Persona - Mask of Origins

Yuki stepped into the lab.

"Have you been listening, Yuki?"

"Yes. I'm still a little surprised I'm not fully human."

"I don't care what you are, Yuki. I won't let anyone harm you."

 

Zain nodded and bowed his head, "I'm sorry Yuki...this...isn't the type of thing I thought we'd find."

Callen smiled, he'd get his hands on that flashdrive one way or another, "Yuki, ask them for the flashdrive with the data on it."

 

"So what did you guys find in the lab?"

Toji hooked the flashdrive up and downloaded the data to his computer.

Yuki looked over the files and was horrified by what she saw.

"How could your father do such horrible things?! Looking at all of this makes me seem more human than he is."

 

Zain kept silent. He knew he wouldn't be in those files, but others like him. Failed experiments, he assumed.

Callen gritted his fanged teeth, "Yuki...I need that flashdrive. There's something I need to see in those files."

 

"Then get in here and look for yourself. I'm not your slave."

 

Callen was at a loss for words, "I can't. You've no idea how fast Zain would throw me out of there. Unless, I could wait until he left. If you would let me back into this house once he leaves."

 

"Don't count on it."

 

Callen smiled, "Then I suppose I'll just have to take my chances now." He stepped behind Yuki and shuffled her aside, "Let me look at the data." As predicted, Zain jumped up, his red eyes glowing, "Not so fast! Why should you get to look at the data? Didn't you have your fun destroying things at the lab already?"

 

"What's got you so interested in this data?"

 

Callen's face remained impassive, "It's personal. There's someone in there I need to see what they've done to them."

Zain wasn't buying it and he voice this, "I don't buy it. You sound like it's of great deal to you, but your face says otherwise." Callen struggled to keep his face the way it was, "Would you rather I break down? Cry? Yell? Break something? Not everyone can't control there emotions like you Zain. When your parents died you cried. When I was turned into this and my family was taken away, do you think I wasted my time crying. Or do you think I sought a way to change it?" Zain was struck speechless.

 

"I see. Your family ended up being some of the first experiments."

 

"Yes. Now if I may." he dragged the computer toward him and scrolled through it. Zain was still sitting there, dumbfounded.

After a few minutes Callen's face changed. Everything dropped. His hand moved away from the computer as his eyes skimmed over the screen. He stood and left silently and Zain pulled the computer toward him. The screen read: Subject 018: Maria Mizuhashi Age: 21 Gender: Female Administered test number 46900 on the first of November; signs of abnormalities detected three days after injection. First, miscarrage: the skin of her legs changed color and texture. The scales moved up her legs to expand the rest of her body, changing it to what we've seen as the Shadows now. Last to go was her sanity. Mumbling something about a Callen and how he never loved her. Assuming Callen is her husband, the affair and ending of their marriage was the last she'd seen of him.

 

"I would have never guessed." Toji said as he disposed of the sample of Yuki's blood.

 

Zain read the technical bit about the child they recreated, but nothing else was found about anyone else he would've known. "Hmm, didn't he say something about twin boys? There's only record here of them recreating one. What happened with the other?" Zain was only thinking aloud when Callen returned, leaning on the doorway, "Zero was recreated successfully. He retained his sanity and lived as a human for seventeen years. Until he went back...looking for answers about himself. I recall seeing him in the lab. He was...more or less human. I couldn't tell."

 

"So what are you going to do?"

 

"What else can I do? I have to get him out of there. Soon..."

 

"You'll have to wait till things die down at the lab."

 

Callen grinned, his fangs gleaming in the light, "Definately. But I will get my son back. Alive or dead, if he's human, it's the only thing that matters. I've had to murder my own wife and one of our children, I won't be killing another son of mine as a creature."

 

"I'd suggest heading out in a few hours. The security at late night is pretty lax."

 

He nodded and left anyway.

Zain shook his head, "What the...he can't be serious!? Callen, do something for someone else? Next thing you know he's drinking me dry with all these favors for humanity."