RE: Reality Smuggler (R-18)

Inside Apex Technologie's Recon Bunker.

Supervisor's office.

A gaunt man in his fifties sat behind a desk, looking at three muscular men in their thirties standing at attention, all wearing jumpsuits.

They all had sour expressions. It was hard not to.

"Operative Augun, Operative Bantlae, and Operative Jastin. As Operative Xzav is unconscious, you are the last combat-oriented personnel in this facility." - The supervisor said tiredly, his voice full of lethargy and sadness, his eyes red and slightly wet.

"..."

The three men remained silent, but they were no better. One of their best friends was comatose, and 60 men they knew died. It was hard not to be sad.

"Hah... This mission was a disaster. The three of you must be wondering how the fuck this all came about, right? About how they are so careful and prepared and why our forces perished." - The supervisor sighed and asked.

"Yes, Sir." - Augun responded.

The supervisor made a bitter smile.

"I am not supposed to say this, but I see little reason to withhold this any longer. You should already know the basic info about the Ascended. They are a transhuman race designed to replace us to combat an alien invasion, and we are trying to capture one of them to research a method to safely covert ourselves into them. Those things are true. However, some things were hidden from you, such as the full picture of this scenario and how it came about."

The supervisor paused, took a deep breath, sighed deeply, and continued.

"Perhaps you have already guessed it, but those rumors are true. That rumor about an extremist group wanting to genocide humanity and leave this planet to the Ascended... And also about the Ascended having psychic potential." - The supervisor said grimly.

The three men remained silent, but it was an answer by itself.

"This is a long story, so I will start from the beginning, starting from the discovery of the aliens."

"A few decades ago, alien vessels were discovered some 45 light years away from us, invading another solar system, inhabiting it, and creating colonies. If that is all, it would be fine, but they discovered that the aliens could warp jump, covering light years quickly. This remained hush-hush among the upper echelons for fear of mass panic, but truthfully, they also panicked. Their response was drastic, as they calculated our chances of facing those aliens and found our chances were none. In fear of them exterminating all life on our planet and terraforming us or stripping our solar system bare of resources and cutting off our potential of ever becoming a galactic civilization, they created a Project. Project Hope."

"The project's goal was to elevate humanity into becoming a galactic race, able to contend with the aliens. The first byproduct of the research was the creation of crystal genetic augmentation, which somewhat improved our overall performance in all aspects. But it was far from enough. We needed something more. Another of the project's directions went to genetic memories, allowing us to inherit knowledge through our DNA, mass-producing experts that would take decades to develop. However, it was discovered that this type of inheritance could only be done on empty-minded clones or fetuses, as performing it on an adult with intact memories causes instability and insanity. This made it inapplicable in trans-humanizing our species."

"And then came the first breakthrough, a way to make humans into a galactic race. We developed a genetic sequence that can become the Transhuman race and the prototype of the Ascended. We called them the Homo Novus, the new man. They are all super geniuses, can survive in the harshest conditions, have superhuman capabilities, have a body that can live for a thousand years, and conform to human looks. They were perfect."

Reaching there, the supervisor took a sip of water to clear his dry throat before continuing.

"When we discovered this sequence, we attempted to duplicate it, create stem cells, and clone a copy. And the result... was a failure. The artificial wombs and incubation chambers failed to support this new race. And so, they attempted to use surrogate mothers, but they either miscarried or the mother inexplicably died. We soon discovered that it wasn't because of a lack of nutrients and the like but because of a more fundamental reason. They are a psychic-able race. Due to this, they have special requirements for their birth conditions, which simple nutrients and the like cannot provide. They needed higher-level nutrients and birth chambers, something we didn't have."

"And that is when a new idea came about. Why not create a primal creature that could produce this high-level nutrient and serve as the birth chamber? So research was done, and they soon found a breakthrough through the byproduct they made, the crystal genetic augmentations. Their idea was to create a mentally retarded and tame creature, the Homo Plantae, capable of producing the new nutrient and being a larva that can become a pupa, and the Homo Novus is the butterfly."

"But they soon found a major flaw. The creature naturally develops an infectious bacteria that can infect anyone who did crystal genetic augmentation, turning them into wild monsters that, after eating enough, either became aggressive Minions... Or sentient superhuman monsters, the Stalkers and Soldiers. And that is how the Kin came about."

"By that point, over 50% of the world population went through crystal genetic augmentation, and more people kept going through it, so this method was soon axed... Or at least that was on the surface. In truth, a specific group took an interest in it and continued to develop it. It was none other than some of the heads of Apex Technologies. They acquired all the research data from different departments and axed data, continuing the research while funneling exorbitant amounts of funds from their pockets. The problem is that the research direction was radicalized. They renamed the project Project Ascension."

"Not only did they continue the research into the monsters, but they also weaponized it. One of them is the reproducibility of the Kin, their ability to spread spores and parasitize all known plants on the planet, turning everything into the greyish-green energy-gathering biomass known as creep above ground. They also reduced the growth cycle of the Minions, letting them grow within a month, even in harsher conditions. They even engineered the Spore Spreaders as a means of future terraformation of other planets and countering hot weapons. And, chief of all, they improved the Homo Novus's original design, renaming them as the Ascended."

"They added a high-energy crystal to the Homo Novus, granting them the ability to communicate and control the Kin, and at the same time, making the Kin desire to follow, obey, and even sacrifice themselves to the Ascended, creating a master-servant relationship. And they also installed a hierarchy-based architecture, with the Ascended being on top, like privileged nobility. On top of that, they incorporated the genetic memories from before, uploading datasets into the Ascended minds, making them instant experts in all fields, saving dozens of years of training, and creating a backup plan in case all of humanity perishes."

