THE CEO'S APOCALYPTIC EDEN

7

Nyx sat curled on a steel chair, her left hand clutching her right shoulder, which was wrapped in dull cloth soaked in black pus. The stench of rotting flesh caused by the Arcane radiation seeped slowly through the scent of ozone and the sterile air of the air conditioning.

Shane stood staring out at the blue energy dome continually battered by the storm outside, his back turned to Nyx.

"Stage-three radiation burn. Arcane crystallization has already spread to the blood vessels in your right clavicle. Thirty-six hours. That's all the time you have left before your lungs turn to stone."

Nyx hissed, tightening her grip on the black flash drive in her jacket pocket. "I hold the entire blueprint for Project Genesis. One flick of a finger on this console, and every encryption code for Eden's shield spreads across public frequencies. We go down together, Hilgord."

Shane turned around slowly. He stopped right in front of Nyx, leaning down slightly until their eyes were level.

"You bypassed my secondary firewall using a laptop put together from junk," Shane said. "That is genius. But threatening the man who holds the only supply of synthetic medication in this city? That is stupidity."

Shane placed an auto-injector containing a clear liquid on the table.

"Option one," Shane continued, his fingers tapping the table. "You keep that drive, die within thirty hours on this floor, and I simply take the drive from your corpse."

Nyx swallowed hard. Her throat felt as dry as sandpaper. "Option two?"

"You hand over the drive, I treat your radiation burn, and you work for me as Chief Systems Architect. You have only one job: ensure no other rat can do what you just did to my system. Choose."

Nyx stared into Shane's eyes. The man before her was not the kind of executive she was used to tricking on the black market.

Nyx tossed the black flash drive onto the table. "I need an anesthetic. This wound feels like it's being burned with hot iron."

"Sloane, take her to the Sector 1 underground lab. After that, we go to Lab SV-3 with the instigator."

"Argh!" Nyx cried out as her body was moved somewhat roughly.

In less than ten minutes, Shane was already walking into the Sub-level 3 Biogenetic Laboratory. Vada Nathasea wiped the sweat from her forehead as the pneumatic doors slid open.

Shane stepped inside, followed by Sloane, who was dragging a burly man with hands bound by electromagnetic chains. The man was one of the uprising instigators from Sector B—a former head of logistics security whose clothes were torn to shreds.

"Let me go, you bastard!" the man raged, spitting on the floor. "Shane! You think you can lock us up like animals?!"

Shane didn't even blink. He turned to Vada. "Is the serum ready?"

Vada pointed toward a precision tube inside the incubator. Inside was five milliliters of dark gold liquid glowing softly. A serum synthesized from Shane's black blood.

"The synthesis is stable," her voice trembled. "But this is insane! The cellular structure of your blood forcibly re-engineers DNA strands. We've never tested this on mammals, let alone humans. The side effects could be massive organ failure or sudden death."

"He triggered a riot and damaged Sector B's ventilation system," Shane replied, glaring at the raging man. "He chose to be a threat. Now, he has the chance to be useful."

"I am a doctor, Shane! I took an oath to heal, not perform illegal experiments on prisoners!" Vada asserted, stepping up to block access to the incubator.

"Your oath applies to a world with laws, Vada," Shane whispered right beside the doctor's ear. "Here, the law is the survival of our species. Take the syringe, or I will have Sloane inject it without medical procedure."

Vada stared into Shane's dark eyes. With trembling hands, she picked up a specialized syringe and filled the cylinder with the gold serum.

Sloane slammed the rebel man's nape down until he dropped to his knees on the execution chair. The automatic restraint system instantly locked around his neck, wrists, and ankles.

"What are you going to do?! Don't touch me!" the man screamed, his eyes widening in panic as he saw the ten-centimeter needle in Vada's hand.

"Hold your breath," Vada murmured softly, plunging the needle directly into the vein in the man's neck.

The golden liquid was pushed inside.

One second. Two seconds. No reaction.

Suddenly, the man arched his back violently. A shrill scream shattered the laboratory's silence. The blood vessels in his neck, chest, and face bulged hard, turning pitch-black like ink. His skin glowed a deep crimson, emitting scorching steam that burned the surrounding air.

Horrific sounds of snapping bones echoed. The man's skeletal structure stretched. His shoulder joints expanded, and the muscle tissue in his arms and chest swelled to twice its size within seconds. Black fluid dripped from his eyes, and his pupils constricted, shifting to a glowing gold.

"His heart rate is over three hundred beats per minute!" Vada screamed, reading the wildly surging monitor graph. "His blood pressure is destroying the secondary sensors! He's going to suffer a brain hemorrhage!"

The man kept roaring, thrashing until the chair's electromagnetic restraint chains began to bend. However, the roaring transformed. From the agony scream of an ordinary human, it became a low, power-vibrating growl.

The plumes of hot steam gradually dissipated. The man bowed his head, his breathing heavy and steady. The black hue in his veins slowly faded, merging beneath skin that now looked as tough as bedrock.

Sloane reached for the pistol at her waist, preparing to open fire if the subject lost control.

"Don't," Shane stopped her.

The man looked up. His glowing gold eyes stared directly at Shane. The fear, anger, and wild instinct that had previously dominated his face vanished instantly, replaced by absolute obedience hardwired at a genetic level.

The man yanked his arms. The electromagnetic steel chains holding him snapped like rotten thread. Standing nearly twenty centimeters taller, he rose to his feet before dropping to his knees in front of Shane.

"Master..." the man's voice sounded deep and heavy.

Vada sank into her chair, unable to believe what she had just witnessed. "He... he successfully integrated the radiation. The dead cells in his body completely regenerated. This is... a new species."

Shane gazed at his creation with cold satisfaction. "Not a new species. This is The Evolved. The forefront of our civilization."

Before Shane could continue his command, every light in the laboratory flashed red. Emergency sirens blared piercingly, vibrating the laboratory's concrete walls.

Aura's hologram materialized in the center of the room.

"Priority Emergency Report, Mr. Hilgord," Aura's voice sounded distorted by electromagnetic waves from the outside. "Long-range radar signals detect fifteen heavy air fleets and one hundred armored ground units moving from the direction of the western mountains."

Shane narrowed his eyes. "State their identity."

"Military callsign: The Apex Consortium," Aura replied. "Fleet leader: Alaric. They have just crossed the perimeter border of Sector 12 and are broadcasting a frequency-jamming signal. They demand the unconditional surrender of all Hilgord Industries assets within two hours."

Sloane racked her assault rifle. Nyx, who had just finished injecting the anti-radiation serum in the corner of the room, instantly stood up, tense.

"That man sailed through an apocalypse storm just to deliver his army to my front doorstep. What a fool, Alaric."

Shane turned to the Evolved man still kneeling on his floor, then looked at Sloane.

"Laboratory testing is over," Shane said coldly. "It's time to see how my blood works on the battlefield."