Aurora’s POV:

My name is Aurora Steinfeld, the youngest and least loved of the Steinfeld clan. My parents were ancient when they had me, having lived for nearly four centuries thanks to some life-extending drug. They had dozens of other children who were all successful and influential in various fields. They had their own families, their own lives, and they barely paid any attention to me. I was just a footnote in their long history, a late addition that they didn’t really need. I never complained, though. I never asked for anything. I just lived my life as best as I could, trying to find some meaning in this lonely existence.

I poured all my energy into my studies, becoming a top student in every subject. My parents were proud, I guess, but they never showed it. They never smiled at me, hugged me, or praised me. They just nodded and patted my head, and that was it. I often wondered why they bothered to have me at all. If they didn’t want to love me as their child, why did they bring me into this world? I never voiced this question, though. I just kept pushing and pushing forward until I graduated from high school with a stellar GPA.

Sadly, right after my graduation ceremony, my parents passed away at the ripe old age of 398. I was left alone with a big house and a lot of money, but none of that mattered to me. I had just lost my parents, and I was heartbroken. Even though they were cold and distant, they were still my parents. They gave me everything I needed, except for their love. And now they were gone. I didn’t know what to do with myself, so I did what I always did: I buried myself in my studies.

I enrolled in university and majored in three different fields: pharmacology, biochemistry, and biotechnology. Everyone said I was crazy, that I would burn out or fail miserably. Even my siblings doubted me, saying I was biting off more than I could chew. But I proved them all wrong. Not only did I ace all my majors, but I also finished them in record time: five years. I also graduated at the top of my class in all of them and was invited to work at a government-owned facility that specialized in creating drugs to enhance human health and longevity.

I worked there for a year, and I had an assistant named Han. He was an old man, with gray hair and a beard. He looked a lot like my father, but he was kind and gentle. He treated me like a daughter, always caring for me and scolding me when I neglected myself. He became the closest thing to a father figure that I ever had, and I cherished his presence in my life. He gave me a glimmer of hope in my otherwise bleak existence.

One day, after helping to create several useful drugs, I was summoned to the facility owner’s office and offered to work on a new confidential project that involved a drug that was produced in a secret facility. At first, I was reluctant to accept the offer, but when I learned more about the drug and the salary, I became more interested.

After much thought, I decided to take the offer, but only if Han could come with me. He was more than just an assistant to me; he was like a father. The owner agreed, as long as Han was willing to leave his current position and join me voluntarily. And when I asked Han, he said yes without hesitation. He said he couldn’t let his daughter go alone to a strange place and that he wanted to be by my side. I was so touched and grateful that I burst into tears and hugged him tightly. He smiled and stroked my hair gently, like a loving parent.

We packed our bags and equipment and left for the new facility a month later. We rode in a luxurious car, but we had to wear blindfolds to conceal the location of the facility. I was nervous and scared, but Han held my hand and calmed me down. I trusted him and followed his lead. We arrived at the facility and were taken in through a back door, which I found odd, but I didn’t think too much about it.

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I met my new team, and they seemed nice enough. We worked well together, and in two months, we created a new drug that could theoretically enhance the senses and even awaken the sixth sense, but its side effects were as strong as the drug. We called it Altera.

I thought we would test it on animals or captured monsters first, like any normal lab would do, but I was wrong. So very wrong.

When they took me to the testing room, I was horrified by what I saw. There were human beings strapped to metal beds, being injected with various drugs and tortured in unimaginable ways. Some of them died on the spot, some of them went insane, some of them became empty shells. I was frozen in shock and fear. I couldn’t speak or move. I looked at Han, and he was as pale as I was. He grabbed my shirt and tried to pull me away from the scene, but it was too late. We were trapped in this nightmare, forced to watch the horrific experiments until the end.

While I was wondering what to do next, I saw a boy wrapped in bloody bandages being dragged into the testing room. He looked like a mummy, with only his eyes, nose, mouth, and part of his ears visible. His eyes were so dark that they seemed to suck me in, and his hair was so long and black that it reminded me of a raven’s feathers. He was captivating, even in this hellish place. He had a fierce and defiant aura, like a warrior who had survived many battles.

When he saw me and Han, he locked his gaze with mine, and I felt a strange attraction to him.

He was called Xeno by the chief of the facility, who had a heated argument with him. Xeno yelled and cursed at the scientists, accusing them of being maniacs and murderers. He didn’t care about the consequences; he just spoke his mind. But the scientists only looked at him with contempt and disdain, as if he was nothing but trash to them.

I could swear that I saw a fire burning in his eyes at that time, a fire of anger and hatred.

However, then the chief mentioned the twins, and everything changed. He said that if Xeno didn’t beg like a good dog, he would bring the twins instead of him to take his place. Xeno was desperate and helpless. He bit his lip until it bled, but he still begged for the sake of the twins.

He was brave and noble. He didn’t care about himself; he only cared about his loved ones. He stood up to the evil people here, but he also sacrificed his pride and dignity to protect the people close to him. How admirable. After he begged, he was injected with the drug that I and the other scientists had made. He started screaming as if he was being ripped apart from the inside. The scientists monitored his condition for a while, then declared the test a failure and threw him back into his cell.

I was appalled by what I witnessed. Xeno, who was so spirited and lively, was broken and silent. He didn’t say a word as he was dragged away.

I couldn’t bear to see this happen again, so I refused to hand over the new drug that we had made, APTX-08, to the scientists. I knew they would use it on Xeno and other subjects again, and I couldn’t let that happen. But the chief went mad and tried to attack me with a knife. Before I could react, someone stepped in front of me and took the stab for me. It was Han. He saved my life.

I screamed his name in shock and horror.

Yet, he didn’t look at me, but stared at the chief with a fierce glare. He then said, “Don’t you dare lay a finger on my daughter.”

The chief was furious and stabbed him again and again until he stopped breathing. I was enraged and heartbroken at the same time. The only person who ever cared for me as a father was gone, right in front of my eyes. And it was all my fault. I caused his death with my foolishness and selfishness. He died with a smile on his face, knowing that he had protected me until the end.

I was so grief-stricken and hopeless that I tried to kill myself then and there, but I was stopped by the scientists who wrestled me down and took the drug from me. They tied me up and gagged me and threw me into a cell. But before they did that, the chief looked at me with a wicked grin and said, “You will obey, or you will rot forever.”

I was locked up and forgotten. I was not even given the mercy of death. I spent my days and nights in tears, regretting my actions and mourning my loss. However, one day, I received a letter that changed everything. A letter that had only one sentence: “What price would you pay for power?”