When Dezrrit Kahl arrived in Adryn-VI, ten years ago, he had come not seeking treatment, but a new business venture. Reaching out to some old colleagues, he was able to establish residency on the planet, and some backroom deals with some governors and lower-city bosses granted him the resources and personnel he needed, while investors and silent partners he made during his time as a minister for World Lord Josa Davos secured him a nearly inexhaustible amount of funding.
Normally, a man of his status would qualify for the lavish accommodations available in the upper-cities, or some of the more rustic abodes in private estates prepared in the lower-cities, but Kahl didn't care about comfort, his work was all that mattered to him, and it had to remain a secret from everyone who could stand in his way, especially Nya Crimson. With the help of some aggressive negotiation tactics, he acquired the perfect property for his needs and with the new staff he was bringing in, his work started not long after, that was when the adepts started getting sick and the children started going missing.
It had taken some digging, but Malia was able to uncover the location where Mr. Kahl had set up shop. It was an old industrial complex from when this used to be a factory town, before the rise of the genetic treatment industry.
Nya walked in to the complex, dressed in her formal military uniform, with Vanya, Merlin and an unwilling Malia.
"Why am I here?" Malia protested, "I've already told you what you wanted to know,"
"You're here so I know you didn't try to screw me over." Nya said,
[We have company.] Merlin informed as a group of guards approached.
"This area is restricted," one of them said
"Sorry, I was just showing these wealthy visitors the property," Malia lied convincingly
Vanya acted without delay, rushing the seven men, around her hands, shadowy constructs in the shape of claws emerged, slicing and slashing at the men. Within seconds, they were all dead.
"Oh my gods!" Malia shrieked
"I think that got their attention." Nya said as alarms went off across the whole complex.
An army of guards rushed out of the buildings, all armed with heavy assault weapons, surrounding the group of women. Vanya vanished as they amassed, surprising Nya and Merlin.
[Apparently she also does that,] Merlin shrugged, it was outside expectations but still a part of the plan.
The one who looked like the captain of the guards walked towards them, "Grand Marshal Nya Crimson I presume? We've been expecting you."
"I surrender!" Malia yelled, raising her hands, "I-I'm not with them, I don't even want to be here."
"You are not needed," the guard said, before shooting her pointblank in the forehead with his pistol.
[Was that really necessary?] Merlin asked, momentarily feeling sorry for the poor woman before moving on.
"She was a liability," the guard said, turning the gun on her "as are you. The Grand Marshal and the asset are all that are needed."
"Merlin, scatter." Nya ordered,
[At once,] Merlin bowed her head before her body vanished
"What the fuck?" the guard backed away said, "she wasn't even real?"
"No, just a highly sophisticated holographic entity," Nya explained calmly
"You are being too compliant for someone of your reputation," the guard captain said
"I figured the direct approach would be more enlightening," Nya said, "sorry to disappoint."
"Even still, precautions must be taken," the head guard said as he signaled to a group of guards that brandish tranquilizer guns used to stun large animals.
"Anyone of you fires that and I will burn you from the inside out before I go down." Nya threatens, her eyes casting an ethereal red glow.
All the guards are hardened soldiers, they've seen the horrors of war time and time again, but none of that compares to the creature before them. To them, she is death and destruction incarnate, a force that is not to be taken lightly just because she let them capture her.
"T-this way, please," the guard captain directed,
"Lovely," Nya says as she follows her amassed escort into the facility proper.
* * *
Nya waited in an office. She was asked to remove her clothes and to wear an inhibitor collar, for the safety of the personnel, and she readily agreed, which further bred doubt and unease among those that were sent to watch her. She was given a simple medical gown to wear over her naked body as she sat on an operation table, swinging her feet over the edge.
The door opened and a tall lanky man with dark hair and round specialized spectacles that she remembered seeing once before walked into the room, carrying a tablet. He was a kobal, evident by his scaled skin, skinny physique, four arms and three eyes. One of the fae species with the ability to manipulate mana, and become adepts, like humans, elves, undines, etc.
"Mr. Kahl, former science minister for World Lord Davos," Nya greeted, "I hope you don't mind my sudden unforeseen visit?"
"I've been anticipating your visit ever since you were identified arriving on the planet." The man said grinning with confidence. "Welcome to Project Crimson Legion."
"I was chasing a massive psionic pulse that only seemed to affect me a whole other galaxy away. You wouldn't happen to know anything about that, would you?"
