Hope

The smell of formaldehyde that hung in the Operating Room seemed to grow more powerful with every minute. A surgeon’s tools rested atop a steel table. A pair of gloves sat comfortably beside the tools, accompanied by a few surgical masks, a handful of syringes, and a bunch of bottles containing friendly-looking liquids.

Two things, however, looked somewhat out of place. The first being a supercomputer slumbering in the far corner of the room with all sorts of blinking lights. The second was a specimen lying on the operating table. Its torso, carved open from end to end, seemed somewhat human. The face, on the other hand, made them reconsider. Hope took one look at the antennae dangling from its skull and the beastly snout in place of its nose and knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that the creature was not from Earth.

“What. The. Fuck.” Alicia repeated.

“It’s an alien,” Hope answered, still reeling from the shock of the previous discoveries. “Well, was an alien. Huh, you don’t see that every day.”

“It’s a fucking what?”

“Alien. Extraterrestrial. Species not belonging to Earth.”

“How in the name of fuck did it get here?”

Hope responded with an innocent shrug. “Anyway, moving on.”

Before she could, indeed, move on, Alicia pulled her back with an angry tug. “Hold the fuck up. It’s a fucking alien! It’s… like the discovery of the century. What’s going on here? What is this place? I wanna get out of here.”

“Hold on, now. Let’s try taking this slowly.” Hope reassured her. “We know that there’s no one around. So, we can take our time.”

The dragon belted with a murderous roar that made the building tremble in fear. Hope continued in a squeaky voice. “Except for that, obviously. You know what? Let’s make it quick, for a change. How about we start with that computer? That’s gotta have some answers, right?”

The girls prayed to every God in existence as they made their way to the machine. Hope had picked up a good number of tricks by watching Sebastian. While she was nowhere near his level, it was enough to get her hailed as a computer genius by old people.

“We press this button, and this, and this glowing thingy, and Bob’s your uncle. Wow, that actually worked.” When Alicia cast an eye of doubt at her, she turned around and blurted out, “I mean, of course, it did! I know what I’m doing. Yep. Never questioned it for a sec.”

The computer screen flashed with a multitude of colors until finally settling on a dull white font. The screen read: Dr. Everett’s daily record

“What’s it say?” asked Alicia.

“Looks like some kind of audio journal. Huh, that’s odd. It’s missing a lot of dates. There’s log one, twelve, thirteen, twenty-five, and then straight to the final log.”

“Sounds like someone was trying to delete it in a hurry. But why?”

“Only one way to find out. I’m playing the first one.”

Hope pressed a button and the audio file played in the gentle voice of an elderly man:

Day one of The Darwin Project

This is Dr. Martin Everett. The new facility at Point Omega is remarkable. Mr. Norton has provided us with state-of-the-art instruments. The team is incredible. Most importantly, the environment is perfect in case…. Well, it’s a necessary precaution. Anyway, the Atrian specimens arrive tomorrow. So, that’s when we begin our work. I look forward to working with these people, especially Dr. Misham. It’s no exaggeration to say that the entire human race is counting on us.

End of recording

“Atrian specimen.” Alicia pondered aloud. “You think he could be talking about that yellow thing?”

“Could be. Let’s try the next one.”

Day twelve of The Darwin Project

Atrian blood is far more potent than we imagined. The self-replication, the adaptability, the healing factor. If we can make this work, we might be able to eliminate sickness altogether. Dr. Misham has voiced some concerns regarding the genetic recombination factor but that can be worked out in post. Testing on animal subjects begins tomorrow. Mr. Norton is sending in someone called Roland to keep an eye on us. I don’t know what to expect but if Mr. Norton trusts him, that’s all we need to know.

End of recording

“Roland? Was he friends with President Norton or something?” Hope wondered.

“Fucking hell, dude. What in the name of the Devil did we run into?”

“L-let’s keep going.”

