Resident Evil
San Francisco Bay Area, Militech Industrial Park No. 1, beneath the General Headquarters building.
[Biometric identification, passed.]
[Cyber key identification, passed.]
Tap, tap.
"'You' ask me what I think of this unexpected gain?"
"A rational choice for survival in the face of death. The One-Eyed Owl, as a congenital one-eyed human-ghoul hybrid, did everything a King of Ghouls should do. Consider her competent."
Walking along a passage built from reinforced transparent impact-resistant composite materials, lit by bright overhead lamps, Vela murmured softly, half as though talking to herself, half as though communicating with a distant presence.
From the [Cyberpunk] side, 'Big Sister' had made her meaning very clear:
Do not disturb!
She was busy—inside with Saburo Arasaka, Yorinobu Arasaka, Hanako Arasaka, and Michiko Arasaka, outside contending passionately with Militech, New America, Lazarus Group mercenaries, and various allied counterparts.
Many matters, endless busyness.
Some going smoothly, some not.
Including but not limited to—
Helping the re-independent Free States of the West Coast rebuild their national defense; doing her utmost to upgrade and iterate technological gaps in Arasaka's manufacturing division; continuing construction of Arasaka's new research district in Night City; strengthening counter-intelligence and counter-espionage in the city; supporting Kurt Hansen and his Barghest mercenary group, proven loyal and capable; giving New America a hard time; revising the fleet organization of the whale-class supercarrier Adelheid carrier battle group; pursuing distant diplomacy with SovOil while attacking nearby rivals; tripping up Militech; secretly reinforcing personnel and armaments in Night City's Security Division; cleaning up the Frankfurt incident exposed by the Counter-Intelligence Division; adding trouble to Rosalind Myers' presidential campaign…
A time of taking another step higher, ready to add [Arasaka] to the signature [Vela Adelheid Russell].
On the [Tokyo Ghoul] side—that was her responsibility.
"So, what shipment is it today?"
After passing through multiple access gates controlled by weak AI recognition programs, Vela halted before a sealed lab gate marked [Ghoul].
Click.
Stepping inside, dozens of cylindrical containers made of reinforced glass stood in neat rows beneath dim ultraviolet sterilization lamps, filled with pale red liquid.
The cultivated forms within were not clones. Humanoid and semi-humanoid, of various sizes, all headless. Only torsos from the neck down. Combined with the cold, lifeless environment, the scene reeked of absurdity.
Nearby, a wide workbench held all the common tools for crafting Quinques: cell cultivation chambers, flow cytometers and PCR machines, DNA analysis and synthesis instruments, centrifuges, separators… fully equipped.
Vela stopped before the largest cultivation tank.
Its label: [One-Eyed Owl]
Inside was a massive Kakuja body, with Kagune spines blossoming like petals from its scapula and spine, two pairs of ghastly pale three-fingered claws extending outward.
From the gaping maw, stretched open nearly to breaking, stood the headless body of a young woman, upright, her torso embedded into the monster's core.
At the severed neck, a long-nail-shaped surgical implant was driven precisely into the spinal wound.
Staring at the implant, Vela crossed her arms, her gaze thoughtful.
That day, in [Tokyo Ghoul], Ward 23, Cochlea, after finishing her conversation with Eto Yoshimura and Kishou Arima, Vela had decisively defeated and ended the two who sought death.
Kishou Arima—nothing more to say. Out of respect for his confession, his voluntary offering of merit, and his surrender of intact Quinques, Vela refrained from post-battle judgment. She preserved the honor of Squad 0 and other Sunlit Garden-born half-human investigators within the CCG.
Going along with the dust of the world.
Eto Yoshimura—also known as Takatsuki Sen.
As the only known true-born one-eyed ghoul, conceived by human and ghoul union rather than a Kanou Akihiro surgical creation or the Washuu family's flawed half-humans, her potential was obvious. Such a high-quality Kakuhou donor, naturally, Vela intended to make sustainable use of.
The most unexpected gain was that the One-Eyed Owl drew out another Owl who had hidden for years.
Kuzen Yoshimura.
Takatsuki Sen's biological father.
The source of her ghoul bloodline.
After Vela decapitated Takatsuki Sen's true body, an old and weary Kuzen Yoshimura emerged from the corner of the ghoul disposal grounds with a deep sigh. He showed no desire to fight—only picked up his daughter's head.
With the tenacity of an SSS-rated ghoul, even though she had sought self-destruction, her body amputated below the neck, Takatsuki Sen still managed, at death's door, to find reconciliation with her biological father—a reconciliation that was not truly one.
Then came Kuzen Yoshimura.
