82 Saint Mary's Orphanage - 1900: Final Part

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻( Dream )⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

'Tch', only three souls managed to make their way here," scoffs a man in monastic clothes, shaking his head in disdain, before continuing, "Well, no matter. greetings, I am Tar Kerk." He pauses to look at everyone present. "Although it would seem the original couldn't make it," he adds, his words devoid of any interest, as if this entire situation held no importance to him.

The pressure emitting from him, forces both Reverend John and John Hunter's bodies to buckle.

"Master!" Barvest shouts, bowing before Tar. "Forgive me if I am mistaken, but why are you introducing your grand self if you plan on killing them?"

Raising an eyebrow and looking down upon Barvest, Tar reveals, "That was the original plan... However, that plan was made years ago, and now I have a better one." He approached the kneeling Reverend and continued, "During my time away, I've realized the need for talented individuals, and someone capable of resurrection will be of great help. You... I believe you graduated from Harvard, was it? You shall henceforth be known as the Scientist."

"Damn, you!" shouts Reverend John as he begins muttering a spell.

Tar swiftly moves his hand, clutching Reverend John's mouth. "It's good that you have a strong spirit. Then again I suppose you wouldn't be here if you didn't." His eyes glance at John Hunter for a moment, before continuing, "However, you're a fool if you think you can win!" as he says those words the pressure on Reverend John doubles. "Let's make a deal. I believe you're valuable enough to work for me. Oh, and before you refuse." He snaps his fingers, materializing a glass-like pan in the air. It displayed the image of another formation, filled with thousands of people confused and screaming for help. A smirk grew across his lips as he added, "I suggest you think carefully before you answer my question."

However, instead of compliance, Tar noticed anger still present in Reverend John's eyes. With a light frown slowing etching its way along his mouth, he sighs, "What a pity." before extending his off-hand towards the pane and muttering, "Absorb." pulling in a hundred souls.

Looking down at Reverend John, he witnesses tears welling up. "That's better," he mocks as he removes his hand.

Slumping his shoulders in defeat, Reverend John complies, "I. .I...I would like to accept your offer."

"Good. However, I must ask, why were you willing to kill those people in the formation, but when you witnessed me killing people, you surrendered? Is it related to your ability to cheat death?" Tar questions as he squats down.

Suddenly, the sound of shoes clacking against the ground echoes from the entrance, revealing a man wearing a scientist's robe and square glasses. Cheekily, he declared, "That man is lying."

Raising an eyebrow, Tar looks down at Reverend John as he asks, "Are you certain?"

Pushing his glasses up to the bridge of his nose, the man divulges, "Your strength lies in valuing your own life so much that you are willing to do anything to ensure your own survival, whether it be killing a child or curing cancer. However, that is also your weakness. It blinds you to the fact that there are people out there who are truly willing to die for others."

Tar scoffs. "I suggest you watch your tongue, Tou Lee," he threatened, emanating more aura.

Tou Lee scoffs in return and remarks, "You won't kill me. After all, my existence increases your chances of survival."

Glaring at Tou for a brief moment, Tar lets out a light sigh as he nods his head. "I do indeed need you. Most of all, I need your two abilities. Your first ability is to copy the abilities of those you consume. Your second ability is 'scan'—allowing you to see the abilities of others." He pauses, turning his head to face the Reverend. "Since our Reverend here refuses to comply, I want you to consume his soul."

Smiling, Tou states, "No problem," as he walks over to Reverend John, his smile growing by the second. "However, something is odd, he only has one ability, and it's called 'genetic sequence.' I don't see anything related to cheating death." He comments before pulling an orb out of his pocket and using it to absorb Reverend's soul.

Both of them then turn their attention to John Hunter as Tar remarks, "You are not as skilled in combat as Barvest, nor as useful in research as our dear Scientist. Furthermore, your will is so weak that you even fear your own parents. It's a wonder how you even made it here."

He begins to apply pressure on John, causing the hunter's body to tremble, before suddenly an earthquake shakes the ground beneath their feet. At the end of the shaking, John's eyes are like pin needles, fidgeting around as if trying to find something or rather hoping that something wasn't there.

A smile creeps up Tar's face as he sneers, "While the earthquake was unexpected, it doesn't change the results." He slowly advances, each step bringing him closer when suddenly a spring clicks under his foot, this one severing his foot from the rest of his body.

Tar looks down at his detached foot, and instead of anger, a wide grin spreads across his face. "Incredible! Truly incredible! Your ability is 'diversion'!" His eyes gleam with hunger. "An ability perfectly complements my own."

⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻ End ⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻⸻

004 slowly opens his eyes, his mind processing the information. Minutes pass as his face crumples more and more. "What in the hell!?" he exclaimed out of nowhere, getting raised eyebrows from those in the room.

