Dr Matsuo Miyazaki could not remember how long he had been standing in front of this particular glass tank. There were others just like it set up side by side in a row that stretched the entire expanse of the wall of the very large facility. Numerous pipes of varying sizes originated from beyond the wall to feed liquid chemicals and solutions into these tanks constantly, the strange mixture of which had the tanks pulsating with a soft viridian glow. All the tanks were empty, all except this one. Matsuo truly could not understand the reason why this particular one had proven to be so different.
The designation on the bottom of the tank read 'Subject 013'. Within the tank itself, a young adolescent male floated in the glowing mixture, held in place by a bunch of wires and tubes that were hooked up to his entire body. The contents of these tanks were unknown to most people in the facility save a select team of extraordinarily brilliant scientists. A team of which Matsuo Miyazaki was the leader. Logically speaking, there was no reason why this particular subject had failed. The tests that had been conducted on the subject years ago had presented an extremely encouraging result, leading them to believe that this subject would be the one with the most latent potential which the experiment would draw out in its fullest. The disappointment had been especially difficult to bear. As other subjects awoke and acclimatized themselves with the results of the experiment, this one has remained dormant, his body rejecting all attempts to match it with a suitable modifier.
Matsuo would have preferred to keep this subject here, to serve as a means of perfecting the procedure if nothing else. But unfortunately, while he was the head scientist here, this was not his personal facility. Every resource that he and his team were using came from the orders of one man and that same man had given a new order today. Subject 013 had been declared a failure and was to be terminated permanently. Heavy footsteps across the metal floor behind him alerted the middle aged scientist to the arrival of the ones who carry out said termination. There were three of them, soldiers fully equipped in riot gear and armed with powerful automatic weapons. Matsuo frowned when he saw them. He knew that the only reason why they were here was because the man at the top did not trust him to do the deed himself because Matsuo had argued against taking this action earlier. What was to be expected after all? He was a scientist! How could he let the fruit of his studies be so casually discarded?! The man took a deep breath to calm himself and reminded himself of his current situation. It would be best that he kept these thoughts to himself. As much as it disturbed him to have to do this, he still had other more important things to worry about. He nodded to the first guard and approached the control console in front of the tank with a heavy heart.
His hand reached out and closed around the lever, hesitating for only a few seconds before drawing it down. With a low mechanical groan, the machine that powered all the complex processes happening in the tank shut down gradually. The liquid within drained out through a conveniently situated system beneath the tank, leaving the subject to slump against the glass. The life support system ceased to function and within seconds, the subtle rise and fall of the subject's chest stopped altogether, signifying that he was dead. The guards moved forward to the tank as he pushed a button that opened the lid with a loud hiss. They worked efficiently, retrieving the boy's corpse quickly and made for the disposal section of the facility. One of them stayed for a moment to send a report of the event before moving with the others. Matsuo watched with a mixture of sadness and frustrated resignation as they left through a sliding door, wishing that he could have done more to save that boy's life.
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It would have been impossible for a normal human to continue living with a heartbeat rate of less that twenty beats per minute. The only reason why such a procedure was even effective on this body was because of the superhuman constitution that was a result of the Modification. The System had theorized that this would be the only way to put the body of the Host in such a state where it would be nearly impossible to tell if he was alive or not. It was difficult to maintain this condition but it was not impossible. The System had lowered the brain activity of the Host to levels where the oxygen requirement was at a bare minimum and had assumed the function of maintaining the Host's vitality. The autonomy it now possessed allowed the System to make full use of the Host's abilities, including the Host's unusually high Perception. That was how it was able to tell the positions of all three men as they took the body of the Host to the place where proper disposal of the 'corpse' was to happen.
Then, the System decided that it was time to commence the self preservative measures. The guard that was carrying the boy's body in a fireman's lift shifted slightly to better distribute the weight, causing the limp fingers to brush against the combat knife strapped to his waist. In that instant, the boy's eyes snapped open, revealing brilliant green eyes, and deft fingers slipped the knife out of its sheath. Before the guard could even register the shock of the sudden movement, the combat knife found itself buried deep in the side of his neck right below his thick helmet. Blood sprayed out of the severed carotid artery as the seemingly resurrected boy pushed himself off the dying man's body.
The other two let out alarmed cries and raised their guns to fire. But for all their weapons and gear, they were still regular humans who possessed none of the genetic enhancement that the Host had. Before the first bullets had even left their guns, the boy dashed forward dragging the body of the first guard in front of him to defend against the first hail of gunfire.
Once the System deemed the distance sufficient, it made use of the Host's considerably superhuman strength to throw the body right into one of the guards, at the same time pushing the Host's body into a aerobic flip that allowed him to vault over the second guard. Midair, he grabbed the man's helmet covered head and slammed him into the hard metal floor. A quick kick sent the gun sliding into a corner and disarming the man who despite being dazed by the jarring blow, was quick to recover. The boy however was still faster than him, plunging the combat knife he had taken from the first man deep into the guard's neck.