Alexandria Zeru

The High-Enforcement Correctional and Research Complex (HECRC) is located on Sharbain, a small continent southeast of Anili Island. Upon arrival, Aries Villanite is assigned to the Functional Enhancements: Maleidic Defense and Integration Nanosuit Project (FEMDIN), internally known as the Iron Maiden Project. The project, overseen by engineer Alexandria Zeru under coercion by Idris Hadi, develops a nanomachine mesh suit integrated via a neural implant using Malei-irradiated components. All prior test subjects experienced psychosis, self-harm, or death within six months. Aries proves uniquely compatible, awakening to ULMINA (Universal Logic Matrix for Integration, Navigation, and Assistance), the suit's onboard AI, who develops near-sentience through prolonged neural integration with Aries. The two form a deep bond, with Ulmina redefining her designation acronym as a personal monument to Aries. Unknown to Aries, Idris had been tracking him since his escape from the HEMPP and engineered the FEMDIN project specifically to contain him as Subject V-1774-N1-T3, though Idris was unaware Aries had entered the program. The FEMDIN suit allows Aries selective control over his transformations. Alexandria also reveals the existence of two failed derivative experiments: Shadow, a disfigured stealth creature, and Mother, a maleidic empath whose abilities cause her constant agony. Fellow prisoner Nyx Regulus serves as Mother's caretaker. Aries resolves to rescue both experiments, creating conflict with Alexandria.

The Villanite Trading Company recruited Talia Hekata, a Hornhound dominatrix and sex therapist, as a mental health consultant. After a confrontation in which Aries shifted into beast form, Talia pledged loyalty to him and joined the team with a goal of building a capable imperial staff. Separately, Aries traveled to Plasid after Piper's crystal activated, where he learned of Empress Edith Markov's plan to transfer her consciousness into Enyxia Markov's body using a ritual that would absorb the memories of all Plasidian citizens. Trained in both Myst and Malei by Augustus Markov, Aries allied with Crowned Prince Vinisent Atril and Queen Lynia Yawlin to oppose Edith. The campaign involved liberating slaves in Harkul, surviving military assaults from Edith's forces, and the capture of Augustus and Apollo Regulus. Aries defeated Edith by using Piper's crystal to drive her from Enyxia's body, with Piper's essence expelling Edith before fading. Arielle killed Edith's physical body, trapping her in the Maleidic Realm. Following the victory, Aries and Enyxia founded the Avinadal Empire, named after Piper's middle name Avinadalia. Enyxia became Empress, and a formal imperial hierarchy was established encompassing the Regulus Sanguarchate and Plasidian Triumvirate. Lynia Yawlin and Arielle Villanite joined as High Imperial Consorts. Nyx Regulus and Aurelia Villanite also formed a romantic relationship during this period.

Following a period of instability, Aries Villanite is summoned by Arielle Villanite to a derelict mansion in Napoli, where Apollo Regulus presents him with legal ownership of the newly formed Villanite Trading Company (VTC), a goods-and-services delivery organization. The VTC's founding client list includes the Waerrani Bounty Hunters' Guild, the Napolian Mercenary's Guild, the Regulus Sanguarchate, and Ensconce Technologies, granting it immediate legitimacy despite Napoli's notoriously strict Chamber of Commerce. Apollo manages administration with Arielle's support, while Nyx Regulus assumes leadership of the Regulus Sanguarchate aided by Aurelia Villanite. The mansion serves as both residence and headquarters. Aries initially resists the gesture through self-destructive behavior, culminating in a confrontation with Arielle that leads to a psychological breakthrough and his deeper involvement in VTC operations. He and Apollo develop a close personal relationship. Tamica joins as medical and biotech consultant, and following a long-delayed reconciliation with Kiriko, she joins as engineering and espionage consultant. Attempts to hire Trance Tauling are blocked by Napolian law prohibiting the hiring of executives from non-Napolian international firms. A legal caveat allows the hire if the executive is married to the company owner. Aries proposes marriage to Trance, who accepts, motivated primarily by personal affection for Aries and Lalith rather than professional interest. The marriage is formalized through paperwork only, with no ceremony.

