Turmoil - Project Series #2 AgeRegression

Chapter Twenty-One

Now, he would've sworn at what he saw because Xyla was not with him at the moment but it was still engraved in his head to silence and filter his words so instead, he continued to just gape. It reminded Etteo of the hideout that Daikon was staying at before he found out that the people who worked in authority there were the bad guys.

Everything was solely focused on a production. Everything in wood and magically moving, clinging and banging, down the stairs, Ace walked as Etteo asked, "What are they doing?"

A bang from below got his attention on this side, huge weapons of swords and contraption of metal that Etteo had never seen before were being created. Further down the stairs, Etteo could see more people in lab coats.

Ace sighed, "Well, first you must understand." Etteo was more focused on the vat of blue swirling liquid at the end of the big hallway but he followed Ace as he walked through the operations.

"I hope you understand that I'm here to help my people," said Etteo and seeming very very pleased to have heard that, Ace turned to him.

"This is a serum," holding out a flask of the same liquid from the vat. "The one that enhances the natural urge to be a caregiver or a little. Now, I say natural urge because it is, in fact, in all of us to feel the need to care or to be young again...

"You must remember the serum we gave you at the beginning of the year? And the fact that so many people want your blood?'

Etteo stopped, "How do you know about that?"

Ace shrugged and sighed, "I assumed Etteo. And the problem is, that I'm apparently right. Do you know why Roman Romano is running thi — his operation?"

Etteo handed back the flask to a random fast-walking worker in a lab coat and turned to Ace, "I don't know — because his a scum-bag? I mean, Daikon told me how this whole caregiver and little thing used to be banned around here a couple years ago, and now he as an academy running a program?"

"You don't understand," said Ace softly. "The caregivers and little of that village were banned because the experiment had gone wrong. Of course, none of the rebellious things that they did was on them because they were so distorted but they did terribly things and there was only one option left."

"To shut the whole operation down," nodded Etteo and he again, looked at the stone hammers that were carving pieces of iron over steaming hot fires. "That's what you're doing here."

"Wrong," answered Ace with another one of those smiles that Etteo had begun to slowly hate. He sighed as if what he had to say next was going to pain him deeply because Etteo may not understand. "I'm trying to get the operation going. Creating enough serum for the universe."

For multiple seconds, Etteo didn't register what Ace had said, in fact he probably would've ignored the statement as a whole if it weren't for thinking about the actual operation either.

Etteo was now considering the man's words. Truth be told, he knew he shouldn't even be in the hidden village.

But to be concerned on how he got in... Looking around at the flasks of blue swirling liquid, he asked Ace, "What are you going to do with these?"

Ace smiled, "Well, I can't tell you that just yet can I?"

Etteo swallowed, "Okay, then just tell me how the hell you think this would work?"

He was beginning to get frustrated. His own mind was fighting and arguing against him, he didn't know what was right anymore.

For the longest time, he believed in fighting and protecting Xyla and his family. It would be the same no matter which way he decided to go. "I want in."