Lasiter stretched as he shook off the dream-like memories of the world he kept escaping to by using the implant. While he enjoyed getting to see Mystika in the flesh, the world wasn't quite what he saw in his mind. At least he was trying to shape the barren world into the world he saw and dreamed to create for others to experience. He knew from talking with the Makers more that some of the test subjects gained a god complex after entering the malleable universe that could be shaped by a strong, focused mind and clear images. The results as they had found out became more life-like the more one understood how life works, what made things tick, and especially an understanding of how changes affected the way things lived in a world. In fact, that is part of why he had activated the implant today. There was a meeting to be held for those with the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implant, well, the last three of the test subjects are still sane enough to aid in the improvement of the device and Lasiter who served as the semi willing lab rat for how someone can utilize the implant and test its limits. Stepping forward off of the platform used as the entry point to the observation station of the Makers, Lasiter made his way forward as he carefully shifted his appearance as he walked towards the conference room. Of course, due to the restrictions of manipulating one's appearance on the station, the only thing he could do was become a well defined humanoid figure made of midnight purple ooze that had dimly glowing amber eyes and a turquoise line that served as he mouth as he smirked at finding another form that kept within the regulations, yet still hid his true appearance from the Makers and their other testers who all had criminal origins. He chuckled softly as he remembered how he fed them a fake name he'd rather have, and they still had yet to realize just who he was.
"Ah, Lasiter! Glad you could join us." A woman said as Lasiter entered the small conference room. "I see you still haven't lost the desire or compulsion to test the boundaries of what is allowed and how far you can bend the rules without breaking them. Honestly, I hoped that by granting you the last of our prototypes that you would trust us enough to drop the rather ingenious ways you have to avoid being tracked or observed besides the telemetry that your implant regularly sends to our database. Well, that's what it's supposed to do!" The woman glared at Lasiter with an intense hatred, to which he shrugged.
"Hey, not my fault that your lab didn't invest in the software beyond the programming to initiate the transdimensional travel while giving the user of the implant the ability to manipulate the region within their control to their whims and desires. That level of experimental tech should be under much more strict cyber security and kept in a state of being able to be shut down at any time in our reality if the users try using it to escape from our reality to avoid being brought in. Besides, having criminals who are cooperating under the condition of freedom if they survive the development to the satisfaction of the client and backers isn't a very good idea if you wanna keep them from developing a god complex like the one who got lost in the other reality." Lasiter didn't bother to stop the mischievous smirk from spreading across his disguised form. "Oh wait, you knuckled down on that and tried to force my implant to accept the update remotely which broadcasted your location to me and allowed me to sneak in and further the advancement of my implant alone while you all slaved away with basic versions and trying to make it as safe as possible throughout the journey! Honestly, you guys haven't even started to scratch the surface of what the human mind can achieve with the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implant that you guys like to ramble about. Why not give it a go yourself? Unless it's not allowed due to your contract, I don't see why you shouldn't be trying this gear out yourself! We live in a high-tech world that couldn't be imagined even just fifteen years ago, and now we have implants that allow us to view and change our world in a much more personal way that lets everyone learn how they want to! How is that not the goal for your product if you are truly the researchers that you promised me that you were?" Lasiter slightly panted as he finished speaking his rambling thoughts aloud where the researchers would likely be able to start deciphering the encryption he used for this meeting, although it would only allow them to start cracking it if he used the same one multiple times. As he looked about, he noticed that he was being stared at by everyone. Most of them contained confusion and concern for what he said, but he was the most concerned about the suits and a couple researchers who looked like they had caught onto the clues he had accidentally slipped. His worry melted away a bit however, due to the passionate fire burning in the eyes of the lead researcher who stood at the center of the conference room. "Ahem. You were saying, ma'am?"
The lead researcher shook her head with the clear intentions of tossing aside stray thoughts that clouded her mind before standing upright once more. "Yes, thank you Lasiter for the reminder. As a few of you do not know me, I will introduce myself. I am Maria Banks, the lead developer and research lead for the biotic implant code named G.E.N.E.S.I.S., which stands for God-like Empowerment Neuro Engineering System: Imagination Suite. G.E.N.E.S.I.S. was meant to be just a stepping point to learning how to materialize data into reality for certain organizations, but as Mr. Mystim has put it, we have barely touched the surface of what the system can do. As we only intended to use four test subjects over the course of the development, we never considered some of the issues that have become quite obvious since we chose Mr. Mystim to replace our fourth test subject who somehow became trapped inside the alternate reality that is either forming or requires external influences in order to shape itself. Most of you are aware of the dangers we have discovered in this alternate reality, but I think we should review them in case any of you have forgotten or haven't been briefed on the dangers with this relatively new technology."
