Pride's Origin

Chapter 2 - Trigger

    “Hey bunny, have those blood samples from the blood department come back yet?”

    Rikona was currently compiling all the materials from their research and realised that the biological accumulations were a bit lacking. Bunny was a nickname she sometimes called her younger sister.

    “Uhm, they only came back today, so I haven’t had time to look into them yet,” replied Kura, who was in the middle of a gene frequency analysis test back at her desk.

    When she was done, she leaned back into her chair and took a deep breath before turning her head to look at her sister, who was still in the middle of compiling a mountain of material before she stared at the returned package of blood samples on a table at the far end of the lab.

    “Hey, Rikona, do you really think our research will be able to change the world?” Kura was a bit lacking in confidence, unlike her older sister, who was sure of everything they were doing.

    She stared back at her younger sister, whose conviction was wavering once again. She softly smiled and put down the tablet and documents she had and got up, walking over to her sister.

    She came up and hugged her from behind, “I know that what we’re doing gets harder the further along we go, but we’re so close I can feel it, and I couldn’t have gotten this far without you.”

    She tightened her embrace and continued, “Remember when we first came here? No one took us seriously. To them, we were just a couple of kids, way in over our heads, but look at us now.”

    When the two sisters arrived, they were thought to be nothing more than dreamers. However, when their research began boring fruit, all the sneers and contempt that they had suffered had disappeared, replacing them was envy, jealousy and even thinly veiled contempt.

    Humans were like that. If you failed, they would snicker at your fall, and yet if you rose, they would want nothing more than to tear you down.

    It was further amplified when the very nature of their research was known, and the goal behind it was uncovered. Standing by their side throughout the entirety of this, however, was Makoto. An act that won him their grace yet again, though he knew he had it well before then.

    “Remember how Mayuri and his cronies tried to make trouble for us and told us to give up what we were doing? I think it was then that we found out that Makoto actually worked here,” Kura laughed while recalling their friend's loyalty.

    “Well, yeah, of course how could I forget? We haven't seen the fool since college after he graduated, then he just up and pops up in the same research institute that recruited us. After he learned that we were here, he didn’t even know what we were doing. He just said that everyone was crap, and that what we were doing was right because we’re hot,” Rikona looked back on those days and rubbed her temple a bit for the headache she suffered.

    Kura laughed when she thought about those days, “Well, I know I’m hot, so let’s prove him right and get those blood samples ready. I think it’ll give us the answer we’ve been looking for.”

    Kura slightly turned her head to look at the blood sample before commenting, “I don’t know why, but it’s giving me a weird feeling like I can feel it in there or something. Maybe, it’s a sign for the breakthrough we’ll get with it.”

    Rikona slipped from behind her when she heard this, “Wait… you too? I just thought I was too excited or something.”

    They then stood there, silently contemplating what they were feeling, and what this could mean.

    Rikona finally broke the silence by saying, “You know what? Let’s just take a look at it, I mean, it couldn’t hurt, right? This is what we brought it here for after all.”

    Kura then took a deep breath and then looked to her older sister and nodded.

    After 4 hours of extensive testing and analysis, they both staggered back to their chairs and fell in their cushions with expressions of complete shock and disbelief. “I-Incredible! No wonder they were so advanced in… in everything! They were on a completely different level from us!” Kura exclaimed, still in shock from what they discovered.

    The blood samples they were researching were from an archaic clan who, in ancient Egypt, was believed to be responsible for the architecture of the pyramids, sphinx and the like.

They also procured a sample from several other figures their research referenced. The one which was the hardest to obtain, was a blood sample from an actual Mayan. These were all samples that were collected and carefully preserved until their use could properly be exploited.

    Under normal circumstances, they couldn’t get their hands on such precious material. However, their little helper in the blood department had some great connections in some high places.