Date: 190-03-30 Weather: Clear Mood: Cautiously Excited Location: VTC HQ, Napoli

I've decided to start a new journal. There are several reasons I've started doing this, but I suppose the most straightforward reason is because my previous journals all went up in smoke when the prison exploded. While there are probably other reasons I could list off, I'd say that the other primary reason is that Talia told me to. She said it'd be good for my mental health, so here we go.

Problem is, I have no idea where to start, but I suppose starting with Him is probably as good as any place to start.

The first time I saw Him was also the first time I felt Him. Even through the screen, even as He was surrounded by guards, I could tell that I wasn't the only one who could feel His presence.

It was also the first time I began to question my decision in taking this mission. I felt something crawl up my spine as I watched the guards choose fight instead of flight.

I rarely found myself agreeing with the way the guards treated us, but for the first time since I got here, I felt a bit of relief as I watched one slam the butt of his rifle into this prisoner's gut.

"Prisoner DR-06N, registering for intake." One of the guards spoke over the intercom.

"Huh? Isn't that the guy who killed that one mayor and his family?"

"I heard that was a hoax and that they're fine."

"You're both right, guys, I saw the video, so I looked into it. The PDT has a whole article about it. Basically, some foreign spies tricked this idiot into killing the mayor..."

While they kept discussing, I couldn't tear my eye away from Him. Even though this was just a recording, something about the way those golden eyes glared at the camera made my stomach knot.

When I first got... let's say... "recruited" for this project, I was told that it would shave time off my sentence. I knew it was a lie, but it seemed interesting that they would offer me some sort of mercy in return for interviewing and experimenting on death row inmates.

The original objective was straightforward: Develop a neural implant and put it in various subjects selected by a mysterious selection committee. I was responsible for architecting and overseeing the construction of the implant and the AI assistant that would be on-board the implant.

We tried various subjects. None lived for very long. At first, they would die within a few days. Eventually we saw subjects lasting upwards of six months at a time. I still remember thinking we were making progress even as we watched these people be reduced to mindless husks instead of dead bodies.

The subjects became lifeless even if they survived physically. I was supposed to be interviewing them, but none stayed very coherent after a while. By this point, the experiment was hanging on by a thread. I had lost the staff they had originally provided and I was tasked with continuing it on my own until we found a suitable candidate for Phase 2.

I think what scared me about Him was that while I held no kindness in my heart for any of the prior subjects (don't get me wrong, I had none for Him, either), I found myself expecting to see Him survive this experiment. Not out of hope, though; I had already given up on the success of this project at this point. In fact, I don't know if I'd be able to really pin down the reason I expected anything different from him. Maybe instinct?

The buzz at the door in my office snapped me out of my thoughts. As I realized I had lost myself in my mind, I noticed the recording had already ended, the new subject was at my door all, and I was able to review was his intake video.

I did my best to shake off the nerves, but even as I spoke, my mind screamed at me to run, instead. "Come in."

The door slid open to reveal two guards with assault rifles on either side of the towering monster. If it wasn't for the intensity of that golden glare, I may have considered Him handsome.

"Strap him in. Let's get started." To my surprise, He seemed quite amenable to the process ahead of him. He didn't argue, He didn't even seem to hesitate as He climbed onto the operating table and the guards strapped Him in.

"Prisoner DR-06N, can you tell me your name?" I asked.

"Aries Villanite." Most people sounded defeated, angry, or, like me, empty. He sounded amused.

I hated it.

"Aries. I'm going to inject a numbing agent into the back of your neck. I would appreciate it if you stayed still. Understood?" Numbing agent was putting it mildly.

"Hm." He grunted in affirmation.

I grabbed the syringe filled with the sedative as the guards grabbed His shoulders and arms. They usually did this to hold the subjects down, but as they did, I couldn't fight the feeling that if He wanted to get up, they'd have no chance of stopping Him. His apparent lack of concern only served to unsettle me even further.