"One of our assets recently expired," he explained, "it wasn't a subtle affair and melted a lab assistant in the process. I think that was what caused the psionic surge you described."
"Ah, so it was just a death rattle," Nya said, "And here I thought someone was picking a fight; well color me embarrassed. So, in that case, I'll just grab my things and be on my way."
"Everything we confiscated from you is being studied," the man said, "As are you, this very moment. We have sensors monitoring everything about you, even that inhibitor collar is collecting biometric data."
"That's a lot of effort," Nya asked, "Why go to all the trouble? What is it about?"
"It's about you, my dear," he replied coming closer, "from the moment we first laid eyes on you, the World Lord and I knew you were special. He had me study you to understand how special you really were, for all the good it did him."
"So that's what the eleven plus months of torture were about?" Nya said, "You could've just asked,"
"That time spent did not yield much, but we did harvest several your DNA, a fine prize for further study."
"It was not fun growing those back," Nya added
"After the fall of the World Lord, I knew that it was time to leave Draxia Urma, it's facilities had grown insufficient for the level of analysis I needed. So I came here, to the burgeoning genetic capital in this corner of space, I know several skilled geneticists on this planet who would be open to my new venture."
"Weaponizing me."
"Understanding you. You are the most unique organism I have ever come across, there is not another like you, even among the omen. Singularly crafted from the cosmic muck by the hands of a god, as rare as any origin out there." Mr. Kahl said, "I just want to master the mystery of how. How such an existence could even have come to being from the common omen.
At first we tried to clone you, to replicate an exact copy from the DNA we acquired, that ended in disaster as our clones all turned out horrible monstrosities with grotesque deformities. We concluded that your DNA was too unique, too volatile and that we didn't understand how the different components interacted within the source, you, and trying to force grow a new you caused it to destabilize. That was four years of work wasted, but we persevered. From there, we went on to phase two; splicing your genetic code into someone else."
"That's why you kidnapped all of those children?" Nya asked,
"Children are the perfect template for genetic experimentation; their physiology is especially adaptable to new genetic sequences thanks to their hormonal imbalances. But it turns out that not all of them could accept your DNA. Out of the sixty or so we initially tested, less than a quarter survived the initial trials, albeit with some defect or other. Each new batch all suffered from some form of cellular degradation, but with each new subjects, we understood a little more."
"You're a monster," Nya said interrupting him
"And you're not?" Kahl barked back at her, "you butchered hundreds of people in your revolt with barely a care and you condemn me?"
"I'm not condemning you, I'm recognizing you. I'm a monster, but I know where my limits are. You are so much worse; you hurt children because you think it'll help you tame me? Understand me? You're wrong."
"I am trying to evolve fae kind past our current state." he snapped, "the omen are a deviation of fae evolution, but you are different. After I left Draxia Urma, I did have plans of exploiting your powers, but I am a researcher; the more I dug, the more I was obsessed. And it led me to a breakthrough."
"What?"
"All the subjects of phase two gave me enough insight that I was confident enough to try from scratch again."
"So you tried another attempt at cloning me?"
"No, we're way beyond that," Kahl said, "Phase three are genetically engineered fetuses created from the pairing of your harvested eggs that I fertilized with sperm of superior genetic quality."
"Gross," Nya sneered, "also, it won't work."
"But it will. You see, we already have three viable subjects still incubating, generated from combining your DNA with that of the World Lords."
"You just had Davos' semen lying around?" Nya grimaced "I'd almost hate to ask why."
"I harvested samples years ago, in case he ever needed a clone body, but they proved useful in this endeavor as well. The World Lord underwent genetic treatments to ensure the purity of his DNA, and he was a powerful adept, able to bend the entire mana of a planet to his will, and while vampires are usually infertile, your eggs were still viable due to some cosmic miracle. Your genes and his were successfully merged in a bio-matrix and are now gestating in artificial wombs." He showed her an image on his tablet, three bio pods connected to all sorts of machines, each was giving off vital signs. "And with you as you are now, we can improve on their genetic template and bring them to term. Congratulations, Nya Crimson; you're about to become a mother."
* * *
While Nya was occupying the attention of the entire facility, Merlin was hard at work with Vanya. While the scientists were busy going over Nya's biotic suit and her band, Merlin was able to slip into one of their computer terminals without them noticing, Once inside their systems, Merlin was able to easily access the data servers of the entire facility, processing all their stored information instantly, as was expected for the most advanced virtual entity in existence.
