Ulpianus

[Code Name] Ulpianus

[Gender] Male

[Combat Experience] 22 years

[Place of Birth] Ægir

[Date of Birth] Apr 13

[Race] Ægir

[Height] 189cm

[Infection Status]

Medical tests have confirmed that no infection is present.

[Physical Strength] Outstanding

[Mobility] Excellent

[Physical Resilience] Outstanding

[Tactical Acumen] Excellent

[Combat Skill] Outstanding

[Originium Arts Assimilation] Flawed

Ulpianus, Ægir, former Consul of Ægir's Academy of Technology, lead researcher of the Abyssal Hunter project, and a commander of the Ægir military organization of the same name. When and where he came ashore are both unknown. He provides support when Rhodes Island is involved in ocean-related matters.

All files pertaining to Ulpianus have been moved to the high clearance database.

Imaging tests reveal clear, normal outlines of internal organs, and no abnormal shadows have been detected. Originium granules have not been detected in the circulatory system and there is no sign of infection. At this time, this operator is believed to be uninfected.

[Cell-Originium Assimilation] 0%

Ulpianus shows no signs of Originium infection.

[Blood Originium-Crystal Density] 0.012u/L

As self-reported, he once intentionally touched Originium for observational purposes during his time on land, but took appropriate precautions and was not infected.

His body's rather robust. It's absolutely covered in cuts and wounds, like some kind of test subject, or even an operating table itself. Frightening.

—A certain Medical Operator

Operator Ulpianus's medical records have been moved to the high clearance database. We ask that relevant Medical operators maintain strict confidentiality.

––Medical Department Internal Notice

'Ulpianus... Why're you suddenly bringing up this name? Did you see him on the landship?'

'Oh, no. Is he on Rhodes Island? HR's been sorting out some operator files, and the name pops up now and then in the Abyssal Hunter mission reports. I thought I'd do some investigating...'

'You've got a real demon on your line there! You know how Skadi fights, right? How she can tear down a town on her lonesome? Columbia's engineers must love her. Well, Skadi was taught by that 'Ulpianus' guy. He can blend in with the shadows, with only his sinister eyes showing. He's also got freakish strength, able to hoist a giant four-pronged anchor, every blow a miniature explosion. He rampages through the seas, not caring if he's fighting friend or foe, a terror as famous as the Seaborn...'

'Closure, what are you talking about?'

'What I'm saying is you should stow your curiosity and get back to work.'

—Recording of a conversation between Closure and an HR Operator in a meeting room

By the time I joined the Hunters as a representative of the Legions, Ulpianus was already a veteran of five years. The lab kept his data and images from before he volunteered for the transformation. I would hesitate to call him strong. Perhaps 'somewhat feeble'? And aside from some characteristic clothing he likes to wear, the difference between then and now could not be greater. Strictly speaking, his condition was not up to the standards he himself would later establish for subjects. But at the time, the project was finally entering the clinical stage, and he chose to take that strange flesh into his body, advancing the development of the immature gene remodeling procedure... The cost? Compared to the project potentially losing its lead researcher, the many scars he gained are a negligible price. No, I do not care if he did it out of responsibility or worry. My main point is that he succeeded.

For a Hunter, his physical parameters are not particularly outstanding. In terms of only endurance or speed, he cannot compare to me or Skadi. But he chose an appropriate weapon for his fighting style, raining down brute force in exacting, methodical swings—something he often taught Skadi. That ridiculous anchor of his is nothing more than his surgeon's blade. It is not a light weapon, so every strike must give the enemy a grievous wound, one that would be hard to heal from.

...It seems his every decision is like this. Him becoming Ægir's first Abyssal Hunter, him fighting to the last, and now his departure from Ægir. This is what both his reliability and his risk stem from.

—Gladiia

[Engineering Department Audio Log Clip 1]

'Have you finished checking through all the stuff Secunda sent us?'

'Yeah. I've looked over the experiment reports and their results a few times now. Ægir's gene editing tech is insane. They can already change individual organisms' characteristics on the fly as they grow... Oh, yeah, don't let Hypatia see those lecture tapes.'

'Doesn't Hypatia teach history? Don't tell me she's getting into bioengineering too? They're not even remotely the same!'

'No, you haven't seen how that masked Ægir in the tapes teaches. Hypatia prefers the edutainment model of teaching, so I think she'd have an aneurysm if she saw it. It's so stifling! Hardly any bilateral communication, it's just a barrage of questions.'

'What's weird about students asking questions?'

'No, it's this guy asking the STUDENTS to ask him questions.'

''The Ægir once had additional appendages, but after our ancestors moved from the rivers to the sea, they gradually atrophied...' He'd suddenly stop and be silent, then the students in the lab would ask questions one by one. Can you imagine?! Most of them, he wouldn't even answer, or just coldly say 'Wrong question. Ask another.' And they'd keep on asking... By the time you actually managed to ask a question he felt like answering, you'd already know the gist of the whole thing anyway.'

'Ægir's a country governed by scientists and engineers, so there's always going to be a few eccentrics like him. From that angle, I don't think it's so hard to understand.'

'...Really?'

[Engineering Department Audio Log Clip 2]

'So I asked Secunda about all this when I met her.'

