Asher walks towards the elevator and pushes the button to call it. He waits for a while. The elevator door opened, and Calypso was there waiting for him. Asher is startled a little bit.

“Good morning, Dr. Hart.”

Asher said. Calypso gave Asher a wide smile.

“Please, call me Calypso. Are you ready to get back at it?”

Asher nods at Calypso.

“Ready as I can.”

“Good.”

Calypso pushes the B2 button and the elevator door closes. The elevator gets to its destination in silence. Asher didn’t know what to talk about, and Calypso couldn’t care less. The door opens. Asher and Calypso walk up to the lab’s entrance. Calypso opens the door with his biometrics. Asher walks into the lab as Calypso doesn’t move. Asher looked around the lab and saw that no one was around. Asher was thinking that he was there early. That was until he heard a loud slam of a door sounded. Asher looked over as he saw Calypso with a wide smile on his face. Asher had a sinking feeling in his stomach. He ran up to the door and tried to open it. It was locked. Asher glared at Calypso.

“What the hell, Calypso!?”

Calypso still gave him that smile but it felt more sinister than before.

“Be a good lab rat and build my projects...”

“The formula is wrong! I can't build something that's not strong enough to handle the workload!”

Calypso shook his head. He didn’t care. He wanted results.

“Then you better find one then! Don't worry... You'll get your nourishment at a set time and the sleep needed to make sure you're at your best. I've been waiting for someone like you for a very long time now. Do not disappoint me!”

“And if I refuse to do this?”

Asher asked almost defiantly. Calypso lowered his head a little but then looked back into Ashers eyes. He dared Asher to try to defy him.

“Well, you can forget about being fed. And your friends… what are their names… Magan and Zayner? Yes, that must be it. They will die. It's easy to make a worker’s deaths look ‘accidental’. You’d be quite amazed with the death toll in this line of work. I hope I’ve painted that picture quite clear.”

Asher’s eyes grew wide as Calypso threatens the life of his friends. He hung his head down in defeat.”

“Yes, sir...”

Calypso smiles wide again. He loves it when people are weak and fears what would happen if they crossed him.

“Look at that! Professional. Even in a locked cage, he's professional! I like you, kid, I really do. Even though I'm treating you like a prisoner, I like you. That being said, I ALWAYS get what I want.”

Calypso turns around and leaves Asher inside of the lab trapped. Asher hammer fists the

inner security door.

“Dammit all!”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

Asher sighs and goes to the table where the project is on. He looks at the "Reaper" project first. He feels bad about taking a project away from him best friend.

“So much for Zayner working on this project.”

Asher rolls up his sleeves and starts to work on the "Reaper" project. He tried many elements to the formula but none of them were stable enough to work. He rubs his temples seeing that nothing was working. He was getting more and more frustrated with himself. He couldn’t believe that he was this stupid to think that he was getting a promotion. He wishes that he wasn’t the way he was. He hates that he would do everything so methodically that he has to make sure that everything was correct and beneficial to the company. He stops working on the project and starts on the "Black Rose" project.

TWO WEEKS LATER

Asher is on the computer talking to Calypso through video chat. Calypso seemed to be getting impatient with Asher. It’s been two weeks and there was nothing reported. So, he decided to call Asher. He didn’t like where the conversation was going.

“What do you mean, ‘not finished’?”

“As you can see, sir. I've tried thousands of elements and fusions to try to stabilize the energy source, but none have come close. There’s only one element I haven’t tried.

This peaked Calypso’s interest. What element hasn’t Asher used yet? Calypso wondered.

“Go on! Which one!?”

Calypso barked at Asher. Asher answered him.

“It's Darkium. It's very rare and very unstable. I don't have the data on the computer to even remotely theorize the formula to see if it even works. There's little to be known about this new element. I can't use it!”

Calypso laughs when he hears the news. Asher looks confused.

“Did I say something funny?”

Calypso remotes into Asher's computer and inputs an admin password. Darkium's data was unlocked on the computer, and Asher can use its data. Calypso gestures at his computer screen.

“Now, you have access to all the Darkium you need!”