Day thirteen of The Darwin Project

Damn that asshole! That Roland fellow has done nothing but slow down our work. Bastard took over an entire third of the facility. Said he needed room for “important stuff”. Absolutely ridiculous! I’ll be taking this up with Mr. Norton. Ahem! Yes, the tests. The subject has shown no visible changes so far. Observation to continue.

End of recording

“Keep going. Don’t stop!” Alicia urged her.

“Okay! Okay!”

Day twenty-five of The Darwin Project

It’s been two days since the subject broke out of the facility. So far, all attempts at containing it have been futile. Mr. Roland tells us that if we can’t control it, the entire operation will have to be scrapped. All this effort, all that work, for nothing. No! I won’t have it. We’re sending in drones tomorrow.

End of recording

Hope felt a lump forming in her throat as she looked out a window at the creature slumbering atop the ceiling of the crystal mountain. “Let me see if I’m getting this straight. They made that thing in a petri-dish in here?”

“That’s one mystery outta the way, I guess. Do we have more of these?”

“Just one more. I-”

“Play it!”

Day thirty-two of- ah, fuck it. It’s not like it matters anymore. The project’s being put on ice. All thanks to that damned lizard. We can’t control it. We can’t contain it. All we can do is leave it alone and move on. They said they’ll call us when they find another suitable location. Yeah, good luck finding another pre-Culling locale. With the walls coming down in, what’s it, fifteen years? I think I’ll take it easy for a while. Maybe, go on a vacation. Once the drama dies down, it’d be nice to visit Noor as a normal person, for once.

End of recording

The message ended with a soft hissing sound. The girls were left staring at each other’s blank faces as a static noise continued to play. Hope wondered which part of their discovery had bewildered her the most. Her final conclusion, after much deliberation, was: all of it.

Nothing about this entire expedition made a lick of sense. She felt as though someone had shoved her head into a mixer grinder with a dozen bats flapping around in confusion.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

“So, I’m guessing the servers are in here too,” said Alicia. “Maybe we can check the computer for their location.”

“You’re still thinking about the mission?” Hope retorted with a crazed look in her eyes.

“Hey, that’s the only reason we came here, didn’t we? Whatever… this is, I ain’t touching it with a mile-long flagpole. Let’s do what we’re paid for, and never speak of it ever again.”

“You can’t be serious,” Hope protested. “Don’t you get it? Roland, Norton, all of them are part of the same goddamn posse. You see what they’ve been doing right under our feet? Do you even realize how big this is?”

“Yeah. It’s too big for us, that’s what it is. Listen, whatever moral duty you think you got to unmask these people, it ain’t gonna be worth shit if they get to you first. When people as powerful as them want something to stay hidden, it stays fucking hidden. You try to have it any other way, you straight-up disappear off the streets. It was the same in Wadin. It’s the same in Lucidea. It’s the same everywhere in the fucking world. So, you listen to me. We do what we came here to do, and we get outta here, and then, we forget we ever saw any of this. Do you get it?”

Hope shuddered with the look of one forced to pick between strangling a puppy and shooting their best friend. To turn back here would be to reject everything she’d worked towards for the last seven years. But to go against the President of Lucidea himself, nothing would be a surer nail in her coffin.

“Look, I know you wanna do the heroic thing here. Believe me, I get it. But there will be a better chance than this. You-”

“It’s f-fine.” Hope bit her lip. “I’ve still gotta salvage my reputation, you know? Get back to Haven City. Bring back Vega so I can put more good in the world. What good will it be if I get killed in the middle of nowhere? Let me check the files for the server. See if I remember more of Seb’s old tricks.”

"Cool. Wait, do you think Trent knows?”

“Knows what?” she asked, her eyes fixated on the computer screen.

“You know, about all of this.”

“He might. He might not.” Hope sighed. “But just to be safe, let’s not give him any idea that we might know more than him.”

“My lips are sealed. So, you found the servers yet?” Alicia asked.

