Purple Valkyrie stormed down the corridor, maintaining an unreadable expression. Never show emotion, never give in to irritation, no matter what the situation. The anization’s facility rawling mass of corridors eg boratories, armories, test halls, personnel quarters, and many other rooms. Their elder’s quirkiness often rearrahe entire pce to create test sites, and today she had to take a detour when drones hollowed out part of a mountain range in the usual corridors. This gave her ample opportunity to reevaluate every insult ament she felt at the btant waste of resources, and ultimately reject them in the name of professionalism.

  Doors leading to the elder’s quarters opened, illuminating the room with the light from the corridor. The elder sat in a fortable armchair, his back to the entrance. A series of dispys covered the wall, showing parts of the plex. One dispy showcased a vast hall filled with ever-growing, ever-moving vines, encased in human-sized zit-shaped sacks taining future foot soldiers of the anization. Snarls and growls emanated from the dynamics of another dispy, where the stists vivisected failed products and improved the biology of existing ones by grafting limbs and ans onto their frames.

  Ses of horror repeated themselves on most ss. Creatures fought for the right to exist, and the terminals carefully recorded their limits and the performance of their innate abilities. A bone sword lunged into the torso of a thin and lean product, and a chitin-covered beast raised its victim, bellowing its victory to the ceiling. The dying sti smiled, grabbed the sword, and veins bulged across his part skin, billowing his limbs. An explosion followed, and the beast recoiled as pieces of the sti tried to es open jaws, clogging the windpipe and growing a new body in its belly. The beast growled, its voice weak with asphyxiation. It vomited a stream of acid, burning a hole iraining hall’s floor. The acid caught the separated sti and burned him to the stist’s g.

  The elder snapped his fingers, and the beast screamed in agony, thrashing under a surge of electricity, while the stists stood at attention.

  “Do not get familiar with the tools, John,” the elder said. “Fine work, team; you have proven me wrong. Secure the subjed on to celebrate.”

  Purple waited patiently as the elder’s head swung to g the soldier teams waging their own battle in the dark corridor, firing at the g robotis or retreating from under cwed monstrosities bred in the great days of the Old World. The elder clicked his tongue, and their own monsters surged ahead of the soldiers, turning the tide of battle. Another dispy simply showed thousands of biological soldiers—mass-produced units bred for war. They slumbered in cold ste he p’s core. Purple permitted herself a smile at a sight on a dispy showing the successful retrieval of a mutation gene from Iterna’s ste facility. The group moved in, located the sample smoothly, aracted themselves before even Artificer or Lada could spot them. Professionalism at its fi and no unnecessary deaths. She herself had spent months pnning this operation.

  On another dispy, se servants, fresh from e vats, were undergoing indoation. It was a siing process devised by the elder’s perverted brain. Literal children were subjected to physical aal torture from several months to several years, ending up being husks of their former potential, whimpering and ready to serve at the first word of their masters. Careful fshing of lights, drugs to prevent regeion, psychological torture of letting them form bonds just to shatter them at a snap of fingers, regur breaking of bones, and medical incisions... Such pointless ruination of potential agents.

  “Agents, Purple?” He deemed it fit to notice her at st. The elder grabbed a steaming cup of coffee from an old-fashioned heater and drank it. His mind delved into her thoughts, unabashedly reading them. “The role of the geic freaks is to fight in our wars and die in droves. We create moo end inhuman oppression. Advahought processes and independence are mankind’s privileges; we’re merely bringing our servants into lio eliminate any delusions the impnted knowledge might have given them. What brought you here?”

  “The product is dead, sir.” Purple tossed him an information drive, and the elder plugged it into his terminal. An anic satellite in high orbit recorded every sed of the operative’s battle. Everything, down to the most insignifit emotion, was sent through a shared liweeellite and the subject’s brain. “The retrieval operation is a plete failure.”

  “Think you so?” the elder asked as the sight of the B-1 battling the Sword Saint and the escapee filled the ss.

