"Understood, Master."
Hearing the words that came out of Vaughn's mouth, Valyr's expression turned solemn as he had a faint understanding of what was going on.
'Did he finally crack the code?'
With this question lingering in his mind, the young man watched as Vaughn made his way to the table where the first primitive humanoid had been created.
Then, sending out a few commands to his assistant, a series of robotic arms came out of the ceiling and picked up one of the many primitive humanoids in one of the large glass tubes.
Of course, this primitive humanoid had a hole cut out of its chest, being the culmination of Vaughn's near-incessant experiments on many primitive humanoids.
Being gently placed on the table by the robotic arms, the chosen primitive humanoid remained unconscious, prompting Vaughn to make his move.
"Seven test tubes," muttered the man, placing the test tubes he had brought onto a rack on a nearby desk.
"The first two are to stimulate its consciousness and its vitality."
Murmuring these words to himself, Vaughn took out two test tubes from the rack before dumping the contents of both tubes into the primitive humanoid's mouth at once.
Rumble…
Within seconds, the primitive humanoid's body began to react, causing the ground to faintly rumble as it slowly began to move about.
At some point, the primitive humanoid opened its eyes, staring at the ceiling above it.
"Grraaaaaggghhh!!!"
To no surprise, at the very moment the primitive humanoid realized where it was, it began to let out roars that could swiftly instill fear to those that were weak-hearted.
However, even after hearing this roar from up close, Vaughn remained unperturbed.
"Aria, immobilize Subject NH-323-A."
"Understood, Master."
Instead, he sent out a command to his assistant, causing the robotic arms from before to come down from the ceiling and restrain the primitive humanoid from moving.
Of course, due to its innate nature, the primitive humanoid continued to struggle against the restraints put on it, making use of the strength it had.
Yet, no matter how much it moved, the most it could do was briefly remove one of the restraints on its body.
Seeing that the primitive humanoid was finally deciding to cooperate with him, Vaughn faintly smiled as he grabbed another test tube from the rack.
"This is to stabilize its mind."
Looking at the primitive humanoid for a bit, the man's smile slightly widened once he noticed the primitive humanoid voluntarily open its mouth.
Without hesitation, he dumped the contents of the test tube into the humanoid's mouth, causing its eyes to widen in surprise not long after.
Rumble…
Hearing a faint rumble resound from the primitive humanoid's body once more, Vaughn nodded in satisfaction after seeing the being not struggle against the restraints anymore.
In fact, the primitive humanoid now looked at him with interest and expectation, prompting the man to understood that his experiment seemed to be heading in the right direction.
With that, Vaughn continued to give test tube after test tube to the primitive humanoid, causing the latter's state to move closer to what he aimed to achieve.
Seeing how everything had been moving well so far, a wide grin could be seen on Vaughn's face, feeling as if the final test tube would undoubtedly cement the success of the experiment.
Thinking about the effort he had put into the experiments, as well as the many hardships he had gone through to get to this point, Vaughn began to feel a bit teary-eyed.
Though, with the final step still remaining, the man discarded all emotions for the meantime and picked up the final test tube, moving it above the primitive humanoid's mouth.
"With all of the previous preparations done, the contents of this tube will allow it to transcend its current state and achieve the goal I've yearned to achieve for so long."
At those words, the man let out a faint sigh. "I really hope this experiment is a success from the get-go."
And so, he poured the contents of the final tube into the primitive humanoid's mouth, proceeding to watch everything unfold in silence.
Rumble…
With the primitive humanoid's body beginning to rumble once more, Vaughn watched as the hole on the being's chest began to close up on its own.
Then, continuing to watch from a distance, the man heard the being let out a guttural roar, only for the roar to start sounding more human-like.
"Yes… yes…" Clenching his fists in excitement, Vaughn kept his eyes peeled as everything seemed to be going as planned.
From its structure to its behavior, the being on the table was becoming more and more human, prompting the man to wonder whether his quest would finally see the end.
Though, just as it seemed that the being was on the final step of the transformation, something unexpected happened.
"Grraaaaaaggghhhh!!!"
Letting out a scream all of a sudden, the being on the table began to flail about, forcing the robotic arms to keep it restrained to the table.
"What's going on?" Staring at the being with worry, Vaughn's worst fears had been realized once it heard the being's scream return to how it was before.
Not only that, but the hole that disappeared earlier had returned in full force, even expanding quite a bit in terms of size.
However, just as Vaughn thought that it would stop at the being regressing to what it was before…
Splash!
Before either Vaughn or the robotic arms could make a move to salvage the situation, the being's body began to decompose at a speed visible to the naked eye, swiftly transforming into a puddle of putrid flesh that covered the entire table.
"…" Witnessing what seemed to be imminent success earlier instantly turn into utter failure real quick, Vaughn remained unmoving for quite some time, his gaze affixed towards the table where the being previously laid.
Then, feeling the tears brim around his eyes for a different reason, the man let out a sigh as he stepped back for a bit.
"Aria, clean up the mess."
"Understood, Master."
At those words, the robotic arms that previously restrained the primitive humanoid in place began to clean up the table, turning the entire area spotless and stainless within minutes.
In the meantime, Vaughn continued to stare at the table, vividly recalling how most of the process was more or less perfect.
Only for all of it to come crashing at the very last moment.
"Master, would you like me to set the status of this experiment as Failed?" Just as he was wondering whether to give up on the experiment, Vaughn heard his assistant's voice echo throughout the room.
In response, the man went silent for a bit, closing his eyes as multiple thoughts began to swirl in his mind.
Fortunately, once he opened his eyes yet again, a firm determination could now be seen within.
"Don't set it to Failed just yet, Aria," said the man, his vigor renewed. "At most, add it to the logs of the final experiment."
"Understood, Master."
Obtaining affirmation from his assistant, Vaughn began to make his way to where the test tubes and documents were usually placed, only to stop at the door.
"Speaking of which… Aria?"
"Yes, Master?"
"Add an addendum to the experiment."
"It seems that I'll be experimenting for a bit longer than I initially thought."