"Sorry Dr. Banks, but there are only five people including this Mystim person who are not aware of the dangers in such ventures." A gruff man built like a mailbox and wearing the uniform of a U.S. general spoke up as he stepped forward. "I don't see how it is necessary for us all to review the dangers when it'll only be one cocky little brat that will pay for the lack of information." An official who dressed similarly to Napoleon Era France nodded alongside a few others who looked like they either held military ranks or were too detached from their reality to know what was going on. "Honestly, this brat should turn himself in and be subjected to the same treatment of the criminals we supplied you in the beginning. After all, we don't know who he is or if we can even trust him with the technology that you and your family have spent decades studying for the use of the various organizations that have sheltered your family from those who wish you harm."
Lasiter didn't bother hiding his eye roll. "Oh please, if there really were still enemies crawling around waiting to kill her, your lack of discipline nowadays is so bad that she'd be dead already with all the terrorist attacks you keep saying are done by a group that we have evidence died out almost sixty years ago! Come on, it's so blatantly obvious to anyone who has lived in freedom for even a year! You are just using Dr. Banks and her family, milking them of all their knowledge and using them as banks of intel that can be used to help you solve problems that require the level of expertise that can only be gained by humans doing the research and having it be their main field of study. Otherwise, you'd already compile the data obtained and memories to create a true A.I. that was raised to think it was a human all along. I highly doubt you militaries and super powers of the world haven't progressed that far in terms of technology since you always try to stay ahead of each other and especially the people of your nations!" The general and the rest of the suits looked at him in shock or anger, but Lasiter didn't care. He wasn't here to make friends, he was here to learn how to use the implant to create limitations that even the users had to follow. Not only that, he wanted to create a world that anyone could visit for a time in their dreams without physically being transported as well like what happened each time he visited the alternate reality.
"Besides, I want to know what data you have gathered about the other realm. In exchange, I'm willing to provide details that might be missing from your set of data. That's the other reason I'm working alone, to provide another perspective and angle to gather information about the world. Y'all are too set in your own ways and expect everyone to conform to your way when the world is only barely able to be called what it was like twenty years ago! Reshrick's Tongue, the United Sovereigns are barely able to cling to their lands that have been fighting each other in little ways for the past fifty seven years of recorded history. You guys are always claiming to be defending us from aliens when the aliens we have contact with develop countermeasures to what we already have!" As Lasiter regained control over his outburst, he noticed that the suits looked scared, angry, or both as they looked at him. "What? Was I supposed to not snoop around the military data stored within the complex that houses the data for the implant I'm helping you greedy gluttons develop? Tough luck. I had to make sure that I wasn't putting my life at a higher risk than I could handle and then learned that it was just above what I knew I could handle once I got into the Altaverse as you call it. There are about five thousand three hundred and seventy six different threats that you guys missed because you were too busy setting up a single safe area in a reality that matches the scale of our own, if not even larger than our own reality!"
When the words he just said sank in, the room immediately burst into chatter. Having heard it straight from a fairly reliable if enigmatic source, the researchers and scientists immediately started buzzing in discussion at what the implications of this knowledge would have if it ended up being proven true. Many of the researchers held conversations with each other in such a frenzy that no one was able to truly decipher what they were saying without having to guess what bits that were intelligible among the various conversations were actually part of which group was talking. The confusion and chatter eventually blended into a larger discussion held collectively by all the researchers and those with the proper knowledge. As you could guess, this led to the criminals with the implants and the suits confused as Mystim merely smirked and listened in on a topic that had puzzled his mother and her family for many years as they were expected to create implants that served as personal teleportation devices without harming the user of the implant. As the discussion wound down, all who were part of it realized that they were still in the middle of a meeting and could discuss this later where those with the potential to understand the knowledge they discussed couldn't figure it out without misunderstanding it or worse learn what they meant and tell them what they missed and how they could have used that knowledge to predict things that could have been prevented in the case of a disaster happening.
