RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Interlude: An Unhinged Apocalypse

RM Vol 3: For a World without Boundary – Interlude: An Unhinged Apocalypse

Ottile Apocalypse is anxious, scared, but most of all frustrated. The sudden predicament that has befallen Auschwitz has forced her to do the unthinkable. Abandoning her foothold, her years of research. Ottile may be desperate, tunnel-visioned, and obsessed, but she is not stupid nor has a death wish. She knows a lost cause when she sees one and Ottile is not one to hang around to be captured and tried for her inhuman works.

Though she's ordered to go secure the research on the lower floor of the castle, Ottile has a different plan in mind. Utilizing the chaos that has befallen the castle, Ottille slips into her personal workspace, the floor that is dedicated to the cloning of Kallen Kaslana. Once inside, she locks the reinforced steel door behind her, preventing any intrusion into the otherwise devoided life chamber. Ottile then turns around, seeing the many vats filled with fluid and the bodies suspended in them. They're all clones of Kallen, the woman Ottile has always kept close to her heart.

Ottile takes a breather, stepping closer to marvel at the result of a technology far beyond their time. It's flawed, yes, making it so that the clones have only months in life expectancy. Nevertheless, the clones' growth is artificially induced and their combat instinct is engraved on a genetic level to make the perfect disposable soldiers. While some would have disturbed by the sight of so many Kallen clones, Ottile doesn't mind gazing at the sight. After all, they're not her Kallen, but rather tools to make Kallen into the best she can ever be.

On the surface, these clones are born to be powerful soldiers that are easily controlled. But the actual reason for this project is for them to be the perfect lab rats for Ottile to experiment on. Being that they're the biological clones of Kallen, Ottile can test out ways to further Kallen's individual power without risking the Crusader's actual body. Kallen may not need such a thing but Ottile doesn't need her acceptance to carry on.

One may ask, why does Ottile seem to be so obsessed over Kallen, that she would push countless to their death? That's because Kallen already died, once. It was a clinical death, induced upon her by a rare disease that had tormented her from a young age. Yet, back then, that sick, young girl, has been everything Ottile ever needed. In pursuit of a way to cure her light, Ottile absorbs medical knowledge, some bordering on madness and fringe science, like a sponge. Though others praised Ottile Apocalypse as a rare medical prodigy, the woman still failed to defeat the strange disease, with Kallen's blood circulation and breathing ground to a halt. Even if Ottile resuscitates Kallen, it would only lengthen her torment.

Though Ottile can't see the process, she knows for sure that at any moment now, the demonification process would start on the adjacent. Uncaring that she just doomed hundreds of lives for petty payback, Ottile activates a mechanism, thus revealing a hidden doorway in a nondescript corner of the floor. That's her express way of getting out of Auschwitz, one that is even unknown to Lady Lyssa, being that it was secretly constructed under Ottile's order and using forced labor. The laborers, understandably, are immediately turned into sacrifices when the project is done. Thus ensuring that aside from Ottile, none is the wiser.

Moving to the passage where a fully stocked 1935 Moto Guzzi Mototriciclo 32 is parked, Ottile boards the motor tricycle with the passage closing behind her with a flick of a switch. With the back carriage carrying all the necessities for her to start over, Ottile turns on the engine, revving it a few times before putting on the appropriate helmet, eye protection, and a bandana that covers her face. Then, she turns up the throttle, letting the Moto Guzzi take her wherever she needs.

The passage is a long one that should get her out of the hot zone. With the current geographical location of Auschwitz, the exit point would be in an abandoned mine which is a lucky break in Ottile's opinion. The mine will help mask her location for a period of time till she decides on a destination. Coincidentally, other exits include a forest area, a mountain range, and a lake,... depending on where Auschwitz superimposed itself on reality. It took a lot of effort for Ottile to get the passage dug right and she is immensely thankful for her foresight.

By the time she's out of the danger zone, things in Auschwitz would have been heated up nicely. Can't say Ottile is not curious about the result of this conflict. Though from the look of it, the city is hopelessly outmatched by a foe that's hellbent on its destruction.

One of Ottile's regrets though is her inability to go and visit Kallen. No doubt she would be well-guarded by not just the Crusaders but also Belka, now that the matter of Auschwitz has come to light. There's also the fact that Ottile dreads to see the reaction Kallen may have about her involvement. It will no doubt decimate their relationship as friends... best friends? But Ottile is fully prepared to sacrifice even herself if that means Kallen can live the life, of being the Saint that she has always wanted.

Now that Ottile thinks about it, Kallen may become an actual Saint if she's the one who struck down Ottile for the crimes the Apocalypse committed. It's poetic in a way, given their history, and should the need arise, Ottile would gladly be the one struck down by her. But it's still not the time, not yet. There are things to plan and experiments to do, all in the hope that Kallen will be unfettered by anything in life. That is Ottile Apocalypse's obsession, her very own self-imposed creed.