Opening the door to the laboratory, Marshal entered with a stern expression on his face. The scientists sitting at their desks stopped working and stood up to greet their boss.
"Where's Dr. Newton?" Marshall asked.
"Probably in his room. He took sick leave for several days." One of the scientists answered. The marshal turned and left without another word. He was annoyed. Not finding a doctor at the workplace, he felt as if he was being led by the nose. The base was very large and walking on it took a lot of time.
'I can't run after him!' Thinking like this, Marshal decided to entrust this task to his secretary. He went to his office.
"Find Dr. Newton and invite him into my office," he immediately ordered after meeting his secretary.
"Yes sir."
Entering the office, Marshal sat down in his comfortable chair and relaxed for a second. He had a small stack of documents on his desk that he needed to review. Getting up from his chair, he poured himself some alcohol to relax his brain. He was the head here, so no one will fire him for that.
Returning to the table with a glass in hand, he began to work. The documents were not interesting and they were always repeated. It was the same routine every week.
Occasionally something unique and interesting would come across, but usually it was reports and requests from various bases around the world.
Reports of new developments were the most interesting. Sometimes scientists proposed such strange ideas that Marshall could only dismiss them with a smile. For example, adding a bathroom inside Jaeger. Although this could be a problem for the pilots, the Marshal had no idea how the toilet in the Jaeger's head would work. Maybe something should have been done, but he didn't like the idea that was being proposed to him.
In one of the documents, he was offered to single out one Jaeger to be painted pink with flowers. According to the report, they wanted to make a children's toy out of it to advertise and increase the popularity of the Jaegers among girls.
'Why do these things end up on my desk?' Marshal could only groan at this. He needed to reform and get rid of it all.
"Sir! We have a problem. No one can find Dr. Newton." The secretary entered the office.
"Did he leave the base?"
"No, sir. There is no record in the system that he left the base."
Marshal rose from his seat. He finished the alcohol in one gulp and put the empty glass on the table. He will have to use heavy artillery for this work.
'Something really strange is happening here.' Leaving the office, he went to the command center.
"Mr. Choi. I need you to find Dr. Newton."
Choi, as usual, sat at his desk and stared at the holographic screen. He was a really reliable worker. After receiving the manager's order, he immediately started working.
After the witches attacked Marshal, the security system was strengthened and all systems were controlled by artificial intelligence. There were many drones moving around the base, which were constantly watching everyone. If they detect someone who is not in their database or if someone starts behaving strangely, the drones will immediately report it.
These drones often caused false alarms, but that was the price to pay for safety. The AI couldn't understand people's behavior when they were drunk, so it immediately called security. After several dozen such alarms, Marshall banned alcohol everywhere except in the employees' own rooms.
"Sir He was last seen at the warehouse of the old Jaegers. That was two days ago," Choi said, turning his head to Marshal standing next to him.
Marshal frowned. As a participant in many projects, Dr. Newton had access to many places, including the warehouse. Scientists like him always needed some parts, and they went to old and broken Jaegers to get something quickly. These Jaegers were beyond repair, they were scrap metal.
"Why didn't security report this?"
"I don't know, Sir. Maybe he's working on something there?"
"Send security there Mr. Choi." After saying this, Marshal also went there. He didn't know what to do with this doctor. His work was very important and, if you think about it, he hadn't done anything wrong yet. He could only accuse the doctor of unprofessionalism and lack of discipline.
Going to the warehouse, Marshall thought about how to punish Newton. Unfortunately, Marshal could not free him, so he now felt powerless. It feels like he is losing power and can only ask not to do stupid things. But judging by the forum in New York, humans need genetic modification to survive the contamination of the planet with Kaiju toxin.
The problem of contamination with this toxin was so serious that ecologists predicted the extinction of humanity in the near future. Perhaps this was the main goal of the Kaiju. With such resources and power, aliens could have destroyed humanity a long time ago. It seems that they are just playing with people and slowly terreforming the planet.
The Kaiju toxin was actually a bio-weapon. No one knew about it, except for Marshal and a few of his chosen people. This makes Newton's work very important. And also makes it untouchable.
Approaching the warehouse, Marshal noticed several guards with weapons. They were getting ready to go inside.
There were several entrances to the warehouse. The main door was huge. They were big enough for a Jaeger to pass through. Many thick and irregular railroad tracks led in and passed under these doors.
