Number 7

Kicking the hand of the man off his foot, Victor now stood in front of the remaining soldiers, glancing from one to the other as he seemed to analyze those around him.

"Please line up and state your name and skills. Depending on whether you show any promise, I will consider allowing you to stand at my side as one of my subordinates."

And with this order, the man kept his arrogant demeanor, not even considering the weapons aimed at him to be so much as a threat.

For they were not.

A bullet had pierced straight through his chest, yet due to whatever strange body he had obtained, pain did not seem to be a concept to the man.

Even stranger than the fact that he was not in pain, however, was the fact that his body did not seem to be impacted by a bullet traveling straight through his heart.

He continued living and speaking without so much as flinching, as if such a thing meant nothing.

And in mere moments, the wound had seemed to close itself - the blood ceasing its flow.

"Hey, hey. What the hell are you? Who do you think you are to walk up to this place and take control-"

"Please don't speak, inbred."

The young man with the styled up hair spoke without restraint, walking forward with irritation in his expression, however the scientist responded with such an insult.

"Fuck did you just say?"

The young man seemed to be losing his temper as he balled his fists, veins appearing on his forehead as he became red with anger, however the scientist continued to ignore him as if he were a mere annoyance.

"I do believe I was relatively clear on my order just now, was I not? Chi. Will you please quiet this fool?"

"Understood, Master Lichtenburg. Should I be concerned with his body?"

"Ah, a good question. I would hate to waste precious serum on him before we get to the lab... I suppose we could merely kill him off, however the number of potential subjects are becoming drastically low. Mmm..."

As the scientist began to ponder, the quick tempered young man seemed to run thin with patience, pulling back a fist as he prepared to attack.

"I'll show you not to underestimate a trained soldier, lab rat."

"And I will show you not to underestimate scientific PROGRESS."

As the fist of the young soldier flew at the head of the white haired man, he suddenly stopped in mid air just before reaching his target.

Slowly, the young man grabbed his own throat, his eyes widening as veins covered him.

And then, struggling to breathe, he began to writhe as if the very oxygen around him ceased to flow.

"It's painful, isn't it? To suffocate in your own incompetence."

Whispering this into the man's ear, the one known as Victor seemed to crack a smile as he walked past.

"Do you wish for me to release the air in your lungs and allow you to continue your breathing? A function which you happen to be dependent on, I may specify."

The man could not so much as make a sound, but he immediately began to frantically wave his hands as he nodded yes, terror filling his expression as he looked upon the scientist with absolute horror.

"Very well."

"Huff... huff... huff..."

Immediately the soldier dropped to the ground, his breath ragged and his limbs trembling as the oxygen once more entered his body.

"What... was that?", he quivered, slowly looking back. "What... are you?"

"What am I? Such a rude question to ask."

Closing his eyes, the scientist seemed to laugh lightly at the very question, smirking as he spoke his next words which sent chills down the spine of the soldier.

"I am a human."

----

'He isn't human.'

'He isn't human.'

'There is absolutely no way that thing is human.'

Kraig Werbasten was a soldier.

Top of his class, he graduated from the Naval Academy with higher marks than any of the other students when it came to combat abilities - however he was never one to take very kindly to authority.

He wanted to make his own decisions.

He wanted to be his own boss.

This personality made Kraig incompatible with the military, and particularly so with the Forgestarian military where hierarchy was everything.

However his combat abilities were top notch, therefore despite his rebellious personality, Kraig was passed through the Academy - yet it was then that he was placed directly underneath that woman.

Perhaps it was exactly because of his personality that he was placed underneath her, but on that particular day when he first entered the real world, Kraig found himself faced with a monster the likes of which he could never hope to defeat.

He was reduced to nothing in comparison to that woman, who was just crazy enough to inspire the terror of unpredictability into him - yet cold and calculating to the point where everything always seemed to go her way.

