[Aperture Science Facilities]
The paradox of choice is a phenomenon suggesting that, although more options are believed to bring greater freedom and happiness, an excess of alternatives actually ends up causing paralysis, stress, dissatisfaction, or anxiety when it comes time to decide.
And well, right now Rosella was going through exactly that.
"What should I do now...?" she wondered, staring at all the projects she still had pending.
She looked at the berries first. She had already made significant progress turning them into a commercial product, not just grinding them up and stuffing them into a jar. She had worked on isolating the active compound responsible for regeneration, improving its effects, refining the dosage, and giving it more practical formats: gels, capsules, drinks, even spray.
Then her gaze shifted toward the bag of "smile fruit", as Daniel had called them, directly responsible for the Balrog obtaining an almost human body.
Rosella picked one up and examined it calmly, fascinated by how impressive it was.
According to what Daniel had explained, what happened with Val had been more coincidence than anything else. Smile fruits were nothing more than incomplete imitations of Zoan-type Devil Fruits, created with the intention of forming an army of users with animal-based abilities.
But of course, incomplete.
Only one out of ten people managed to achieve a transformation, and not even a full one. The rest simply lost the ability to display negative emotions... along with the ability to swim.
Despite the warnings, Rosella did not see it as a failure.
"This is an opportunity," she thought, placing the fruit back where it belonged. "An opportunity... to create a new generation of werewolves"
After all, any creature, herself included, aimed for the survival and prosperity of its species. And currently, the number of werewolves in that world was... dangerously low: barely two individuals.
"Or maybe three..." she thought, letting out a faint laugh as she touched her belly.
But it was nowhere near enough.
Under normal circumstances, biting more people during a full moon would be enough to increase their numbers, but since the moon had been destroyed for reasons still unknown, she would have to improvise.
Her plan was simple: complete the Smile fruits using her own genes. Instead of granting random animal traits, she would use them to expand the werewolf curse, transforming hundreds... maybe more.
Of course, with the emergence of these new werewolves, it was inevitable that humans would suffer thousands of casualties.
She did not care. That was how nature worked. They would adapt... or disappear, just like in her original world.
Clank. Clank.
The metallic sound of chains pulled her out of her thoughts.
"Ah, right... how could I forget them," she thought, turning her head to look at the chained orcs in a corner of the lab.
She observed them with renewed interest. She was also eager to experiment with them.
Thanks to the dwarves' books, and GLaDOS, who had translated them for her, she had discovered just how strange and fascinating those creatures were. Or chimeras, rather, since they carried human genes, elven genes... and other things she still could not identify.
But that was not the most interesting part.
What truly made them unique, what sparked her curiosity, was their method of creation. They could reproduce in a conventional way, since they had fully functional sexual organs; nothing surprising there. But on top of that, they could also be gestated in the earth, as if it functioned like a corrupted womb.
Rosella, who had studied both science and magic, understood the process with relative ease.
Unfortunately, it was not something she could apply to werewolves.
It was a trait unique to orcs and, like the Smile Fruits, they were incomplete. They showed a strong weakness to sunlight, something that severely limited their usefulness.
Rosella could not help but frown as she watched them, glancing at the analysis report she had made on them. She really wanted to fix them, mainly for two reasons.
The first: her instinct as a scientist pushed her to do it.
The second, and more important, was that Daniel had already claimed them as slaves. Improving them a little so they could serve him better did not sound like a bad idea.
She brought her hands to her head, pressing lightly.
"Grrrr...!!" she growled, clearly annoyed, still unable to decide, wanting to do everything at once.
"Having trouble picking a project?" Entrapta asked from beside her.
Rosella gave a small start, snapping out of her thoughts. She had been so focused that she had not even noticed her arrival.
She blinked, confused, turning her head. "Where did you come in from?" she asked, certain the door had been closed.
Entrapta casually pointed toward the ventilation duct.
"It's faster to move between rooms than going all the way around through the hallways," she replied with a light laugh.
Right after that, without wasting time, her hair stretched across the lab. "Oh, by the way, I need these!" she added, grabbing several tools with her strands.
Rosella watched her in silence, briefly considering that she could eat her.
The thought crossed her mind, but she quickly dismissed it. Just like with the orcs, Daniel had already claimed her as his.
So it was not an option.
Entrapta began walking around the lab, looking at each of the projects with obvious excitement.
