Dr. Ettinger's Home for the Mentally Infirm

"I do appreciate that, Empress. Your funding allows us to provide the finest care to our poor invalids, as well as our...other ventures."

The stairs led down, deep into the earth beneath the institution. Torches lit their path, casting flickering shadows on the opposite wall as they descended. The steps seemed to have been carved out of the stone itself, but were immaculately polished. When they finally reached the bottom, Ettinger led them down a narrow corridor before finally reaching a heavy iron door. He stopped, turning to Naoki.

"Well, this is the place. I'm afraid that your guards will have to wait outside here. Everything past this point is of utmost secrecy, as I'm sure you'll understand."

The doctor nodded in approval as the sentinels stepped aside. He smacked his hand sharply on the door, which opened smoothly and silently from the inside. Stepping through, he led the party down another hallway, which led to a pair of similar iron doors. He opened the left door, gesturing for the Empress to head inside first before following with the masked guards. 

The door led to a small room, featureless except for a barred window. Through the window, Naoki would see a somewhat larger circular room. The area was brightly lit by torches mounted on the walls, but was otherwise empty. Two heavily reinforced doors could be seen from the window, one of which presumably led to the hallway that they'd just entered from. The other was on the opposite wall, leading to places unknown. The doctor turned to Naoki, offering a pleasant smile.

"So, Empress...have you any questions, before we proceed with the demonstration? I trust that you've read our reports, else I doubt you'd be here to witness it yourself..."

The doctor smirked as Naoki stepped back from the window. Leaning towards the bars, he called out to some unseen colleague to begin the demonstration before taking his place by the Empress's side.

"Worried, Empress? You'll be safe in here. I assure you, once you see what we have to offer, you'll be right up against those bars. It's...it's like nothing you've ever seen before, I assure you. And now, I give you Project Locust."

He turned back to gaze through the window, just as the door opposite from the corridor opened. Three people emerged, two masked guards in leather armor dragging a third figure. The man in the center was hooded with what appeared to be a canvas sack, but was otherwise naked save for a ragged loincloth. He struggled and thrashed, fighting against the guards and emitting a low growling noise. The two guards held his arms tightly behind his back, restraining him as he twisted and convulsed. They manhandled him up towards the window, and one of the guards jerked the hood off his head. The man's face was pale, almost white. His lips and tongue were gone, as though they'd been torn or chewed away, leaving his yellowed, broken teeth exposed. His eyes were bloodshot and wide open, flicking back and forth around the room until their gaze finally landed on Naoki through the window. He lunged forward, letting out a choking snarl as he strained against his captors. If Naoki tore her eyes away from his face, she'd notice something moving under the skin of his malnourished chest. A moment later, the man's chest ripped open as his ribcage flared out, the stained bones snapping open and shut like a hungry mouth. As the man struggled and snapped, he seemed to notice the two guards holding him. Naoki would hear a sickening snap as he twisted his head all the way around in an effort to bite one of the guards, but they held him away. The doctor chuckled, seemingly very pleased with his creation.

"Here at Ettinger's, we know all about madness...that is, madness of the mind. It's what we deal in. However, when the expedition came back with knowledge of that tomb, we realized that we'd found something else entirely. This man...no, this creature is insane. It has a severe madness of the mind...but also madness of the body. its very flesh is corrupted, as you can see. This creature will not need food, nor water, nor air. It cannot suffer from pain, heat, or chill. However, it still possesses an insatiable hunger for any manner of flesh, human or animal. It will instinctively attack any living being that it lays eyes on. The ritual to create these things, which we found and translated from that tomb, is simple enough that they can be created by the dozens. A sword through this thing's heart will not so much as slow it down. As far as we've seen, removing the head leaves the body blind and deaf...yet it still proves a threat in its convulsions and random lunges. According to our tests, only way we've been able to destroy these creatures is by burning them to ashes. Our research is not complete, of course. We're still working on ways to train these creatures, control them...even grafting blades into their bodies to make them even more dangerous. However, even in such an incomplete, imperfect state...I trust that you can see what a powerful weapon these things could be. Simple and cheap to create, and they can be transported in iron coffins to wherever they must go. We call them locusts, for their hunger and for the way they're created."

He smiled, watching the man's contortions as he struggled to escape the handler's grasp.

"Now...let us move on."

The door opened once more, and more armored and masked handlers brought in a large cage. Inside was an adult bear, perhaps 500 pounds or more. The handlers opened the cage and hastily retreated as the bear stepped out, sniffing around. However, as soon as it spotted the locust, it snarled and charged. The locust's handlers jumped out of the way as it lunged forward, colliding with the bear. The animal's sheer mass sent the man flying back, crashing into the opposite wall. Its teeth sank into the locust's shoulder and neck, but the man didn't seem to notice. His ribcage, which moments before had flared open, snapped down on the bear. The sharp bones stabbed into the bear, holding it fast like a spring trap. The bear howled, and the locust twisted its head around to bite at its face and ears. It tore through the bear's fur and skin, ripping into its flesh. The bear reared up on its hind legs, shaking the locust like a rag doll in an effort to dislodge it. 

