A hundred years ago there was once a wise and knowledgeable Seeker . In the ancient ruins he uncovered an ancient piece of biotechnology, only, most of its secrets had been lost to bygone ages . For years he diligently studied, decades of hard work resulting in numerous advances and discoveries . In the twilight of his life he took on a young and brilliant student to pa.s.s on everything he had learned .

That young man’s name was Roste .

Roste inherited that old scholar’s legacy . Decades past like days as he dedicated himself to this singular field of study . He compared ancient knowledge with the crude modern practices, ultimately creating ‘Roste’s Alteration Procedure . ’

At first his experiments were performed exclusively on wasteland animals . By promoting and accelerating beneficial mutations he made the creatures smarter and stronger . Eventually he succeeded in cultivating beasts with the capacity for critical thought . He called the evolved creatures a new cla.s.s, Sagax Brutumilia .

However in Roste’s eyes the beasts were never more than creatures . They were ‘other’ and thus he spared them no part of his heart . Besides, endowing these monsters with strength and intelligence would one day put them at odds with his own species . So he stopped his research, but used the basis of what he learned from creating these animals for something new .

This was the origin of Roste’s quest to transform humanity . He wanted to take the benefits of Sagax Brutumilia’s abilities and transplant them into a human body . This mad endeavor sounded absurd, but after countless attempts he finally succeeded in creating half-beast soldiers!

These trans.m.u.ted warriors were able to retain the intelligence and memory of a human while attaining the survivability and combat prowess of a wild animal . In theory, they possessed the same capabilities to learn as humans and the raw physical prowess of their animal forbearers . In essence his research was complete, ready for ma.s.s production and dissemination . Only, his beast warriors had one critical defect .

Through testing Roste discovered that the subjects were predisposed to contracting strange diseases . He called it Racial Cognitive Disa.s.sociation Syndrome .

As the name implies, sufferers of this affliction retained the memory and cognitive abilities of humans but also the base nature and emotionality of animals . Due to how these two overlapped and conflicted, sufferers ended up rejecting their humanity despite their human bodies . The mind deteriorated until victims where something that wasn’t human and not beast .

Roste was never able to completely solve the problem . The best he was able to do was develop his brainwas.h.i.+ng serum . It didn’t cure the syndrome, but instead destroyed the portion of the brain responsible for emotion . After administration of the serum subjects lost their capacity for emotion as well as most of their memory . In essence, they became pliable puppets .

Production of these half-beast warriors began and many were produced, eventually reaching the point where they could develop a dozen or so a month . Due to their strength, abilities, and capacity for following orders the soldiers became a hot selling commodity . An organization like the Dark Atom was more than willing to pay top dollar and this made Blackwater Base very rich in a matter of a few short years .

Many of the instruments, firearms and weapons were given to them by the Dark Atom as a means of payment .  

It was irrefutable! Academician Roste was a mad genius .

How could any normal Seeker, surrounded by this barren backwater, create so many inconceivable inventions? In fact, Roste’s most successful accomplishments weren’t his beast soldiers or the transformed humans . It was his medicines, all sorts of incredible pharmaceuticals which were unavailable to anyone .

Most incredible of all, for decades he turned those medicines and methods on himself . He performed experiments in secret, spending most of his energy in developing his own adaptability mutation . Roste extracted the mutagen factors from many other creatures, strengthened them, then introduced them into his own body to produce a nearly perfect specimen . It was the only result he was truly satisfied with .

Now the might of the wastelands was within him and there was nothing left for him to take from it . He turned his sights on the inscrutable elysian lands and the mystical demonhunter who came from them .

Like most scientists, Roste was an atheist . He did not believe the power of the demonhunters came from any mystical G.o.d . For years he yearned to capture one so he could determine precisely what it was that made them special . Once he learned their secrets he could take it for his own . Thus he would become the first creature in history to combine the best of the wastelands and elysian lands, a perfect human specimen!

The strongest, the most resilient!

Cloudhawk was the manifestation of all his desires, especially since Roste knew at a glance that the boy had grown up in the wastes . It proved that their gifts did not come from some G.o.d!

The news that Cloudhawk had fled to the cage room spread . Soldiers converged on the location .

However they were too late . Cloudhawk had used the key taken from Chimp’s body to open the doors, and slipped in with h.e.l.lflower and Hyena . The few soldiers already inside could not contend against the two first-rate fighters and were dealt with in under half a minute .

The animal containment sector was one of the most important locations in Roste’s laboratory!

It was separated into two floors by a steel-framed set of stairs . The lower area was arranged in a grid pattern with eight pa.s.sageways making escape easy . Twenty-some cages were arranged throughout with roughly half housing mutated beasts of all sorts . All told there were about a hundred creatures kept here .

