"...with that; further information will be unveiled within the coming months. So Hastings Corporation can neither confirm nor deny your proposed statement. Thank you. Any further questions?"
Reid Bynum subtly answered every question thrown at him with textbook but apt responses. Though Cade wasn't surprised. One must be a retarded person to crash a press conference when the questions themselves merely tickle one's toes, instead of the confrontational and combative questions that pricks the nerves.
Meanwhile, Cade noticed that there was no one who wanted to ask more questions. So without much resistance, Reid ended the one and a half hours long press conference. A lot of the participants present stood up and started to leave one by one. Leaving behind only a few others left.
'For others, this marks the end of a good day's work. For me though, shit's about to go down from here on out.'
Cade grimaced as he remembered the contents of the file he read earlier today in the office. In all honesty, he'd rather be on the way home too while consuming an audiobook or something.
To his side, Cade noticed Clyde opening his droopy eyelids. The man had literally taken a nap for the entire duration of the press conference. While sleeping in a sitting position wasn't the most comfortable way to rest, Cade did envy him for quite a bit.
"Back to reality yet, Mr. Hunter? Seems like you had a good shut eye for once."
Cade tapped his camera and readied to put it into his bag. A grin hung on his face.
"Damn right it was. If you thought for a second that I'd bore myself in these situations, then you're dead wrong."
Clyde clapped back and focused on fixing his attire. Though in Cade's eyes there really was nothing to fix. The man merely stayed mum as a statue for an hour straight after all.
"Let me tell you this, I would rather sit here and take a good ol' nap; than sit in my office and deal with stacks upon stacks of paperwork."
"So basically, you'd call this a what―fieldtrip?"
Clyde chirped in and nearly laughed when he heard that. But managed to hold it in.
"I'm just saying―It's all about perspective Mr. Cade. But enough about that. Let's head in and greet today's host."
Both men eyed Reid Bynum as a small circle formed around him from the people still in the room. Cade followed Clyde's lead mostly as the charismatic hunter made it look effortless to approach the Hastings Corp representative.
"Mr. Bynum. It's been a while. Nice seeing you again."
"Mr. Burns. I'm glad the USHA came for today's agenda."
Clyde and Reid seemed already acquainted with each other as they shook hands.
"Well, I can't miss the action now can I? Speaking of which, I just made a new friend here. Hastings really pulled out the big guns, huh."
Cade threw a thankful glance towards Clyde before he shook hands with Reid.
"Cade Monroe. I'm from the Daily Notice."
Reid nodded in understanding and gave out a professional smile.
"So I've heard. We've been expecting you, Mr. Monroe. The Daily Notice has been a gracious partner for Hastings for many years. We hope you'll stick around long enough for the main course."
"The pleasure is all mine Mr. Bynum. And yes―I do intend to stick around for a long time."
'Longer than you bastards want me to.'
Cade internally scoffed. His eyes locked on Reid, as the subject in question shifted his attention elsewhere. The more Cade looked at him, the more he disliked the man―no, the entire Hastings entity as a whole.
"You look like your eyes are about to pierce someone. Am I seeing love at first sight here?"
"...I'm a keen observer. That's all. Besides, has anyone ever told you about your poor sense of humor?"
Clyde smirked at Cade's jab.
"I get that a lot. There's more where that came from though."
"...Spare me."
Cade could only shake his head at that response.
Not long after, Hastings Corp showed signs as if whatever preparations they made were ready. An assistant in black came close to Reid Bynum's ear with unknown whispers. His expression lifted instantly. This prompted Reid to enthusiastically lead what remained in the room towards the elevator.
In the end, there were approximately over ten people left that got Hastings Corp 'special invite'. This included both Cade and Clyde. Hence, everyone managed to fit in quite nicely in the elevator. Their destination? Deep underground.
With a silent ding, the elevator doors slid open. Reid came out first as he was flanked on both sides by his assistants. Suddenly, he turned his torso and appeared as if he almost forgot something important. Meanwhile, multiple men in black were seen stationed all over the hallway of the underground facility as soon as the small crowd arrived via the elevator. Heavily guarded would be an understatement to this situation.
"Ah, before we move any further. I want to relay an important message. To everyone here―including our trusted media partners―please be mindful when taking pictures or any sort of documentation. Many things here are still subject to our company's industry secrets. Don't worry though, we'll guide you through and point out which sections are allowed."
Cade nodded and so did five others. Since they were representing the interest of their respective media outlets, it would be unwise to bite the hand that keeps feeding them newsworthy content on a regular basis such as Hastings Corp. The other people besides from the news outlet and Clyde from the USHA were relatively unknown to him. They were two men and a woman. The three were suspiciously wearing sunglasses and formal attire. They seemed more familiar with this place compared to the others.
Reid confirmed the response from the crowd behind him and gestured for the guests to follow him.
Through the complex web of the facility's interior, the group finally went through large glass doors that revealed the true intentions of Hastings Corp's agenda for today.
"Honored guests, may I present you…project Vita!"
