Chapter 130. A lingering Thought
The room was quiet, save for the soft hum of the hidden ventilation system and the occasional click of a pen or tap on a laptop. The long conference table at the center of the Genetics Emergency Operations Wing was covered with papers, monitors, and a holographic projector currently flickering with the 3D layout of the Apex Underground Labs.
Lucas sat rigidly in one of the steel chairs, his face pale under the dim lights. His golden eyes were sharp, but behind them was exhaustion. He had barely slept since returning from deep cover. The stitched wound on his arm throbbed beneath his rolled sleeve, but he didn’t flinch.
Across from him sat Chief Argo—no longer in his beggar disguise. In his black tactical gear, he looked every inch the calculating commander that he was. Beside him were three senior officers, intelligence leads, and a few trusted members of the task force. The air was heavy with urgency.
Lucas placed a small sealed folder onto the table.
"This," he said quietly, "is the full formula."
Argo leaned forward and slid the file toward himself with gloved fingers. "The genetic equation Doctor Naehr has been working on?"
"Yes," Lucas said. "It’s a modified sequence—extremely volatile. He intends to aerosolize it and release it globally within forty-eight hours."
A silence dropped over the room.
Argo opened the folder, scanning the neatly inked symbols and chemical structures. One of the science officers gasped. "This... this isn’t just genome correction. It rewrites expression rates in real-time. It could force mutation—at a cellular level."
Lucas nodded. "That’s the point. Naehr believes humanity should evolve beyond what he calls ’flawed natural selection.’ He sees this formula as purification. But it’s not safe. It’s unstable. I’ve seen it melt human brain tissue in five seconds flat."
"Then why the hell did you steal it?" someone asked.
Lucas’s golden eyes hardened. "Because now we can stop him."