The Tojo University campus looked nothing like a battlefield. Wide stone paths, trimmed trees, modern glass buildings reflecting the sky, everything radiated calm, order, and intellectual prestige. Students moved in quiet clusters. It was the kind of place where breakthroughs were announced at conferences, not whispered about in underground markets. That made Michelle uneasy. A small team of the Fangs followed her into a conference room overlooking the campus gardens. Professor Subaru Kanzaki, the head of the medical division, was already waiting.

  “Professor Kanzaki,” Michelle said, offering a polite nod, “thank you for meeting us on such short notice.”

  “Deputy Lang called,” Kanzaki replied, folding his hands. “She said it was urgent. Something about a misused research?”

  “Yes,” Michelle said carefully. “Actually… stolen research.”

  Kanzaki blinked. “You’re telling me our work has been stolen? Oh my…”

  Milena leaned forward slightly. “If I may ask, what kind of research are you doing here?”

  “Various ones actually,” Kanzaki answered. “We have multiple teams here. Could you please be a little more specific?”

  Michelle met his gaze. “Only partially, since we are in the middle of an ongoing investigation. But I would like to ask - you do have a Doctor Toshiro Yamada here, correct?

  “Yes,” Kanzaki said. “He is one of our leading scientists.”

  “What is he working on?” Milena asked.

  “He is trying to find new ways of treating conditions that lead to body deterioration,” Kanzaki replied.

  Trella tilted her head. “Any success?”

  Kanzaki’s expression brightened despite himself. “Actually, yes! Although the testing phase is just beginning. But if this workes, what he has created could save a lot of lives. It was pretty surprising coming from him.”

  Maya frowned. “What do you mean?”

  “Until recently he was just an average researcher. Then suddenly he came up with this wonder drug! I have no idea how he did it so quickly.”

  Michelle’s voice remained calm. “Would it be possible to review his research?”

  Kanzaki hesitated. “Good question. That research is still in development and you said yourself - despite our very tight security measures, some data leaked out. “

  Michelle took a deep breath. “To be perfectly honest, it is not your research that has been stolen. A different research has. A banned one. And there is a remote chance of it being used in this company.”

  Kanzaki stiffened. “Impossible.”

  “Actually it is quite possible,” Milena corrected gently. “And we need to either confirm or rule it out.”

  A long pause. Kanzaki finally nodded. “Very well…”

  ***

  The team arrived at Tojo labs in Narita. Kanzaki led them through secured corridors until they stopped before a room with a glass wall.

  “I’ll show you what he’s working on,” Kanzaki said.

  On the other side is a young girl on a hospital bed. A young girl rested on it. Dark hair neatly brushed, skin healthy, breathing steady. No IVs, no machines screaming warnings.

  “This is Yuno Toyama,” Kanzaki said softly. “Patient zero. She arrived two months ago with terminal cancer and only a few weeks to live, at best.”

  Milena stared. “She doesn't look like a cancer patient to me.”

  “She got better,” Kanzaki said. “No chemotherapy, no radiation, no surgery, nothing.”

  Milena’s voice dropped. “That is amazing. I can hardly believe it. Normally such research would take years. How did you do it in such a short time? All of that from Yamada?”

  “Yes.”

  “Or maybe not,” Trella said quietly. “Sounds like foul play to me.”

  “May we speak with her?” Aiko asked.

  “I see no reason why not,” Kanzaki replied.

  Aiko and Michelle went to visit the girl.

  Milena turned back to Kanzaki. “And in the meantime I would like to see the formula. If the banned research has been used here, I will find out fast.”

  Kanzaki hesitated. “What exactly is this banned research?”

  Milena, Trella and Maya looked at eachother…

  “I think we should tell him,” Maya said.

  Milena nodded. “Body enhancement drugs. They increase power, speed, agility, durability and senses. They were used to create enhanced humans.”

  “And misused to create human weapons,” Maya added.

  Kanzaki stared at them in disbelief. “That’s absurd. Enhanced humans don’t exist. I thought you seriously wanted to investigate something! If this is a joke, you can take your fairytales and leave!”

  “Professor… Those are not fairytales. Both of us are enhanced,” Trella said and eyescanned the room and found a filing cabinet. Pure metal. She may not be the strongest Fang, but is one of the stronger ones. And she just lifted it showcasing her inhuman strength. Kanzaki's eyes almost popped out.

  “You believe us now?” she asked.

  Milena’s fingers flew across the terminal. “Bingo! Those sequences are from the supersoldier serum! But they were heavily modified!”