"I see you're trying to genetically modify those plants and those creatures," she commented, suddenly turning around with a wide smile and invading Rosella's personal space.
"Do you need help?" she asked, clearly enthusiastic.
Rosella hesitated for a moment, narrowing her eyes. "Do you know anything about genetics?"
Entrapta nodded several times, almost bouncing in place.
"Of course I do! I've run several experiments," she replied proudly.
She paused briefly.
"Mostly attempts to create organic creatures with mechanical properties... which didn't turn out very well," she added without losing her smile. "But I've got a solid foundation. It could help you."
Before Rosella could respond, Entrapta quickly pulled out a small, tightly sealed container from behind her back.
"And besides... I've got this!"
As she opened it, a scent Rosella recognized instantly escaped from the container.
Daniel.
She leaned slightly closer, observing the contents more carefully. Inside were several test tubes: blood, sweat, strands of hair... along with other fluids.
A slow smile spread across her face. She had planned to use her own genes to modify the fruits and maybe the orcs. But this... this was better. Much better.
"Alright—" she began to say, but before she could accept, the lab doors burst open, cutting her off.
"Are you seriously going to play with the structure of life?" GLaDOS asked with clear indignation. "Without me?"
Rosella turned her head, surprised. "You want to help?" she asked, more confused than reluctant, since GLaDOS usually preferred to stay isolated, focused on her own projects.
She walked in with steady steps, quickly scanning everything.
"It seemed like a good group activity," she replied calmly, picking up one of Daniel's blood samples and smiling as she looked at it.
Entrapta could not hold herself back.
She let out a small squeal of excitement; her hair immediately extended, wrapping around both of them and pulling them into a somewhat invasive hug.
"I've always wanted friends to mess with the natural order!" she shrieked, clearly happy.
Rosella and GLaDOS exchanged a brief glance. Neither of them was entirely sure they wanted to go that far as to call themselves "friends."
But they both agreed on one thing: this was going to be fun.
And so, a werewolf, a robot, and a human began working together, manipulating genes, combining ideas, and defying the natural laws of life.
Playing, in essence, at being something very close to gods.
—/—
[Outskirts of Argus]
Daniel kept walking with Aegis on top of his head, leaving the beach behind and entering the forest he had to cross if he wanted to reach the walls of Argus.
He moved at an easy pace, unhurried, weaving between the trees while watching a few Bullheads flying in the opposite direction, probably heading toward where the ship's explosion had happened, or was still happening.
He did not bother to hide. Considering the speed they were flying at and the natural cover of the trees, he assumed it was most likely they had not seen him.
He kept walking for quite a while, maintaining his pace, until he gradually slowed down and finally stopped. His enhanced senses picked up the clear sound of branches snapping, followed by a low growl.
He had barely turned his head to look when a Grimm emerged from the trees. More specifically, a Beowolf, which did not hesitate to lunge at him.
Daniel rolled his eyes, turning lazily as he watched it approach. He waited until it was close enough and, at the right moment, lifted his foot and brought it down in an axe kick.
The impact was clean.
The Beowolf's head slammed into the ground with force, cracking the earth beneath it. It did not get back up.
Daniel watched it for a moment, seeing how its body began to slowly dissolve. It did not take long for him to lose interest, turn around, and keep walking.
"I guess this might've been interesting two months ago..." he muttered, his tone flat, almost disappointed.
"And that's all you're going to say?" Aegis asked from atop his head.
Daniel frowned slightly, confused by the question. "What else would I say?"
Aegis raised one of its pincers, pointing toward the Grimm that had not fully disappeared yet.
"You just killed a Grimm with a single kick. No bad joke or victory dance?"
He shook his head, clearly disappointed.
"When did that lively kid who struggled to survive disappear and get replaced by someone... unpleasant and tired of life?"
Daniel fell silent for a moment, caught off guard by the comment.
"Am I unpleasant just because I'm not dancing over a fallen Grimm?" he replied, raising an eyebrow.
"It's more about how little you react lately," Aegis shot back without hesitation. "To physical attacks, to verbal ones... even your training lacks effort."
It shifted slightly, leaning just enough over Daniel's head to look at him directly.
"So I want to know why I've been wasting my time training a robot."
The words were blunt, with no attempt to soften them.
Daniel did not answer right away. Not because he did not want to, but because he did not have a clear answer. He kept walking, staring ahead, processing it.
