Chapter 39
When the first examples of larger, more physically powerful specimens emerged (I theorized it was a genetic throwback to the black rat genetics) I saw no issues in having them trained more heavily into a semi-competent 'elite' force within the Ratmen ranks, This would give rise into the first true subspecies within Project Rat King, which was later dubbed the Stormvermin over the Slave (subjects of the earliest Ratmen that did not fully develop cognitive sapience) and Clanrats (the first fully-developed Ratman genus that emerged).
The next divergence was slightly more worrisome. Several specimen developed increased cognitive skills and intelligence and an unnatural affinity for manipulating the mutagenic abilities of Warpstone. I theorized it might be due to their constant exposure to the substance that gave them a unique affinity for it.
Several began to experiment on their own kind, causing further mutations. The two most successful results of these experiments were the 'Rat Ogres' (an extreme advancement of the same mutation that gave rise to the Stormvermin but at the cost of the creature's cognitive abilities), and the 'Giant Rats' (a throwback to the first stages of their mutation, only greatly increased in size). Several specimens quickly began to develop an instinctive ability to tame and manipulate these mutations. I later dubbed them Packmasters and the ones who specialize in creating the mutations Vat Masters.
The Warplock Engineers were another emergence along the same line, only these specimen seemed to devote themselves to manipulating and working with Warpstone itself, turning it into some form of arcane focus rather than a genetic mutagen. I was concerned, but this magic (or more accurately a form of techno-sorcery) was weak and oriented primarily toward offense, which could only serve our purposes. Even the best device that were created using this process were, at best, modestly improved version of out-of-date weapons from the single-shot rifle era. Even the development of the Warpfire Thrower and Ratling Gun couldn't knock me from the perch I'd placed myself on.
I foolishly believed that I had everything under control.
However, not even my ego could remain undaunted at the next development.
I don't know how it happened. It shouldn't have been able to happen so quickly, but the Ratmen somehow managed to develop their own society and leadership structure. Their 'Council of Thirteen' and their 'Clans' were factitious and obviously based on the Feudal system of Japan's Warring States Era; though lacking in the form of an Emperor or Shogun.
It was only recently that I found a clue; it appears they somehow acquired copies of Japanese historical manga and used it as a building block to develop their own society. To think, my wondrous experiment, destroyed by some comic books.
The development of their own society had the effect that I had feared, the reason I had tried to ensure that none developed.
It gave them a sense of identity. A sense of control! With that our absolute control was broken, and they began to resist our experiments, fight against our right to control them.
The ones who killed me, calling themselves 'Clan Eshin', seem to have based themselves off of ninja. How they managed to develop their own form of martial arts in the five years since they started walking on two feet is beyond my comprehension, but I believe that the Warpstone might have additional developmental effects that our initial experiments never detected. It takes humans decades to create an original form of martial arts, so the only logical conclusion is that they somehow copied from human martial arts to create their 'Way of the Striking Claw' as they call it.
I arrived at this site with my two bodyguards for a scheduled inspection and was attacked immediately. My bodyguards were overwhelmed within seconds of arriving struck from the shadows before they could even ready their own weapons, but it was long enough for me to confront the leader of these shadowy rats and demand answers. This Snikch character is dangerous and quick. He speaks of overwhelming human society with the ratmen before creating an 'Under-Empire' ruled by the Ratmen while we humans would serve under their feet.
I am dying as I write this, but I have managed to get away from Snikch. All is not lost, however. Before placing them in the Burrows to begin field development and independent growth and breeding, I had a system secretly installed into them all. It works as a powerful form of hypnosis, slaving them all subliminally to a series of commands that is reinforced through subsonic speakers built into the Warrens and activated on a calculated schedule, unnoticeable to human ears or even conscious Ratman hearing, but still audible enough to affect their subconscious. The commands are:
1) They cannot attack humans unless the human enters their burrow.
2) All efforts are to be made towards preparing to attack the supernatural locals in Kuō Town, with an attack to take place upon completion.
3) The Purifiers are their masters.
Somehow, they seem to have overcome the last command, possibly due to the effects of the Warpstone, so I sent a signal to my base, ordering the hypnosis system to triple its power and to focus on reinforcing the first two commands. If these bedamned rats think that they can rebel against their masters, they had better think again.
If you have survived these Eshin monstrosities, then you are more fortunate than I. Should you be worried about the Ratmen, rest assured that if they do somehow break free of the last two commands, Project Rat Poison will take care of them poste-haste.
On the slight off-chance that they truly have rebelled, I ensured that their 'Brood Mother' in Burrow #1could only spawn a certain number of Ratmen per month and that it could not birth other Brood Mothers. I have also taken steps to ensure that the Vat Masters cannot use samples of her flesh to clone more.
Project Rat Poison is a two-part plan. First, it releases a chemical gas that was designed to activate certain genetic triggers that were placed within the Ratmen's body when the experiments first began and that we ensured bred true in later specimen, rendering them sterile. Afterwards a secondary gas is released to vastly speed up the cellular regeneration of the Ratmen, essentially causing them to age years in minutes. Ratmen do not live much longer than their mundane compatriots, so once the secondary stage of Rat Poison is deployed, all Ratmen inside of their burrows will be dead in a matter of an hour, at absolute latest. The primary gas is merely a safety mechanism should some manage to escape, they will be incapable of breeding and will die out within a decade or so.
I…am finding it harder and harder to concentrate as my life slips away, and my mind wanders and wonders. Did I do the right thing? Have my actions been just? A Fallen Angel murdered my father and I have spent my entire life hoping to justice done on them. But…do all supernaturals deserve to be tarred by the same brush for the actions of a single being? Humans do not. I guess I shall have to find out if my actions were just or not depending on if I wake up in Hell or Heaven…or perhaps reincarnation?
Written in truth,
Midorikawa Nobuyuki'
"Damn." Issei shook his head. Dying down here, all alone…even a Purifier didn't deserve that. And by the sounds of it, he had a reason, a pretty good one at that, to hate the supernatural. He had done monstrous things in the name of revenge, but seemed to question his actions towards the end.
That might not have changed anything, it might not have lessened the man's sins by a great degree, but it was something.
.
.
.
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