  The tension in the room is thick. Milena types rapidly at the terminal while the others circle the monitors. Milena mutters as she scrolls. “That’s odd… Sequence mapping’s all over the place. C103 and C229 are completely missing…”

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  The door slides open. Yamada enters the room and is surprised to see Milena sitting at his computer. “Professor Kanzaki? What is going on here? Who are these people? And what is she doing at my computer?!”

  “Toshiro,” Kanzaki said slowly, “what have you done?”

  “What are you talking about?!” Yamada shouted.

  “These people claim you used their stolen research, and judging by their knowledge… it isn’t an empty accusation.”

  “We never said it was stolen from us,” Maya added calmly.

  “He bought it,” Trella said. “On the black market.”

  Kanzaki recoiled. “That’s even worse!”

  Yamada snapped. “Have you all lost your minds?! What proof do you have?!”

  “We spoke to Luuross Chan,” Trella said. “Does that name ring any bells? You bought the formula from him eighteen months ago.”

  Milena looked up from the screen. “Oh my God… He’s right. Those are all new sequences— heavily modified. And these stabiliser nodes are gone! And what is this cluster supposed to be?”

  “Toshiro,” Kanzaki demanded, “you need to explain yourself.”

  “Do you even know what you bought?” Maya asked.

  Yamada’s voice cracked with frustration. “Who cares?! Yes, I bought the idea! And I rebuilt it from the ground up! And it works! She is healed!”

  “Where are the mental stabilizers?!” Milena shot back talking to herself aloud.. “She didn’t go crazy?! How is that even possible?!”

  Kanzaki was horrified. “Toshiro… You’ve broken several moral and ethical codes of the company. I’m sorry, but I’ll have to suspend your research and funding.”

  “You can’t do that!”

  Milena muttered, staring at the data. “Great Ceau?escu’s ghost… The girl’s fourteen?! He’s either crazy or a genius or both!”

  “I told you it works!” Yamada shouted. “Check her vitals! Check her results!”

  “Yeah? And what about the side effects, dumbass?!” Milena snapped.

  “What side effects?!”

  “The kind that rips people apart from the inside! You have no idea what this serum’s been used for,” Milena said coldly.

  “It creates monsters,” Trella added. “Weapons of mass destruction. Not something you toy with.”

  A beat of silence. Yamada glares at them, his confidence starts to falter. Kanzaki’s expression hardens. “I’m sorry, Toshiro. Your entire research is going under review. That decision is final. You are suspended. Go home.”

  Yamada stands frozen for a moment, eyes flickering between them, then he storms out slamming the door behind him. The sound echoes through the sterile corridor.

  Milena exhaled slowly. “He may have cured the girl, but I’m telling you, this thing’s a ticking bomb.”

  “Then we better find out how long until it goes off,” Trella said.

  Silence hangs in the air. Kanzaki leans heavily against the console, his face pale and shaken. “Oh, my god… I am so sorry for this. If I’d known—”

  “But you didn’t,” Milena said gently. “Hey… you look like a decent person. Don’t tear yourself up over it. Let’s try to fix this together.”

  Professor Kanzaki straightened slowly, his hands resting against the edge of the console as if it were the only thing keeping him upright.

  “If I may ask,” he said at last, his voice careful, brittle, “could we do this as discreetly as possible? Something like this… it could destroy everything we’ve built. Decades of work.”

  Trella didn’t hesitate. “We understand. We know exactly how dangerous this is. That’s why we’re trying to erase every last trace of what created us.”

  Before Kanzaki could respond, the lab door slid open with a soft hiss. Michelle and Aiko stepped back inside, both wearing the same tight, uneasy expressions.

  “What happened out here?” Aiko asked. “I could hear shouting even through the glass.”

  “Yamada showed up,” Maya answered.

  Michelle stiffened. “What? And you let him walk?”

  “Don’t worry,” Milena said without looking up from the terminal. “We’ve got his research.”

  “And he doesn’t look dangerous,” Trella added.

  Milena snorted softly. “His ideas are dangerous. He’s not a criminal, just a misguided moron with a messiah complex.”

  Trella glanced toward Michelle. “What about the girl?”

  “Fourteen,” Michelle said quietly. “Terminal cancer. Her family volunteered her for the experimental treatment.”

  “So she’s here voluntarily?” Trella asked.

  “Yes,” Aiko replied. “And she remembers everything. Her memory hasn’t been tampered with. But there’s something off about her. She said she received multiple serum therapies.”

  Trella frowned. “Multiple? How the hell did she survive that? You remember what happened in Brazil… The overdoses nearly tore them apart.”