"Keep a firm hold." I instructed coldly as I leaned in and slid the needle into His neck. I'm not a sadist by any stretch of the imagination, but when I heard Him hiss in pained surprise, a wave of relief flooded over me.

That feeling, however, quickly got replaced by a morbid fascination of my newest subject as I looked over the black blood that coated the needle after I pulled it out.

"Doc?" One of the guards interrupted my thoughts. I must have been staring at the needle too long.

"Thank you, boys. I can take it from here." I responded, trying to double down on the firmness in my tone.

The guards nodded and walked out of the room as I began the operation.

"We've found that the unit has a higher success rate when implanted directly into the nervous system while the subject is awake and aware. You shouldn't feel anything, however, and your entire body should feel numb. Unfortunately, if you do feel anything, you won't be able to do much besides make noise, and even if you did, I'm not going to stop the operation until the implant has taken hold. After the operation, I will stich the incision and you will probably pass out. When you wake up, we'll begin the tutorials for your new features."

"Mm." He grunted in response.

As my scalpel sliced through the flesh of His neck, the oddly enticing scent of His thick, black blood filled the air. I remember being surprised at the growl my stomach made, then being annoyed at His teasing chuckle.

Looking back, I have to admit, if it wasn't for my pride, I may have tasted that blood. Maybe things would have been easier if I did. However, the idea of being His entertainment drove me to push past my curiosity, a feeling I'm quite accustomed to these days.

I continued the operation I had performed so many times before, I... guess it's just now occurring to me that this is the first time I look back at it all... considering everything that happened later on, it's almost eerie how uneventful the entire ordeal was: He bled, I placed the implant, He passed out, I patched Him up, the guards took Him, and I was left in my office.

I distinctly remember a knot in my stomach throughout the whole thing. I don't know what it's like to be a keeper of apex predators at zoos, but I suspect it's a similar feeling.

To be clear, I'm not a biologist. My scientific focus has always been on artificial intelligence and most recently quantum theory, so I don't know what drove me to do this, but I decided to analyze the blood He left behind. At least, I should say: I asked ULMINA to analyze the blood for me.

For context, the Universal Language Matrix for Integrations, Navigation, and Automation is my magnum opus: An AI I developed during my time in school before I ended up in that prison.

So, what did ULMINA say? Well, she said a lot, actually; mostly things I didn't understand. What caught my attention was that she somehow found reference data for his DNA, which made me realize that Aries wasn't just some new prisoner, but it was possible that he was a returning inmate.

I asked ULMINA to give me more details on this. At first, I thought it was fascinating: What a small world, you know? Looking back it may have been silly to be surprised about a career criminal being in prison more than once, but when I realized he wasn't a prior prisoner, the rabbit hole began to feel like it was lined with barbs.

ULMINA had found references to the Hadi Enterprises Maleidic Power Plant: The very same power plant that exploded some years ago and eventually led me down the path that placed me in prison.

The knot in my stomach shifted. Suddenly, I began to worry about Idris more than Aries.

Idris Hadi, the CEO and Founder of Hadi Enterprises, the man who owned the very prison both Aries and I were in. The man that, as far as I know, still has my other eye in a jar in his office to this day. And a man whose radar I would have preferred avoiding at the time. I panicked. I told ULMINA to stop all her research and delete all references to it.

Bullet dodged... or so I thought.

---

Date: 190-04-05 Weather: Clear Mood: Tired Location: VTC HQ, Napoli

I can't seem to sleep. Truth be told, I'd rather work on ULMINA, but dealing with clients today has me too mentally exhausted.

I just feel like I don't work on ULMINA much these days. Granted, working on her code isn't really something I can do anymore and my quantum theories just aren't panning out... I've never had much of a passion for robotics, so sometimes I miss the days before she joined Him.

When the experiment first started, I was using a BetaMINA build for the implants. The smaller builds were able to perform the tasks needed, so I never had any inclination to load ULMINA's full code into an implant. I honestly assumed doing that would kill a person. Looking back, maybe I should have warned Kiriko of that before she made me do it.

