[Original/Outdated]Honkai Impact: A Merc's Involvement

Chapter 31: A Grim Revelation

As the group of four walked inside the Tower, Alex would get his first ever impression of what the Babylon would look like on the inside, and it was a rather grim first impression.

'Everything here is so dimly lit. With how the infrastructure is set up, this feels more like a prison rather than an actual lab. Not to mention, just the vibe this place gives off is extremely off putting.'

Alex didn't know why, but just being inside the Lab made him feel sick and nauseous, as if something malicious was inside that tower besides the 2nd Herrscher.

As Alex surveyed his surroundings, Kiana began to pick up on how odd the tower was as well.

"So, this is what the tower looks like on the inside? Kinda seems like a prison to me." Said Kiana.

"From what I was told, Overseer Otto is the one who manages the Babylon Labs, though what exactly he uses this place for is unknown to me." Stated Cecilia.

That definitely raised a red flag for Alex, though that topic would get brushed aside as Theresa cleared her throat to get their attention.

"Look, we can save the extra stuff for later. Right now we gotta focus on catching up to the 2nd Herrscher before she regains back her full strength." Said Theresa.

The other nodded in agreement and began to traverse within the tower.

After encountering and taking down a group of Honkai Beasts, they all came across an elevator which was locked.

"Damn. It's going to need a Key Card if we're going to want to utilize it." Said Theresa.

"I'm fairly certain that the key card should he around here somewhere as long as we look carefully." Said Cecilia.

Right as the four were about search the area, Theresa's transmission device began to go off as she looked to see who was contacting her.

"Hm? A message from the Overseer?" Said Theresa. She began to read it and as she finished it, gave a confused expression.

"He wants me to head back now all of a sudden. This makes no sense. Why?" She asked.

"The Overseer more than likely has a plan that involves you. We should trust his judgement. Don't worry Theresa. You can leave the 2nd Herrscher to me." Said Cecilia.

"W-Wait but....." Trailed off Theresa, still unsure if she should leave the group.

"Don't worry Theresa we got this covered. Me and Alex will do our absolute best to keep Cecilia safe from any major harm." Confidently said Kiana as Alex nodded in agreement.

Theresa sighed, knowing that she wasn't gonna be able to convince Kiana otherwise.

"Alright then, I'll be heading off then. Take care you three. Good luck."

With that, Theresa bid farewell and left, leaving the group on their own.

"Alright then. Kiana, Alex, let's split up and look for the key card. Make sure not to get too far from here, understood?" Asked Cecilia.

The two agreed and they all went off in their own directions looking for the key card.

Alex approached a row of numerous jail cells, and though he was supposed to be looking for just the item, he couldn't help but notice some eerie and disturbing details about the cells.

'Dried out blood, torn and ragged blankets, worn out children's toys, just what the hell was going on in here?' Thought Alex.

Nearly every cell he looked through had the same three details, as the more he saw it, the more it really began to genuinely upset and disturb Alex.

That was until the last cell he looked through, when he saw, to his utter shock, a dead body.

More specifically, a child's dead body.

Alex couldn't even begin to comprehend what he was seeing.

It took a while for him to regain his composure, if anything, the fact that he didn't even react to it loudly impressed him a little.

He approached and kneeled down to get a closer look at the corpse.

Aside from the obvious stains of dried blood, Alex spotted numerous bruises, cuts, and red, cuff marks on their wrists.

It didn't take a genius to figure out what was going on, as Alex immediately pieced together the reason as to why this place felt so off putting.

'Babylon Tower, was being used as a child experimentation facility.'

"Yes it indeed was!"

Upon hearing that voice, Alex immediately noticed all of his surroundings turn into nothing but endless white.

"What the, Truth!" Said Alex as he turned around and sure enough there was the otherworldly being, sitting down.

"Heya! Sorry about suddenly pulling you back into my humble abode but I just had to congratulate you on figuring out one half of Babylon Tower's dark truth." Said the white entity.

"Wait one half? Y-You mean there's more to this than just child experimentation!?" Asked Alex in genuine shock.

"Mhm! I commend you for finding out about the child experimentation, but........."

Truth went dead quiet for a bit before chuckling, his tone now shifting to a much more serious one.

"The reasoning as to WHY Babylon Towe was performing child experimentations, is something that you couldn't even begin to comprehend." Said Truth.

When that was said, Alex's stomach began to churn.

He was genuinely horrified on what the reasoning could be.

A part of him didn't even wanna know what it was, but he pressed on anyways.

"W-What was it then? The reason. Why did Babylon Tower perform child experimentations?" He asked.

Again, Truth kept eerily quiet, adding to Alex's anxiousness.

Then, Truth gave the answer.

"Babylon Tower performed all these experiments, because they wanted to create a Herrscher, with one of the children being its vessel." He said.

By now, Alex was genuinely in shock.

"H-Hold on. You're telling me that, Schicksal used this place, so they could create a Herrscher from a child!?" Asked Alex.

Alex got no response, as Truth merely chuckled to himself.

After a bit, the entity spoke once more.

"Listen kid. I'd hate to leave you hanging here, but......"

Truth trailed off once more as he stood up and approached Alex.

"You and that snowflake are being watched." He said, as he then place his hand on Alex's forehead. "You didn't time travel. You're in a simulation of the past. WAKE UP!"

After the sudden shout from Truth, the entity hand phased through Alex's forehead.

"H-Hey what're you-!?"

Before Alex could finish speaking, it was as if he felt his brain, his mind, be forcefully turned off, kinda like a console being shut down, as the boy fell over, immediately losing consciousness.

Chapter 31: Complete