Chapter 132. Atops.
The sterile walls of the underground laboratory hummed with quiet dread. Deep within the facility, past the biometric-locked gates and the soundproof corridors, Lucas sat in a reinforced chair. His wrists were cuffed to the steel arms, though not tightly—Doctor Naehr believed in making his guests feel... comfortable.
Or so he claimed.
Doctor Naehr leaned back in his chair across from Lucas, sipping from a steaming mug of something rich and bitter. His silver hair fell like silk down the sides of his gaunt face, and his black eyes glittered with excitement — or madness.
"You’re remarkably calm for someone who’s been captured," Naehr said, tapping his long fingers against the table. "But then again, you were always a quiet one. Even as a child, weren’t you? Observant. Controlled."
Lucas didn’t respond. His face remained unreadable, his golden eyes steady.
"Ah, don’t worry. I’m not going to harm you," Naehr said, lips curling into a mockery of warmth. "I just want to talk. I think you’ll find the truth fascinating. Especially since you were always so close to one of the most important variables in my life’s work—Adrian Sebanil."
Lucas stiffened slightly. Naehr caught it, and his grin widened.
"You see," he began, setting his cup aside and folding his hands under his chin, "Adrian and his... unique biology has puzzled many. A male bearing children? In a world where even minor genetic anomalies are exploited, that kind of power doesn’t go unnoticed."
He stood and walked toward a control panel, pulling up old footage, blurry and aged. Rows of people, all men, were standing in labs, their bodies hooked to strange machines. Then, flames. Screams. Chaos.
"There are three families in this country whose bloodline carries a rare genetic classification. We call them the Atops. Pure males, yes—but with the astonishing ability to conceive, to create life. And more than that... they are protectors by nature. Their brain activity surpasses baseline human metrics. Some can sense danger seconds before it arrives. Others can repel aggression with a thought. Precognition. Energy manipulation. A new order of human evolution."
Lucas felt a chill crawl up his spine, but he kept his voice even. "And you want to... copy them?"
"No." Naehr turned, a flicker of something far more personal in his eyes. "I wanted to understand them. Decades ago, a secret project was started—funded by the very government that now pretends such bloodlines don’t exist. We aimed to isolate and cultivate the Atop gene. Not to harm. To elevate humanity. But it went... badly."