Eros pushed the gurney towards Lab 3, the squeaking of the wheels reverberating throughout the hallway. B-15 thrashed about on the gurney, his restraints holding him in place, and his cries muffled by the gag in his mouth.

Ana was up ahead, reaching the vault door to the lab first. She swiped her ID card into the card reader. The vault door whined as it retracted itself into the wall, then slid to the right, revealing the lab inside.

Eros wheel B-15 into the lab and the vault door behind them closed. The walls, floor, and ceiling inside the lab were covered by layers of glossy white panels. A tinted black window covered the length of the far back wall. The air was dry inside the lab and there was a faint buzzing noise coming from the lights above. A person, wearing a white hazmat suit, stood in the center of the room. Their head down, staring at the tablet held in their hands. Surrounding them was a medical bed, a computer monitor, and a desk.

Eros and Ana approached the individual, pushing the gurney with them. As they got closer the researcher looked up from their tablet and stepped forward. Eros’ eyes drifted to the metallic rectangular name tag clipped to their suit, ‘Dr.Grey’.

“Ah, thank you Eros and Ana. Now if you-”, Dr.Grey stopped himself as leaned in and examined B-15, ”What happened to his head?”

“He wasn’t cooperating, so I had to use a little bit of force to get him into the gurney.” Eros responded.

“Oh, a shame. Hopefully it shouldn’t interfere with the experiment. Who knows, he could get a healing factor and the wound will heal.” Dr.Grey said. From the top drawer of the desk next to him, Dr.Grey pulled out two syringes. The first was filled with a clear fluid, Eros recognized this as a cocktail consisting of nanites and a tranquilizer. The second was an Elixir, of what type Eros had no clue. The Elixir was filled with a crimson fluid, gold and silver specks drifting through deep red. With the Elixir containing mutagen from both the Father and Mother, Eros knew that there was a high chase end very badly.

B-15 thrashed in his restraints, jerking away from Dr.Grey each time Dr.Grey tried to inject him with the nanite-tranquilizer syringe. Eros reached down and grabbed B-15’s right arm. Holding it in place while Dr.Grey injected B-15.

B-15’s fit slowed and the fight in him faded. He tried to fight it, keeping his eyelids open as he stared at the bright lights above. But eventually the drugs won and he drifted off to sleep.

“Now if you could move him on to the medical bed I can begin the next phase,” Dr.Grey tapped the medical bed next to him.

Eros and Ana released B-15 from the restraints that bound him to the gurney. They then lifted him up and moved him onto the medical bed.

“Thank you, now comes the fun part,” Dr.Grey said as he injected the second syringe into B-15’s arm.

Immediately the skin around the injection site began to pulse and ripple. Darkening to a reddish color. The phenomenon began to spread up his arm and then to the rest of his body. The muscles underneath his skin began to worm around. Bones popped and cracked as the Elixir began the process of remaking his body. Luckily he was unconscious, with the drug concoction dulled most of his pain. Eros’ mind drifted back in time to when the project had just begun. The prisoners back then were not administered a tranquilizer, their screams still haunted his dreams till this day.

“Now all we have to do is wait for the process to finish, “ Dr.Grey said as he turned around and walked towards the tinted black window covering the back wall. “Gerald, open the door to the observation room.” A panel on the wall opened upon Dr.Grey’s command, revealing a flight of stairs leading upwards.

Eros and Ana followed, going up the flight of stairs just behind the doctor. At the top they entered the observation room. At the front of the room was the glass window overlooking the lab below. Looking out the window, Eros could see that B-15’s transformation had been completed or at least settled down and was nearing completion. He still looked human so the process had been at least a partial success. At the back of the room, there were two people seated behind computers, Dr.Grey’s assistants.

“Kia, how’s his condition,” Dr.Grey asked one of the assistants.

“The Elixir has successfully bonded to the host. The nanites are assisting in stabilizing the mutation process. Everything is green,” Kai responded.

“Okay, now wake him up,” Dr.Grey Commanded.

Eros kept his eyes trained on B-15, the previous signs of mutation the Elixir had caused had disappeared. In the background he could hear the clicking of keys as the technicians entered commands into their computers. The final key was clicked and an electric current shocked B-15 to consciousness.

B-15 setup straight on the medical bed, then put his shaky legs on the ground. He stood up and then promptly fell onto his hands and knees. His flesh began to ripple, then muscles like wires burst from his flesh. He screamed as his blood splattered across the ground. The muscle fibers lashed out into the air and ground, their ends tipped with bone white knives, leaving scars on the ground of the lab.

“What’s happening to him?” Ana whispered next to him.

“They’ve instructed his nanites to forcefully activate his mutations. This will make it easier for his conscious mind to activate the mutation again or so I’ve been told,“ Eros responded.

“Excellent,” Dr.Grey said, rubbing his hands together with a wide smile. “Now release the-” The high alert alarms began to blared through the room. “Dammit it. It was just getting to the good part.”

“All guards report to the Security Sector and equip your riot gear, there has been a massive breakout of prisoners. I repeat, all guards report to the Security Sector and equip your riot gear, there has been a massive breakout of prisoners.” A voice on the loudspeakers announced.

“Okay, well the show is over.” Dr.Grey said with slumped shoulders, his smile gone. “Gerald, Just put the lab in lock down mode. We don’t want the subject breaking out”

“We’ll see you when we get back, Dr.Grey.” Eros and Ana turned around, walked out the back exit.