Number 7

Victor awoke with two gorgeous maidens on either side of the bed, each standing without motion as they controlled their breathing so as to not disturb the man whom they served.

As he groggily rose from his slumber, Victor ran his own fingers through his hair as he looked around him.

"Brush."

"Yes, Master Lichtenburg."

The two girls responded in unison, at which they then began to run their own hands through his hair, carefully brushing him in such a manner.

His messy hair soon became slick and smooth, and the man regained his professional appearance in moments as the two finished, folding their hands before them once more.

"Clothing."

Standing up, the man held out his arms as the two rushed to dress him, quickly and efficiently performing their duties like robots who had been programmed in such a manner.

Dressed once again in the professional attire of a scientist, the two fitted the coat loosely on the man without fastening the buttons, allowing it to freely hang from his torso.

Looking at his exceptionally good looking face in the mirror, the man smirked to himself with a nod.

"I suppose there is at least one flawless being in this household."

Glancing to the girl beside him, Victor looked at her with a cold glare as he turned away.

"I will be heading to Grotia for the week. If you have not fixed your appearance and the appearance of this home within that time... then I presume that I don't have to remind you what will happen?"

"I understand, Master Lichtenburg."

The girl bowed her head with submission, however the man did not so much as look at her as he stepped forward.

"I see."

With this, the two opened the doors of the bedroom, allowing the man to step forth without so much as lifting a finger.

For he was their master, and they were mere objects.

Slaves, who had no rights to call themselves human.

Property which was to be used for the sake of their owner.

In whatever way he wished to use them.

As the man left the hallway, the two waited patiently for a few minutes until they were certain that he was out of sight.

Without moving a muscle, they waited and waited until they were completely certain that the man had left.

And then, after a few minutes had gone, the black haired maid known as Chi approached the white haired girl.

Then, wrapping her arms around the girl, she looked forward with an emotionless expression.

"Did he harm you? Are you hurt?"

Chi asked these words as if she was reading off a script, however as she awkwardly hugged the girl known as Shay, she was met with a tighter hug.

And then, tears.

"S-sister... sister!!"

The white haired girl's expression twisted with anguish as she cried, to which the emotionles eyes of Chi widened with terror.

"What's wrong, Shay? Are you truly hurt? Did he hurt you?"

"No!! That... that's not it at all! I'm not hurt at all!!!", the girl shouted as she cried.

"I see. That's wonderful. Then why are you crying?"

Her expression returned to its normal emotionless state as the girl seemed to be filled with relief on confirming her sister's safety.

"Because he hurt you so much!!!"

"Hm? Ah, this is nothing. It's just a scratch."

"A scratch!?!? Your entire head was bleeding yesterday!!! How can you call that a scratch!? You... you need to stop taking my beatings for me!!! You need to stop that, or he'll only hurt you more!!"

"No."

The cries of the girl were met with a harsh response, completely devoid of any sense of negotiability.

"But... but..."

Then, the black haired girl began to stroke the hair of the other, running her hands through her ponytail as she brought it back over the girl's shoulder.

"You can't tolerate as much as I can. So it's better if I take more hits than you do. Right?"

"You always say that!! You always try to take all the punishment on yourself, and you never let me do anything!! I... I...."

Whimpering, the girl closed her eyes with a pained expression as she dropped her head in defeat.

"I just can't stand you being punished for what I do wrong...."

"But you've done nothing wrong."

"And neither have you!!!!"

As she shouted, Shay felt her shoulders as her sister firmly gripped them, looking her directly in the eyes.

"Sister."

"Y...yes?"

Meeting the serious expression of the girl with a timid one, Shay slowly wiped her tears as Chi spoke.

"It doesn't hurt at all. We... were lucky enough that Master Lichtenburg took a liking to us. After all... if he didn't, then we would be the ones on that island being experimented on."

"I..."

Looking down in defeat, the girl began to tremble as she gripped her arm in a display of weakness.

"That's true... but if you have to suffer like this anyways-"

"Sister."

Looking up, Shay saw something which she had not seen in a long time.

The usually emotionless expression of her sister was now ever so slightly filled with an emotion.

Just the tiniest smile was aimed right at her.

"I'm not the one who is suffering. Therefore... don't worry about me."

"Ngh... ngh.... uwah!!!"

Digging her face into the chest of her sister, Shay found her crying muffled as she bawled in the arms of the girl.

However Chi didn't even so much as consider letting go.

She sat there with a smile, continuing to fix up the hair of the crying girl with a kind expression.

"You've always been so weak. But that isn't something that you need to change. I only need to be stronger."

