Chapter 15: Investigation

A heavy thud shot up the group as they started darting their heads all over the place. Some had lain on the floor during the night, so quickly sprang to their feet. Peering through the window were bright beams of light. Laura walked over to one of the windows, the light from outside blinding her as she attempted to look out. Through squinting eyes, she could see it was morning.

The pilot walked over to the group. “We’re here, sir.” He said with a yawn.

“Thank you, Johnson,” Armin replied. “You and Cameron should get some rest. We’ll be out for a while anyway.

The pilot gave a nod, not saying a word, and headed back to the cockpit. The entrance door began to lower, allowing a blast of hot, dry air to enter. It felt as though an oven had just been opened; an unbearable heat filled the inside. The soldiers all grabbed their gear and stared toward the outside.

Hudgens turned around and said, “We’ll do a quick check outside, make sure it’s all clear.”

Laura and the others nodded, and the group of soldiers made their way out. They waited a couple of minutes before hearing a loud whistle.

Armin looked at the rest of the group and said, “That’s our cue.” He was the first to make his way down the ramp.

The other four were hesitant. This had been their first time in such a foreign territory. Anthony had visited Africa once before; he had done so on human territory.

“Guess I’ll go next,” Laura and Anthony accidentally said together.

They glanced at each other, having a small laugh.

Anthony stepped to the side. “You can go first,” He said.

Laura smiled and nodded, making her way down the ramp. She was once again smacked in the face by a burst of heated wind, this time, accompanied by some sand. The small grains pelted her face; she had to spit some of them out. Laura looked up at the clear blue sky; there was not a cloud in sight, making the sun’s rays even more unforgiving. Amber Village had always had a moderately warm climate, nothing that prevented the locals from wearing pants or long sleeves. But here? It was as though she had stepped onto hell itself. Only standing outside for a minute or two, and Laura already wanted to rip off her robes to get cooler. It didn’t help that she wore all black!

The others followed out, the last one being Anthony. They covered their eyes as once they were hit by the light, Berus threw the hood of his cloak over his face for shade.

“God, why is it so hot?!” Cello commented.

Taylor chuckled and said, “This is nothing. Visit England during the summer, and you’ll feel some real heat.

Hudgens snorted, turning to Taylor with a raised eyebrow. “You ain’t know heat if it backhanded you in the face,” He jested. “No, no, my old hometown of San Antonio will give you heat. You could cook an egg on the sidewalk.”

“That sounds disgusting,” Fischer commented.

Laura looked around the area; they were surrounded by dirt. There were some homes and buildings out there, most of them destroyed and covered in sand. They looked to have been abandoned for years. A few of these structures were burnt and charred, set on fire by something or someone. In the distance, further north, Laura could make out a large city. She was about to point and say something when Armin came walking over to her and gave Laura a nod, as though he already knew what she was going to say.

“Arlight, everyone,” He said in a serious and loud voice. “Our first destination is right behind me, and it’s a bit of a walk. So, I hope you all packed some water and put on your walking shoes. Hudgens! You and your squad lead us.”

Hudgens nodded and said, “Yes, sir!” He looked at his fellow soldiers. “I’ll lead in the front! You four, surround the sides and back of Doctor Armin and the experiments!”

“Yes, sir!” The other soldiers complied.

Laura and others were grouped together, and the soldiers stood around them. Two on the sides, two in the back, and one up front. Fischer and Sanchez took the sides while Gordon and Taylor took the back. Hudges moved to the front, and once they were all in place, they started marching toward the city. The rest of the group simply followed along, walking relatively shoulder to shoulder. They walked past several of the abandoned buildings, and no signs of human life were present. However, in the shadows inside the homes, skeletal remains could be found. There was one that hung out from the window of an abandoned shop; half of the body was charred black, matching the black burns around the window.

What had happened to this small town? Laura’s brow furrowed, and she exchanged glances with the others. Berus, Cello, and Anthony shared her concerned sentiment. Armin walked with his eyes to the ground, not trying to gaze at the leftover carnage.

Laura moved closer to Armin and asked, “What happened here?”

His gaze shot up, taking a moment to reply. “Some bad stuff,” he said.

“Like what?”

“It happened a long time ago, it’s not important,” Armin said, clearly dodging the question.

“I used to hear whispers from my mothers that a horrible tragedy struck the world,” Anthony spoke up. “It wiped out a lot of the human population.”

The others looked at him, awestruck. What could this tragedy have been? And why did it target humans? Hearing the conversation, each of the soldiers clenched their jaws in anger. A vein or two bulged at the top of their heads. They each wanted to lash out and say that it had been because of experiments, but chose to bite their tongues and stay silent.

