The ceiling was a void of sterile white.
Ren didn't gasp for air when he woke. He didn't struggle against the cold titanium restraints locking his wrists and ankles to the upright chair. He simply opened his eyes and began to count.
One. Two. Three.
His pulse was steady. The lingering sweetness of the soporific gas tasted like copper on his tongue. He was in a subterranean level the air was too recycled, the hum of the cooling fans too deep.
"You were always the best at waking up," a voice drifted from the shadows. "Most subjects scream. You just… recalibrate."
Ren didn't look toward the voice immediately. He scanned the room. Four high-definition cameras. Two armed guards behind a reinforced glass partition. A tray of surgical instruments to his left. And in front of him, sitting on the edge of a steel table, was the girl from the tablet.
She looked like a ghost of himself. Same dark, unruly hair, same piercing grey eyes, but her expression was one of fractured glass beautiful, but sharp enough to draw blood.
"Zero," Ren said. His voice was raspy but calm.
"I go by Elara now," she replied, tilting her head. She held a small vial of the blue liquid Caelum-7 between her thumb and forefinger. "The Headmaster gave me a name. He gave me a purpose. What did the world give you, 004? A squad of failures? A life in the dirt?"
"It gave me silence," Ren said. "Something you clearly haven't found."
Elara's smile didn't reach her eyes. She stepped into the light, her white lab coat pristine. "The Bronze squad. Anya, Gage, Lena. I've read their files. They are statistical zeros. Dead weight. Why did you protect them in the library? Why did you jeopardize your cover for trash?"
"In a game of chess, the pawns determine the space," Ren replied. "If you kill the pawns too early, the King has nowhere to hide. You were always too focused on the Queen, Elara. That's why you never beat me in the Cradle."
A flicker of genuine hatred crossed her face. She slammed the vial onto the table. "The Cradle is gone! This is Aegis! And right now, your 'pawns' are in the Integration Chambers. Do you know what happens during a forced Caelum-7 injection without the proper genetic markers? Their nervous systems will ignite. They'll be geniuses for ten seconds, and then their brains will liquefy."
Ren finally looked at her. "You won't do it."
"Why not?"
"Because the Headmaster doesn't want them dead. He wants me compliant," Ren stated, his eyes boring into hers. "You're a distraction. You're the emotional pressure point. But the man behind the glass " he shifted his gaze to the dark mirror on the wall, " he's the one holding the stopwatch."
Silence stretched for five long seconds. Then, a speaker crackled.
"Impressive as always, 004," the Headmaster's voice boomed through the room. The dark mirror cleared, revealing General Vance standing in a control room, flanked by high-ranking officers in Diamond-rank uniforms. "Your heart rate hasn't exceeded sixty beats per minute even while discussing the agonizing death of your friends."
"They aren't friends," Ren said flatly. "They are my current environment. I adapt to my environment."
"Then adapt to this," Vance said, leaning into the microphone. "Aegis is failing. Our graduates are being slaughtered in the border wars. The 'elite' we produce are soft. We need the methodology of the Cradle. We need the Project 004 mindset. I want you to take command of the Diamond Squad. Train them. Break them. Turn them into what you are."
"And in exchange?"
"Your Bronze squad lives. They will be promoted to Silver. They will receive the best equipment, the best food, and protection. But if you refuse, or if you fail to produce results, they become the first test subjects for the next generation of Caelum-7. Their screams will be the soundtrack to your training sessions."
Elara leaned in close to Ren's ear, her breath cold. "He's not joking, brother. I've seen the vats. Choose."
Ren closed his eyes. He wasn't thinking about Anya's defiant eyes or Gage's clumsy loyalty. He was calculating the variables. If he took command of the Diamond Squad, he gained access to the highest level of the academy's network. He gained weapons. He gained a private army of the "best" students.
He wasn't being imprisoned. He was being handed the keys to the kingdom.
"I accept," Ren said.
Vance smiled behind the glass. "Good. Release him."
The titanium restraints hissed and retracted. Ren stood up, rubbing his wrists. He felt the cold weight of the academy's gaze on him. He was no longer the invisible Rank-F. He was the secret commander of the elite.
"One condition," Ren added, looking up at the Headmaster.
"Speak."
"I don't just train the Diamond Squad. I keep my Bronze squad as my personal attendants. My 'Shadows'. They go where I go. They eat what I eat."
Vance chuckled. "A tether. Fine. If it keeps you focused, they are yours. Elara will escort you to the Diamond Barracks. Your first session is at 0400."
Elara grabbed Ren's arm, her grip like iron. "This way, 'Commander'."
As they walked through the dark, high-tech corridors of the subterranean level, Elara leaned in and whispered, "You think you've won, don't you? You think you can save them. But you forgot one thing, Ren."
Ren kept his eyes forward. "What's that?"
"The Caelum-7 isn't just a threat," she whispered. "The Headmaster already put it in the water supply for the Bronze dorms last night. Anya and the others… they aren't 'normal' anymore. They're changing. And the change is hungry."
Ren stopped dead. He looked at his hand the hand he had used to pull Anya up at the wall. A faint, glowing blue vein was beginning to pulse under his own skin.
He hadn't just been gassed in the library. He had been infected.
"Welcome to the evolution," Elara smirked.
Suddenly, a massive explosion rocked the corridor. The lights turned red, and the automated voice of the academy screamed:
[ALERT: EXTERNAL BREACH DETECTED]
[LOCATION: SECTOR 9 – BRONCE DORMITORIES]
[STATUS: BIOLOGICAL CONTAINMENT FAILED]
Ren's data slate, which had been returned to him, vibrated. A new message from the "Old Friend."
[Message: The transition is faster than we thought. Anya just killed three Diamond guards with her bare hands. The Bronze squad is hunting, Ren. And they're looking for you.]