Noticing the silence, Aegis let out a sigh.
"Ah... what happened to your goal?" it asked, returning to its original position.
Daniel raised an eyebrow, genuinely curious. "What was my goal?"
He asked it seriously.
With so many things piling up in his mind, he had forgotten it. He was fairly sure he had written it down somewhere in his log, along with several theories about the world being some kind of fairy tale... a theory he had dropped when more important things came up.
"To build a bunker and hide from the world like a rat," Aegis replied, its tone clearly frustrated.
Daniel blinked once, and then, as if his last two brain cells finally started working again, he remembered.
He wanted a bunker, a safe and isolated place where the world's problems would not be... his problems.
He could not help but laugh. "Hahaha..." he let out, shaking his head slightly without stopping.
It was ironic. In the end, he was the one causing problems for the world.
He was not entirely sure when it had happened, but at some point he had let himself get dragged into a self-destructive spiral of increasingly dangerous situations, to the point where Grimm had been pushed down to a secondary issue, almost irrelevant.
"I think that goal got lost a long time ago," he commented, his tone still faintly amused.
On top of his head, Aegis shifted slightly, clearly interested. "So, what's your current goal?"
His laughter died instantly. He fell silent, walking as he tried to find an answer, but the more he thought about it, the more obvious and uncomfortable the problem became. He did not have a real goal, and there was nothing he truly wanted to do.
"I guess I don't have one..." he finally admitted.
Aegis did not seem impressed. "Then find one," it replied, mocking, as if it saw no issue at all.
"Like what?" he asked, genuinely curious about what it might say.
"What do I look like, a career counselor?"
He was not surprised by the answer. "Starting a company?" he suggested, without much enthusiasm.
"Do you want a company?" Aegis asked, tilting slightly.
He shook his head. "Not really."
"Then pick something else!"
He thought for another second. "What about becoming the strongest?"
The reaction was immediate. Aegis jerked and slapped him with one of its pincer. "That's my goal," it growled, annoyed. "Find your own."
Daniel rubbed his cheek, making a slight grimace of pain. Despite his size, Aegis hit pretty hard.
"I don't think there's anything I actually want to do..." he muttered, more to himself than anything else.
"Ah..." Aegis sighed. "How depressing. Let me know when you get your will to live back," it added, settling on top of his head, tired from the trip.
Daniel did not take offense. It was a fairly typical reaction from him; in fact, he had already shown more interest than usual.
"I need a second opinion..." he thought. Luckily, Aegis was not the only "person" available for him to talk to at the moment.
—/—
"Use your power to make the world bend to you," Frostmourne said in a harsh tone, more an order than a suggestion.
"Use your power to guide the world," Excalibur continued, her voice gentler, but just as unyielding.
Daniel looked at them without much enthusiasm. "Do you realize you're saying the same shit, just with different words?" he replied, clearly annoyed.
He had taken both swords out of his inventory hoping for some useful advice. Clearly, it had been a waste of time.
Excalibur vibrated, visibly offended. "How dare you compare me to that cursed sword?"
Frostmourne, just as annoyed, released blue flames from its hilt, but Daniel, being immune to fire, did not even flinch.
"What's the point of having all that power if you don't use it?! x2" both said at the same time.
Daniel let out a long, tired sigh.
Expecting wisdom from two legendary swords had been overly optimistic. The only good thing was that they no longer tried to destroy each other; keeping them locked together in his inventory seemed to have made them tolerate each other a bit. It was not much, but it was progress.
"This is going to take longer than I thought..."
"I don't want to interrupt your therapy," Aegis said, getting his attention, "but you did notice the Beowolves coming up behind you, right?"
Daniel nodded without turning to look at the half dozen Grimm running toward him. It was hard not to notice them.
"And you also noticed the spear flying toward you?"
He nodded again, just as indifferent.
Aegis paused. "Are you going to move?"
Daniel shrugged. "I want to see if they're aiming at me or the Grimm..."
He had barely finished speaking when a spear shot past just inches from his head, cutting through the air and striking the Grimm right behind him.
"Well, would you look at that..." he commented, amused, watching the impaled Grimm.
"They were aiming at the Grimm."
—/—
The city of Argus was on maximum alert after the explosion that had occurred outside its walls. Not just because of its size, large enough to be seen from several kilometers away, but because of the possibility that another one could happen.