[Oh you poor creatures,] she said to herself going through all the records of their test subjects. The dozen clones that were grown as part of phase one were all cancerous abominations, but we're still kept alive in cages. Out of the hundred and eighty children tested for phase two, less than a third were still alive and were slowly succumbing to cellular degradation, similar to what Merlin saw in Vanya. Phase three was interesting though; three genetically engineered beings at different stages of development, created from the genetic material of both Nya Crimson and World Lord Davos. Bioengineering, or looming, was still relatively new in Hyperion space, still less than a century old, the most they could do with the technology currently was creating designer babies from donor cells of parents, or gen-mod surgeries, the potential implication of looming was limitless. Unfortunately, though, these three loomed creatures only seemed to be proof-of-concept mock-ups, and from the test results it seemed the children on Nya and Davos wouldn't live long if brought out of their artificial wombs.
[These primitives don't know the first thing about para-biology or genetic ascendancy,] she sighed to herself, [but these children could prove useful later on, having Nya's unique genetic code. I think I'll step in.]
With a simple set of quick alterations to the program that managed their incubation –discreetly, so that some idiot didn't come and change the whole thing back— Merlin constructed the ideal genetic templates that could allow the fetuses to grow into fully-functioning living beings.
With her side project completed, she went back into the facility systems, scanning through its infrastructure and taking everything apart, taking a special pleasure in it as she was appalled by the unsophisticated means by which they were conducting their genetic experiments. She then went to open all the containment units within the complex, everything they kept caged up was set free.
Following the genetic experiments done to her, Vanya had developed an interesting ability, molecular corporation. She could generate and animate particles around her and control them in a variety of ways. The most common way was to create shadow claws, but she could also use it to camouflage herself. Now, she was waiting in one of the containment blocks when an alarm went off and all the cell doors opened. Materializing in front of a guard, she tore through the lot that were patrolling the block as soon as the alarm sounded.
As the last of the guards dropped to the ground, children between the ages of ten to seventeen stepped out of the cells. When they saw Vanya they proceeded to flock around her.
During their stay, the children had developed a rudimentary language using hand gestures, since not all of them could speak. When they crowded around Vanya, they all exchanged a flurry of gestures asking what was happening. She replied with her own gestures and led them out of the block.
* * *
All the while, Nya was still keeping Mr. Kahl busy, when all the pandemonium broke out. The alarms blared and lights flashed.
"Sounds like you have a bit of a problem?" Nya commented
"You…" Kahl accused, "What did you do?"
"Nothing, I've been right here talking to you this whole time," Nya said, raising her hand to emphasize her innocence.
"What is happening?" Kahl demanded
"Well, I might not have done anything myself, but I did orchestrate it." Nya shrugged, as she used her telekinesis to disable the guards that were about to fire on her.
"How can you use your powers? You're wearing an inhibitor collar," Kahl said as he backed away
"A collar that no longer affects me," Nya said, "I went tinkering about in my DNA a while back, giving me a unique genetic matrix. Not technically an omen anymore so omen-specific restraints don't work on me."
"H-how is that possible?" Kahl demanded
"You're not the only one who likes to dabble in genetics." Nya says as she grabs the man by the scruff of his clothes. "This is some interesting work you have going on, let's take a closer look."
"Unhand me!" he yells as he pulls an injector from his coat pocket and jams it into her neck. Immediately afterwards, she feels a burning sensation make its way up her veins and drops Kahl as she grunts in pain.
"What did you put in me?" she demands as blood starts to trickle from her eyes, nose, ears and mouth.
"A little insurance," Kahl said holding up the empty injector, "I call it the gene bomb. A special concoction that unravels DNA, breaking you apart from the inside out."
"That's a nasty little cocktail," Nya says as she falls to her knees, blood dripping from her face like a tap.
"I designed it as a last resort, it's never been tested. Frankly, I'm fascinated about how this will affect you." He said as he approached her groveling form.
Every second, she felt her insides burn, she hadn't felt this much internal pain since that providence agent tried to force his way out of her. She was being undone from the inside.
In desperation, she lunged forward to one of the guards, raking her fingers across his face and leaving deep marks in his flesh. The wounded man kicked her back forcefully and and collapsed onto the ground, a pool of blood forming around her as she started to convulse, then laid silent, staring up at nothing. Her entire body erupts into crimson flames as her blood aura covers her form.
It was so sudden it scared Kahl and the guards,
"What the fuck!" one of the guards yelled as he made for the door
"No you fools. we can't let her body be destroyed." Kahl protested as the other guard forced him to leave, "Who knows what secrets her corpse holds?"
