Hypothesis

The Overseer watched as his subject was subjugated. Matthew's jaw fell open.

"Raphael… A-Azrael killed Reed!"

Raphael looked back and sighed. "That means Serum D wasn't good enough."

Matthew looked at him in awe. "How could you just say that after your own subject just died? Does it matter whether the serum worked or not? Your subject's literally DEAD."

Raphael said nothing.

"Tsk". Matthew was disappointed. "And we can't even revive him with a Trinity Gem this time. Why'd you allow Azrael to use the Scythe of Absolution-?"

"To put Reed to the ultimate test," Raphael quickly remarked.

Matthew watched him with confusion. "The ultimate test? Well, clearly he failed," he laughed. "And now there's absolutely no going back. All the work gone into those serums are undone."

Raphael sighed again, and walked closer to Matthew who fumed.

"Settle down Matthew. Stop jumping to conclusions," he said. "Nothing we've done up to this point has been in vain, ever."

Raphael turned to look back at the limbless Reed inside the chamber. He enabled the microphone and spoke in.

"Azrael, thank you for your coordination. You performed perfectly. You can leave now."

Azrael nodded, then approached the exit and out of the chamber.

Raphael turned back towards Matthew, who still watched him with disbelief and confusion.

"Now Matthew, what I'm about to say is going to be very important to understand, so make sure to listen clearly."

Matthew listened.

"Our initial hypothesis was nothing more than a filler."

Matthew's expression only grew even more confused.

"What? What do you mean?"

Raphael elaborated, "You see, the probability of our current outcome was 100%. No matter how well we tweaked Reed, no one could escape death from Azrael."

"So you're telling me you knew Reed would end up dying?"

"Yes."

"But that means…" Matthew started to connect the pieces in his head. "This was all just…"

"This was all a part of my plan, and this has all gone according to my plan."

Matthew still couldn't wipe confusion off his face. So Raphael continued to explain.

"I knew that with the conditions we'd provided Reed, he'd be able to withstand any number of Angels or Seraphim. So with that in mind, I aimed to provoke the summoning of Azrael, which we were able to accomplish."

"But now Azrael's killed Reed. Doesn't that reject our hypothesis? We stated that Reed would not die. Azrael literally played the negative control."

"Like I said, that hypothesis was simply a filler, seeing as it was basically guaranteed that Reed would die."

"So you created a hypothesis you knew would be rejected? Why?"

Raphael sighed for the third and final time. "I'll repeat myself, it was just a filler. The true hypothesis states…"

Matthew listened closely.

"That Reed Regardius' soul will live on past death."

Matthew paused. "Huh?"

"The true purpose of this entire experiment was to test Reed's undying soul. Whether his pure hatred for my living existence will keep his will ongoing, enough to live past life's death itself. We needed Azrael to determine this outcome."

"But how can that matter if we can't even resurrect Reed's body? Even if his soul lives on like you've hypothesized, he has no more body to occupy. I mean, look at it, it's divided into six irreversible segments."

"What matters is his soul, not his body. Sure his body has all the serum enhancements, but we have leftovers from each exhibit. We transplant his everlasting soul into a new body, and give that body the serums. Then we can continue from where we left off, with the significant additional information on Reed's soul, which now takes up a new body, but still remains to be the one and only Reed Regardius."

Matthew took all this in. He'd only just remembered he was reporting for an insane, uncontrollable, sadistic, psychopath, as he thought.

"If my hypothesis is accepted..." Raphael giddily grinned. "Then that means we've truly created an immortal being. One who's physical self can live past fatal injuries, but also one who's spiritual self can live past death by Death. It'll mean we've created a conveyable grudge-holding soul who's intent and body count rivals that of any massacrist. A soul we can transfer from vessel to vessel if ever need be."

Matthew listened, with a restrained feeling of fear. "What… kind of monster are we creating?"

"An immortal one Matthew, an immortal one. Do you see the potential in an undying vengeful spirit to drive forth the intentions of A.X.A.? With an extremely powerful being like Mr. Regardius, we can instantaneously establish a higher power starting with him. He will surely strike fear in those he sees beneath him in his imaginary food chain."

Matthew felt the hairs on his neck stand up. Something about the certainty of the whole situation unsettled him. He realized that the person that was Reed Regardius would never remain Reed Regardius. An everchanging person, yet, a neverchanging desire. He looked at what was left of Reed within the chamber. It was only at this moment that Matthew unexpectedly felt himself pity the boy. But he immediately wiped off the thought.

Raphael spoke up. "Now withhold all the information I've bestowed upon you. The last thing we need to determine is the outcome of our experiment, and what truth lies behind our hypothesis. Request for additional Angel Units to carry Reed's remains to Chamuel's chamber. We will discover our conclusion there."

Raphael then walked out of the room, leaving Matthew to ponder. He realized that this next report he was going to write was going to be the most important one by far.