Years had passed, and over the two years he was in this Navy, he realized time and time again that there was nothing he could do so long as that woman was in charge.

He followed her orders.

He did as he was told.

And all the while, his own irritation with the orders he was given was suppressed, building up inside of him over the course of years.

Now, things had changed.

The woman was finally gone, and he had been one of the people to make such a thing a reality.

Yet right now, standing in front of him was a man who was far worse.

A man whose very presence made Kraig feel as if he was a mere insect - something which could be stepped upon and crushed without so much as being noticed.

And in the face of this man, who seemed to hold powers beyond this very world, Kraig was left literally breathless.

He did not know or understand what that man had done, but he could not breathe.

He was choking, unable to even utter so much as a sound as death inched closer with every passing breathless moment.

And just before he suffocated to death, something was released and he could breathe once more.

"Why are you here?"

His hands could not stop shaking, yet he had to know.

This man was dangerous.

He understood this much without question.

Disobeying this man or making an enemy of him would be the last mistake he ever made.

And Kraig absolutely had to know what he wanted with them.

"I was going to inform you of that, yet you went and attacked me without question. I have been TRYING very hard to be quite civil here, however certain people have been very uncooperating. So? Are there any others who wish to attack me unprovoked?"

With this question, the man looked around the room, first to the red haired woman who seemed to be fiddling with her trigger finger atop the machine gun - however even she seemed to throw her hands into the air with resignation.

"Whatever. I don't need to make any more enemies. What do you want?"

The scientist seemed to twitch his eye at this nonchalant response, however after letting out an irritated sigh he looked to the others.

"And you two? Based on your demeanor you are suspicious of me yet you will not attack without reason. Am I incorrect?"

"You're not wrong.", the bald man responded, not moving his gun an inch.

The dark brown haired woman merely nodded, remaining in the same position with her rifle aimed at the scientist.

"In that case... first we should find a better place to speak, don't you think?"

Motioning over to the vehicle, the scientist made a suggestion.

"While it is true that it can only fit five people... I believe there are only five present."

"Five? But there are seven-"

The red haired woman spoke up, however she was cut off by the laugh of the scientist.

"Oh, these two? Do not concern yourselves with them."

Stepping forward, the man approached the vehicle as he swung open the door, taking the driver's seat for himself.

The two maids followed the man, who reached down as he remotely opened the trunk - and the two girls entered it without so much as an order - as if they understood the intentions of the man merely by his actions.

The black haired girl shut the trunk behind her without hesitation, and the two were no longer in sight of the group.

"They are not people, after all. They are my property."

----

"So... where exactly are we going?"

The one asking this was the bald veteran, who sat in the back next to the brown haired woman, squished together like a pack of sardines.

The scientist drove down an empty road, however this road was filled just moments before - for any members of the undead that entered his line of sight would explode in a rain of blood and guts.

Body parts seemed to line the sides of the street, and the group drove through this gory mess without batting an eye.

"We're headed to the shipyard to see if there are any ships remaining. I'm sure there is at least one person here who can steer a ship, correct?"

"I can do so.", the veteran stated. "But before I offer you my services, how can I trust you?"

The man posed this question, suspicion still evident in his tone as they passed numerous run down buildings, from warehouses to naval manufacturing facilities.

"I'm sure you're curious about a number of things. Why is the world ruined? Is this some sort of attack? If it isn't, then what has happened? How did I obtain the powers that I showed before, and what is my goal? Why was I trying to find Yelena, and what do I plan on doing with her heart? These questions should summarize the majority of your concerns, yes?"

As the scientist posed these questions, he felt a gun placed to his head.

"My first question is why you were willing to get into a vehicle with us when you have no way of being able to trust us."

"Are you going to pull the trigger and kill the driver - taking all the passengers with him?"

The one to speak up as the veteran made this threat was the brown haired woman, who seemed to look at the man next to her as if he were a complete idiot.

