March 14, 2075Several days had passed since the news about Kouland’s project claimed by Volkov, yet there had been no progress whatsoever. Volkov himself remained unreachable. Instead of dwelling on this issue, Kouland focused on completing his project, his thoughts unknown. Perhaps in the next meeting, he would introduce his perfect project and highlight the flaws in Volkov’s project, something that rightfully belonged to him. It was still unclear, no one knew what a Brysthiersk like him was thinking.That evening, as usual, Kouland delved into his project concerning bionic organs or body parts he was designing. This time, it was in the refinement stage, with much still to be fixed and thoroughly examined. In fact, he had already perfected his project, he could handle the side effects of the strange metal mixture he had created for his bionic project’s composition. Although he had perfected it, he deliberately refrained from immediately applying the formula, keeping it only in the d
Kouland acted quickly, he had to save his family from this situation. With determined strides, he left his workspace, Carlienne looked panicked, walking briskly beside him.“What’s happening here?” Carlienne demanded an explanation, still unable to grasp everything that was happening.“Volkov betrayed me.” Kouland muttered, suppressing his frustration as he answered his wife’s question.“What?”Briefly, Kouland explained, “He wants to take the remaining refinements of my project. Many combat robot units are being sent here to intimidate me. It seems he still doesn’t know the project is flawed, all he knows is that it’s incomplete.” Kouland paused briefly. “But he won’t get what he wants, I’ll defend everything even if it means dying.”There was a loud explosion, prompting Kouland to react immediately. He hurriedly instructed his wife, “Take our son and leave, I’ll confront them.”“This is too dangerous, you’re not a soldier, you can’t handle this alone.”“I know, I’ll just give you ti
Makarov and Dimitri arrived at Kouland’s residence, which was now leveled, with only charred rubble remaining. They had been contacted by the authorities regarding what had happened. However, Makarov and Dimitri had a close relationship with this family, so they deserved to know first about what had transpired.According to the initial assessment, it was a gas explosion accident, but the main cause was still unclear, it was only speculation. The smoke and high temperature residue indicated that there had been a severe fire previously, and from the damage that occurred, it seemed to be caused by a large explosion from inside the house, throwing debris in all directions within a considerable radius.The news of this family’s death truly shocked them both, just a few days ago, they had still interacted together, chatting about Kouland’s discovery project, and even played water wars in the backyard. All of that had suddenly vanished.Currently, detectives and local police were swarming th
March 20, 2075A few days after the funeral of Kouland and his family, another meeting of scientists was held. The purpose of this meeting was to decide which project would be realized. As before, the number of attendees was quite large, consisting not only of scientists but also of government officials and businessmen.On one side, Ferdinand Volkov appeared enthusiastic and very confident about this meeting, as if he had already won, even though the results had not yet been revealed.“I hate that triumphant expression.” Dimitri muttered tersely, his sharp gaze fixed on Volkov indicating his anger towards the man.“Yeah, I wish there was something to wipe that smirk off his face.” Makarov replied.“Thank you to all the attendees who came to this meeting. Actually, we still need more time to make decisions and hold another meeting,” a man who was one of the city’s officials opened the meeting.“However, a few days ago, something big happened, a tragedy struck.”Everyone nodded, and the
The 10 volunteers appeared confident as they stepped through the wall, surrounded by people dressed in protective gear, they were the city wall guards protecting themselves from exposure to hazardous substances outside the city wall.Everyone watched attentively. Clearly, these people encountered no issues, they continued walking further away from the city gate without any hesitation.“I’ve tried attaching these to several volunteers, 10 individuals with various bodily disabilities, whether from illness, accidents, or other incidents. We conducted several tests on all of them, even taking them out of the dome. And here are the results.” Volkov proudly presented.The hologram screen showed that the people taken to the outside world appeared fine, they breathed in, unaffected by the toxic air full of pollutants, hazardous substances, and nuclear radiation. Their skin and eyes also showed no signs of radiation effects. The outside world had no adverse effects on them. Seeing this, people
Several months since the inauguration of the cyborg project, this news was spread across all television stations so that the city’s residents could learn that people would undergo drastic changes. Of course, this sparked both support and opposition. Despite demonstrating all the advantages and benefits that humans would gain, there were still many who disagreed with the project.So, before riots and protests could erupt, Volkov and several dignitaries held a press conference to explain and clarify everything. They managed to answer every question posed to them.At a residence, Velia, who was with Xander, watched this news program on TV, featuring Volkov speaking in front of the camera. Actually, only Xander was watching, as Velia sat on the floor, busy with something.“This is utter nonsense. This guy intends to butcher people with his project.” Xander reached out his right hand toward the TV, commenting with an annoyed tone on what was being broadcast.Velia seemed not to respond at
