Once the lich had finished explaining that his and his companions' success in escaping the clutches of the people that had abducted and experimented on them, Marcus could see a look of clear dissatisfaction on the lich's face.
Even after all this time he was disappointed that he had not been able to achieve the full revenge that he wanted.
"So, what happened? I imagine that this organization became destabilized for some reason or another and allowed all of you to easily escape." Marcus said, wanting to know exactly what had happened.
He was finished making guess on the way he thought events would have gone down, and instead just wanted to hear what occurred.
"The event that crushed the organization that held us here is considered one of the greatest calamities that ever occurred on this world but for us it was a great boon in many ways. In fact, a monster of a similar danger recently appeared, but was stopped without causing nearly as much damage. I am sure that you know of what I am talking about, seeing as how you live in Borealia." Daniel said.
Realization swiftly hit Marcus and he recalled an event that happened around four hundred years ago and shook the world.
"I see, so it was the first doomsday monster that nearly destroyed an entire continent around four hundred years ago that allowed you all to escape."
"Yes, a terrible monster that killed millions is what we have to thank for our freedom coming swiftly and unexpectedly." Daniel said, an almost nostalgic smile on his face.
He then explained that after the Dread Flame, the first Doomsday Monster appeared, the organization that had been experimenting on him and the other transfers from Earth was forced to shift all of its attention to combating a new overwhelming threat.
"Most of the personnel here that possessed any combat skills were called back to fight and this place was only manned by a skeleton crew. Some of the other people that had been turned into undead that were more under their control were taken to fight the Doomsday Centipede, but none of them survived. Within just two months tis facility no longer had the personnel and resources to contain us and we easily broke out. We then slaughtered those that had remined and took this place over for ourselves."
"At that time, we rejoiced, but there was honestly little for us to celebrate. Some of us were stuck here and the majority of us had already been turned into undead. A few of the newer people that had only been recently brought to the island as new guinea pigs were able to return back to society since they were still human, but of the nearly three dozen of us that had escaped at the time, that only accounted for four of us." Daniel said, his expression turning sorrowful.
An with but a quick glance at his companions Marcus understood.
There were only five individuals left here now and he imagined that the other people that had been turned into undead an escaped did not meet happy ends.
"You do not need to go into detail about what happened next. I think I have heard enough of your story to understand what is going on."
Marcus could see that telling this story was painful for all those present and he did not believe there was any reason for them to continue to force themselves any longer.
"Thank you for your consideration, but I want you to hear the rest. It will not take much longer. Not much has honestly changed in all these centuries."
"After we got free it became clear within just a few days that we could be separated into four different categories. Those that we still human that I told you about earlier, those like us here that wanted to return to being human, others that were fine living as undead, and sadly the largest group at the time, the ones that had been driven mad and retained practically nothing of their humanity."
Even with their captors killed new problems sprouted up quickly among them and the first was putting down the people that were no longer sane. They had been reduced to being practically mindless undead and Daniel and the others that retained their sense of self had to kill the ones that were no longer able to be considered cognizant entities.
Hearing this, Marcus could not help but grimace, as he remembered the time when he nearly lost himself. It was easy for him to imagine a scenario where he would have to be put down like a sick dog if he let his Soul Devour unique skill get the better of him.
"Once we had finished what we considered mercy kills at the time, we were stuck in arguments for several months. In the end we spilt off into a group that stayed here to try and return to being human and a group that was fine with being undead and just wanted to leave. The rest is as you already know. Those of us that stayed here set up this resort in order to lure powerful people here and infect them with the soul infused surveillance devices I created when trying to figure out how to untangle my soul from this place. Our goal is to hopefully locate a unique skill orb or anything else that has the ability to restore us. And we have found a couple in the past, but we were unable to obtain them in time before they were snatched away." Daniel said, his entire demeanor showing the regret he felt.
At times they had seemed so close to finding the solution that they yearned for, but in the end, they had made no real progress in becoming human again.
'I cannot image the amount of resolve that they have. Within just a few months being stuck at the center of the world I was close to going crazy. But they have held out for centuries, never giving up hope. Even with all they have lost.' Marcus thought, after having heard the lich's full story.
A quick glance around an he was able to see that there nine chairs around the table they were currently sitting at, and he was certain that there used to be other people that would have occupied them.
Naturally Marcus was curious, but he knew that this question would only open old wounds, and he could speculate on what happened easily enough.
"Now I have told you about us. You know our reason for making this place and I hope that we have convinced that we do not mean the world any harm. We only want to return to being human." Daniel said, a pleading look in his sunken eyes.
Marcus nodded his head; he could tell that they were not lying.
"Still before I agree to anything there are a couple of other things I want to know. First, I discovered the ship that you have transporting rare and unusual supplies. Among them were human remains, some of which were quite ghastly."
For the first time the lich winced when he heard what Marcus had found.
It was certainly not something that would help endear them to Marcus.
"I can explain. I will not lie; we use those for our necromancy experiments and to create servants for us. The undead predominantly work down here while the homunculi work above. I am sure you noticed but any weak living being that got near us would almost certainly die immediately. Our auras are like poison to the living. And I promise that we do not indiscriminately slaughter people. We only collect the remains of those who have already perished. Normally from executed criminals." Daniel said, frantically trying to explain.
"Very well, I am not personally okay with desecrating other people's bodies after they are dead, but I understand why you did it and believe what you said. Now what of the homunculi? I want to hear more about them as well."
Thankful that Marcus was still willing to hear them out Daniel explained that the facilities to create homunculi already existed within the area of the resort when it was still just a research facility and that they had reposed them for their own needs.
"We need individuals that could act as humans in our stead and so creating homunculi was the best we could do rather than trying to rely on someone from the outside. They are the ones that run the resort and gather items for us on the outside world. Of course, we do not just keep them in servitude for their entire levels. Typically after ten years we send them off with ample resources to live a good life and wipe their minds of the place if they choose to leave. Some do leave while others stay for their entire lives and help us."
"Okay, I get that you are not inhumane, but what I was really asking was how they are created, not questioning your morality. I have already decided that you are not malicious and that helping you should not cause any problems." Marcus said.
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