"That would be the first answer.", Victor responded as he continued driving with complete confidence. "However even if you were to fire that off, you would not be able to kill me so easily with that toy."

Toy.

This was what the man called the rifle which was pressed against his very head.

At this statement, the veteran backed off quickly, sheathing his rifle.

"I was testing your resolve, but it looks like you're one hardened bastard. Or maybe you're just crazy enough to really believe that a bullet to the head wouldn't kill you."

"If a bullet to the heart didn't do so, what makes you think that a bullet to the head would make any difference?"

Speaking with resignation in his tone was the young man with styled up hair who sat in the passenger seat - Kraig.

"I suppose that's true.", the veteran admitted calmly. "But there might be something we're misunderstanding here. Something isn't adding up. No... nothing is adding up."

"Which is why I was trying to explain the situation to you all. If you would listen, then I will do so."

Parking the car at a harbor, a pier laid itself out before the group as a battleship towered above them.

"But before any of that... why don't we head somewhere more comfortable? I'm sure that you Navy soldiers will be more at ease off land, don't you think?"

Jumping out of the vehicle as his lab coat fluttered, the others were forced to follow the man as he walked ahead.

"Well, those things won't surround us in the ocean, that's for certain.", Kraig muttered, looking back with concern.

"Hey, aren't we forgetting something?", the brown haired lady stated without a hint of emotion.

"Ah, you mean those two? There is no need to worry about them. They understand their orders... and will follow them without fail."

In the next moment, lasers seemed to shoot out of the trunk, cutting open the metal like a welding iron as the two maids stepped out, dusting themselves off without injury.

One of them seemed to be carsick and was leaning on the other for assistance, however they pressed forward without complaint as they followed the group, laser rifles in hand.

"Come now. I'm sure you all understand that the more time we waste, the quicker our enemies will act."

----

Inside the captain's quarters of the large ship, the seven had gathered.

With the two maidens standing behind him, Victor faced off with the other four, who seemed to be unable to keep their eyes off him as they sat across the room from him.

"Shay, make yourself useful for once. See if there is anything to drink on this ship."

"Understood, Master Lichtenburg."

The white haired maid went off at the orders of her master, leaving the other watching him with patience.

"Do you wish for me to go as well?", the black haired one questioned, somewhat uncertain as to whether she should even be asking such a thing.

"You remain here for now. I understand that your sister is incompetent, but she should be able to handle at least this much, no?"

"I... understand. But if there happen to be any undead on this ship-"

"She is armed, isn't she? If she cannot handle a couple of leftovers on her own then perhaps I was wrong to even allow her to live this long."

Brushing off the concerns of the maid, who seemed to be struggling to maintain the composure which she almost always showed, the man waved the matter off as he leaned forward.

"Now then... concerning more important matters... I suppose it's time I begin to explain everything - or at least, everything I know."

"Hey, could you start off with that woman? What are you going to do with her heart? She was quite a pain to deal with, so I'd really like to know what kind of plan you have for that thing. I heard that you were running some pretty crazy experiments in your labs, and the fact that it was still beating... well, I'm just gonna throw it out there."

Speaking in a nonchalant manner was the woman whose red hair flowed around her, the bright shade of crimson matching that of the blood which covered her from the massacre which had taken place just earlier.

"You have some way to revive her, don't you?"

And with this statement, everything froze.

All eyes looked to the black haired maid who had been given the heart, their eyes making their way to the bag in which it had been stored.

"Is that true?", the bald veteran stated, shock evident in his tone. "Can you really... revive someone from the dead?"

"Do I look like a miracle worker to you?"

With a laugh, the man held out his hand behind him, motioning for the maid to give him something.

At which the heart was placed directly in his hand.

Unwrapping it slowly, the man held the beating heart within his very hand, the blood dripping onto the floor beneath him.