"We thank you for bringing that to our attention, Mr. Amira. In fact, we actually wanted to bring up something about you and why we decided to bring you onboard when we could have settled for an imaginative criminal. You see, we suspect that you are Mystim Mourningstar of the legendary Mourningstar family that has blossomed from the union of the Arigo family and the Demira family. You left civilized space for a time and no news of your return was released to the public, only a message that an age-old tradition had proven useful in assessing the merits of a member of the esteemed Mourningstar family in obtaining the inheritance of both families on an encrypted website. Perhaps it is due to your shuttle that you piloted being one that had no systems that the military could tap into, but you managed to escape detection when you snuck back home. The main reason I bring this up, Mr. Mourningstar, is because we believe that there is something that you found at the coordinates that were released in the article as a long lost family treasure recovered by the young genius who had proven his worth to both families in a single event. It was said that it was an ancient implant that still could be relevant in our highly advanced technology and that only the genius who recovered it would be able to say whether or not the implant discovered could be fabricated and studied by anyone other than himself. Unfortunately, due to you being the only genius of that much talent and skill in your generation, it only took us a bit to put the pieces together and try to establish contact. That is part of why we respect your desire to work alone and the organizations backing us have decided to stop actively searching for you. If you would inform us of the uses and abilities of the implant you found, perhaps we can elevate our own models of the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implant to match the levels of your own which is admittedly far beyond what we are capable of producing ourselves due to budget restraints and also having to spend most of our time pleasing the backers who provide us with a decent but limited budget to produce these implants for them."
"Since you guys aren't complete fools, I'll tell you a bit about what I discovered." Lastier decided to let the disguise reflect his actual appearance a bit more as he leaned in a bit closer after making a show of inputting instructions to the implant to change his appearance. "Imagine if you will, a planetary system that is similar to our own, but is obviously artificial and has a large sphere of metal that when you approach it identifies itself as a small moon when it easily dwarfs the yellow star that forms the center of the system. You land on the 'small moon' only to discover that the tech in and on that mechanical moon is far beyond our own to the point that it locks you out of most of the places you could go to because your tech is so low that you are identified as part of the slave cast in the society and thought to be a scout that got back thanks to stasis technology. The implant I brought back was my reward for slaving away for 37 months on that small moon and barely being able to advance into the artisan cast due to my intelligence and skills alone being just at the edge of what would allow me to get promoted!"
Silence reigned supreme as everyone one there realized that someone who was considered on the level of the great minds in ancient and modern history was only barely eligible to become part of the artisan cast of a society that seemed straight from the Dark Ages of Humanity. No one dared to speak up for a time due to the sheer absurdity that one of the brightest minds in recent history could only barely make it to the level above the lowly working class that made up most of the population if the society was anything like what humanity had experienced in that style of governance. It was only after several minutes that someone finally spoke up and broke everyone out of their silent terror at how formidable that alien race must be if they were still around.
"Did you see any signs of them ever being on that artificial planet or any of the other planets? That is, if you managed to spend any time on any of the other artificial planets." The only xenobiologist among the research team spoke up in fascination and concern at what the implications were for if the creators of the 'small moon' were still around in the universe.
"Thankfully it seemed to me like the aliens had left behind mechanical servants and shells of mechanical life that had rusted enough through time that they would be difficult to restore and move around quickly if I ever accidentally turned the power back on for all of them. Other than that, dust covered everything in a layer like ash over a ruined city near a volcano."
This revelation did not sit well with many at the meeting, but at least they could take comfort in knowing that they had no competition in the universe besides the alien races that used an energy too thin in their part of the galaxy to be used in ways like the magic used by the aliens humanity had discovered. They had to be cautious towards the alien who developed in a part of the galaxy closer to the center of the star cluster that served as their home at the moment. Humanity was almost on the brink of conquering the entire sector of the galaxy that served as their origin point, once they dealt with the aliens that seemed to be weak to electromagnetic weaponry due to it dispersing the strange energy that was wielded like magic by their competitors. So long as they were able to learn new technologies from the remains of this new race that evidently died out, or at least was too weak to fight back with their higher technology, the humans could actually become one step closer to achieving dominance in their sector of space.
