Leif was surrounded by liquid, suspended in it by the powers of buoyancy and an arrangement of tubes that entered his body or wrapped around his limbs. All that enveloped him was itself contained by a glass tube that ran from the floor to the ceiling of the room. There were others in the area, some empty but two filled with other people, similar to Leif.

One held Syn, who was watching Leif with an intense curiosity. The other had a female within, the young Allyson, who was asleep for the moment. Her blonde hair swirled around her head as her body bobbed up and down and both Leif and Syn were staring at her now, each one captivated by her beauty.

With her slender features and feminine attributes it was tough to imagine her as the leader of the Red Scarf Rebellion, long since captured and imprisoned for a year by the Enian Federation. Syn had watched those headlines go by on the newsfeeds all over. That was around the time he had been committing one of his first murders, on a young man in an alley. That had been a crime of passion, an angry outburst that had triggered a long history of violence for Syn, and paved the way for many more enjoyable incidents. That was why he remembered Allyson so well.

Leif was a mystery though. He was a political prisoner and a rebel, that was known, but of what rebellion was still a secret. None of the three could speak to each other, or speak at all for that matter. Their mouths and noses were crammed full of different breathing apparatuses to keep them alive, as well as a feeding tube or two. If they could manage to utter any sounds and then for someone to hear it through the fluid and glass, it would be a miracle.

So Syn kept moving his head between Leif and Allyson, watching the two, and trying to learn whatever he could. The only way he could learn things about them or what was happening was by listening to the scientists and researchers on the outside. Often he had to feign sleep to get them to talk but it was worth it.

Already he had picked up little facts here and there, tidbits explaining just what was coming their way. He had seen some of the parts coming through, shiny bits of metal and computer components. The way the handlers of these objects looked from Syn to the parts, he knew they were going to be a part of him one day.

What a day that would be! To have your flesh replaced by metal, to become one with a machine and remove all those human hindrances he had suffered for years. Yes his heart was failing and he possessed a rare bone deficiency. To finally shed those weights and leap a thousand feet in the air and run around the world! What a wonderful experience that would be! And what about how it would feel to kill? Oh yes, that would be quite entertaining with all those new powers at his disposal.

One of the scientists approached Syn's glass vat and tapped on the outside, peering in with a smile. Fortunately, Syn was not ashamed of his body and so he was not embarrassed to have this man staring at his naked form. The scientist did just that, scanning up and down with his eyes in a curious manner, before looking into Syn's eyes through the murk of the fluids.

To each viewer, the other's face was warped and would ripple and undulate with every passing motion of the liquids, all magnified by the curved glass. It was a human fishbowl, and Syn hated it. If he could move, he would have burst out of this place and strangled the man in front of him, or perhaps stabbed him with shards. Yes that would be most pleasurable.

"What are you thinking about in there?" The scientist tapped the glass again as he spoke, gesturing towards Syn's thoughtful eyes. Death, Syn thought, but he knew the man couldn't hear it. A bubble floated up out of his mouth as he tried to speak and clung to the wall of the vat. "Not that it matters. You won't be thinking much soon. Almost time to turn your brain off. Going to have to if we're doing what it is that we're...doing."

The scientist turned away from the tube with a distant look in his eyes and his shoulders shuddered. Obviously he was feeling the weight of such a morale burden quite a lot. Syn almost envied the man for being able to take on an emotional load. Syn couldn't do it. If he let the conscious weight of all the things he'd done in the past loom over him, he'd be crushed.

Syn looked over at Leif, who had also turned his attention to watching the scientist. Allyson still slumbered in the third tube, and the empty ones just sat there and stared at nothing. The scientist wandered around a little before pulling out a sheet of paper from one of the machines. He examined it intensely then looked over at Leif, then Syn.

