Human or Monster?

They blanked out for a moment, before Laura zipped through the room and kneeled close to me, and touched my bloody neck. She had tears in her eyes the entire time. But even though she could see my eyes moving around the place, she still didn't calm down and had to check.

She saw the knife, but just like me she didn't try to pull it off.

She then tried to lift me up, but I got up on my own with a little bit of difficulty.

-You shou-shouldn't try to be tough in this situation… Said Laura in a rare soft voice.

I looked at Kanzashi that still had that look of despair and tried to extend my hand to her, but I soon noticed the blood on it and stopped.

She picked my hand up and grabbed it with a lot of strength.

So dramatic…

They helped me get out of the room where we met as Chifuyu and the others looked at us with worry.

Their reactions to seeing my state varied but their reactions could be easily described in a world. Shocked. They were so shocked in fact that their faces got white.

-B-ur-fr. I tried to speak but there was a lot of coagulated blood in my trachea.

-DON'T TRY TO SPEAK! Screamed Cecilia running in my direction

I placed my palm forward and got away from the girl's grip.

I pressed all of the unnecessary dejections out of my system. Only blood.

A big red pool formed on the ground.

-Af-arg-Bom-Bombs… There are bombs planted ar-Around the place... I deactivated them but... I don't know if they are any more around us, or if th-They can just make them explode using some other method…

I took a deep breath after that. And started to cough heavily.

Chifuyu looked calm and serene, but that was her angriest face.

-Good work Seiichi. I will take over from here, quickly get him to the hospital. She looked at everyone with a nod.

I didn't say anything as my condition wasn't really "light".

Close to the hotel was a small "town", in fact, this place had tens of operational facilities. It was designed as a town to give the workers a sense of home.

...

In the forest a girl was panting heavely, with her back on a tree.

-Mission failed... noo, NO! HOW COULD I...

Sudently she cought a alrge ammount of blood from her mouth. She didnt even have time to process what happened before she blacked out and died due to blood loss. Later the doctors would find out her heart had ruptured.

In the hospital, a group of doctors looked in wonder at me.

-We patched his shoulder but… It's healing at an incredible pace… Said a doctor with a strange glove that had many mechanical apparatus in it.

-His internal damage in the chest area is almost fully healed, if I were to hear that he received a bullet from a high caliber pistol at point-blank range I would call the person that told me that a lunatic. He said

-Even some IS's with regenerative powers fall below his natural regeneration, his cells are multiplying faster than even cancer cells, but no sign of long-term damage has been recorded, meaning his cells can duplicate many more times than ours…

Said a female doctor in the back

-Focus everyone… We are paid to help others and not to ask questions, remember the contract you all signed a few minutes ago. How is his condition? Said a more aged voice.

-Yes sir! He is currently fine… He had severe blood loss but… Said the doctor with the gloves.

-But what? Asked the old man

-When we injected some blood into him… His body… It "devoured" the blood. He said

-What?

-It broke apart all of the alien cells and used them to create his own cells. Said the female doctor. Said the female doctor

-We used 10 packs in the process… She said

-He didn't even fall to the anesthesia at first. We had to apply a dosage used in elephants… But he woke up mid-operation half an hour later She added

-Then we used a higher dosage but he woke up 20 min later. This happened 3 more times before the head surgeon decided to inject him with the "total sleep". For that, he is still sleeping even after 4 hours. And I hope this continues until tomorrow, if he wakes up anytime soon, I am going to go crazy.

-His musculature and bones… They are tough. Way too though. My surgery scalpel couldn't even pierce his muscles. We had to use the mechanical arm in order to remove the dagger and cut the muscles that had healed over the bullet. Said a doctor using a lighter color mask, signalizing he is an assistant.

-I also already switched the serum several times since his body is absorbing it at monstrous paces. The data says his body cells are under heavy mitosis, for what I don't know… But I feel it is… Evolving in a sense.

-... What a monster… First, it was Tabane, and now this…

-After this operation you guys are coming with me to sign a new confidentiality contract, are you guys fine with it?

-YES SIR!

…

Around an hour later back in the hotel Chifuyu received a message saying the "patient" was okay.

She seemed to release a sigh of relief while she left the room to tell the others the news.

…

The patient in question was in fact already awake, although he couldn't feel anything yet he could hear what the doctors said about him, but faked his sleep in order to make them work in peace.

What was that all about? I thought.

Is my body strong? Yes. Do I have a strong regenerative factor? Yes. But to this level?

What happened?

...

Unfortunately, it seemed Lylia had to leave once again to deal with some business.

Her avatar is a part of her, hence, it can't be too far away from her, else some problems may arise.

I can't say if this is good or bad. As the doctors said, my body was experiencing an extreme change. In the first place, the tyrant physic was toned down in order to reduce the appearance change induced by the heavy mutations that occur regularly.

Could it be that it changed somehow? That's very possible but I will have to wait for her to come back.

Now, for the rest.

Tabane is indeed a genius. Her current level of technological development is still a few steps ahead of me. But it's nothing I can't catch up to. The problem is the core.

How did she make it? Even 10 years ago, during a time where technology was developing slowly due to lack of motivation, a 12-14 year old child made something straight out of a science fiction movie. I can barely understand some of the outermost characteristics of the core, much less how the shell, the crystal and the AI work together.

But it's nothing impossible to make… All point out to Luxembourg. I need to get my hands on the crystals, perhaps seeing how the crystals appear in nature will help. There is also the data collected from Akastubaki.

After I finish modifying everyone's units due to my promise…

…

Several hours later in a rather empty white room, Chifuyu looked at me "sleeping" in bed.

-Oi. Open your eyes I know you are awake.

-...Sup. I said, opening my eyes.

-Are you alright?

-I am already healed but the doctors will not let me leave even if I ask, so it's better to just fake sleep.

-Tell me. What do you plan to do now? Don't think I didn't figure out your bet with Tabane. So no lies.

-I will finish studying Houki Unit and then use its data to modify everyone else's. Then I will go to …

-Luxembourg. She finished

-Yes…

-You know that country is now under "protection" from all other nations, right?

-And? Is that supposed to be scary?

-No you idiot. If you do that you will…

-Lose my place in society or whatever? That's if they actually find me.

-What about your family?

-I will make sure that my actions will allow me to return to them, be it with the world's consent or not.

-... Arrogant kid. She turned around and went to the door.

-You aren't going to ditch on me right?

-... Fuck off. She turned her head and said with a smile.

She then threw a USB-drive and closed the door.

-What's this?

I used my "hand watch" to hack into the drive only to find out a series of passwords and security measures.

-This is… Fuck.

Looks like my plan will have to be pushed forward by a few days.

It seems that the caverns in Luxembourg have a very special environment(That was obvious). But the thing is, only on some days of the year will it be safe for humans to enter.

Even if I am stronger, this only extends a little the window time for me to jump in.

The crystal already mined stays in different places in the country, ready to be shipped away to other countries. Sad as it may be, Luxembourg is now just a hollow country after the discovery of the crystals below it, controlled by the rest of the world.

…

After a few hours, I was released from the hospital and met with the gang and the other students, who welcomed me warmly. And after some crying(on their part) we were ready to leave this island and go back to school.

On the bus, I sat in the same place as last time.

Ichika turned to me and said:

-I can't agree with you. But to have the power necessary to save everyone… I don't have it now. And you are right. If something happens to me because of someone completely unrelated to me, I can't imagine the reactions of everyone. So I would like to apologize for my previous state and actions.

-... It's fine. Aren't you my friend? I will hear you out and help you if necessary. Now, let's leave this in the past and enjoy the bus ride.

-...Yeah, let's.