Armin kept composed and said, “I’m sure your mothers were talking about a show they watched. Let’s just focus on our mission.”

The group marched for a half hour before reaching the city of Kinshasa. As they entered, everything seemed normal. It was bustling with activity, citizens going about their day, shops selling their goods. The soldiers moved closer to the inner group, clenching their rifles tighter. They garnered several stares, ranging from confused to straight-up murderous.

Armin moved next to Hudgens and leaned to his ear. “Put your guns down,” He said.

Hudgens shook his head and said, “Can’t do that, sir. That’s unsafe.”

“You’re making things unsafe by having them out. Trust me, nothing will happen. Please.”

The soldier sighed and complied, slinging the rifle over his shoulder. He whistled to the others and said, “Put your guns away. Let’s not stir any hostility.”

The others were reluctant at first, but ultimately slung their rifles over their shoulders. This put a few of the onlookers at ease, but some still held their nasty stares. As the group continued through the city, they finally reached the center, where there were many bright red poles around the emperor’s tower. They circled the tower and scattered throughout some of the area.

Armin grabbed his backpack and reached inside, pulling out a small yellow box with a black rod on the top. He began pressing a couple of buttons on the front of the box and turned a dial.

“What is that?” Berus asked.

Armin looked at him and said, “It’s called a Geiger counter. It can check how much radiation is in an area.”

He took off the black rod and stuck it out. In an instant, the machine began letting out rapid clicks, indicating that there was a massive amount of radiation. Armin moved closer to the tower, and the Geiger counter continued its clicks; the number on the screen went up and up. Armin’s eyes widened as he watched the number rise.

“This is insane,” he said, dumbfounded. “The reading in this small area is almost five thousand.”

“Then we shouldn’t be here for too long, sir,” Hudgens alerted. “That level of radiation is extremely dangerous.”

Armin put the black rod back onto the box and walked back to the group.

“You’re right,” He said, “We can’t stand around here, let’s go find a place to settle while I think of our next step.”

They hurriedly left the area, moving through the city until they found a large restaurant to stop at and grab food. They walked inside, and several people were eating, drinking, and having conversations. There were booths, and stools that were around a bar. The group headed to the stools and filled up the majority of the spots.

One of the workers turned and was taken aback by the large group of people who sat around. “Are you all together?” She asked, moving her finger at each of them.

“Yes, ma’am,” Armin replied.

The worker eyed Armin, slowly moving her gaze at each of the soldiers. That had to fur, no feathers, no claws. Nothing. She raised an eyebrow and asked, “What can I get you all to drink?”

“I’ll take your strongest beer,” Gordon was the first to answer.

“You’re really drinking at this hour?” Fischer asked.

“Piss off, we’ve got a long road. Let me try to enjoy myself.”

“He’s not wrong,” Sanchez said, resting her head on her hand. “Let me have a whisky.”

“Can I just have the biggest glass of ice water you got?” Laura raised her head, wiping the sweat from her face.

Berus and Cello both asked for the same thing.

“Me too.”

“Same here.”

After grabbing everyone their drinks, most of which were water, she asked what everyone wanted to eat.

“Whatever you got, that's got some spice to it,” Gordon said. “And bring out a lot of it.”

No one had any objects or anything else they wanted, so the worker nodded and walked off to deliver the order to the chefs.

Laura removed her outer robe before grabbing the large glass of ice water and chugging it back. She finished the whole thing, and some of the water slid down the sides of her mouth. She slammed the glass down, letting out a loud sigh of relief.

“Oh, God, that was so good,” She said, placing the cold glass on her forehead.

“I know, this heat is awful,” Berus said, wiping the water from his lips.

Cello had removed her armor and placed it beside her. She fanned herself before grabbing the glass in front of her and chugging the water.

As they waited, Armin was writing down the radiation level he saw when he did that quick sweep near the emperor’s tower. Anthony watched him, asking questions about what Armin’s findings could mean.

“That whole area was where the masked man unleashed some of his red beasts,” Armin said. “Assuming they are just evolved Lucifer Hand, then their radiation levels shouldn’t have made the area more than nine millisieverts. We found traces of radiation on the Lucifer Hand back when it was just a mutated fungus, but it was insignificant. But this?”

As Armin continued to do his research, the worker came back with several trays of food. It was a sea of red, but it smelled delicious. Most of the food was meat: steak, chicken, pork. There were some bowls of soup, diced potatoes, and a tray of vegetables.

Some of them took a breath of the banquet in front of them, their noses getting assaulted by the hot spices that were on each dish. It went up their nostrils and practically clawed at their throats. Fischer, Anthony, and Taylor started coughing after inhaling the spice.

