CHAPTER 33: ADVANCED LAB

The structure loomed before them like a tomb built for gods who had long since abandoned humanity. A half-buried building of steel and stone, its walls strangled by roots and moss, its shattered windows dark as blind eyes. A rusted sign leaned against the entrance, its letters nearly lost to time, but the faint engraving could still be read beneath the grime.

[DIVISION BIOGENETICS.]

Ash let out a low whistle, his voice breaking the suffocating silence. "So this is the heart of it."

Ahce stepped forward, her gloved hand brushing away years of dirt from the metal surface. The letters shimmered faintly beneath the beam of her flashlight.

"The origin of Project Tainted Blood," she said, her tone flat but her pulse quickening.

They entered cautiously, flashlights slicing through the dark like fragile blades of light. Inside, the air was stale and heavy, filled with the scent of rust and chemical decay. Shards of glass crunched beneath their boots. Broken lab tables and overturned consoles littered the corridors, and old medical charts clung to the walls like the remnants of a nightmare too stubborn to fade.

But what struck them most was the silence. There was no hum of machines, no chirping of insects, not even the whisper of wind. Only the occasional flicker of a light bulb somewhere deep within the compound, faint and irregular, as if the building itself were still breathing.

"This place still has power," Ryo murmured, tapping the wall with the butt of his rifle. "Maybe an old generator?"

Ahce activated her wrist terminal, the soft blue glow casting pale light over her features.

"It’s not running on conventional energy," she said after a moment. "This current is stable, but it’s not mechanical. There’s a network signal buried in the system, something active."

Ash frowned. "That’s impossible. We lost all comms the moment we entered the forest. How can there be a live connection here?"

"I don’t know," Ahce replied softly. "But I’ll find out."

They split into teams. Mira and Ryo secured the perimeter while Ahce and Ash moved deeper into the data wing. The corridors narrowed into a maze of twisted metal and fallen debris, the walls stained with age and something darker, smudges that looked disturbingly like handprints.

Most of the terminals they found were dead, their screens shattered or burnt. But a few still flickered weakly, streams of corrupted code running endlessly across them. Ahce knelt before one and connected her wrist terminal, bypassing the outdated encryption with practiced precision. Lines of code scrolled rapidly until a soft tone signaled access.

Her pulse quickened when file names appeared on the screen.

[Project Tainted Blood: Subject Development Log]

[Gene Fusion Prototype 03 – Stability Report]

[Experiment 77 – Hybridization Results (Success/Unstable)]

[Division Squad Access – Restricted Entry Authorization: Captain Richard Jing]

Ahce froze.

Ash leaned closer, his voice cautious. "That’s your husband’s name?"

She nodded slowly. "Yes... he was here."

Her fingers trembled as she opened the file.

"Subject retrieval successful. Squad S escorted specimens 21–24 to Site E7 for transfer. Not all subjects were sedated. Two exhibited heightened aggression. Captain Jing ordered temporary containment. No further reports since transmission blackout."

Ahce’s breath caught. Her husband had led the transport. He had lived long enough to complete it, but after that, nothing. No further transmissions. No closure.

She immediately began backing up the files, transferring copies into an encrypted Zeiren channel. If Headquarters could analyze the data, perhaps they could uncover how far Division’s corruption went, or even find a way to undo it.

"Shina," she said into her comm. "Prepare data transfer protocol. Encrypt Level Nine clearance."

"Yes, Miss Nine. Channel open," came the reply, her voice steady despite the static.

Packets of data began to upload. The signal bar glowed green, rising steadily.

Ash watched with a furrowed brow. "That’s... too strong. There shouldn’t even be a connection out here."

"I know," Ahce whispered. "It’s as if someone wants us to connect."

The glow of the monitor pulsed softly, almost rhythmically, like a heartbeat. It cast eerie shadows across her face, and for a fleeting moment, it seemed to breathe.

Ash stepped back uneasily. "You think we’re being watched?"

Ahce didn’t answer. Her eyes stayed fixed on the monitor, watching the pulse of light as if it were alive.

When the final packet was transferred, she exhaled. "Done. Headquarters will have the files within the hour."

"Good," Ash said. "Then we secure the area and rest. We’ll need our strength."

They spent the next few hours sweeping the laboratory. Mira and Ryo returned carrying sealed crates of rations, bottled water, and medical supplies, all recent. The labels were unweathered, the containers untouched by time.

"This place isn’t abandoned," Mira muttered. "Someone’s been here, recently."

They found a few intact rooms and set up camp. Shina assembled a temporary communication terminal, and to everyone’s surprise, the signal came through perfectly.

No static. No interference. Just a steady, crystal-clear connection.

Zeiren’s satellites had failed to reach this region for years, yet here, in the ruins of an ancient lab, the signal was flawless. The monitor glowed a soft blue, its hum low and constant.

Ahce stared at the screen, uneasy. "This network isn’t from Zeiren. The ID is unregistered. The origin can’t be traced."

Ash crossed his arms. "Then who built it?"

"Division, maybe," Ahce said. "Or something they discovered, something that doesn’t belong to us."

The glow of the monitor pulsed again. Once, twice. Steady. Alive. And faintly, beneath the static, Ahce thought she heard something, a whisper, distant and impossible, like a voice calling her name.

What’s wrong with me?

When night fell, the others collapsed from exhaustion, but Ahce couldn’t sleep. The building creaked and sighed as if remembering old pain. Her flashlight beam swept over rusted instruments, shattered containment pods, and stains that no one could identify anymore.

She sat alone at an old workstation, her laptop humming softly. Lines of code reflected in her eyes as she dug deeper into the lab’s corrupted network. The system was a labyrinth, fragments of files intertwined with encrypted pathways that led nowhere, or everywhere.

Two hours passed before she found what she was searching for. A series of surveillance videos.

She opened the first file, and her breath caught.

Squad S.

Seven figures moved across the grainy footage, armed and weary, their uniforms bearing the mark of Division. They dragged chained figures behind them, specimens, or perhaps survivors. The faces were obscured, but the lead officer was unmistakable.

Richard.

He looked thinner, his expression unreadable, his movements slow but deliberate. Dried blood streaked his armor. Behind him, Lance limped, another man clutched his side. The scene replayed in eerie silence, a loop trapped in time.

Ahce watched it again and again, searching for any sign that he saw the camera, that he knew he was being watched.

Then she noticed the metadata.

The footage hadn’t been logged by any member of the squad. No access credentials matched. The system had recorded it autonomously, timestamped, cataloged, and labeled with every squad member’s ID and biometric data.

Someone, or something, had been observing them.

Her pulse quickened. She navigated deeper into the archives, bypassing firewalls that had lain dormant for years. That was when she found the final file. Its name made her hands shake.

[DIVISION ENHANCEMENT PROGRAM: TAINTED BLOOD.]

Opening it felt like peeling back the last layer of humanity left in the world.

The document was incomplete, its data corrupted, but one paragraph stood clear in bold type.

"Selected Division units are to undergo genetic modification to enhance combat endurance, resilience, and sensory perception. Subject blood to be fused with genetic sequences from apex predators."

She scrolled further, her eyes catching names in the data tables: Canis lupus, Panthera tigris, Falco peregrinus. Wolves. Tigers. Falcons.

Beneath them was the signature of the project head.

Ahce’s heart nearly stopped.

The signature was real. Authoritative. Familiar.

It belonged to someone within The Division itself. Someone powerful enough to turn soldiers into monsters. And perhaps, someone who already had Richard in their hands.