Jeremy was expecting a semi-nice building, but what he found when they went inside Jeb's lab was quite different. There was water damage, lights hanging, and only one room at the end of the hall on the right that looked anything like a lab. However, instead of turning right as he should have, Jeb kept walking into an open broom closet and bypassed the lab. Jeremy was shocked and confused until he saw what Jeb was doing. He realized that Jeb had his hand on the wall, which was scanning his hand with a green light emanating from it.

Jeremy wasn’t expecting the floor to turn to liquid and reveal stairs going down. Light flooded up from below, and Jeb started to descend, all the while watching Jeremy’s expression, which made Jeb smile each time. Below, the white walls were exactly what Jeremy had been expecting, and so much more. As they walked down the perfect stairs, the light from the next room shone in, bringing with it the hope that Jeremy’s dreams might come true. As his foot hit the floor, he could see a huge underground lab, all white and shining metal.

"Now this is more like it. Nice place," Jeb said, turning his head and looking over his shoulder at Jeremy. "Oh wait, you haven't seen anything yet," he added with a very mischievous smile. The room was perfect, but Jeb continued walking deeper into it. Almost halfway across the room, he took a sharp left and started heading directly for a wall. Jeremy followed and watched as Jeb placed his left hand on the wall. The wall reacted to his hand, losing cohesion as the outline of a door appeared, but the wall never disappeared altogether. The wall turned into liquid metal, and Jeb walked right through it. As he almost disappeared, only his hand remained visible, motioning for Jeremy to follow him.

As Jeremy walked through the sterile, clean white lab, he noticed the stark contrast between the high-tech equipment scattered throughout and one unremarkable wall that was completely bare. Jeb, leading the way, approached this wall and placed his hand on it. To Jeremy's astonishment, the wall transformed into a metallic surface, and an archway appeared, revealing a hidden passage.

Jeb gestured for Jeremy to follow, and they entered into a concealed room. This secret space was a six-foot by six-foot triangular chamber, with the wall they had just passed through serving as one of the three walls. The room was dimly lit, adding to its mysterious and secluded atmosphere.

Inside the triangular chamber, there were three small shelves, each holding a different glass container. Each container housed a unique metal creature:

* The first held a delicate, metallic butterfly. It perched gracefully on a slender stick, its wings fluttering gently in the subdued light.

* The second contained a metallic earthworm, wriggling slowly through a thin layer of dirt. Its silver sheen contrasted with the dark soil.

* The third was the most striking: a large, triangular glass box that housed a magnificent metal tarantula. The tarantula, about half a foot in size, moved fluidly within its spacious enclosure, showcasing an intricate, lifelike design.

Jeremy was stunned by the advanced technology on display. He had expected to work with external tech, but these creatures—evidence of ancient alien technology—were beyond anything he had imagined. While much of the hardware was now obsolete, the software Jeremy had brought could potentially bridge the gap.

Recognizing the opportunity, Jeb and Jeremy quickly agreed to collaborate. Jeb’s hardware combined with Jeremy’s software offered a promising solution. Eager to be the first to test this groundbreaking technology, Jeremy committed to the project. Within three days, everything was set for their ambitious endeavor to begin.

Jeremy found Helix Hospital in the Echo Mountains, nestled around a lake. It was an old insane asylum that the government used for psychotropic drug testing on inmates. Jeremy discovered an old cell in the hospital section. The main room had two connected cells with cell doors. Each cell was quite large, capable of fitting up to five doctors, and there was a metal table in the middle of the room bolted to the floor. After setting up for the experiment, Jeremy called Jeb. Since Jeb wasn’t finished yet, he told Jeremy to come back to the lab.

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On the day of the experiment, Jeb and Jeremy went to the hospital and set everything up. They discussed what to do if something went wrong. The plan was:

1. If Jeremy died:

1. Run and don’t look back.

2. Never admit to knowing anything about it.

3. Jeremy had planted numerous gas cans and propane cans around the building over two days to make it explode like a Roman candle.

