"Akhirnya kita membuat kemajuan berarti dengan klon 117," Josef bicara ke perekam suaranya. "Walau replikasi fisik dasar berhasil penuh pada klon pertama, kami gagal meniru semua sifat unik dalam sampel darah dan jaringan. Tapi dengan klon 117, akhirnya ada kemajuan."
Josef mengangkat satu jari gemuk berbulu, hanya kukunya yang hitam tak tertutup rambut putih. Ia menggores udara dengan kuku tajamnya, perlahan menurunkan, dan luka serupa berbentuk garis lurus muncul di perut klon.
Darah merembes keluar, hanya beberapa detik, sebelum luka mulai sembuh.
"Klon ini menunjukkan kemampuan penyembuhan diri terbatas di atas normal, mirip kultivator tingkat tinggi, padahal klon ini fana. Perhatian saksama harus diberikan pada cara klon dibesarkan. Perlu diperhatikan khusus, klon ini direplikasi dari sampel 'jaringan jantung', yang mungkin salah satu alasan kritis kemampuan ini. Untuk memastikan, kami perlu membuat lebih banyak klon dengan perlakuan sama seperti 117, tapi dari berbagai sampel jaringan lain.
"Catatan akhir, klien yang menghubungi kami baru-baru ini menyatakan kemampuan si asli bukan penyembuhan, melainkan lebih ke mendekati keadaan sempurna, jadi penyembuhan hanyalah hasil tidak langsung. Perlu diteliti lebih lanjut."
Josef menyimpan perekam suara sambil mengamati luka di perut klon perlahan menutup. Sudah lama mereka tak menghadapi tantangan dalam kloning.
Josef merasa sesuatu menepuk bahunya, dan saat menoleh ia tertegun. Ia merasa tangan menusuk ke tubuhnya, dan di baliknya, mencengkeram tenets-nya. Seluruh kekuatan tubuhnya mendadak lenyap, membuatnya tak bisa melawan. Ia melihat mata cokelat, di satu mata ada pedang, di mata lain ada neraka berkobar.
Satu per satu, banyak harta pelindung di tubuh Josef mulai aktif, lalu pecah. Sesuatu jauh di dalam dirinya panik, menyuruhnya segera menekan tombol panik, tapi pikiran itu menguap. Pikirannya melemah hingga ia kehilangan kemampuan berpikir.
Lex menyusup ke pikiran yeti agar bisa mempelajari segala hal tentang operasi kloning ini. Meski Lex mendidih amarah, ia mengendalikan penuh semua tindakannya.
Ia tak membiarkan diri meledak. Ini bisa jadi petunjuk menuju Damien. Lebih penting, jika lebih banyak klon Moon dibuat, ia ingin mengakhiri semuanya, dan untuk itu ia perlu informasi. Jadi ia mengintip pikiran yeti, melucuti kemampuan berpikir dan bereaksinya.
Yeti bukan satu-satunya di fasilitas ini, tapi ia satu-satunya yang abadi, karena itu Lex menahan semua yang lain dengan Dominasi sambil menarik yang ia butuhkan darinya.
Yang ia pelajari sekaligus membuatnya murka, kecewa, dan terkejut!
Para yeti, dengan kedok mengelola planet wisata, sebenarnya menjalankan fasilitas kloning rahasia. Mereka mengumpulkan sampel DNA dari tak terhitung orang dan ras, terus memperbesar basis data, sambil menyelesaikan komisi untuk orang lain.
Proyek dengan Moon baru dimulai belum lama, kebetulan tepat setelah ia menyelamatkan Moon sendiri, dan hanya salah satu komisi yang mereka terima. Itulah bagian yang memurkakan - terutama saat ia tahu sampel jaringan yang diberikan untuk kloning mencakup jaringan dari semua organ, termasuk otak.
