Revealing Results

Kiro lifted a kunai from a pouch, "You have questions to be answering."

"I'm willing to answer, I'd rather not get hurt."

"Why did you steal the heart of the Hydra?!"

"Right into the thick of it Hm? That's quite the story to tell."

"Answer!"

The figure sighed, "I am a scientist! It was for the greater good of science! A being of near immortality! I had to get my hands on the sample, it would lead to immortality!"

Nimin stepped forward angrily, "You killed thousands for immortality?!"

"I endangered thousands for immortality.", they wagged a finger as they corrected, "However my experiments ended years ago, the heart was no longer in my hands for the longest of time. I failed my quest, and I retired here for the rest of my days."

Kiro shook her head, "Lies, search the building!"

Several figures donning dark clothing infiltrated the building. They expertly checked every corner of the house, not letting even a speck of dust go unturned.

The middle aged man watched in amusement, "You'll find nothing. I told you, I abandoned my project a long time ago."

Refusing to believe his words Kiro interrogated, "Then what were your results?!"

"Results? There weren't any! The heart is an impenetrable object. It took a lot of funding to prevent it from reviving the calamity! I researched every chunk of flesh that it produced. Every drop of blood! But it gave me nothing on its superb regenerative properties. Nothing!"

"Then what did you do with the heart afterwards?!"

"I didn't do a blasted thing with the heart! I quit the project upon learning my efforts were pointless. I am sure someone else seized the heart whilst I was gone!"

Nimin's hand was clenched, "You just left it?! What if it awoke?! What if it killed everyone in the area?!"

"That was none of my business. I was distraught at my lack of results."

"Distraught?! You could've ended so many more lives!"

Kiro snapped, "Keep it down! If you cannot control yourself then leave!"

The middle aged man laughed, "Subordinates not being obedient?"

"You are to continue answering my questions."

"I told you, there's nothing. I'm sure you'll receive the report from the Ninjas."

A figure appeared next to Kiro and whispered into her ear. Kiro clicked her tongue, "Tsk! I don't believe there's nothing!"

She silently gave orders to the others and turned back to the middle aged man, "How'd you steal it? The disguise should've been perfect."

"It was! You scrubbed the area clean of all evidence. I wouldn't have been able to find the place if it weren't for some ancient records."

"So there was still written documentation."

"It was barely discernible, took me months just to find the location. Once I knew where I was. . ."

"Stop trailing off."

"I haven't spoken this much in a long time. You'll have to forgive me."

"Continue!"

The middle-aged man rose an eyebrow and smirked, "The disguise was perfect, sure. But in the end it's still a disguise. With the connections I had at the time I was able to break the disguise and snatch the heart."

"There was more than just a disguise guarding that thing. How'd you get past it all that quickly?"

"Sacrifices must be made for science. Although it's a shame, I had to get rid of the evidence of their bodies too."

"You monster. . ."

"Akiol.", Kan'na caught Akiol's attention.

She then beckoned him to follow. They walked to an obscure part of the building and she spoke, "Something isn't right with this wall."

"What's off?"

"I examined the building myself with a spell when we entered. Everything came up fine except this wall. If anything it was too ordinary."

"You think?"

"I think it's hiding something. I know your sword is pretty good at absorbing magic, so I wanted to give it a try before I attempt any decoding."

Akiol unsheathed Stars and a blackhole formed at the tip. He slashed diagonally, the door warped towards the blackhole and began to dissipate.

Inspecting the new area Akiol asked, "Shall we inform them?"

"Why not do a little exploring first?"

"First come first serve then.", Akiol agreed.

The two walked into the now revealed door. A set of stairs led downwards. Kan'na formed two small lights and gave one to Akiol.

Down the stairs led to an extremely large basement. Dust covering everything. Not a single sign of a person being there for a long time.

Kan'na murmured, "Kind of disappointing."

"What'd you hope for?"

"Secret laboratory or something. Not just your average abandoned basement."

"Might be something here still."

"Then let's search."

