Alpha Finds a Home

The sun sank slowly, its golden-red light soaking the clouds around Egghead Island and bathing the entire research base in warmth.

When Dawn brought Alpha to Vegapunk's laboratory, the brilliant scientist was giving Sanji his final examination. The little boy lay on the scanner, staring at the ceiling, lost in thought.

Reiju sat quietly in a chair nearby, hands on her knees, her posture far too proper for a ten-year-old.

Alpha carried a mountain of documents.

"Doctor, this is Germa's modified-human technology."

Dawn pointed to the documents.

"I'd like you to improve it and make a version that can be used on adults."

Germa's original modified-human technology worked on embryos. It intervened during fetal development, editing the Lineage Factor to create perfect soldiers with special abilities.

But it could not be used on people who had already matured.

The technology had, of course, come from Judge's memories. Dawn had no gift for science, but he could still copy down everything he had seen without leaving anything out.

Alpha stepped forward and carefully set the stack of documents on the desk.

Little Reiju looked stunned.

She knew how important the modified-human technology was to her father. It was the foundation of the Germa Kingdom's revival and the means by which the Vinsmoke Family hoped to rule the North Blue.

In theory, no one else should ever have known about it. Yet here was that mountain of documents, left casually on a desk.

Sanji gave it much less thought. He had always known little about his family's dealings. In the original timeline, he had not learned what technology they possessed until his brothers told him.

For now, he merely looked at the documents with curiosity, unable to understand why his sister looked so strange.

Vegapunk did not answer right away. He pulled