April 4, 2080For several years, humans have been developing bunker agriculture. During that time, everything seemed fine, but scientists began to notice something when fertilizers and nutrients for each plant no longer yielded the expected results. That’s when they realized something was amiss and started conducting further research on the matter.Eventually, they discovered that the quality of plant seeds was declining with each harvest, as predicted by Dimitri and Makarov earlier. Plants were indeed experiencing a continuous decline in their quality, and it was only a matter of time before they could no longer be cultivated, rendering them unable to grow.Inside the plant research lab, several scientists dealing with this issue were puzzled.“This is strange, the fruits and vegetables we’re getting are not as good as they used to be,” the first scientist said, puzzled by the research results.“What does this mean?” asked the second scientist.“It means our food supply is declining
Mei Ling Cheng continued speaking, providing more information. “Ladies and gentlemen, all of this has been happening over time, with a gradual decrease in quality from month to month. It’s likely that next month’s harvest will be even worse than the current one.”“What’s causing all of this? Has it been identified?” asked one man, a scientist present there.Dr. Mei Ling Cheng then provided an explanation, as previously relayed to her by other scientists.Several individuals immediately conducted further examinations to verify this, trying to find loopholes to prove it wrong. However, the data they obtained only confirmed what had been disclosed.Various arguments were then immediately thrown out, panic spreading throughout the entire room.“This is bad, we need to find a solution to this as soon as possible.”“Yes, otherwise, we’ll lose our food source, and this will become a disaster.”“Can’t we create fertilizers or plant stimulants to address this?” asked an investor who appeared d
Nouel was in the garbage area, in a slum district where there was a massive landfill site originating from various areas, especially the city center, resulting in the landfill site being mountainous. The landfill site was located outside the city walls, and Nouel had already made a hole to enter and exit the city through a secret passage.“What are you doing here?” Dvliericht asked, having managed to catch up. He looked uncomfortable walking on the pile of trash, his gas mask protecting his entire face and head looked worn out and unfit for use.“Looking for the trash I need.” Nouel answered without looking, digging through the garbage. Since Nouel had been forced to stay in the shelter by Dvliericht, the two young men had developed a close friendship, despite having very different and somewhat contradictory personalities.Dvliericht placed his hands on his hips and scanned the surroundings. “We shouldn’t be here, if the city patrol catches us, it could be dangerous.”“In that case, k
Armed with his newly acquired weapon, Xander began attacking the pursuing robot troops. Thanks to his long experience, Xander could shoot accurately, causing the robots to fall one by one. He took precise aim, picking off the robots one by one.“Wow, you’re really good, so accurate with your shots.” Velia praised and appreciated Xander’s actions through the earpiece.“It’s not enough yet, there are still some robots evading my attacks!” Xander exclaimed, then explosions were heard, destroying the walls of the long corridor.“Keep it up, Xander, we’re approaching the exit!” Velia cheered, seeing that their exit route was close ahead.“Of course, I’ll keep attacking until all the ammo is gone!”When the rover vehicles finally reached the end of the escape route, they immediately halted. Xander and several others hurriedly got out of the rover and attempted to close off the escape route. They collectively tried to seal off the passage.Some others disembarked and headed towards the aircr
Inside the underground headquarters, after Xander delivered this information, everyone immediately started packing, which naturally took a very long time as everyone was unprepared for evacuation.“The aircraft is completed, but it hasn’t been tested yet. Should we still go?” Dimitri asked, concerned about the aircraft’s condition, which hadn’t undergone testing yet.“Yes, we don’t have time anymore. Regardless of the aircraft’s condition, we’ll use it. It’s risky, but we have no other choice.” Makarov replied.“Let’s hope we make it.”Elsewhere, inside a large cargo aircraft, Volkov and his forces of robots and cyborgs, who were aware of the underground building being used as a headquarters, were preparing for their attack.“See, I told you this would work.” Clerick smirked evilly at Darina. “Instead of capturing and torturing one of them, it’s much better if we follow them discreetly and install a tracker on the target.”That’s how Volkov found out about the secret project being wor
