The day began like any other — too calm, too quiet to suspect what was coming. Z-Tech Labs buzzed with activity; screens blinked green, monitors hummed, and the soft hum of machines masked the storm building beneath the surface.Inside the containment room, the infected cell culture from Prototype 9A sat under triple-sealed glass. The team had decided to neutralize it completely. Allen (Sugar) worked on recalibrating the serum injector, Steve (Salt) stood by the failsafe control, and Stacy Rivera monitored cell reactions.
"Pressure reading's high," Stacy said. "Too high."
"I'm lowering it manually," Allen replied, tapping commands into the console.
But the readings didn't fall. Instead, they spiked. The containment chamber began to shake, red lights flooding the room.
"Something's overloading the chamber!" Lily shouted from the observation deck.
"It's rewriting its core DNA!" Stacy gasped. "The mutation's learning from the serum—!"
Then came the sound none of them would forget — a low, cracking roar.The containment glass shattered. The entire chamber filled with a blinding white mist.Steve reacted first.
"Stacy, get out!" he yelled, grabbing her arm.
He pulled her toward the emergency exit, shielding her as a wave of pressurized gas burst through the lab. Ethan, Ryan, and Leo triggered the lockdown while alarms screamed through every corridor.Allen stayed behind.
"I can stabilize it!" he shouted, his voice barely audible through the chaos.
"Allen, no!" Steve turned, but the room exploded in a violent flash.
The world went white — soundless, endless, burning.When Steve woke, he was lying outside the collapsed wing of the lab, Stacy beside him, coughing but alive. Flames licked the shattered equipment. The roof had caved in.
"Allen!" Steve called out, staggering through the smoke. "Allen!"
No reply. Only the hiss of fire and the sound of distant sirens.Stacy held his arm, tears streaming down her face.
"He was inside…"
"No," Steve said fiercely, gripping her hand. "He's alive. He has to be."
The authorities sealed the site within hours. VoltCorp's drones hovered overhead, recording everything.
Dr. Adrian Blake placed a trembling hand on Steve's shoulder.
"You saved her, Steve," he said quietly. "But some sacrifices… they choose themselves."
As the night fell over Kalgoorlie, the once-bright sign of Z-Tech Labs flickered, sputtered, and finally went dark.Sugar was gone.Salt and Stacy were alive — but nothing would ever be the same.