Prologue to Insanity: Hebi Laboratories, Offline [WW4 Event]

There will be no warning. I will not be able to track the number of lives taken in this action.

A gray haired man stood over a desk, his hands spread out onto it as he reviewed the various papers he had scattered about.

Within this room, the Doctor, Kabuto Hebi, was completely alone. This was his inner sanctum; a room that only himself, his wife, and his son were permitted to enter. The boy, even if he were to enter… would not know what these are. He would not know what I plan to do. What I plan…

The room contained a single desk, with a single computer monitor on top of it. The furniture of the room was not the important thing one should note about this room. That was reserved for the thousands of photos that covered its walls, stretching all over the four walls, pictures stacked on top of pictures. In the center of them all, directly above the computer monitor, stood the only one that was destroyed. Bits of orange and dark black on pale skin were all that remained of that image, ripped and torn at with an apparent degree of violence. It was the only image that had been tarnished in any way; even if others were covered by other images, they were kept in great condition.

Each of the images were another person that the Doctor had slain. Each was another person who his actions had robbed the life out of. Experiments, opponents, fellow researchers - slain for his madness, ambition, curiosity. Each had an image upon his wall, an unforgettable reminder of what he had done. It was before those thousands of faces that The Doctor was finalizing his plans.

One shaking hand reached toward the photos on the wall, his eyes narrowing slightly as he tore one off of the wall. It was a picture of a woman, with red and blue eyes. She was smiling, reaching her hand out toward the picture taker. The Doctor's lips rose into a small smile, and he carefully tucked the image within his robe. The light from the room's single bulb shone off of the wedding ring he wore as he did so. …No. I have not been only taking life… There are those who have given theirs to me, as well. And for them…

The Doctor's hands reached over the computer, working and typing, before standing totally still. The red cloaked man, with his hood lowered. His raggedy gray hair lay weakly on his head. His piercing yellow eyes were accented by the sweat that shone across his face. Behind his body, the serpent that came out of his robe shifted, coiling up behind himself so that the camera could see it as well. The Doctor's face was covered in moisture, eyes locked on the camera… his lips beginning to move.

"..My… wife. And my Son. I love you both… so very much… …"

* * *

Throughout Hebi Laboratories, there remained only silence. All of the words had gone from this place; there was nothing left remaining. The experiments had all been taken care of in one manner or another - put out of their misery, released, or in the case of the great serpent Victor II, tranquilized. The place had been silent since the doctor had seen off his wife and son's departure. Even his lab hands had been let go; told only that they should lay low, and avoid major cities. Each of the Doctor's supporters and collaborators had been dismissed, which meant that as the last group was seen out, the only ones remaining were the Selves.

But… if one were to walk among the halls of the Laboratory now, they would be met by a most curious sight. The Selves were each unconscious. Bodies lay limply against the ground, unmoving, unfeeling. Apparently corpses. Eyes open, hands stretching out as if to escape something. Some were even lain on top of others, as if they had fallen together into a heap. Thus, the Laboratory had grown completely silent. There was nothing left of the people of this Laboratory.

But it was also not without its defenses. After all, the Doctor's information had never been stored in a normal manner. To be able to access his data and research would require bypassing his biological systems. These systems had been developed and strengthened over the past couple months to several times their original strength. Even if the Laboratory were to be exploited, broken into, assaulted… they would still need to get past those defenses to access the information within.

This was the state of the Doctor's Laboratory, its inhabitants having departed in one way or another to prepare for the changing of the world…