"Right now I'm more focused on keeping you safe, sir," the guard said
After they left, Nya's burning body returned to normal, leaving her naked in the fetal position on the floor. As she opens her eyes, she looks at her hand, which still had her black ring. Clenching her fist, the red designs glow and her uniform materializes around her, as grand as ever.
[Nya, are you okay?] Merlin says, appearing beside her, concern on her face, [I just felt you die.]
"I did," Nya explained simply, "Kahl injected me with something he called a gene bomb, luckily, at the same time, I was having another MARS attack that I forcefully speed up. It seems the two canceled each other out. From there I just needed to jump start my recovery thanks to the bio-matter I got from that guard."
[That was too ricky,] Merlin fretted, [I can't believe you survived. The chances of that are 124,358,274,700.997364 to 1.]
"Enough talk, how goes your end?" Nya asked
[Almost done.]
"Then it's time to bring in the exit strategy." Nya said as she sent a message to Kiva, who was on board their ship currently orbiting the planet.
* * *
Vanya was leading the other experimented kids out of the facility. Following Nya's plan, they would've arrived at a location were Kiva would be waiting for them with a wormhole out of there, from there they would be taken to Avalon where they would be wardens of the state until such time that they could apply for full citizenship. That was the plan anyway.
As Vanya led the kids out, they encountered Mr. Kahl and an army of guards.
"All of you get back to your cells." The head guard orders, brandishing a shock-baton
"Ah, B-017, I was wondering what happened to you," Kahl said casually as Vanya was at the lead of the mod of kids, "Leading an uprising, eh? Just like your progenitor,"
Vanya tensely looked for a way out of the situation, Nya was supposed to keep the man busy so this very eventuality didn't happen.
"If you're wondering where your progenitor is, she'd dead. I killed her." Kahl said proudly,
"Don't pat yourself on the back just yet," Nya said as she hovered above them all, carried by her massive bright red wings of blood aura, that burned the same color as her hair.
"You're alive?" Kahl gaped, "H-how?"
"Simple; I'm smarter than you, luckier too." Nya replied as she landed between Vanya and Kahl. She turned to her copy, "Are you okay?"
Vanya replied with a rapid barrage of gestures
"Okay, so the plan kinda fell apart, that's why there are back-up plans." Nya told her, she then turned back to Kahl, who stilled looked at her, his mouth agape. "Kahl, right now, your daughter and her fiance are about ready to rescue all these children that you illegally experimented on. Following that, you will be arrested for your crimes and taken to Avalon to face trial. I already have someone in your systems who has access to every file you have there. If any of your guards try to stop me or these children, then I will stop them with extreme prejudice and violence. Thus is the verdict of the Grand Marshal" Nya said, with so much charisma and authority, that even some of the guards were swayed. Under the watchful eye of the Grand Marshal, a good number of the guards decided to surrender, subjected to a mild case of charm.
"Daughter?" Kahl said, "I have a daughter?"
Nya face-palms herself, "Yes, you have a daughter, you knocked-up her mother; that's how it works. Surrender and maybe you would be allowed to speak to her."
"Why would I want that?" Kahl asked
"What?" Nya asked, feeling for Amara, who was watching this exchange onboard their ship
"My work is far more important than some bastard that came about from a night of meaningless sex with some common trollop." Kahl said, "Why should I care about her?"
At that moment, a wormhole ripped open right next to Nya and a teary-eyed Amara stormed out, followed by a concerned Kiva.
"How dare you!" Amara yelled at the man as she stormed towards him,
"You couldn't have kept her on the ship?" Nya hisses to Kiva, who just shrugs in return, looking at the man with pure contempt.
"Weren't you the captain of the royal guard?" Kahl asked, "Fitting, you jump from one master to another; just as much of a whore as your mother."
Before Amara can quick-draw her plasma pistol, Nya rests a hand on her shoulder, "That's enough."
"How could I ever have wanted to find such a detestable asshole?" Amara snarled
"You were foolish. It happens to the best of us." Nya shrugged, "Now go over to your fiance, let me finish this."
Amara retreats to Kiva's side, and the two start to attend to the children.
"You really are a piece of shit, you know that?" Nya said to the man, "Get ready for your trip, the prisons on Avalon have gotten better, though not by much."
"Answer me this; how did you survive the gene bomb?"