"Looks like you two have quite a life ahead of you. I can't imagine what it would be like to do those things. Course, I doubt you'll have enough emotions left to feel that way anyways." The paper was scrunched up and tossed into the garbage. Again the tapping, this time on Leif's tube. "You've got a bright future ahead. This is tomorrow's weapon today, tomorrow's human even, if we get this right. No more death by disease or age or anything. Not unless you kill each other of course." The man laughed a bit at this but then grew gloomy as he thought about it.

The room darkened when the scientist left, automatic lighting kicking in to conserve energy. The vats gave off an eerie yellowish glow from bulbs in their bases and let Syn continue his viewing of Leif and Allyson. He wasn't alone for long though, before the doors opened once again, this time to a group of people.

The chatter they produced was tough to discern at first. One voice blended into another so perfectly through the wall of glass and liquid. Hearing one voice just outside was tough enough; a cluster at the door was a nightmare. But they ventured closer. It was like a tour group coming through, but everyone was wearing lab coats and taking notes. A lead person in the project was running a newer group through the procedures of the room. Among them were a couple of official looking people, probably from the government.

The leader of the pack, an older woman Syn had seen a few times by the name of Jill, took the two officials out of the group and pulled them aside towards Leif and Syn, while the rest of the scientists were lead to Allyson. Jill's voice dropped a little to avoid being overheard, but she didn't seem to mind if the two in the tubes were listening to what was happening.

"These two are our biggest prizes. The most promising from the tests so far. We expect big things from them in the future."

"What of the other?" one of the politicians asked.

"She didn't do as well, but she should still survive and become successful. I doubt she will reach the level of potential that these two have but you never know right?"

"And just what kind of potential are we looking at here? Do they meet the Kaiser's specifications?" This time it was the other official speaking, a shorter, bald man with glasses who looked over everything with a judgmental glare.

"Please Mr. Villa, I assure you they will meet the requirements the Kaiser asked for. They will do that and more. They're everything he will need for the Jahari."

"What does he need?" The unnamed politician was speaking, looking a little bewildered between Jill and Mr. Villa. "I thought we just wanted weapons here."

"Yes, he did ask for weapons," Jill explained. "But the Enigma Soldiers are required to do much more than that. You see, we need them in order to barter with the Jahari."

"You can't barter with legends, Miss Valentine."

"Oh but you can, when they exist of course." Jill let a devilish smile play across her lips and Villa chuckled to himself. "The Jahari are not a legend at all, but they would like to be. Sent into exile and forgotten by the world, the tribe that played god and experimented with biological technology. Supposedly, they have some of the deadliest weapons on the planet, or under it rather." More smirks, more dry laughter. Syn watched it all, trying to hide his growing attention and make himself look as bland as possible.

"So what, you're going to walk into their lair with a couple of these soldiers and demand they give you weapons?"

"No, that's just part of it really." Mr. Villa was continuing the explanation now. As he did, he ran his hand over the glass of Leif's tube in admiration. "You see, the Jahari want nothing to do with the world of today. They wish only to die off underground and blend into myth. We could bring them anything in the world and they wouldn't agree to it to come out of hiding. But with the Enigma Soldiers, we have options."

"For starters, we can always go to war with them until they surrender," Villa continued. "But there are even better approaches than that. The soldiers will be outfitted with the capacity to hack into large systems and networks with relative ease and at incredible speeds. If the Jahari are what they say they are, and have tampered with bio-technology, then parts of their brains will be linked to a network of some sort. Like it or not, the Enigma Soldiers will be able to control them, and through the soldiers we control the Jahari. Of course all of this is circumstantial. Most likely, we barter them out of hiding with the threat of these two. Just that should be enough to get a surrender, and with the legendary powers of the Jahari, winning these wars and finally ending the conflicts on Earth will be a breeze. Finally, we'll be able to wake up to a world without war, and with the Enian Federation's banner spread wide throughout the world."

"But only once they're ready, Villa," Jill said. "You'll have to be patient for now. You can't rush a caterpillar into a butterfly, no more than we can rush these vessels into killing machines. The Jahari aren't going anywhere. They've been in hiding for a hundred years, I'm sure they can wait a few more."

