Chapter 22. Project Brian (Part 2)

  His eyes shot open, and liquid began draining from all around him. He blinked a few more times before the pod opened up; his clothes were where he had left them on the desk. The man known as Rubeus stepped out of the pod and walked over to a drying station. After which, he retrieved his clothes and got dressed.

  Looking back towards the pods, he noted how they were the same as usual. The left pod containing a clone of Rubeus, and the other empty. He adjusted his suit and his smile in a mirror above a sink before stepping out of the room into a closet. Exiting the closet, he was met with a plain-looking bedroom, a room he had never used. Opening the door leading out of this room, he looked out into his apartment, another Rubeus sitting at a desk. Rubeus gave this clone a nod as he left to go attend his little pet project.

  Brian simply stared at the ceiling, no particular thought existing in his mind in that moment. Moments later, light entered his cornea as the room began to come alive. He gave it no mind as time passed and another shift accused. A voice, one he was well aquatnted with by now, spoke. Everything was playing out as it had many times, the mans voice petering out into a sigh. His voice then boomed.

  "Test 1! Durability and Regeneration! Initiating Trial 376!"

  With that, the dull sensation of pain coursed through his body as a high-powered laser cut through his flesh. Soon after, the flesh came back together at impressive speeds, the deep wound nowhere in sight. All throughout, Brian continued to stare at the same spot, his face, the only part of his body he could move, not budging an inch. Over the past few cycles of trials, the "pain" had seemingly increased, but Brian seemed to not pay it any attention anymore.

  24 more trials flew by, each one lasting roughly 10 minutes, including regeneration time. The amount of time it took to cut through Brian's flesh had become extreme. At the start, it took mere seconds to test durability and minutes for the regeneration. But things had flipped, and it was no longer viable to split the durability and regeneration into two trials.

  Everything but their most powerful means had no effect, and once the wound had been made, his body simply healed in seconds. Minutes of work were rendered worthless in the blink of an eye, but they were not truly worthless, for this level of progress was monstrous.

  Rubeus looked down at his device, the readings from the various scientists in the room coming together as digestible data. Most notable and obvious was the improvement to durability and regeneration. From the first recording to now, there has been a 400 times increase to durability and a 240 times increase to regeneration. 40,000% and 24,000%, improvements respectively. The data had been rounded to the nearest hundred to account for errors and keep things consistent.

  Other subjects barely saw a tenth of this increase, and even then, they were outliers themselves. These readings did drop throughout the four hours of trials, only by a few hundred percent, however. This had just been a fortunate consequence of the project as a whole. With the first few subjects, the goal had to break them and test their capabilities at the same time. But feeding them the Crimson Energy from Crimson Orbs after they expended their reserves made them stronger.

  If it weren't for Brian, the ultimate goal would have almost certainly been a lost cause. Every other subject was simply too volatile to control, and their rate of growth plateaued quickly. In some ways, Brian's strong will made breaking him easier. It took significantly longer, but a mere 6 days was nothing. The other subjects were simply too far gone already, the project only making them more unstable. Brian had been whole, and now he was suffencintly broken.

  He truly had been the perfect candidate in more ways than even Rubeus knew. The manipulation he had been through from the first moment he took in breath to when he was working as a detective. He had been molded the entire time, and paired with his strong mind, will, and soul, he could be broken without shattering. He was no longer whole, and there had always been cracks, but when he finally broke, the pieces didn't scatter. His conditioning and innate ability made sure of it. So, after the tenth day of Test 1, the next step was to be initiated.

  Brian drifted into unconsciousness after consuming a bit of energy, his first time sleeping in many days, and awoke in a dark room. It was lit, but the walls almost drank in the light. They were dark purple and glowed a faint red, making the already dim room more unsettling. However, Brian didn't take any of this information in as he lay on the ground.

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  "Stand!" A voice that Brian recognized all too much rang out from all directions. In reality, his voice was being transmitted directly to Brian via an implant.

  Brian followed the command, moving his body for what felt like the first time as he struggled for a moment. Once in a standing position, he stared forward unblinking. Seconds ticked by until the voice rang out again.

  "Stay in that position and do not move in any way until stated otherwise. Now raise your right arm."

  Brian did as instructed.

  "Now lower it."

  Again, he followed the order.

  Hours passed as he stood still, not a single muscle in his body moving. After 8 hours in total, Rubeus's voice once again voiced in Brian's mind.

  "Test 2! Strength & Combat! Trial 1 Instructions Imminent!"

  After a bride moment, an order was announced. "Turn around 180 degrees, walk forward, and punch the wall a single time with as much force as possible using any means necessary."