They rummaged through what was left. Various glass bottles and tubes. Scientific instruments they couldn't identify. Miscellaneous objects that seemed to be put in the basement purely for storage.

Akiol found and old desk and began searching through the drawers, "Did the guy look like he was lying to you?"

"Kind of, more like he isn't telling a full story. Though I suppose this room means he probably was lying."

"I got the same feeling."

The drawer held random objects. A few bottles of ink, blank paper, a quill. Akiol shuffled through the papers just in case, but only confirmed they were all blank.

Closing the drawer he opened another, "What could he be lying about then?"

"The two conclusions I can come up with right now is either the results of his experiments, or what he did with the Hydra Heart."

"The troublesome thing about this whole situation is that I'm unable to tell exactly what he's lying about."

"You aren't omnipotent Akiol."

"I've gained an eye for lying though."

"And people gained the ability to fool those eyes."

"Fair enough."

The second drawer contained empty envelopes and a wax sealing kit. Akiol still checked the envelopes just in case, and found one that had a piece of paper, "Found a letter of some sort, want me to read it aloud?"

"If it seems worthy enough. I'd rather not hear some sappy love letter."

"Dear Willow-"

"Oh gods it's a love letter isn't it."

"Why did you assume that so soon?"

"Who begins a formal message with 'dear'?"

"Let me finish the thing."

"I'll stop you if he starts talking about his feelings."

"Dear Willow, you were right. Never before have I seen such a magnificent yet terrifying item. The heart, what a misleading name. It isn't a heart at all."

Kan'na interrupted, "The Hydra's Heart?"

"I'd assume so. Is it really not a heart?"

"Jarvis said it was the heart of the Hydra, so I didn't doubt it to not be one."

"Let's continue then: It can be more explained as a core. A conglomerate of the Hydra's life energy. A beautiful jewel that pleases the eye, yet makes one fearful to touch it. As I examine-"

"Sorry to interrupt, but could you skip him fanboying over the Hydra Heart?"

"I was about to."

Akiol skimmed the next few lines and continued, "From what I deduced, this core is nigh invincible. Not a single one of my tools can even scratch it. Occasionally I feel my heart thump as the core tries to regenerate, it causes my whole body to shake."

Akiol began to frown, "The next few lines are hard to read, it's very poorly written."

"What can you understand?"

"The Hydra's 'core' tries to rebuild the actual heart of the Hydra first. Which takes time compared to its normal regenerative properties. But that's all I'm able to understand."

"I could try making a translator."

"A translator for chicken scratch."

"Would you rather I not?"

"Well with this we have proof that he's lying. If he refuses to spit out the truth after we show this, then I'll have to bother you."

Akiol absorbed the letter and closed the drawer. Opening the final drawer he spoke, "And the last mystery box gives a key. Yet no hint for what it may open."

"I haven't found anything needing a key."

"I'll hold onto it then."

Akiol absorbed the key as well before he went back to searching. Carefully inspecting each bottle for perhaps another secret message.

Kan'na spoke, "Found something, seems to be research papers. Come help me sort through them."

Akiol walked over and picked up a stack. Flipping through the poorly written notes he tried to make heads or tails out of it.

Kan'na pointed out, "Seems like some have a conclusion at the bottom. Might speed things up for anything interesting."

Akiol skipped to the bottom of the papers. As Kan'na said there was a conclusion. Such organization made it truly easy for him.

After searching through half the stack Akiol found a set of papers that were written differently. While the others seemed like a disappointed report, these looked like they were made of excitement. Most of the words used were out of Akiol's ability to understand. James wasn't the kind to study English.

"The Eternal Program. . ."

"You find something?", Kan'na looked up.

"I think so, the way these are written are different. Take a look."

Kan'na received some papers and searched through them. As she skimmed them she said her thoughts aloud, "A test was successful? Something held quite a bit of compatibility, proving that his tests weren't useless after all."

She put the last paper away, "Yet after that there's nothing?"

Akiol lifted another page from the stack, "I left one. . ."

His face froze upon reading it, "This. . . this is-!"