25 YEARS LATER - PRESENT DAY

EVERGREEN RESIDENCE A

VIRTUM, GRATA - 11:55 PM

After reliving his first memory, Zack continues with his reminiscing by scrolling to March 6, 1993.

24 YEARS AGO

ETERNAL TOWER - 21ST FLOOR

EVERNIGHT, NAZENDEL - 3:36 PM

Operating a supercomputer, Zack skims through Eternal Drive documents before stopping at a folder titled:

PROJECT Z

Zack opens the folder, revealing a lengthy 200-page file that documents Arthur Zeta, the first recorded demediom. Eternal Drive at the time was a pharmaceutical company that supplied Palladium with boosting drugs. Similar to demediom serums, these drugs were made with the blood of demons. If one were to take them, their physical strength, stamina, speed and agility would temporarily be boosted for 72 hours. Unfortunately several side-effects would arise, including deformed muscle structures, enlargement of hearts and irregular levels of dopamine and blood pressure.

Eternal Drive was forced to find an alternative when Ricard Mayhem, the leader of Palladium confronted them due to several of his soldiers being forced to retire as a result of these abnormal conditions. As an alternative, Eternal Drive worked on a new substance - a serum of several different chemicals infused with the blood of demons.

It took quite a long while before the tests ended up being successful. Several subjects would undergo even worse deformations to the point that they began to resemble demons in appearance and nature. After years of trial and error, Eternal Drive had finally achieved success with their new project. Or so they thought.

Arthur Zeta was a 43 year-old man from Terminus, Grata. Just a week prior to becoming a labrat, Arthur had killed his wife and children in a drunken rampage. He was arrested and taken into Evernight where he would serve as the latest experiment for the demediom project.

At first it seemed as if it was another failure. Arthur had not responded in hours after being injected with the serum. After two days in isolation however, the guard that usually brought IV fluids to patients was found dead in Arthur’s room, with Arthur himself nowhere to be found.

The scene was a total mess. If it weren’t for CCTV footage of the guard entering Arthur’s room, Eternal Drive would have never recognized his identity. The guard’s head had exploded with blood splattered all over, painting the white walls a crimson red. His spine was shattered in two hundred places, his corpse mangled and curled up into a ball in the corner.

Though the horrid scene was enough to make even the strongest of men puke, Eternal Drive was ecstatic that its experiment finally worked; unfortunately Arthur was a lost cause. Parading in the streets of Evernight, Arthur would continue his psychotic rampage before eventually being gunned down by Eternal Drive forces. His corpse would be taken back to the Eternal Tower where it was to be inspected, with E-Drive finally perfecting the demediom serum.

At least, that was the story sent to the public. According to the document Zack opened, Arthur Zeta was a normal citizen who worked as a landfill attendant. Arthur had the unfortunate luck of stumbling upon a poorly-shredded document that recounted the previous victims of the demediom experiment. When Arthur questioned the local Eternal Drive officer about it, he was arrested and his family was killed in order to silence them. The massacre was indeed true, but it was the experiments that broke him. The years of isolation, being watched and tested by Eternal Drive had driven Arthur into insanity.

By this point Eternal Drive had made thousands of serums and the incident with Arthur was long-forgotten. E-Drive started to have leverage over Palladium with these serums, eventually overcoming the latter as the big ruling power in Lavia. Viktor Mayhem, Ricard’s grandson and the current leader of Palladium had grown curious regarding the incident with Arthur Zeta, having witnessed it in the news as a child.

Viktor came to Terminus to investigate and learned from Arthur’s coworker about what truly went down. Though Arthur was a beloved man in the community, they could not do anything about his kidnapping nor the murder of his family as they feared suffering the same fate. With this information, Palladium had regained leverage once more by blackmailing Eternal Drive. In response, Eternal Drive threatened to halt the production of demediom serums, forcing Palladium to buy out their stock, making Eternal Drive even richer and more successful.

However, though the production of demediom serums was threatened, experiments were still being made. Eternal Drive was not yet content with the demediom project being successful. It needed a superweapon - something to bring down Palladium once and for all.

And thus began a new, unnamed project. Eternal Drive was making a superhuman with the traits of several demons, all mashed into one. Damon Estreval spearheaded this project in the hopes of taking over South Lavia and eventually North Lavia, too.

Zack copies the document and pastes it into an external harddrive. He removes the harddrive, puts it in his pocket, closes the document and shuts the computer down. Zack tries leaving the facility but ends up bumping into a tall, blonde man wearing the same scientist gear, but with a crimson and black jacket instead of a white one - Damon Estreval.