"I do not revive anything that is dead. I have injected this heart with a certain serum which allows individual cells to survive on their own without relying upon the functions of other cells. You see, human cells each perform their own specific function, depending on the organ which they form. The cells of the heart are designed to form muscular tissue which will contract and relax in order to pump blood through the body."

The scientist began to explain, though whether the four who were present understood what he was saying was questionable at best.

"Because humans have numerous organs that each perform their own specific function, these cells are reliant upon functions elsewhere in the body to survive. If the heart ceases its function, so too the body will die. Even if certain cells are still alive following the death of the heart, they will die shortly afterwards. However, what if a cell was mutated such that it could survive independently of all other cells?"

The bald man seemed to be struggling to understand, though he attempted to pay attention vigorously. The brown haired woman seemed to have no issue in comprehending the words of the scientist, and the red haired woman seemed to be dozing off while the young man had a look of complete confusion.

"Of course, there are instances of this in nature. This is known as a single celled organism, however its function and capability is extremely limited. It cannot perform complex functions. It could never reach the level of intelligence and capability that a human can. However if a human were to be given the benefits of having cells capable of surviving on their own, while simultaneously retaining the complex structure of the human mind... then you could have something like this."

Holding up the heart, which continued to beat ever more, the man squeezed it in his hand to the point where blood sprayed out.

"If I were to slice this in half, what do you think would happen?", he asked.

"Are you saying it would still be alive even then?", the bald man questioned with surprise in his tone.

"Exactly."

Tossing the heart up into the air, the man caught it as he leaned back in his seat.

"However, a mere heart which does not have limbs, even if it is not dead, cannot do anything. This is the beauty of the human body. We are capable of movement, speech, thought, digestion, and even emotion. All of our functions are a result of our complex nature. So even if we mutated to be able to continue living, despite the rest of our organs having died, it would be meaningless unless we were able to somehow regenerate."

"Wait just a minute. Are you telling me that the woman is still alive, but she can't regenerate?", the red haired woman asked.

"Exactly."

"And do you have a way to allow her to regenerate?"

"I had a serum for that, however I used it all on myself. That is why I need to go to the lab to produce more."

"Wait just a minute. Why would you revive her? Do you truly care about that demonic woman that much? She was a dictator over us all, and not a single one of us wants her to be revived. If you plan on doing that, then you're going to be making enemies of all of us."

The scarlet haired woman spoke without restraint, however her words seemed to ring true. Even though the others didn't dare to say such things, this seemed to be a common agreement.

"What if I were to tell you that this woman would be awakened only as my subordinate, and that she would not be able to disobey me?"

However with this proposal, the man turned the entire situation around.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Well, if I revive this woman... then she will owe me her very life. Her existence, her everything - she will no longer be a human, but rather one of my creations. And as a result of this... do you not agree that I should have complete control over her?"

The people seemed to be taking in the words of the scientist for a moment, however after a few seconds had passed the bald man spoke up.

"Do you really think you could control her with an arbitrary debt like that?"

"Yes and no."

Holding the heart behind him as he gave it to his maid once more, the man didn't seem to be concerned in the least.

"Death changes people. When one experiences death... the pain associated with it... the pure horror of being ripped apart... and the possibility of such a thing happening again... they change fundamentally."

The man said these words with an unfathomable confidence, as if they were deeply engraved into him through numerous experiences.

"Therefore, I anticipate that the woman I revive will not be the same woman you all hate. However, even if that is the case... I have dealt with numerous rebellious subjects before. And because of this, I was forced to develop certain measures which would prevent any and all rebellion."

"Such as?"

The brown haired woman seemed to take interest in this, raising an eyebrow as she posed this question.

"Please take a look at Chi. You see the ribbon wrapped around her neck, no?"

Looking over to the maidservant, the people took note of a white ribbon which the man motioned to.

"Perhaps you all thought that it was merely part of the attire that I have assigned her, but that is actually a device - one which is locked permanently. I destroyed the key to such a thing, therefore the only way to remove it would be to do so by force. This device however is one that is controlled not by remote, but rather its output has been linked to my own brainwaves."

