Chapter 17 Code
The lab wasn’t just shaking; it was convulsing.
Luna could feel the violent tremors not only in her teeth, where a high – pitched vibration threatened to crack her fillings, but also through the soles of her feet, like a wild, uncontrolled drumbeat.
The air was filled with a deafening roar, a chaotic symphony of the collapsing lab.
As she looked up, dust rained down from the ceiling in a thick, gray cloud, stinging her eyes and mixing with the acrid smell of ozone and the palpable fear in the air.
The cracking walls groaned like dying beasts, their tortured cries echoing through the lab, a symphony of impending doom underscored by Ω’s scream.
And then, he rose.
Reverend Holmes Jr. wasn’t walking; he emerged.
The floor of the derelict chapel split open with a thunderous crash, revealing a gaping maw of shadows from which the Reverend ascended on a platform of twisted metal and flickering neon.
The neon lights cast a sickly, blue – green glow on his figure.
He was less man now, more machine – a grotesque monument to twisted faith and technological hubris.
Chrome limbs writhed with cables, the metallic surfaces glinting menacingly in the dim light.
His face was a mask of polished steel save for the manic gleam in his augmented eyes, which burned like small, white – hot fires.
Clutched in his metallic embrace was the trembling form of the experiment subject, Ω.
Her body quivered against his cold, hard surface.
“Now,” the Reverend’s voice boomed, a synthesized baritone that echoed through the collapsing lab, vibrating in Luna’s ears like a powerful bass note.
“Activate the Eden Protocol. Purify all sources of corruption with her genetic key.”
Before Luna could process the madman’s words, before Ethan could unleash another volley of curses, the floor lurched again.
Another figure stumbled into the chaos – a lab – coated silhouette clutching a metallic container.
Dr. Clara’s assistant.
His face was a mask of desperation, eyes wide and haunted.
The wild look in his eyes was almost palpable in the dim light.
“Stop him!” he screamed, his voice barely audible above the cacophony of the collapsing lab, like a small, desperate plea lost in a storm.
“He’s going to rewrite everything!”
Then, everything went sideways.
Experiment 00 – C, who until now had been a twitching, unresponsive husk, suddenly lurched forward.
He moved with a speed that defied his previous catatonic state, shoving past Ethan and grabbing Luna in a desperate embrace.
His grip was surprisingly strong, painful even, like a vice around her arms.
The heat of his body was almost scalding against her skin.
“My…memory,” he stammered, his voice a garbled mess of static and desperation, like a broken radio signal.
“It’s…collapsing. But I remember…I know the truth.”
He pulled her closer, his breath hot and ragged against her ear, a moist, unpleasant sensation.
His words, when they came, were like a punch to the gut, laced with a chilling certainty.
“Your sister… she was never kidnapped. She’s…Experiment 07. The original vessel.”
The world seemed to tilt on its axis.
Luna’s head swam, her augmented eye struggling to process the sheer impossibility of his claim.
Her sister, Lily, a pawn in this twisted game?
A vessel?
It couldn’t be true.
But something in the 00 – C’s eyes, a flicker of desperate truth buried beneath the scrambled code, gave her pause.
Across the room, Dr. Clara’s assistant wrestled with the latch on the metallic container.
With a final, loud snap, he finally managed to pry it open, revealing a refrigerated chamber filled with swirling nitrogen vapor.
The vapor billowed out in a cold, white cloud, stinging Luna’s face with its icy touch.
Suspended within, bathed in an ethereal glow, was a single object: a delicate, gardenia – shaped chip, its surface etched with intricate circuitry.
And etched into that surface, barely visible to the naked eye, were two initials: E&L.
“The termination sequence!” the assistant shouted, his voice cracking with urgency, like a brittle twig about to break.
“It needs a living host to inject it! It’s the only way to stop him!”
Reverend Holmes Jr. sneered, his metallic fingers tightening around Ω.
“Sentimentality. A weakness you all share.”
Suddenly, Ω’s body convulsed.
Her head snapped back, eyes wide and vacant.
And then, from her throat, came a sound that ripped through Luna’s soul – Grace’s voice.
“He’s rewriting the entire genetic library with my memories!” Ω/Grace shrieked, her voice laced with terror and a desperate plea.
“Luna… your mechanical eye… it can see the truth! Look!”
Luna hesitated only for a heartbeat.
She activated her augmented vision, flooding her field of view with layers of data, thermal signatures, and bio – signatures.
The world around her dissolved into a chaotic tapestry of code, revealing the hidden streams of energy flowing through the lab.