“Evergreen? Where are you headed?” asks Damon.

“Outside for a smoke,” Zack answers hurriedly.

“Why the rush?”

“I’m addicted to the nicotine,” Zack replies before Damon holds him back, stopping him from leaving.

“Hand it over,” Commands Damon, prompting Zack to hand over his box of cigarettes.

“Too much of these and you’ll end up like that sad fuck Altair,” he says, dumping the box in a garbage can.

“Go ahead, take your break. Trent will take over your shift,” Damon continues, dismissing Zack who leaves, bumping into a young Trent Omega.

“Sorry,” says Zack, who is glared at by the junior scientist before the latter enters the facility.

“Fuck’s his problem?” Zack whispers to himself as he takes the elevator down, stepping into a black SUV and driving out of Evernight, stopping at a two-story apartment in Roscher.

LILY’S HOME
ROSCHER, GRATA - 4:02 PM

Zack presses the doorbell where his face is scanned by several red lights, eventually turning green when the scan finishes. The door opens by itself with Zack letting himself in. He makes his way up a spiral staircase and knocks at a bedroom door where he is greeted by Lily.

“Zack? You’re back already!” Lily exclaims, surprised at his presence.

“Damon’s been giving me early dismissals since that new guy came in,” Zack replies, referring to Trent. His hand reaches to his pocket where he pulls out the harddrive from earlier. Zack hands it to Lily whose face lights up.

“There. Information about the first demediom as well as proof of a stirring coup against Palladium.”

“Holy shit…” mutters Lily as she rushes towards her laptop, inserting the harddrive. She loads up the document and reads it, partially horrified due to Eternal Drive’s crimes but also partially euphoric due to Zack’s achievement.

“This is massive… If this reaches Palladium…”

“A civil war could take place. And the catalyst is right here in our hands,” states Zack as Lily gets up from her chair and hugs him.

“Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!” Lily says, showing her gratitude to Zack who softly smiles.

“Okay, okay. I get it,” Zack replies, hugging her back.

CLEMENTINE HILLS

ROSCHER, GRATA - 4:36 PM

On a bench overlooking the city of Roscher, Lily calls over to Zack who can be seen holding two cans, one containing soda with the other being coffee, both obtained from a glowing vending machine. He hands over the soda can to Lily before sitting beside her on the bench. The two open their cans and take brief sips before Lily breaks the silence.

“I never thought we’d come this far.”

“I don’t think anybody did,” Zack replies, taking another sip,

“Doc Altair certainly didn’t,” Lily says, making Zack crack up.

“I think it’s the opposite, really. I think Raymond knew we’d succeed and he wanted no part of the fallout,” Zack replies, contradicting her statement.

“Well either way, that son of a bitch is finally going down,” says Lily, referring to Damon as she gulps down her soda while Zack looks at her endearly. Lily notices this and briefly chokes before turning away, embarrassed.

“Wow. You dehydrated or something?” Zack jokingly asks while Lily wipes her mouth with her sleeve.

“No, no, I’m just… so excited about the future.”

“A future without Estreval?”

“A future without Eternal Drive! Or at least with better management,” Lily replies.

“Say, Lily. If they still exist in that future, would you keep working for them? I mean you’ve made enough money to be well-off…” asks Zack.

“Not sure. Would you?”

“Probably. I’d like to go down in history as a legend someday. Zack Evergreen, the greatest scientist who ever lived,” Zack answers as Lily chuckles.

“That’s very ambitious of you.”

“What purpose is a man without dreams?” Zack replies, making Lily laugh even harder.

“I think the greatest philosopher suits you better. God, you sound just like Doc…” Lily sarcastically replies, before realizing she added fuel to Zack’s flame. She points her hand up at Zack’s mouth, silencing him before he can even speak.

“NO! NO. Don’t you dare spout some shit like the student is the reflection of his teacher,” Lily continues, mocking Zack as he grins.

“...But in all seriousness, yes. I would keep working for Eternal Drive-” states Lily, answering Zack’s question from earlier.

“-if it means I still get to see you everyday.”

Zack’s pupils widen from Lily’s sudden proclamation. Just a year ago the two had barely known each other, but their time as whistleblowers created a special bond in their hearts. If there was a bright side to working under Damon, it was that Zack Evergreen and Lily Winchester were able to meet each other.

To Be Continued...