Asher’s eyes grew wide. He cannot believe that he was given access to such a rare element.

“How did you get this data!?”

“We supply this ‘Darkium’. Did you forget that I created Darkium?”

Asher tapped his chin and then answered Calypso.

“I thought it was a scientist by the name of ‘Derek Tidus’.”

Calypso chuckled. He hadn’t heard that name in ages.

“He was a colleague of mine. Together, we introduced this element to the world, but with high demands and the instability of it, we only sell this stuff to the military. Now, go on. Be a good lab rat and do your job!”

Calypso disconnects the video chat. Asher sighs and gets on the computer. Asher starts doing equations. The first one almost works but still comes up unstable. He tries many more equations with no luck at all. In frustration, he slams head on the keyboard. He slowly picks his head back up and holds it with his hands. He gets up and starts to pace back and forth.

“All these formulas and still no luck? Looks like I'm living here for the rest of my life!”

As he says that, the computer makes a sound of success. Asher slowly turns around and sees the blinking "success". Asher rushes over to the computer. He cannot believe a simple keyboard head-butt found an equation that works. He tries an equation that was just below and above the equation and both fail to stabilize. He smiles as he looks at the screen.

“I did it! I found my ticket out of here!”

Asher tries to video chat with Calypso but could not contact him. Calypso ignored the call. Calypso figured that Asher called him only to tell him that the element didn’t work. He was far too busy for that. Asher sends Calypso an email with the information about the formula being stable. Within minutes, Calypso comes into the lab.

“Well, go on kid! Show me!”

Calypso barks at Asher. Asher types in the formula, and the formula fuses together.

"Success" is shown on the computer screen. Calypso smiles at the success of the formula. Finally, after years of failure, he finally had the formula for his projects to be successful.

“Good job, kid! Good job. Now, you may follow me out!”

“What about my work?”

Asher asks. He didn’t want Calypso to get all the credit for his hard work. Calypso looked at Asher with that same smile that he gave him two weeks ago. A shiver ran down Asher’s spine.

“Don’t worry! We'll get the lesser lab rats to do the dirty work now! As for you, I have a special gift for you...”

Asher does not like the way Calypso said that, but he follows him anyways. They go to the top floor and into Calypso's office. Calypso pours himself a bourbon and offers some to Asher. Asher declines the drink. Calypso sits at his desk with a smile.

“I must apologize about my actions the other day...”

“You mean your actions from two weeks ago?

Calypso thought about it for a second. Was it two weeks? It felt longer than that but Calypso just shrugged.

“Has it been two weeks? Seems I’ve lost track of time. What with all these orders coming in from the Military. They’ve been dying to know if the projects were ready...”

Asher winced at what Calypso said. He always hated government contracts. They always wanted super soldiers or some kind of super weapon.

“Now, you can tell them that they are ready...”

Calypso drank his bourbon and gave Asher a wide smile. Asher shuddered at the smile.

“Not quite ready...”

“What do you mean by that? The formula is corrected. You don't need any more proof that it does.”

Calypso slowly stands up and looks out his office window.

“Oh, they would still want proof that it does work. They would want ‘human’ proof that it's safe...”

“They would want... ‘Human’ proof? Who would sign Up for that? The element is too dangerous for a human to handle.”

Calypso slowly turns around and looks at Asher with his eyes glowing a purple hue.

“That's when you find an "inhuman" to do that!”

Calypso slowly starts to transform into a monster by the name of “Heart of Darkness”. Asher just stands there and watches the transformation in shock. He was desperately trying to run away, but his body wouldn’t move an inch. Heart of Darkness speaks in a dark, echoing voice.

“You will be the first "human" proof! Open your heart to the darkness, my child!”

Heart of Darkness held Asher down with his shadow hands. Another hand appears and goes through Asher's chest. Asher screams in pain as Heart of Darkness uses another shadow hand to touch Asher's heart. Asher's heart slowly turns from red to black. Asher's veins from his body turn black as his heart turns black as well. Asher's skin turns pale. Heart of Darkness laughs as Asher loses consciousness as the darkness consumes him.