"So, those coordinates that were published, are they the location of that system you just talked about?" The U.S. general was the one who spoke up next. "Tell us that much and give us some basic knowledge and instruction, and you can earn your rights to be an assistant to the development of the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implant and can keep your implant no matter what discoveries are made and will be let into developments on tech that we make for the private sector along with first access to any goods or services that are released to the general public."
A smirk blossomed on Mystim's face as he managed to get a favorable deal far sooner from the knowledge he gave out than he expected. "Alright, send me the contract in both digital and physical format to the family estate and my private email I registered with the U.S. offices when you guys had me register for mandatory service for five years from the ages of fifteen to twenty years old. Once I have the contract and sign it in both forms, then I will tell you more. Before you send them over though, I will tell you this. Don't try to force your way into anywhere, or the very planet itself will attack with the intent to kill any that aid in an act that the system considers to be an invasion by foreign powers seeking knowledge they have not earned." Almost as soon as he finished his warning, the implant notified him that he had a new email from the U.S. offices with the words 'Exclusive Contract' in the subject line. With a smile, Mystim nodded to the uniformed general and told the implant to prepare the email for viewing as soon as he left the Altaverse. "Now that I have received the email and you have likely issued the command for a legitimate contract to be shipped to the family estate, let's continue on with the real reason for this meeting to have been called. Also, I will reveal that I am indeed Mystim Mourningstar and currently the only inheritor of the legacy of the Primova race. Now that my introduction is out of the way, I'd love to hear the names of the people I am sharing my findings with and who are my helpers or competitors depending on what gets us all fired up for discovering the limits of this Altaverse that we are exploring."
Dr. Banks seemed to regain her momentum and rapidly introduced all the research team, although Mystim quickly forgot their names due to him expecting to only have frequent contact with her among the research team. The general he cut a deal with was General Howitzer, a man who was fairly young compared to other generals and was on the list for promotion to an even higher level of authority if the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. project worked as intended or exceeded the parameters laid out for the project at the start of its funding by the United Sovereigns military. Since the general was the only man of importance compared to the rest of the lower ranking officials from the various countries and territories that made up the United Sovereigns, most of those present only bothered to note General Howitzer as the one to pay attention to among them.
"As for our test subjects, we only refer to them as test subjects… The one furthest from you, the tattooed ox of a man is Subject 607, the thin woman to his left is Subject 705, and the scrawny young lady to her left is Subject 409. The one you are replacing is Subject 153, the most resilient and imaginative of the four who survived the development to the stage that you got your implant at. We went through about nine hundred and forty-three other test subjects who were given the same deal as the ones testing the device along with you, freedom and a new identity as long as they help us perfect the device for the use of our clients who have graciously decided to back us along with the Mourningstar, Arigo, and the Demira families." Dr. Banks gestured to each of the individuals who looked more like regular people due to outfit changes, but they each had something that represented being bound or having no control. Mystim felt sorry for the young lady sitting to his right and wondered what all their stories were and how they came to not only become a part of the nine hundred and forty-seven test subjects for this development. As each of the test subjects were introduced, they either nodded or bowed slightly to Mystim in recognition of who he was as they had heard of him through the reports given in previous meetings, or so Mystim had been told in an email he received earlier that week to remind him of the meeting and what he could expect to be discussed. "If they want to reveal their names and past deeds in a casual conversation, that is up to them. Otherwise, don't expect to find out."
Mystim nodded and decided that he would take time to visit each of them and get to know them better as he wanted to know how to motivate his fellow experimenters to try and help them discover things that he discovered for themselves or even discover things that he couldn't discover due to a different perspective on how things work. "That was already on my list of things to do, especially since a deal was made that was favorable to both sides in our little agreement just now." He nodded to General Howitzer as he spoke. "Besides, why not help spread the workload so it's not just me doing all the major discoveries about what this new implant is capable of? Too much attention to just one of the main explorers of a new territory tends to create jealousy and slow the work which leads to a downhill trend as the workload slows to relying on the one who gets the most attention so far. Take it from me who experienced that in the schools I went to over the years. Now, are we gonna review the facts so far, or are we gonna discuss the discovery that is fairly alarming that was mentioned in the email you sent me earlier this week?" Mystim noticed some strange looks when he mentioned getting an email, which told him that something was likely off since only two people didn't seem confused like the others. Instead of confusion or shock, they instead glanced at each other and noticed that neither of them knew what he meant by an email, and Mystim immediately made it a priority to find out who sent the email that had created such a disturbance when he thought that the email was a harmless note of what to expect that had been sent by someone part of the research team he was now part of.