The idea that it might be a terrorist attack by the White Fang was not far-fetched.
Although Argus was located on the continent of Anima and was therefore part of the kingdom of Mistral, in practice it relied on Atlas for its protection due to the proximity between the two territories. This was reflected in the strong military presence in the city, including a base on the coast that provided a constant sense of security to its citizens.
But that protection also had its downsides.
The hostility with the White Fang was one of the most obvious consequences, since the organization saw all allies of Atlas as enemies, including Argus. It was ironic, considering that the faunus population in the city was quite high and that racism, while present, was less severe compared to other places.
To prevent a catastrophe like the one that had recently occurred in Atlas and Mantle, an immediate protection plan was set in motion.
Reconnaissance ships were deployed to investigate the area of the explosion, accompanied by several Huntsmen, while most of the forces remained within the city and the military base, preventing any attempt at infiltration.
Even so, it was inevitable that the citizens would feel fear.
Witnessing an explosion of that magnitude and the constant movement of the military did not help keep people calm, and the fear spreading through the city caused the Grimm to be drawn in.
Because of this, it became necessary to mobilize more Huntsmen. However, with several already heading toward the explosion site and the rest stationed within the city and the military base, it was decided to send professional Huntsmen along with final-year students from Sanctum Academy to make up for the numbers.
Although the decision might seem controversial, the actual risk was considered low, since the Grimm around Argus were not usually particularly strong, thanks to the regular sweeps carried out by Huntsmen.
In the middle of the forest, leaping between branches with agility, Pyrrha Nikos, a student of Sanctum Academy, a recognized celebrity, and a three-time champion of the prestigious Mistral Regional Combat Tournament, was patrolling alongside other students.
They had split up to cover more ground, maintaining constant communication as a precaution and in case they needed support from a veteran Huntsman.
"Ahh..." Pyrrha exhaled, disappointed at not finding any Grimm she could use to train her skills.
The truth was, she felt nervous.
Despite her great combat ability, most of her fights had been against other students, and with Beacon Academy's entrance approaching, the idea of not being able to make a good impression due to lack of practice unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.
"If I'm only good at fighting people..." she thought, frowning slightly at the possibility of not measuring up.
But before her intrusive thoughts could take hold, she suddenly stopped when she spotted a figure in the distance.
To her surprise, it was a boy with green hair and tan skin, holding two rather striking swords, one in each hand... and who, for some reason, seemed to be talking to them.
"Another student?" Pyrrha thought when she saw him, but she discarded the idea almost immediately when she did not recognize his face and, more importantly, noticed that he had no active aura.
Her suspicions were confirmed when, to her horror, she saw half a dozen Beowolves running toward him from behind... and the boy had not even noticed them.
She assessed the distance in an instant. One of the Beowolves was ahead of the rest. She would not make it in time by running.
Without wasting time, she raised Milo, her javelin-form weapon. She did not feel fear, she had practiced that movement thousands of times. She took a deep breath and threw it.
Milo flew through the air straight toward the boy.
Pyrrha did not stay to see the result and immediately dashed forward. She had no time to lose.
When she reached the scene, she was relieved to see that her javelin had impaled the first Beowolf, while the others had been momentarily stunned by the impact, giving her just enough time to retrieve Milo and position herself in front of the civilian, shielding him from the remaining Grimm.
"Stay behind me and everything will be fine," Pyrrha said, trying to keep him calm.
But when she glanced at him from the corner of her eye, she was surprised. The boy did not look scared... if anything, he seemed calm, almost indifferent.
"Hello to you too, rude..." he complained, turning his back on her as he started walking away without a care, continuing to talk to his swords. "Yeah, right? Throwing a spear at me without introducing yourself... where are her manners?"
"This guy is insane," Pyrrha thought, watching him walk off without a single worry.
She did not have time to analyze it further. The Beowolves lunged at her.
She quickly shifted Milo's form, turning it into a sword, blocking the claws of one Grimm and pushing it back before delivering a precise slash, dodging the other two with smooth movements.
But that was not her biggest problem. When she saw that the other two Grimm were ignoring the fight and running straight toward the boy, who was still casually walking away, Pyrrha reacted immediately.
Using her shield, she threw it at the Grimm in front of her, striking one and sending it crashing into the other. She did not have time to finish them off.
She sprinted as fast as she could after the boy. As she moved, she shifted Milo back into its rifle form and fired, hitting one of the Grimm chasing him. In the same motion, she transformed it back into a sword to slash at the other.