And then she saw it.
Woven into the very fabric of the chapel, etched into the crumbling stone and pulsating through the rusted metal, was a complex network of symbols – a language of genetic manipulation, of rewritten memories and stolen identities.
It was a nightmare made manifest, a horrifying symphony of control.
The air crackled with anticipation, like tiny electric shocks on her skin, and the very stones seemed to hum with an unholy power.
Reverend Holmes Jr. began to chant, his voice a distorted blend of human and machine, a strange, otherworldly sound that made Luna’s skin crawl.
The mechanical subject watched her with an unreadable expression.
“You have to decide,” he said, his voice surprisingly calm amidst the chaos.
Luna’s gaze snapped back to the Reverend Jr.
, just as he raised his hands towards the roof.
It was time.
He was initiating the final sequence.
He was about to activate the golden beam of light from the dome.
The lab shook violently, the walls cracking like broken glass, the shards flying like tiny, deadly projectiles.
The air was thick with tension, the hum of machinery growing louder, more desperate, like a dying animal’s last gasp.
Luna’s eyes darted around the room, her mind racing.
She had to get out, but not without Ethan.
Not this time.
“Ethan, we need to go now!” Luna shouted over the cacophony of noise.
Her voice was sharp, cutting through the chaos like a knife.
Ethan was already on his feet, his eyes scanning the lab for an escape route.
“I know, but we can’t leave without the key,” he replied, his voice tinged with urgency.
“It’s the only way to stop Marcus once and for all.”
Luna’s heart pounded in her chest, a rapid, drum – like rhythm.
She trusted Ethan, but this situation was spiraling out of control.
“Where is it?” she demanded, her fingers already working the lock on a nearby safe, the cold metal of the safe handle biting into her skin.
Ethan hesitated for a moment, his eyes narrowing.
“It’s in the core. But it’s heavily guarded. We need to be careful.”
Before Luna could respond, the door to the lab burst open, and a figure stepped in.
Reverend Holmes Jr., his mechanical body glinting in the dim light, looked every bit the madman.
His eyes, hidden behind dark lenses, seemed to bore into their souls.
“Ah, the prodigal detectives. You shouldn’t have come back,” he sneered, his voice cold and calculated, like ice water down her back.
“Where is the Eden Key, Holmes?” Ethan growled, his hand inching toward the gun hidden in his jacket.
Holmes’s lips curved into a cruel smile.
“You’ll never find it. And even if you do, it won’t matter. The memory overwrite protocol is already in motion.”
Luna’s mind raced.
“What do you mean?” she asked, her voice steady but laced with fear.
“Exactly what it sounds like,” Holmes replied, his tone dripping with malice.
“Once the protocol is activated, all your memories, all the clues, all the evidence—everything will be erased. You’ll be left with nothing but a blank slate.”
The room grew colder, the air thick with dread, like a heavy blanket pressing down on them.
Luna and Ethan exchanged a glance, their resolve hardening.
They couldn’t let this happen.
They had to find the key and stop the memory overwrite protocol, no matter the cost.
“We can’t let you do that,” Luna said, her voice firm.
“Where is the core?”
Holmes laughed, a harsh, hollow sound, like the echo in an empty cave.
“Follow me, if you dare.”
Without another word, he turned and walked deeper into the lab.
As they followed, the temperature dropped even further, a cold, biting chill that seeped into their bones.
The light grew dimmer, the once – flickering bulbs now barely providing any illumination.
The walls seemed to close in around them, the air growing stale and musty.
Finally, they reached a massive steel door, the kind designed to keep out anything and everything.
Holmes produced a keycard and swiped it, the door grinding open with a loud, ominous groan, like a giant waking from a long slumber.
Inside, the core was a maze of intricate machinery, wires, and glowing panels.
The machinery hummed and whirred, a constant, mechanical symphony.
In the center, a small, silver key lay on a pedestal, bathed in a soft, eerie light.
“The Eden Key,” Ethan whispered, his voice filled with a mix of awe and fear.
But before they could reach it, the room was suddenly flooded with armed guards, their faces hidden behind masks.
Luna and Ethan drew their weapons, their backs against the wall.
“Looks like we have some company,” Ethan said, his voice steady but tense.
Luna’s eyes met his, and for a moment, the world around them faded away.
They were in this together, and they would get out—no matter what.
“Let’s do this,” she said, her voice a mix of determination and defiance.
With a nod, they charged forward, ready to fight their way to the key and stop the memory overwrite protocol.
The fate of the city, and their own memories, hung in the balance.
How does that work for you?
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