"Mystim, do you happen to recall the email address of the one who sent it to you?" General Howitzer spoke slowly, almost as if he was afraid of something. Something that Mystim felt that he should be on guard for in the future and might interfere with his intention of focusing only on the perfection of his implant and discovering all that he could about the Altaverse.
"All I remember is that the first part was that it contained the name Lindwurm." When Mystim spoke the name Lindwurm, he wrote it in the air and as soon as it was finished, something happened that caused the name to immediately be erased out of thin air without warning. The sudden deletion of something within the rules of the sector, along with the foreign sound that faintly like an alarm, and words in a language Mystim felt was familiar but also foreign informed them all that they truly didn't understand the new reality they had been lucky to stumble upon with the invention of the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implant that the four had installed along with the lesser version that allowed the others to connect their minds and senses to the reality of the Altaverse and experience it in a very limited fashion compared to the full body and pure sensations experienced by those who had their entire body, mind, and maybe even soul transported into the unknown reality that consumed all their efforts so far.
"Were the sensors installed in the location able to record what just happened?" General Howitzer's voice rang in the room of mildly panicking researchers and concerned warriors who were on edge and at risk of making a stupid decision that could escalate things further.
"Y-yes sir! Even the voice was recorded and all the fluctuations in everything our sensors can detect were also recorded as accurately as they could at the time of the event." The nervous voice of one of the researchers in a more military garb than the rest spoke up in response to the general's question. "In fact, we also detected something anomalous that occurred around Mr. Mourningstar at the moment he spoke and wrote the word. Perhaps it would be best if we either wrapped up the meeting as soon as we can, or just outright reschedule this meeting and try to figure out what happened with Mr. Mourningstar's help so that we can set up protocols and procedures for the next time something like this happens."
"Why are you so afraid to say Lindwurm? It doesn't make sense to me that anything that triggers a response that is unexpected, we immediately conclude that we must be cautious and move slowly like a snail to confront that which we don't understand!" As Mystim spoke, that same voice spoke once more but this time Mystim understood the words and he immediately turned pale.
"Any further mention or attempt to learn about Project Lindwurm will result in the immediate termination of all life forms without the proper clearance to know of the existence of Lindwurm. If done on purpose, this will result in the termination of the offending entity that uses this knowledge to terminate other life forms." While the translation seemed long, the words were condensed in a language that was ancient and was the language developed by the Primova by interacting with a race that resembled the dragons in the myths and legends of the Old World. For some reason, Mystim had an innate understanding of the language, almost as if it was his preferred and default language despite not having been altered much as a child. Not more than any other average citizen, or so his mother had said with a strange look on her face as she told him this. Having recalled that memory, Mystim had a sinking feeling in his gut as he now realized why it felt far too easy for him to dig up the coordinates for a place that both sides of the family had said was buried deep in the cloudy history of their families working together on many projects due to starting on the same planet that eventually fell apart due to irresponsible mining that fragmented the core and destroyed the planet.
"Alright, no one is allowed to mention that again, or there is a high chance that we all could die. Especially if I use it, we will all be killed and likely have no trace left of those who are here with their bodies as well." The combination of the paleness of Mystim's skin, shaky voice, and look of absolute horror was only made worse when Mystim spat out a series of words in an alien tongue the human voice can barely replicate, and the auto translation software updated to include the language and played back the warning in a language they all could understand. Perhaps due to it being a recording of the system itself giving the warning, no alarms went off this time as the warning was played back in another language.
"So… You are evidently of high enough standing to be authorized with the knowledge, and now we know that this 'Draconic' language is the language of whoever created this place as that seems to be the only likely explanation for what has gone on in the last few minutes and why you have abilities that we do not in this Altaverse that we thought we had discovered first." Dr. Banks' assessment cut through the uncomfortable silence that had settled upon the meeting room at the realization that they had stumbled upon a reality that had been created by another race.
"System, may I inform them of the origins of the language you use and what I know so far of who made you?" The words that left Mystim's mouth felt familiar and natural, yet sounded foreign and a bit grating on his human ears. He had subconsciously used the Draconic language when he spoke to the system, yet it made sense to him as that was its default language.
