Isabel Maru POV
As I escaped the German Army base, the cold air hitting my face felt different. For the first time in my life, I was truly free—free from the subtle, manipulative control of Ares.
I thought back to the past, my life a series of choices that led to this moment. In the span of a single hour, I was nearly killed twice—once by the very people I had worked for and once by the weapon I had created for them.
Yet, I was saved by my supposed enemy, the man I had tried to kill, even though it might not have been his intention.
I remembered his words, whispered in the chaos of the airstrip.
He had spoken of a different path, of using my genius to save people instead of destroying them. For once, I decided I would try.
It was a silent promise, a way to repay him for saving my life and, perhaps, to fulfill his last wish. So, for the next two years, I journeyed through the areas ravaged by war, working as a traveling doctor.
I had studied medicine, and even if I wasn't as proficient in it as I was in chemistry, I was still more accomplished than most.
This journey changed me. As I traveled and met the people who had suffered due to the war, I felt their sadness and their joy when I helped them. In a world of grotesque masks, I took mine off, revealing the scars beneath.
Instead of being disgusted, they came forward to comfort me.
With every act of kindness I received, a wave of guilt washed over me. I constantly questioned if they would treat me the same if they knew what I had done.
I even visited the town that was bombed with the poison I made. As I looked at the rotten bodies with melted skin and flesh, I questioned how much of the horror was caused by me.
Two years into my journey, I was captured by the American government.
I expected to be executed promptly, but it looked like someone high up had other plans for me. I was shipped off to a hidden, highly guarded government facility where they were working on a top-secret project.
They had acquired something from the German military after the armistice, something they believed held incredible power.
Normally, with my current state of mind, I would have refused to cooperate, but when I looked at the dossier and saw what the project was, I had an idea and I immediately agreed.
It was like fate had led me there, a final chance to atone for what I had done.
I don't know if they could succeed in what they planned, but I would try my best to make it possible, if only as a gift to my benefactor.
In the year 1980, I felt death coming for me.
We hadn't succeeded even until my last moments, as the technology of our time wasn't mature and precise enough.
I don't know if they will succeed in the future, but I devoted everything to bringing them as close to success as I could.
The last I heard of Diana Prince was that she moved to Washington about a month ago.
As I wished the world goodbye, I hoped someday she would receive the gift I had worked so hard to prepare for her.