About three weeks after trials began with Aries, I was visited by Kiriko.

Kiriko Kuransagi was one of Idris Hadi's top employees. She was one of many bullets I was hoping I had dodged, but there she was, standing in my doorway, those mechanical eyes staring at me with an expression I had never seen on her face. It was subtle, and hard to place at the time, but Kiriko was worried about something.

"Can... I help you?" I asked.

Her eyes narrowed. "Why did you search for him?"

I knew what she was talking about immediately. "What? Who?"

Kiriko stepped closer. "I'll take the other eye if you lie to me again."

I suppose I should clarify: This was my second time meeting her; the first time was when she abducted me, tortured me, and took my eye. Luckily, she seemed over it...

"It was an accident. I deleted everything I had and stopped looking." I confessed.

Her brows furrowed; I didn't think they could anymore. "What does that mean? How do you do something like that by accident?"

I threw my hands up to, showing my palms and inching away. "I... didn't know he was a returning subject. I just checked his DNA after the implant to see if I should worry about his compatibility. When I realized I was in too deep, I highlighted all the files, hit Shift, Delete, and then clicked Yes. I promise I never meant to stick my nose anywhere. He'll be coming by soon for his check-in, you can keep him."

"He's... here... ?" For the first time since I'd first encountered her, Kiriko sounded human.

"Uh... yeah. Wait, why are you here, then?" My curiosity got the best of me.

"No, that doesn't make any sense. I would have been notified the moment he was processed. The first hit to his data would have been at the front office, not some employee prisoner's computer." She speculated.

I simply shook my head. "People who are selected as candidates for the FEMDIN trials aren't processed officially. Hadi told us to eliminate paper trails for them."

"Who selected him...?" She asked.

I shrugged. "I have no idea who does the selection, but I've suspected they're automatically selected based on crime severity these days."

"How... Is he?" Back then, I remember feeling amused. The bitch who stole my eye and gave it to her master as a trophy sounded sad. Good. Fuck her.

"He's arrogant, overly flirtatious, annoying, and too outspoken for his own good..." I grumbled.

Kiriko leaned against the wall and let out a mechanical, whirring sigh of relief. It kind of annoyed me. "So he hasn't changed."

"You know him...?" I prodded.

She glared at me again, her cold tone returning. "When will he be here?"

I sighed, looking at the clock. "An hour."

Kiriko nodded, walking towards my desk while shooing me away. She pulled up a notepad on my computer and began typing furiously.

I watched over her shoulder. "You want me to ask him these questions? May I ask why?"

"You may not."

I didn't bother engaging further after that. I was already on edge with her in the room to begin with, and I felt like if I kept prodding, one of us would end up getting annoyed, and I preferred to keep my remaining eye.

One of the most awkward hours of my life followed. She eventually gave me my computer back, but focusing on my work while she looked over my things was beyond stressful. My office is my space, and hearing someone go through my things while being too afraid to tell them what not to touch was really getting in the way of my focus.

Finally, I turned and looked at her. "Do you smoke?"

She put down a syringe she was investigating. "Hm?"

"I have some cigarettes. I have a feeling you could use one." I offered, opening a drawer in my desk where I kept an ash tray, lighter, and a pack of stale cigarettes.

"You're offering me contraband?" She asked in a tone that made it feel like commentary more than a question.

"Is that a no?" I began to close the drawer.

She shook her head. "No... I'll take one."

I lit a cigarette for her, then handed it over. She looked at me suspiciously. "You aren't smoking?"

I smiled. "Including that one, I'm down to four, and the guy who sells them here charges more than I'm generally interested in paying."

Kiriko gave me a knowing stare before looking down.

I rolled my eye. "Don't pity me now. It's a bit late for that."

Our awkward silence was cut off by the buzzer of my door. The guards were here. Aries was here.