Sagax Brutumilia was a fitting name . Not only were they more intelligent but their bodies had undergone changes as well . These mutations enhanced their primitive capabilities to make them more agile, more ferocious, and more efficient .

After Cloudhawk and the others broke in and dealt with the guards they were met with absolute silence . Unless they were looking right at them it was hard to believe there were so many creatures here because none made a sound . They all sat in their cages in quiet self-restraint .

Cloudhawk approached the closest one and peered through the bars . Inside were perhaps a dozen lizards muzzled and chained to the ground . They looked back at him through an apathetic and resigned fog .  

Cloudhawk knew right away that they were the result of constant failures and painstaking breeding . Each one of them held high research value, and of course they were dangerous .

h.e.l.lflower was no fool . On the contrary she was smart as a whip . She guessed his plan the moment he led them here . “You’re crazy . You can’t be thinking of letting these animals out… Do you think they’ll help you?”

“I know someone in there can understand what I’m saying . ” Cloudhawk paid h.e.l.lflower no mind, there wasn’t any time . He spoke to the animals instead . “If you want to live, if you want your freedom, then here’s your one opportunity . If we work together we can all get out of here!”

Several of the creatures were roused from their lethargy when they heard Cloudhawk speak . Several knowing pairs of eyes stared his way .

“I’m like you, a victim of their experiments . We have the same enemy and the same goals . ” Cloudhawk wasn’t a fool, he knew that his plan was dangerous . But he couldn’t think of anything better, they had to take the risk . “I’m going to let you go and give you back your freedom . In return I want you to help me fight Roste and the evil scientists who did this to you!”

h.e.l.lflower moved forward as though to stop him, but Hyena’s growling words stopped her . “Let me do it!”

Cloudhawk didn’t have time for any nonsense so without hesitation he fished out Chimp’s key and unlocked one of the cage doors . Resolutely he strode in and unlocked the shackles, the only thing keeping the creatures from eating him alive .

Hiss! Hiss! Aaoooghh!

Several burly desert lizards charged . Their mutations made them more like miniature dinosaurs, capable of standing up on powerful hind legs . Not only were they much larger than a normal wasteland lizard, they were also smarter . They headed right for Cloudhawk .

“Watch out!”

h.e.l.lflower was ready to shoot but Hyena held her arm .

Hyena fixed his sharp eyes on Cloudhawk . The thought of using these creatures had never crossed his mind, nor did he suspect Cloudhawk would think of it . All that was left was to see if the kid’s luck would hold out .

In fact even Cloudhawk saw it as a gamble . But his confidence came from experience .

Back with the Tartarus Mercenaries was when Cloudhawk had encountered the rat king . It was nearly as smart as any human . These creatures were no different, and after being locked up with the scientists for so long he bet they understood human speech .

They had to know what he was saying .

If they had even a shred of logic they had to know this was their only chance to get out . If they let it pa.s.s or killed him they would spend all the rest of their lives chained up in these cages oppressed by these hateful scientists .

He faced the oncoming lizards with a calm exterior, not even flinching from their roars .

The first one to reach him spread open it’s maw to take a bite! But then the largest of the herd lunged forward to knock it away . This one was the alpha, and the smartest . It communicated with the others through a series of growls and hisses which caused them to calm down .

It paid off! It paid off!

Cloudhawk had been nervous, especially when the sharp teeth of the lizard were coming for his face . Thankfully he was saved by their leader otherwise Cloudhawk doubted he would be able to fight off even just one . No one would have been able to save him .

“Quick, open all the cages!” Cloudhawk spun around and threw the key to the others . “Fast as you can!”

With every minute precious they flung open the cages, one by one . The distribution of intelligence was different and uneven and each time they were nearly attacked only to have the ones who understood step in to protect them .  

A particularly st.u.r.dy cage had its doors flung open . A pack of wolves came screaming out, a flurry of tooth and claw .

Their alpha padded out and stopped by Hyena’s side . She was a female, but if she stood on her back legs she was easily ten feet tall . Her body was covered in a sleek white coat that made her look exceedingly majestic and n.o.ble .

This one was the most highly evolved of all the creatures here . Physically she was very different from normal wolves, highly agile and capable of explosive force . When she came upon Hyena she stopped as though she recognized him and licked his hand – an elder showing an affection to their brood .

Hyena’s heart was in turmoil . He was a patchwork creature, part man and part beast . The blood of these wild animals pumped through his veins . He had the thoughts and memories of a man but he no longer shared their emotions . To his eyes the lives of the wolves was more pleasing .

It filled him with a sense of ident.i.ty .

Hyena knew this was that condition Roste would talk about, ‘Racial Cognitive Disa.s.sociation Syndrome’, the most serious side-effect of his transformation . It was an unsolvable challenge that Hyena knew meant he would never really belong with humans ever again .

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