"In short, although it was radicalized, they were phenomenally successful, and Project Ascension was finalized. In the short span of a few years, they created a warmongering galaxy-conquering race, a worthy successor of us aggressive, brutal, and bloodthirsty humans. They planned on using this research to eradicate us, unprepared and selfish humans, ending the era of humanity and ushering in the era of the Ascended."

Reaching that point, the supervisor sighed and looked at the three men. They each wore complicated yet fascinated expressions, waiting for him to finish his speech.

Taking another sip of water, he continued.

"Luckily, shortly after they finished creating them, the information got leaked to the other higher-ups. Disgusted and perhaps even horrified by the possible consequences, they launched a major clean-up operation. From top to bottom, everyone involved was either assassinated or secretly arrested, replaced by dummies to avoid panic, and the research data was confiscated. But, as fate would have it, a year later, in 2146, the aliens were discovered to have warp-jumped again, getting closer to our solar system by five light years. From that, we did calculations and found that, in the earliest approximation, they would arrive by 2187... It was far from enough. We were far from being ready. The upper echelons knew that we had to take drastic measures. And so, they took Project Ascension out off the shelf."

"Following the original plan, they decided to unleash the bacterial virus on all of humanity, but with a few tweaks. First, they would prepare enclaves so that some human elites can survive and hopefully find a way to convert themselves into Ascended. Second, they updated the genetic datasets, giving them a bit more edge. And third, they created recon bases for capturing Ascended samples."

"The plan, as you know, is to let all non-selected humans die, allowing the Ascended to prosper, before snatching a few for research."

"Unfortunately, they made a miscalculation. Not all of the transhumanists were captured. Some were deliberately planted to escape the net. And, as luck would have it, some of them were involved in updating the genetic datasets. Unbeknownst to anyone, they added secret information, including special codes, how we will behave, and that we are after them, prompting them to be careful and stay inside the Kin Fields. Yes, it wasn't the survivors that did it, but us."

Reaching that point, the supervisor started chuckling, seemingly ignoring the growing ugly expressions of the three men in front. 

"Hmhmhmhm... Funny, isn't it? All of this... It makes me wonder who the real monsters are. The Ascended and Kin? Those transhumanists? Or us? I guess the only non-monsters out there are now the survivors, still clinging desperately for their lives... Or at least some of them."

The supervisor shook his head and looked at the men.

"Now that I told the whole picture, it is high time for the three of you to voice your questions. Like how I know all this and why I am telling you."

The three men looked at each other before Augun spoke.

"Sir, first, why do you know all of this?"

The supervisor looked at him before taking an old and dusty document from under his desk, putting it on the table. On it, a label was pasted. It was called The Truth.

"You see this? I found it in my safe shortly after taking office here. Go ahead, read it."

He said and slid the document to the other side.

Augun hesitated before picking it up and opening it, with Jastin and Bantlae looking from the side.

The more they read it, the uglier their expression became.

It was because everything inside was the same as the supervisor said.

"Sir, why do you have this?" - Jastin asked, his face gloomy.

"What do you think? A transhumanist likely came over and gave it to me, perhaps hoping I try to sabotage this whole operation." - The supervisor shook his head.

"Then why show it to us now? What's the point?" - Bantlae asked.

"It is because we got abandoned." - The supervisor dropped a bomb.

"WHAT?! When?!" - Augun immediately flared up.

"An hour ago." - The supervisor said flatly, activating a message.

[Hello, supervisor Kaydn. We have received your report, and although we are sorry for your heavy losses, we order you to continue your best efforts to capture a sample for us. Thank you for your continued cooperation.]

"MOTHERFUCKERS!!!" - Jastin roared.

"How are we supposed to complete this mission without any troops or vehicles?!" - Bantlae held his head.

"Sir, this is madness! What do they want us to do? Send our naked asses on a plate?!" - Augun said with an ugly expression.

"Perhaps. Maybe we became a thorn in their side. And I have my suspicions." - The supervisor said, his expression growing bitter and resentful.

"What suspicions?" - Augun frowned.

"That, from the start, they didn't plan on letting us live after returning with an Ascended. That we were expendable cannon fodder all along, and our families are long since dead, either used in human experimentations or executed to reduce resource consumption." - The supervisor said.

"..."

The three men stared wide-eyed, their bodies shaking.

"Y-You mean... My parents and siblings are..." - Jastin muttered.

"That my boy is..." - Bantlae's eyes teared.

"..." - Augun stared red-eyed at the supervisor, his fists clenched.

"Yes, dead. Including mine. Twelve years of false hope, all for nothing." - The supervisor's eyes teared up.

Bantlae suddenly collapsed on his knees and started weeping, Jastin held his head while walking around, and Augun kept staring the supervisor in the eye.

"Then what's the plan now? Why only tell us?" - Augun asked coldly, not giving a shit about military decorum anymore.

"I plan to negotiate with the Ascended." - The supervisor said bluntly.

"Negotiate? With the Ascended? We will be lucky if we are not shredded to pieces." - Augun growled.

"Perhaps, but I have a theory. I think the Ascended you hunted down can be negotiated with." - The supervisor said.

"Madness! Why would he be willing to do that?! That thing is a psychic monster that can turn us into vegetables with a thought!" - Augun said while thinking of Xzav.

"Perhaps. But he can also be our ticket to survival. Perhaps we did things wrong from the beginning. Maybe the only ones able to turn us into Ascended are the Ascended themselves. And, if we become Ascended, we can survive. And, most importantly..."

Reaching that point, the supervisor's eyes turned cold and fierce.

"We can have a shot at revenge against the Real Monsters." - He said, his eyes burning with a vengeance.