HELIUM-3

Chapter 07

POV: Danny

The main corridor pulsed with an eerie bluish light, illuminated by Jun’s transforming body.

His footsteps echoed with a strangely metallic ring, as if his feet had already begun to solidify. When he turned to us, the sight made my stomach churn.

His eyes were no longer eyes, but two perfect crystals, as deep as the vacuum of space.

“You still don’t get it, do you?” Jun raised his hands, where his fingers had fused into sharp crystalline structures. “We are witnessing the birth of a new era!”

Pale and frozen in place, none of us could even react as our scientist began pacing in circles, his movements disturbingly fluid for someone half-petrified. Every word was broken by nervous laughter.

“For decades, humanity has crawled through petty conflicts! Wars for oil, land, foolish ideologies!” His chest heaved violently. “But Helium-3... Helium-3 changes everything!”

He smashed a control panel with a punch, shards of metal failing to harm his crystallized hand.

“Imagine a world where a single nation holds the power to fuel civilizations... or reduce them to ash in seconds! No more wars—only peace through absolute fear!”

Alyssa backed up until she hit the wall.

“You’re insane! Look at what this shit is doing to you!”

Jun touched his own face, where glowing blue veins pulsed beneath translucent skin.

“This? I admit—it’s a bit… unsettling. But once the transformation is complete, I’ll be more than human. I’ll be immortal.” His crystal-eyes gleamed. “And you... you can all ascend with me.”

Raj whispered in my ear:

“He’s trying to reactivate the main transmitter. If he succeeds, he’ll send all the transformation data to the NCEA.”

I glanced around. Lena… she wasn’t there.

“Distract him. I need to do something,” I ordered, running off.

. . .

I found Lena in the dormitory, hiding something inside a secret compartment under her bed. When she saw me, her green eyes widened.

“Danny.”

“What are you doing here? What are you hiding?”

She bit her lip, her expression quickly smoothing back into its usual calm.

“I can explain. But you have to trust me. Kovac—”

“Kovac knew everything.”

Lena didn’t even blink.

“I saw the files.” I lifted my chin. “I saw the files with my own eyes.”

She stepped toward me and took my hand.

“Danny, maybe you're starting to show symptoms too. It was probably a hallucination.”

She tried to touch my face, her fingers trembling, but I flinched away and pulled my hand back.

“You know exactly what my neural conditions are.” I could feel the anger boiling in my veins. “You know the things I see and hear. And you know this has nothing to do with Jun’s freak show.”

“Danny—”

I grabbed her by the shoulders.

“What do you know about this? You trained with him personally. Tell me!”

“What are you accusing me of?!”

“I’m saying, Lena, that for some reason I don’t understand, you’re the only one who seems completely blind to how deep this goes! I just told you I saw Kovac—”

“I love you, Danny. Since the first day of training. Everything I did was to protect you.”

I lost my breath. Lena hugged me tightly.

“Please don’t doubt me. I’m scared, too. I just don’t want to lose control. We’re all terrified… and I know how panic can ruin everything. We have to think clearly before we all end up dead.”

She began to sob uncontrollably. I didn’t know what to do, so I stepped back.

“Danny…”

“Jun is cutting off the last of our connections outside the Moon. Come with us before it’s too late.”

And I walked away, completely shaken.

The music was still echoing in my ears.

. . .

Back in the main lab, Jun had locked himself in the communications chamber. Through the reinforced glass, we saw his body morphing in real time—crystals sprouting from his ribs, piercing through his uniform in terrifying geometric patterns.

“There’s no turning back now,” his voice echoed through the speakers, layered with multiple tones like a chorus of voices. “The signal’s already been sent.”

Raj slammed his fist on the console.

“What signal, you bastard?!”

Jun smiled, revealing teeth that now glowed blue.

“All the data. The transformation readings.” He pressed his hands to the glass. “You should be celebrating! We’ll be the first of a new species!”

Then, the main panel lit up by itself. Kovac appeared on the screen, his face as unreadable as ever:

“Abort the mission. Bring the samples. That’s an order.”

. . .

One moment, I was there, watching my mentor’s face ordering us to leave and bring that thing back to Earth.

The next, I was in a sterile room, dressed in white. Completely alone.

In the distorted reflection of the chamber glass, I saw something that made my blood freeze. Piotr was behind me, his blue eyes glowing with unnatural intensity. His lips moved in sync with a whisper that echoed in my mind:

“You were always the chosen one, Danny. The hero who will lead humanity to its next evolution.”

Then I was back in the lunar module, breathless and dazed, as if waking from a nightmare. My body lay on the cold floor, and my legs, arms, and eyelids ached terribly.

When I turned my head, only Lena was there, holding my face. Tears sparkled in her eyes.

“We have to go now,” she said hoarsely. “Before Jun—”

A scream tore through the air. Alyssa was on the floor in the corridor, clutching her arm where a shard of Jun’s crystal had struck her. Her blood was already darkening—blue-black, thick as oil.

“Shit,” she groaned, her eyes beginning to glow. “Shit!!!”

I felt my nose bleed again. And this time, there was no hiding it: as I wiped it quickly, I saw the liquid was also dark blue.

Raj stepped back, his face pale.

“Oh God... you too…”

On the other side of the glass, Jun began to laugh. His body was now 60% transformed, crystals forming intricate patterns over what was left of his skin.

“What a joy,” he whispered, his voice echoing unnaturally. “We’re all in the same boat now.”

The entire module shuddered as the main systems began shutting down one by one. The lights flickered and died, leaving only the ghostly glow of the crystals to illuminate our private hell.

In the darkness, I felt something warm trickle from my ears. The liquid was dark blue, too.

The clock on my wrist began to vibrate violently.

4:23. 4:23. 4:23.