"I can't tell you much because you don't have the clearance to know about these things. To obtain the said... clearance, you will have to level up and evolve your intelligence." Lucifer informed Ashton before anything was discussed between them.
"Just tell me what you can..."
Ashton found Lucifer's remarks a bit strange, but then again, everything about him was strange, to begin with. So he accepted whatever the famed administrator could tell him in hopes that it would at least answer his main concern.
Lucifer's tale began half a millennium ago. Back when humans were still ruling over Earth doing whatever they pleased to as a society. They were on an inevitable path of self-destruction and if someone didn't stop them, they would perish like countless planets and species before them.
The humans weren't aware of it, but there was a species called The Xyrans, the ones they referred to as the 'admins' nowadays, who had been keeping an eye on them pretty much since homo sapiens came into being.
But to the Xyrans, humans were just of the countless species with their controlled space. While some Xyrans saw potential in humanity, to the rest of them, humans were just another primitive species like many before them.
As humanity slowly crawled its way towards its certain demise, Xyrans found themselves split on what to do with them. There were some Xyrans who wanted to 'save' the humans by capturing them and running earth on their behalf.
Then there were those who wanted to help them stabilise their planet without causing any bloodshed and through knowledge and science. At last came those who wanted nothing to do with the humans, stating, 'the earth was better off without the humans.'
Lucifer and a few of his friends were part of the second group amongst the Xyrans and were the weakest faction as they had the least number of people on their side.
Why did the Xyrans not want to spend their precious resources trying to 'help' a planet? Simply because it was considered 'wasteful', as the humans would simply repeat the cycle like they had countless times before.
But another fact also contributed to their decision of not helping the humans take care of their mess. Despite having insanely high intelligence, Xyrans were a species that craved violence and war.
However, fighting humanity would be like hurling a supermassive black hole towards a star system that wasn't even formed yet. In other words... humanity would get recked in the blink of an eye and none of the Xyrans wanted that.
What they did want was to have some fun with the humans. Hence they decided to force them to evolve into something more... all the while forcing them to do something that was morally wrong.
They made a virus that would stimulate the dormant cells lying within a human's body and force them to become something more.
This prompted the Xyrans to capture live specimens through the years 1947 to early 2000s, according to the human calendar, and experiment on them... something that would inevitably kill most of the specimen.
Those who survived had their memories altered and either let go of or forced into their intergalactic zoos. Some of the higher-ranking Xyran officials even had them as slaves and pets.
"I and numerous others protested against this but against the voice of the majority, we were inevitably silenced... all but one person. My friend called... Astaroth." Lucifer sighed as he remembered his long lost friend.
He continued, "That bastard had the willpower like no one had ever seen before... but he was deluded to think he could take everyone on by himself. Something he paid the price for... quite dearly."
"Yeah... it's a sad story but what does it have to do with me?"
Ashton was getting a bit impatient listening to Lucifer reminisce. To him, nothing Lucifer had told till now was of any substance. Others might die to hear all this information, especially Professor Bancroft, but Ashton did not have enough patience to listen to the prologue of some alien race and their regret.
"It affects you because Astaroth lives inside you. That bastard was supposed to be dead... but he isn't. If any other admin finds out about this, they will kill you in order to kill him." Lucifer spoke calmly, but judging by his voice he seemed a bit... on the edge, "Shit, they are here. I'm afraid I have told you too much."
Lucifer hastily said a couple of more things before going back to radio silence, "I can't tell you anything else for now. I don't know how he took control of your body, but it's the only explanation of what happened to you. You will have to evolve if you want to know more-"
Silence... Lucifer dropped an earth-sized nuke on Ashton's head before disappearing into thin air just like the countless times before. Even though he got the answer he was looking for, Ashton was more confused than ever...
Hell, he wasn't half as confused as he was shocked. How could two different people live inside a single body? That too, when they belong to different species? Ashton was numb... he didn't know what to think or feel at the moment.
He was... clueless regarding what the future held in store for him.
From what Lucifer told him, this Astaroth guy seemed to have his own ideals and agenda he would love to follow. One of which was saving humans for fuck's sake. It was something Ashton wasn't concerned about in the least.
The only thing he did care about was vengeance and getting back at everyone who had wronged him.
"What if I lose control next time? Would I even be able to get back in control or not?"
All of a sudden a plethora of questions flooded his mind. The more he thought about it, the more questions revealed themselves. Could he even trust this guy to not get him killed? What will happen to him and those around him when Astaroth took control over his body again?
But among all of these questions, Ashton had a few answers. The last time Astaroth appeared was when he was previously wounded and on the verge of dying. So... if Ashton could prevent such a condition from arising again, he should be fine.
Also, the only way of accomplishing that was to get stronger so that he never ends up in a position like before. Secondly, he needed to evolve, which coincided with him getting strong. As long as he could evolve, Lucifer will have more answers to his questions...
'Getting stronger is the only thing in my control.' Ashton somehow calmed his nerves, 'But FUCK this shit...'