There were several other small doors of various sizes. For transportation of equipment and people. Standing at one of these doors, Marshal met the guard and greeted him. He took out his pass and took it through the castle. The door opened immediately and he went inside, and the guards followed him.
There was a large space inside. It was as big as a football stadium. Broken Jaegers lay on the railway platforms. There were many broken parts around. Broken limbs and smashed heads reminded Marshall of pilots who had died using it. Walking through the spacious premises of the warehouse, Marshal sometimes saw traces of blood on the parts of the Hunters.
The pilots who died protecting humanity were heroes when Marshall felt guilty for their deaths. It is he who sends these people to fight, which means that he is to blame for the fact that they died. Every mistake he made caused his soldiers to die.
Dismissing these thoughts, Marshal exhaled heavily and moved on.
"Spread out and look for him. When you find Dr. Newton, radio me."
"Yes sir." The guards quickly went in different directions.
Marshal stood in the city, deep in his thoughts. One of the first Jaeger lay before him. They were 238 feet (72.5 meters) tall, sand colored. Horizon Brave was used in several battles, but then Torterra took on almost all the Kaiju, so this Jaeger never saw a fight. Despite this, this Jaeger lacked many details. He had neither arms nor legs. Only the body and head remained intact.
Marshal came closer and put his palm on Jaeger. Horizon Brave paint was like new. Not a single scratch or rust was visible on it. This robot was written off due to imperfect drift. It was used as a source of spare parts.
With the arrival of better Jaegers and Torterra's protection, this Jaeger never got into battle. Marshal felt a strange feeling of sadness. Jaeger was made to fight, but now he lay here, useless to anyone.
BAH
Marshal heard a noise coming from inside the Jaeger. A moment later there was the sound of a metal door opening and the hiss of hydraulics.
'It must be Dr. Newton! He's been hiding here all this time?' Marshal quickly walked over to the Jaeger's head. It was dark in there, but he could make out an open hatch that led inside the Horizon Brave. This hatch was at a height of 10 meters from the ground, and he could see a ladder lying nearby.
'Perhaps Dr. Newton climbed in and then the ladder fell and he couldn't get out? But why didn't he call? Did he lose his phone?' Marshall quickly began to think about the doctor's situation. If it was as he thought, then it was a coincidence and the doctor spent two days without food or water. He needed help.
"Dr. Newton? Are you there? Do you need help?" Marshal shouted loudly so that whoever was inside the Jaeger could hear him.
"Mr. Pentecost? Yes... Thanks for finding me. I need something from you." Dr. Newton's voice was unrecognizable. The voice was too rough. But Marshall ignored it, thinking it was because the doctor was speaking from within the Jaeger.
"Wait a minute, I'll put up a ladder." Walking over to a ladder on the ground, he picked it up.
"Oh, no need. I'll get out now myself." As he said this, Marshal heard some metallic noises, as if something was dragging on the ground.
"What did you say?" Marshal did not understand. If he could get down there himself, then why did he sit there for two days?
"I say catch it!"
BOOM
A large metal object fell in front of Marshal. Marshall's eyes widened in shock as he recognized this. It was the old nuclear reactor from Horizon Brave. It was damaged and emitted a faint blue light.
"It's a damaged reactor…" Still in shock, Marshal couldn't speak clearly. Dr. Newton pulled the reactor out of Jaeger, damaged it, and dropped it in front of him! This… This meant that he had now received a lethal dose of radiation!
"What did you do...?!" Still in shock, Marshall raised his head and looked at Dr. Newton standing in the Jaeger's open door. While in the dark, his eyes had a slight light and he looked his boss straight in the eyes. Then he took a step forward and fell down.
BOOM
Marshall felt the metal floor shake slightly as Newton's feet landed on it. Having jumped from such a height, he only squatted slightly to soften the fall. Aligning himself, he took a few steps and came closer to Marshal, coming out of the shadows.
Even when Dr. Newton was standing several meters in front of Marshall, he still had to raise his head to meet the doctor's eyes. Newton was tall, about 3 meters (9.8ft) tall. He was without his glasses, and his skin had an unnatural shade of gray. The clothes were torn. His black trousers were barely holding on to his belt, and his white shirt was only tattered, revealing a bare torso like that of a retired bodybuilder. The scientist did not have a trained body, but his hands and fingers were thick and strong.
"What did I do? I became the first superhuman! The first creature to overcome human limitations! Now I! Titan!" Dr. Newton said loudly with his arms spread wide and his head raised up.