DIVINE.EXE: Ascension Protocol

CHAPTER 3: System Player Activated

Ryker braced himself and measured his voice before he spoke.

“Who am I speaking with?” he asked.

A man’s voice responded smoothly, without hesitation. “Dr. Victor Clark.”

Ryker felt his chest tighten instantly, a pressure forming just beneath his ribs. The name carried weight—years of it. Clark Industries. The company that had promised salvation and delivered a cage instead. Two years of experiments, injections, machines humming over his body, scientists watching him like a broken specimen. Two years of false hope. Two years without pay, without answers, without mercy.

“The same Dr. Clark who runs Clark Industries?” Ryker asked.

“The very same,” the voice replied.

Ryker’s jaw tightened. “Why are you calling me?”

“Because,” Dr. Clark said calmly, “I have something you want. And you have something I need.”

Ryker let out a slow breath through his nose. “What do you think I want?”

“I saw everything you did,” Dr. Clark replied. “My special operatives. Their body cams captured the entire encounter.”

Ryker said nothing. He didn’t deny it. He didn’t explain.

“I want you to return to Clark Industries,” Dr. Clark continued. “Immediately.”

Ryker scoffed. “And what exactly do you have that would make me do that?”

There was a pause. A deliberate one.

“Catalina,” Dr. Clark said.

The word froze Ryker in place. His fingers tightened around the phone, knuckles whitening. “Where is she?”

“Check your phone,” Dr. Clark replied.

The call ended.

Ryker stared at the screen for half a second before it refreshed on its own. A live video feed opened. Catalina lay asleep on a bed, her breathing slow and even. The room was clean, well-lit, nothing like the places Ryker had imagined in his worst moments. She shifted slightly in her sleep, unaware of the eyes watching her.

She was alive.

Ryker closed his eyes briefly, then opened them again. “Okay,” he said quietly.

That night, he returned to Clark Industries.

The building stood exactly as it always had—towering, polished, untouchable. Glass walls reflected the city lights, making it look less like a workplace and more like a monument to control. As Ryker approached the entrance, guards noticed him immediately. None raised a weapon. None spoke. They simply stepped aside, clearing a path as if they’d been expecting him all along. Fear lingered in their expressions, unhidden.

Inside, the elevator doors slid open at his approach. He stepped in alone. The ascent felt longer than it should have, the quiet broken only by the soft hum of machinery.

Top floor.

The doors opened.

Dr. Clark sat near the window, wine glass in hand, one leg crossed casually over the other. The city stretched clearly through his windows, distant and insignificant. He looked relaxed, comfortable, like a man who had never lost control of a situation in his life.

“Look who’s here,” Dr. Clark said. “I knew you had something in you. Probably just a late bloomer.”

“Where’s my sister?” Ryker asked.

“She’s fine,” Dr. Clark replied. “I adopted her. She lives in my house now. Safe.”

The word settled heavily in the air. Adopted.

“Now what do you want?” Ryker asked.

Dr. Clark gestured toward a chair. “Sit.”

Ryker didn’t move.

“I understand that you’re angry,” Dr. Clark said. “But things are different now. You have power. You can command respect.”

“Where is she?” Ryker repeated.

“She’s safe,” Dr. Clark said again. “As long as you cooperate.”

“I'm here now, what next?”

Dr. Clark chucked. “You need to go back to the lab. I'm curious to see why my systems didn't pick up any unusual activities with your DNA.”

Ryker exhaled slowly. “Then, take me to the lab.”

They went down together.

The lab doors sealed shut behind them with a familiar hiss. Bright lights flickered on overhead, revealing white walls, metal tables, and machines Ryker recognized instantly. Scientists moved quickly, eyes darting between screens and instruments. He was strapped to a steel bed, restraints locking firmly around his wrists and ankles.

Blood was drawn. Scans were run. Sensors attached. Hours passed as data streamed across monitors.

Finally, one of the scientists spoke. “Sir… his DNA is completely normal.”

Dr. Clark frowned. “Run it again.”

They did.

The result didn’t change.

“Again,” Dr. Clark ordered.

Still nothing. Just human.

“No mutation markers,” the scientist said quietly.

Dr. Clark stared at the screen. “That’s impossible.”

He turned away sharply. “Then we force it out.”

Ryker was unstrapped and dragged from the room, boots scraping against the floor. They took him deeper underground, past reinforced doors and concrete corridors. The air grew colder with every step.

They stopped at a sealed chamber.

Inside, something moved.

Dr. Clark’s voice echoed through speakers overhead. “Fight,” he said. “Or die.”

The gate lifted.

A chimera stepped forward. Massive. Misshapen. Gorilla arms fused with a bear’s head. Claws scraped against the concrete as it roared.

The gate slammed shut behind Ryker.

And the beast charged.