New Discoveries

Gaven rushed through the lab and crazily yanked out a book while typing a command into his computer. The several screens came alive and brought up a series of images. Amber caught up, unsure of what he was doing.

A wild light shone from Gaven's eyes. "Yes, this is it; I'm right, I know I am! We need to test it, Amber, and then we'll be the heroes of humanity!"

"What's going on here?!" a man shouted.

The sea of people surrounding Gaven and Amber seemed to split. Then, through the cleared column, General Ashby and the LT. Colonel appeared.

"What is the ruckus you're creating here, Corporal?" The large man was irritated by the sudden chaos created by Gaven's run. Gaven collected himself as he attempted to restrain his excitement.

"Sir, I, or we, Research Assistant Amber Louding and I have perhaps made an incredible discovery. I didn't mean to make such a stir, but I was too excited."

General Ashby looked at the young researchers.

"Well? What was your discovery?"

"Excuse me, sir, I want to verify that I'm right. Please give me..."

"Spit it out, Corporal!"

It was clear that the General wanted answers and Gaven had no choice but to answer.

"Yes, sir, I think we've made a discovery that will solve several problems of project Ursang. If I'm right, this might even create something greater than the project's originally envisioned Ursang soldiers."

"Okay, get to the point! What did you discover?" General Ashby wasn't a man with a calm demeanor and was nearly out of patience.

"I was here reviewing data and various materials regarding the standard tunneling system of the demon beast cores. While I was here, Ms. Louding asked me to look at a puzzling discovery she had made.

Ms. Louding is working on the beast soldiers' ability to sync with multiple demon beasts. But then, something strange occurred to her. Ms. Louding, can you bring up some of the images and data we examined here?"

Amber shook her head negative. "I don't have the clearance, all of my work is locked down at my station."

"I'll need the General to head back to Ms. Louding's station."

"What nonsense." The General removed a card from his pocket and swiped it over Gaven's computer.

"Now you have clearance to bring up any resources from any station at your station. I hope this isn't a waste of my time." The General grumbled.

"Of course, sir, Ms. Louding, please bring up the materials we examined."

Amber walked to Gaven's desk, connected to her station, and brought up the information they were looking at.

"Here it is," she said.

"Thank you, would you mind recounting to the general what you told me?" Amber nodded and started pointing out the blips to the general, explaining the strange data she had noticed, and then pointed at the barely visible blip that got Gaven worked up.

"What is that? I've never noticed this before!" The General said. The other researchers gathered together until the division heads pushed their way to the front and examined the "blip." They shrugged their shoulders, and other than a couple of skeptical Division Heads, everyone was fascinated by this discovery.

The General thought it was an interesting observation but didn't understand what it meant.

"Okay, so you found a new blip."

"No, sir, we didn't find a new blip. This blip, we've seen it before!"

Everyone was shocked and confused, especially the General.

"Have we, when?" He asked.

"It's been under our noses since we first began studying demon beasts. Look, sir!"

Gaven brought up an image; sure enough, a faint blip could be seen in a closeup.

"It's the same blip. What is it?" The General asked.

Gaven zoomed out of the image until a small rabit-like creature with blazing fur appeared. Then Gaven moved to a new demon beast image, zoomed in, found the same blip, and then went through several other images of different demon beasts.

There were several gasps heard among the Division Heads and researchers. The General listened to the surprised noises but didn't understand the meaning.

"I still don't understand; why is this important?"

"General, what I think Corporal West and Researcher Louding have discovered is that the blip they found also exists in adolescent demon beasts before forming their core." Dr. Troy Vargas explained.

"Sir, what if our beast soldiers who can sync with three demon beasts are hitting a point where they are about to create their very own core? What if we humans could form a human core? Wouldn't that mean that without the help of demon beasts, we could become equal to Djin and demon beasts? What if we then sync with demon beasts while having a human core? We know the Djin are doing something like that. Maybe we could too. Maybe we could even combine our human core with the Djin core, or why not combine all three? General, if this is true, what would that mean for humanity? What could it mean for the war?" Gaven asked.

"Sheepdip, son!" The General cried out suddenly. His eyes blazed as he looked at the young man. Then, a bold aura spread out and engulfed the researchers.

"I want this entire facility locked down! No one is to leave the lab. Workstations are shut down until further notice. I want everyone's security profiles reviewed immediately. You two, West and Louding, come with me right now.

The General marched through the stunned staff as the soldiers carried out their orders. There was an immediate lockdown, and all workstations were shut down and locked. That included Gaven's station. The General had logged out and shut it down himself.

Gaven had to pull Amber's arm to get her to follow the General. She was the most shocked person of all. If Gaven were right then, they had made one of the most significant contributions to the war. Her research was the doorway through which humanity could enter into a magnificent destiny!

She couldn't get her brain moving, but she felt a pinch on her arm.

"Owe, hey, what gives?!" She asked Gaven. He was the culprit of the pinching.

"If I'm not wrong, we are about to talk with some people who are way above General Ashby's paygrade. I need your mind working!" He whispered yelled at Amber. This woke her up, and her demeanor became much more severe and determined.

"Good advice, kid, and you're right. But, don't screw this up because if you're right, we're heroes, but if you're wrong, we'll be at the front and dead within an hour. These are not people whose time we can waste."

"Well, if that's the case, then let's ensure we're right before contacting them!" Amber argued.

"We can't," Gaven said.

"Why not?" Amber looked at Gaven fearfully. Gaven looked back at the General, who nodded in approval.

"Go ahead and tell her."

"I was too excited. I should have verified before making a commotion. Now, every person in this lab is a potential liability, including the General. This matter is so important that if it's true, humanity is on the cusp of victory. People more qualified than any of us must come and take things in hand. So we'll need to get comfortable after the call because no one is leaving before the big wigs get here."

"Exactly, young lady, so I need you to pull it together and only speak when spoken to. Answer as clearly and simply as possible. Okay, kids, here we go!" The General said as he swung open the door to his office.