  Purple waited until the end of the rec and said: “It doesn’t matter what I think. It is the result, sir. Six months of the B-1’s developments were wasted.”

  “Premature dismissal of a useful but hard-to-wield tool is a sign of an immature mind, Purple.” The elder wagged a finger. “B-1 didn’t fail. It defeated a sword saint. I ot, in good sce, call this result a failure. The field test has shed light on the restru capabilities, validated the effectiveness of the created survival instincts, and provided valuable insights into the effe radiation on the enhanced flesh. The knowledge gained from its existence will be used to create future bat models.”

  “Nothing a simution couldn’t have told us, sir,” Purple said pinly. “The thing was a waste of resources, Academi. It failed to achieve its objective.”

  The elder’s armchair turned. Academi had a well-built physique hidden underh a white b coat. When he wasn’t spending time in the boratory or reviewing records, he trained day and night, often fetting to sleep or eat. Some unknowiipution, or perhaps one of his myriad quirks, had turned his sclera pitch bck, and two green globes of his enhanced pupils floated in the pool of darkness. His ruffled hair formed a widow’s peak across his forehead. His skin ale from a ck of sun.

  “We modute theories on terminals for years, but sce feeds on practid progress through observation. A brain is a fickle thing, proo ge, and when we add biological mutations into the mix, who’s to say our emergency protocols will work outside of the carefully curated enviro? By witnessing the fws and bes of the prototype firsthand, we improve upon the formu.” A metallidril, thicker than a normal arm, slid from beh his coat, holding a vial of the e co at its tip. “The capture of my insubordinate daughter was never B-1’s goal. Ravager’s destru and Zero’s subjugatioill decades beyond our capabilities. But now we move on to testing the formu on willing, se didates. And the ck of spatial anomalies he battlefield has proven that our quarry is not anywhere close to the Wolf Tribe. The ing chaos will py in our favor as well.”

  “You are pying with fire, sir,” Purple warned him. “The Core Lands are under Elder Spaniad supervision. He won’t take kindly to your meddling, and worse, it may lead to the Horde’s victory, which will further Mad Hatter’s evolution to the point where…”

  “That point will remaiical.” Academi smmed a pam over an armrest. “Purple, my daughter is not that weak. Ravager is the pinnacle of a bioengineering, a perfect blend of geiha and the glow, her evolution is limited by the nature of her power; no mutated freak born by sheer act hope to stand against her. When it’s time for her to die, it’ll be my hand that smears her.” Academi smiled. “Sihe beginning of time, mankind has extermihreatenis and tamed nature through stific progress and self-improvement. And this time will be no different! No monster stand up to humans. I’ll improve and bring her down, and through this, we gain the knowledge to ensure humanity’s liberation and our revenge for the near extin of our species!”

  “And what if you are wrong, sir?” Purple asked, ign his speech. On Academi’s orders, she had provided a group of meraries with the equipment to get a drop on the Khan. They had failed spectacurly. “What if the Gilded Horde wins and Mad Hatter asds?”

  “The Horde is not a threat to humanity’s tinual existehey are merely anional forot uhe Recmation Army. As for Mad Hatter… Should she win, I’ll hahe situation personally. It won’t involve you or Spaniad,” Academi said, returning his attention to the dispys.

  “Then I am leaving, sir.” Purple bowed. “The perils ahead of us open up opportunities for several operations to gather rare geic material from the Core Lands.”

  “Speaking of perils.” The chair turned in a blur, and Academi stood, her a full cup of coffee. The same he drank from himself, the bastard. “A fw in the eastern tai ter has e to my attention. A malfunironic system was at risk of implementing security protocols and bathing the entire room in acid. The i roughly cided with my pns to pick up my sparring partner from the designated location.”

