Lord of Annihilation

Inside one of the waiting rooms in the Central Research Facility.

"Thank you so much for the tea, Edmonds." Illya kindly said.

The bald, pleasant-looking young man smiled lightly and nodded his head. He then turned towards Alex and offered him a cup.

Receiving the cup, Alex politely replied.

"Thank you very much."

Edmonds repeated his actions to Anya. After which he performed a salutatory bow and left the room. Upon his leaving, Illya casually asked.

"What do you think about Edmonds?" her tone seemed to hide a hint of mystery within.

Hearing this question, Alex directly replied. "Very weird." Thinking for a bit, he then continued.

"Something seems to be 'off' about him. I'm not sure how to describe this feeling. It's like he's not... alive?" Alex's tone grew confused as he tried to explain his feeling.

Anya nodded her head in affirmation of his words. She had also felt a similar feeling.

When Alex had met Edmonds for the first time, he did not notice the peculiarity of the other party. Other than seeming a bit stiff and awkward, Edmonds was just like any other person. 

However, as Alex continued to interact with him, he started to discover some abnormal points. Firstly, each of Edmonds' movements was exactly the same! The measure of his steps, the swing of his arms, and so on. Secondly, his words had an unnatural feel to them. There seemed to be no variety in his emotions, whenever he spoke.

This was the reason, Alex had inwardly thought Edmonds to be a robot. A computer-programmed life. However, his mind instantly shot down his thought because he could feel the faint soul-power flowing within Edmonds' body.

A robot having a soul? That just makes no sense! 

Or so was Alex's thoughts a few seconds ago.

"Indeed. Both of you are very sharp as expected. Edmonds is not human."

"He's an artificial lifeform. In other words a living robot." Illya smugly said.

"What?!" Alex and Anya were shocked. They almost dropped the teacup in their hands.

Seeing their reactions, Illya felt a tremendous sense of satisfaction. The smile on her face grew, as she continued.

"Edmonds is the product of our research team. To be precise, he is Reyna's personal creation. He is a completely mechanical being who possesses a soul, thanks to Reyna's soul power."

"While he can control and use his soul power, he is not able to cultivate it at present. His power level is stuck at Low-Level Stage 1, with no hope for improvement. Still, it's an amazing breakthrough in technology. It goes to show that we are making rapid progress." she sighed in admiration.

"Reyna is also here?! Why haven't I seen her?" Alex asked.

"Oh, yes. She is also part of our research team. However, she isn't here." Illya honestly replied. Her eyebrows furrowed in worry as she continued. "Ever since she returned to Earth after the Ascension, she locked herself in her lab, over at the Snowden Building. She doesn't meet with anyone and is continuously pumping out one technology after another."

Hearing her words, Alex also grew worried. Other than worry, he also felt anger and helplessness.

'It's that bastard's fault! Sigh, but I can't do anything either. Reyna is also being too stubborn.' Alex rubbed his forehead in worry.

Seeing his reaction, Illya softly spoke up in comfort.

"You don't have to worry too much. She isn't being forced or anything, but rather willingly doing this. Even her father is helpless against her behavior."

Seeing her concern, Alex smiled and nodded his head. 

"She can be very obstinate at times. She just requires time to accept somethings," he replied. Illya did not fully understand his words but nodded her head in response.

"Wait a second. We are going off-topic here. We are able to create beings like Edmonds? What is their combat capability and what is their rate production?" Anya asked as her eyes shone in curiosity.

Looking at this reaction, Illya laughed lightly before replying.

"I understand the military's interest in this aspect. Unfortunately, however, we can only make a single Edmond, every 4 months. Most importantly, Miss Reyna's personal involvement and soul power are required during the process."

"As for their combat capability, they are only better than an average citizen. They are born with the intelligence of a newborn and have to be taught from scratch. However, their learning speed is quite high. It only took Edmonds 2 months to reach where he is currently."

"Oh. That's a pity." Anya said in disappointment. 

