Chapter 10: The Cripo Project
Night had fallen over Nazareth, Israel.
Far away from the ordinary streets, hidden beneath an abandoned government facility, the Cripo Project continued operating.
The facility was heavily guarded.
Inside were dozens of ordinary civilians who had been kidnapped from different parts of the region. They had been taken because the people running Cripo wanted to experiment on them.
The government officials involved in the project didn't see the civilians as people anymore.
They saw them as test subjects.
The goal of the Cripo Project was to create mutations.
The experiments were designed to transform ordinary humans into grotesque monsters that the officials could control and study.
Some scientists believed they were creating the next stage of human evolution.
Others simply enjoyed having complete control over helpless people.
The civilians had been trapped inside the facility for days.
One of them was Derek's cousin.
He had been kidnapped during one of the government's operations.
Derek had been searching for information about Cripo for a long time.
But now he had finally discovered where the project was being conducted.
He stood on the roof of a building overlooking the facility.
His villain costume covered his body.
He stared at the building in silence.
Then he noticed something in the information he had stolen.
His cousin's name.
Derek's expression changed.
"So you're here."
He looked toward the facility.
"You kidnapped my family."
He closed the file.
"That was your last mistake."
Inside the facility, one of the officials walked through the laboratory.
"Continue the experiment."
A scientist hesitated.
"Sir, the subjects are becoming unstable."
The official smiled.
"That's the point."
Another scientist looked uncomfortable.
"Some of them are civilians who were simply taken from their homes."
The official turned toward him.
"And?"
The scientist became silent.
The official continued walking.
"Nobody outside this facility knows what we're doing."
Suddenly, the lights went out.
The entire facility went dark.
The guards looked around.
"What happened?"
One guard grabbed his weapon.
"Check the generators!"
Before anyone could move, a voice came from the darkness.
"You won't need them."
Everyone froze.
Transition stepped out of the shadows.
One of the officials recognized him.
"Transition."
Derek looked around the room.
"So this is Cripo."
The official tried to remain calm.
"You shouldn't be here."
Derek smiled.
"I've been looking for you."
The guards raised their weapons.
Derek disappeared.
In an instant, the guards found themselves somewhere completely different.
They were no longer inside the laboratory.
They had been transitioned outside the facility, far away from the main building.
The officials stared in disbelief.
One of them shouted, "Where did he send them?"
Derek walked toward them.
"Somewhere they can't interfere."
The officials began backing away.
"You can't kill us."
Derek looked at them.
"Why not?"
"We're government officials."
"I know."
"You'll be hunted by every hero in the world."
Derek laughed.
"They already hunt me."
One of the officials tried to activate an emergency system.
Derek raised his hand.
The control panel disappeared.
It reappeared several meters away.
The official stared at it.
Derek said, "You still don't understand."
He walked closer.
"You built this place because you thought you controlled everything."
He pointed toward the laboratories.
"You kidnapped innocent people."
He pointed toward the scientists.
"You experimented on them."
Then he looked directly at the officials.
"And you thought nobody would ever come for you."
One official shouted, "The experiments are classified!"
Derek replied, "I don't care."
Another official said, "You don't understand what we're trying to accomplish."
Derek's expression became cold.
"I understand perfectly."
He looked through the glass separating the laboratory from the civilians.
"You wanted to turn them into monsters."
The official smiled.
"Some of them could become extremely powerful."
Derek stared at him.
"You're proud of this."
The official didn't answer.
Derek looked back at the civilians.
Among them was his cousin.
His eyes widened.
"Cousin."
His cousin looked toward him.
"Derek?"
Derek's expression changed.
For the first time that night, his anger became personal.
He immediately transitioned himself into the laboratory.
His cousin looked at him in disbelief.
"You came for me."
Derek nodded.
"I did."
He looked around at the other civilians.
"You all survived."
One of the civilians asked, "Are you a hero?"
Derek paused.
"No."
He looked back at the officials.
"I'm a villain."
His cousin looked confused.
"But you saved us."
Derek answered quietly.
"I didn't come here to save everyone."
The room became silent.
"I came because they took my cousin."
He looked toward the officials.
"But since I was already here..."
Derek raised his hand.
"...I wasn't going to leave these people behind."
The civilians looked at him.
Derek turned toward the scientists.
"You wanted to turn them into monsters."
The scientists stepped backward.
"Wait."
Derek shook his head.
"No."
The scientists disappeared.
They were transitioned out of the laboratory.
The government officials tried to escape.
Derek transitioned the doors shut.
One official shouted, "You can't do this!"
Derek looked at him.
"I already did."
One by one, Derek transitioned the people responsible for the Cripo Project away from the facility.
None of them returned.
The laboratory became silent.
The project was over.
Derek then turned toward the machines.
He studied the equipment for several seconds.
Then he transitioned the entire collection of experimental equipment out of the facility and into a remote location where it could no longer be used.
His cousin looked at him.
"You killed them."
Derek nodded.
"Yes."
"You could have arrested them."
Derek looked at him.
"And let them continue somewhere else?"
His cousin didn't answer.
Derek walked toward the remaining civilians.
"You need to leave."
One of them asked, "Where will we go?"
Derek looked toward the exit.
"Anywhere that isn't here."
He transitioned the civilians outside the facility, far from the laboratory.
The civilians were finally free.
Derek remained behind.
He stood alone inside the abandoned Cripo facility.
He looked at the empty laboratory.
For a moment, he remembered the hero he used to be.
The old Derek would have celebrated because he had saved innocent people.
The new Derek didn't feel like celebrating.
He simply looked at the destroyed project.
"I didn't come here to be a hero."
He turned away.
"I came for my family."
He walked toward the exit.
Then he stopped.
He looked back one final time.
"But if you hurt my family..."
His eyes became cold.
"...you become my problem."
Derek disappeared.
The Cripo Project was finished.
But Transition's investigation had only just begun.
Because among the files he had recovered from the facility was a document containing a name he had never seen before.
PROJECT CRIPO: PHASE TWO.
Derek stared at the document.
"Phase Two?"
He slowly smiled.
"So this wasn't the whole project."
Then he disappeared into the night.