The morning was only beginning. The sun arose crimson, like a ball of gleaming ruby ascending above the landscapes of the Capital, the endless rows of roofs, office buildings, factories, wide streets and narrow alleys. And its rays pierced through the arcade windows at the office of Colonel Sen, who was pretending to be working, but was, in truth, eating his extremely early breakfast, consisting of plain toasts and a cup of black coffee, hidden behind papers of incredible number. The plate clinked under the touch of his hand, cold, dark metal in all its 'beauty'. He was tired...<br/><br/>Just then, the large wooden door, leading into the office, was pushed open, and the sound of footsteps, as regular as the ticking of a clock, informed him of the entrance of Lieutenant Bates. He sighed, not even pretending to work, and hurried to stuff his mouth with his food.<br/>"Colonel Sen. I see it is no good to leave you without supervision at this time of day." she uttered, her stern voice echoing between the tall walls of the large office.<br/>Sen hurried even more, by sheer force pushing the toast into his mouth, and quickly raking through his long red hair to pull it back and loosely braid it to stop it from getting in the way. More metal clinking followed his fingers, quickly intertwining with the hair, the unkempt wisps of which slipped through them like wines.<br/>"I'm only human, Lieutenant Bates. I need to eat." he sighed.<br/>"You ate before." she remained adamant in her stance.<br/>"Let it be. In any way, I'm done already." Colonel Sen pushed himself away from the table, the chair screeching on the wooden flooring, and stood up, buttoning one of the three undone buttons on his shirt, and quickly stacking the loose edges into his pants. "Have you gotten the order from General Sira? Six subjects of six months of training and above are to be dispatched at Northwest Capital district, some ten miles off. It seems to have a growing Black Widow population, and several civilian casualties have happened already." he informed her, shooting a short glance in the direction of the papers, and grabbing one folded order, to proceed to walk right out.<br/>"I have." Erza followed him out. "I received the orders from Major Caldwell this morning."<br/><br/>"Iceberg?" Sen raised a brow, nigh instantaneously receiving a nod from the lieutenant, keeping her speed up with him perfectly, like a clockwork machine or an arcane device. It could creep one out pretty easily how uptight that woman was.<br/>"I'll go inform the subjects. Lieutenant Bates, write a report and reserve six riffles and two cars." passing through the tall and wide corridors, the heavy military boots created an array of echoes, making it seem that not two officers, but at least twenty, were walking through.<br/>"Roger." Erza saluted him.<br/>"I will inform the subjects which will be taking part in this. And Lieutenant Bates... Prepare your own gun as well." At that moment, his voice sounded almost tired. The Lieutenant's cold grey eyes glinted with something deeper than the stone-cold determination they usually possessed, but she obeyed the command she has received and barred right, into the office department, while Sen went on further towards the training facility.<br/><br/>The old building which was home to Ouroboros, now enlarged by some new facilities, especially the labs and underground training facilities, built especially for the enhancement subjects, was massive to say it humbly. Even a man, moving at the speed of Colonel Sen, would take at least ten minutes to get from his office to the underground training facility. The subjects had a strict routine - every morning waking up at five, twenty minutes to get ready, breakfast, followed by physical training - running, exercise - and chimera extermination practice afterwards. Shooting, martial arts, survival skills. For some of the more talented ones even alchemy... Reading the record that he snatched from his table right before leaving, he skimmed over the numbers of the subjects he was supposed to take out. They'd be put under special orders to prepare. For most of them - except for one, if he remembered right - it would be the first extermination mission in their lives.<br/><br/>They were living weapons.<br/><br/>Looking down at the body he had now - artificial, so different from how he came upon this world by nature, old, and scarred, so scarred - he was more aware of what they all were than ever before.<br/><br/>But was this not only for the good of humanity? That they took the ones without a hope for future and remade them into something... Better? Stronger? The prize was higher than the sacrifice, he repeated to himself.<br/><br/>"Sen. Being sentimental again?" a familiar voice broke him out of the chain of his thoughts. He glanced to his side.<br/>"I'm not sentimental,<span style="font-style: italic">Major</span>Caldwell!" he burst out, clenching his fists.<br/>"You are,<span style="font-style: italic">Colonel</span>Sen. Your eye goes black every time. And you make that sorta face..." Caldwell scratched his chin, overgrown by a thin stubble. Sen barred his teeth at him. "You pervert, you've been staring at me?" he hissed at him.<br/>"All apologies, Colonel." the Major raised his hands in an apologetic gesture. He was two years older and at least five years more mature, but Sen - or Lynn Valentine Keane, to call him by his true name - was still his superior.<br/><br/>"I only got an order to check on the subjects after you give them the orders from<span style="font-style: italic">up above</span>. And take them out. The boring stuff. Boy, it's always the boring stuff for me." he sighed after a while of walking in silence, hoping that the Colonel wasn't angry anymore.<br/>"That's because you're just a major." Sen snickered.<br/>"Erza gets better things." Caldwell opposed him.<br/>"Lieutenant Bates is a rank eight alchemist. Don't forget that."<br/><br/>Caldwell was one of the closest subordinates Sen had. One of the more annoying ones, too, but he had a good sense of humor at least, unlike the Iron Lady, which wouldn't even let him eat his breakfast in peace. But thus was the ordeal of a young and high-ranking officer - to bear with these subordinates.<br/><br/>The training facility wasn't far. The air grew cold as they drew near the underground, where shooting practice was being done. Right now, most subjects of six months and over should be stationed there, while the younger ones would be right now several layers above them - running under the supervision of a few officers, and having their physical limits tested. The underground was always cold... Has he had any fuel, Sen would have sparked a fire. But he wasn't willing to burn his clothes - or Major Caldwell's - and thus, he just shivered and regretted not taking his jacket.<br/>The thick metal alloy door, standing before them, opened under the pressure of his hands, pushing it straight in, and into the small hallway in front of the shooting practice hall. The two officers, guarding the door, saluted him.<br/>"Good morning, Commander Keane, Major Caldwell!" they greeted them in an imperfect unison.<br/>"We come on the orders of General Sira because of six experiment subjects." Sen waved the paper before their eyes, and they politely opened the door and let them in.<br/><br/>"ATTENTION TO ALL THE OUROBOROS SUBJECTS!" Sen's powerful voice echoed through the premises of the hall. It was far louder than even his exterior would suggest. Like a siren, loud enough to disturb even the test subjects in the middle of their shooting practice. "STOP YOUR PRACTICE RIGHT NOW!"