The room was darkened, lit only peripherally by the spotlights that shown down upon the lab table. Astrid could vaguely see odd machines and apparatuses upon tables, hidden in the shadows. There was light emitting from a screen of some sort against the wall.
Astrid squirmed and writhed as the muscular soldiers strapped her to the examination table.
"Now, now," Doctor Laveau said in his weaselly voice. "Time to find out what you are, and"—he paused—"why those eyes are so strange."
"Let me go, you stupid rat!" Astrid spat as she wiggled against her bindings in a vain attempt to free herself.
"Rat?!" the Doctor shrieked. "Keep talking like that and I'll dissect you, I will." He waved his hand. "Soldiers. Gag her."
"Don't you dare—" was all that Astrid managed to say as they tied a cloth around her mouth.
"Much better," Doctor Laveau said with a wry smile as he pulled out a syringe. "Now, first we will need a complete blood count." He looked at Astrid, his gray eyes enlarged behind his spectacles.
They were cold, Astrid thought, the eyes of a man dead inside or irredeemably immoral.
"We need to see if there is any magic in your blood. We'll need it if you're to power the Juggernaut."
Astrid winced as the needle pierced her skin.
"Humans typically don't have magic like Angels." Doctor Laveau continued, not paying his subject's discomfort any mind. "You see, the Angels have an extra element in their bloodstream. This element is called 'zellinium,' and it acts as a conduit between the physical and astral self. With this chemical in their veins, they have an innate connection between mortal and spiritual realms, allowing them to harness what we refer to as a 'Given Power.'" Blood began to flow through the needle to the tube. "Your blood is red, at least." He paused. "Beastfolk have no zellinium either, nor do the Darkling race of the southern oceans. It is strictly Angelic, and a human can only receive it by eating a still-beating heart of an Angel. I wonder, would it work if I ate your heart as well?"
Doctor Laveau removed the needle and flicked the tube.
"Perhaps you are something altogether different," he said. "Why don't we find out, hm? All I need is to find zellinium in your system. If you don't have it, however..." He trailed off, adjusting his glasses as he removed the tube from the syringe. "I guess I'll just kill you."
The Adonai stood at the window, his face lined and intense. "I trust Laveau is making progress?"
"So an Angel is in our midst, in our very city?" an old scientist said as he entered. "And you're planning to use the Juggernaut to destroy him?"
"I trust he is making progress." The Adonai's voice was grim and low as he repeated himself.
"Yes, Your Honor," the scientist's voice was halted and shaky, "but you know it will take time to prepare—it will destroy the city." The scientist's voice sounded almost like a plea. "And we aren't sure if the girl we've captured will even be able to power it."
"I don't remember asking for your input, General," the Adonai said without turning. "And I am fully knowledgeable about how long it will take to power the Juggernaut and the repercussions of such. The city will be destroyed, but it is a noble sacrifice, a necessary evil to bring about the New World order." He paused. "I'm sure Gilliam knows this."
"As you wish, Your Honor." The scientist bowed. "If it is to bring about the freedom of mankind and destroy those who wish to halt its advance."
"I understand that the Juggernaut is not yet ready," the Adonai said, "so I will need something to keep my enemies busy. Gilliam is a crafty man, so I need something to scatter his mind. Tell me, are the Judges ready?"
"Ah," the scientist said, "the three that were a part of the zellinium project? Well, they've shown signs of magical ability, but their minds were heavily unstable as a side-effect of receiving an overdose of the chemical—"
"Good," the Adonai interrupted. "Set them free. They should be able to keep my brother occupied until we obliterate him."
"But, Your Honor, the Judges are heavily unstable; they'll be a menace to the civilians, they'll—"
Suddenly, flames exploded from the Adonai's hand. "Do not question me." His voice was cold and seething.
"Y-yes, sire!" the scientist began as he hurried out of the room.
The Adonai looked out the window. "Soon," he said, "very soon."
The Starbreather hung over the city with his arms crossed. Like a ghost, he knew that no one could see him, no one could hear him.