  “Unfortunate,” Purple replied. Academi power bit into her mind, furiously reading her surface thoughts. A correct word often triggered memories of a past crime or event, and the elder exploited this psychological fw. The agent merely smiled, accepting the cup. Because she really knew nothing. Damn, the coffee tasted wonderful, and it wasn’t even poisoned. “But I must remind you that our plex undergoes remodeling at your insistend against my persistent warnings. Skinwalker aside, we’ve never had an act. If anything goes awry, it is not my fault, sir.”

  “How sad. I was half hoping for a battle of wits and a game of cat and mouse to sharpen my wit! Perhaps you py the part, heless?”

  “Sir, I have no iion of harming you today,” Purple said, growing a this stant teasing. If you want to risk your life, go on a field mission, filthy weirdo! I have a job to do! She didn’t care if he read her thoughts.

  “Of course, of course.” Academi nodded and sat back. “It’s homemade coffee. I send you a recipe.”

  “I would be much obliged, sir.”

  “Dismissed.”

  Purple Valkyrie left the room, thinking about future possibilities. She hadn’t ged her mind; the whole escapade had been a dangerous gamble, and ohat was bound to anger Spaniad. But it opened up possibilities to further the anization’s goals. The Dynast would have to…

  Memories flooded into her brain as she stepped into the elevator, leaving the range of Academi’s power. It nearly buckled her legs, but she warmly smiled, enduring the turmoil of the lost memories and purning. Whole again. The elevator desded, and two mier, exactly on schedule, the lights went out iire research wing and it stopped. Her eyes immediately adjusted to the darkness, giving her night vision.

  The first phase of her pn was underway. At this juncture, a test subject, chemically induced into a state of violent rage, had escaped from its holding cell, a potential risk of which Purple Valkyrie had written a report to Academi, betting on his carefree attitude to ig. He had every right to disregard it; the creature, on its own, was too submissive to attempt escape, but a stru drone had seemingly actally damaged a feeding system and mixed bat stimunts with the creature’s food. Wreathed in a coat of pure lightning, the thing overloaded the energy grid enough for automatic systems to shut it down and fe Valkyrie to lead the evacuation efforts, earning herself, and by extension Purple, personnel’s loyalty. A static buzzed from a pact devi her ear, caused by another escapee, who wielded the ability to disrupt any unications.

  It was all calcuted. There was never a pn to assassihe elder using an acid; the i served to pnt a seed for her current success, and her position here was meant to give her a pusible deniability.

  Purple Valkyrie reached for the top of the elevator and ope, exiting into its shaft and then traversing through a narrow ventition corridor. It wasn’t an unordinary decision; she ’t exactly be expected to sit tight arapped, right? Not when a battle raged in the facility. There was no reason for suspi to arise. By now, Academi should’ve left his offid goo face the rowdy creatures. There was nothing else he could do; hiding from a nonhuman was not in his nature.

  She was loyal to the anization. Part of her loyalty stemmed from Elder Sn’s loyalty program, but overall, she firmly believed in the cept. Non-humans ruled the p. Devourer, Outsider, Mad Hatter, Wyrm Lord, Ravager, Dominator, Lord Steward, Hive, and so many more! Even the Dynast’s himself could hardly be called human anymore when he elevated mutated filth to positions of authority over the true owners of this world and the os. A betrayal, the most foul attack, had nearly robbed humanity of its destiny.

  The mutant scum must not stand in their path. There could be no coexiste was only a matter of time before they overran Iterna, and where would humanity go then? The mutants were naturally stronger, faster, and often smarter than humans, and if the situation tinued as it was, the Extin could one day be pleted by the species it created. No, the anization’s mission was noble.

  But she disagreed about the methods used for exeg their pn. Academi didn’t deserve his rank! The inal Academi was a sexual predator. Purple Valkyrie read his file and pared his habits to those of this failed e, who surrounded himself with female agents but never made any advances and enjoyed inflig misery and pain on others. A corrupt inhuman, an arrogant, p mocker who had wormed his way into the position of elder through genius. But he wasted his talents at creating and breaking monstrosities, on manufacturing a formu to win his pointless feud with Ravager on fair terms instead of preparing a virus capable ing low the geic garbage today.