    “Makoto really came through for us this time!” Rikona was having trouble containing her excitement throughout the entire process. She tried to calm down before commenting continuing, “I can’t believe it, this is a whole new blood type, one so rare and elusive that it’s practically near non-existent and-”

    “I know right!?!” Her sister instantly chimed in, “but no one would know, it’s so similar to the other blood types that only our research facility had the technology needed to see the key differences. Plus, it seems to also be particularly conducive to electrical currents as well.”

    Rikona jumped right back in and continued, “that’s what the missing key was all along bunny! With it being so easily stimulated and conducive to electric currents, it increased the currents in the brain, improving all cognitive functions several times over!!”

    “Who are you telling!?!” Kura flung her hands in the air, “I was here with you the whole time, remember!? This is so incredible; it allowed them to reach heights not reachable by everyone else.”

    “It also lines up well with the rest of our research data too!!” While talking, Rikona was moving towards the room the blood samples were positioned in after the electronic plasma analyser cooled down.

    “Yeah, and with that, we can fina-” Rikona was about to agree when suddenly her expression changed.

    As soon as she opened the door and stepped inside, she immediately felt dizzy, nearly fainting. Her younger sister saw what happened and quickly rushed to her side.

    However, before she could do anything, she experienced the same dizzy spell and felt the strength leaving her legs.

    The two girls weren’t aware that after the plasma analyser was used, the faint electronic pulse it released had stimulated the blood samples.

    This induced the samples into some pseudo-awakened state and caused it to release a certain kind of pressure that was bearing down on them.

    “Ugh… I-I can’t move, what’s happening? Sis… Sis, are you there?” Kura called out to her older sister as tears slowly fell from her eyes. Obviously, she was scared at the sudden development.

    However, her sister, on the other hand, had already gone under, in a state where nothing could reach her, not even her sister’s voice.

    “Wh-Where am I?!” Rikona was in a state of perpetual darkness. She thought she would be scared, but she felt a strange calm over her, as if this place or state was something very familiar to her.

    All of a sudden, a great flood of information started to rush into her. Flashes of a blueprint, the secrets sealed away in her blood, the potential that lay dormant were all being unlocked at this moment. Yet, at the speed they were invading her consciousness, she was unable to make heads or tails of it.

    Just when her head felt like it was about to explode from the sudden influx of knowledge, the pain faded away.

    In a flash, the darkness receded like the tide. She slowly opened her eyes. Though it took a moment for her vision to focus very soon, she was able to clearly see once more.

    The pressure that was present earlier didn’t seem to be affecting her anymore, but her eyes narrowed once she saw the silhouette that lay in front of her. There laid her younger sister, with dried tear marks marring her face, seemingly unconscious.

    “K-Kura!?! Kura wake up, wake up!!” She fiercely shook her younger sister to no avail.

    Her brows knitted together in frustration, “Goddamn it, Kura! Why are you so weak!?!”

    Rikona suddenly caught herself. What was she doing!? This was her younger sister she’s talking about.

    She didn’t know where that feeling came from, a feeling of disdain, a feeling of… disgust. This didn’t occupy her mind for long though. A glow in the room she and her sister lay, caught her eye.

    The blood samples for some reason were releasing a sombre light. Noticing this, she quickly calmed herself.

    The knowledge that entered her earlier orchestrated her next actions. A light flashed in her eyes, and she released a light similar to that of the blood samples, negating the pressure of the samples. A short while after the glow died down, the blood returned to normal.

    “Mhmm…”

    A moan from behind her broke the eerie silence that had settled over the lab. Turning around, she saw her younger sister finally coming to.

    She appeared at Kura’s side in an instant. Kneeling down, she tightly hugged her before asking in an anxious tone, “How are you feeling!? Are you okay, just what happened!?!”

    She bombarded Kura with questions, not caring that there wasn’t any time in between to answer them. Her younger sister blankly stared at her through hazy eyes before replying drowsily, “I feel sleepy… and hungry.”