The Beginning of the End

Time was passing by slowly. Dr. Roberts was more on edge than usual.

“Fucking bastard,” he mumbled.

He checked his watch to see how late he was going to be home.

9:30 PM

He cursed again. Then, he heard knocking at his door. He sat upright in his chair.

“Come in,” he said.

The door opened and it was him.

The King of Germany. No…the King of the world.

“Hello there, Doctor, how is your research going?” said the King.

Dr. Roberts froze in his chair. Hundreds of thoughts kept going in and out of his head. However, there was only one question that was burning in his head.

“The research is going well, King Richard. What, uh, what brings you here this evening?” asked Dr. Roberts.

Dr. Roberts was starting to sweat. He couldn’t tell if King Richard could notice it. This had to be the worst possible time. He kept wondering why he would be here at this hour. He was completely unprepared for him.

“I just wanted to check on you, that’s all. Vogel told me that you were making good progress,” said King Richard.

“O-Of course, sir, I have three test subjects who are getting ready for the final round of testing.”

“Three?”

“Yes, sir, three.”

“That’s it? Didn’t you have fifty going into the first round?”

“Y-Yes, sir. Fifty test subjects went through the first round and only twelve of them survived. After the second round, only three remained.”

King Richard looked disappointed.

King Richard questioned, “You think three is enough, Doctor?”

Dr. Roberts was worried now.

“I-I’m sorry, sir. If there was anyone to blame, it would be the weak test subjects given to me,” he replied.

King Richard was now frustrated. He began talking down Dr. Roberts.

“Do you treat the Royal Guard as your lapdog or something, huh, Doctor? Do you think prime humans grow on trees, Doctor?”

“N-No, sir—“

“Then, why do you blame the Royal Guard, huh? If anything, it is you who seems incompetent. I can erase your existence with the snap of my fingers. Is that what you want, Doctor? DO YOU WANT TO DIE?” shouted King Richard.

Dr. Roberts began trembling on the floor. He was on his knees, his head facedown on the floor, begging for mercy. King Richard was disgusted by the sight of him.

“Get up, Doctor, just show me your process with these test subjects,” he said.

Dr. Roberts immediately got up from the floor and led King Richard out of his office. They began walking around the medical facility. Some nurses noticed King Richard and bowed their heads until they couldn’t sense his presence.

They reached one of the testing rooms. King Richard noticed a body lying down on a table through the windowed door. Dr. Roberts swiped his card, and they both headed inside. The room was all-white and filled with advanced lab equipment. There were scanners, heart readers, a couple of androids in sleep mode, and containers full of blood. There was a lifeless test subject lying on the operating table.

“Why is there a dead body here, Doctor?” asked King Richard.

“I-I don’t know, sir. The androids were supposed to dispose of the body,” replied Dr. Roberts.

King Richard began walking over to the body to get a closer look. There were tubes attached all over the body. He looked over at one of the containers and noticed it was full of blood.

“What happened to this thing, Doctor?” he asked.

“Sir, he was undergoing the blood-sucking procedure but his body broke down after only sixty percent of his blood was extracted.”

“Sixty percent? What happened to the bodies that were able to still survive after eighty percent of their blood was sucked?”

“Um, right this way, sir. They're in a separate section of the facility,” said Dr. Roberts.

He led King Richard outside of the room and down a long all-white hallway. The rooms throughout the hallway were full of test subjects who failed the previous tests. As they walked by each of the rooms, King Richard briefly looked through the windowed doors and was slightly disgusted by the sight of them.

A nurse was walking through the hallway and Dr. Roberts grabbed her arm. He whispered to her quickly.

“Get rid of these dead subjects immediately.”

The nurse quickly nodded her head. She looked behind him and saw King Richard staring at her. She quickly bowed her head and ran over to one of the androids down the hall.

They began to walk down the hallway again and reached the end. There was a white door with multiple security checks involved. Dr. Roberts looked at an eye scanner, had an automated needle poke his thumb, swiped his keycard, and pressed three buttons for the code. The door opened, and they both walked in.

