Origin

Connor stared at his name, the only text on the otherwise blank monitor.

"Dude, you were a tube baby!" Robert commented with a hint of awe in his voice.

"No... not quite, though I hate skipping, I did find his file. Its... quite expansive and elaborated. It seems Connor here, had a life before being entered into the tube. His name used to be Connor Lewis Michael.

Quote; 'Connor was found to be in possession of a unique one of a kind affinity, the ability to speak languages not of human origin. Getting our hands on this delicate specimen was not easy, as he was the son of a great politician. By implementing one of our agents as a maid in the household, we were able to slowly poison the young lad. It took quite some months before the family went seeking aid, and we, by our good graces, extended our hand out....', end quote." Brian read.

"Whoa, that's dark." Robert stated.

"What else?" Connor asked.

"Ah... quote; '...We have been unable to extract the knowledge of those abyssal languages from his head, no matter, his body is still perfect for further experimention... We are thinking about extraction of mana from the body. What effects would be had, on a body accustomed to life with magical power, if mana was removed entirely?...', end quote. These guys were not human." Brian ironically stated.

"Keep going. What else did they do?" Connor pushed.

"Ahem, there's an audio file here." Brian stated as he pressed play.

"'...He almost died last night, this stupid asshole! Apparently, if mana is removed entirely, the brain reacts the same as if a major organ, like the liver, had been suddenly removed. It tries to find it, and when it doesn't, the body is systematically shut down. So I had to reverse the system and return a small portion of mana. Fuck him! Damn brat, causing problems at every turn! He had so much latent mana in his body, it's been powering this facility for years with no show of it slowing down or even budging!... Oh well, at least we discovered that the body will die if mana is removed entirely. I suppose I'll grant this experiment as concluded.'"

"It took years to drain a non awakened child of his mana, and the facility was still running on the mana extracted? Were you meant to be above S Rank? Is this facility still being run on your mana?" Robert began questioning Connor, as if he knew.

"The issue is, I don't remember anything." Connor replied.

"There's another audio file. Though it's dated thirty years ago." Brian pressed play on a new file.

"'Ahem, this is uh, Dr. Carlos, first name David. Year is twenty-one eleven. This subject, .W., seemed to be the center of attention before the outbreaks... I'm going to touch up on it. Since the arrival of undead, experiments with them have been underway, but none have been made on these subjects... I'm thinking about choosing a few, but definitely this one... .W. For this subject I'll use the eyes of our most successful undead creation, and implant them. I'll also be doing other internal organ swaps to see what would happen. Can the organs from undead be transplanted successfully? And can the human body rejuvenate them? Dr. Carlos, signing off." The audio caused much discomfort from Robert and Mina, as they looked at Connor.

"What?" Connor asked.

"Nothing, I'm just becoming more curious. Did he actually follow through?" Robert asked Brian. Brian nodded and hit play on another audio file.

"'This is Dr. Carlos, Year twenty one twelve. It was a fantastic experience! The eyes transplanted perfectly! We let .W. wander around several days after the transplant, and he could see! Of course, he started asking questions about his family and when he would see them, but the kid is almost eighty years old! Born in twenty thirty three! His family has long since left this earth!

But, I told him they would be here any moment to come pick him up, he was so excited, talking about what he wanted to eat, and how he was gonna play with his friends... But, after about a week, he started crying for his mother. So, I put him on a slab, and started the next operation... this time while he was awake! Strong kid, let me tell you, the moment he was cut open, he threw a nurse across the fucking room!

Ended up using Magic cuffs to hold him down! It was the perfect opportunity to see how well the dampening drug I made would work. That strength of his, vanished, but the drug was a bust. I wanted it to be more like a poison to be used against Seekers, but it turned out to be a permanent weakening drug. But, I digress. The second stage of the transplant included the stomach, intestines, liver, spleen, kidneys, and lungs.

Kid passed out once his stomach was removed. Still, successfully transplanted all the organs, the second time he saw me was far more hostile. I think I'll keep him out of the tube for now. The third transplant is the one I look forward to the most, I'll be removing half of his brain and replacing it with the undead's! That undead had reached near human intelligence afterall! Perfect donor! Dr. Carlos, signing off.'" Connor tightened his fists.

"You know, I think this Carlos fella might have had a few screws loose, or missing entirely." Robert shook himself.

"I feel like the first experiments were more humane." Mina bluntly added.

"I'll play the second to last audio entry." Brian pressed another file.

"'While doing the brain transplant, I decided to finish it off with a cherry on top... I took his heart and swapped it with a baby red dragons! My wife said that was too expensive and most likely worthless, but it worked! Of all the monsters and creatures, a dragon's heart is the only one with an identical operating system.

After the operation, and after a few weeks, I finally went to see him! He didn't even know who I was! His face was expressionless, just like an Undead! He didn't even know his own name! Every other day he would have bouts of human emotion, but I'm certain that'll slowly fade away with time.

I wish I could further study his development, but his usefulness really has reached its end... oh well, it's been about three years since he was last in the tubes, he's near a ten year olds body size... I'll place him in tomorrow. Preserved for all time, it's unfortunate that he'll never live the life he was meant, but he lived the life I intended! I, Dr. Carlos, am personally declaring this subject's purpose, fulfilled.'"

"That's it?" Robert jumped up. Apparently he was more into the story than everyone else was.

"No, this one is the last entry. Dated eight years ago." Brian corrected. once again he played an audio file.

"'My name is Edward McVeigh. Since this subject was declared obsolete, I'll be taking the initiative to add him to the group of children headed for the Front House, or orphanage. I haven't checked his file, but I'm certain no one will miss him, being worthless sitting here....*sounds of a wet body hitting the floor, followed by coughing*.... Hello Connor W. Michael, you are ten and you've been living in an orphanage, it wasn't grand. *a child speaks*-> I'm ten, and I've been living in an orphanage, it wasn't grand....'"