For Cassius' new project the entire Excelsior Base was moving around. They were already restricted to one building, but now for the Akron project, they were forced into even more confined quarters. The basement training room was completed off-limits and refitted by Cassius. First, four floors were also deemed off-limits, two of the floors were refitted with lab and medical equipment, while the third floor was purely a resting area, leaving the fourth as a buffer.
Since Cassius' attention was now placed on the Akron or Apex Project, Project Starhammer was temporarily postponed. Cassius quickly started up the project once volunteers reached 200. This number was reached despite his warnings of a high chance of death during the project. The very first and most resolute volunteer was unexpected for Cassius as he didn't expect that Leon would ever join the project so long as he was overseeing it.
Leon was standing in the basement among a group of 50 men and women. There were four of these groups, each looking around curiously or uncomfortably and unsuccessfully attempting to cover or warm their bodies due to the sparse clothing. After a while, the cold stopped being a bother to them, and the men and women who were trying to cover up eventually stopped seeing that no one was paying too much attention to them.
After standing around for almost an hour the volunteers eventually warmed up to each other and started casual conversations. Leon leaned over to the woman next to him but before he could say anything he was interrupted by an all too familiar voice.
"That concludes the first part of your first test."
The volunteers were shocked by the voice that so easily drowned out all of theirs. They quickly regressed to themselves from an hour ago, as they attempted to cover up or violently shivered due to the cold. They quickly realized the room was several times colder than when they first entered.
"As you have all agreed to participate in this project I will commend your courage. Quick introduction, I am Cassius and I will be overseeing this project from beginning to end. To my left is Nora Bell, who will be assisting me in this project with her vast medical knowledge. There will also be nurses and other medical personnel gathered from the refugees in the base on standby for each one of you, should you have any problems inform them immediately. The last thing before moving on with the project, I will give you all one last chance to drop out. The test after this one will only become my demanding and brutal, not to mention the medical procedures you will undergo, the chance of death or permanent injury at a genetic level are high."
Cassius waited for five minutes, yet none of the volunteers moved. They looked to each other and at Cassius and Nora, silently awaiting their next instructions. From their vantage point on a newly built elevated platform, Cassius and Nora could see the hesitation in the eyes of many of the volunteers, they even notice a few who started to leave but put their feet back down never taking that first step. Concluding that no one would leave Cassius spoke once again.
"As I said before, I commend your courage. But that won't be enough for what is to come. With this project, I guarantee I will break each of you down and build you back, molecule by molecule if need be. But I also promise that those of you who make it out of this will reach heights that no other human will in any short amount of time."
"As I've already been introduced I won't repeat anything. We'll immediately jump into the project. You will all be divided once again into groups of 50, the groups we place you in will remain as such until the end of the project and very possibly beyond. For now, I will designate each group with a number," Nora pointed at each group calling out a number from one to four before continuing, "For now Group 4 will follow me upstairs and undergo a full medical examination, the rest will be staying here with Cassius."
Nora followed by Group 4 began exiting the basement, leaving Cassius with the other 150 volunteers. They stared at Cassius waiting for the next set of instructions. Cassius however remained silent waiting for Nora's group to leave. After they were gone a few dozen individuals entered the basement and quickly walked into what looked like a storage room from the outside.
"Now that everyone who needs to be here is here I will explain the next steps. First, we will be running a stress and endurance test on all of you. I need to see just what your limits are before tailoring the projected results of the project to each individual. I am sure most of you have already noticed the instruments on the far side of the room, those of you familiar with the Rigs used for the Warsoul units testing will quickly adjust to them. To those unfamiliar with it the idea is simple. I will have several medical personnel and lab technicians aiding you with placing the various monitors on you and helping you to get acquainted with the new equipment. Any questions?"
For a moment no one seemed intent on moving or speaking but, eventually, a woman toward the rear of Group 3 confidently approached the stage.
"Cassius-san, will we be able to freely move about after this project? I only ask because I was sent here to retrieve my sister, yet I didn't have the strength to freely walk the city."
"I have no intentions of forcing anyone of you to work for me past a single task, that of course assuming you are at least close or exceeding the projected results."
The woman performed a slight bow and moved back into her position. The other volunteers began to move off to the instruments Cassius had mentioned where they found the personnel he mentioned waiting for them. All two hundred were quickly settled into the equipment and started the test.