Tilting his head forward, the man allowed his hair to fall as he revealed a large scar on the top of his head which one would not notice otherwise.

"I have installed a system into my own mind which connects to numerous devices... all of which are linked to my creations in order to prevent rebellion. It is not completely foolproof, however. For example... to a creature which can regenerate from a single cell, placing a device on their body would be something which cannot contain them, since all they would need to do is cut off that body part."

"So you don't have a way to contain her if you give her those regenerative powers?", the woman pressed.

"I didn't before... there were a number of failures I experienced because of this. However whenever failure rears its ugly head and a new problem poses itself, this opens the door to innovation."

The man spoke with a grand smile, as if recalling his own failures brought him pride - perhaps at the fact that he had overcome them.

"I worked tirelessly to come up with a system that would allow control over even subjects whose regeneration allowed them to separate from a main body, and I came up with a particular device which will prevent certain signals from traveling, thus causing a person to enter into a deep sleep. You see, while a person can regenerate completely from a few cells, those cells that were part of the original body become like a core to that person, and they cannot duplicate. Therefore, if those few cells happen to die… then any limbs and organs generated from those cells will die as well."

At this statement, all four soldiers looked at the man with disbelief.

He was a mere scientist, yet the contraptions and technology which he spoke of seemed to be something which should not have been possible - yet here he spoke of so many unbelievable things that he claimed to have created.

"How did you do all of this?"

"I am the R&D Division Commander of the Forgestarian Empire, you know. While I did run into some budget issues along the way, I was eventually able to grease up the fingers of the Emperor and his nobles, and with the money flowing my way, so too did the technology. With the war becoming more and more focused on who could outpace the other in terms of weaponry, more money flowed - and more developments were made. Although I admit that some of them came too late."

"Do you know anything about this disease? Is this some sort of attack on our nation?", Kraig asked.

"Oh... the disease... yes, this is the work of the enemy. You see... the Stronvardians... the devils of greed have been working tirelessly to outpace us, and it looks like they were developing some inhuman weapons. Indiscriminate biological weapons that destroy entire nations, making even nuclear bombs seem docile. Hah... how disgusting, don't you agree?"

"So this is an attack!!!", the man shouted. "Then we should do everything we can to gather our armies and fight back-"

"I would hold on to that thought.", Victor noted, holding up his hand. "I have reason to believe that this experiment gone wrong has spread to the entire world. Think about it for a moment. We were unable to control the spread even within a military headquarters, and with the best equipment available - my own abilities aside. Rather than an intentional attack, this appears to be more of an incident. And if that is the case... then this very world as we know it has been destroyed."

With these words, silence overcame the group.

"The Forgestarian Empire... The Republic of Stronvardia... The Soviet States of Joraten... the City State Alliance of Vorathia... and finally the Imperial State of Koravik... these five nations that have remained standing for so many years have likely fallen."

Closing his eyes in thought, the white haired man's tone became serious as he spoke with a plotting smile.

"And it is my goal to recreate... the New Forgestarian Empire."

With this declaration, the people around him held their breath in anticipation of his next words.

"You all have seen for yourselves the disgusting pigs that call themselves human... it is my goal to create a world where such people have no chance at coming into power."

Grimacing as he spoke, the man seemed to recall some bitter memories.

"Think about the peasant world as it is... the bastard drunkard abuses his wife and children... the loser goes and gambles away his earnings... the selfish grasp whatever small gains they can obtain... it is nothing more than a pit of lies and deception. Therefore... what if everyone were to become equally powerless?"

Standing up, the man opened his golden eyes, looking down upon the four as they felt their own presence shrink.

"What if there were an elite group of people who rose above all else, and were able to keep such brutes from ever daring to do as they please?"

And as they were faced with this man, they found themselves unable to argue before his grandeur.

"Then... this world would be truly peaceful."

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