Gordon laughed as he grabbed a slice of steak and began eating off pieces. “Haha, you guys are a bunch of pussies,” He jabbed, while his mouth was full.

Sanchez took a sip of the soup and nearly spit it out after choking on some of the heat. She swallowed it and quickly reached out and grabbed Armin’s glass of water. He hadn’t touched it, so she freely placed her lips on the chill glass and drank.

Hudgens didn’t mind the heat, but even he commented that it felt a little excessive. Laura and Berus scarfed down whatever was in front of them, completely disregarding the spiciness of the food. To them, this wasn’t anything new; they loved it. The two would always ask their cooks to add some spice to any dish they made. Anthony picked up a chicken leg and bit into it. As he chewed it, the heat stung his tongue, and he almost immediately spit it out, coughing loudly. He had tears in his eyes as he reached out to grab his glass and chugged down the water.

Cello let out a loud, obnoxious laugh. “Aww, poor space boy can’t handle heat?” She tossed a slice of pork into her mouth and ate it with ease. However, after a few seconds, Cello’s nose started to drip. She moved her head and covered her mouth as she coughed.

“You okay, Cello?” Laura asked.

Cello kept her head turned and waved her off. “I’m fine,” She replied in a horse voice.

Armin finally put down his work, and his eyes instantly bulged out when he saw just how much food was brought to them. He cleared his throat and called out to the same worker.

“How can I help?” She asked.

“No, I simply wanted to know how much we owe for all of this?”

The worker smirked as she let out a small snort and turned back around, ignoring his question.

“What’d I say?” Armin asked, looking at Laura and the other experiments.

“Oh, we don’t have a monetary system,” Laura explained. “Yeah, the rulers of each empire decided upon their foundations that it wasn’t necessary.”

Fischer spat out his drink and whipped his head at Laura. “What?!”

“You’re telling me while you guys have thriving civilizations, I still gotta pay taxes?” Sanchez commented.

“What a bunch of bull,” Hudgens added, rolling his eyes in irritation.

The group finally finished their meal, and after cleaning up after themselves, they left the restaurant. The group stood outside the building, ready to go back to the emperor’s tower, when they remembered it was overflowing with high radiation.

“Alright, so now what?” Gordon asked. “If we can’t get close enough without getting radiation poisoning, how the hell are we supposed to work?”

Armin bit his thumb as he thought up a plan. Then something dawned on him. “That’s it!” He jumped, standing in front of the group. “We humans can’t get close, but experiments would do just fine.”

The soldiers and Anthony looked at the experiment trio, whose blank expressions showed that they didn’t know what Armin was talking about.

“What good will we do?” Berus asked.

“You guys are born from radiation,” Armin explained, “or at least, your parents are. I’ve been studying experiments for many years now, and I’ve concluded that you can withstand higher amounts of radiation than a human can.”

He reached into his backpack and took out his tablet. He handed it to Laura. He continued, “Now, I’m not saying you guys are invincible, but you’ll be able to stand around that area a lot longer than we can. So, what I need you three to do is head back to the tower and ask for samples of one of those red creatures. Use that table to show them that you’re investigating the masked man if they ask why you need the samples.”

He shooed them off, and they started walking back to the city’s center. “We’ll be in the helicopter waiting for your arrival.” He added.

As the three headed back to the tower, Laura examined the tablet, wondering how it worked. Though they had technology within their empire, it wasn’t anything this hands-on. Berus and Cello tried to help, Berus pressing a button on the side that lit up the screen. The screen showed a series of notes written on a virtual sheet of paper. Seeing as this must be the proof that they were hunting down the masked man. They finally reached the tall stone tower, and Laura knocked on the door. No one answered. She knocked again. Nothing. It wasn’t until after the fifth knock that the door whipped open.

“What do you want?!” An older woman furiously hissed.

She was a dark-skinned woman with long, braided black hair. Her eyes were a golden brown, and her pupils were slits. She wore a long, white dress that went down most of her body, stopping right where her ankles should’ve been. From her waist down, she had a serpent's body, scales whose coloration was a combination of light and dark brown, pink, and purple arranged in diamond and stripe patterns. Her angered expression had begun to soften as her eyes widened when she saw that it was Laura and Berus.

“Princess Laura, Prince Berus,” She gasped. “What are you two doing out here alone?”

“Hi, Auntie Carla,” Laura waved. “Look, we’re on a secret mission to hunt down that masked man who attacked and murdered Uncle Frenki. We need your help.”

Empress Carla didn’t need much convincing and motioned for them to come inside. “Of course,” she said. “Come in, come in.”

The trio exchanged glances before following the empress into the tower.

“You’re letting us in that easily?” Laura asked.