The three shared more laughs as they rejoined the scientists and lead them through the rest of the room. Syn looked between himself, Leif, and Allyson. Used as a bargaining chip? That didn't sound like much fun at all. But then, after it was over, who said he wouldn't be allowed to join in the slaughter of thousands when the Enian Federation conquered all? Sanctioned killing? It was almost a dream come true!

Syn was knocked from his thoughts as Jill said goodbye to the group and ushered them out the door. As soon as she did, a different man entered beside her, wrapped in a long black overcoat that went down past his knees, embroidered with red and gold stitching along its hems. Though it was warped through the glass tube, the man possessed a remarkably handsome face, except for a long scar running across it. His raven hair was pushed perfectly away from his sculpted features and Syn could see Jill fawning over the man's presence.

"Jill, are they ready yet?"

"Yes, my Emperor. We will begin the procedure in two days. I was just speaking with the representatives of the Kaiser, and they were still just as interested as-"

"Bah, the Kaiser!" Christian laughed as he interrupted the scientist. "Yes the Kaiser, with all his dreams and plans and his hopes to finally leave this stalemate and break the world wide open. He and his plans for the Jahari. And who was it who first whispered the name of the ancient ones in his ear? Why it was Christian of course. Who else, but the man who has spent half his life researching them? Those fools think that Namio s a genius, the brain behind trying to end war by bringing out the deadliest force the planet has ever known."

"Yes lord, quite a fool."

"Hmmph, your sniveling doesn't do you any good. I'm not in a mood for it Jill. I'm not in a mood for anything today, other than to see my soldiers finally walking out of this laboratory and right down into the heart of the Jahari. I understand them Jill, did you know that? I have studied them for so long now, desperate to learn their secrets, almost driving myself to insanity in order to find out something new. I know how they function, how their system is built. They have their own forms of government down there, of law and order and it all comes from power at the top. Did you know that Jill?"

"No sir I-"

"Of course not. Because no lowly fools know these sorts of dark facts. Yes, the Jahari are smart. We seem to think that any race that has fallen must be idiotic, must have been a failure. But we are wrong. They did not fail, they were simply a minority. And minorities always lose out. So they are waiting now, biding their time. They're not going to come out and visit with the Kaiser because he asks them to. No no, you need to make noise to get the Jahari to come out. They want chaos. They want death and destruction and utter anarchy and then they will come back to the surface, to claim the planet out of the madness. Do you see that Jill?"

"Yes my lord, yes I see it!" Jill was getting excited by all of this and was barely restraining herself from clinging to the man's side as he spoke.

"I will bring them that chaos Jill. I want them to come out. I want them to try to take this world. And when they do, these will be ready." The man pressed himself against Syn's glass, hugging it. "We pit them against each other, one on each side. If Allyson works, then it is a three-way battle. Sell them off to different sides of a war and watch them go to work. The damage they can cause will surely unsettle the Jahari and excite them. But I know their secrets! I know how they work. They work from the top Jill, the top! So many have wished to bring armies down there to destroy them but they always fail and do you know why?"

There was a long pause of silence as the man waited for Jill to answer, and Jill believed the question to be rhetorical before she finally gave in. "Why sir, why?!"

"Because you cannot fight the armies of the Jahari! Their powers are too strong. But what you can fight are the leaders. Make me war machines Jill. Make me the most powerful weapons on the planet. They do not wield the power to bring down the armies of the Jahari, no, but they can kill any one of their leaders. With the top gone, the minions have no voice to listen to. I will give them that voice! I will be the voice of the Jahari, the voice of the new world! The fifth nation will rise to conquer all, the nation of the Jahari, and I, Emperor Christian, will be the ruler of it all!"

A/N: Syn reveals shocking revelations of the future from the past! But we aren't done yet! There's still one more question to be answered: what links Porter and Sigma?!