Hearing Andre's anguished cry to shut down the project, Victor woke up to the situation at hand.

Looking towards the particle accelerator he saw black lightning flashing every now and then around the unknown substance from the meteorite.

''What the hell is that? Black lightning? So unscientific.'' Victor muttered with disbelief in his voice and gritted his teeth to keep a sober mind.

Andre was desperately trying to keep consciousness and after a brief struggle he managed to speak his mind.

''Vic... I Think it is drawing power from the entire facility... You have to manually remove it from the pedestal... The amount of electricity that is flowing through is enough to blow this place up...Regardless of what is happening, you have to stop it.''

''Andre, man, try to hold on and don't speak. I know that must be stopped but it seems to shrink so maybe it won't be that big of a deal.'' Victor spoke with some uncertainty in his voice.

Hearing Victor, the half alive, half dead Andre widened his eyes.

''Vic, there is a chance that high amounts of electricity makes it denser and more unstable. It could lead up to the creation of a micro black hole. I know I have no right to ask this of you, but it's likely going to be one way trip.''

Nodding heavily, Victor shed a tear from his right eye. ''Yeah I know bro, take care of yourself. I got this...Just hang in there, ol' Vic has this in the bag.''

Dragging his damaged body across the broken hallway filled with blood, debris and broken glass, Victor was nearing the safety door.

Trying to open the door, he found that of course all electronics were fried and did not work as intended.

''What horse crap... Safety door does not open and the platform is exposed from the sides. This is literally like having a super high tech door with old wooden fences surrounding it posted with a note: Please do not jump the fence and only use the door, Authorized personnel only.''

Limping to the broken glass, Victor vaulted himself over the ledge to the foot of the platform.

Just before he started to climb, he pulled out his cellphone and opened a voice recorder app.

''If you are hearing this, I am dead. Yeah I am sorry that I could not be there with you longer... The experiment went rogue, and I have to do what I have to do... There is not much time so if anyone is hearing this, please inform my family that I love them.'' Speaking loudly into the phone Victor left his heartfelt goodbyes and threw the phone into safe distance from the tube.

Enduring pain and fighting against blood loss, Victor started to climb to the platform.

Gritting his teeth and with extraordinary willpower he reached where the pedestal was located after some effort.

''Now just hopefully that black lightning doesn't strike me and I have saved the day... Maybe in the next life I could start as something like florist or shopkeeper for stupid shit. Peace and quiet environment sounds like heaven right now.''

Reaching with shaky hands towards the meteorite, he took a deep breath and resolved himself to separate the object from the pedestal at any price.

Victor grabbed the meteorite with both of his hands and pulled as hard as he could.

It was almost like the meteorite was sentient and a streak of black light struck Victor at the same moment his hands touched it.

Charred and dying, Victor had managed to separate the meteorite from the pedestal. Falling backwards to the ground with the object in hand, he knew that he had succeeded.

''Hahahah. This is it. Good bye friends, I will see you soon...'' Closing his eyes waiting for the inevitable, he had already lost all of his sense of pain and feel.

Black streaks of lightning struck him like it was the punishment for touching something that should not be touched.

Just as he was losing consciousness, he opened his eyes slightly and saw that the meteorite was rapidly shrinking.

''No no no no fucking no. Please don't be a black hole.'' He thought in desperation and felt himself sucked into the meteorite.

The surrounding lightning faded like it was a dream and there was no thud: Nothing hit the ground and everything was serene in the underground complex.

The lights went out, everything was pitch black. Only a few minutes after the serenity, the emergency lights switched on and an elevator started to work.

Loud ''Plim'' sound echoed through the vast complex, and the doors opened revealing multiple security personnel and two men in suits.

Seeing the situation before them, everyone was quiet for a moment until one of the suits broke the silence by barfing loudly on the side.

Wiping his mouth on the handkerchief he finally spoke out.

''What in god's name happened here... Check for survivors. I want to know everything that went down here in 10 minutes... We have a massive publicity crisis in our hands. Move out people.''

Waking up from his memories, Victor gently opened his black tome and glanced at the previous text he wrote. Ah no, this won't do at all. Who would read a book where the early boss is introduced as a drug induced bear... Maybe it's easier to just continue tomorrow...

Shaking his head in depression, he put the tome on the side and focused his attention on piping hot cup of tea.

Now this is life. I can't believe I wasted all those years in higher education just to find happiness being a simple shopkeeper.

Watching the vapor from the tea rise, hearing the crackling of the fireplace mixed with the sound that rain makes outside, Victor felt at peace.

No more tight deadlines, stress from the upper brass breathing down his neck nor inhuman working hours.

Still...I kinda miss my foster parents. It tends to be quite lonely sometimes. Maybe I should get a gaming console that was heavily marketed. If business is good that is.

Continuing his tranquil tea moment, Victor remained oblivious how chaotic the rain covered streets of Runa would be tonight. After this cup I think it's time to turn in for the night. Let's hope tomorrow will be a better day for business!

''I do wonder where your boss is? I have something that I would like to return to him'' Rob cackled to an unknown man lying in a pool of blood.

''You won't be so smug when he gets his hands on you. Nobody steals from him and parade victoriously on the streets without consequences.''

''Oh I am not planning to parade on the streets. Now tell me where he is. We can do this the easy way or the hard way.'' Rob grabbed the man by the arm and twisted his fingers to an unnatural angle.

''Not a talker, huh? I guess we will do this the hard way then...'' Grasping his new ''walking aid'', Rob channeled his mana into the staff.

Emanating a green glow, the staff started to produce mist that seeped through the pores in the defeated lackey's arm.

''You have 30 seconds to answer my question before your insides start to liquefy into paste. Time is already ticking.''

Trying to maintain his defiant attitude in the face of death crumbled after only a few seconds. ''Wait! Wait a second! I will tell you, please dispel it and I will tell all I know.''

Waving his new staff lightly, Rob spoke with a freezing tone. ''Start talking. You have 3 minutes.''

Hearing Rob's answer, the man's complexion improved instantly as he felt the small stinging subside under his skin.

''The boss is waiting for the news of your capture in a warehouse by the docks. Address is 57 Vitrial av. Large red building with shipping containers. Now please let me go, I will disappear from Runa after this night and you will never hear from me again.''

''57th... I should have guessed it was around there. And yes, you are free to go.'' Rob rubbed his scruffy beard while contemplating.

Hearing Rob's answer, the unknown man looked visibly relieved and got on his feet to escape.

''Thanks for keeping your word, I won't forget this.'' He said to Rob and started to run towards the narrow alleyways.

Seeing that the man was out of his sight, Rob chuckled for a second. ''Yes...I promised you 3 minutes and you were free to go...And I am a man of my word.'' Pulling out a clock from his pocket, he looked at the clock hand ticking slowly.

Finally Rob saw that the promised time was about to be up, he turned his back to the small alleyway the man escaped and set out for the harbor area.

Light clacking sound echoed in the rain rhythmically until the sound was covered by blood gurgled howl of terror from behind him.

''And I guess you are a man of your word too... I will never see or hear you again.''