He spoke at length:
"Every act of depriving others is a sin. From the moment of our birth, we have been depriving. Survival itself is a process of committing sin. Life itself is sin. I know well—I am sin. You are as well. But the cycle of hatred should not continue…"
"Just as Eto said—human, you have won. My purpose in coming here is to prove that ghouls are not all bloodthirsty, criminal monsters. There are repentant sinners, and even more, the innocent forced into this life. Born as ghouls, what can we do? We too wished to be human…"
"And I am a sinner. Special Class Investigator, come—kill me."
Then, he slit his throat and pierced his heart.
Vela took Kuzen Yoshimura's SSS-class Kakuja body as a donor.
Her gaze shifted to the cultivation tank not far from the [One-Eyed Owl]'s, labeled [Non-Killing Owl].
Inside floated the white-haired elder, already brain-dead, eyes closed.
A certain implant replaced brain commands, sustaining the basic activity of flesh and Kagune regeneration as long as Rc cell supplements were provided.
Cybernetic implant technology combined with the standing humanoid Quinque "Music Box" technology.
The data had been discovered in a V organization stronghold during their eradication. Once abandoned by the CCG.
The original plan used ghoul corpses as material, integrating "Kakuhou control" and "remote activation constructs," hoping to harness a ghoul's natural abilities. With the prototype and sample data in hand, Vela fine-tuned it, crafting her own adjustable Quinque implant.
In short, she trimmed away performance metrics—scrapping flashy functions like remote activation to revive ghoul corpses for battle—retaining only Kagune control, disguising brain signals through the implant to sustain basic bodily activity.
"Are you ready?"
She stepped to an empty cultivation tank, lifted her hand, and gazed at the reflection on the glass.
Then, focused.
Buzz!
At once, warmth spread across Vela's fingertips.
Then—weight.
The headless corpse of a girl-sized body materialized out of nothing, which Vela tossed into the cultivation tank.
Clack, clack.
The tank sealed shut, robotic arms lifted the donor body, and diluted Rc-cell concentrate filled the chamber.
As she considered the donor's data, Vela entered a note into the system: [GYPSY]
Reportedly named Roma Hoito. Founder of the Clowns. Recorded in the ghoul prison archives as an SS-rated Kakuja.
Amid the chaos in Cochlea, another "self" had already begun eliminating redundancies.
She needed no intelligence—only their bodies.
Vela continued the same process.
Buzz!
A thin, headless corpse, covered in inhumane torture scars.
[JAIL] Ryou.
[ORCA] Yoshitoki Washuu.
[Father] Donato Porpora.
…
Until fatigue hollowed her body and mind, Vela finally rubbed her temples and stopped.
These cycles of radiance → hollowing → radiance again → hollowing again had continued for some time.
Too much cargo.
Not only these Kakuhou donors—the real bulk lay in Rc cell supplements and concentrates. After all, outside the [Tokyo Ghoul] world, humans did not contain Rc cells.
Until the combined legacies of Kanou Akihiro, the Washuu family, and the V organization were fully synthesized and stabilized into a ghoul virus prototype, Rc cells had to be "imported."
Yawn~
Food first, then a nap.
...
Two more days of constant exchanges passed.
As usual, CEO Vela stood at the floor-to-ceiling windows atop the Militech Headquarters building in San Francisco, gazing across East Bay's Contra Costa County, watching construction rise steadily on the new [Militech Tower]. She rested quietly—"Hm?"
Her brow arched slightly. Calmly, she lifted the steaming black tea and took a sip.
"Quinques? Fine, hand them over."
Her fingers tapped the table lightly, hand outstretched.
Swish!
Two black-and-gold suitcases appeared, dropped onto the desk.
Vela knew their names.
S+ Koukaku 'IXA.'
S+ Ukaku 'Narukami.'
Arima Kishou's legacy—two Quinques of excellent function and mechanism.
"Including the second 'Owl'… experiment on them with virus modification, perhaps?"
Just as Vela's consciousness linked as usual with her [Tokyo Ghoul] self, receiving the pair of massive SSS-class greatswords—
A streak of light cut through her mind like a meteor, sudden as revelation.
Her lazy composure froze.
She felt her soul-sea stir.
In an instant, her eyes sharpened like an eagle spotting prey.
Unknowingly, her indigo eyes took on a deep, bright, burning glow.
That familiar feeling—once again, she touched those indistinct traceless lights, like filaments, threading together.
Her threads.
Stretching outward like sudden tendrils, Vela reached for the [Threads] around her, seeking advantage, avoiding harm—just as when she first awakened [Divine Gift].
Buzz—
One!
Two!
Three!
Four…
Abrupt stop.
"Four, is it."
Vela whispered with closed eyes.