Kael's pulse pounded in his ears as he stood over the trembling figure of the older man. The sterile room was filled with the soft hum of failing machinery, alarms echoing in the distance. His grip on his spear tightened, though he kept it steady, the weapon's blade shimmering in the harsh light.
"You think I'll just give you what you want?" the older man sneered, his voice cracking under the weight of fear. He tried to steady himself, but his composure had shattered. "You have no idea what you're dealing with."
"I know more than you think," Kael said, his tone ice-cold. "I know what you did to Earth. I know about the experiments. And I know that you've been watching me all this time."
The man's defiance faltered as his eyes flicked to the flickering hologram displaying Kael's image, the survival footage of his journey, his fight for life. It was as if Kael's existence itself had become an obstacle to their designs. The older man's lips pressed together in a thin, tight line, as if weighing his options.
"You won't survive this," the man said, his voice losing some of its edge. "The serum was never meant to be perfect. It wasn't just for the enhancement of biological functions—it was an experiment in controlling life itself. We wanted to evolve humanity, push it beyond what it ever could be, using the resources of this planet. But Earth... Earth fought back. She rejected it. And now... now, you're the last of it. The last attempt at our failed experiment."
Kael's chest tightened. Earth was more than a dying world—it was an unwilling participant in the greed of the elites who had abandoned it, discarded it for their own selfish desires. The thought that he was some twisted remnant of their failure was almost too much to bear.
The older man stepped back, his hands raised in surrender, but his gaze still sharp with calculated malice. "You think this is about saving Earth? About righting the wrongs of the past? No. You're just a weapon. An unintended consequence of our experiments. But if you think you can undo all that we've built... you're wrong."
Kael's eyes burned with fury, but his mind was already working through the implications. He'd suspected that something unnatural had happened to him, but to know that he was part of a failed experiment, part of their grand design—it shook him to his core.
"Tell me how to stop it," Kael demanded. "Tell me how to stop you."
The older man chuckled bitterly, his eyes glinting with an unsettling mix of fear and pride. "You can't stop what's already begun. The process has already spread too far. The wilds have been affected, just as the serum affected you. The land itself is changing, evolving. The world will adapt to us. And you? You're just a small piece of the puzzle."
Kael's gaze hardened. He didn't have time for their delusions. They were close, too close to finishing what they had started. Whatever had been unleashed on Earth, whatever forces they had triggered, Kael knew he couldn't let it continue.
The sound of footsteps echoed through the halls, the muffled clamor of reinforcements arriving. Kael knew he couldn't afford to waste another moment. He didn't want to destroy this place—he wanted to understand it. But the truth would have to wait. He had to move fast.
With a fluid motion, Kael reached out and slammed the older man against the wall, pinning him with his spear. "I'm not done with you," Kael snarled. "But if you're right about Earth fighting back... maybe it's time we both learned how to survive in a world that no longer wants us."
The older man's face twisted in terror as Kael stepped away, but his resolve only hardened. He wouldn't leave until he had answers. He couldn't.
Without another word, Kael turned and vanished into the shadows, the last remnants of his past now more elusive than ever. The wilds were calling again—this time, they were not just his sanctuary. They were his battleground. And if the land had been infected by their experiments, Kael would cleanse it, no matter the cost.