"Your name?"
"Claude."
"Age?"
"...I forgot."
The stern-looking man in front of Claude lifted his head to look at him more closely.
The two of them were currently seated in a small room with wooden floorings and walls.
Placed between them was a stylized metal desk with 3D projection screen coming out of its sides separating them.
As usual, everyhing had a sort of traditional looks that had been combined with some futuristic looking cutting-edge technologies into it, creating a very distinctive style to Claude's surrounding.
It was not unlike the uniforms and equipment that Rex and the rest carried all the time.
"...It is said that Rex and the company found you locked inside a bunker in an underground tunnel." The stern-looking man continued,
"And that you don't remember anything else before that, is that correct?"
"That's correct." Claude nodded calmly.
"Not even who put you there?"
"No."
"Or your identity before being trapped there?"
"Only my name."
"..."
Gill, the guard that he had met at the entrance, had quickly led him inside Sector-07 and brought him into the wooden cabin that he's in right now before he was introduced to a man named Richter.
He was the sole person within Sector-07 that handled the arrangements for any 'Unidentified' individuals found during missions or applying into ERA.
Receiving the same short and direct answers everytime, the man, Richter, pushed his glasses up in an attempt to read through Claude's thought.
"Hmm... This is quite troubling mister Claude. From what Gill had told me previously, you appear to be quite close with Rex's group of six,"
"Did they not warn you about our 'acceptance criteria'?" He asked almost rethorically.
"They did." Claude replied,
"They said not to lie and that I would sooner be eliminated if I were to be deemed suspicious or a hindrance in any way."
"Eliminated? Oh no, we're not that barbaric." Richter gave a rare smile.
"I guess it has been a while since our last 'Unidentified'. It's no wonder that they're not quite up-to-date regarding our newer policies."
As he said that, he started to rummage around the cabinet and drawers behind him searching for something.
"To tell you the truth, these days, we actually accept anyone who was willing to work for us under one condition."
He kept searching around until he eventually found the stuff he'd been looking for in one of the drawers under the metal desk.
"Here it is."
*TAP*
He firmly put down the thing he'd found on top of the table.
The thing appeared to be a vial of dimly glowing blue-colored liquid inside an injection bottle.
"Do you happen to know what this is?" He asked, still smiling.
"A serum?" Claude asked curiously.
"This is a Grade-3 Nano Explosives." Richter explained as he shook his head.
"When the small bombs contained within this liquid received an outside signal that triggers it's activation, it'll instantly explode with enough strength to blow up a Grade-3 danger beast."
Claude slightly leaned forward in astonishment as he looked at the bottle.
'The explosion that managed to kill that hard-skinned frog was said to be a Grade-2...' He remembered noticing the impact of the explosion from a far distance.
As he kept looking at the vial of liquid, an invention that was unheard of in his time, Claude finally started to see a glimmer of the current humanities' power, at least in terms of technologies.
After all, he'd never actually got the chance to see the powers of Rex and the others in battle, only the result.
Richter, who seemed to have misread Claude's expression as that of fear, also continued his explanation with more intimidation in his voice,
"As you can see, it's used by injecting it into a person's bloodstream and is impossible to discharge. We in ERA utilize this to gain a certain amount of... Leverage against varying kinds of situations and individuals."
He leaned back on his chair and sighed.
"Though we don't usually agree on many things, GEARS do come up with handy little inventions sometimes. Just this thing alone has allowed us to bypass difficult verification process when accepting new people into our ranks."
Although the man in front of him had sounded quite intimidating, Claude had also understood that he was just telling him the Alliance's bottom line towards someone without any leads to his background or identity.
Most previous cases of 'Unidentified' probably wouldn't have had any needs to resort to this method since most people would've had traces of their previous activities in some form or other.
But it's not like Claude can do anything about it, he was a blank slate in this new world.
"Were there a lot of people that agree to this?" Claude asked casually, trying to confirm his conjecture.
"Most people didn't really need to. We're not a dictatorship, if there're some other ways that we can verify a person's identity, we wouldn't have to use this item either." Richter's voice softened.
'As I thought.' Claude nodded in understanding.
"However, as I've said, your situation is very troubling..." He said concernedly,
"Don't worry, it's not like it'll be a bad thing for you to take this injection either."
Richter's current manner of speaking was as if he already believed that Claude truly had no memories of himself.
It hadn't mattered either way.
If Claude had been telling the truth, then his current soft attitude towards him was a matter-of-course.
And if not, then he would eventually be forced to either tell the truth, take the serum, or be forced out of the premises. All of which were not something that bring any disadvantage to them.
"Oh, how so?" Claude was intrigued at the statement.
"Well, first and foremost is that you'll obtain our trust immediately." Richter replied honestly as he leaned back,
"If you were to join us as citizen of ERA, we'd put our lives in your hands in one way or another. Isn't it just fair that you put your life in ours."
"And secondly,"
"With that trust, you'd gain more priviledges faster than those who went through the normal verification process. You can directly apply to any of the 5 Divisions that you want, granted that you pass their examinations."
Claude listened attentively.
"...Tell me, have you ever heard of the Bio-Contact method?" He went silent for a bit before asking.
Claude recognized the term as something that Dio had accidentally mentioned previously.
'Something that I can't survive without...' His curiosity was piqued as he shook his head.
"I figured. Well, it'll be easier to just show you." Richter's hand hovered over a certain space on top of the desk before tapping his finger on it, prompting a visual recording to show on the 3D projection screen.
The recording then played quietly without interruption.
