Guilty Gear Transmigration: Light of Madness

Daubeny woke up on the table, disoriented and in severe pain. He was screaming and gasping for air, his body spasming with convulsions. As he opened his eyes, he felt a phantom pain radiating from his stomach, where the recent surgery had taken place.

Daubeny reached his hand down to his belly, feeling a shakiness in his fingers as he gently touched the area where the surgeon had cut into his flesh. The pain was intense, and he could feel the phantom sensation of the scalpel slicing through his skin.

Moving his trembling hand to his arms and legs, Daubeny began to explore his body, feeling the shudders that ran through his muscles. He could feel the worms burrowing into his bones and flesh, biting into his skin and causing him unimaginable agony.

However, he was shocked while examining his body. 'I feel... better; there's no pain when I breathe, and I feel stronger than I've ever felt!' Stopping his inspection, Daubeny jumped up and down in joy like a child receiving a new toy.

Yet, he stopped when he put his hand on his forehead, which was in slight freezing pain as if he had a cold. This wretched room he wished to forget about found it devoid of anything except his lab coat and undershirt. Walking towards them, he put them on before hearing a crashing sound and a yelp of pain behind the doors, to which Daubeny walked forward to inspect, opening the door to find the emergency lights flashing, only illuminating the hallways, which held a few dead bodies of scientists, causing the hair on the gear prototype's neck to stand up. 

What caught his attention among the flashing lights were two familiar outlines of two friends he hadn't talked to for a while: Emi, a young Japanese woman, and Luis, a young Hispanic man. 

Emi was trying to help Luis out of some rubble from the ceiling that was pinning his leg.

Daubeny rushed over to the two of them and knelt down beside Luis, who was groaning in pain. Emi shot her head in fear in Daubeny's direction, only to take a breath of relief on seeing his face saying. "Daubeny what are you doing here?!"

"I should be asking you what's going on and why are people dead?" Daubeny asked, feeling a sense of urgency rising in his chest.

"You don't know... the animal subjects escaped and are rampaging through the facility. Luis and I only managed to escape because we hid among the bodies . We were trying to move this metal block, and it slipped and fell on Luis's leg," Emi explained, her face etched with worry.

Daubeny nodded and looked at Luis's leg, which was trapped beneath the metal block. It was swollen and bruised, and there was a deep gash on his calf. Daubeny knew he had to work quickly to get Luis out from under the rubble.

'Damn it, so he let loose all the experiments, but it couldn't have been a long time since they were relased, which means I still have time.' His thoughts were interupted by Emi saying. "Are you listening to me?" 

"Yes I am, Emi, I need you to help me lift this block," Daubeny said, motioning towards the metal block that was pinning Luis's leg.

"If your sure we can try it."

They walked over to position themselves to lift the rubble as they both had to work hard to get the wounded man out from under the rubble. At last, Emi stops to catch her breath and wipe the sweat from her brow. Ultimately, they managed to lift the metal blocks off Luis as he was rushed out of the wreckage before anything else fell on him. 

Everyone was huffing in exhaustion and pain as Luis reached a hand down to feel his right leg, only to wince in pain. "Damn it all! I think it's broken." Leaning against the wall he contiued. "What are we gonna do?"

Seeing a metal pipe close to them, Daubeny thought for a moment before standing up to walk toward the pipe. Getting a grip on it, he began pulling it towards himself.

"What are you doing, Daubeny?" Emi asked, her eyes wide in surprise.

"Luis needs something to help him move, so I'm getting him something," Daubeny stated.

Daubeny struggled at first but quickly pulled it off from the wall in a matter of seconds.

Emi watched in amazement as Daubeny successfully pulled the pipe from the wall. She couldn't believe how strong he was. Luis, too, was impressed, shouting out in disbelief, "What the hell, how did you do that?!"

Daubeny replied, "Just built different." He didn't want to explain that he was essentially a human gear but brought over the pipe and handed it to Luis, taking it with both hands. Standing up shakily, and after catching his breath, Luis asked, "Thanks for that. You have to give me your workout regimen if we make it out of here. But what's the plan?"

Closing his eyes and resting on the wall, Daubeny thought. "There are two options we can take, or I can take alone if needed. The first is to enter the Beta Section and try to find Frederick if he's even alive. Second, I can try perusing Asuka and rescue Aria while keeping her in the cryo-pod in the Gamma Section. I guess I'll ask them what they want and go from there."

Opening his eyes to the dark hallway he said. "I don't know what either of you want, but I'm heading towards the Gamma Section. You two coming?"

Emi and Luis exchanged glances before nodding in agreement. They knew that Daubeny was their best bet for getting out of the facility alive, so they had to trust his instincts. Together, the three of them made their way down the dark hallway towards the Gamma Section.

