Note: this is a past chapter ( not filler, it's canon), it doesn't focus on the current timeline of the story, reading this chapter won't be mandatory for the understanding of the story, but I would recommend this chapter for a more preferable experience, the choice is yours
8 Years Ago At Neo-Geisters' Warehouse ( Main Base )
"This isn't just any fire, these are known as 'Soul Blazes', these pieces of lead and wood won't work", Carla says, "what we need is a sacrifice, once a Hybrid like yourself kills another Hybrid, you'll be receiving a 'Soul Orb', we can use those Soul Orbs to cause the combustion within the ASTO".
"Hmph, I see", Sanders says.
Sanders then gets up onto an abandoned stage, he then holds a microphone and says, "hear me, you pieces of shit, the following orders that I'll be giving y'all will be worth 500 grams of Kroltupine to each one of you, if done successfully ofcoarse", "I've had these recent speculations, maybe it's because I'm a bit paranoid, but I'll be appointing all 500 of you to guard this warehouse, I just have a feeling that a couple of devil hunters will be trying to hinder us soon, and it's for the greater cause, do it for the
In Front Of The Warehouse, On Top Of A Utility Pole…
Both Aiden and Wyatt were chosen to partake in this operation, it was to infiltrate this warehouse, which was speculated as Neo-Geisters' main base, where they're developing the Upbringers.
Another goal that the devil hunting organization had on their mind, was to disable the ASTO machines.
"Okay, well this is a bit of an overkill", Wyatt says.
What a sight!
Down below them, while they were on top of the utility pole, there were hundreds of militia.
"Good thing I've got Homunculus, I'll just wipe them all out in a second", Wyatt says.
"No, don't do that", Aiden says, "this extraordinary amount of militia, do you know why they're all here?".
"Why?", Wyatt asks.
"Hybrids…when Hybrids kill one another, the victim's body gets transformed into a Soul Orb, they can then use that Soul Orb to power their ASTO machinery", Aiden says, "whoever motivated them to guard this place, that was their true intentions".
"Damn, he sent them on a suicide mission, so we would've killed them or they would've killed us, it would've been a win-win situation for them, but man…thanks for the warning dude", Wyatt says,"but that throws out our attack of us just barging in, we'll have to sneak in past them, you got a clue on how to do that?".
"We can probably access the warehouse's ventilation system through the rooftop, but judging from these drones that are surrounding the place, I doubt that we could just grapple ourselves there", Aiden says.
"What about that remote hacking device?", Wyatt asks, "you can shut off one of the drone's system temporarily, you just gotta choose that one that's blocking our way onto the rooftop".
Aiden always has a remote hacking device, he's quite paranoid when it comes to these matters.
"Of coarse, I almost forgot", Aiden says as he pulls out the device from his right pocket, "now let me disable that one drone that's blocking the rooftop, while the rest are all busy scanning the other areas".
Aiden then fires a beam of electrons from the device, these electrons interfere with the drone's systems, causing it to temporarily malfunction, meaning that it won't be able to scan or see them while they're passing it.
"Okay, let's go", Wyatt says as they both use their grapple hooks.
Aiden then quickly unscrews the opening to the ventilation shaft system, they then enter the vents.
"Okay, let's start crawling until we find a vent that would lead us to the room where they keep all the ASTO machinery", Aiden says, and Wyatt nods back.
They crawl and crawl aimlessly, it's all in the mind, they've got a goal, but it'll seem unreachable when they encounter a certain threat just ahead, an uncertain dilemma or perhaps…'a paradox' if you will.
"We've been crawling for a while man, I feel like the length of this vent surpasses the length of the warehouse itself, we should've been there by now", Wyatt says.
"Yeah, I know, this isn't right, but what can we do in our current situation?", Aiden says, "let's just keep on moving".
Eventually, they start to notice a certain change in the vents' pathways.
"Are the vents…widening?", Aiden asks, "I swear we were crawling at the opening of the system, now we're on our feet, basically walking".
They were widening, the uncertain paradox has began.
"Yeah, I did notice it, but I thought I was on some booze for a second", Wyatt says.
They kept on moving until they reached a certain checkpoint, a room…in the middle of the ventilation system.
"Hey dude, this is weirding me out, I don't like how this is escalating", Wyatt says.
"Yeah, and not to mention it, this isn't any normal room either, look at that nest, it's about 5 meters tall, probably 7 meters wide", Aiden says, "don't even think about using your Homunculus here, those drones rely on radiation to track others, meaning they'll be able to track any usage of devil abilities".
Wyatt pulls out a flashlight.
"No other monstrosities would reside within these vents, those eggs…they must be Upbringers", Wyatt says.
These eggs had a bizarre green tint, and weirdly enough, they were too veiny to be eggs.
"Once an ASTO has done its job, these Upbringers could mate with one another, that leads to them laying eggs, they just lose the humanity that once resided within them", Aiden says.
Suddenly though, they both hear a crack from one of the dozen of eggs, so as a result, a baby Upbringer just walks out of it.
"Fucking hell, that's disgusting", Wyatt says, "they even have this disgusting odor".
Wyatt was about to vomit at any moment, but Aiden had another concern on his mind.
"Wait, when an egg cracks open, that immediately sets an alarm to the mother of this nest", Aiden says.
"Ah shit, that's bad", Wyatt says, "I'll have to fight a fucker like that without using any abilities, great".
They wait in silence while the sense of paranoia pressures them even further.
Wyatt pulls out a P90, while Aiden utilizes an AK.
"I just heard a sound, prepare yourself", Aiden says.
All of a sudden, an Upbringer with the size of a damn elephant runs in towards them.
Wyatt shoots a couple of rounds at it, but it's useless!
The Upbringer then opens her jaw, a beam of light is then fired from there, but Wyatt barely manages to dodge it.
"Aiden, just use an ability of yours already!", Wyatt says.
The Upbringer then runs towards Aiden and attempts to strike him, but she misses since Aiden dodged it in time, but now he's at a disadvantage since he's on the ground.
The damage that can be done with those claws of an Upbringer can be fatal.
Aiden then continues to fire his AK at the Upbringer, but just like Wyatt's attempt, it's useless.
The Upbringer manages to hit Aiden with her claws, putting all three claws right through him.
"AIDEN!", Wyatt screams out.
"You idiot, even after all those years, you still don't know me", Aiden says.
He was able to create a duplicate of his own body, so that means the Upbringer attacked a deepfake.
Aiden then decapitates the head of the Upbringer with a dagger that he had previously brought with him.
"It's all nothing but in the mind, Wyatt", Aiden says.