But, to her frustration, the Grimm did not fall and lashed out with its claws directly at the boy.
"Get down!" Pyrrha shouted, arriving just in time to grab him and force him to duck, barely avoiding the attack.
The boy, now on his knees, looked at her in confusion. "Hey, hey, hey," he said, raising his hands to stop her. "I don't do oral until the second date."
It took Pyrrha a second, too long, to understand what he meant. And then it clicked.
"I didn't tell you to get down for that!" she shouted, irritated, though in another situation she probably would have felt embarrassed.
"Well... sometimes I do it on the first," the boy continued as if nothing had happened, completely ignoring her words. "You know what, for you I'll make an exception and do it now."
Too confused, Pyrrha forgot about the Grimm for a moment.
A mistake she noticed immediately when one of the remaining ones struck her with its claws, hitting her aura, which thankfully absorbed the blow without causing real injury.
The pain made her forget the boy's words for a moment, refocusing on the fight.
"I need you to get to safety," she ordered, noticing that only two Beowolves remained and that there did not seem to be any more Grimm nearby.
She could handle them without any trouble… as long as she did not have to protect him.
"Well, well, well..." the boy said in an amused tone. "What a dirty girl. Want me to go behind those trees and wait for you?"
Pyrrha barely nodded, not stopping her movements.
"And tell me… should I wait with or without clothes?" he added shamelessly.
"JUST GO!" Pyrrha shouted, blocking another attack and pushing the Grimm back.
"God, what a sense of humor… I can already tell this isn't going to be loving sex..." the boy muttered, casually walking away toward the bushes until he disappeared into them.
Pyrrha silently appreciated that he had at least obeyed, focusing on the fight and preventing any of the Grimm from breaking off to go after him.
"OH NO!" the boy suddenly shouted from behind the bushes.
Pyrrha's heart skipped a beat. For a moment, she thought she had been wrong and that there were more Grimm nearby.
"What happened?!" she shouted, ready to run to his aid at any moment.
"There's a wolf!"
"A Beowolf?!" Pyrrha asked, tense, already imagining the worst-case scenario.
"No!" the boy replied. "It's a real wolf. It's completely white, about 1.60 meters tall and 2 meters long… it looks very fierce, strong, attractive, and majestic."
Pyrrha did not bother to respond. It was obvious he was lying. Not only were there no wolves in Argus, but they also did not exist in that size.
She focused on finishing the fight, decapitating one of the Grimm with a clean motion.
"Aren't you coming?" the boy asked, his voice filled with panic far too exaggerated to be believable.
Pyrrha did not answer. Only one remained, and she was not in the mood for games.
"Well..." he continued in a defeated tone. "I hope you feel really bad when you come looking for me and only find a wolf spitting out the remains of my clothes."
"GRRR!!!" clearly fake growls sounded from behind the bushes, followed by a lot of movement.
"That's the worst acting I've ever seen in my life," Pyrrha thought, cutting the last Grimm in half.
She sheathed Milo while watching the bushes continue to rustle… until suddenly, everything went silent.
"Are you done playing?" she asked, annoyed, walking toward the bushes. She was already prepared to give him a long lecture about the real danger he had been in and how unfunny his jokes were, as well as how much he had complicated her job.
But the moment she pushed the branches aside, her eyes went wide.
The boy was gone.
In his place, there was a completely white wolf, roughly 1.60 meters tall and 2 meters long, staring at her with an unsettling calm.
The horror only grew when she noticed several pieces of clothing scattered around it, clearly belonging to the boy.
Pyrrha's complexion turned pale instantly, her gaze locked onto the animal's.
"You didn't eat a boy who passed through here… did you?" she asked, her voice unable to hide a hint of desperation, as if she actually expected the wolf to answer.
The wolf did not speak, but it did spit out a piece of fabric onto the ground.
Pyrrha felt like she was about to faint.
—/—
Author's Note:
Yay! Another chapter written at the last minute! Sometimes I don't understand why I'm always so short on time…
By the way, here are some other images I spent hours making because I was messing around with AI: [Images]
Anyway, sorry if the chapter is packed with information, but I need to lay some groundwork for the future and the chapters to come. The next one should be more entertaining… or more stupid. Probably the second.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed the chapter…
Kisses and hugs, you rats!