.
.
"Wha..." Claude was stunned silent.
'What?'
The content of the video had caught him by surprise for the umpteenth time since he'd been freed into this new world.
The recording was that of a power demonstration of sort. One man in the video could be seen leaping off a 100 feet tall cliff and falling down without any safety equipment on the scene.
Another clip showed a woman with smoke coming out of her body bare-handedly felling a tree with a couple punches. The last clip even showed a man being completely uninjured after he was slashed with a blade across his torso.
'This kind of strengths and physics... Aren't they as strong, if not stronger than those Vampires of the past?'
Of course, Claude's judgement had been based on if all those feats could be attained by a single person. However, looking at how the video was shot, that possibility seemed unlikely.
'But that power... So this is the present human.'
'No wonder...'
On the other side of the screen, Richter was having an entirely different thought.
Bio-Contact, while not public knowledge, was something that everyone who had spent any length of time in the wilderness should have an idea about.
'Does he really have no memories...?' He pondered.
.
After the video had ended, Richter turned off the recording and continued his explanation,
"Bio-Contact is a strengthening method of our Elken Rangers Alliance." He stated,
"A couple decades ago, our researches had discovered that certain organs of beasts with the Danger Grade of 4 and above carried with it lethally harmful effects towards the human bodies and genetics."
"However! We've also found that when followed through with the correct procedures upon digestion, those effects become complete! Forging and enhancing the human body at an evolutionary level."
"The results are as you've seen." He subtly gestured towards the previously active screen.
"Of course, we're not enthusiastic enough to share these procedures to normal citizens. But we are more than willing to assist anyone in going through with them should they wish to, even providing the ingredients."
"Everyone from the 2nd, 4th, and 5th Divisions had gone through the Bio-Contact strengthening method. Do you understand what I'm saying?"
"Yes." Claude nodded his head,
'Take the bomb and I'll have the chance to get those powers for myself... Is it?' He looked on unwaveringly.
"Of course, as the old saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility. If you want to live peacefully and away from danger, then those Divisions are not for you."
"But nonetheless, the priviledge to apply to any Divisions you want is solid proof of our sincerity."
'What old saying, those are from Sp*der-m*n you rip-off.' The familiar phrase had caught him off-guard and made him weirdly irritated.
Richter was observing his reaction closely from across the desk. Ever since this interrogation started, he had seen many emotional fluctuations from Claude including surprise, confusion, amazement, and most recent of all irritation.
But none of fear.
'Seriously, it's like talking to a confused child...' He grimaced silently,
'Now, are you going to spill something, turn away? ...Or are you going to take the liquid explosives?' Richter was truly curious.
Claude, on the other hand, had been having a much easier time in this interrogation.
'All these revelations were eye-opening and all, but...'
Even without the allure of Bio-Contact, which he still hadn't cared much for other than to see its effect, the decision had already been made after learning of the bomb implant way of verification.
'It's like an easy passage made for me...'
Claude slowly lifted and stretched out his open hands towards Richter, gesturing him to inject the bottle of vial on the desk.
"...Are you sure? From here on out, a single button will hold authority over your life." Richter picked up the injection bottle of Grade-3 Nano Explosives and warned him one last time.
"Well, like you said the Alliance isn't a dictatorship. And plus..." Claude closed his eyes for a moment to add more dramatic effect before continuing,
"I have nothing to hide, I just want to live." He smiled.
'Still no trace of fear huh, this guy...'
"All right then, of course we won't betray your trust as well. Please accept our sincerity." Richter stood up and approached Claude with the injection bottle.
.
.
Gill was standing silently inside the hall of the large administration cabin, feeling bored. The hall was filled with workers going in-and-out doing various duties and attending to other divisions' members.
*YAWN*
Just as he was about to fall asleep while standing, the door to the side room of the cabin was opened, revealing Claude who walked out of the room with emotionless face.
"Hey!" Gill called out to him,
"That took a while." He commented.
"Yeah, it felt sort of like a birefing session."
"You need to know the rules and policies after all, so what's next? Are we going to the isolation area?"
"Isolation? Why?"
"What do you mean, you're not allowed anywhere else until they've finished verifying your identity. ...How come he didn't tell you this?"
Before he could ask more questions, Gill heard the same side door opening up one more time with Richter on the other side.
"Gill, take him to the Trainee Cabins, he's verified." He ordered before closing the door again.
"...He's verified? How are you verified??" He turned to Claude with even more confusion.
Most people who could be verified that quickly must have had some form of identification on his person and weren't exactly an 'Unidentified'.
No matter how he looked at it, Claude who's only wearing ragged pants and nothing else couldn't have had any form of identifications on him.
Gill was about to knock on the door for confirmation, that is until he saw the puncture mark on Claude's neck.
"Wait, did you... You took that Nano Explosive thing!?" He was instantly horrified.
Claude also touched the visible puncture wound in response, "Yeah, kinda."
"..." Gill had his mouth opened while gaping silently.
"You're crazy... You know you've entered into an eternal blood contract right?" He tried to confirm that Claude really knew what he'd done.
"It's not that dramatic." He smiled wryly, "At least the Alliance are not suspicious of me anymore."
"More like they had no more reason to be suspicious of you, they can just blow you right up." Gill retorted.
"Let's hope it doesn't come to that, I just wanna live peacefully and see the world." Claude waved it off as the two walked out of the cabin.
"Those are two of the most contradicting wishes I've ever heard."
'This guy really has a few screws loose...' He thought deeply to himself.