Pride's Origin

Chapter 8 - Depart (Pt 1)

    That night with Makoto and Rikona happened several weeks ago, and they saw neither hair nor hide of Mayuri as well. Which was, and is, a pleasant surprise for everyone.

    The girls were storing all their research material on a portable drive and were also making subtle changes to the research that was already on Exélixi’s database to render it invalid.

    The plans they concocted and were executing were going well for the most part. However, it was because everything was going along so well that they became uneasy. They felt the need to get everything they needed to be done as quickly as possible so they could leave.

    They were beginning to grasp the fundamentals of their abilities, and the more they understood, the deeper their comprehension became.

    “All this profound knowledge that lay dormant in our blood, being unlocked layer by layer. Mysteries are a hell of a thing, aren’t they?” Kura was evidently pleased with how far they came. Things such as telekinesis, telepathy, levitation and a plethora of other skills were now opening up to them.

    In the dead of night, as the chill of the air bites into the skin, the two sisters toiled away in another session of comprehension. They chose to uncover and hone the extent of their abilities night after night in secrecy.

    Since they were the only ones who lived at the compound, when darkness fell, it granted them a privacy that was most welcome.

    Rikona didn’t hear the words of her younger sister. Instead, she appeared to be heavily scrutinising her body, opening and closing her fist while she stroked her chin with the other.

    Sometime after, an apathetic voice escaped her cherry lips, “You haven’t realised it, yet have you?”

    “Realised wha… ah, what the hell are you doing?” Kura looked back at her older sister and was baffled when she saw her older sister inspecting her body as if it wasn’t her own.

    “Our bodies have started to change, everything is becoming enhanced. Durability, strength, speed, stamina, all of it, I can feel it. Even the five senses are augmented. We didn’t even notice the changes before since we were so focused on everything else,” Rikona was still looking over her body, which was as stunning as ever.

    “So are we going to leave now?” Kura asked her older sister with a severe expression on her face. She was aware that physical changes on a genetic level meant that they are reaching the latter reaches of their power.

    “You tell me. Weren’t you the gifted one who was able to delve farther within the boundless knowledge that we’ve been privy to?”

    That’s right. Though Kura was younger than Rikona, the younger sister showed an excellent grasp of her abilities and the awakening of them thereof.

    “Hehehe, sounds like somebody’s jealo…” Suddenly Kura’s expression darkened, as she shouted with a jolt, “WHO’S THERE!?”

    She quickly looked to the trees that surrounded their current location, as she was sure she felt a presence.

    The sudden shock also pushed her sister on full alert, as she too looked around trying to see if something or someone was truly there.

    “Are you sure you felt something Kura!? I-I don’t feel anything!”

    “I-It’s gone now, Maybe I’m a bit too high-strung? I mean, we have been doing this every night now without rest. How about we head back to the lab? For the time being, at least. Doesn’t make any sense we burn ourselves out to the point that we start hallucinating.”

    Her older sister wordlessly agreed with her proposal and slowly started to make their way in the direction they took to get here.

    After a while, when silence pervaded the area once more, a slight rustle was made when a hunched silhouette moved from behind one of the trees.

    “To think a midnight stroll would be this good for my health,” The moon overhead peeked out from beyond the clouds and shed a sliver of light to show the body of a decrepit old man.

    A stark contrast to his eyes that looked especially fierce. His skin was near grey in its appearance while his hair, which was a distinct white, covered his head only in patches adding to his already dilapidated look.

    A chilling smile swept its way across his face as he stared in the direction the girls took.

    “So they found it, their ambitions have been realised. They found everything, and they were planning to leave. Let come what may,” he slowly blended back into the darkness, returning silence back to the land; however, there was now an eerie foreshadowing that heavied the darkness, a sign of what’s to come, maybe.

    The girls awoke in their respective rooms and took in their surroundings. A hint of reluctance flashed across their eyes to leave. After all, this was the place they called home for years.

    Both girls were orphans; ultimately, they both received scholarships when they started to show an uncanny aptitude and understanding towards learned material that far exceeded their peers.

    After that, they were cared for by the government school-wise. Their academic prowess had them pass through their grades at a frightening rate, landing them at college well before their age usually allowed.

    “We’ve truly come a far way from back then, made a lot of memories here too, but now it’s time to leave,” Kura looked towards the window half-covered by the curtains.

    The light from the morning sun cast a celestial glow upon her body, adding an otherworldly radiance to the chocolate cream that was her skin.

    “Hmph, it’s the only way we’ll be able to truly help mankind. Hehehe, Makoto was right, we couldn’t help but want to help in the end,” she released a wry smile, but soon, a strengthened resolve dotted her delicate features.

    She quickly got out of bed and exited her room to see her sister’s movements mirroring her own. They had a feeling that, albeit brief, that they shared the same thoughts earlier, after that, they spent the morning the exact same way.

    They both got to the bathroom and freshened up before calling Makoto, to let him know they were leaving at the end of the workday and for him to get ready.

    “I regret that we only made little headway with those damn schematics we’ve got stuck in our heads before we had to leave,” Kura pouted in remembrance when she headed downstairs with their research and other essentials in a backpack and another bag.

    Her older sister downstairs heard her complaints and smiled “Oh bunny, even after uncovering the very secrets of our race with virtually no outside help, you still find it in you to complain. Should I just commit suicide at this point?”

    Rikona jokingly responded and walked up to her sister before flicking her on the forehead, “Now stop griping and help me get the rest of the research material from the lab.”

    They were all but ready. After all, they had already gotten information on several locations all over the globe that could point them towards others that may or may not share their traits. Though it wasn’t exact, it was better than running around blind.

    The time quickly came upon them as a twilight glow draped across the land. With several bags in tow, they hurriedly headed towards the entrance. Exélixi was located within an undisclosed location somewhere in Japan.

    Each researcher that worked here were blind-driven back and forth every day. This ensured that its location remained a secret. After all, a facility focusing on cutting edge, earth-shattering research that included but was not limited to biological augmentation would surely be under the watchful eyes of those it would rather not be.

    In any case, the girls were all ready and were now calling their last companion so that they could leave this place behind.

    Beep, beep, beep.

    “Hmph, that’s odd, why is Makoto not picking up?” The busy tone in Rikona’s ear gave her a feeling that not all was right.

    Kura offered that they go pick him up, “Let’s try heading over to where he is, I mean, what’s the worst that could happen?”

    Rikona always did hate that phrase, but she was not aware just how much she really would.