  The anization aimed t non-humans uheir rule, carefully curating their numbers and limiting their intelligence. Purple had another idea. Mutants, es—everything inhuman must die. Sure, she’ll keep a few spes alive and sterile to satisfy seal fools like Spaniad, but a global purge was in order.

  Academi had to go. She’ll reign in his future e, rehabilitate the broken husks of the creatures so they could be of use, and focus the plex on produg human es and robots, proving to General Secretary ond for all that they didn’t o rely on a psycho to further the cause. And as she takes Academi’s pce as an elder, humanity’s salvation will be oep closer. As long as only Academi dies, there should be no plications. The elders are expected to show petency by earning loyalty or being able to protect themselves. Regrettably, Green’s misguided loyalty to the maed her from being included in Purple’s pns, unlike e. Things could be so much easier with her on their side… In time, Green will e around.

  Purple Valkyrie reached a er and pushed the ventition grate aside. Pulling her knees closer, Purple jumped into the room, another holding cell, y of personnel. Loud tremors shook the walls, announg the titanic struggle of the test subject against the elder. Academi won’t lose, but he’ll waste time, and the bug she pnted will divert the end point of a teleportation device responsible for sending the remains of the products to a disposal facility to a new destination. Not forever, but long enough.

  She walked past an elongated, vat-shaped growth capsule, beled ‘Project G-0.1’. Another failure was growing inside, a bination of Wolfkins, Trolls and Iones. Academi was curious about the result and ignored her pints not to waste the glow on a thing requiring decades to even be born. She sidered turning off the life-support system, but decided against it.

  Another creature was her objective today. He sat in a remote cell, the closest to the door, his face hidden in his knees, which were covered in thick scar tissue. Not a sich of his e skin was free of scars or fresh cuts; a stant ck of opportunity to earn food by winning duels left his wounds poorly healed. He lifted his goober-like head and licked his lips in horror. His eyes glowed, refleg a lithe woman in a purple business suit, several k her belt, gsses, and a pair of meical gloves.

  “Hello, Corbo,” Purple said softly, giving him a treat. She dropped to her knees and patted the boy. “Ready to leave this pce?”

  “And I’ll never be hurt again?” the mutant asked.

  “Of course!” Purple assured him. “Mama will keep her precious baby safe and sound.”

  “Promise?”

  “Promise!” she ughed, taking him by the nose and feeding him another dy.

  This was another danger of the geic freaks. She pitied the small creature, developing a mild affe for him, and decided to spare Corbo from the impending purge, provided he lived long enough. Purple thought of him as a human baby, and a team of therapists and medical workers stood ready to nurse him back to health in the small house she had built for him.

  But he was anything but a human. Stronger, faster than normal humans, Corbo’s biology allowed him to survive the most grievous wounds and withstand poisons, and he possessed a key power to further her pns. His mind could seal memories, erasiire episodes from a human brain for a time. His ability allowed him to survive here for over a year, but even a blind man could see that his days were numbered unless she took a to save this perfect tool. She instructed her team to keep him on a perma power-suppressi.

  Purple would be lying if she hadn’t enjoyed pig colors for the house, preparing a room, toys, video games, books, a bed, stuffing a fridge full of treats for Corbo. The house was in Pearl, a pown for its anti-mutant views, so the naturally shy Corbo would have little iive to leave. Humans have often experienced love for different species, so she herself accepted her feelings. Hate it or not, she has a son.

  But the mutants will breed them out or quer them if the anization fails. To save humanity, the non-humans must be eliminated. Not tained. Eternal servitude leaves a ce for rebellion, and there is no price high enough to pay for the salvation of humanity.

  “Do you remember what you must do? The exact dates and times of the days you o take away for a week?” Purple Valkyrie asked.

  “I do,” bled, gnawing on a dy. “But I don’t want to hurt Mama.”

