Chapter 65: Knight Program

The discussion with the Head lasted longer than I expected. A few hours later, I got the chance to retreat back to my lodging.

The entire time I spent having dinner with the council, sadly, Tyla was left outside to wait all throughout. I personally didn't mind having her there and was even willing to ask the Head to permit her stay, but Tyla was the one vehemently against it.

I let out a deep breath as I sat on the rug on the floor. "Now, next is to see the professor again." There wasn't much left to do, and to be honest, there wasn't a suitable reason for me to be in a hurry. But I just thought it would be better for me to get all of this done with immediately.

Just as I had that thought, the steel door to my room slid open, and a petite woman appeared at the entrance. It was Hathaway's personal assistant. The moment she arrived, I could surprisingly instantly recognize her.

The short woman with a reserved presence bowed slightly, respectfully at me, then said, "The Professor has asked to meet with you now."

It seems like Hathaway is just about done himself.

This was good.

I gently stood up and walked in the direction without any particular response. The woman took my actions as enough and began to lead the way. The path was familiar to me at this point. The passageway lay empty and silent, and in a matter of time, I was back at the professor's office.

The assistant came to a stop just at the entrance, and I stood before the door as it slid open. The next second, I stepped into the familiar office. It had only been a couple of hours since I was last here.

Immediately, my eyes met the lean figure of Professor Bling Hathaway, who was donned in a white lab coat and sat on a revolving chair. Next to him was a steel desk with a variety of bright computer screens and projections staring right at him.

All of the excess rays drowned his figure in shadows, making distinguishing his features a bit of a pain. But rather than address that, as soon as I heard the mechanical door close behind me, my eyes darted around the office, and the first thing I said was:

"Where's Lyra?" I tried to make it sound as natural as I could.

Hathaway finally turned around in his seat, cast a gaze at me, and sighed. He took off his glasses and wiped the frames with a small rag. I could see the deep traces of exhaustion around his eyes, forming as dark circles. Even his skin looked slightly paler.

It seems this old man hasn't been able to get much rest.

Before Hathaway could respond, I strolled leisurely into the office and took a seat nearby. After a while, his voice finally resounded.

"She left a while ago while you were away. She needs some time to absorb and take in everything that has happened to her. Her life can't and will never remain the same from now on." He sighed. There was a deep trace of melancholy and exhaustion in his tone.

I reserved any expression from making it to my face. "Oh. Is that so..." I simply said and trailed off. "Having an organic core... is it all that bad?"

Perhaps I really might have done something unnecessary by meddling.

Hathaway pondered his next words carefully. "It has great risks and is potentially deadly. It's even outlawed in the current world. If anyone were to discover she possessed an organic core and is still alive, I'm afraid she would suffer a fate worse than death."

"... "

That...is not good.

As if affirming my worries, the professor then gave a pale smile. "But Lyra knows all that, and I've also made sure to emphasize how great a risk it is for her. But that young woman... she's far stronger and stranger than I thought. I don't think she'll be the kind to back down even from all that. An organic core is also a grand opportunity to possess insurmountable power. She seems like a covertly ambitious person as well, so it might all work out fine in the end," he said.

"As long as she's able to fight for herself, it should be fine," I bluntly said. "But that's not why I've come, Professor." I relaxed back in the chair I sat on and quickly transitioned topics.

Hathaway nodded somberly. Then he smiled once more. "But before that, I want to ask," he said. "Now that you've most likely confirmed the alleged state of your home... what do you plan to do from here? Where do you plan to go?"

"I haven't entirely made up my mind yet." I shrugged. I didn't mind disclosing my future plans to Hathaway if it was him. My lips parted, and I indifferently explained to him.

"There's a seventy-year gap as far as I'm concerned. I might travel the rest of the ruined world to see with my own eyes the extent of the apocalypse and how far the Earth has fallen. But in the end, that mostly depends on another factor," I said as my gaze deepened.

Hathaway raised an eyebrow. "And what might that be?"

"It would not be a lie to say I have an interest in the Domed Fortresses of the current world. Chances are that my family may still be alive in one of them, actually. Which brings me to ask, Professor, what can you tell me about 'Allan Fort,' the seventy-year gap, and the visitors we had earlier today?"

Hathaway seemed confused yet intrigued. Without looking away, he said with slight amusement, "Why the sudden interest in the world, and even more so in our visitors?"

It was to be expected. Despite all I had disclosed to Bling before, he still knew nothing in particular about my background before I was transported to that place.

"The reason for the Fortresses is as I've already explained. Things might be a bit different concerning the other subject, however." I let out a breath and abruptly paused. "No, let me rephrase that statement." I sat upright and shook my head sideways. "That woman, Sonia Blade. I want you to tell me who she is."

As for why I was asking Professor Hathaway, it was because he was the only one in the entire Tribe who had a deeper connection and relationship with the humans of the Walls. His family was responsible for the re-evaluation of civilization after the fall.

His being here was related to peculiar circumstances, actually. After the day we exchanged information, I came to understand quite a few interesting things concerning this man. So yes, Bling Hathaway was my best bet at finding any information regarding the Fortresses and the world inside them.

