章 39: Angel of Death

General Pantherson stepped down to allow his colleague to approach the microphone. An imposing woman in her forties stepped forward and swept an intense gaze across the crowd. She had long dark brown hair and a bodybuilder's physique—but one that was still so strikingly feminine that many of the young men in the crowd caught their breath when they saw her. A huge tattoo was spread across one arm, a death's head with a swastika in its center and script underneath proclaiming "Blood and Honour."

The woman took the microphone and held it close to her red-lipped mouth. "Hello, everyone. I'm the professor you may have heard referred to as the Angel of Death. You will instead call me by my civilian name, Hart. I'm the head and supervisor of the Teaching Corps and vice-director of Hunter Academy. I'm also a Rank-A Hunter."

A murmur spread through the crowd at professor Hart's introduction, but it quieted at once as she fixed them with her steely gaze. "I'm going to lead you through what's simply called the Transformation Procedure. You will be injected with a modified strain of Virus Z, which we call SGC. This will alter your ordinary human bodies and convert you into a new kind of superhuman organism… one more commonly known as a Hunter.

"Of course, all of you are still a long way from deserving the title of Hunter. The first step of the Transformation Procedure will be one of your first trials in your journey toward earning this. You'll likely experience flu-like symptoms, including a high fever, aches and pains, and severe gastric distress. Because of this, you'll be under medical supervision until these symptoms disappear.

"Keep in mind that this initial dose of SGC has very low Virus Z content. Your body will only function at a superhuman level for about a month, at which point you'll require another injection to sustain your new body, month after month in perpetuity."

Professor Hart's red lips twisted into a cruel smirk. "From the moment of your first injection, you'll cease to be an American citizen. You'll instead become a citizen of Hunter Island and subject to its laws. If you happen to have the bright idea of taking your injection and then deserving, you'll risk the death penalty. Any questions?"

Someone immediately raised her hand. "What about the risk?" the young woman shouted at the instructor. "Isn't it really dangerous to inject yourself with Virus Z? How are we going to be protected?"

Professor Hart replied, "So long as you haven't paid someone to forge you a fake genetic certificate so you could qualify to come here in the first place, there's absolutely no risk. Everyone here has been certified genetically immune to catching the true version of Virus Z."

Alexandre smiled to himself. While Hart was technically telling the truth, she'd conveniently and deliberately avoided answering the full question. Alexandre knew that every year, some candidates died of acute allergic shock upon receiving the SGC shot—but technically speaking, they hadn't died from the virus itself, so Hart had told the truth!

Alexandre guessed that Professor Hart had a psychological purpose behind this answer—it was likely that the academy really wanted all the remaining people to continue through the process after weeding out all the other weaklings. If people knew there was a random risk of death that had nothing to do with resilience or intelligence, unlike all the deadly tests before, they might just leave.

Professor Hart finally said, "It seems there are no more questions. You all have a week to get your affairs in order and report to the academy hospital. If you do not appear by this time, you will be deemed to have defaulted and you will lose your place at Hunter Academy. Use your time well."