It had been this way now for one-thousand years.
He looked down at the town below. With his divine red eyes, he could see Philos as he traveled through the underground passage directly beneath the streets, right under the Adonai's nose.
The galaxies clashed upon the Starbreather's skin as he shivered. "It's almost time, Children of Vespira," he said as he watched Philos and also Uri. "Soon, the stars will scream."
The passage was more elaborate than Philos had assumed. It was dusty, but wide and well lit.
"So how'd you guys do this with anyone noticing?" Alphonso blurted out.
"Money," Gilliam laughed. "Money keeps mouths shut rather effectively."
"Sounds under-the-table to me," Vylet sighed.
"One might call it that," Gilliam laughed. "Other's might call it...alternative investments."
"Definitely under-the-table." Joseph's cat ears lowered as he sighed as well.
"Well, however it happened," Uri said, smiling as he adjusted his large-rimmed glasses, "it will help us save Astrid!"
"That's the spirit, four-eyes!" Krista said, shooting a hand in the air cheerily.
"That's an insult, Krista," Kitt explained.
"I don't mind." Uri said, smiling.
"So, tell me, Gilliam," Philos said, "about what they're planning to do with Astrid."
"Power the Juggernaut. I assume they'll run tests first, however."
"Tests?"
"Yes," Gilliam said, frost seeping from his mouth. "They'll probably test her blood first to see if it contains the magic element known as zellinium, which I know for a fact that it does."
"Blood tests..." Philos growled under his breath. He gripped his chest. In his mind, he could see the lights of a laboratory, he could see the halos as the Angelic scientists pricked his skin with needles. His blood curdled; his throat became dry.
He remembered it. And he remembered how it made him scream.
Gilliam cleared his throat. "My brother has been working behind the curtain, it seems, employing a shady scientist known as 'Doctor Laveau.' I know a bit about this man, mainly that he was criticized for his work in the northern Outskirts for being...unethical."
"Unethical?" Philos asked.
"His main focus is on what one might call 'Experimental Metaphysics,'" Gilliam continued. "His main goal was to imbue human subjects with raw zellinium in an attempt to forcibly manifest magical powers in them."
"A terrible decision," Sir Smith cut in as he approached. "The only way a human can inherit the powers of an Angel is to eat an Angel's still-beating heart. In doing this, the zellinium is absorbed naturally and at the right dosage. Injecting raw zellinium will"—he paused—"cause the human mind to warp, creating mental defects."
"So why don't they just use one of those subjects for that Juggernaut weapon?" Philos said.
"Simple." Gilliam said. "Because they need a natural source. Using an artificial conduit wouldn't work. They need a link to a soul."
"So it's a race against the clock then, huh?" Joseph said, blowing out cigarette smoke.
Gilliam smiled. "You were listening?"
The cat boy pointed to his ears. "I'm a cat. We're nothing if not observant."
"There," Kitt said after being quiet for quite some time.
Everyone looked ahead. There, before them, was a ladder.
"Well then," Philos said. "Let's do this!"
Doctor Laveau swirled Astrid's blood in the test tube, its dark sanguine color almost black in the low light. "Run it through the reader," he said, his bony hand passing the tube off to a lab tech.
The tech nodded without a word and poured the blood into a small bowl. The two watched it drain into the hole at the bottom.
Suddenly, mechanical noises filled the room as a strip of paper sluggishly printed from a slot at the bottom of the machine.
"Now let's see..." Doctor Laveau said as he tore the paper off. He paused. "What is this...?" he said, his mouth agape.
"What is it, Doctor?" the tech said. "Read it off to me."
Doctor Laveau cleared his throat. "This girl is fifty percent Angel and fifty percent...well, there's only a blank here..."
"That means..."
"She isn't human, that's for sure. She's Angelic for certain, but this other part...she's..." He furrowed his brow. "She's something that is not of this world..."
"What?!" the tech exclaimed.
The doctor stopped. "What are you, mysterious woman...?"