"The bear will eventually succumb to blood loss," said Dr. Ettinger. "Either that, or pain, or exhaustion, or any number of things. The locust will not. It will continue to follow, to hunt, to kill, until it is destroyed or restrained. What do you think, Empress? Will this creation serve the empire, to expand and thrive?"

The doctor smiled at the Empress's praise, pulling off his spectacles for a moment to polish them before returning them to their perch on the bridge of his nose. He paused for a moment, considering her question, before answering.

"Here at Ettingers, we are...well versed in the ways of restraining uncooperative patients, generally without breaking them. Before they...open, as you've seen, they can be kept dormant by keeping them in the dark. We use hoods to transport them short distances, as well as ordinary shackles other such restraints. Afterwards, they can be restrained by binding them tightly with several layers of canvas, or simply shoving them into boxes or coffins. As you can see, they are very dangerous in this form, although if proper precautions are taken, they can be handled safely.

As he spoke, a horrible sound of rending flesh filled the room as the locust tore through the bear's throat, causing steaming blood to splatter across the ground and walls. As the bear collapsed, succumbing to its injuries, the locust fell upon it and began taking chewing into its flesh. Its flared ribcage relaxed, folding back in upon itself back into the creature's chest.As the locust was distracted, the handlers produced a length of what appeared to be a long canvas bag. Stepping up behind the ravenous monster, they threw the bag over its head and forced it down over its torso. The creature reared back, springing to its feet, but the handlers shoved the bag further down until it covered the struggling locust's entire form. One of the handlers gave the squirming bag a sharp kick, and the locust toppled over. The other pounced on the creature's legs, tying the bag tightly shut with heavy cord. Within moments, the locust was restrained within the bag, struggling and thrashing against the heavy sailcloth but unable to tear itself free. With a dispassionate jerk of the head from the doctor, they picked up the squirming body bag and carried it out of the room. Dr. Ettinger nodded approvingly, turning to Naoki.

"As you can see, Empress...we've become quite adept at restraining these creatures. We can protect ourselves from them and control them, although training them is proving a bit...challenging. Would you like to see how they're created? We've adapted the ancient technique for modern, civilized use. It's almost elegant in its simplicity, really."

Ettinger was taken aback, almost disappointed by the Empress's decline of his offer to see the Locust creation process. Perhaps the Empress was just very busy, and didn't have time to look over such things...or perhaps she just didn't care. People in power never seemed to appreciate the work that went into things, he thought. They only ever wanted to see the result. In any case, he'd showed her the result, although she didn't seem all too pleased about it.

"I hope you don't think that I enjoy the bloodshed," he responded. "That isn't it. I enjoy seeing what I've created, that's all. I enjoy knowing that I've done my work well. As for the locusts...well, including this one here, we have four that have opened. One of those four, has been crippled, and will be used for durability testing until we dispose of it. We have six more that have been kept in the dark, unopened. Four more are in progress. If you'd like, we can increase production to perhaps...two or three dozen a month. Depending on the supply of condemned, that is."

He paused there for a moment, hesitating. He hadn't wanted to touch on that, not wanting to dwell on the fact that they were, in fact, created from a living human...but it was the truth after all. The Empress would simply have to accept that.

"In their current form they're formidable enough, but we're currently working on ways to graft blades or armor to their bodies. It makes them more costly per unit, but I think the result is worth the extra expense."

Dr. Ettinger frowned at the Empress's less-than-enthusiastic response. She was cautious. Too cautious. Scared, perhaps? Frightened of what he could create? The thought amused him, although he managed not to show it. It wouldn't do to laugh at the woman funding his research, after all.

"You lack faith in our abilities, Empress. Safety is our number one concern here, believe me. Still, your concerns are noted. We'll restrict the number that we keep on hand, as you've asked. However, should you need more, please know that the creation process is not instantaneous. It takes sixteen full days to create one, although we can create several at a time in our facility. In any case...when you find reason to use the locusts, please don't hesitate to contact me immediately. We'll get them to you as quickly as we can."

More ritual chambers. That's what they needed. They could build more ritual chambers, larger ones, create more than one locust per chamber at a time...if all went well, he could build a facility to create an army of locusts within weeks. Of course, the Empress didn't need to know the specifics. All she needed to know was that her silly little order of "no more than a dozen" was to be followed to the letter. 

"Don't you worry, you'll be the first to know if anything untoward happens. It won't, though. We're professionals in here, after all. Speaking of the countryside...there was something I needed to ask you, something that can't be trusted to paper. Are you aware of the strange occurrences at a place known as Bitterglass Estate?"