Mereka tak tahu apa-apa soal asal sampel atau siapa yang memberi komisi. Bagi mereka ini cuma pekerjaan biasa. Itulah bagian yang mengecewakan, karena mereka tak tahu apakah klon lain dikembangkan di tempat lain. Terlebih karena tak ada cara melacak Demian lewat fasilitas kloning ini.
Tapi hal yang sama sekali tak disiapkan Lex, dan tak bisa ia bayangkan, adalah di antara komisi kloning Josef yang lain, satu benar-benar identik dengan Fenrir saat pertama kali ia temukan!
Bukan sekadar spesies sama, atau garis keturunan hampir sama. Itu klon asli Fenrir. Lex sudah cukup lama bersama anak anjing itu untuk tahu segalanya, dan bisa merasakan aura-nya!
Yang sangat kebetulan, komisi terkait Fenrir dimulai beberapa tahun lalu, persis bersamaan saat Lex memilih Fenrir sebagai hadiah salah satu quest-nya.
Tapi tak seperti Damien yang menyembunyikan jejak dengan baik, ada petunjuk yang bisa diikuti untuk orang yang memesan klon itu.
Situasinya jadi rumit. Tapi seberapa pun rumitnya, lebih baik mengumpulkan sebanyak mungkin informasi agar siap menghadapi segala kemungkinan.
Lex memanggil Fenrir. Meski kini berusia sekitar dua dekade, fisiologi Fenrir masih seperti anak anjing, mungkin itu sebabnya ia masih belum bisa bicara. Namun begitu anak itu tiba di fasilitas ini, ia terbangun dari tidurnya dengan kaget.
Bukan teleportasi yang mengagetkannya, melainkan koneksi yang ia rasakan dari darahnya. Sejumlah perasaan dan sensasi yang membanjirinya saat lahir kembali dengan dahsyat, dan Fenrir mendadak teringat bahwa ia punya saudari.
Itu sesuatu yang dirasakan anak itu saat lahir, tapi karena terlalu lemah, ia lupa. Mungkin lupa adalah mekanisme pertahanan saat itu. Tapi sekarang, ia tak lagi lemah. Begitu Fenrir mulai menggeram dan hendak melepaskan kekuatannya, Lex lembut meletakkan tangan di kepalanya dan menenangkannya. "Lihat situasinya dulu," kata Lex, suaranya benar-benar tenang, seolah ia tak murka. "Ingat, untuk mangsa kuat, kita tak boleh biarkan mereka tahu kita datang. Hanya mangsa lemah yang kita mainkan."
Fenrir menahan dorongan membunuh segala sesuatu dalam radius ribuan mil, dan mulai mengikuti koneksi darah yang ia rasakan dari dalam fasilitas. Sementara itu, Lex menoleh kembali ke Josef.
Memang, alasan ia tak mengacak-acak tempat ini karena ia belum ingin ada yang curiga.
"Pel, kau pernah bercerita tentang teknik Karma. Bisakah kau jelaskan sedikit lagi tentang Karma?"
Memang, alasan ia tak mengacak-acak tempat ini karena ia belum ingin ada yang curiga.
"We have finally made some significant progress with clone 117," Josef talked into his voice recorder. "Although we achieved complete basic physical replication with the very first clone, we have failed to replicate any of the unique properties contained within the blood and tissue samples. But with clone 117, we finally have some progress."
Josef raised one of his fat, hair fingers with only his black nail uncovered by his white hair. He scratched the air with his sharp nail, slowly dragging it down, and a similar cut in a straight line appeared on the clone's abdomen.
Blood leaked out of the body, but only for a few seconds, before the wound began to heal.
"This clone displays limited self healing ability beyond the norm, similar to that of a high level cultivator, despite the clone being a mortal. Careful attention must be paid to how the clone was nurtured. Worthy of special attention is the fact that this particular clone was replicated using samples from 'heart tissue', which may be one of the critical reasons why it displays this ability. To confirm, we need to make more clones that underwent the same treatments as 117, but from various other tissue samples.
"As a final note, the client who approached us recently stated that the originals' abilities were not healing, but had more to do with approaching the perfect state, and therefore healing was indirectly a result of that ability. We need to look into this some more."