As they walked, they heard strange noises coming from the walls and floors around them. It sounded like something was moving, something big and heavy. They couldn't see anything in the darkness, but they could feel the vibrations of the creature's steps.

Daubeny turned to Emi and Luis, his expression serious. "Stay close to me and be ready for anything," he warned. "We don't know what's waiting for us up head."

What emerged from the darkness through the flashing emergency lights was a frog the size of a human hopping towards the trio. The three of them witnessed the creature approach them in the darkness through the flashing emergency lights.

As the Frog approaches, Emi and Luis find themselves growing increasingly frightened. With Luis shouting. "What are we standing around here for, that thing's going to slaughter us!"

 However, Daubeny, seemingly unaffected by the situation, was laughing. "Hahahaha... seriously, this is what killed people; I can't believe-" However, his laughter abruptly stops when the Frog's eyes shine red, extending its mouth to unnatural lengths as it sticks its tongue out at Luis.

"Help! Please!" 

In response to the unexpected turn of events, Daubeny and Emi flee further down the hallway, desperately seeking safety along the way to the Gamma section of the facility. As they ran, they heard Luis' terrifying screams inside the frog's gut.

Emi and Daubeny continue their desperate dash, their fear was visible to anyone watching; as they reach a door along the hallways, they hurriedly enter, hoping that they will be able to find refuge from the monstrous Frog. Once inside, Emi and Daubeny took a moment to catch their breath, their hearts pounding in their chests. It was then that they realized they had run into a room they had never seen before. The room was huge, and the ceiling seemed to stretch on forever, with only the emergency lights casting a dim glow. But the most shocking thing was the creature that lay before them. It was a bear, the size of which reached the facility's ceiling. Its fur was matted and dirty, and its crimson eyes were fixed on Emi and Daubeny.

-

The most important section of the underground laboratory, which housed the core of various highly classified projects, had its own independent power system. Unlike the Beta Section, where Frederick and Daubeny stayed and worked, Gamma Section's power supply was still intact. The lights on the ceiling were shining brightly, and the equipment in the room was making a continuous humming sound. In that laboratory was Asuka R. Kruetz. 

Asuka's nervous face was surrounded by a number of other researchers. In the hands of these researchers, however, were black, rugged firearms that did not seem appropriate in a laboratory. Upon closer inspection, it was possible to tell that they were wearing something else. Their bodies were slightly bulging under their white coats, and their behavior was clearly different from that of a normal researcher. It was as if they were soldiers or something in disguise.

"Looks like you're taking a long time." A man who was a bit too big to be a scientist sarcastically called out to Asuka.

"It's an urgent matter, after all. You can't just show up and ask me to make preparations right away. It's not something that can be done quickly. It's a lot of work just to get things in order." Asuka's expression was very gloomy as he answered. But the tone of his voice was bright, as if he was trying to sound cheerful.

"As long as we can recover what we need for the humanoid, we're good to 

go. I already told you that you can discard all other research data. I told you that I don't need it." The man pointed his gun at Asuka's back as if to threaten him. But Asuka, who turned around, simply gave it an acknowledgement and said with a sigh.

"Setting up a…test subject is an absolute necessity." The man with the gun's eyes narrowed.

"The subject doesn't seem to be the same as the one on our list; what does that mean?"

"The list is constantly being updated as we find better matches. It's just that you didn't know the latest subject, and next week, she may not be a subject anymore."

Asuka walked freely through the lab, confident that he would not be shot. He stopped in front of a large oval cryosleep capsule that could easily accommodate a person.

"Anyway, we can't start until she's set up, and I can't go until then either. I know you guys want to hurry, but I can't change how long it will take."

"Hmm, okay. I'll tell you what, don't get yourself into any trouble. No matter what you do, our operation will go on as planned."

"Right on schedule.…" Asuka coughed and looked around the lab.

"I'm not sure if it's because I'm not a big believer in the concept of the experiment, but is there something more important than me and this 'Gear Project'?" He wondered how much of a point that was really making.

"You don't need to know that."

The man with the gun's immediate response was indifferent. At that moment, a little light glowed from inside the man's pocket. What was quickly taken out was a personal communication terminal with magic power. 

The man listened to someone's voice coming from the other side of the terminal, but then quickly moved away from Asuka, as if he didn't want Asuka to hear him. Asuka, who was left alone in the room, reached for the cryosleep capsule. 

Through a small window at the top of the capsule, he could see the face of a female subject. Aria Hale. Frederick's wife, a talented young woman who had participated in the Gear Project as Asuka's assistant, was sleeping peacefully in the capsule. At the sight of Aria's sleeping face, Asuka clenched his teeth in pain.

"I'm sorry, Aria. I'm sorry it ended up like this…."

He apologized in a voice so quiet that no one else could hear him.

-

A/N: found a better way to fit this chapter for the future, at least two or three more chapters before the day's end.