Beyond Human: The Experiment Who Became a Monster

CHAPTER 5: Shattered Dreams

Just as Doctor Shaw stepped out of the room, he found Doctor Zho standing around the corner. He was about to leave when Doctor Zho stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

"Is he dead?" he asked, even though he already suspected the answer.

"Yes, he's dead," Doctor Shaw replied indifferently. "A necessary sacrifice for the advancement of the human race."

With those words, he walked past Doctor Zho without another glance, as though he had merely finished an ordinary day's work rather than overseen the brutal death of a sixteen-year-old boy.

A moment later, Doctor Kay emerged from the room. Noticing the dejected expression on his colleague's face, he let out a quiet sigh before approaching him and placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Although Doctor Shaw can be rather cold and, at times, downright psychotic, he's a brilliant scientist. Decades of achievements and groundbreaking discoveries speak for themselves."

He paused, studying Doctor Zho's troubled expression.

"My advice? Don't get too attached to the subjects. The more attached you become, the harder and more painful it will be when you're forced to make difficult decisions and do what's necessary. Learn to distance yourself emotionally, and your time at this facility will be much easier.”

“This is something I'm beginning to learn from Doctor Shaw”

Doctor Zho remained silent, his gaze lowered.

"Come on, let's get something to eat," Doctor Kay continued, giving his shoulder a gentle pat. "There's no point worrying about the dead. It's not as if he'll come back to life."

Without waiting for a response, he led Doctor Zho down the hallway toward the cafeteria.

The moment the two doctors disappeared from sight, a group of women dressed in maid uniforms entered the room. They had come to clean up the aftermath of the experiment and prepare the chamber for its next use.

"Hmm... So he's the one who died today." One of the women said as she glanced at Azrael's lifeless body.

"The facility paid special attention to him for the past four years," another woman remarked as she approached the bed. "Who would've thought he'd end up like all the others?"

The women exchanged a few words before getting to work. Without showing any particular concern for the dead boy, they lifted his body and placed it inside a large plastic body bag.

Once they had finished cleaning the room, they carried the bag out of the facility and disposed of it in a dumpster.

To them, Azrael was nothing more than another unfortunate subject who had met his end.

The following day, a truck arrived at the facility to collect the trash from the dumpster outside. After loading everything, it drove away. The truck continued until it reached the outskirts of a vast forest, far removed from any human settlement, before finally coming to a stop.

Several workers climbed down and began unloading the trash. They carried it deeper into the forest before dumping everything in a secluded area and returning to the truck.

Once they were done, the truck drove away, leaving the forest in silence.

...

"Mom! When I grow up, I want to become a powerful Variant just like you!" A little boy who appeared to be around ten years old stood in the kitchen, a bright smile spread across his face as he gazed at the beautiful woman preparing dinner.

"Really?" the woman asked with a warm smile. "Well, you'll have to awaken your powers first. Tell me, what kind of abilities would you like to awaken?"

"Hmm..." The boy fell into thought, his violet eyes shifting as he considered the question. "Can I awaken all of them?"

The woman burst into laughter at his innocent response. "You want to awaken every ability?" she asked, amused.

The boy nodded eagerly, seemingly fascinated by the idea.

Still smiling, the woman finished washing her hands and dried them before walking over to him. She crouched down to his level and gently ruffled his hair.

"That's not possible, sweetheart," she explained affectionately. "There's only so much the human body can handle. What matters isn't how many abilities you awaken, but the grade of those abilities."

The boy listened attentively, his expression growing thoughtful.

"Then, in that case, I want to awaken the highest-grade ability ever!" he declared, his eyes sparkling with determination. "That way, I can become a hero just like you and protect humanity!”

…

Azrael's body lay lifeless among the discarded trash, but somehow, his consciousness remained.

Memories of his childhood with his mother continued to surface, playing through his mind like scenes from a movie. He recalled the warmth of her smile, the sound of her laughter, and the promises he had made to become a hero just like her.

Those memories had once been his greatest source of happiness. Everything had been fine until his twelfth birthday, when his mother left for a mission and never returned.

It was supposed to be a special year for him. Twelve was the age when children were expected to awaken their abilities, a moment he had anticipated with excitement for as long as he could remember.

He had spent days eagerly awaiting his mother's return, wanting nothing more than to share that important milestone with her. But she never came back.

Instead, a group of people from the facility arrived to inform him that his mother had disappeared during a mission alongside her team. None of them had returned.

Azrael had felt as though his heart had been pierced.

He refused to believe their words, clinging to the hope that his mother would return one day. She was the strongest Variant in human history. How could someone like her simply disappear?

But as the days passed without any news, the hope he held on to gradually became harder to maintain.

Then came the day of his awakening test.

He failed.

The news shattered what remained of his dreams. He had always wanted to become a great Variant like his mother, a hero admired and revered by humanity. He wanted to protect people, save lives, and make her proud.

Yet, despite all his hopes and expectations, he couldn't even awaken the lowest grade ability. And now, after years of disappointment, he had met an even more miserable end.