The hallway was dimmer than the one they just left, with darker walls, almost pitch-black. As they walked through, King Richard noticed multiple bodies, left and right, that stretched throughout the hallway. Each body had tubes attached to them that connected to containers full of blood. There had to be at least one hundred bodies.

“So many bodies, Doctor. I believe this is my first time here,” said King Richard.

“Yes, you have Dr. Johnson to thank for this whole process. I just picked up where he left off.”

“Dr. Johnson…do you know what happened to him?” said King Richard.

Dr. Roberts turned his head around for a brief moment and noticed King Richard looking at him. He swiftly turned his head forward and continued walking.

“I…I don’t know what happened to him, sir. All I know is that I am here now because he left his position,” replied Dr. Roberts.

“Yes, that is correct. He left his position due to personal matters and you were the perfect candidate to replace him.”

“I’m flattered, sir,” said Dr. Roberts.

The hallway seemed so endless. As they walked past the bodies, King Richard stopped and noticed one of them. Dr. Roberts stopped as well and wondered why King Richard was looking more closely at one of the bodies. King Richard was looking at a woman who was currently getting her blood sucked. She seemed unconscious.

“How is she doing, Doctor?” he asked Dr. Roberts.

“Her?” said Dr. Roberts, as he pointed at the woman’s body.

King Richard nodded. Dr. Roberts walked over to the woman’s body and checked her data.

“She seems to be doing well. Her blood can be extracted around eighty-five percent every day, while staying in the coma-like state,” said Dr. Roberts.

“Good, good. She used to be one of my personal maids. She was my favorite…” as King Richard trailed off his words.

There was a brief moment of silence. Dr. Roberts began to walk again towards another door and King Richard followed him. As soon as they reached the door, Dr. Roberts swiped his keycard and the door opened. They went inside the room, which had the three test subjects currently sleeping behind a large steel glass window.

“These are the three who survived the second round?” asked King Richard.

“Yes, that is correct, sir. These three show great promise for perfecting the blood.”

“And this perfect blood will do what, again, Doctor?”

“In theory, the perfect blood not only contains the benefits of immortality but will also no longer require daily doses of the blood to maintain longevity with no repercussions.”

“Ah, yes, the repercussions. There are only two ways to gain immortality, correct?”

“Yes, sir. Would you like me to explain both of them to you?”

“Of course, Doctor, that’s why I’m here. I want to know what is going on in these facilities.”

“Ah, I understand, sir. Um, so the first method is the soul transfer, which involves two hosts. One of the hosts is the desired one, while the other host has the immortal blood. And, essentially, the souls are swapped between the two of them—”

“Doctor, how does one of the hosts already have the immortal blood? Is that where the bloodsucking process comes into play?”

“Oh, no, no, sir. The Pope is the one who oversees the immortality aspect of the blood.”

“Pius, you mean?”

“Y-Yes, sir. Pope Pius is responsible for purifying the blood. He also helped with setting up the soul transfer method as well.”

“Interesting, Pius never told me how involved he was in this immortality process,” said King Richard.

Again, there was a brief moment of silence. Dr. Roberts felt some tension, while King Richard was trying to process what he just heard. King Richard’s serious facial expression was causing Dr. Roberts to sweat more than usual. They both stood still at the end of the hallway.

“You may continue, Doctor,” said King Richard.

“O-Of course, sir. The…soul transfer method involves the two hosts. The souls are swapped using a combination of supersonic wavelengths and the blessings from the Pope—”

“The blessings from Pius are simply his words confirming us into the church, no?”

“Y-Yes, sir. Royals such as yourself and your family have already been blessed since birth. The Pope has to bless the commoners who have the O-negative blood type.”

“It specifically has to be O-negative blood, Doctor?”

“Yes, sir. O-negative blood has already been well known for being the universal blood type. With the Pope’s blessing, this universal blood type reaches new levels by having the benefit of immortality.”

“What happens if a blood type other than O-negative blood wants immortality?”

“That’s where the soul transfer method comes to life, sir. With the combination of the Pope’s blessing and generated supersonic wavelengths, the souls are shaken out of the hosts’ bodies and transferred between them.