'What'd she say?'

'That he's always been like that. Even when interviewing potential research assistants, he'd only let them ask three questions before cutting off the interview. And he's not trying to pressure people, either. He's just a bit awkward at social interaction, and not really suited to being a teacher. She does think that sort of questioning is rather normal, though. She once managed to get answers to ten questions in a row, and she thinks it's a very efficient way to communicate. It can get you to reflect on things and find your blind spots. She said we should consider it.'

[Engineering Department Audio Log Clip 3]

'There are no worthless answers. What determines their worth is the corresponding question. Only once you determine the right question can you solve it.'

Don't be fooled by the way he always lowers his voice to speak, like he's shrouding himself in mystery. He's actually a very good singer.

What's with that face? Do you think the Abyssal Hunters are only killing machines? Sure, Ægir's general education doesn't include music or dance classes, but the Little Handy module No.57 has more music than what any terrestrial music critic could hope to have. The domes are like giant pianos, converting the crashing of the waves into sweet melodies. The shifting frequency and movements of the coral by the roads is itself a form of dance... Music and dance are a part of everything we Ægir see and hear. That's how Swordfish, Shark, and I learned how to sing, play instruments, and dance. Our colleagues at the Institutes of Physical Art don't see systematic learning as necessary. They research anything and everything in the ocean and its relation to music and dance to develop a 'language' they can use to truly express themselves and communicate with the world.

The Captain's even more talented than the rest of us. He's got perfect pitch, and he's a composer too. I heard from Advisor Blandus that he got an invitation to one of those art institutes when he was young... Right, I mentioned this before: He sees music as nothing more than a tool. Each time we had a hunt in a Seaborn nest, he'd always haphazardly compose a tune, then order everyone in the his team to memorize it. Then after the battle, he'd ask us to sing it back to him and give his opinion. The dregs of the sea can't appreciate art. Memorizing the melody is enough to prove you're still you. So he'd do this before returning to the city for inspection to see who'd be executed and left to dry on the reefs, and who'd be allowed to go home.

But there's something else that left a deeper impression on me. Once, during a mission, we ran into two schools of rare fins. They cried out, their chatter all around us, disturbing most of the current. Once we got back to the city, the first thing the Captain did was to upload a score into the port's terminal. I had a listen after that. It was a duet, the cries of the fins poking out between the notes of the main melody. Ever since the Seaborn took over that patch of sea, that duet is the last record of those fins. It's hard to say it was a coincidence, knowing him. It's a beautiful song, but doesn't exactly match his icy expression.

No, I'm not trying to prove anything to you, nor can I prove anything to Ægir. I just wanted to say...

He can still sing. Both when the scum devoured Amaia and the sea around the Stultifera Navis fell into Silence, and when Milliarium's beacon tower fell to the seafloor... I could still hear him.

—Skadi

[Classified Log]

[The image is encrypted, extracting audio]

I am still lucid.

There is not much time, so I will keep things as brief as possible.

These past two hundred years, the rate at which the Seaborn evolve has surpassed our understanding of them. But whether in the oceanic abyss or Iberia, Seaborn with different morphologies still share common characteristics: sleek bodies, sturdy flesh, a certain quickness. Proof of their relationship to Ishar'mla. But quite a few of the Seaborn we saw in Milliarium had divergent characteristics... Yes, this is not enough to prove that there is a new, independent bloodline within the Seaborn, but there is no doubt they have been influenced by some other, superior being. The new 'gods' of these beasts are stirring. We do not know where, or how many.

Mártus. I know this Seaborn sought you out. He revealed to you some shocking truths, some new laws of nature. Clementia locked down this information very well. I do not mean to debate you on this. We are saving ourselves, along with everything we care about. I see 'savior' and 'creator' as rather laughable titles. What I care about, though, is that he shows no fear. He believes that even with all his cards on the table, we will have no means of stopping the evolution of the Seaborn. And so I must follow him back to the heart of the sea. My assimilation was too short, my resonance with we many too shallow, and there is much I cannot yet answer. Every unusual phenomenon in the ocean, every minute warning sign, demands our attention. The seafloor volcanoes suddenly appearing these past two years, shining patches of sea that move, and that legendary 'iceberg'... I doubt it is a mere congregation of ice and snow, but rather a giant hive, an ecological system composed of chitin, daughter cells, and nutrients joined together. It does exist, and it is now 'thawing' above some patch of sea. I have already sent you the coordinates. You can try to confirm them with Gladiia.

I am still lucid. I will continue my work.

The Waterway may be connected, but do not visit the Ægir home territories unless strictly necessary.

[A very old training report]

Target area: Trench 143

Traversal records:

Gladiia: 78m39s

Flavius: 103m12s

Laurentina: 95m22s

Celsus: 89m39s

Ulpianus: 77m40s

'Trench 143 is incredibly deep, with a lot of collapsing sediment and a complex topography. Who would have thought Ulpianus could beat Gladiia's crossing time by a minute? Has he been training in secret?'

'No. He just has a better sense of direction than her. Doesn't matter if it's navigating complex terrain or crossing long distances with weights, his heading's always so exact that there's barely any error on it. It's not because of the gene remodeling either. He's been that way since he was born. Ulpianus never loses his path.'