The small group entered what seemed like the epicenter of large-scale research. Computers and stacks of research papers were abundant and people in white coats and masks were busy going from one place to another.
Since they entered from an elevated point of view, Cade had an eagle's point of view of the situation. From above, he saw that at the center of it all were two beating hearts. Each heart was inside incubators that one would expect from a sci-fi movie.
"Fascinating…"
Clyde rubbed his chin. Meanwhile, Cade and the other journalists took a few pictures from a limited angle after obtaining permission from Reid.
"Project Vita is what I would call the latest breakthrough for humanity within the realm…of regenerative medicine."
Reid explained further as he urges the guests to go through tight procedural examinations before going downstairs to get up close to the two rhythmic beats. His smile spread so wide as if it might touch the corner of his eyes.
"Simply put, through a meticulous process of observation, the gathering of hypotheses and experimentation; we might have kickstarted the revolution for organ regrowth!"
Waiting for the group right next to the incubators was a senior researcher. He was a man of middle age with a prominent bald spot amongst patches of gray hair. Noticing his presence, Reid naturally shifted to him and presented the older gentleman towards the small audience.
"This is Dr. Hohenkrause, the head of research for today's topic. So instead of me just blabbering about, I think it would be best if our esteemed guests are personally informed by the man personally involved. Dr. Hohenkrause, would you please?"
Dr. Hohenkrause quickly took over as if he had rehearsed all this and greeted the new pairs of eyes.
"Yes, thank you Mr. Bynum. Honored guests, it's a pleasure to have you here. As you've already seen the two beating hearts here beside me, they are what you call one of the most important organs that we humans found crucial for sustained living…"
In essence, Dr. Hohenkrause elaborated that through the experimentation of the troll species, Hastings Corp managed to turn around hearts that experienced complications such as heart attacks and heart failure to be made anew and perform to levels before the complications came about. Trolls were known to be one of the most annoying monster species hunters had to deal with due to their rapid regenerative abilities.
Keeping note of this ability, Hastings Corp through the persistent research of Dr. Hohenkrause discovered key opportunities to enhance and stimulate rapid cellular regeneration. Though the two hearts presented are early prototypes, Dr. Hohenkrause seemed confident that these results would be made replicable and accessible to the public in due time.
Sounds of gasps and murmurs ran rampant amongst the crowd. Meanwhile, representatives from news outlets such as Cade were busy taking notes.
"...The possibility of this is life changing. Especially for the frontliners."
Clyde muttered right next to Cade and he couldn't help but agree to that notion. Frontliners, or basically hunters that face monsters on a daily basis often do not come back in one piece after a designated assignment. Missing limbs, arms, legs, you name it. At certain times, the crippled hunters may even outnumber the ones on active duty due to the high casualty rate. So this could be called a significant breakthrough for human society as Dr. Hohenkrause even hinted at issues like limb regeneration as a real possibility.
However, Cade couldn't help but be disturbed by the events unfolding in front of his eyes. According to the web novel, the innovation of organ regeneration would not come out to the public eye in four years' time. So around three years after the protagonist made the first appearance in the web novel. In light of this, even the rate of regeneration and healing properties should not be this sweet-sounding as presented by Dr. Hohenkrause. The story seemed to progress ahead of schedule without Cade's knowledge.
Something was amiss and Cade frustratingly could not pinpoint where the crucial piece of the puzzle lied despite his suspicions. This was mainly due to the lack of information provided by the web novel towards occasions that happened before the main events of the story.
"So can you estimate when this innovation will be available? Any concrete dates?"
Such a question was thrown towards Dr. Hohenkrause from an unexpected source. It wasn't from the representatives of the news outlets, nor was it from Clyde Burns from the USHA. The question actually came from the woman believed to be one of many Hastings Corp stakeholders. Her expression was equally as disturbed as Cade, but apparently for different reasons.
'I reckoned that her last name was…Jennings.'
"Well, uh―"
Before Dr. Hohenkrause could muster up an appropriate response, Reid intercepted in quick succession.
"Miss Jennings, I believe the agreed upon time should be about 8 months. I think―"
"No, it's still too slow! As an investor, I already told you that I can't provide you with such a luxury!"
Reid's expression broke down slightly at the sudden situation he found himself in, but before he could do anything about it, a man in black came close to him and whispered something ominous to his ear.
His expression turned from bad to worse.
"Forgive me, but to everyone here I urge you too―"
What Reid wanted to say couldn't be delivered on time as the ground shook terribly. Everyone who did not have superhuman abilities immediately fell to the ground, including Cade.
"What happened!? Mr.Reid, status report! From here on out, the USHA is assuming control of the situation!"
As if accustomed to such drastic environmental changes, Clyde hurriedly settled himself. But even the readiest person in the room would not be prepared for what was coming right after.
BOOM.
In an instance, the ceiling seemed to come crashing down. A massive hole appeared along with a terrifying existence.
"...Shit."
At the same time realization dawned on Cade as to why this whole situation seemed so suspicious and out of place compared to the web novel.