  “You won’t,” Purple promised, steeling her heart. Corbo is not human. He is a tool, a pet to be kept and cared for, not her equal. “Be prepared. Mama won’t be herself for a little while, and it’ll hurt, badly…”

  “It’s okay!” He nodded eagerly. “O pain, and then we’ll be together! Forever and ever!”

  “Forever and ever,” Purple promised, standing up and gripping her kake the exact dates we spoke about.”

  This is it. The final part of phase one. Academi ’t read what does . Corbo pyed a crucial role in his downfall. But to remove him from here, everything must look natural. Her bowie knife was coated in a special poison that would render him indistinguishable from a corpse, and then one of her allies will drop the boy into the teleporter, and he’ll wake up ter to a new life, healed and ready to assist her. Throat, heart, lungs—anything but the brain was fine. If she strikes the brain, however…

  Purple calmed herself. She was a genius! She had never failed to create psychological profiles to predict her targets, and she would make no mistakes in assessing herself. Given enough information to build a profile, there was no being alive whose as she couldn’t predict.

  Memories were fasating things. Remove several or whole swaths of certain days and the brain would adapt, even leaving the personality retively intact, but the person’s goals could ge wildly. What she po use Cordo for was very simir to a sleeping agent, pretending to be a loyal servant until a signal is given and the memories of mission and indoation flood in, pelling a into a. Only her pretense will be absolute and impossible to detect.

  A wave hit her, like a cold tongue lig her brain, and Purple Valkyrie recoiled in terror, not uanding how she had ended up in this holding cell or why everything was so dark. A figure leapt out of the cell, three-fingered hands ending in cws aimed at her face. Filth! Academi’s pet used his power on me! She thought furiously, reizing the beast in front of her.

  Purple kicked, shattering the small jaw of the creature and sending its head first into the ceiling. Muddled head or not, the anization’s doctors enhanced her body; muscles were strengthened and pressed to help her maintain a vulnerable appearao the st. The meical glove c her arm fred, steali directly from the thing’s heart, and she sshed with her khe edge scraping against the bones of the thin neck. The disgusting mutant slumped and fell on the floor almost too easily, and she retreated, cautiously examining its body. Dead, or close to it.

  “Damnation, what is going on? Why is it dark, and why was the cell opened?” she wondered aloud as the lights flickered. “Guards, report the situation.” She tapped on her unicator.

  What? What exactly had she lost? Purple feverishly tried to recall her life, remembering a simple family living in a radioactive region, until the anization saved them and offered her a job. She remembered friends and teachers, her first missions, and trials that tested her loyalty and dedication to the cause. The elders, knowledge of how to wield onry, her own research projects, Academi, e and Green Valkyries, passwords and monikers, her true name… Everything seemed to be in pce. Only ret memories were affected.

  “There’s been a power failure in the area, ma’am!” aor replied. “A freak got loose, and then another, but Elder Academi took them apart. Drones are clearing the corridor of the gore as we speak. No casualties. We’re iigating why it could use its power, ma’am.”

  “Report to the elder that another of his freaks messed up my memories and attacked me.” Purple kicked the dead body. “I’m heading to Medbay to get checked out; e is to take over in my absence.” She kicked the dead filth again, a its sudden demise. It stole her memories! Who knows what exactly it had ripped from her head? “And toss this junk into disposal. Also, pass a message to the elder. Tell him: I told you so, sir.”

  “What does it mean, Ma’am?”

  “It’s about his stant renovations; he’ll uand. I am promised and will go on medical leave.” Purple spped the side of her head, a the gaping holes in her memory.

  Who kly what she had lost, either temporarily or permaly, due to Academi’s negligence? Worse, she wasn’t sure what would happen to her personality or if she could tinue her duties. She repeatedly warned him not to rush the stru. She inhaled and tried to uand how she had ended up here. There was a versation with Academi and she headed to the elevator, then… Bnk. But she could hazard a guess; she robably trying to find her way to the battle when this creature attacked her. She also po do something about the Dynast being distracted… But what?

  Her elder really started getting on her nerves.