June 9, 2094Time passed quickly, years went by, and humans had grown accustomed to synthetic food. Numerous factories were established in all four cities, and cyborg projects began to be implemented. Initially, it was limited to body parts like hands and legs, then expanded to organs like eyes. After the success of the project applied to Vera, cyborgs started to appear all over the city.Due to the special requirements for humans to endure the surgical process, the limited number of cyborgs created across the city meant they weren’t dominant yet. Only a few hundred existed, mostly composed of city security forces, not commercially available to ordinary residents. Therefore, despite the success, Volkov continued experiments and developments to make the cyborgs he created more perfect and applicable to all humans.While working on advancing cyborg technology, Volkov accidentally discovered several individuals recruited by Dimitri and Makarov. He was surprised by this development becaus
For several days, Vera refused to eat, she continued to rage. Although she couldn’t get up and walk, her hands were still healthy, and she tried every way to end her life. She was depressed and desperate with her life.Some time later, Volkov came and comforted her. However, Vera didn’t respond, despite being continuously ignored like that, Volkov kept trying to console and strengthen her resolve.“I know you’re very desperate with your body condition. But you can’t torture yourself like this continuously.” Volkov spoke gently and softly, truly reflecting like a man who could be relied upon by Vera, who really needed it.After ignoring Volkov for a while, Vera finally spoke up, asking him a question. “Professor, what would you do if you were in my position?”For a moment, Volkov didn’t respond, he glanced briefly out the window, then turned his attention back to Vera, calmly and softly speaking to the teenage girl. “I think I would also feel desperate, and I would also want to die. Bu
Thanks to advanced medical technology, Vera, who suffered serious injuries due to Darina’s actions, was able to regain consciousness quickly. Severe injuries that should have put the teenage girl in a coma turned out to heal much faster. Unfortunately, there were still limitations in the equipment and technology applied at the hospital, as they couldn’t yet cure serious injuries resulting in physical disabilities. And that’s what happened to Vera, the injuries she sustained left her whole body permanently disabled.For a few seconds, Vera glanced around, her eyes feeling very sore as she looked at the ceiling of the room. The light in the room wasn’t dazzling, yet Vera’s eyes still felt sore and irritated.Vera closed her eyes, trying to move to pull the blanket, but she had no access to her body, she couldn’t move any part of her body.“What’s this? I can’t move my body.”Vera tried to turn her head sideways, but she couldn’t do it, she couldn’t move her head even slightly. Failing i
Finnick, Darina, and Clerick were already in position, monitoring the movement of the electric car driven by the small family from a distance. Volkov himself was opening a transparent tab as if he were working on something.“Okay, I think the subject has taken the bait. I don’t see any other humans within a 1-mile radius, we can execute the mission now.” Darina murmured while observing the small family through the scope of the sniper rifle she was aiming at the car. She herself was lying prone on the rocks, positioning herself strategically for the attack.“Moreover, this area is highly prone to accidents,” Clerick replied, standing next to Volkov. They were amidst the trees of the forest, monitoring using long-range binoculars.“Yeah.”On the other side, atop a tree, Finnick was adjusting the control of the machine device he had created. “My puppet’s status is stable now, we can act anytime.” He informed.“Good work, wait for the signal.” Volkov replied.They spent a few more seconds
While Clerick was working, experiments were postponed. Darina and Volkov focused on being doctors at Hudson Hospital, they appeared very kind and friendly to the staff, nurses, and the patients they treated. This made no one suspicious or even think that they were evil people who had conducted various experiments that violated ethics and humanity.In addition to their friendly nature, their work was also very good and fast. Their surgical skills were very reliable and made them among the most trusted doctors. They also interacted quite a lot with every patient they treated, so almost all patients could get to know them well.Unbeknownst to them, two days had passed. This was the day when Clerick would present the results of his work.“Huh, it’s also enjoyable to train in acting by playing as a good and holy doctor.” Darina stretched her body. This time she was in the elevator going down to the lab, a man named Finnick who also worked there immediately shook his head.“I thought you’d
Hudson Hospital.A five-floor hospital, it was one of the major hospitals in Lycaelus City, admitting more than one new patient daily with various conditions. The hospital was always bustling with patients, and the number of nurses and medical staff working there was substantial.At this hospital, Ferdinand Volkov worked on his project. Whenever someone underwent amputation, they would be offered artificial limbs. Those who wanted to live normally would readily accept the offer. Similarly, those in need of organs would be offered either donor organ transplants or artificial organs. Since waiting for a donor or purchasing existing organs was costly, patients tended to opt for Volkov’s artificial organs. Besides being more affordable, easier to care for, these artificial organs and limbs had several advantages over those of regular humans. Gradually, over the years, Volkov’s cyborg project began to take shape.Unbeknownst to anyone, many of the surgeries to implant organs and artificial