Arlo, having absorbed the shocking revelations from the documents his father, Julian, had entrusted him with, reclined on his bed, lost in thought.
The dim light from the lamp painted eerie shadows on his room's walls, amplifying the solemnity of the moment as Arlo grappled with the truth about Aya's existence.
"Now I understand why Vivienne views Aya as nothing more than a test subject. Aya was never destined to lead a normal life, to chase her dreams, to experience joy, to marry, to have children, or to grow old surrounded by loved ones. Instead, she was meant to be trapped inside a child, living a life to be researched and experimented on her body.
Aya's birth was a fabrication. She was conceived artificially within a womb layered with Void stone and filled with its liquid form. Vivienne's pregnancy was a ruse, a cover-up for their illicit human experimentation, which had been condemned by The Order of Council Innovators & Mages.
My father was the mastermind behind this research, using his own genetic material to engineer a flawless gene that would allow Aya to wield magic without any constraints.
Aya wasn't his first experiment, but she was the first successful subject to survive five years post-experiment.
One of the key factors contributing to this success was the Heart Regulator Valve (HRV), a device made from Void stone and implanted near Aya's heart shortly after her birth. This device, no larger than 2 centimetres, was designed to control her mana flow.
For those without magical abilities, the heart's function is limited to pumping blood, supplying oxygen and nutrients to the body.
However, for mages, the heart also governs the flow of mana within their bodies.
Mana is as vital to mages as blood is to humans. Without mana, magic is impossible. If a mage lacks mana flow in their heart, they are incapable of wielding magic, much like myself. Despite both my parents being mages, I inherited no mana flow.
Just as excessive blood loss can lead to death, a mage can also die if mana ceases to flow within their body. Mages frequently use Voidstone to replenish their mana, but there's a limit to how much they can absorb at once. Over-absorption can result in Heart Valve Disorders.
Heart Valve Disorders, such as aortic or mitral regurgitation, can cause blood and mana to flow backward into the heart, leading to volume overload. In severe cases, this can cause the body to explode.
This limitation puts mages at a disadvantage against Innovators, who have unlimited potential for creating machinery. The Mage Research and Development Association has been striving for years to overcome this drawback, but my father found a solution.
His solution was to implant a Heart Regulator Valve (HRV) near the heart, allowing for continuous absorption of Voidstones and mana flow without overload. However, he faced a major hurdle: during pregnancy, a baby consumes mana as a nutrient. The more mana a baby consumes in the womb, the greater the mana flow after birth.
To overcome this, he created an artificial womb from a combination of Void stone and human tissue. Aya was one of his test subjects, but according to his document, she was not his ideal result.
Aya can perfectly absorb and circulate mana using the HRV device, but her frail body prevents her from using magic.
That's one of the reasons he brought Aya here, to observe her closely, and..."
Arlo paused briefly before adding, "And another reason he brought her here was to avoid arousing suspicion from The Council of Innovators & Mages. He wanted to portray us as a peaceful, loving family, using me to introduce Aya to a world where she would use magic for his benefit, all under the pretense of caring for me. That monster."
Initially, Arlo had wanted to avoid confronting his father about his atrocities, realizing that any discussion would be futile. However, his concern for Aya consumed his thoughts, fueling his frustration.
Finally, Arlo's patience snapped, and he stormed off to find his father. He searched his father's room, but it was empty. He found his father downstairs, sipping coffee and reading from a screen tablet at the dining table.
Seeing his father, Arlo felt an overwhelming urge to strike him. He wanted to clarify one thing.
"You referred to Aya as 'It' and treated her as an object because you didn't want to develop any emotional attachment to her, didn't you?" Arlo asked, his voice steady.
Julian didn't respond; he simply continued to sip his coffee and read his tablet.
"I've read the document you gave me. Before you met Mother, you referred to your research subjects as objects in your writing. But when you were with Mom, you didn't focus much on your research reports. You consistently referred to your subjects as 'he' or 'she'. Did Mother's death cause this change in you, Father?"
Arlo desperately clung to the hope that his father was still the man he had once admired.
"It's not my report, it's your mother's," Julian replied calmly, not looking up from his tablet.
[End of Chapter]