The safe house felt heavier after the mission.
No one spoke much as the Seraphs entered one after another, bruised and exhausted from the encounter. Some of their armor was cracked. Blood stained parts of their suits. Even Malak, usually the first to joke after a fight, stayed quiet as he dropped into one of the chairs near the table.
Philip looked up the moment they entered.
"What happened?"
Aziel removed part of his damaged gauntlet slowly.
"We lost."
The room fell silent.
Rafael leaned against the wall, wincing slightly from the pain in his ribs.
"They weren't holding back this time."
Seraphina nodded once. "The difference wasn't small either. They overwhelmed us."
Malak let out a dry laugh.
"They beat us so badly I'm honestly offended."
Andrew frowned as he stepped closer.
"What exactly did they do after you were incapacitated?"
The Seraphs exchanged glances.
Then Zahara answered.
"They collected samples."
Andrew's expression shifted instantly.
"What kind of samples?"
"Everything," Aziel replied. "Blood. Tissue. Spinal fluid."
The room grew quiet again.
Andrew immediately motioned toward the medical area.
"I need to examine all of you. Now."
An hour later, the Seraphs sat scattered throughout the living area while Andrew reviewed the results on a monitor. The atmosphere remained tense as lines of data scrolled rapidly across the screen.
Finally, Andrew leaned back slowly.
"They performed a full-body biopsy."
Malak frowned. "A what?"
"They extracted enough biological material to study nearly every aspect of your physiology," Andrew explained. "Muscle structure. Neural response. Cellular adaptation. Everything."
Elara crossed her arms. "Why?"
Before Andrew could answer, Philip spoke first.
"Because according to everything we know about the Sanctum…" He looked toward the group carefully. "Only females become Saints."
The implication settled slowly.
Philip continued.
"If they want male operatives, starting from nothing would take years. But now…" His expression darkened slightly. "They have three enhanced male genetic templates to work from."
Rafael's jaw tightened.
"You think they're trying to create male Saints?"
Philip nodded once.
"It would explain the samples."
Malak leaned back heavily against the couch.
"The female ones are already good enough to beat the hell out of us," he muttered. "And now they've got a head start creating male versions that'll probably be even stronger."
He shook his head slowly.
"In my eyes, we've already lost before the battle even starts."
Nobody immediately argued with him.
Because some part of them felt the same.
Then Andrew suddenly spoke.
"Not necessarily."
The room turned toward him.
Andrew looked down briefly at the results before continuing.
"When we created the Seraphs, our main objective was survival. Stability. We focused on strengthening you without killing you." He tapped the screen lightly.
"And we succeeded."
Philip narrowed his eyes slightly.
"What are you suggesting?"
Andrew hesitated briefly. Then: "I think we were too careful."
Silence.
Andrew continued carefully.
"After seeing what happened to the Saint we captured… after seeing what raw Haikitium exposure did to her…" He looked toward them seriously. "I believe increasing your Haikitium integration could drastically improve your capabilities."
Zahara frowned. "You mean give us abilities."
"Yes." Andrew replies
Rafael stared at him. "And the downside?"
Andrew laughed softly. Not because it was funny but because it wasn't. "It's something we shouldn't even consider attempting."
That answer alone was enough to unsettle the room.
"The human body isn't designed for high-level Haikitium exposure," Andrew continued. "You could become stronger. Much stronger. You could develop abilities capable of matching the Saints."
He paused then continued.
"Or it could kill you."
Malak exhaled slowly. "Great. Fantastic plan."
Andrew looked at him directly.
"But right now it's this… or we give up."
Silence filled the safe house again, heavy and very much uncomfortable.
Philip looked toward the Seraphs one by one.
No orders this time, no pressure.
Just a decision.
Aziel nodded first.
Then Rafael.
Then Zahara.
Elara followed quietly.
Malak sighed before nodding reluctantly.
Finally, Seraphina spoke.
"It's not like there's anything else we can do besides getting ourselves killed if we want to continue this fight," she said calmly. "Let's do it."
The others agreed silently. Philip turned back toward Andrew. "Start as soon as possible."
Andrew nodded slowly. "I will. But this isn't immediate."
He looked toward the group carefully.
"To increase survival chances, the exposure has to happen gradually over several months."
Rafael frowned slightly.
"Meaning?"
Andrew answered plainly.
"It means we have to avoid direct conflict with the Saints until the process is complete. You'll have to be here most of the time so I can monitor your bodies reaction to the haikitium."
No one liked hearing that. But no one argued either.
Because after tonight—
They understood exactly how far behind they truly were.
___
The Savior stood silently behind the observation glass overlooking the laboratory.
Below, dozens of scientists moved between glowing monitors and containment stations, carefully analyzing the samples recovered from the Seraphs. Screens displayed streams of biological data, neural scans, cellular structures, and Haikitium interaction patterns taken from the three male operatives.
Machines hummed steadily throughout the chamber as the Sanctuary's researchers worked with absolute focus.
Charles approached from behind, holding a tablet filled with preliminary reports.
"Sir," he said respectfully, "we should have complete results by the end of the day."
The Savior kept his eyes on the laboratory below.
"You know the objective."
Charles nodded immediately.
"Yes, sir."
A brief silence followed before the Savior finally spoke again.
"As you know… they'll have errors."
Charles lowered his eyes slightly, understanding exactly what he meant.
The Seraphs were enhanced but imperfect. Held back by the very safeguards that allowed them to survive. Their method traded strength for stability.
The Savior's voice remained calm. "Find out what those errors are."
Charles nodded once more. "We will."
The Savior turned and walked away without another word, his footsteps disappearing into the corridor beyond the laboratory.
Behind the glass, the scientists continued their work in silence, studying the biology of the three male Seraphs in search of weaknesses…
And possibilities.
Charles walks back to continue his work as there's much to be done.