  “This might be the answer,” Milena said, fingers flying across the keys. “He micro-dosed her. Small injections over a long period. It’s clever… dangerously clever.”

  “Would that still enhance her?” Maya asked.

  Aiko hesitated. “I let her squeeze my hand. It felt normal. But… something was off. Like she was pretending not to be stronger.”

  Michelle nodded slowly. “Exactly. Her reactions, her tone — they felt unnatural. Not wrong. Just… rehearsed.”

  Professor Kanzaki swallowed. “W–What do you mean, ‘not right’?”

  “I don’t know yet,” Michelle said softly. “But it feels like she’s hiding something.”

  The lab fell quiet. Only the steady hum of machines filled the space.

  “We need to study her deeper,” Milena said. “Professor, can we stay here?”

  Kanzaki hesitated, then nodded. “Yes… but not alone. You’re not Tojo employees, and protocol demands supervision. For now, that will be me. I’m the head of this division and I’ll take full responsibility.”

  Michelle gives a faint, approving nod. The tension lingers, quiet, uneasy, like something dangerous beneath the surface hasn’t yet revealed itself.

  “Michelle,” Milena said, “call the rest of the girls. I need all the help I can get.

  Michelle nods and steps to the terminal, thumbs moving quickly as she pings the team. The lab hums with nervous energy.

  “If I may ask,” Kanzaki said carefully, “what exactly is this serum you’re talking about? And why is it so dangerous?”

  Milena stayed silent for a while trying to figure out how to gently put it together.

  “Short version. It pushes the human body and senses beyond normal limits. Strength, speed, perception — all amplified. But it’s a crude balance. If dosed wrong, the body tears itself apart. Mentally, it can erode empathy and selfhood. I’ve seen girls snap. Not just psychotic breaks, but a complete remaking: memory erased, drives retooled, trained into weapons. Survivors become tools, brutal and merciless, with one built-in purpose: to kill. Imagine that technology in the wrong hands.”

  Kanzaki sank into a chair, color draining from his face. “And young girls like Yuno have been-”

  “Younger,” Milena interrupts him. “Much younger, sometimes six to nine. The serum shows the most dramatic effect at that age, but the cost is catastrophic. Their minds get overwritten in some cases. It’s not just enhancement, it’s replacement.”

  Kanzaki presses his hands to his mouth, as if to hold in more than tears. “Dear God... I devoted my life to healing people. We — I — would never… How could I have missed this?”

  “You didn’t miss it, Professor. You were working inside the system — a lab, ethics, peer review. This is the sort of thing that hides in margins and black markets. It’s engineered to be deniable. But the signatures are there if you know what to look for.”

  “Then what do we do?” Kanzaki asked, hollow.

  “First, we learn what it does to this patient. Micro-dosing is new territory even for me, but the basics still apply: careful, non-invasive assessment first. Observe behavior, basic motor function, reflexes, response to stimuli, and vitals. No experimental interventions. No heroic measures. We document everything, forensically: timestamps, recordings and control conditions. If anything looks off, sudden aggression, memory gaps, dissociation, we pull back and reassess.”

  “We do this under your supervision,” Michelle added firmly. “Transparent. No cover-ups. If this is as bad as Milena says, we need paper trails and witnesses.”

  “Agreed,” Milena said. “And I want every one of you briefed on what to look for. We’ll split tasks: observational logs, interview work, environmental sampling, and secure data capture. Nothing invasive. We don’t poke the beast unless we have a cage and a reason.”

  Kanzaki nodded slowly. “You’ll have my full cooperation. And my lab. I’ll arrange supervision and clearances. No one leaves this room without an acknowledgement of the chain of custody. If this turns into a scandal, I will shoulder responsibility.”

  “And if it becomes a scandal,” Trella said quietly, “the world should know who’s responsible. Not the kids.”

  “Exactly,” Milena said. “Practical steps. Aiko, will you stay with Yuno? Keep her calm, keep her talking. Note anything that slips. I’ll set up the monitors and start a baseline run. No treatments, no samples without group consent.”

  “Yes,” Aiko said softly. “I’ll be with her.”

  The group moves with the unusual coordination of people who’ve fought and trusted one another. Anxiety is present, but so is a focused purpose.

  “Thank you for trusting us,” Michelle said to Kanzaki. “And for agreeing to transparency.”

  “Thank you,” he replied, barely above a whisper, “for not leaving this to rot.”

  They leave the lab slowly, a careful procession: scientists and soldiers of a different sort, about to stare into something that could be monstrous or miraculous. The fluorescent lights above hum as they step into the corridor, each carrying a role and a burden.