Chapter 2: The Hell of the Laboratory
Planet: Blue Star | Region: The Forbidden Sector of Aetheria
Deep within a desolate, forbidden wilderness lay a hidden, illegal research facility belonging to the GeneX Corporation. For decades, this entire sector had been a graveyard of silence, erased from every official map. But on this day—the silence was shattered.
Thunderous explosions rocked the earth, sending plumes of black smoke into the sky. The source of the chaos was the subterranean facility where forbidden genetic experiments were conducted—monstrous trials that the world was never meant to see.
Inside the underground laboratory, crimson lights flashed as sirens wailed.
"Beep… Beep… Beep…"
Data on the holographic monitors flickered at a maddening speed. Dr. Vamus stared at the screen, his eyes cold and unblinking. His voice was a frozen whisper.
"Status of Subject A1?"
A technician replied, his hands trembling over the console, "Sir… his vitals are stabilizing, but his brain activity… it's surging! It is three times higher than the human limit."
A thin, predatory smile curved Dr. Vamus's lips. "Perfect."
The Broken Vessel
Beyond the reinforced glass— Unit 32 | Containment Bed 16.
A young man lay unconscious, strapped down by heavy metal restraints. His name was Arthur Thorne.
His body was frail, appearing almost skeletal under the harsh LED lights. His left leg was withered and completely paralyzed—a permanent reminder of a life filled with misfortune. To the world outside, Arthur was a ghost, a "useless" burden discarded by society.
The world believed he was a nobody. They didn't know that Arthur heard every insult, felt every cold gaze, and understood every betrayal. He simply lacked the strength to strike back. This silence, this invisibility, made him the perfect candidate.
"That is exactly why he was chosen," Dr. Vamus remarked, his shadow looming over the observation glass. "We need someone the world has already stopped looking for."
A senior scientist hesitated, "Sir… what if he fails? Like the others, will he just… break?"
Dr. Vamus turned a freezing glare toward him. "Then he was never truly alive to begin with."
The Primordial Catalyst
"Prepare the Gene-X Serum," Vamus commanded. "Dosage—triple the safety threshold."
The serum was a glowing, viscous liquid extracted from the essence of an Ancient Primordial Tree, a relic discovered in a fallen meteor. The scientists knew the stakes: within seventy-two hours, this substance would either grant god-like evolution or cause a violent, agonizing death.
Dr. Vamus took the syringe himself and plunged it into Arthur's vein.
The moment the serum hit his bloodstream, Arthur's body arched in a violent convulsion. His veins turned a dark, pulsing violet. His muscles knotted and spasmed as if something was trying to rewrite his very DNA from the inside out. His breath became a ragged, desperate gasp.
"Good…" Dr. Vamus said, unaffected by the boy's agony. "Phase One is successful. Keep him restrained and under strict observation for twenty minutes. After that, inject the high-grade sedative. I want him unconscious for the next forty-eight hours."
An assistant asked, "Sir, why the heavy sedation? Wouldn't it be better to see him conscious during the transition?"
"No," Dr. Vamus replied coldly. "If he wakes up now, the sheer pain of the cellular restructuring will drive him to madness. He would tear his own flesh apart. Right now, we only need the data. We need to see what is changing inside that shell."
The sirens continued to scream through the cold halls of the lab. Arthur Thorne—once a forgotten cripple—had now entered a gateway of no return.
The Seeds were stirring. A choice was being made:
Would he emerge as a God, or as a Monster?