Primal Saga Volume 1: The Queen of Silence

Prologue

The doors burst open.

"Eddie, we don't have much time; we need to get this done before we lose her," exclaimed a firm faced man; the tail of his lab coat trailing behind him. His partner, a bushy-eyebrowed, bald man, who was wheeling a patient on a gurney, followed him into a dim, small room with a surgical light and hospital curtains.

Eddie parked the gurney under the surgical light and scrambled over to join the firm faced man who was already suited up in gloves and a surgical mask. "Dr. Nakamura...uhh... Dairo. Just stop and consider for a second what could happen if you do this," Eddie pleaded as he slipped his surgical gloves on. "You have seen what happened to the tests done on the other subjects. What could possibly make you think this time will be any different?"

Dr. Nakamura glanced at Eddie from behind his glasses for a second and then turned to face the room's large computer monitor. "Drones - on."
Immediately, four small drones mounted on hovering disks rose from the sides of the computer screen and began to fly to different points in the room. One drone accompanied Dr. Nakamura while the other three focused on the patient.

"If we do this. You know what they will do to us for stealing from them. They will send the Reaper after us," Eddie said under his breath as he hooked the patient up to a heart monitor. "Are you ready for—"

Dr. Nakamura shot a glare in Eddie's direction, but slowly his expression softened. "Of course I am ready to accept the consequences," he said as he began punching numbers on a keypad which was followed by a buzz. A safe on the wall slid open and Dr. Nakamura proceeded to gently retrieve a glass cylinder containing a clear purple liquid from the compartment.

"So you modified it," Eddie said in amazement as he continued to work on the patient.

"Yes. I diluted this sample with her blood. Unlike the pure stuff pulled directly from the artifact this is coded specifically to her," Dr. Nakamura replied as he motioned to the patient - a young, pale girl with black hair. "We already know it reanimates dead tissue as it did with that girl they tested it on last year."

"Yeah. If you consider what that girl has become as "resurrected. That girl turned into a mo-n-ster, Dairou. What makes you think it will be any different?."

Dr. Nakamura cleared his throat. "In theory, because the ira cells have matured to their final form already. They shouldn't mutate her. Only live in her bloodstream and repair her damaged tissue." He inserted the cylinder into a slot on a large machine and twisted it until it locked in place. "At least that's what I hope," Dr. Nakamura sighed. "How are we doing?"

"Sigh...just have to connect one more tube."

Dr. Nakamura nodded in affirmation and began typing on a holographic keyboard. In response, the ominous machine containing the glass cylinder rumbled to life. The doctor started flipping switches in sequence causing blue lights to illuminate all over the machine. A line of text appeared on the computer monitor - All checks complete. System ready.

"Eddie?"

"OK. She's as ready as she will ever be."

With grim eyes, the doctor stared at the girl on the gurney. Her small frame, strapped down with belts, moving ever so slightly with her shallow breaths. Four tubes ran from her limbs into the sinister machine. Nakamura cursed himself in his mind for what he was about to do.

As tears welled up in his eyes, Dr. Nakamura typed a command on the keyboard causing a button on the virtual control console to begin slowly blinking. The word on the button read in clear text: START.

"Beginning sequence in three... two... one...

The whole world held its breath as the doctor's finger hovered over the button but them-

BEEP!

Purple fluid began to flood out of the machine and into the tubes creeping its way towards the girl on the gurney. The ooze entered her limbs dying her veins a tint of light purple - then it began.

The girl's body jolted; her muscles tensed and twitched in protest to the fluid flowing through her body only to be held down by the straps that bound her to the bed. Her pulsating veins began to glow as her body thrashed about.

Sweat drops began to pool on Eddie's balding head as he stared in horror as the girl, who was silent up until now, let out a blood-chilling scream that filled the entire room. Panicking, Eddie looked to Dairo who's glasses gleamed against the surgical light, masking his expression.

"I don't think she can take much more! Shut it down!"

"If we stop now we will end up losing her anyway," Nakamura responded from the control console. "Give it a few more seconds!"

Those "few seconds" felt like hours in Eddie's mind. He turned away, unable to stomach the horrid scene any longer.

Then.

The girl fell silent; the small body became still like a doll. Her veins ceased to glow as the last bit of liquid slipped into her wrists leaving her skin once again pale. The only sign the men had that the procedure didn't kill her was the faint sound of the heart monitor, which continued to beep periodically.

"Eddie, can you get her a blanket," Dr. Nakamura asked as he swiftly entered commands on the holopad - shutting down the machine.

"Yeah... sure... no problem." Eddie's voice was hoarse. His knees knocked together as he made his way to the cabinets. His grip slipped causing him to nearly drop the now unfolded blanket he pulled from the cabinet. When he returned to the girl's bedside Dairou was already unbelting her limbs. Eddie covered her deathly still torso with the blanket, then he looked doubtfully at Dairou.

Doctor Nakamura leaned in closer to the girl and began to whisper. "Miyabi. Miyabi,  can you hear me?" The girl did not respond. Tears began to drip from Nakamura's eyes. "Come on Miyabi. I don't want to lose you like I lost your mother. So please. Say something. Anything," he said, stifling a sob.

The girl's eyes slowly began to open revealing a dark purple-red hue that now swirled in her irises. She carefully raised a small hand and Dr. Nakamura gently received it. The two looked at each other in silence then the girl softly smiled and uttered one word - "daddy."