(Thank you to @37454 & @MushyRP for helping me with the screenshot. <3)This lore document was entirely thought up and illustrated by @ermjay. The characters in this story all tie in with an upcoming lore project that we, the Lore team, are putting together. Call this Part 1, if you would, yeah? - This wouldn’t have been possible without the help of SchoolRP’s community, so this is my first contribution to you all. Cheers!
WELCOME
Hidden away at the edge of Karakura Island lies a story lost in time - an unmarked laboratory deep within the Ochiba forest, hidden in plain sight. Overgrown hedges and graffiti litter the structure's stone walls, along with a tree trunk caved in its roof. As abandoned and decrepit it may seem, this place was full of life - animals scattered about, humans came and went - now left to wither away during the night. One may ask, however: what is the forlorn tale behind the remains of humanity?
Let’s travel back to December 9, 1999, also the coldest night of the year. An unnamed foreign man, who posed as nothing more than a sight-seer, stumbled across the laboratory whilst boating through the Pacific Ocean. All that was left were the letters ‘RA’ labeled in dark red at the top. What a marvelous sight, the man had thought.
And so began the process of reviving what was left behind. This was the start of humanity’s damnation.
ONLY THE BEGINNING
Ten years later, and after a heavy setback, XERA came to be. The old paint wore off over time, and a fresh coat spelled out the four letters. The origin of the name was unknown, but it was believed to have been the new founder’s given name. The laboratory was lively again, and it swarmed with individuals dressed up in a professional manner - a new creation was the only thing they had on their mind. With only a single goal in planning, they then proceeded to create incredible inventions at the cost of money.
However, things took a turn - and for the worst.
The founder of XERA was a complete fool. All he thought of was the money he could profit off of. He took his workers for granted and abused his high powers, thus setting a strike to the corruption match. He planned on creating and selling different diseases and cures, which resulted in the birth of the XERA trials.
More often than not, the production of the XERA serums were slow, due to the strict labor forced upon them by the Director of the trials - the father of the foundation himself. The entire idea behind this project was to create different mixtures and toxics, then experiment on fruits and vegetables - though, it went further than that eventually. An idea to experiment on humans came to the table, and many shunned the idea away at the thought; cruelty at its finest. The Director assured them that these were harmful people, prisoners and such, and that it was ethical due to his beliefs.
Unfortunately, not all were on board despite what the Director had told them. Many left, and those who chose to stay were to suffer the actions of their consequences.
ETHICAL?
There was nothing ethical about experimenting on the living, evil or not.
The funds of every trial cost a fortune, so the Director used the local hospital as a source of materials - mostly scalpels and vials, though it differed from creation to creation. He paid a lengthy fee to those present, in exchange for medical equipment. None bat an eye at the stranger, who was believed to have been a Director at a different hospital, so they proceeded to fund his every need.
And so the XERA Trials continued. Endless days and nights flew by in a windstorm, and the corruption of XERA spread throughout the underworld. From unnamed buyers who hid behind masks, to letters from unmarked parcels, the XERA name presented itself in more ways than one. Some believed they created poisons that were delivered to the richer, more prestigious individuals of Karakura, whilst others believed they had found the cure to a disease they had also created - the irony in that. They continued to test their works of art on the living. Dealers from across the globe had arrived in search of work, money, and their very own weapons.
These experiments only grew worse as time moved on. They were curious as to how the human body functioned, and the idea of the Frankenstein monster - it was a mock at first. These madmen went from injecting venoms into the body, then curing them with another, to amputating their limbs and replacing it with others. Nothing was ethical about this, and yet the Director was curious to see the results of his trials. A madman he was, and a madman he’d be for eternity.
HIS TRIALS
All good things must come to an end some day, right? That’s the good ol’ saying.
2012 was soon-to-be the project’s downfall. Japan’s black market had its hands all on the Director’s finest creations, a living frankenstein. Only a few were lucky enough to see the surgical implants their body was put through - can you even call that luck? Those who did survive were put through a long cycle of procedures - poisons, cures - over and over. How much can the body endure? This was the Director’s peak.
The whole plan was to find out what the human body would do to such changes in its way of living - what the effects of plants and chemicals would do to the mind and body. Every failed project led to a success, so why was it wrong of the Director to conduct these experiments?
One day, however, the laboratory was overrun by dealers from across the country, some residing in the states who traveled across the sea to partake in the raid. They were set on finding the main source of this madness, the Director, who was long gone before it had started. The laboratory was smashed to pieces, torn apart from his very hands - yet he let his art go to waste. A scorching flame ruptured from a gas mixture, resulting in the laboratory to be burnt from within.
This brought an end to the XERA Trials. For now, that is.
THE AFTERMATH
The heinous acts of the XERA Trials were brought to an end on March 19, 2012. For those who lived beneath the streets of Japan, it was all they ever heard about. Anonymous chat websites exploded in hundreds of messages - dealers and buyers were overwhelmed, and the profit of the black market fumbled at once in an attempt at figuring out the source behind the sudden departure.
Eventually, as time went on, the chemical vials and mixtures were sold off or brought in for further examination by multiple different forensics teams. After six months of constant negotiating, the dealers ran out of stock, and the product eventually fell dead, thus bringing an unfortunate, yet exciting end to the XERA Trials.
Much like an art piece, the director of the XERA Trials left an influence across the entire criminal underworld. Aspiring leaders took their chances at reading the notes he posted on the dark web, only to return one day to them erased from online. There’s no telling who did it, or how it happened, but some say the Director still roams the streets of Japan seeking fortune.
The scariest thing about it all, though? Buried within the destruction of the XERA laboratory was the Directors office - atop his desk, a simple I.D. Everything was burnt away except for the name.
‘Illya Lorincz’
To be continued.