A vein twitched in Ettinger's forehead as he noticed the Empress' eye roll. The damn cat doubted him. Who did she think she was speaking to? Who was she, to disrespect him in his own facility like this? Empress or not, he didn't take lightly to such behavior. Still, there wasn't much he could do about it...not yet, at least. Not while he was beholden to every command that came from her pretty little lips. Perhaps someday soon, he wouldn't have to abide by her shortsighted whims any longer. For now, however...there was little for him to do but grin and bear it.

"Bitterglass Estate is the site of one of the most unusual occurances within the empire," he said. "It was originally owned by the Bitters family, headed by a certain Mr. Quentin Bitters. We're not sure what he did in there, except that he was conducting some manner of arcane experiment. He opened something, a portal of sorts. We're not sure on the details, but we know for sure that it isn't a portal like what we've seen before. It doesn't lead to anywhere in our realm, nor that of the demons. As far as we can theorize...it's somewhere in-between. Strange beings have come out of it. Unusual anomalies have occurred within the grounds. The effects have been largely contained to within the iron fences of the estate, and so we've seized the entire estate and have it closed off and guarded for research. It's strange, though...some of the effects are leaking. We've interviewed some of the surrounding townsfolk, and they all swear that the Estate has been closed down for decades. Our guards report hallucinations and nightmares when they return, leading us to put them on very short five-day rotations. Teams we've sent in have returned in...varying conditions."

He shook his head, pulling off his glasses and polishing them with a cloth before continuing.

"We also have the problem of people sneaking into the estate and stealing items to sell, which we believe has lead to the temporal anomalies with their memory. It's all very odd, really. We consider the site to be extremely dangerous."

Walls? Foul-smelling toxins? What did the Empress think this was, some kind of joke? A murky swamp to keep children away form? She clearly didn't understand what was at stake here. The hazards of such an anomaly. He shook his head, resisting the urge to grind his teeth in frustration. All that time spent in her comfy office, surrounded by clerks and scribes and her little playmates, had clearly caused her to forget what real danger was. He couldn't rely on her to take things seriously.

"Perhaps, Empress," he said. "I'll take your...stink-bombs into consideration. Fear not, the Department of Anomaly Containment can deal with it easily enough. I just thought that I'd let you know. Make sure you were aware of such an event within our borders. I'll have my people take care of it, and it'll be in a nice tidy little report for you in a fortnight. Fear not."

He tapped his cane on the ground, thinking for a moment before gesturing towards the passageway out.

"Well," he said, "I've taken up enough of your time. Thank you for gracing us with your presence, Empress. I'm always glad to exhibit the fruits of my labor, to show you what your budget has been buying. Unless there's anything else, we might as well head back upstairs, lest your guards become worried and break down the door."

Internally, Ettinger still seethed at the limits she'd put on him. Twelve locusts...what was he supposed to do with that? He was being forced to cut back on his research, to create just a mere fraction of his masterpiece, just because the little kitten was frightened. What did she know, anyways? He wondered how he looked in her eyes. A dangerous lunatic, most likely. A madman, hiding in a dank basement. Well, that suited him just fine. As long as he kept making monsters for her, the money would keep coming in. He would play his role, hidden away so that she didn't have to think about what she'd signed off on. He was a patient man, after all. He could wait. He had all the time in the world.

A vein twitched in Ettinger's forehead at the Empress' condescending words. She saw him as an underling, nothing more. A pawn to be played with. She didn't understand what he did here, and that it wasn't just some minor matter that could be resolved with a few strokes of a pen. Who did she think she was, to lecture him on safety? Sacrifices had to be made in the name of progress, after all. Did she think that her precious walls were built without a single life being lost? That nobody was harmed in the border skirmishes that she signed off on? No, she simply didn't want to hear about it. She just wanted everything summed up in a neat little memo, signed with a flourish and tied with a bow.

She was right about one thing, though. She knew exactly how much funding the department had, and had a fairly strong grasp of its resources. That was a problem. If he wanted to expand, he'd have to find outside funding. He needed a private benefactor. That was a problem for later, though. For now, he simply had to reassure the little kitten that everything would be alright.

"Don't worry, Empress," he said. "We'll request exactly what we need to get the matter handled in a satisfactory manner. After all, while the other sections of the guard protect the empire from all possible threats, we protect it from the impossible. We're well aware of the dangers of what we do, and take great precautions to ensure that we do not make mistakes. The stakes are far too high for any sort of error. If you'd like, I can send you an exhaustive list of all the protocols we have in place to avoid any sort of unfortunate incident."

He gestured towards the staircase with a sweep of his hand, and one of the masked guards opened the door.

"If you'd like," he said, "I can have one of my guards walk you to your sentinels...but if not, then I bid you good-day, Empress. Thank you once more for visiting our facility."

Naoki would find her exit unimpeded and uneventful, save for the screams of the insane.