Being in Kai's new laboratory when I'm not the patient lets me see just how impressive his accomplishment is. The man truly has an incredible mind. Kai is standing on a raised platform in the middle of the lab, and a large piston is keeping it extended twenty feet off the ground. The more than spacious area is comprised of zones for the good doctor's various activities. I can see the operating room where he saved my life, a workshop of blueprints and 3d models for drones he hasn't built yet, an entire area of machine parts, bits, and bobs all dumped inside laundry carts.

The second half of the room is where the real magic happens. With all the extra space, he was able to create thirty cages for us to hold people in. Unlike the previous base, these cages aren't embedded in the floor. The new cubes containing the captured civilians are improved over the last design. Completely see through from the outside, but utterly obscure from the inside. In fact, the inside looks like regular walls similar to a jail cell. The subjects have a cot, a basin to wash themselves, and a toilet. We're not monsters, after all. Half of the total cells are filled, which means we have fifteen subjects to begin experimenting on.

I leave Kai to his devices as I stroll through our prison camp, taking stock of the soon-to-be specimens we've acquired—a good mix of ages, races, and genders. Kai's once again given them matching outfits with, what I learned later on, were hand-stitched numbers into the back. The same double numerals as before, but with two noticeable exceptions: zero and six are missing. The smallest number is one, and it skips from five to seven. I'm betting he thinks he's being cute with this. Zero is a resounding success and is already set up in Wyoming. At the same time, the stupid lizard can't understand that it is by my hand that he still breathes. If I weren't so magnanimous or slightly pettier, I'd take his powers and leave him for dead.

Most of the subjects are scared, or at least understand the situation is a dangerous one. But two of them stand out as seeming either disinterested or excited about the cages they find themselves in. Subject Ten is a bored early twenties female with a physique that speaks to combat, similar to Vivienne's. She's taller than V, with tight, firm muscles like twisted steel wires; even the way she lazes about is solid and taut like a snare poised to snap up prey. She's lying on her side on the cot with one arm under the pillow, and the other against her side with her fist balled up. Her black hair is buzzed short, and her eyebrows are gone. Both her arms and legs have patchwork sleeves of tattoos; some are professional, and others look like they were done in someone's apartment. Empty holes in her ears tell me she must've had plugs that Kai removed. This is a survivor, someone who will persevere. Promising.

The second anomalous subject is Subject Thirteen. He's a huge male with a thick red beard, bushy eyebrows, and wavy ginger hair that goes to his chest. Looking like a feral jumberjack, he seems thrilled at his current circumstances. There's dried blood on his knuckles and matching marks on the walls; he tried to punch his way out of his cage. He's taller than Isaiah, wider than him too; a real mountain of a man. I'd suspect him of having powers if he weren't trapped in his cell like he is. How did they even kidnap this guy? The feeling I get from him is that of controlled chaos, someone who craves to lash out but is forced to contain those urges. He's like a pet crocodile; it doesn't matter how domesticated you think it is, it is always a wild animal. If he hasn't killed someone with his bare hands, I'd be shocked. There's something about the two of them that speaks to me.

Subjects Thirteen and Ten aren't homeless riffraff, polluting the sidewalks, and being little more than set dressing for society's underbelly. These are people who should be missed by lovers, friends, and family. The two of them have a spark in their eyes that Zero and the other original subjects were lacking. Six was the only one who took to being a guinea pig with enthusiasm and passion. The current crop of candidates isn't the downtrodden or unfortunate, the hopeless and forgotten, the people who slip through the cracks that form beneath the crust of civilization. Do these people have something else in common? Is it just confidence that made them feel like they could take these people and nothing would happen?

"Oh, Nobody. I didn't even notice you came in. I'm so excited to begin the next stage of the Apotheosis Engine project," Kai shouted.

"The Apotheosis Engine project? Do I even want to ask?"

"It's pretty self-explanatory. What we've already accomplished is something no one has ever even thought of. I haven't asked you about Zero and Six, but I'm assuming they were both a success. Together, we pushed against the grain of what was once considered static and concrete science regarding Neuvohumans. Now, we are going to once again shatter the boundary of what's thought of as possible. You are an intelligent man with the vision to see things on a grand scale and formulate plans with such far-reaching implications. But somehow you fail to recognize what my combination ability of nanites and Tuesday's ability to freely create every part of her body means. We are at the precipice of forcefully opening the doors of evolution. I've done the calculations and created potential data models for the possible upgrades I could make to all of us, and it's bordering on divine. I'm talking about halting cell degradation, making us functionally immortal. If that isn't encroaching upon the realms of Gods, then I don't know what is," Kai gushed.

