Chapter 78 The Doctor's Diary Part 2*

Eldovian Era 1708, 14th day of the 12th month:

Despite my initial annoyance in having my work be interrupted by less informed forces, their intervention has borne fruit. The whore, Seri (though they refer to her as a Noble Escort. I can't seem to understand the difference), is confirmed to be pregnant after her prolonged session with the specimen. It took longer than what would ordinarily be needed for the pregnancy to present, a factor which I am at this stage thinking is a result of the coupling involved.

Since the aforementioned session, the specimen has remained chained in its cell. The child spy visits no longer, so I see no reason to keep unchaining the specimen. This is especially the case since the specimen has become near crazed since the session. It allows no one to approach it, and attempts to reapply the mask have all ended in failure despite the specimen's extremely limited ability to move. Following the specimen's previous display of combat skills far superior to previously believed, it is near impossible to have guards approach him, and slaves that are sent down to feed it are guaranteed a painful end. Where the Specimen once cared enough to somehow alleviate it's victim's pain, it now has no apparent care or sympathy for them.

***

Eldovian Era 1709, 27th day of the 4th month:

Seri seems to have finally reached a stage comparable to what physicians regard as the end of the first Trimester of pregnancy. This has occurred seven and a half months after the session, two and a half times slower than an ordinary human pregnancy. The only explanation for this is the species origin of the father, and therefore the fundamental difference in the foetus. The mother is becoming increasingly uncooperative, demanding more and more luxurious habitations. Surprisingly at this stage, the mother appears to still be consuming an ordinary human diet, though a vast amount more than average. I have attempted to entice her to drink blood in order to observe the results, but she has so far adamantly refused. It is quite frustrating.

The specimen continues to be uncooperative. Considering its mood and the unwillingness of the guards to approach even the tunnel, the specimen has been reduced to being fed just once a fortnight. It seems to greatly resent this fact.

The child spy seems to have been eradicated thanks to its inappropriate behaviour. I was informed by his replacement, whom I much prefer. At least this man is an adult. He is rather stoic as well, and only sticks around to do his job as ordered. He has no care for the Specimen, and has never visited the cell himself. A vast contrast to the child spy, but I can't say I miss it.

There were originally no apparent changes in the rat, other than it seems I may have to use a younger rat in order to continue to facilitate this experiment. The current subject has shown signs of aging, though not as drastic as has been observed with other rats of an estimated similar age. The rat also seems to contain healing abilities far less potent than those of the specimen. Its healing is accelerated from the norm, but it cannot reattach severed limbs. As a result of this experiment, it has become a tail-less rat.

***

Eldovian Era 1709 3rd day of the 12th month:

I can now confirm that Seri's pregnancy is indeed around 2.5 times slower than an ordinary 9 month gestation period. The woman is become inhospitable with her desire to end her pregnancy. It has been over a year since conception now, so it is understandable that it is not her alone that is feeling the weight of time. My Benefactor is growing impatient. He demands reports more frequently, and even requested to transfer Seri out of Jerrica, though I advised heavily against it considering the nature of her pregnancy. At this stage I think I have delayed them at best. It seems that keeping the child for research purposes will be an impossible request.

As for the diet of the pregnancy, I finally managed to get Seri to consume small amount of blood via her tea every morning. Whilst I was sceptical at first, she appeared to have no aversion to the altered state of the drink. In fact, the servant reports that she only asked if the drink was prepared differently. The servant was told to uphold the facade that nutrients for the baby had been recommended by her residing doctor. Since ingesting the blood, her appetite has calmed somewhat, clearly showing the benefits of ingesting the substance for the mother, but as to whether or not the substance is having a beneficial effect on the foetus is yet to be seen.

As for the rat experiment, my initial subject has since passed thanks to old age. Whilst I desire to see the experiment results repeated for a longer observation, I find myself lacking in materials and am incapable of acquiring more thanks to the violent and unreasonable nature of the Specimen. Despite starving him consistently, it seems he has developed a constitution capable of delaying the decaying process previously observed. He has been starved for six weeks continuously with no apparent changes, though it is difficult to observe him due to the unwilling nature of the guards to approach him or his cell. I shall have to rectify this should I need more samples.

***

Eldovian Era 1710, the 7th day of the 9th month.

Seri's pregnancy reached its inevitable climax after twenty-two long months. She fell into labour twelve hours ago, and became increasingly anguished with pain. When attempting to go through with the birth, the foetus found a more direct route out of its womb, and the damage to the mother's torso was too great to reverse. The infant immediately displayed strength beyond that of a regular human, though there is no way to tell for certain if it is on par with the biological father. The infant also possessed Life Lines, though of a much smaller degree than his father. Fangs and claws were also prominent, though on a smaller scale, and it was confirmed just minutes after birth that the infant can survive on a diet of blood as it began to consume that of its own mother. It appears to be far more mobile than a regular infant.

Pre-prepared anthrite cuffs were attached to its wrists, and though it was visibly distressed it clearly responded to the anthrite in the same away it's biological father would. A request arrived immediately from the benefactor to transport the infant to a safe location, and to have it protected at all costs. Rather than going with the infant, I have been ordered to appear before the Duke himself to report my discoveries thus forth. Hence, I shall leave Jerrica for Fountain Ridge ahead of my expected schedule.