The Family

Zoe briskly walked through an underground tunnel. Eventually, she reached an out-of-the-way room filled with doctors and special equipment.

"How's the analysis going?" Zoe questioned one of the doctors.

"Ah, madam. We just finished; we were going over the results. They're interesting, to say the least."

Zoe moved over to look at the monitor, but all the readings she saw were confusing.

She looked over to the doctor on her right. "Explain?"

Pointing to the monitor, they obliged, "Put simply... the genes, they're almost human... but not entirely. We can be even more sure when we look at this man's cells. Most of them resemble that of a virus."

"A virus?"

"Yes, madam. But from what we found, this characteristic is receding, with a more mutated one replacing it. But the strangest thing is the lifespan of the cells.... they have at least 4 times the normal life expectancy."

Zoe looked at the man in shock, "So, you mean to say this subject can live for long periods and is only barely recognizable as human?"

"..."

The doctor paused for a moment before speaking, "Yes."

"Then there's the other thing you told us... about him having the two 'homes.' I'm sure you know what I mean."

Zoe nodded. "Yes, a World Bane."

...

"What's so hard to understand? I need paper money." The bartender said.

Cain looked at the bartender in disbelief, his dark red eyes brilliantly shining.

"Look. I know you need money, but I don't know which exact currency. There can be multiple types of paper bills, you know."

"Oh, just give me 100 Liqs."

"Liqs?"

She answered Cain, "Yeah, you know, the currency backed by the Family? Can't get anything around here without it, isn't that obvious?"

"I don't have that...."

The bartender sighed before pointing behind her, "Go clean some dishes in the back; my guy left to go help his mother earlier. They've been building up all day."

Peering behind her and into the kitchen, Cain saw a pile of dishware.

'Hmm, to do or not to do. Mind invasion or lay low, mind invasion or... yeah, let's just lay low.'

Deciding on his next actions, Cain walked past the bartender and into the kitchen.

As he did, Cain turned and asked, "So since I'll be working for you the next few hours, what's your name?"

The lass responded, "Jinx, this is my bar."

...

Scrubbing and scrubbing, that's all Cain did as the collar on his neck beeped every once in a while to remind him of his situation.

'I can't believe I'm letting people use me like this recently... what's wrong with me? Well, I guess it's a new experience at least....'

Finishing the last batch of dishes, Cain wiped his brow and headed out of the kitchen to greet Jinx.

"Hey, I cleaned up; can I get those questions now?"

She nodded, "Sure, pull up a stool."

Sitting down, Jinx stared at Cain's collar and asked, "So outsider, what do you wanna know?"

"Well first, is this place a territory? I can feel pure energy, but such a barren place can't possibly have a core, right? Or did you lose it recently?"

Jinx put her glass down in frustration. "This is the second time this year someone's asked me that, and the 4th time in the last year and a half! I don't know what a core is, and I especially don't know about this energy, pure or whatnot!"

Seeing Jinx getting riled up, Cain decided to take a more cautious choice of questioning.

'She doesn't know about cores? Is she deliberately refusing to, or does she really not know? Could this place be isolated? Xenophobic?'

Cain awkwardly grinned. "Alright, I apologize. I actually wanted to know what Gin is. Its in the name of this place."

Hearing him, Jinx smiled and shifted her body, "Well, that's easy. It's a special beverage that needs some special plants. I get my stock from the Family; I'm funded by the Family. They give the components for my brew from their greenhouses and I pay them. Its quite the honor I have hehe."

Cain remained silent in light of Jinx's proud demeanor.

'Family.... they do seem important.'

"Hey Jinx, I have to ask, what exactly is the Family?"

Hearing the question, she paused for a moment. It took a few minutes before she pursed her lips and responded; she obviously thought hard before giving a reply.

"The Family are the ones who built this place before everything got destroyed. A haven in the apocalypse! They are our rulers and protectors who save us from the dangerous environment outside."

Cain couldn't help but ask, "Apocalypse?"

Jinx nodded, "Yes, you're an outsider don't you know? There all sorts of bad stuff outside; that's why they need to do all those tests."

'Are these people brainwashed? Or are they just plain stupid?'

