Director Arata sat in his office across from Maria. A relieved smile was plastered on his face. "Thank you for your hard work, Maria," he began, his voice warm with genuine appreciation. "The Sakura Group has made a large donation to our organization, with promises of further cooperation and continued contributions in the future."
He leaned back with exasperation crossing his features. "It was much needed, believe me. Those greedy politicians won't provide us a shred of funding without arguing for three days and three nights over it."
Director Arata sighed with a somber note. "It's a shame that the cursed katana wasn't retrievable, but Kenzo Miyazaki's corpse is having a field day with our science department. I just hope those madmen don't do anything too drastic with it." He then looked at Maria. "At this rate, you might be promoted once again and replace me as director. Although, it might be difficult given our culture's age hierarchy and nationalistic tendencies, I'm sure it will work out."
Maria simply nodded, offering no reply to his comment.
"Well," Director Arata concluded, standing up, "I shouldn't keep you here for too long. It has been a long day for you." With a final nod of dismissal, Director Arata left the office.
Maria also turned to leave, feeling a profound mental fatigue settling over her after the subsequent hours of reports and paperwork.
___________________
Deep beneath the bustling streets of Tokyo, hidden within a secure, sterile laboratory, stood a large glass tube filled with clear fluid. Suspended within it was the corpse of Kenzo Miyazaki in a standing posture. A network of tubes connected to the glass chamber causing the fluid to occasionally bubble.
Hiroshi Miyazaki approached the tube. "So, this is him," he murmured, his voice devoid of warmth. "The ungrateful bastard who tried to kill me. At least now, he can finally contribute something useful for once in his pathetic life."
A female scientist in a white lab coat stepped up beside him. "Those are rather harsh words for someone you once called your son, aren't they, Hiroshi?"
Hiroshi scoffed with a bitter edge to his tone. "If it wasn't for him, that merger would have gone through. Now, Miyazaki Holdings is on its back foot as our other business rivals are collaborating with the Sakura Group to take us down."
The female scientist crossed her arms with a knowing smirk playing on her lips. "I wonder what dirt you have on those politicians for them to bail you out and even allow you to enter this restricted lab."
Hiroshi's eyes, obscured by the glint of his glasses, seemed to bore into her. "You've known me for a rather long time, Dr. Emiko. You should know exactly what kind of dirt I have on them. If it were to be published, those politicians wouldn't just face early retirement, jail time, or public backlash. It would force them to commit suicide or be lynched by the public mobs."
"I'm amazed they haven't outright assassinated you already," Dr. Emiko commented dryly.
"They can try," Hiroshi repliedwith a chilling confidence in his voice. "But it would also be the end of them too." He turned his attention back to Kenzo's suspended corpse. "Let us cut to the chase as to why I'm here, Dr. Emiko. What have you found? Could it truly lead to immortality, if not supernatural power?"
"We've only just received the corpse, but our initial discoveries are astounding," Dr. Emiko said. "Let me show it to you."
She led him to a small cage covered with a sheet of fabric. With a flourish, she removed the cover, revealing a mouse with entirely black eyes. It immediately squeaked upon the sudden movement.
"Its appearance is similar to Kenzo's mutation," Hiroshi observed.
"Indeed," Dr. Emiko confirmed. "We injected it with a serum derived from Kenzo's corpse. Among the many test mice, this was the only one that survived. However, it has demonstrated an unusual ability, precisely similar to the one described in the field report. Here, watch."
She then picked up a normal lab mouse from another cage and toss it into the cage with the black-eyed mouse. The black-eyed mouse immediately darted forward and bit its new companion. The normal mouse struggled for a moment before going limp. Very slowly, a wave of black decay spread across its body as it disintegrated into ash. A faint stream of black light flowed from the crumbling remains, absorbed by the black-eyed mouse.
Dr. Emiko then pulled out a scalpel and, without hesitation, stabbed it down onto the black-eyed mouse, seemingly killing it instantly. However, a moment later, the mouse twitched, its wound visibly recovering with astounding speed. It began to move again as if nothing had happened.
"Amazing," Hiroshi breathed with a greedy glint in his eyes.
"It seems to be a curse-like virus," Dr. Emiko explained, holding up a small vial filled with a turbid dark fluid. "Those infected can extract life from others it kill to heal themselves or even revive from the dead outright. I'm not yet sure of its full limits, but the possibility of true immortality is undeniably there." She then winked at Hiroshi. "However, our production is severely limited. It would be greatly beneficial if we had more samples."
Hiroshi raised an eyebrow. "The higher-ups forbid using Japanese citizens for this research, if I recall correctly. So, you want me to traffic undesirables that no one will miss from surrounding countries?"
"Whoa now, I didn't say anything about that," Dr. Emiko replied, winking at him again. "I'm just saying it would be nice to have more samples for research."
"I got your message, so stop winking at me. It's gross," Hiroshi retorted with a flicker of annoyance crossing his face. "I will see what I can do. I hope your research will result in something... bountiful."