  Rubeus stood in a control room of sorts and appeared at the monitors. A Bureau Agent stood nervously next to him. After hours of meticulous monitoring, it was confirmed that Brian hadn't moved in the slightest, not even taking a breath of air. The sensors did most of the work, but someone still had to parse the information. Even after the 8 hours were up, Rubeus was still not 100% convinced that Brian was completely under The Bureau's thumb, but the second test would try its best to do so.

  There were still many subjects undergoing Test 1, none expected to get to the second round of testing, at least not in any meaningful capacity. Brian's specific setup wasn't unique, but from the beginning, there had been extra care for his. From the amount of scientists working endlessly to the quality and quantity of technology invested in Project Brian. Needless to say, some subjects had been put into the specially reinforced room and let go rampant. In the end, they simply tired themselves out and eventually passed out. The data from this wasn't useless but less than hoped for. But with Brian finally ready to begin, maybe things-

  "Holy shit!" The Bureau Agent exclaimed.

  Rubeus's eyebrows rose, and his smile widened. To the agent, Brian's movement had been instantaneous, while Rubeus just barely caught what had happened. He was beyond impressed that Brian was even able to pull off what he had, while at the same time terrified. The man rarely held any fear, but he felt it would be stupid for one not to listen to their own instincts. And they told him that if Brian had ever hit him with such force, there would be no doubt he would die.

  Brian had turned 180 degrees as instructed and walked over to the wall before standing there. Rubeus and the Agent had almost thought Brian was pulling their leg until the whole room shook. In a single instant, Brian's fist glew a brilliant red, and the air around him vibrated. In the next, his right leg is drawn back, and his body is rotated slightly. Faster than a normal human could see, crimson energy infused Brian's right foot. Along with the muscles responsible for generating torque and power. Namely the calves, quadriceps, glutes, and hips. With this, he finally extended his arm in one fluid motion. His deltoid, tricep, bicep, and serratus anterior were all being enforced with Crimson Energy in time with his movements to dish out maximum potential damage.

  Brian knelt on his uninjured leg, using his arm as support, as the other leg healed. The muscles had exploded within his own leg due to the force applied from being enhanced and the speed at which he had attacked. As a result, the entirety of his right leg below his knee was gone, while his hand and arm didn't fare much better. Much like the lower half of his right leg, his right arm was gone. And all throughout his body minor wounds could be found aswell from the sheer force exerted.

  If one thought Brian looked pretty beat up, they should see the other guy, that being the wall. Or at least what was left of it, as one would have a hard time calling it a wall anymore. The spot Brian had struck with his fist was gone; in fact, a total of 10 meters behind where he had struck was also gone. Along with a few meters above and below. Not only this, but cracks in the strange reinforced material sprawled onto the other walls around him, as well as the ceiling.

  As his leg healed, he stood up, and his arm and the rest of his body kept regenerating. It took about 50 seconds for him to be fully healed, dust finally settling as he was. Rubble lay in the inset and destroyed section of the wall, most of it minuscule. Some of it was small to medium-sized sized but it looked as if a large chunk of the wall simply disintegrated.

  The whole room had shaken, with even Rubeus and the agent feeling it from the control room. The agent still stood, mouth agape at the outcome, with Rubeus looking on hopeful.

  "Let's just hope we truly have Brian under our control. While I doubt he could escape, I'm not willing to bet on it. Send Him the footage of this first test, and go get some rest. I will take a small break and then keep watch."

  With that, Rubeus gave Brian a command to stay completely still again and gave some guards a command to watch over him. Rubeus left the control room, walked down a long hallway, and then entered an elevator. Making his way back to his apartment, he passed by some Agents who he waved to or greeted. Finally back, he nodded at the clone at the desk. Finally, he went back to the pods and got ready to get in. He started the process to reawaken the third clone and fell unconscious in his pod.

  His eyes shot open, and liquid began draining from all around him. He blinked a few more times before the pod opened up; his clothes were where he had left them on the desk. He felt the usual influx of knowledge from his other clone and instantly knew what he was to do. He stepped into the drying station, got dressed, tidied up in the mirror, and set off. As he left, he gave the Rubeus clone at he desk a nod before getting back to the control room.

  Once there, he relieved the guards and was in the Control room alone. A call appeared on the screen in front of him, and he answered, His voice coming through.

  "Hello, sir," Rubeus responded on instinct.

  "Upon analysis of the footage, Test 1 not only achieved the desired outcome but exceeded expectations, proceed with Test 2 without further delay."

  "Of course, sir. We shall initiate the combat portion of Test 2 immediately.