“After the souls are switched, the old host is put under and delicately skinned with the help of our advanced androids. The new host now has their original skin, along with the immortal blood in their body. The new host then has to intake a minimum amount of immortal blood to maintain the immortality.”

“Incredible. I would assume these bodies that we’ve passed by are the suppliers for the immortal blood, right?”

“That would be correct, sir. These bodies are harvested for their immortal blood and put under for a very long time. With the bodies in a coma-like state, the body itself becomes more relaxed and allows the blood to be sucked out smoothly.

“Of course, we’re not monsters or anything, and made sure to provide the necessary nutrients through other tubes to keep the bodies healthy for blood-sucking. The nurses and androids are very helpful during that part of the process. And once the bodies begin to lose the immortality after a certain period, they are replaced with new ones.”

“Good work, Doctor, but how come my original skin feels like just my own and not the other body?”

“Oh, yes, of course, sir. That would be due to the immortal blood. It has another trait that involves the molding of the skin as its own. You could technically put multiple layers of skin over the immortal blood, and it will all be molded as one thick layer of skin.”

“Very interesting, Doctor, thank you for your insight. You also mentioned there was a second method as well?”

“Yes, sir. The second method is the one that I’m still currently experimenting with. This method is called blood swapping. This method is more dangerous as there are many more factors involved. The Pope is not too involved in this process. In theory, the host has their blood sucked out, while simultaneously having the immortal blood transferred in.”

“Sounds simple, Doctor. How come this method isn’t well developed?”

“Like I’ve said, sir, this method has a lot more variables to worry about. The main one is the reaction from the host. Since the host doesn’t have the immortal blood in the first place, their blood being sucked out while having the immortal blood being transferred in has multiple problems.

“One problem that stands out is the interaction between the host’s blood and the immortal blood. If the immortal blood interacts with any other blood, then severe reactions occur. These reactions are usually fatal but can also lead to transformations or deformations—”

“Like what happened the other night?” asked King Richard.

Dr. Roberts stared at King Richard. He noticed King Richard glaring at him. The sweat had to be noticeable by now.

“You mean the incident that happened outside the facility, sir?” asked Dr. Roberts.

“Yes, Doctor, the incident that involved the deformation of a Royal Guard soldier and one of your test subjects exploding to oblivion.”

“I-I apologize, sir. I don’t know how one of the test subjects escaped the facility.”

“Don’t worry, Doctor…it wasn’t your fault. It was Dr. Johnson’s fault.”

“O-Of course, sir. I was always his assistant and have only recently taken up his position after his absence,” said Dr. Roberts.

Dr. Roberts noticed King Richard stopped glaring at him. He felt a bit of relief.

“That reminds me, Doctor—are you free tomorrow?” King Richard inquired.

“Y-Yes, sir. I will be free tomorrow.”

“Good, good. I will be meeting with Pius tomorrow and would like you to join along with me. I believe your presence will be much needed for tomorrow’s meeting.”

“Of course, sir. I will be sure to dress appropriately for the meeting.”

“Sounds good. I will be sure to send you the codes for your pad later tonight. It’s getting pretty late and I would like to spend some time with my son, Otto.”

“Oh, sir, what time is the meeting tomorrow?”

“Yes, I almost forgot to mention that to you. It will be tomorrow morning at ten a.m., which will be the seventeenth of December.”

“A Saturday morning, sir. Christmas is getting closer.”

“Christmas…a time of joy,” said King Richard.

King Richard straightened his back and gave Dr. Roberts a slight smile before walking down the hallway to exit the facility. Dr. Roberts felt like he could finally breathe properly again. He was going to offer his condolences to the King about his second son but felt it was too soon.

As soon as he was calm, he looked over at the three test subjects. He wondered if any of them were going to survive the last round of testing. He sighed and began walking down the hallway back to the other side. He felt a slight vibration in his pocket and pulled out his device. He received a notification from General Vogel. He informed Dr. Roberts of the arrival of another test subject.

Dr. Roberts stopped himself and looked up at the ceiling. A feeling of despair fell upon him, and he wondered if he’d even be able to sleep tonight. He hated General Vogel even more at that moment. He looked at his device to check the time.