----

Victor ascended an escalator which led to a grand ship with such luxurious decorations that one might believe at first glance that it was a cruise ship.

However on reaching the top of this ship, it was immediately evident that this ship was not meant for cruising.

"How interesting that we would meet again in such a short time, Admiral Yelena Slausenricht, Commander of the Naval Division."

"Oh... but this is no coincidence, Doctor. I personally saw to it that I would be stationed on the same boat which you were scheduled to return to Grotia on. After all... I would certainly like to be given a tour of your facility."

Standing before the white haired man who carried himself with elegance was the snarky woman who he had spoken with just the day before.

Her beautiful black hair draped down her sides, and her sharp eyes were enough to dig into the soul of a man.

Rushing back and forth with all haste, members of the navy were manning the ship which appeared to be a carrier of high class passengers.

"This is quite a bold move, would you not say? It was only yesterday that my promotion was made official, and rumors are bound to spread if I am seen giving you any... preferential treatment over other Divisions."

"I say let the rumors spread. After all... rumors can only harm those who don't have the ability to overwrite them."

"Hahaha... I see. However, to give you a tour of the facility... do you not believe that much is a bit much to ask? After all, this project is quite classified. Only those attending the banquet yesterday are informed of even the basic goal of the project, therefore to reveal things as large as giving you a tour of the facility..."

"Will you not?"

With puffed up lips and watery eyes, the woman changed her demeanor in an instant as she resorted to a method which the admiral of a navy should never lower themselves to.

"I... suppose that we might be able to come to some sort of... agreement. What could you potentially offer me in exchange for such a thing?"

Clapping her hands with a delighted expression, the eyes of the woman seemed to light up as the man responded in the manner which she was hoping him to.

"Oh! How wonderful! I see that you truly must be a gentleman, Doctor. Let us see... Well, how about this. I will pledge a unit of the navy to the security of the island in exchange for seeing the laboratories."

At the proposal of the woman, Victor found himself bringing his hand to his chin in thought.

'Security of the island is already air tight, however it is true that we have low human personnel. And we barely have any actual ships or waterbound weapons, therefore in the rare chance that there were to be some sort of breach, it would be best to be defended in such a way. External invaders would be discouraged from even trying to approach the island, which would reduce risks of spies or other undesirable elements.'

With a grin, Victor nodded.

"That sounds like a fair proposal. Very well, Madame Admiral. I shall accept it."

"Wonderful. Now then... boys, will you please show us to my quarters?"

"Of course, Madam!"

A number of sailors bowed to the woman as she spoke without even looking at them, merely waving their hand to catch their attention.

"Shall we?"

"Indeed."

----

Victor found himself in the private chamber of the Admiral, Yelena Slausenricht.

"You have quite the view."

"Hm? Ah, I suppose. Such a thing should be obvious for the Admiral."

"I suppose so."

The two sat on a U shaped couch made from red velvet which faced a one way glass window that looked down upon the broadened horizon of the sea.

"May I refer to you as Yelena?", Victor asked as he took a sip of the champagne which had been prepared for the two.

"I do not mind.", the woman responded as she too took a sip of her drink, crossing one leg over the other in a sensual manner.

"Tell me, Yelena. Are you not sickened as well by the state of this world? I can sense it in you. You too are... disgusted with those below people like us, no?"

Leaning forward, Victor swirled his glass around as he eyed the woman.

"Do you not agree that it is disturbing that such people would have the audacity to call themselves human?"

"Hahaha... how interesting of a man you are, Victor. Let me see..."

Placing one finger to her cherry red lips, the woman smiled in a seductive manner as she looked to the ceiling.

"I suppose that is about correct. However Victor, there is a use for all things - whether it be human, beast, or object."

"Hahaha... oh? Do tell."

"Humans are the most difficult to use due to their unpredictability. Even under the assumption that people will act rationally, one cannot truly understand human behavior. Each human is a vicious combination of both emotional and logical responses, which oppose one another. While some humans are more prone to one than the other, it can never truly be predicted which one they will fall to in the heat of the moment... unless they are... coerced."

"Hm... I would agree. I would say that logical response is the baseline of responses, however emotions can be invoked within people, and thus emotional response can be created based on the specific circumstances. However the proneness to such a response varies from person to person, of course. And those who fall easily to emotional response... Well, they are nothing more than instinctual beasts. No?"

Resting her chin on her hand with a smile, the woman closed her eyes as she nodded gently.

"Indeed."

"Then, what of the creatures who live in the dregs of society whose lives are worth less than even those pins on your uniform?"