Hathaway pondered my words deeply for a couple of seconds before nodding. "If that's what you want, then it's not something I can't help with. The person from earlier, Sonia Blade, is actually more influential in Allan Fort than you realize." As he began, he turned back to the monitors and projectors facing him and conjured a full-scale holographic image of the person in question.

A full-sized holographic version of the stone-faced Sonia Blade appeared at the center of the room. I felt the muscles in my face grow pensive. Unconsciously, my hands, which were clasped together, grew tighter. My gaze deepened as I closely studied the image.

I had to calm down. I found myself increasingly excited at the thought of finally being able to find out more about her. I fought back to restrain my anxiousness from cracking my expression and said in a feigned deep and calm voice, "Continue."

Hathaway didn't seem to notice anything strange and went on with his explanation. His green eyes deepened, and the prior melancholy returned to his voice. The holographic image of Sonia changed to a translucent image of the Earth instead—or at least how it looked in the past.

"You already understand the rough summary, so I'll skip forward a little. The recent years after the first invasion were when the world was plunged into chaos and turmoil. It was like the final hour of the human race. The Elder Gods had marched into our world through the dimensional fractures in space called Rifts and laid ruin to our planet. Those were perhaps the direst of times for mankind." Hathaway sighed deeply, his exhaustion evident.

As if to ward it off, the professor got up from his seat, took off his frames, and massaged the bridge of his nose while walking around. All the while, he continued with his explanation in a deep, somber voice.

"To hold a chance at warding off our invaders and to buy enough time to send the remnants of mankind to the safety of the newly deployed Fortresses back then... the Knight Program was prematurely launched a little early."

The Knight Program... I hadn't heard this particular phrase before, but it was pretty self-explanatory. Hathaway was referring to the creation of the first generation knights.

But I was more curious about how any of this had to do with Sonia. 'Well... she is a Knight too, I guess. That's about all the connection it had to do with her,' I thought. Just then, a bizarre thought struck me like a bolt of lightning.

'Hold on. Could it be that Sonia might be a First Generation Knight? Woah. But that was about seventy years ago; she certainly doesn't look that old... ' But when I thought of the strange metamorphosis that Lyra underwent just immediately after her transplant, maybe Knights truly did have some type of anti-aging ability or something of that sort.

'Yeah. That makes sense,' I nodded to myself. The more I thought about it, the more sense it seemed to make. 'But I still can't imagine Sonia could be well over her fifties by now... not with such a body.' I barely restrained a sigh.

But in stark contrast to all of my speculations, Hathaway debunked my rogue theories as my mind wandered adventurously, cooking up its own ideas.

"There... were countless failures. Hundreds of thousands of them. The Knight Project was already a Super Soldier project the prior government and army were investing in during the time just before the Invasion. But even back then, it was still in the planning and discussion stage; we were far from getting anywhere close to making it a reality. But we didn't mind. At that point, with the power source we obtained from the first Elder God we found washed up, we were confident we would succeed in the project by the time we began. But unfortunately, the First Invasion struck first, and everything changed."

As Hathaway continued to speak, I felt the tone of his narration and story turn deeper and darker, heavier. Almost like he could relive the memories.

'Hathaway mentioned he was still young at that time.' That meant he truly experienced the horror of the First Invasion, unlike those like Lyra who only had the stories passed down over time. 'Damn. Just how old is this guy then? Seventy? Or less? More?' My thoughts wandered again, but his next words drew me out of it.

"The Project became the Knight Program and was prematurely launched way ahead of time. Desperate times call for even more desperate measures. And as hard as the countless failures were during those years, the Program eventually succeeded. Humanity created their first 'Knight.'"

At Hathaway's voice, as soon as he said his final word, the holographic image depicting the previous form of the Earth glitched and switched into something different. It twitched and reconstructed, slowly forming a vague humanoid figure that only became more distinct and pronounced with each passing second.

Soon, the tall holographic figure of an imposing man hovered at the center of the office. At that moment, Hathaway turned around to face me. No, he turned to face the new hologram. His hazy green eyes gained some clarity and glinted with a distinct light.

Hathaway uttered in a deep voice, gesturing at the hologram, "Shiloh Blade. Humanity's first Knight... and Mankind's Strongest. "

***

Apologies for the delay again.

How'd you like today's chapter. With this, It's been revealed Mankind's Strongest weapon, and brightest hope, who so happens to be Huey's closest cousin that was like a brother to him. Shiloh Blade.

On a sperate matter, I was going through some of my earlier chapters during this series, and I feel Huey hasn't been himself lately for the last few chapters now. Is it just me, or has his character really deviated slightly from the beginning? This could be with all that's going on right now, but the deviation, is it in a good way, or bad?

I'm asking not only as the author, but also from the perspective of a reader. I really hope to hear your thoughts to know what I should be doing with this, and if this slight deviation is in a good experience or not. It is certainly not something I intended, but I think he's been going through a lot of emotions lately? I'm really not sure, it was meant to be a simple book.

So please tell me your thoughts concerning this. I Will really really appreciate the help. It's a dilemma for even me. Thank you