Theodore walked out of the room, returning with Colt to the lower floors. He hadn't officially told Andreas he would join, but by remaining within the building and staying alive, it seemed implicit.
They headed toward a room on another floor, where a giant machine occupied the space and a woman sat at a desk beside it. She glanced at Colt and pulled down her face mask with her finger. "New recruit?"
"Yesterday's gas leak," Colt muttered as he stopped.
"The abnormality?" The woman asked, a smile slowly spreading across her face.
"Yes," Colt replied and immediately, she darted toward Theodore, grabbing his arm and guiding him to a small bed, hooking him up to several machines in an instant.
"Well, Theodore. Meet Ria, she's our doctor, probably the only doctor in the world capable of helping and diagnosing Wraiths." Colt introduced. "She's also a little bit..." Colt pointed at his head.
"I am completely sane, Colt. You on the other hand are the mad one, traveling all the way from Germany in one burst. At this rate, your curse is going to devour you quicker than you have the chance to save anyone else." Ria explained, heading toward her seat.
Theodore glanced at Colt, watching him as he walked toward the seat, deep down he knew he had contributed to Colt's imminent death. It ate at him slowly.
"Don't worry about me, Doc. Just diagnose the kid." Colt sat down on a spare chair, opposite the bed.
Theodore was confused the moment he was hooked up to the bed. However, he recalled his conversation with Andreas: the more a Wraith used their cursed power, the closer they came to death. This meant Colt had sacrificed himself for him.
"Still, if you didn't bring this kid in, I would've thought you were lying," The woman muttered, tapping the screen and zooming in.
"What is it?" Colt asked, standing behind her.
"The original host the curse took during its first stage has bound to the curse," She replied, backing away from the computer and bumping into Colt.
"Can you talk in clearer terms?"
"The previous host has completely bound to the curse and now when I look at the curse." Ria pointed at the screen. "It's alive."
"Wait..."
"Yes, not as a human, so you can reject the notion of another person living inside you," Ria laughed awkwardly when no one else did. She continued, "The curse and the previous host are now one, and they've evolved into something we haven't seen before."
"Any idea what it could be?" Colt asked.
"I'm detecting brain waves that aren't Theodore's. If my hypothesis is correct, the curse has developed a semi-human state. This might be the first-ever complete fusion, and not only that, it's a fusion within a fusion."
"So there's a living curse within me..." Theodore chimed in, trying his best to understand.
"I don't understand it either but that's the best explanation I can come up with for now."
"What about that there?" Colt pointed at the screen and Ria scooted her chair toward it, taking a closer look.
"That's the curse in question... Its limiter is non-existent." Ria double-checked and it was exactly as she had seen the first time.
"So you're telling me his curse can get stronger?"
"Not only that, "Wraiths are classified into four ranks. S, A, B, and C these are the same ranks used to classify curses. However, Whenever a Wraith is brought in, I can easily rank them. But now? Even if I classify it as B now... he could be at A by the end of the week."
"B? Wasn't the curse that bound to him class A?"
"I already checked that and it ties into his complex situation, there's no accurate explanation once again. But I believe it's due to the fact it rebounded to another host. Theodore is growing all over again with the curse, and that could mean the Curse was a class B before binding with its first one."
"So, is that really what's abnormal?" Theodore muttered. "Can't everyone get stronger with training or something?"
"This isn't a game, your strength as a Wraith is directly tied to the strength of the curse you overpowered," Ria muttered. "You're probably the first and only person with the ability to increase your curse power."
"That's unsettling," Colt muttered.
"Why? This is probably our strongest soldier yet. He can get to your level, tag along with your missions. Save more people."
"There's bound to be a disadvantage. If he was normal, we'd know all the side effects already but he's not, we don't know what would happen when he uses his powers or whether his curse takes over him faster or slower. There's too many unknowns."
"I understand. I'll have to check his DNA and curse then." Ria said, staring at her computer.
"Thanks," Colt muttered, taking Theodore off the bed and leaving the room.
"You don't want me on the grounds? Wasn't the whole point of this making me a Wraith so I could fight curses?"
"You can fight curses even without your cursed power. That's where your strength, weapon, and technique come into play."
"I get a weapon?" Theodore muttered.
"You wanna hit a curse with your bare hands? I mean hey, if you think you could, go Tyson its ass."
"I'd like a sword then." Theodore extended his hand. "A sleek katana, two... please."
"You don't get to choose the weapon."
"Who does?"
The door flung open by itself, revealing a small machine the size of a shoe as the culprit. Colt sighed as a man within the room slid into view on his rolling chair. "I'm the one!" The man muttered in a thick Japanese accent.
"I see you came to work today, Haruta," Colt remarked as he entered the room, with Theodore following behind him.
"I always come to work, unlike you, Colt. I'm always on time as well," Haruta retorted.
"Well, I hope she gave you a Worker of the Month award," Colt quipped before introducing Theodore. "Haruta, meet Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore, meet Haruta Yoshitake. He's our weapon designer."
"Creator!" Haruta stood up, and the machines beneath his feet rolled him toward Theodore.
Theodore, startled by the machines, took a small step back, but Haruta had already caught up to him. "Hm, you're small and thin. A weapon like Enoch's won't do you any good."
"What?" Theodore muttered, watching as he rolled away.
"Neither will heavy armor. Colt, are you sure this is a Wraith?"
"I won't bring the janitor to your workshop," Colt remarked.
"He's way too brittle. If you don't coach him well, he will break in battle."
"He's the abnormality I mentioned earlier."
Haruta glanced at Theodore once more, his eyes widening as he jumped off his rolling machines and dashed into a room at the back. "You should've mentioned that when you came into my office!"
He reemerged from the room, holding a suitcase, which he dropped on the desk and gestured for them to come closer. They approached, and the suitcase opened up to reveal an all-black overall, identical to the ones the Wraiths were wearing earlier, along with the handle of a sword.
"Put your hand on the sword handle," Colt advised, and Theodore glanced at him before complying.
As Theodore grasped the handle of the sword, he quickly let go when he felt something prick him. He grasped his palm, watching as the wound closed up within seconds.
"Good, now I can create a weapon based on the powers of your curse," Haruta excitedly said as he walked off with the sword handle.
"What about the suit?" Theodore asked.
"That's yours. Put it on. We have somewhere to be," Colt mentioned, and a few seconds later, Theodore had donned the all-black armor. His suit was the only one with a face mask strapped within, a sign that Haruta was particularly enthusiastic when creating it.
"Where are we going?"
"There's a curse in New York."
"Why are we the ones going, there's several other Wraith's no?" Theodore muttered as he struggled to keep up with Colt.
"I don't need to be there, you do," Colt muttered, putting his hand on a panel next to a door.
"Why do I need to be anywhere? I just got here, I don't even know how to fight yet."
"Don't sweat the small stuff, you'll fit right in with your new team." The door opened and Colt walked into it.
"My team?" Theodore said, confused. Everything was suddenly moving so fast.
"Just go with the flow, newbie. Siege is a hard place to be in but trust me, it's better than nothing." Colt remarked as he stepped through a door.
Theodore chased after Colt, only to find that the door led to a drop into open space. He could hear Colt shouting his name, urging him to jump, but really? That seemed absurd, regardless of whatever powers he had...
However.
"I already said I was gonna help the world." Theodore held his chest, feeling his heart beating faster than it had ever, "Here goes nothing!"
He jumped.