"Oh... those are the simplest to use. See, a person of high status is often difficult to deal with. Someone who holds any form of power or prestige will often attempt to hold onto such pride, never giving in unless they are forced through a crushing defeat. Yet the pigs whose status are far below us... well, they can be controlled with ease. A single word... a single order... that much is all it takes to control such fools."

"Is that due to your charm as a woman, or perhaps due to your position as Commander of the Naval Division?", Victor questioned.

To which the woman let out a haughty laugh.

"Hahaha..."

Placing the emptied glass on the table before them, the woman sat back as she thinned her seducing eyes in response.

"Of course, both."

"Haha... I see. You... would make for an excellent partner. Madame Admiral - or rather, Yelena. I would like to propose a partnership between the Navy and the Research Division. What do you say? In exchange for your full support, we will provide you with not only inside information, but with firsthand prototypes and products of our research."

"Hmm... I suppose this is taking our earlier exchange a bit farther... However, I see no reason to decline. If deploying my forces for whatever purposes you require will further our overall development and power as a nation, then I see that as an acceptable proposal. Allow me to ask though, do you actually expect to require my forces?"

"Oh Admiral. You are so naive. Do you understand how many thousands of subjects I needed before I was able to succeed with the first batch?"

"Thousands you say... my... how long have you been performing such experiments?"

With an impressed smile, the woman asked this to Victor, who responded with a proud smirk.

"Haha… indeed, a good question.”, the man responded as he put his hand to his chin in thought. “It’s been… well, I suppose it’s been 10 years now."

"Hmm... then, were the subjects prisoners of war? Criminals? Or perhaps... civilians?"

"Oh... well, at first I ran tests on criminals and prisoners of war. You see, the Emperor was very willing to hand over such people for the purposes of experimentation. However as those reserves grew dry, I instead needed to take measures to gain more experimental subjects. Do you recall the Northwestern offensive?"

"How could I forget? It was the first real offensive of the war. I was only 22 at the time, and just a private in the Navy - yet I remember it like it was yesterday. After years of tensions where nuclear weapons had created a stalemate, it was the single first military offensive to ever occur past the mass production of the nuclear bomb. We took a large amount of territory from Vorathia and razed a large number of smaller cities and towns. And with it... the revitalization of the former era of warfare begun."

"Exactly. And all the people who lived in those villages we razed... do you think they merely disappeared?"

"So you're telling me that they were used as your experimental rats?"

"Indeed. The people from that assault alone were enough to last me until today. However... they are now reduced to a mere seven."

"Only seven?"

The woman looked to the man with an inquisitive expression, slightly cocking her head as her black hair fell to her side.

"Indeed. There were a total of seven successful experiments. Experiment Numbers 1 through 7."

"The rest weren't numbered?", Yelena asked.

"Oh, goodness no. After all... even giving such failures a label would be too generous. The ones that were successful... I suppose they can consider the fact that they even have a number to be my kindness towards them."

"Hahaha... I see."

"Ah, but they don't hold any of their memories before their life as experiments. You see, when one goes through such horrible things, madness is often the result. Especially so if one has people in their life that they cling to. How annoying it has been. Family members always wanted to be with one another, and their human relationships were often a burden to my research. To prevent rebellion on a mass scale and so that I could do as I pleased with them, I removed all their memories and replaced their knowledge with a form of education of my own. You see... I made them believe that they were all mere creatures whose purpose is to serve me."

"That makes you sound quite devious, Victor. Is that not commonly known as brainwashing?"

"Such a term does make me sound quite bad, doesn't it? However they are mere filth whose lives are best served as experimental fodder. Therefore rather than brainwashing them... I think it would be better to consider it as enlightening them with newfound purpose."

"Hahaha..."

The two chuckled together as they continued their conversation while the ship sailed through the oceans.

Time passed, and eventually the ship came to a stop.

"Ah... it would look like we have arrived."

Standing up, the woman fixed her naval cap as she prepared to take charge.

"Shall we head out, Doctor?"

"Of course, Admiral."

Thus, the two who held no regard for human life entered the island of Grotia.

"It truly is difficult to find someone like you who I can speak to so freely. Many people would be... unable to stomach such conversation. However I suppose among the elite, it is quite easy to find others who think similarly."

"Well, of course. After all, what good would an elite be if we were not superior to those around us?"

Walking side by side, these two made their way off the ship to the experimental laboratory.

However, there was a single miscalculation which Victor had made.

'I suppose it's time to give those useless cretins a visit. Perhaps soon enough... they will show me that they hold some use in this world.'

----