I looked at Kiriko as she handed the cigarette back over and motioned for me to wait. She walked over to the closet in my office, stepping inside and nodding to me before closing the door.

"Come in." I called out before taking a drag of the cigarette.

The door opened, revealing the idiot and His big, stupid grin flashing the two rows of sharp, shark-like teeth. "Howdy, gorgeous. Miss me?"

I let out a plume of smoke as my eyelids lowered in annoyance. "Is it too much to ask that you test the sharpness of your teeth on your tongue, Aries?"

He chuckled as He entered the room, staring at the cigarette in my hand. "You don't get those from Petroc, do you?"

I nodded. "I do. How are you feeling?"

He sighed as He sat down. "Eh. Like usual, I guess. There's fancy new screens in my vision, there's a voice in my head that talk differently from the others, and my doctor wants me to bite my own tongue off. Long story short, I'm feeling a little unwanted... Does he charge you the same price he charges other female prisoners?"

I nodded. "The voice in your head. You're referring to the on-board assistant?"

He nodded once, still staring at the cigarette. "Yeh."

I glanced at the notes on my computer left behind by Kiriko. "You mentioned other voices. You've made comments about those before. I assumed you were being dramatic." Looking back, I admit my annoyance with Aries did make me a bit neglectful of what may have been important details.

He chuckled. "Nah. They're real. I hear memories and voices all the time."

"Can you tell me more about them? Do they have names?" I asked.

His expression changed. The usually cocky demeanor was replaced by a sudden distance. He suddenly lost interest in my cigarette.

I stared at Him for a moment before asking. "Aries?"

"They're the people I've eaten." He smiled as He said that. The same, cocky, toothy grin He had when He would call me beautiful or tell me He had dreams about me.

I wanted to leave. Everything in my body was screaming at me to stop wading in these shark-infested waters, but the fear for what was in my closet kept me in my seat. His file never said anything about cannibalism, and yet it didn't feel like a scare tactic. To be completely honest, reflecting on this does make me feel a bit guilty. Now that I've gotten to know this idiot, I realize that smile has never been a scare tactic, it was always a cry for help. How does a monster ask for affection when it knows it's too scary to love?

"I'm not going to attack her. Calm down, cowboy." Aries snapped me out of my thoughts.

Behind him, I noticed the guards exhale as they lowered their hands... I remember trying to move past the topic, but honestly, now that I'm sitting here thinking about this... If Aries knew the guards were on edge without even looking at them, how did He never notice the person in the closet? Maybe I'll ask Him about that when He comes back.

"Aries. Let's change the topic a bit." I suggested.

"Of course." He smiled, but his tone was empty. He was used to people avoiding that topic.

"Have you ever heard of the HEMPP?" I asked the first of Kiriko's questions and the energy in the room shifted.

I immediately remembered the feeling I got when I first saw Him on my computer screen during His intake. Like some invisible tendril was crawling up my spine and wrapping around my throat. I wanted so desperately to make sure He didn't know I was afraid, but everything inside me told me He already knew. That fucking smile of His told me He already knew.

"Oh, I love the hemp. But if you're gonna offer me contraband, maybe we discuss that away from the guards?"

I barely had the wherewithal to acknowledge His deflection. I glanced at Kiriko's notes again. "You were there when it exploded, weren't you?"

He sighed, looking away again. His knee began to rock left to right. "Mhm..."

"Were you there before it exploded?" I pushed further.

His leg stopped. "Yep. Grew up there."

That stopped me. "In... a power plant?"

"Underneath it." He confirmed.

When the Hadi Enterprises Maleidic Power Plant exploded, the rumor mill went into full swing. I remember reading articles stating that a secret underground facility was discovered in the wreckage and that Hadi Enterprises was being accused of experimenting on children down there. I thought these rumors were a stretch and disregarded them at the time.

After that, I went through the rest of Kiriko's questions, and to be honest, while I considered typing out the parts of the interview I remember, I now find myself hesitating.

I honestly don't think it's my place to tell that miserable story, and I've dozed off twice now while writing this entry, so we'll stop here.