Cain couldn't believe his eyes; he never thought he would experience such extreme forms of manipulation again.

He felt pity; he felt anger, he felt annoyance, and he felt curious.

'Investigation should be first on the menu for now.'

Figuring he wasn't going to get anything of value from this bar owner, Cain stayed the night in one of the backrooms. Jinx was nice enough to let him rest after all that work.

The next day, Cain left Jinx's Gin and wandered around the city.

Different areas were in different states; Cain named the three biggest areas the Family Sector, Slave Sector, and Exiled Sector.

A large part of the complex belonged to the Family; the rest more or less belonged to their ignorant slaves of different standing within the city itself. Finally, the exiles were the slums; from what Cain saw, it was a pigsty.

All the buildings were destroyed, and vagrants had to sleep on the floor out in the open; the lucky ones could lean against a wall in an alley or find a husk of a building still holding a roof. Of course, those who slept in buildings had a good chance of dying; collapsing buildings were all too common in this area.

With a beeping collar nicely fit around his neck, many of the normal folk avoided him; only the vagrants didn't care and conversed with him freely.

It was easy to tell their situations were due to losing jobs or messing up and being 'exiled', they were all very open. The Complex was a strict place, even the slightest mistakes in one's work could lead to losing everything; it was a kind of pressure that everyone felt.

'Having such rules... even these Family members must make mistakes. Why are these people getting reprimanded so harshly for mistakes of their own? How has this place continued to exist for so long?'

Meeting a vagrant, Cain learned he used to be a librarian. Through a bit of conversation, he learned where the library the man used to work at was. Thanking the man, Cain headed to his next destination.

Entering the Library, Cain found it almost empty; other than the librarians, only two other people were reading throughout the whole place.

From there, Cain began his research into the history of this 'Complex'.

...

Setting down the last book, Cain couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion.

'This doesn't make any sense; the history books and city records only go up to 1,000 years. A territory in the outer zone has to exist for at least a millennium. This is too strange.'

From what he uncovered, all records ceased to exist past 1,000 years; the records closest to this time don't speak of the Complex just being built or anything of the like. It was like history was wiped from the books.

'My curiosity is brimming! I haven't had such covered secrets in front of me since Netherane!'

Feeling the mystery surrounding this place, Cain felt his heartbeat rise; he felt the excitement rushing through his very veins.

Suddenly, the doors to the library opened; Cain leaned over to see past a bookshelf and saw Inspector Zoe. She was walking towards him casually.

"Ah hello, Miss Inspector. Checking up on me?"

Zoe scanned Cain up and down; her eyes narrowed on the documents and books he was reading.

'Our history....'

Removing her gaze, she spoke, "My bosses were wondering when you planned on departing."

Cain smiled, "Well, I was going to leave in around a month, but seeing as I'm in such an interesting place, I cannot help but stay longer. I am very interested in the history and culture here!"

He acted like a crazed scholar, taking some points from his old master, John. The crazed alchemist's attitude towards viruses was perfect in displaying the persona of a knowledge-hungry scholar Cain was now going for.

Recently, Cain found portraying different roles felt fun; as of now, he wanted to fool those around him to get this 'fun'. Killing people immediately can get boring you know.

"I see; I will let them know. I warn you, do not get involved in our city; we would rather not have to use force to remove you." Zoe turned to leave; however, just as she passed a bookshelf, she turned back to add one last thing, "Also, stay away from the exiled. There have been incidents in the past."

'Incidents?' Seeing Inspector Zoe leave, Cain couldn't help but have his face curve upward.

Strangely, Cain's demeanor seemed to change; he also seemed a little, illusionary?

"Keep acting like you're learning about this place. I will go investigate the city." Cain whispered, but it did not come from his person.

The Cain sitting at the table immediately lowered his head. "Of course, your will is mine, my Lord. I will act to perfection!"

"Hehe good, Leon trained you well."

A cloud of mist rose and exited through the roof; it stealthily made its way to the part of the city where exiles stayed. Leaving behind the fake Cain who was, in actuality, a mist ghost blessed with some powers of imagination.

'I hope the illusion lasts long; I can only do so much; the Dream Core still hasn't been fully digested...'