Carla turned her head and said, “Your mother contacted me the other day and said you’d be here soon.”

She led the trio into the dining room and insisted they take a seat before discussing matters. They politely complied and pulled out a chair, sitting close together. Carla rested her hands on the table. A housekeeper brought each of them a cup of green tea. The trio thanked the housekeeper.

“Now, tell me what exactly it is you need from me?” Carla asked, her back straight and her expression serious.

“Well,” Laura started, “we were wondering if you had any remains of those red creatures that attacked? An arm, leg, anything will do.”

Clara was taking a sip of tea during the question. She placed the cup down and rested her hands back onto the table. She replied, “Yes, we have some of the corpses of those hideous beasts.”

“Then, could we take a part of one?” Berus asked.

“May I ask just what you intend to do with it?”

Laura set the tablet onto the table and pushed it toward Carla. “We’re working with a very intelligent human,” She said, “His name is Armin Atlas. He’s a very close friend of ours and agreed to help us stop the masked man.”

Clara glanced at the notes, but moved her gaze up at the mention of “human.” She raised an eyebrow and said, “A human is helping you?” There was a hint of disdain in her voice when she said the word human. She continued, “I see. Very well, follow me.”

Empress Carla got up and began slithering off; the trio hurriedly followed her. They stopped in front of what looked to be a coat closet, and Clara opened the door to reveal that it was just an empty storage closet. She leaned down, running her hand along the smooth stone floor until stopping over a particular stone in the middle. She placed her whole hand on it and pushed the stone down, making a loud click as she did. The entire floor of the closet began to split open, revealing a set of porcelain stairs.

The trio looked in awe; Carla gave a small smile at seeing their astonishment. She made her way down the steps, prompting the others to follow suit. The descent was quite a way down; the staircase curled multiple times before hitting solid ground. They stopped in a long hall. The hall was brightly lit, with walls made of white painted stone. They continued down the hall until reaching their final destination. It was a large, white, square room with several metal operating tables in the middle of the room. There were about six experiments, all in medical gear, inspecting and dissecting some of the red beast corpses that lay on the operating tables. They turned their heads away from their work when they saw Empress Carla and company enter.

“Whoa,” Cello awed. “You guys have all this underground?”

Carla turned her head and nodded. “Indeed,” she said. “The late Emperor Ferral, your father, pushed hard for all of the territories to study mathematics and science.” She began slithering down the room and toward the group of medical experiments. She continued, “Back when we were still simple villages, of course. He wanted us to have centers similar to the one you’re in right now, where only the best medical and scientific experiments would work.”

The medical experiments straightened up and bowed at the empress. She gave a nod, then took a glance at the red beast corpse. The trio joined at the other side of the operating table. They gazed at the corpse, examining every little detail of the beast. It had no eyes, no ears, and no hair. Only a large mouth with rows of serrated teeth. Laura reached out and ran her hand across its arm; the skin was dry and bumpy. At the end of its long, slender fingers were sharp, pointed nails.

“So…can we take an arm?” Berus wearily asked, moving his head up.

“If that is all you need, then yes.” Empress Calra replied, peering down at the beast's corpse.

Laura looked at Cello and said, “Cello, move the arm out.” Her friend nodded and grabbed the beast’s hand and forearm, pulling the arm up halfway.

Laura unsheathed her longsword and swiftly sliced off the arm from the shoulder. She slid her blade back into its scabbard, resting her hand on the hilt.

“Well,” Laura said, “we got what we came for. Guess we’ll be on our way.”

“Quite a quick visit this was,” Calra sighed, sounding a little disappointed. “But, I understand you all are working against the clock, so I won’t hold you any longer.”

They all went back to the surface and headed toward the door. Clare was the first to the door, but before she grabbed the handle, she turned around to face the trio.

“I know my husband saw the best in humans,” she said, “but after his death and the idea they could’ve done this…it’s opened a few old wounds. But, if you are being aided by a trusted human, then I will give them the benefit of the doubt.”

She gave the trio a small smile and continued, “Please, be safe. Avenge my husband.”

Laura gave a proud grin, raising her fist, she said, “Don’t worry, Auntie. We’ll get him for you.” Her voice was confident and filled with determination.

Berus nodded and added, “Yeah! We’ll knock that stupid mask off his face and give him a good beating.”

Carla’s smile grew; her heart was filled with warmth by their words. “Thank you.”

The trio smiled back. Carla turned and opened the door, letting them out. Once they were back outside, Cello slung the severed arm over her shoulder.

Laura looked at the arm and said, “Let’s get that nasty thing back to Armin and head to our next destination.”

The other two nodded, and they bolted back to the helicopter to rejoin their group.