The Report

A few hours later, Ethan received an emergency call. A man sent by the Association of Light was going to inform him about new discoveries, and he had to attend that meeting before heading home.

Ethan sped down the deserted roads, the wind whipping fiercely as he made his way to the café where the meeting would take place. The hum of the engine resonated in his ears, but his mind was filled with thoughts and doubts.

He wondered if it had been a good idea to take such measures, knowing that his sister Sarah wouldn't stop bothering him afterward.

However, he wasn't worried about involving someone else in this dangerous organization that he governed. The dark entities were unpredictable and could pose a great risk to those who tried to confront them.

Ethan had gone through dangerous situations and had seen up close the devastating effects of dark entities on people's behavior after their incursions.

As he drove, Ethan recalled the conversations he had had with many of his followers. The truth is, he had always advocated for people's right to know about the existence of dark entities, believing that no one would be caught by surprise when they could no longer be contained before the public.

The world needs to know—that's the reality.

Ethan parked his motorcycle in front of the café. He adjusted his jacket and walked inside, searching for the man among the crowd of people enjoying their afternoon coffee.

Entering the café, Ethan spotted a man named Gabriel sitting in a corner. "You must have your mind elsewhere. You should pay more attention to your surroundings, Director."

Ethan sat down distractedly, not looking around any further.

"I see you're doing well. From those scars, I can tell you don't activate your supernatural abilities very often," Gabriel said as he placed two large files in front of Ethan.

"Have you discovered anything about the vampire organization?" Ethan didn't ask directly about the contents of the two files.

Gabriel shook his head, his tired expression turning toward the documents as he said, "We still haven't found where that organization originates, nor do we have reports on its whereabouts. Even so, they aren't our biggest concern."

"Recently, the corporeal dark entities that awaken in the human body are like dormant eggs... An infection, maybe a virus that rests in any living being and then mutates into monstrous creatures," Gabriel said slowly while sipping his second cup of coffee.

Hearing Gabriel's words, Ethan recalled everything he knew about anomalies. Since becoming a captain against dark entities, he has noticed that sometimes monsters are humans mutated in a very peculiar way.

The mutation that transforms the human body into monsters was unknown to him, but he knew one thing: the human body knew it was undergoing a metamorphosis and was slowly losing control of itself.

"Are you saying that there are corporeal dark entities in their early metamorphic stage that haven't fully transformed?" Ethan asked, unable to believe it, as this would mean that anyone could potentially become a dark entity.

Even with his limited experience, he had never encountered a dark entity in its premature state. According to the files he had found, the transformation was the ideal time to eliminate a dark entity without much trouble.

However, Ethan could never understand how a human could mutate in such a way. A virus? Radiation? If so, how could an ordinary civilian end up becoming a monster?

And how could the exponential mutation of animals into their frenzied state be explained? For now, Ethan couldn't imagine something so bizarre. Even different organizations and other nations were unaware of where the dark entities originated and how they mutated.

Ethan had read reports made by scientists, but they were mere speculations. A possible explanation could be through the interaction of genetic and environmental factors.

The report outlined a scenario where certain individuals possessed a unique and exceptionally complex genetic combination.

These genes could contain encoded information that, under specific circumstances, would trigger the manifestation of anomalies in their bodies.

These circumstances could be related to exposure to radiation, chemicals, or unknown energies.

Imagine that an unusual exposure or an anomalous reaction to these environmental factors triggers a series of events within the organism.

These events could include accelerated or uncontrolled genetic mutations, the activation of "latent" genes that are normally inactive in humans, or even the integration of extraterrestrial or unknown-origin genetic material.

These mutations and genetic changes could drastically alter the structure and function of the human body, leading to the appearance of monstrous or anomalous characteristics. These beings could exhibit physical deformities, superhuman abilities, or extraordinary sensory capacities.

Moreover, in this hypothetical scenario, these anomalies could be linked to the activation of parts of the human genome that are more related to primitive or ancestral life forms, which have remained inactive throughout human evolution.

Gabriel smiled strangely and said, "It's the only explanation we can find... Most of the dark entities identified around the country are always related to the brutal death of a police officer or civilian. If we're lucky enough to identify something out of the ordinary, we might find the corporeal dark entity before it makes contact with civilians."

Ethan understood this, but unlike those incorporeal entities, the physical ones couldn't be tracked with special equipment—werewolves, fully embodied demons, or vampires couldn't be pursued because locating them requires investigations.

"That would be impossible if it's still in its mutation process; there's no guarantee it can be completely contained, and it's likely it already has victims," Ethan said as he ordered a coffee and looked at the files on the table.

"You're curious, aren't you?" Gabriel, who knew much more about this, said, "The first folder contains the new program the country will implement in the coming weeks."

"The new program?" Ethan took the folder and began reading the information.

"A new distribution of the organization. You should know that the S.C.G. won't be under the intelligence services of each country. For your luck."

After mentioning the name of the organization that the government approved decades ago to be officially integrated into the army's plans and any department involving the security and well-being of the people, Gabriel explained in detail: "The government, seeing the inefficient work they're doing due to our poor organization, approved this new command group that will take full responsibility for everything related to corporeal dark entities, working with the Association of Light. I believe they had already explained this to you."

"Cleaning, logistics, research, immediate response command, and even the simplest tasks like special investigation agents will be the new departments solely responsible for dark entities." Gabriel sighed helplessly as he lit a cigarette in the café without caring about anything.

"Maybe your sister briefly told you about this new government plan to tackle the ongoing outbreak of dark entities and our inefficiency in eliminating them immediately."

"Metropolitan cities and provinces will initially have only one special base of this organization that will mainly handle corporeal dark entities. As more bases are created around each city for immediate response, they will have the support of military bases only if a disaster occurs. But from now on, the army's infantry will focus on securing the area with the help of counter-terrorism police to give the S.G.C. time to eliminate the threat."

Ethan listened silently to Gabriel's explanation, scanning the information sheets until he found a special section.

"[Metropolitan City of New York]"

"[General Captain assigned to the central S.G.C. base in the country: Ethan Winchester.]"

[Full authority to deploy the containment power of the S.G.C. base and its personnel. Each regent has full authority to communicate directly with the General Commander of the Armed Forces. They have full authority to communicate directly with the interim president in an extreme emergency. Additionally, they have full authority to speak on the same terms as a Guardian Bishop of the Association of Light.]

[The country to which you were assigned and to which I proposed—not only me but many high-ranking officials who know about your new potential—decided to grant full authority. Many consider that Washington should be specially protected," Gabriel said with evident displeasure in his voice. Taking a sip of coffee, he checked the time on his watch and waited for Ethan to express his opinion.]

"Anton ShadowBane is already there to handle all this; even Kiran can do a good job." Ethan knew these old men wanted to enslave him entirely to the organization.

Gabriel smiled faintly and said helplessly, "Anton is being hunted by demons due to his family heritage, and Kiran moves all over Europe and Asia. You can take charge of the country and will be deployed across South America."

"That is..."