Josef put the voice recorder away as he watched the cut he placed on the clone's abdomen slowly close. It had been a long time since they had faced a challenge with cloning.
Josef felt something tap on his shoulder, and when he turned around he was stunned. He felt a hand peirce into his body, and beyond it, grabbing onto his very tenets. All the strength in his body suddenly dissipated, preventing him from resisting. He saw brown eyes, though in one he saw a sword, and in the other a saw a fiery inferno.
One by one, the many protective treasures Josef had on his body began to activate, and then break. Something deep inside of him panicked, and told him that he immediately needed to activate some kind of panic button, but the thought slipped away from him. His mind began to weaken until he lost the ability to think.
Lex infiltrated the yeti's mind so that he could learn everything there was to learn about this cloning operation. Even though Lex was absolutely boiling with anger, he was in perfect control of all his actions.
He did not allow himself to blow up. This could be a lead towards Damien. More importantly, if more clones of Moon were being made then he wanted to end all of them, and for that he needed information. So peering into the yeti's mind, stripping away his ability to think or react.
The yeti was not only one in the facility, but he was the only immortal, which is why Lex restrained everyone else with Domination while he pulled what he needed from him.
What he learned was simultaneously infuriating, disappointing and shocking!
The yeti's under the guise of running a tourist planet, actually ran a secret cloning facility. They collected DNA samples from countless people and races, continuously increasing the size of their database, while completing commissions for others.
The project with Moon was one they only started a short time ago, coincidentally right after he rescued Moon herself, and was just one of the commissions they received. That was the infuriating part - especially when he learned that the tissue samples provided to them for cloning included tissue from all her organs, including her brain.
They knew nothing about who the samples came from, or who gave the commission. To them this was just another job. That was the disappointing part, as they had no idea if other clones were being developed elsewhere. It was especially so since there was no way to track Demian through this cloning facility.
But the thing Lex was completely unprepared for, and could not have even conceived in any way, was that among the other cloning commissions that Josef had, one was completely identical to Fenrir when he first found him!
It was not just that the species was the same, or that they contained nearly the same bloodline. They were actual clones of Fenrir. Lex had spent more than enough time with the little pup to know everything about it, and could sense its aura!
What was extremely coincidental was that the commission relating to Fenrir started a few years ago, coinciding exactly with the time Lex selected Fenrir as a prize for one of his quests.
But unlike Damien, who hid his tracks well, there was a lead that could be followed for the person who commissioned clones for.
The situation was becoming complicated. But regardless of how complicated it became, it was best to collect as much information as possible so that they could be prepared for any eventuality.
Lex summoned Fenrir. Although he was around two decades old now, Fenrir's physiology was still that of a pup, which is likely why he could still not speak. But even so, as soon as the pup arrived in this facility, he woke from his slumber with a start.
It was not the teleportation that shocked him, but the connection he felt from his blood. Some feelings and sensations that had overwhelmed him when he was born came back with a fury, and Fenrir was suddenly reminded of the fact that he had a sister.
It was something the pup had felt at birth, but because it was too weak, it had forgotten. Perhaps forgetting had been a defense mechanism back then. But right now, he was no longer weak. Just as Fenrir began to growl, and was about to unleash his power, Lex gently laid a hand on his head and calmed him down. "Go look at the situation first," Lex said, his voice completely serene, as if he wasn't furious. "Remember, for strong prey, we cannot let them know we are coming. It is only weak prey that we play with."
Fenrir resisted its urge to kill everything within a thousand miles, and began to follow the blood connection it was feeling coming from within the facility. Meanwhile, Lex turned back to look at Josef.
Indeed, the reason he did not make a mess of this place was because he didn't want anyone to catch on yet.
"Pel, you once told me about Karma techniques. Can you tell me a little more about Karma once more?"
Indeed, the reason he did not make a mess of this place was because he didn't want anyone to catch on yet.
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