Chapter 2 - Memories That Follow Across Universes

"Zeel, I am so sorry you've become like this" Clara said embracing her despondent son.

"What are you talking about mom? I feel fine," Zeel replied with a stoic face.

"Nothing is wrong son, nothing is wrong!" Clara replied embracing Zeel tighter in her arms.

This was Zeel's first memory of his mother treating him like an actual Homo-Superior, instead of a possession. This was after INT (Immortal Nanite Technology) was removed from her body.

*Whoosh*

Several more memories flashed within Zeel's subconscious until one memory was finally displayed.

"Zeel you need to be strong for your mother and sister. The Crawford Family always comes first," Tom said with a militaristic look on his face.

"I am always pristine in judgment and skill, even amongst junior members of the Homo-Superior council," Zeel replied, internally confused at his father's statement.

"Really, huh? You just need to smile more. Fake it, sometimes even if a smile is fake, people can appreciate the effort made," Tom replied, desperate for Zeel to show some emotions on his face.

Zeel flexed his face muscles a couple of times before attempting a smile, only to realize he didn't even know where to begin.

Was it left cheek first or right cheek first? Was it up or down?

"Father, how do I start?" Zeel asked confused.

Tom who was now sipping tea from his cup paused and shuddered briefly before demonstrating "Like this son see?"

Sadly, Tom's smile was anything but convincing. His hawkish demeanor did not match the cranky smile that struggled to remain on his face.

Still, Tom was a desperate father attempting to educate his child about the way of society.

Zeel crankily made an effort to smile several times, every single time failing to do a proper smile. Tom had a single tear roll down his face, Zeel's inadequacies were born from the experiments conducted by himself and Clara.

When Tom had enough of Zeel's attempts, he smashed the nearby table and stormed off. It was hard to look at the mistake you made every single day. Especially as a Homo-Superior, since you could never forget.

Before exiting, Tom spared Zeel one last glance. Tom witnessed not the slightest reaction from Zeel as the boy was still attempting to perform a smile.

*Whoosh*

Memories continued to flash through Zeel's mind.

"Brother where are you going?" a four years old Catherine called out, throwing herself into Zeel's arms.

To Catherine, Zeel's arms were the safest place in the world.

"Well I am experimenting," Zeel replied carrying a 5th Dimensional Dog in his embrace.

"Can I watch? I want to see it! Please, big brother? I promise I won't distract you from whatever it is," Catherine said, using her killer puppy dog eyes which failed to have any effect on an emotionless Zeel.

Ultimately Zeel agreed, taking Catherine's hand as they ventured into the garden where a couple of puppies were locked up.

Zeel then took one of the puppies out of the cage and chained the 5th Dimensional Dog around a nearby tree. What happened next scared Catherine into running away, Zeel began cutting the puppy into pieces with a blazer (a knife that glows).

"I am checking what emotional responses would a mother dog have towards her puppies being killed," Zeel explained to a shocked Catherine "Maybe if I can decipher the proper reactions from animals. I will be able to fake the emotions required to socialize with the Races,"

Catherine staggered back and bolted away soon after. Catherine was never born with the psychological impairments of a normal Homo-Superior since she never had the INT in her system.

That was the first time Clara slapped Zeel unconscious, something she regretted ever since as it was then Zeel learned an important lesson – always attack first.

*Whoosh*

"Zeel I am sorry but I can't take this anymore," Tom said strapping the confused Zeel to an examination table "We have to try something or you'll drive your mother and sister insane,"

Zeel looked around for a couple of moments before nodding in understanding.

Currently, he was strapped to a table in an underground facility owned by The Family. The same facility previously used to get rid of the INT from the bodies of his family members. Maybe they could get rid of the INT inside his body as well?

Maybe he could become normal?

"Ready?" questioned Tom.

"Yeah," Zeel mumbled.

Suddenly, a gutwrenching pain rocked his body unconscious. This experiment was repeated the entire night with Zeel's screams echoing throughout the empty underground facility.

Soon Zeel's yells of 'STOP!' could be heard, but there was no one there to listen as his father was already borderline insane.

*Whoosh*

"Stop! Stop! Stop! It hurts!"

Yelling could be heard coming from Zeel but the Homo-Superior Genome Editors didn't pay him any heed. They continued with whatever procedures were being done. Of course, this was at the behest of his mother and father.

After the constant experiment, Tom and Clara had grown desperate. They came to the conclusion that even if Zeel could not experience feelings, he could at least have morals; however, the lesson was a bit too late.

*Whoosh*

Zeel, in a motel room, suddenly jumped awake with cold sweat lacing his forehead.

He had a particularly strong reaction to his childhood memories. Before, the memories were just information, but they had slowly advanced into trauma with his growing emotions.

Still, he was also grateful for the lessons such experiences taught him.

He didn't love his parents from the beginning. As he was unable to love, his view towards them never changed even after the torturous experiments – can't hate something you don't care about.

Catherine's personality changed after sneaking into one of Zeel's experimental sessions.

"So weird how nothing can be considered buried forever. I feel like those dreams disturb me a bit now. Is this what love means? Sometimes we have to do bad things to those we love?" Zeel whispered to himself in a near trance-like state.

"Ugh, I haven't even noticed till now!" Zeel said as he began to inspect his body and mental state.

He noticed a qualitative change had occurred. His intuition had grown more refined but he felt as if his body was currently holding energy it could barely contain.

"I have to get rid of whatever that Cosmic Being sealed around my soul," Zeel said, not liking the idea that something else had an advantage over him.

Zeel laid back once again as he tried to sift through his memories, but found many gaps in his memories – especially during the 5 years time on the Nameless Planet.

This, however, was not totally unexpected, he could recall blocking out many of the memories. Still, Zeel knew that a particular piece of technology was required to block his memories.

After checking out his mental condition and affirming that everything was as it should have been, Zeel then checked out his physiological processes.

Amazingly, he noted a mild improvement in his physical condition. His physique had become more refined in every aspect: Cell plasticity, regeneration, mitochondrial activity. This was surprising given his lack of INT.

Zeel shrugged at the discovery "Ah well, that is a problem for tomorrow! Just need some knives and sword,"

Zeel's hands were slightly swollen. Using a self-damaging technique earlier did have its costs, so he preferred to work with cold weapons from now on.