Secret Passageway

By the dinner arrived, Vivian had already settled into her room. She had her luggage, clothes, and everything taken care of. Lucas introduced her as a colleague, a business partner, although not necessarily for the Pharmaceutical company.

Victoria and Charlotte didn't ask any more beyond that.

However, that didn't mean they weren't curious. Their father, who had not remarried or even come close to pursuing another romantic relationship ever since their mother had died, suddenly brought back a gorgeous woman.

They weren't too sure whether or not they liked the implications of that. They loved their previous mother and had fond memories of her. For someone to suddenly come and try to replace her in their lives—they weren't too sure if they felt good about that.

Their worries were somewhat placated by the ring in Vivian's left ring finger, indicating that the woman had in fact already found love of her own.

They all ate dinner in relative silence, the comfortable kind. The two sisters couldn't really talk with a stranger, Vivian, nearby and they also weren't used to having their father around in the dining table. Thus, they remained quiet all throughout.

Once everyone had finished eating, Victoria and Charlotte both went back to their respective rooms. While the servants cleaned the dining table, Lucas and Vivian were left in the dining table.

"Should we get started?" asked Vivian.

"Sure, but I don't think there's really much to be found here." Lucas honestly replied. "The fact that they entrusted this mission to two rookies meant that the Crows themselves didn't really have much hope on finding anything in this mansion."

Vivian stared at him for a few seconds due to his words. "Yeah, I agree. Otherwise, they would have sent other people to monitor or at least do the investigations with us. I'm sure tf there was anything strange with this place, the inspectors must've already found them before putting this place back into the market."

"But who knows? Maybe the inspectors overlooked something. They're still humans after all with a margins of error." Lucas added.

Soon, the two of them walked down the corridor and inspected each of the guest rooms. They searched the shelves, drawers, and beds for anything that might've been left behind. It could be a note, record, or journal, as long as it pointed to the Research Society then it was fine.

The halls and corridors were opulent and each guest room was pretty sizable, already larger than the homes of the lower class. There were even bookshelves that were already in place from the previous owner. However, even after hours of searching, nothing came up. But they weren't too dismayed by the results. This was their expected result and didn't hold out that much hope anyway.

However, after some time, Lucas's mind drifted back to those mystery and detective movies that he had watched. Especially the countless clever way they hide their secret passages.

Thus, in the corridor, he tried pushing any suspicious looking bricks, thinking that there must be a secret button there somewhere. He also tried looking for levers among the wall lamps in his manor. He would lightly tug on them, to see if any of them would move.

Vivian noticed his strange behavior and asked, "What are you doing?"

He didn't really want to explain how he was doing this because of movies that he had watched in his previous life, so he just said: "Nothing. Just a habit."

As they progressed throughout the entire manor, he kept doing this to every lamp, suspicious looking brick, and everything else that might contain a secret mechanism.

Click…

"Hm?" Lucas immediately turned the moment he feel something click or activate.

Looking back to the wall lamp he had just pulled, he tried applying a lit bit more force into it. His heart raced, realizing there may actually be something hidden within these walls.

Looking back to the wall lamp he had just pulled, he tried applying a lit bit more force into it. The lamp shifted further, and a stone on the adjacent wall slid open, revealing a dusty passageway. Lucas grinned triumphantly.

Vivian's eyes widened as she saw the mysterious passageway that had opened up in the wall, courtesy of Lucas's tugs and pulls on various objects. She turned to Lucas in shock, her cherry red lips agape as she asked him, "How did you even know to look for those?".

She didn't actually hold any hopes on finding anything remarkable in this manor, and especially not this quickly.

'Nah, but I didn't think I'd actually find a secret passageway like this,' thought Lucas.

However, he guessed that without movies, things and mechanisms like this aren't actually well known and aren't considered a cliché. Thus, there would be no reason for an ordinary person to know about them. Of course, the exception is Lucas with his modern day knowledge.

Lucas shrugged, feigning nonchalance to hide his own surprise at discovering an actual hidden doorway. After a moment, he said carefully, "I just had a hunch that old manors often have secret doors and passageways. It seems I was correct."

Vivian looked skeptical but did not press further. She turned her attention to the newly discovered passage, wondering where it might lead. "Should we explore it?" she asked Lucas.