"Permission granted, artisan of clan Mourningstar. Be warned, any further information without proper clearance will not be heard by the slaves or recorded by the slave level tech within your location." Almost like a living entity, the system responded in an organic way that felt very militarized. "If you wish to disclose more information, you must first upgrade your status and upgrade your G.E.N.E.S.I.S. module to fit your new role. If the slaves wish to become your subordinates, they can be freely promoted to the next stage once they pass the trial provided that they are one cast level below you. It is also recommended that you partake in the gene therapy awarded as part of your rise in the cast system from slave level. Please return to Delta Persephone VIII-3 for the gene therapy to take place in reality."
The more Mystim heard of the Draconic language, the more he realized that the language came easily to him and how he longed to speak it more and the annoyance of not having the right vocal organs in order to speak in the melodically guttural language. "Does anyone here know of the Primova?" Mystim had to clear his throat as he realized that he had spoken in the dragon's language instead of Common. "Sorry about that. Does anyone here know anything about the Primova people?"
General Howitzer was the only one who spoke up in response to his question. "We only know what you have told us, as we are still trying to get to the galactic coordinates that you and your family posted in the small message about your return. Thankfully it was only posted on the secure website that lets the military and the powerful families who back us keep in contact, otherwise we would have to defend ourselves from idiots taking their chances at fame and fortune. About all we have been able to observe from the few probes that managed to follow you there was that you got tractor beamed by the metal planet you mentioned. That's all we got before the probes were destroyed without being able to transmit what had destroyed them so suddenly and thoroughly."
"The place I went to has the designation of Delta Persephone VIII-3, and it is a colony world of the Primova race who were dying out and were testing to see if they could influence how planets and systems are made. Not only were they successful in their attempts, they also managed to create an old version of themselves before they became so advanced in technology. That is the origin of humans and the solar system that birthed the more superhuman variant of humans. All other humans evolved naturally off of a slightly constructed solar system that resembled the ancestral home of the Primova species. We are essentially their attempt to stay alive and try to teach their replacements that tech could be their end. The only reason I am allowed to share this is the system gave me permission to, otherwise the system would have punished me severely for telling those unqualified to know in the eyes of the system that we are simply the last remnants of a race that killed themselves with tech. You all would have learned this if you progressed from the slave level of the society of the final Primova colonies, but I wanted to share that you all so it wouldn't come as such a shock. It seems this place was likely constructed by the Primova as a way to preserve their records or escape for those with the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implant, which is actually an implant given to all members of the Primova race so that they could try to store knowledge about themselves, enjoy down time, and various other things. It seems I have access to all the Primova data left behind as it is all within my quadrant to explore, although I think the system purposely did that as I have the clearance to do so. I will be returning to Delta Persephone VIII-3 for some rewards I declined to accept then as I had to get home to meet the deadline set and also share my findings. I will likely be out of commission for a while, but that is a small price to pay for the benefits it will provide to our entire race if I am able to keep climbing the ranks of the society and uncover more about the origins of the Primova and why the language called Draconic is my default language. Oh, and the origins of Draconic is the race of dragons discovered on some of the alien planets the Primova conquered later on and the aid they provided in helping the dragons become a more civilized race compared to what they were at the time of discovery. In honor of that, the dragons gifted the soul of their oldest elder Paarthunax to serve as their eternal advisor and aid in keeping their race alive. Thus, the system we have heard is actually the spirit of Paarthunax who was transformed into a true A.I. by the Primova in return for his great services to their people and his own kind over his long life span."
While all of those attending the meeting were floored, none were more stunned and disbelieving than the criminals who had survived a very torturous experience in exchange for freedom, only to be told that they might be part of a bio-engineered fail safe for a race that was dying out and hoped that their demise would warn the next generation so to speak to be more cautious with what they achieved. The women broke down crying as they realized that all the time where they had felt broken and like there was no hope, they were supposed to be the last hope of a dead race. As for Subject 607, he just sat there with a look like he had just died inside at the implication that his acts of wanton destruction before and especially his killing spree in his later years as a man on the streets meant that he was dooming what was left of a race of hopeful geniuses that could reach a height he could scarcely imagine happening in his lifetime. He wanted to go and see this Delta Persephone VIII-3 for himself and try to learn as much as he could, and if he could punish the twerp who caused him to suffer for twenty years, in prison and throughout the experimentation, he would be more than happy to let Mystim off with just a few missing limbs for putting him behind bars. As he stirred back to life, he realized that he could try to convince the idiot researchers to send him there at the same time that Mystim was there and try to steal the rewards Mystim had earned and then earned the rewards himself to get a boost ahead and leave the others behind as they were too useless in his eyes or just lucky to receive everything needed to succeed in the harsh reality that the Altaverse allowed him to escape.