If artificial beings like Edmonds could be mass-produced, then the number of human soldiers losing their lives could be greatly reduced. However, Illya's words put an end to that fantasy.

Facing Anya's disappointment, Illya calmly spoke.

"However, I have to mention Miss Anya. While Edmonds might have been artificially created, he is still a legitimate living being. A being with thoughts and emotions. Raising him only for the act of war is unethical." her tone was very serious and harsh.

Anya's eyes shrunk, as she calmly retorted.

"I understand your view, Miss Illya. But if I had to choose between sacrificing a human soldier and an artificial being. I would sacrifice the latter with no hesitation. If such beings could be mass-produced, then many lives can be saved. How can a hunk of metal be compared to human life?"

"I will have to disagree with that. What makes humans live superior to the rest? Do they not have the same intelligence and emotions, as humans? Aren't humans capable of being mass-produced too? We certainly have the technology to do that."

"We simply chose not to, because it's highly unethical and against our moral standards. What made you think, it's okay for the artificial beings to be raised for slaughter? Aren't you being a little hypocritical?"

Illya sharply replied. As a scientist and as one of the people involved with the creation of Edmonds, she found Anya's words to be very offensive.

Think about it. If someones were to say, that a certain of humans, or perhaps someone's children, could be raised for the sole purpose of war and sacrifice, would the others agree?

Clearly. Edmonds wasn't a non-living machine or a mindless beast. He was just as human as the other humans. He possessed a soul, had emotions, empathy, and other essential factors that made humans, human. 

Artificial beings weren't like pigs which were raised for slaughter, but individual, intelligent beings, perhaps even better than humans.

"Oh?" Anya's brows furrowed, as she heard Illya's retort which was offensive in nature.

A sense of anger rose within her. However, just as quickly as the anger had appeared, it also disappeared. Anya wasn't foolish enough to directly antagonize the Alliance Head's daughter.

She was brave, not stupid.

Getting up from her seat, Anya performed a bow and apologized.

"I apologize, Miss Illya, that was very rude of me." however, it was clear from her tone that she had not meant it.

"It's good if you can understand that," Illya replied, not hiding her dissatisfaction. 

Seeing the atmosphere within the room rapidly turn sour, Alex immediately got up and clapped his hands.

"Illya, why don't you show us around and introduce me to the other research members" he spoke quickly, obviously trying to change the topic.

Of course, Illya was smart enough to understand this and nodded her head. 

"Please follow me."

----------------

As Alex followed behind Illya, he intentionally slowed down his steps and neared Anya. Illya who noticed this said nothing and continued to lead in the front.

Coming close to Anya, he softly spoke.

"That wasn't very smart of you."

Hearing his words, Anya merely snorted in response and did not reply. Seeing her like this, Alex sighed.

'Why am I surrounded by such troublesome people?' just as Alex was seriously wondering, Illya's voice woke him from his thoughts.

"To the left, you can see the Ability Testing Room. This is where your abilities are tested and measured." her voice had once again turned polite, as she pointed towards the room on the side.

A glass door revealed the contents of the room. Gaint metal machines, affixed with hundreds of tables lay silently, giving off a cold, mechanical aura. There were some metallic testing dummies, a punching unit, a treadmill-like-object, a glass pod filled with a green-liquid, and much more.

"We will be testing and recording your abilities tomorrow." Illya casually revealed, while looking towards Alex with a smile.

Facing her 'saint-like' smile, Alex involuntarily felt scared. Looking towards the numerous metallic needles lying on the floor connected to multiple cables, Alex realized something.

'Maybe saving mankind, isn't what I thought it would be.' he inwardly felt worried about his near-future as a lab rat. Just as Illya was about to tease him further, an assistant wearing a lab coat arrived towards the group.

Facing Illya, he spoke. "Leader, the Ascension is about to start in the Outer-Rim planets. The data-feed has been established."

"Understood", Illya replied and turned around to face Alex.

"Let's go and see how the 'new' Head of Military, is going to handle the situation."