“I think so. Look, they’re marked in that portion of the facility.” Hope pointed to a series of green dots blinking over a top-down map of the building.

“Alright then. What are we waiting for? Let’s-”

The facility was shaken by a powerful wind. The floor trembled beneath their feet as a pale figure zoomed past the windows, casting a brief but colossal shadow over the lab. Once the light returned to the room, they saw that the glass panes guarding the lab had turned to dust.

“What was that?” Alicia questioned with quivering lips.

“The dragon thing. Get down. Let’s stay quiet. Maybe, it’ll leave us alone.”

A claw the size of a small room ripped through the concrete wall and stabbed the marble flooring with five gargantuan nails. Hope and Alicia stood petrified as the claw retreated from the Operating Room. In its place, eight golden eyes stared unblinkingly at them.

During her career, Hope had learned to recognize all sorts of looks that criminals would give her. Some had the menacing “you will regret it” stare, others carried a more somber “I am sorry” look, while yet others had a more mixed “I did what I had to do” look to them. Needless to say, she could recognize the kind of person she was dealing with in just one look. And yet, even in all her years, she had witnessed this particular look just a grand total of three times.

The stare of those unblinking eyes filled her with more terror than her body could conjure. It was the look of absolute malice.

Hope clutched Alicia and zipped her across the room as the creature growled at them through fangs half their height. With another swipe of its claw, it tore through the room with ease. The tools, the table, and the Atrian specimen, all were dragged down into the endless chasm below.

“I’ll distract it!” Hope yelled at the top of her voice. “You go and plant the bombs. I’ll keep it busy.”

“Are you out of your mind?” Alicia cried. “That thing’s like a hundred times your size!”

“Then, I’ll keep it busy long enough for you to escape. Just go!”

“Oh, fuck no. There’s no way in hell I’m leaving without you,” she said. “No… not this time. We’re both getting outta here. You hear me?”

Hope rolled her eyes so hard it was a miracle they didn’t fall out the other side. “Fine! Go and plant the bombs. I’ll get its attention. And if somehow both of us avoid getting murdered, we’ll get out of here, together. That make you happy?”

The creature growled with an ear-splitting roar but Alicia screamed even louder. “Don’t you fucking dare die on me, you hear?”

Hope nodded with an empty reassurance and fired a flashbang at the dragon’s face. The creature howled in pain as it recoiled from the hole in the wall. As Hope leaped through the opening, she took one look at the monster standing in her path and the spikes on its back that looked sharp enough to pierce a tank and immediately started having second thoughts about her decision.

I hate you, me from five seconds ago.

Despite its terrifying appearance, the dragon proved to be less threatening than Sebastian on an empty stomach. A creature that size would have a hard time walking let alone flying in Earth’s gravity. While she did have a few close calls, courtesy of dodging the wrong way or not realizing the creature could breathe beams of pure energy, it was fairly smooth sailing, on the whole. The only real threat came when the creature attempted a dive-bomb, at which point, it would speed like a jet engine and come crashing into a wall with the full force of its bulk. The aftershock rained crystals from the ceiling that struck the dragon like a divorce letter after twenty years of marriage.

It groaned. It howled. It flailed around like a toddler trying to swat a fly. But for the longest time, it couldn’t lay a finger on her. Hope smiled at the relative ease of her task and how jealous Sebastian would be when she told him about her adventure. She would have to hype up the fight, of course, but she was no stranger to “selling” her escapades. It was a talent that had earned her over ten million followers on Blink.

As she danced away from another limb-tearing claw swipe, Alicia’s voice rang in her ear. “Yo! You holding up okay?”

“Honestly? Easier than I expected. How’s progress on your end?”

“I’m almost done planting the bombs. You’re not gonna believe this but I found another way out. It’s like a whole ass network of tubes. Like something out of a waterpark. Shit’s wild, girl. You gotta get back.”

“I’ll take my time. This dragon’s a breeze.”

