Chapter 20: CHAPTER 20: From Scratch

The vault doors stood with great intimidation and grandeur as they towered over the group of motley-sized bodies containing most of the Plagues, Midnight, and a hazel-haired scientist who was unlocking the massive chunk of metal. It was an invulnerable protector, and a very mysterious one at that. The metal was tinted an odd, glittering dark green. Brandy had said that the walls contained an alloy stronger than anything civilization was aware of. It was a mixture of tungsten carbide and a new element named zelstone. Zelstone was apparently useful because it had different properties depending on its cooling time. Cool it fast, and then temper it, and you would get a metal that dwarfs steel in hardness. It is malleable enough not to shatter if its (impressively high)maximum impact limit is surpassed. It can also keep an insanely sharp edge almost indefinitely, making it a staple for GMH weapons. There is a catch to this, though. The metal was so rare that only alloys were used in a standard GMH weapon, the purer alloys only residing in the hands of the most elite. The metal was also very heavy, and was radioactive for quite some time after its creation(though this was gamma radiation, and didn't make zelstone decay back into another element.) This all was owed to the fact that the only way to make such a material was through synthetic means. It was an extremely grueling process, as the slightest mistake was a nuclear mess that meant everything had to be started over. When the scientists of the Arewara Corporation discovered this element some years ago, they were ultimately surprised and dumbfounded. Though the nucleus of the element dwarfed any known element of the time, it managed to keep its electrons from crashing into its core(and therefore kept it from collapsing.) It was a breakthrough, a grand enigma of science and the universe at large. With this they hypothesized other goldilocks points where the atom in question would remain stable. Unfortunately, they could not find more, even up to the day Midnight and his comrades-for-hire stood before these gates of the unknown, waiting to see what's inside the next Pandora's box of this profound organization. Midnight glared at the door with anticipation. Why they were willing to trust an unknown entity such as him not only about the discovery of such a key piece of information as the metal, but also the even more grand upcoming one, he did not know. Perhaps they trusted him because the governments and civilians would never willingly get close enough to him for him to be able to talk of the questionable things that he had seen. Another reasoning in Midnight's mind was that they knew him well enough to know he would never have a motive or desire to pull such a thing. However they decided, Midnight was not one to complain. His curiosity burned forth, a raging forge in which motivation combusted from. He lowered his perception rate, so that time went by faster in his eyes, all to get a glimpse of the future made present. The vault door strangely had no seams, even at the corners, but when the scientist finished inputting all of the verification procedures on the sidewall, the vault wall became fluid, floating in connected waves of blackish liquid that remained at least partially attached to the wall, with glittery specs of green infused with it. In this mixture of seemingly gravity-defying liquid, the second form of the precious zelstone lied. When the material is given longer to cool in certain conditions, crystalline structures form. These microcrystals had a vast array of technological uses, ranging from computing storage and memory of unparalleled efficiency, as well the entirely new ability to create a fluid that can be manipulated and hardened using electrical signals, such as that of Midnight's power. Of course, both the device needed to control the substance, as well as the actual manufacturing of Midnight's haze, as he preferred to call it(not knowing the nature of his ability at the time he had it administered to him), were specially made and one-of-a-kind. The scientists under Arewara were currently trying to create a replica of Midnight's X enigma, but they were not having complete success. They had this prototype vault(amongst other things) as a product of their efforts, but they did not come close to producing another X unit. The vault was still remarkable, in its own right, perfect for guarding their main project. The liquid finished retracting to reveal a white-lit room with twelve tables serving as pedestals, each holding their own clear, plastic pouch with many sensors and tubes leading into it. The table enveloped the pouches, keeping them secure in place, and even had a dome-like structure that could fold down and presumably offer protection. Midnight walked up to one of the pouches, knowing full well not to touch the pouches. It just looked like a clear liquid, so he concentrated and increased the focus of his eyes. What were these pouches? Why so much protection? He pondered these questions until all became clear when he noticed a speck-sized particle in the liquid. He clenched his hands to the side of his stomach, shocked at what he had discovered. Confusion and clarity became one as he looked back up at the minute structure. A zygote was growing itself into an embryo, slowly but surely. Midnight's voice spoke softly and warily as he looked around to see each one of them in different stages of growth.