Jerome didn't know what to do after he hung up the call with Yusmaorobis. He was specifically tasked by the Dark Council to get the kids from him at all costs, but from the way things are looking, that task would be impossible to complete.
He was still deeply thinking about how to go about the task he was given when his phone started ringing.
He sighed in exasperation and brought his phone to his ear. He didn't need to check the screen to know who the caller was.
"Give me a breather, you old dumb fucks!" He sighed and answered the call.
"Hello, Mr. President."
"Jerome, did you achieve anything significant?" The person on the other side of the phone asked.
"I'm sorry, sir. I did all I could, but he refused to release them. He didn't even tell me their whereabouts. If it were before, I could have made use of the spies, but after the little clean-up he did, that became impossible."
"I see... Don't worry, I will take care of things from now on." The person said and ended the call.
Jerome sighed as he dropped his phone on the office table in front of him. He was getting tired of his job.
No, he was already tired of the stupid job that he was forced into.
For many years, he has always been the errand boy and their most loyal and obedient dog of the organization.
It's always "Jerome, do this." "Jerome, do that."
He has always accepted every task that he has been given, and he completed them to the best of his ability.
He has done all these without receiving any type of benefit in return. It's day after day, working for an organization that has promised to help his son but still hasn't been able to do that till now.
He thought of his son, who was in the hospital, in a comatose situation for more than a year now.
He was aware of Yusmaorobi's daughter's situation—a previous situation—and he felt lucky that his son's situation is different because he isn't a Phenomenal.
He also knew that this was also a problem. He knew how profit-minded the organization is and how they put their benefits above everything else. He knew that before he could actually get them to help out his son, he would have to put in a lot of effort.
"Jardon, just hang in there. Daddy is doing everything within his power to save you."
****
After Luna landed at the airport and gave Yusmaorobis' daughter to the medical team, she got into an already-waiting car and made her way back to the warehouse.
When she got there, she saw the guards standing outside and guarding it, just as she left them.
She walked to the warehouse, and when the guards saw her, they excused her, and she pushed open the door and walked into the warehouse.
She walked to the end of the warehouse, where the Evolution capsule was.
Jeremiah watched the machine patiently as he saw unknown fluids of different colors start flowing through the small tubes that were attached to it and into another set of even smaller tubes in the glass pod that Daniel was in.
He continued to watch quietly as the fluid flowed into the smaller tunes and into Daniel's body through the intravenous site.
The effects were instantaneous, as he felt extreme itchiness all over his skin, and all that he wanted to do was just scratch his skin very hard and get relief, but he couldn't do that as his hands were cuffed to the metal table.
His situation got even worse as the itchiness he was feeling was replaced by a marrow-piercing pain.
"Arghh!"
An agony-filled scream escaped from Daniel's mouth, but it was muffled by the glass.
He felt like his body was on fire and was being torn apart, bit by bit, from the inside. It was like the ants had mutated into extremely hot fire ants and were now biting off his skins.
Daniel tried to endure the pain, but slowly, he started feeling himself losing consciousness. He fought back and regained clarity, but it didn't last long, as the feeling returned and it was stronger this time.
Daniel gritted his teeth in determination, trying to force himself to not lose consciousness.
He wasn't told that he has to stay awake throughout the whole process, but he chose to remain conscious.
Jerome smiled when he saw this. He applauded Daniel's willpower, but unfortunately, his actions were ultimately futile.
He was doing well handling the pain, but there was no way he would be able to remain conscious throughout the whole process, as he has been given more than twice the regular dose of anesthesia that are usually given to patients before surgeries.
Just as he thought, he saw Daniel's heavy eyelids closing slowly, until they closed completely, and he finally fell asleep.
"You have such strong willpower; I hope it's enough to pull you through what's to come next," Jeremiah said and pressed the syringe's plunger flanger and injected its content into a small tube that was connected to Daniel's hand.
After injecting the syringe's contents, Jeremiah anxiously turned to look at an advanced ECG monitor bedside the glass pod.
*Beep*
A sharp, flat beep was heard as the indicator lines for Daniel's vital signs went flat.
Jeremiah clenched his fists in high anticipation and intense anxiety as he watched the flat lines.
He waited patiently for a few moments, and when he saw that nothing changed, he sighed dejectedly in defeat.
"I thought it was already perfect, but it was just another failure."
He was about to walk away when he heard a beep coming from the ECG monitor. He hurriedly turned to look at it, and when he saw the indicator line that was now returning to normal, he did a fist bump in happiness and excitement.
"I love your willpower, Daniel. All you just have to do is wait, and you will become the very first artificial Phenomenal," Jeremiah said with an excited smile.
"As the creator of the first artificial Phenomenal, I should give them a name... What about... the Marvels?"