As the meeting wound down and everyone slowly left, Mystim turned to the young lady beside him. "Uh, I'm sorry. I don't know your name and I'd rather not treat you as just a test subject. After all, you are capable of inheriting the legacy of the Primova race since you are compatible with the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implant."
The woman seemed surprised that Mystim was talking with her, and yet she barely hesitated in speaking with him. "I'm Annabelle. I… I used to sell tonics and concoctions, mainly remedies for common illnesses on my homeworld, but then I ended up killing half my friends with a botched batch of fever medicine. It… it turned them into feral monsters until their hearts exploded. The other half that noticed I had messed up the tonic were all killed by those who had turned feral before they started attacking each other. Had I noticed that an illegal herb had been switched for the real herb, I could have prevented their deaths, so I deserve to be locked away and experience the pain that my friends went through due to my stupid mistake…"
"Hey, that sounds like it was a long time ago, Annabelle. Don't beat yourself up and give up on making tonics to help people if that is what you want to do with your life! You just trusted someone who took advantage of your trust and likely got hit just as hard as you did when they got caught because without them, your crime would have never happened in the first place!" Mystim spoke up in her defense out of habit, but also because he understood that sometimes it was the actions of others that screwed you over. "It might not seem like it to you, but I blame myself every day I wake up in our home reality for the death of an entire family that I was friends with. I could have saved my friends by insisting that they come over for a sleepover, yet I was a shy little kid who just let them walk back home only to hear the next day that some maniac had killed them in their sleep! I trusted the law to catch him, but the culprit escaped capture for so long that I became numb to the world and caught some criminals because that was my only reason to live at that point. Once I locked a few criminals away and my parents shipped me off to an elite school to try and shock me awake, I slowly woke back up to reality and realized that I stopped holding back at one point and stopped letting my fear and guilt I feel due to inaction keep me from doing my best! Don't let that one mistake cost you the rest of your life. You'll likely regret it as you get older and it becomes all the more difficult to not blame yourself and think that you deserve all the pain and bad things that happen to you. Use this chance to set yourself up for a better life once we perfect these G.E.N.E.S.I.S. implants, and then take that life by the horns and steer it where YOU wanna go!" He panted lightly as he finished his impassioned speech, hoping that he didn't just make a fool of himself to a stranger he just met.
For a moment, all Annabelle did was just stare at Mystim with a confused expression. "Why do you care so much about me and what I can do when you just finished telling me that you helped lock criminals away? Shouldn't I be considered a criminal for what my tonics did to my friends?"
Mystim sighed and shook his head. "No, you were used by someone with bad intentions and they played the long game in gaining your trust before using you. You aren't the criminal, and that supplier is the one who should be sentenced to death and suffering. Trust is what landed you here, but as long as you are willing to trust people once more, you'll be able to get through this and become a better person than you were before helping with the G.E.N.E.S.I.S. project."
As Annabelle let the words sink in, tears started to form in her eyes as she realized that there was someone who believed her innocent and was encouraging her to let go of her guilt and move forward. Blinking only made the tears form faster and to fall from her eyes as she finally heard what she had hesitated to believe in herself for many years. "Thank you," she whispered as she wiped at her tears and booted up her implant to take her back to her cell so that she could safely express her emotions at the support she had been given by Mystim who hardly knew her.
"You're so welcome, Annabelle. I hope to see you again soon!" Mystim watched as the hunter green light wrapped around Annabelle and transported her back to their original reality, and sighed softly after she vanished. "Honestly, I wish I could do more than just offer words of encouragement at times like this…" Mystim activated his own transition back to reality with a soft smile as he recalled all that he had learned from the meeting and the fact that he now had some tasks to complete. "Well, looks like the future isn't gonna be so boring after all."