Observing their reactions, he offered a friendly smile while apologizing, "Just give me a moment." One of his hands reaches into his mouth, before pulling out a selection of books, each catered toward dismantling and deciphering dreams: 'peaceful' - 'violent' + 'kind' - 'manipulative' + 'calculative' - 'impulsive' + 'introverted' - 'extroverted'. As these labels went through his hands, each one made him more confused than the last, til his hands stop on a particular book. "D..I..D... That's it!" he bellowed, a grin stretching across his face.

Looking back to his audience, he opened his mouth.

. . . 2 Months Prior: Gu World . . .

Clicking his tongue, Scientist produces a sheet of paper bearing an intricately drawn formation, swiftly slapping it onto Xie Ling, restricting his movements. "If you kill me you'll be destroying the balance. Did you not utter the words yourself, 'Impulsiveness leads to mistakes, and mistakes lead to injuries, and injuries lead to death!'?" He states, each of his words carrying a firm weight to them.

"Your job is to counteract Predator's sadistic nature, not to grow our patience! That's Hunter's job!" Xie explains as he rolls his eyes at the formation placed on him, before ripping it apart and grabbing Scientist by the throat. Before, squeezing the will into an orb.

"Why did he rebel? He should have known he stood no chance against me." Xie Ling questioningly mutters.

"Like I already said, some people are willing to die for others." Xue Jia explains.

Shaking his head in disappointment, Xie Ling states, "Let's continue our research, this time with a more willing participant." He drops the orb into Xue Jia's hands.

. . . 3 Months Prior: Earth . . .

"001 possesses three real abilities: 'Create Will', 'm... Diversion', and 'Make Personalities,' along with two fake abilities, as well as a sort of pseudo ability in which he has deceived himself into believing."

. . .

"I won't disappoint," Xue Jia bows with a devilish grin, before swallowing the orb, and adding, "Is he the only one you wish to get rid of?" His eyes moved to Hunter, squinting with hunger.

"No! Killing Scientist has already made us much more susceptible to sadistic tendencies, which will make us do things less efficiently for the sake of some crude pleasure, if we remove Hunter as well, then I fear we will become too impulsive, which will ultimately be our downfall."

. . .

"Let's start with the two false abilities. First, 'genetic modification.' Now don't misunderstand me, he is undoubtedly incredibly skilled in genetic modification, but who wouldn't be if they were trained as the heir of the Hunter Family?" 005's gaze turns to Mother as he makes that statement.

. . .

"With that goody-two-shoes out of the picture, we can finally get some real work done," Predator mocks with a devilish grin.

. . .

"The second false ability is 'consume.' There is a possibility thought that it's tied to his first ability, and I'll get back to that in a moment. It's likely his mind concocted the ability 'consume' to eliminate the original scientist while retaining the 'genetic modification.' In other words, it's to help ease the transition from a good-hearted scientist willing to commit evil deeds to a more... callous one. A sort of fabricated narrative that would allow for the transition from good-natured to objective."

. . .

Xue Jia makes a proposition, "For my first recommendation, It would be best if we brought in a few slaves, vessels in other words. Something to contain copious amounts of will."

. . .

"His first ability appears simple initially but holds significant implications. He creates will, which, when dense enough, can influence others. Imagine the main character in a movie sensing killing intent. In his case, he generates the killing intent and floods a person's mind with it, rendering them docile and pun intended, willing slaves. It is no different from drugging a person. Also, this probably ties back to 'consume' as an attempt to conserve energy when making a will."

. . .

"For my second recommendation. I understand the value of keeping our research contained that way, whatever that thing in the sky is, tends to leave us alone the more we do that. However, we'll start doing live testing on beasts soon enough, so we should prepare some healing-type gu masters."

. . .

"His second ability is self-explanatory. Diversion - to pull someone's focus away from what you want them least to notice. . . Something does feel a little off about it though. . . Well, no matter."

. . .

"And, lastly I believe Predator has a point, why shouldn't we overload gu with will on mass? Yes, they will die on the thousands, but if experience is the primary and as far as we know, the only confirmed method of getting attainment, we should exploit that. After all, at this point we're rich."

Predator starts nodding his head, as he states, "I like the new guy."

. . .

"Third yet by far the most powerful is 'Make personalities', while at the same time, It could be called a double-edged sword. With it, he can create wills that should be theoretically impossible. Imagine, instead of only creating killing intent, he forms a combined will: the sharp claws of a leopard, the deranged eyes of a rabid dog, the whistle from bomb warning sirens, and the erratic movements of an insane drug addict. When combined, it is no different from fabricating talent out of thin air. After all, what is talent if not being perfectly suited to that particular field? This man makes Slenderman look like a puppy at the dog shelter. The only problem is that he must create other personalities to counteract it; otherwise, he will become a slave to the very personality he created."