Lucas agreed, curiosity overcoming any reservations he had. Together they slowly made their way into the dark, dusty tunnel. The floor was lined with cobblestones and the walls were made of rough stone. Clearly this passage had been here for ages.

After walking for several minutes in the dim light filtering from the entrance, they came to a wooden door at the end of the tunnel. The door creaked open eerily as Lucas pushed against it, revealing a large chamber beyond. Dusty furnishings and objects filled the room, untouched for who knows how long.

Vivian gasped. "This must be some kind of secret study or storeroom!" she exclaimed. They entered the chamber and began examining the various things within.

As the two of the rummaged through the objects in the chamber, looking for anything that is related to the Plutonic Research Society, Lucas's eyes were drawn towards an old dusty journal in the table.

Lucas flipped through its pages and realized that it did belong to the previous owned of this manor, the man rumored to be a member of the research society. Not only that, it turns out that he wasn't just a member but actually one the lead researchers in the creation of the so-called 'super-humans' that the Crows were looking for.

Around the end of the written pages, the owner shared his issues with funding, the lack of time, and the unreasonable demands of those that have invested into his research.

A direct transcript from the journal reads as follows:

"July 5th, 1839.

We've succeeded in creating artificial humans. Among 800 test subjects in the, 11 of them were successful and their conditions have stabilized—11 young souls born not of woman but of science. Their first cries were not heard by a mother's ears but by soulless machines. If they grow up according to the modifications we have made to their genetics and physiology, then these young homunculi should be able to fight through gunfire and explosions with no problem."

The journal pages are faded and stained, the words scrawled hastily between diagrams and calculations. The next entry comes several months after the last as if the owner had been busy during that long time period, leaving him no time to write down anything in his journal.

"February 6th, 1840.

Death has already come for some of our artificial children. Their fragile lives flickered out in sudden heart failures, hormonal imbalances, and choking fits. Yet those that survive seem hardier than any human child. Our financial backers demand results, yet we cannot speed up the natural growth of these children. All of them are already walking in two legs.

But aside from their outlandish strength and inhuman physical settings, well beyond their age, they have shown to be regular children. Playing and curious with every new thing that stimulates their infantile minds..."

The entry continues beyond that, but nothing too important was written down. The next entry comes few more months after that.

"September 1st, 1840.

I have not kept this journal for many months now. My time is spent overseeing the "children," ensuring they continue to progress according to our designs.

Aside from the first batch of successful homunculi—which we have now labeled as the 'SOLDIER' series—we have successfully made a second batch of artificial humans belonging to the new 'INFILTRATOR' series. Rather than combat, their bodies have been modified for the purpose of espionage and intelligence gathering.

We have tried to create a super series of homunculus which possess both the bodily modifications of the SOLDIER and INFILTRATOR series, however no successful subject have come about. There seems to be a limit as to how much we can modify any given fetus.

Yet, our financial backers demand we accelerate the program. They wanted their soldiers now, to save them from the turf wars they've started. Madness. I tell them we must proceed with caution but they will not listen. Money and power have addled their minds.

As the general supervisor of the research program, I cannot add the stress of financial backing to our already mentally exhausted scientists. Thus, in order to appease our investors, I secretly created a third batch of artificial humans,

Utilizing the established parameters and designs from SOLDIER and INFILTRATOR series research, I independently developed the ADAPT series within my personal laboratory. Cognitive enhancements were prioritized over physical modifications for this third series.

The ADAPT series subjects exhibit expanded memory storage and information processing capability, rapid knowledge acquisition and skill learning, as well as stunted emotional development. These cognitive modifications allow for accelerated mental maturation and optimized functionality.

The subjects were not gestated in utero or matured artificially ex vivo. Instead, fully developed artificial bodies absent of physiological limitations were provided at the start of socio-emotional development. The others do not know of my creations, as they are specifically made with the purpose of appeasing investors and showing results.

Potential modifications to further optimize the ADAPT series for rapid developmental progression could include: enhanced perception and sensory processing, expanded associative thinking and pattern matching capabilities, as well as stunted growth of non-cognitive regions of the brain to prioritize cognitive functions during early developmental windows."

The journal abruptly halts after that foreboding entry, no additional pages filled in over the next decade. Indications suggest the manuscript remained undisturbed for over ten years following that final ominous passage.