"It might be a little too advanced for your understanding, but all you really need to understand is that it made me stronger." Nya explained
"I will not allow you to destroy my legacy." Kahl said calmly
"Your legacy of hurting children? Trying to weaponize my DNA?" Nya asked, "I'm not destroying it, I'm going to take it and make it into something better than you ever even considered."
"No!" he yelled back, "I will NOT let you destroy my legacy!" Kahl pulled a remote, hitting a trigger.
"What the fuck did you do?" Nya demanded, crushing his wrist in her iron grip a second later.
"Gaahh!" he screamed in pain.
[Nya!] Merlin alerted her, [He just triggered some sort of failsafe, he's going to…]
The scream of the first child interrupted Merlin's explanation. As Nya turned around, she saw the child, a little girl, falling to the ground, her eyes seemingly burnt out and smoking. Before she had even dropped to the ground dead, a second child was afflicted by this phenomenon, then a third, then a forth, then a dozen. They all gave a brief scream as some sort of explosive was detonated within their skulls.
"NO!" Nya yelled as Vanya started to scream, coming out as a strangled gurgle. Before she could fall to the ground, Nya was already by her side, "Vanya? What did you DO!" she yelled at the man who was groveling in pain from his crushed wrist
"F-failsafe… nano-explosives implants… in all the subjects." Kahl said, "hers… seems to be damaged. Not… a quick death."
Vanya's hand on her cheek, drew Nya'a attention away from the pathetic man, back to the dying girl. She winced in pain as her head started to glow from the incise.
"Merlin, can we fix them?" Nya demanded, not noticing all the kids were already dead around her.
[No, the nano-explosives have already begun the detonation sequence, I'm sorry… there's nothing I can do.] Merlin replied
Although she didn't know any of the children, and she hadn't known Vanya long, they were all in her head. When they were in the mindscape, she felt a strong connection to all of them, an empathic link now broken.
As Vanya laid dying in her arm, her eyes already burnt out, Nya could only manage to whisper, "I'm sorry."
The blinded girl gave her a small pain filled smile, mouthing the word 'forgive' before she eventually went still.
As Nya sat there on the ground, cradling the body of the girl, Merlin sent an alert to Kiva and Amara
[Both of you get out of here!] she said in both their heads [NOW!]
"What?" Amara demanded, still glaring at the man who was her biological father
[Nya is about to snap, and I'm not sure you would be able to survive.]
"Why are you worried about us?" Kiva asked, "I always assumed you hated everyone who wasn't Nya."
[I do, but if you die due to her meltdown, it'll have detrimental effects to her already fragile psyche. Now GO!] Merlin said
Around Nya, they could see the red energy building, not like the usual blood aura, this was like a pulsing glow underneath her skin, glowing brighter with each pulse.
"We need to go." Kiva said as she pulled Amara into her wormhole.
Kahl watched in pained fascination as the energy built up within Nya, then was released in a singular devastating wave. The wave of blood aura swept through the entire facility, destroying everyone left alive inside, even the smallest pests were disintegrated in the carnage released by Nya Crimson.
When it was over, and the blood aura subsided, Nya was left kneeling in the middle of a smoldering crater, caked in ash, then Merlin materialized herself before her master
[Nya, are you okay?] Merlin asked
"What happened?" Nya asked
[I figured it out,] the Prime said, [Ever since the attack you've been more emotional than usual, I'd almost say you were on your period if you weren't part vampire. It occurred to me recently that the psychic blast may have left you with an imprint of emotion from the subject that died, they were connected to you. Now, feeling all of them die in such a way had a similar effect, only exponentially stronger. You were instantly overwhelmed and released a wave of pure destruction. I'm not entirely sure how you did it yet –probably another side-effect of your recent regeneration— but you eradicated all life within this facility… well, almost.]
"What do you mean 'almost'?" Nya asked looking up at her Prime.
[Your children.] Merlin said, [Somehow, they survived the wave of blood aura. They're still alive.]
"Thank god, someone survived…" Nya said before losing consciousness.
As Merlin picked up her unconscious master, she reflected on how those three children exceeded her expectations. She was afraid that Nya's wave of destruction would've destroyed them too, but they had seemingly absorbed the some of that energy from the wave somehow, and used it to grow even faster, now they were out of their bio-pods.
A few feet away were three children; two girls and a boy, naked and covered in a green viscous substance from the looming process, they were all sleeping sounds on the ground as Merlin brought Nya over.
[The proud Crimson family. I wonder what you will accomplish together?]