Gene Exaltation

"I'll tell you something else." The lab dude said with his creepy voice. The man was clearly mad. Although I suppose everyone in this damn place should be with all of the radiation. It's surprising humans didn't all just die.

"My name is Professor Requiem. Hehehe, a fitting name right?" I must admit it did feel unfortunately fitting. Professor Requiem was now looking at some information on a computer which I was not privy to.

"Ah… How disappointing. It seems there is a high chance of success for this operation. Well, I can fix that. Let's try something new." The professor said with his spine-chilling voice. I couldn't help but question if he was actually qualified to perform these tests.

I then saw him frown as he looked at me.

"You- you really don't care?" He let out a disappointed sigh after saying those words.

"Whatever then, I hope you die." He said with a wave of his hand. Damn, that hurts I guess?

He opened up a weird suitcase with a strange and large black syringe. Where did he get that from? This was evidently something he had brought himself. ...Is he really going to try something new?

"This is a modification I made, the GE-11. It was a struggle to sneak this in here so be a good guy and sit patiently." Requi, what I am calling him from now on, said as he caressed the black syringe.

I decided to try and forget the dirty image in my mind by counting how many coins I picked up from the road side in my life. One, Two....? I think that's about it. I also can't tell how he struggled to sneak that thing in unless the security on his side is far more stringent.

Requi approached my operating bed, at least they gave me something comfortable to lay on, and prepared to inject me with the syringe.

"Hold him down." He motioned for the two bulky men to hold my arms and legs. Given that I was already restrained it could only mean bad things for me.

"Guh!" I felt a freezing liquid enter my veins through my arm. Requi actually went ahead and injected me before I had a chance to gain my bearings!

"The hell-!" My arm twitched and randomly trashed about even though it was strapped and pinned down. I could feel that same chilling fluid continue to move further up my body. I started to inadvertently trash about.

Am I having a seizure? I couldn't help but wonder. My eyes started to turn blurry, I was struggling to keep myself awake.

"Aaah! AaaaH! AAAAAH!!!" But then a jolting pain quickly brought me back. I let out increasingly louder screams that resonated my excruciating pain.

Unlike before, the chill that had enveloped my whole body was gone and all I could feel was my body being burnt alive. The burning sensation encompassed the entirety of my body not sparing me a second of relieve or portion of relieve.

"AAAAAAAAAAAH! Damn it!" I screamed with bloodshot eyes. My vision started to turn red and distorted.

Upstairs, the receptionist was trembling. Her expression was ghastly as she did her best to cover her ears. She no longer wanted to hear the haunting screams of pain.

The two soldiers that guarded the building only frowned slightly but maintained their otherwise serious expression.

"YES! SCREAM!!! EAT THAT YOU BORING PIECE OF SH*T!" Requi madly yelled.

The f*cker was mad that I didn't play along with his cheap act earlier, I won't take this lying down!

"SHUT UP YOU PETTY SADIST! AAAAAAAAH!" I yelled in the midst of my blood curling screams.

"Now I REALLY hope you die! You",,, He continued to yell what I presumed were profanities but my hearing became increasingly faint.

I could no longer hear anything and the red that was originally covering my vision faded to black. This was likely what it felt like to faint. Unfortunately it also meant I won't be able to see the rest of the procedure assuming the things weren't placed there just to scare me,

***

The surface. A barren wasteland. If one is lucky they will see a single yellow blade of grass growing on the arid ground. If one is unlucky they will get eaten by said blade of grass.

Currently, a large march was taking place.

They were the returning soldiers of the subterranean government. Their destination? The only surface city in existence, the home of all Exalted ones, Eden. It also served as a military base.

"Captain!" Shouted an alarmed young man as he desperately ran after a military vehicle. As they were marching it wasn't actually going very fast.

"What is it?" The man who was presumed to be the captain asked from the passenger window.

"The radars caught sight of a large number of mutants!" The panicking soldier said.

"What is their level?" The captain asked unfazed. It wasn't unusual for a large number of mutant beasts to be attracted when marching. Why wouldn't they when a good source of food is right in front of them?

"They are at the first stage but-" The young man was cut off.

"Why are you panicking then!" The captain was angered by the cowardly young man.

There were four stages for both humans and beasts. At the first stage they actually couldn't yet be considered mutants, they were altered. Altered had stronger physical abilities then non altered counterparts.

That meant that if it was an altered dog, it would only be tougher and faster than a regular dog. It might seem more wild or feral but bullets are usually enough to deal with them.

All of the soldiers in the army were altered themselves so a large number of them shouldn't pose a threat.

"Captain! The number nears the thousands!" Usually soldiers would apologize for overreacting but given the extreme situation the young man didn't find the time. In the first place he felt he wasn't in the wrong.

"What!?" The captain was stunned. That was beyond their capacities.

They were merely a company of 200 soldiers that had been sent to eliminate a Colossal Toxic Centipede that moved near the area. They hadn't caused much of a ruckus nor did they take too long, you could say they were even excessive. So why was there such a large number of mutants nearing their position?

"Company Commander, your orders!" The soldier respectfully asked.

"We won't be able to reach Eden in time, create a perimeter! We'll have to try and ask for reinforcements." The captain yelled with a solemn expression.

After the soldier was dismissed he wore a visible frown. Wireless communication on the surface was significantly hindered so it was unknown if they would be able to get any reinforcements in time.