Slowly blinking. Ragna found himself lying in a bed, tucked into a thin blanket. Meekly looking around, Ragna saw a pedestal in the middle of the room, a perfectly spherical black stone mounted on top of it shielded beneath a pulsing blue energy field.
Hearing voices, Ragna turned his head. Seeing the backs of two men wearing lab coats, they were separated from the boy by a pane of thick glass. Their conversation was transmitted through speakers in the room.
Glaring at the monitors before them, the man on the left shakily tried to tighten the string that held his hair in place. "You told me this would work, Ozen! Instead, we had to amputate his arm!" The man's long dirty blond hair was tied back, although it had started to come undone as he shook from a suppressed anger.
Ragna recognized the voice. Trying to talk, his words came out only as a whisper that neither man heard. "Papa…"
The other man stood holding a hand over his mouth. "It should have worked Crio." His voice came out cold. "My calculations they- they were impeccable, the only thing that could have messed this up could have been some outside variable. No, no, this is fine, he survived the initial exposure." Glancing at Crio's expression. Ozen's eyes narrowed as he weighed up his options. "Well… Your son is still alive, that's more than can be said about most of our test subjects. We knew he could survive the exposure, the flow within him is far more potent than should be expected from a child of his age, no doubt that has something to do with his mother's prolonged exposure to rift energies. I'm sure if we attempted this again, we would get the results we were expecting."
Balling his fists by his side, Crio tried to steady his nerves. "No, not again. I was a fool to have ever tried experimenting on my own son, Ozen. You could have found another lab rat to experiment on. I should have never-" Covering his face in his hands, Crio gritted his teeth as his anxiety and fear got the better of him. "Oh gods, if the Directorate ever found out what we were doing here-"
Putting a hand on Crio's shoulder, Ozen attempted to console the man. "Come now, Crio, don't look at it that way. If you just put your faith in me one last time, I will ensure your son survives. Don't you trust me, old friend?" Gently rubbing Crio's shoulder, as the man did this, Ragna spotted a ring on his ring finger. It was made of intricately detailed silver with a small pair of lips, it seemed to glisten as the man spoke. "Even if the Board tried to stop us. With the number of artefacts, we both have stored, they wouldn't have enough Travellers to take us both down. Just think Crio, this artefact." Gesturing to the black stone behind them, he patted Crio's back again. "If only we can learn its purpose, this could be the next step in our evolution."
His eyes' losing focus for a moment, Crio nodded. "You're right, as always, Ozen. As long as you're sure, we'll only need one more attempt."
"I am certain. Now." Seeing the now awake Ragna out of the corner of his eye, Ozen clenched his jaw slightly. "Your son's awake, sedate him before we begin." Moving to a console by the window to prepare for the test, he glanced back at Crio. "I can't be asked to hear children's screams any more; they all just blur into the same sound."
Without questioning, Crio moved to a door next to the window, as the door slid open with a slight squeal. Crio smiled at his son. "Hey kiddo, how are you feeling?"
Up until this point, Ragna hadn't thought about his own situation. "I-'' His voice was hoarse. "Papa, I can't feel my right arm."
Crio's expression didn't change as he blankly watched his son. "I'm sorry Ragna, we had to amputate your arm. The energy given off by the artefact caused dangerous cancer to grow within your arm. Amputation was the only option." He smiled warmly.
Ragna' eyes opened wide, pulling the blanket off of his torso. Ragna felt his stomach lurch as he found a bloody stump wrapped in bandages where his right arm should be. Covering his mouth. His eyes rapidly shifted from confusion to panic to fear. "Pa- Papa, how did this happen?"
"Don't worry Ragna. This was the better alternative. Uncle Ozen says we'll only need to do the experiment once more, and then we can go home." Reaching into his pocket, Crio brought out a small bottle of pills. Opening the container, he tapped a single pill into his palm. Ragna was confused looking at his father's hand for a second, It wasn't a normal hand, no. It looked like it was made of some stone-like material, but it flexed and moved like any other hand.
Screwing it back up, Crio pocketed the bottle. Holding the pill out between his fingers, the man smiled, Ragna felt unnerved by her father's soulless gaze. "Just take this Ragna. It'll make the pain go away."
Accepting his words, Ragna took the pill from his father's hand, Ragna quickly swallowed it. "Papa, when…" His speech started to slur, Ragna' head bobbed as he fought against the effects of the pill. "Can we go home…" His head hitting the pillow, Ragna passed from the pill.
Watching Ragna lose consciousness, Crio grabbed the thin blanket. Pulling it off of Ragna, he balled it up before dropping it on the floor next to the bed. Leaving the room, he joined Ozen back in the control room.
"The test is ready to begin, Ozen." Crio numbly responded.
Pressing a few buttons and flicking a few switches. Ozen nodded. "Good, good, we can finally-"
The lights turned off as an explosion rocked the facility. Steadying themselves on whatever they could reach. Crio looked to Ozen as red lights flashed on in the room.
"Ozen-? What was that?"
The room lit up as the lights switched back on. "It seems we have less time than we expected…" Moving to a nearby terminal, Ozen pulled up a page displaying cameras. Watching as dozens of armed soldiers were swarming the halls approaching their position. Ozen scowled. "I believe the Directorate has discovered what we've been doing here. No doubt they blew a hole in the front door." Kneeling, Ozen unzipped a duffel bag, pulling out an obsidian crown with a black diamond held on the crown by interlocking black metal the crown was made off. Looking into the black diamond, a small smile crept across his lips. "They never knew how to knock." Walking over to the door connected to the outside hallway, Ozen stopped.
Resting his hand on the door handle, he stared back at Crio. "Finish the experiment Crio, I'll deal with our intruders. When this is done, we will be able to use it to make our escape into the 6th World." As he left the room, Ozen placed the black crown on his head.
Watching the door swing shut, Crio returned his attention to Ragna and the black sphere.
"Attempting phase 2." Pressing a switch, the shielding around the black sphere shimmered before disappearing.
A gentle purple light shimmered across the black sphere shimmered with a purple light.
After a few minutes. Crio continued. "Initial exposure consistent with previous experiments. Proceeding to phase 3."
Scrolling a dial to the right, Crio didn't flinch as another explosion rocked the facility.
Flicking another switch, placing a hand on a lever. Crio looked into the room. "Activating." Pulling down the lever, the energy surrounding the black sphere dissipated.
"Hmm." Looking at the watch on his wrist, Crio's expression became puzzled. "This isn't consistent at all. Perhaps the estimations were-"
Shooting outwards from the black sphere, the energy from the purple sphere manifested as countless purple tendrils shot out from the black sphere. A dozen of the tendrils sank themselves into the sleeping Ragna' skin. The tendrils that didn't hit Ragna fizzled away.
As the tendrils began to glow, Crio's eyes twitched as he watched Ragna' face twist into a pained expression.
"Phase three is a success. Flow is being transferred from host to artefact s- successfully." Clutching his head, Crio felt a pain in his head. "I think I'm coming down with a-" Watching Ragna' eyes flicker, Crio cleared his throat. "A migraine."
Beginning to float towards Ragna, the sphere stopped above his chest.
"It's initiating phase 4, none of the test subjects has survived until this point." Crio looked towards the door to the hallway. "Ozen should be here to see this. The first of its kind…"
Seeing the intensity of the purple glow intensify from out of the corner of his eye. Crio's eyes widened in fear as Ragna was consumed in the light.
Slamming a hand on a nearby console, Crio shouted into the mouthpiece.
"Breach!"