Chapter 10

Author: Zaya Nebula

2025-05-02 02:55:47

POV: Danny

The escape pod was in worse shape than we’d imagined.

“The fuel tanks are leaking,” Raj announced, his hands covered in grease and blue blood. He coughed—a violent spasm that left dark stains on his uniform. “And the navigation systems… I don’t even know where to start.”

Alyssa kicked the pod’s wall, making the metal ring.

“Great. So we can’t even blow this shit up properly.”

Lena was examining the panels with cold, almost serene eyes, but her hands were trembling. The blue now crept up her neck like poisonous roots.

“We have to try to figure out what’s happening to us,” I said, pressing my fingers against my temples. The music in my head was louder now, almost deafening. “If we can understand exactly how the Helium-3 is affecting us, maybe we can slow it down.”

Raj let out a bitter laugh.

“Oh, sure. Let’s do some nice scientific research while we turn into walking crystals.”

I shrugged.

. . .

The lab looked like a crime scene. Samples of Helium-3 coated

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Chapter 32
POV: DannyI woke up with the taste of metal and static in my mouth.The ceiling above me pulsed in shades of blue and violet, the fluorescent lights leaving ghostly trails every time I blinked. My body felt heavy as lead, but my mind... my mind was clearer than ever.The voices that used to echo in my head had quieted to a constant whisper, like a radio tuned between stations."You're more stable today."Sofia was sitting in a chair beside my bed, watching me with those calculating eyes that seemed to see straight through flesh and bone. She held a steaming cup of coffee that smelled like old fuel and reheated grounds."Stable isn’t the word I’d use," I replied, trying to sit up. My muscles protested but obeyed; an improvement compared to the paralysis from before. "How many days this time?""Three." She took a sip of the awful coffee without flinching. "You had a violent seizure after the injection. Technically, you should have died."I looked at my arms. The blue veins now formed i
Chapter 31
POV: DannyConsciousness returned like a tsunami of pain. Every nerve, every muscle, every cell in my body screamed in agony.My lungs burned as if they’d been filled with liquid nitrogen, my veins throbbed with sharp pulses of pain radiating from the places where Helium-3 had crystallized beneath my skin.I opened my eyes slowly, my eyelids as heavy as steel doors, and was met by a low ceiling of rusted metal groaning under the pressure of the complex."He's coming to."The voice was rough, tired, but unmistakably Sofia’s.I turned my head, a movement that demanded all my strength, and saw her sitting on a makeshift chair next to my cot, her face marked by weeks of deprivation and stress."You're damn lucky, kid.""How... long?" My voice came out as a raspy whisper.Sofia leaned forward, her elbows resting on her knees."Three days, almost four. You were in a coma induced by your reaction to AZ-7."She grabbed a water bottle and held it to my lips. The cool liquid slid down my throat
Chapter 30
POV: KovacThe bluish light of the preservation chamber hit me like a blow when the doors slid open for me.I didn’t hear Minerva’s welcome signals. Only silence.I had to steady a tremor in my hands as I crossed the threshold, each step echoing on the metallic floor like a hammer striking my coffin.The air was cold, cold as the space between stars. Cold as Piotr’s body when all the tests failed; when I saw that despite the blood in his eyes, he was irredeemably human. And weak.Lena was there.Dead. Lying on the surgical steel table, her hands crossed over her chest like in prayer.Someone had prepared her: combed her hair, closed her eyes, dressed her in a white linen gown that seemed to absorb the chamber’s bluish light. Her skin, despite the makeup, still showed signs of damage: bluish, thick veins that would’ve turned her into crystal if she’d survived a little longer.She looked asleep. Slowly, I touched her petrified face. There was no softness left in her cheek. No vitality l
Chapter 29
POV: LenaThe images wouldn't stop flashing through the sanctuary of my forced unconsciousness.Doctors surrounding me.Kovac, a strange mix of fascinated, horrified, and calculating all at once.My belly thrashing wildly, blue veins bulging as I pushed harder and harder, ready to bring my child into the world.Adrian’s face, his rosy cheeks and delicate features; he looked like me, not his father.And then... my baby being taken from me. Kovac’s dismissal. The discard.. . .The first thought that struck me when I regained consciousness was that I was submerged.Cold liquid filled my lungs, but somehow I was breathing: each inhale brought a stream of bluish fluid that burned like vodka on an open wound.I tried to scream, but my mouth was sealed by a metal mask. My arms and legs were restrained by titanium straps, bound to a slanted table inside a transparent chamber."Good morning, Agent Carter."The voice came from everywhere at once, smooth and mechanical. Minerva."You are in a s
Chapter 28
POV: LenaThe music.It came and went like waves on a beach. It was as if I were outside myself, connected to the cosmos, the Earth, and my own soul all at once, yet unable to anchor to any single point.And then...My knees hit the cold metal of the hallway floor as another contraction bent me in half. The scream that tore from my throat echoed against the empty walls, mingling with the distant sounds of alarms and explosions.“Fuck... fuck... fuck!”My nails scraped the floor as I tried to drag myself forward. The scent of my own blood, mixed with the bluish amniotic fluid gushing between my legs, filled my nostrils. Every movement was a stab to my womb, but I had to reach them.Danny. Sofia. The traitors.The image of the Helium-3 launcher slipping from my hands still burned in my mind. I had them. I HAD THEM! And that bastard Danny with his sad, abandoned-dog eyes...How had that bitch infiltrated the complex? How had she gotten in so cleanly? Our security system had never failed.
Chapter 27
POV: DannyThe narrow air duct pressed against my chest with every movement, the rusty metal creaking under our weight.I could hardly believe what was happening. This wasn’t an escape, it was a mega operation. Orchestrated and executed by none other than Sofia Reyes, the person Alyssa had told me about before she gave up on life.If she were alive, how would she react to seeing her? Would her usually pessimistic attitude change drastically upon seeing her savior?“Fifty more meters,” Sofia whispered ahead, her tactical flashlight illuminating fragments of the path.The light revealed strange marks on the duct walls: deep scratches, dark stains that looked like acid burns, and in some places... fingerprints fused into the metal.Galek, the rebel with burns, growled behind me:“If the thermal sensors catch us—”“We already discussed this in our training,” Sofia interrupted, voice harsh. “We die horribly. Sad scene, dramatic music. Not gonna happen. So keep a cool head, okay?”She hande

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Chapter 32

Chapter 31

Chapter 30

Chapter 29

Chapter 28

Chapter 27