10:12 PM

He cursed under his breath and began walking again. As he left that section of the facility, he noticed there were fewer nurses than usual. He groaned and walked over to an android to program and prepare it for the arrival of the new test subject.

11:00 PM

A man wearing a white robe with golden accents sat down in a chair near a fireplace. The fireplace was realistically holographic and did not have real charcoal and fire, yet emitted a similar amount of heat. He wore a white hood but was starting to feel hot.

“It’s going to be Christmas soon, Pius,” said another voice.

The man turned around from his chair and noticed a shadowy figure near the door.

“Don’t scare me like that, my Lord,” said Pope Pius.

“You weren’t scared—just surprised. There’s a difference, Pius,” replied the shadowy figure.

The shadowy figure walked closer to the fireplace and was more visible now. A man in an all-black business suit appeared. There were two chairs near the fireplace, with Pope Pius sitting on the right one. The man in black sat in the left chair and began speaking to Pope Pius.

“Pius, how are you feeling right now?”

“I feel fine, my Lord.”

“I came to warn you, there are external forces that stand in your way.”

“External forces? I have nothing to worry about, my Lord. You have blessed me with many gifts.”

“I hope you have been using that third eye well,” said the man in black.

Pope Pius took off his hood, and a third eye could be seen on his forehead. It was closed. He began to slowly caress it. He looked over at the man in black and began to speak.

“Of course, my Lord. I have been able to see the future for a while now.”

“You know that you won’t be able to see the future for a very long time soon, correct?”

“Yes, my Lord. I have taken that into consideration. Without this foresight, Germany’s prosperity will not have become a reality.”

“Of course, Pius. Without my help, Germany was going to lose and be erased from existence in the Great War. The third eye, which I gave you, and my minions helped crush all of Germany’s opposition. That third eye of yours is very special and very…powerful.”

“Being able to control time is truly something special, and I feel blessed to be the one granted this power.”

“Don’t get too ahead of yourself, Pius. You can only see past the present and freeze it in place, that is all. Not to mention, the setbacks involving one-for-one, depending on how long you use those powers.”

“Of course, my Lord. I am well aware of both the benefits and consequences of such powers.”

“Pius, you won’t be able to see past the present for more than one hundred years after using it since the Great War.”

“I know, my Lord, but look how much Germany has prospered now.”

“All I’m saying is to be on your guard. You still have the ability to freeze time in place, so be sure to use that wisely.”

“Yes, my Lord. I will be sure to stay on my guard during these next couple of days.”

“Good. I just wanted to come by and check on you, Pius,” said the man in black.

Pope Pius smiled at the man in black. The man in black stood up from his chair and walked over to Pope Pius. He placed his hand on his shoulder and tightened his grip.

“You remember the deal, right?” the man in black asked.

“Of course, my Lord.”

“You still want to become the perfect human, right?”

“Of course, my Lord. I will do anything to achieve it.”

“That’s good to hear, Pius. I just wanted to make sure we were both on the same page. You know that I can grant your wishes.”

“Yes, my Lord, and I am truly grateful for your wisdom and blessings,” said Pope Pius.

The man in black smiled at Pope Pius. He let go of his shoulder and walked away. He had a few words left to say to him before vanishing.

“Don’t disappoint me, Pius. Otherwise, this could be the beginning of the end for you.”

11:05 PM

There was knocking at the door. Pope Pius turned around from his chair to look. It was General Vogel.

“Sire, I have a woman for you. She needs to be blessed,” said General Vogel.

Pope Pius nodded and stood up from his chair. He could still feel the warmth from the fireplace. General Vogel brought the woman over to him. She was unconscious. Pope Pius placed his hand on her forehead and began to bless her.

“Oh, Lord—please purify this blood. Bless it in your name.”

There were no physical differences on her body, but Pope Pius was able to sense her blood becoming immortal. He grinned.

“She is blessed, General. She can be harvested now,” said Pope Pius.

“Thank you, sire,” General Vogel replied.

General Vogel signaled the Royal Guard soldiers to take her away. Their last stop would be the medical facility. He tipped his red beret to the Pope and walked away toward the church pad.