4. Clean up with the push of a button as you run away.

5. In case the remote didn’t work, there was a flare at the front door to light it up on your safe way out, my friend.

This was what Jeb was supposed to do if Jeremy died. They then went to the cell, and Jeremy sat on the edge of the table while a needle of the nanoliquid was injected into his blood. What happened next was nightmarish. As the liquid entered his bloodstream, the changes in temperature caused the nanobots to go into turbo mode and start taking over the basic programming Jeb had input. They entered a mode that allowed them to consume energy in the form of heat and matter.

Jeremy first felt a cold sensation. The bandage he was holding became cold and soaked with blood. Jeb realized things were not good when the nanobots affected Jeremy’s heart. The nanobots, detecting a red flag, clamped onto the area and recreated the nerve, sending a signal to the rest of the nanobots in the body. They now checked before consuming and the main cluster attached to his heart was large enough for the next test: an electroshock to the nerve to see if it was repaired correctly.

When the shock was administered, Jeremy went into ventricular fibrillation (v-fib). Jeb was trying to figure out what was happening but could only see that Jeremy was getting colder and his arm was not clotting. As the nanobots collected their data, the heart stopped beating. The machine recognized that something was wrong. The chest cavity was being pressed, and the heart was being moved by force from the outside. The nanobots, unsure of their environment, reverted to their original function. They reached out with their tentacles and clung to the heart, making it mechanical rather than biological. The nanobots then started to beat the heart and used the energy produced to take over the body.

The internal system of the nanobots communicated: "We do not know what type of biological system we are part of, but it is a life form with nerve endings. It must be repaired, and we need to leave the body as soon as possible." At this point, the nanobots reached the limit of the blood vessel systems and found only oxygen behind a hard layer of biomass, which provided little safety. The nanobots worked to start the heart, and they succeeded, but something was wrong. The heart was beating, but the pressure was not as it had been before.

One of the valves coming off the heart stopped working. The nanobots had no clue what type of biological system they were in, and being a small part of what used to be a large entity meant they lacked the necessary databases. They made the valve mechanical and adjusted it to recorded pressures, but this prevented them from leaving the heart and body. A protocol that was not previously relevant now became important, and the nanobots initiated a program. They could take over almost any life form but needed time to learn how to make it work.

The nanobots created a hub wherever they were located and turned from explorers and drones into hive bots. They proceeded to consume everything but the nervous system, organs, and anything not alive. This all happened within 20-30 seconds. From Jeb's point of view, Jeremy was getting colder, having a heart attack, receiving CPR from Jeb, then experiencing issues due to low blood pressure. Jeremy began to feel better, but his veins started to turn black, and then they went empty, with the blood becoming clear.

At this point, the hive had reached maximum density and turned from a black mass into gas. The gas-like nanobots streamed into every part of Jeremy's body and started converting it to a material that was almost perfectly clear. Slowly, Jeb watched as Jeremy’s body appeared to turn into glass or crystal, cell by cell. His veins and organs continued to function normally, and within 20 minutes, Jeremy and Jeb were in a state of panic. Jeremy had lost the ability to speak due to changes in his vocal cords, his ears were not working, and he had gone blind. However, the nanobots did not touch any of the organs, and Jeremy could still breathe and use his hands.

He crossed his legs on the table and controlled his breathing, trying to remain calm despite the overwhelming changes. Suddenly, Jeremy’s eyes came back online, but they were different. They were halfway between bat sonar and human vision, seeing in bursts of data like sonar but with sight-like eyes. He was getting flashes of images, which was a relief. Jeremy managed to control his racing heart. Meanwhile, the nanobots in his body were attempting to connect to the nervous system to record readings. Their tasks were: to scan and understand how to keep Jeremy alive, find a way to leave his body, and repair any damage upon exit. They had tried to contact the authorities but received no response. They would attempt this when they had more mass. The nanobots then connected to as many vessels as they could.