“If you say so. Although, I wouldn’t go underestimating the fucker if I were you.”

“Relax!” Hope replied in a dismissive voice. “I’ve got everything under control.”

By ungodly coincidence or just pure bad luck, it was at that moment, that everything stopped being under control. The beast erupted with an ear-splitting roar. Hope watched from afar as its chest glowed with a volcanic aura. The color grew brighter and more vivid as the aura engulfed its wings in bright blue flames that whirled and danced as the beast took flight.

Eight featureless pupils stared cold daggers at Hope. She tried crawling away but the flames pinned her to the wall. The Vega suit was built to withstand temperatures of up to two thousand degrees Celsius for forty seconds at a time. The flames pushed it to its limit in five. The carbon fiber mesh started to melt, searing the hot armor onto her flesh.

Hope had always pictured herself meeting a heroic end. Like she’d jump off a cliff to save a bus full of children, make one misstep, and get crushed under its weight. If she was lucky, they’d erect a statue in her memory. If not, well, at least she went out on a high note. This ending was anything but. She was about to die alone and unloved in a place they’d never find her body. And just to add salt to the wound, she wasn’t even sure if she was doing the right thing.

And yet, she resisted. It was a futile attempt, of course, but it was resistance nonetheless. Even though every organ in her body screamed bloody murder, even as she cried out in helpless agony, she refused to die. It was a strange feeling. Usually, when stuck in life-or-death situations, she had gotten the willpower to continue by thinking of the people that were counting on her. This time, there was no one. If her mouth hadn’t been forced open in a voiceless scream, she would’ve laughed at the notion.

For a moment, it seemed that nature had listened to her cries for help. The flames dissipated as rapidly as they had conjured. The dragon perched upon a crystal projection like a gargoyle as a cloud of smoke erupted from its back. The Vega suit was dead. The kinetic circuits had been fried beyond recognition, the utility belt had been melted into candle wax, and the visor had become little more than a fancy helmet.

But she was still alive. Her hands raced to her pistols which had been miraculously spared by the flames. As the creature readied another rain of hellfire, she took a deep breath, aimed with shaking fingers, and flew across the air as the flames singed the crystals behind her till they glowed with a horrific red.

“Oh, give me a break, you overgrown lizard!”

The dragon answered by launching a blast of pure energy in her direction. While she’d recently learned to be more accepting of cultural differences, she was quite certain that this was not a friendly gesture. When the creature stopped to catch its breath, she took another, more thorough look at her utility belt. All her bombs, grenades, flashlights, and emergency smartphone batteries had been welded shut inside the plastic casing. They were intact, yes, but in their current state, they were about as useful as a sea slug in a horse race.

Or were they? As the beast stretched its jaws to the width of a cargo container, a sudden idea flickered in her mind. The Whiplashes still carried an explosive round from earlier. With no chance of reloading, she only had one shot at this. For a moment, it terrified her. But then, she remembered that she’d crossed the point of no return about a million postcodes ago, and breathed easy. She zipped to the top of the mountain and perched upon a crag facing the lab.

“Hey, Scary McScaryface! Up here!” She belted in a tired voice.

The dragon raised its snout to look at her. The power of its roar nearly knocked her off the crag.

“I’m waiting. Come on up and get some delicious man-meat.”

In the blink of an eye, the dragon was at a hair’s width from her. Before it could wrap its teeth around her body, she leaped from the crag and the creature went crashing into the crystalline ceiling. The creature turned to face her and roared. The moment it opened its mouth, she sent her utility belt flying toward it. Using the same precision she’d refined by years of shooting knives out of the hands of would-be murderers, she fired an explosive round that went right through the cracks between its teeth and caused a blast that sent the dragon crashing into the abyss and sent her flying through the glass windows of the building behind her.

She looked at the floor around her and the glass shards embedded in her suit and groaned in pain, unable to move even a muscle. The last thing she saw before passing out was Alicia’s face.