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I guess I need to raise my expectations a bit. The idea of being able to exist forever is tempting. If I had as much time as Technologica did, I could gather more and more pieces slower than my current breakneck pace. It would draw less attention to myself if I were only disappearing people once a year instead of multiple times a month. Truthfully, I hadn't given Kai's musings and ideas much thought beyond what it meant for potential injuries our group might take. I need to broaden my horizon to appreciate what he's attempting to do.

"I hadn't even considered that; I've had so much on my mind that I admittedly haven't given much, if any, thought to this Apotheosis Engine project. Let us once again venture into uncharted waters as we leave behind morality in our pursuit of answers," I responded.

"EXACTLY! What was it you said last time? Oh, I remember, 'morals may not impede progress,'" Kai said.

The platform lowers until the doctor is in front of me. He looks happier than he ever has before. He's still letting his hair color fade, but the faded pinks and greens actually work very well with his natural brown hair. It's getting longer, and even with a ponytail, it reaches his lower back. The chemical distribution system clearly is working its magic, but could that work for me? His brain isn't like mine; he's basically treating the side effects of the anhedonia with aggressive psychotropics. It almost catches me by surprise how glad I am that he's back to his usual excited self. I like to think of myself as an expert on emotions because of all the research and reading I've done, combined with my power. But it's really only the blatant changes I notice; the subtle ways the emotions affect me are lost on me. Kai dramatically bows, popping back up to make sweeping gestures with his hands toward the cages.

"So what do you think? Obviously, I'm a genius scientist, a brilliant surgeon, and a technological savant, but I guess I can add ground-breaking architect to my titles. Come on, shower me with praise. I've already heard it all, but it wouldn't hurt to hear it again," he joked.

"Yes, yes, oh, if only I could clone you, Doctor. Then nothing would get in my way," I said as deadpan as possible.

"You're a real piece of work; you know that?" Kai asked, rolling his eyes.

"I am fortunate to be able to call you one of my subordinates," I said.

"I guess that's better than nothing," Kai sighed, slumping over slightly. "So, how many problematic powers do you have currently?"

"Four that I need to remove immediately. It's gotten bad, and as a result, I have made mistakes, sloppy ones that I would've never made if I were in my right mind," I answered quickly. Getting the four personality pieces out of me cannot wait any longer.

"Okay, do you want to separate them or just have me make one of these a quadrapalegic vegetable? Like a flesh drive, get it? God, Tuesday is wearing off on me," he said, shaking his head in disgust.

"We can separate the powers for now; I'd rather not break any of them as soon as we get them," I answered. "Also, do you not view them as people? The way you refer to the subjects and patients does make it seem like you think of them as objects or animals."

"It isn't that I don't think of them as people, it's just that their being people means nothing to me. Every living creature's value in my eyes is only equal to the benefit they provide. If your power worked on animals, then I'd have them down there and treat them the same as I treat these humans. I know you understand my point more than anyone else. I'd say you're even stricter about what benefit means than I am. You'd kill any of us if they got in the way of your goal," Kai said, looking up at the ceiling to where the rest of our group is above.

He's wrong, right? Would I kill them if they got in the way? It depends on whether they purposely got in my way or unintentionally affected me negatively. If it came down to calling it all off, giving up on my mission of collecting more pieces, of becoming human? Then I'd sacrifice them. No matter how useful they are or how close we grow as a group, none of that takes precedence over my goal. I could depower them all, put a bullet between their eyes, and just start over with a new group. But that isn't what I should say here at this moment.

"You think so little of me, Doctor. That, after all the time we've shared, you believe me to be so cruelly calculating that I'd kill those who helped me get where I am without a second thought. You are correct in that we do view the world similarly, but where you view it as a scale of usefulness, my outlook is slightly different," I said.

"And how's that?" He asked, amused.

"That it isn't just about usefulness for me when grading someone or something's worth. What really matters is where they fall on a different scale: the mine and the not mine. Things that are mine are to be wielded with care, and things that are not mine don't matter until they are mine. It's a selfish way of thinking, but I'm sure you understand my point more than anyone else," I said, throwing his words back at him.

Kai smiles, and my helmet mimics the one I have on as well. He turns around to type something on the computer panel, and I see gas pouring in through all the vents into the rooms. Most of the Subjects begin begging for their lives, but Thirteen and Ten don't. Ten yawns slightly, leaning up in her cot. She briefly looks around the room before shrugging her shoulders and going back to rest. Thirteen just laughs uproariously, a deep booming chuckle that comes from within his giant chest. Even after all the other Subjects have been put under, he continues standing and laughing until eventually he slumps forward, silent at last. Yeah, the two of them are definitely interesting.

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