushing against a wall.
"Hehehe, don't think so fast! You can't beat me now that you are in my gasps. Hehehehe, we are going to have so much fun together!", Silla laughed, looking at the girl from all angles,
"H-How are you so strong?", Charlotte recalled her strength on one of the reports. It made her confused about how this researcher could easily overpower her.
"Oh? Because I am Silla Arco, I am a Gem Holder like you."
A Gem Holder...
Charlotte looked at Silla, her smile, her eyes, they were not normal as far as she knew. Everything seemed to make sense.
Then, Silla licked Charlotte's neck, sending a chill down the girl's spine.
"Hmm~ fear, I love it!", Silla laughed, "Hehehehe, just perfect, little one."
The researcher, no, pervert opened her mouth. Her teeth are all sharp and pointy, and they have a certain shine to them.
"My Gem is a little special, just like you, little one.", she ran her fingers down Charlotte's body, tickling the girl in desperate need of help.
"My Devil's name is Lucifer, the King of Devils himself, Lucifer the Morningstar"
