Thoughts of a Tool

Praetorian Guard Zero felt somewhat nervous. Every time he came to the biological laboratory, he had to undergo meticulous examinations down to the cellular and mental levels. Perhaps he could refuse the Gene Sages and Bio-Alchemists in this laboratory, but not Maya Hansen. He could not refuse Maya Hansen's reasonable requests. Even during the Monarch's creation of him, the head of the biological laboratory had been of considerable help. Without her painstaking research into genetic modification technology, the birth of the Praetorian Guard would have remained a distant prospect. The examination took some time, and Praetorian Guard Zero completed his final task before the great black clock of the City of Immortals struck midnight.

"I'll take good care of her. She'll be raised by everyone in the Sisterhood and grow up healthy."

Though caught somewhat off guard, Tita steadily caught the Hellstrom child brought over by the Praetorian Guard. The adorable little girl, forcibly separated from her mother and utterly unaware of what was happening, stared at Tita's face with wide eyes. The Sisterhood had always relied primarily on recruiting victims of Human Trafficking, but not every victim willing to stay was suited to joining the Sisterhood. There were always those unsuited for combat or intensive work—those women accepted the Sisterhood's arrangements and took charge of logistics and other supporting work. They were the Sisterhood's outer members, all of them women. Such an environment would ensure the as-yet-unnamed girl received excellent care.

Tita flicked her fingers behind her, and several women draped in plain black robes emerged from the spire's shadows. Barefoot, they walked across the rough, cold stone bricks, looking so tense they seemed almost neurotic. With hunched shoulders, they carefully took the child and immediately held her close. Without looking back, the women returned to the building's shadows,