CHAPTER 6 – THERALUX

Inside the Theralux building, two hours earlier

Fshhhhhh...

The rain pounded relentlessly against the dark glass windows, as if the sky were trying to warn, with each drop, that something was about to break. Moscow was a city asleep under storm clouds. But in the heart of the tech district, a colossus of steel and glass rose like a monument to progress... or something much murkier.​

Theralux.

Its reflective facade captured the flashes of a city that still didn't know it was on the brink of the abyss. At the top, the corporation's white logo shone arrogantly, defying the weather with an almost celestial glow.​

"THERALUX — Beyond medicine, we build the future."

A motto that, seen from the inside, no longer sounded so reassuring.​

Click... click...

Anya walked down a corridor on the 24th floor. Each of her steps echoed on the metallic floor with surgical precision. She wore her white lab coat, her hair carelessly tied back, and in her amber eyes—usually serene—there was a subtle tension, impossible to ignore.​

Beside her, two escorts in dark suits walked silently.​

The tablet Anya held vibrated slightly. She slid her finger across the screen, scanning DNA data, protein chains, alphanumeric codes. Nothing seemed out of place. But her intuition, always sharp, was starting to scream otherwise.​

"Outside, the city wondered what was happening...

Inside, the answers were slowly descending in an elevator toward hell."

One of the escorts stopped. In front of them, a reinforced wooden door with the inscription: RESTRICTED ACCESS.​

The guard extended a hand.​

"​The tablet, please."​

Anya raised an eyebrow. She hesitated for a second. Then, without taking her eyes off the guard, she handed over the device. The escort placed it on a black glass surface, which absorbed it with a slight blue glow.​

Further ahead, some metal doors opened with a soft hydraulic sound.​

Anya recognized the elevator. Or rather... what seemed to be one. It had no buttons. Only a biometric reader with a faint white glow. Armored. Silent.​

One of the escorts placed his thumb on the panel.​

Beep.

Destination: -5

Anya narrowed her eyes.​

"​Basement five? What kind of place is this...?"​

The elevator descended in complete silence. Only the subtle hum of the motors accompanied its descent into the unknown.​

"From the 24th floor to -5, there's only silence...

...and falling gravity."

No one spoke. No one moved.​

When the doors opened, the scene changed abruptly.​

The white light disappeared.​

The polished metal gave way to gray, rough concrete, cracked by moisture. The neon lamps flickered intermittently. The corridor looked more like an abandoned prison than a laboratory.​

Anya frowned. She stepped out of the elevator.​

"​Aren't you coming?" she thought, without looking back. "​You're going to miss the party..."​

The doors began to close. The escorts didn't move.​

Anya sighed.​

"​Great. I guess not," she murmured, now alone in the corridor.​

She advanced decisively, though her senses were alert. Her boots echoed on the floor, marking each step as if measuring the danger. The signs hung crooked, rusted. There were no screens or sensors. Only darkness, concrete... and secrets.​

What shone above as the pinnacle of science,​

down here reeked of something hidden and ancient.​

It wasn't a laboratory.​

It was a warning with walls.

Vladimir Karpov's Office

The door at the end of the corridor stood like a metallic wall—reinforced, featureless. No nameplate. Only a biometric scanner and two motionless guards, their expressions as cold as the steel surrounding them.

Beep.

A green light blinked. Then, a voice.

—Come in, Anya.

She swallowed hard. Stepped through the door, frown slightly tightened, trying to keep her composure.

Inside… was another world.

A spacious, modern office. Walls painted in a sleek, somber gray. Dim, calculated lighting. A desk of dark polished wood, cluttered with documents and screens projecting real-time data and graphs.

And behind that desk… him.

Vladimir Karpov.

Imposing. Upright posture. Dark suit perfectly fitted beneath a lab coat. Short beard. Sharp gaze. His presence filled the room before he even spoke.

—I’ve been expecting you —he said in a deep voice.

Anya didn’t reply immediately. Her stance remained firm, but her eyes scanned the room, as if searching for an invisible exit.

Vladimir raised a hand slightly.

—Leave us.

The guards nodded and exited the room without a word.

Click.

The door sealed shut.

The silence that remained wasn’t comfortable.
It breathed slow… like a lurking threat.

Anya approached with measured steps. Sat down across from him, legs crossed, never breaking eye contact.

—What is this place? And why am I here? —she asked bluntly.

Vladimir tilted his head, as if he’d been waiting precisely for that question.

—Good. —His tone was soft, but each word felt surgically calculated— This, Anya, is a special facility. Not everyone at Theralux knows it exists. Only those who operate at… a different level of truth.

She didn’t respond.

—We’ve been working on something for years. Something beyond medicine. Beyond what the world is ready to accept. But you, Anya... you might be capable of understanding it. That’s why you’re here.

A pause.

—Theralux —he continued— has been developing a secret program. With Kremlin support. Something that ensures scientific... and military supremacy.

Anya’s eyes narrowed.

—Military?

—Did you really think your work served no ulterior purpose?

Silence.

Her mind raced. Pieces began to fit… and collapse.

Vladimir stood. Walked to the back wall. A translucent panel of frosted glass. No exterior view. No apparent function.

—Come —he said neutrally—. I want to show you something.

Anya hesitated. But her feet moved before her fear did.

Vladimir placed his hand on a reader.

Click.

The glass turned transparent.

And behind it…

A laboratory. A vast chamber, bathed in cold light, filled with impossible machines, cables hanging like roots. Two scientists worked frantically. At the center, a metallic table. And on it… a creature.

An abomination.

Three meters tall. Skin black as hardened coal. Enormous claws. A head warped by bony protrusions. A thick, powerful tail. And on its back… two pulsing masses, as if something were trying to burst out.

Bioluminescent violet veins coursed across its body like circuits on fire.

Anya froze.

Her breath trembled on her lips.

Her logic, her experience, her science… collapsed before what she was seeing.

That wasn’t human.

Nor animal.

Nor natural.

And it was alive.

—W-what… the hell is that? —she whispered at last. Her voice sliced through the office like a scalpel.

Vladimir, beside her, kept his gaze fixed on the creature.

He didn’t blink. He didn’t flinch.

—It’s the future, Anya —he murmured, voice deep, almost reverent—. The next step. Our pinnacle.

An invisible tremor passed through the room.
The air grew dense, as if the atmosphere itself refused to accept that vision.

The creature’s violet bioluminescence flickered—like a heartbeat… like a warning.

—Don’t be afraid —added Vladimir, with a calm that now sounded fake—. Everything’s under control. There’s nothing to fear.

But Anya wasn’t listening anymore.

The creature’s eyes…

They were looking at her.

Closed. Sedated. But alive.

And they knew.

BZZZZT.

A panel inside the testing chamber beeped.

The monster’s body twitched.

A spasm. Then another.

Its claws slammed against the metal table.

CLANG!

The crash made the viewing glass tremble.

—What’s happening?! —shouted one of the scientists, rushing to a console. His hands shook as he typed frantically—. The levels are out of control!

The second technician didn’t move.

Frozen.

Jaw clenched. Legs locked.

Fear had turned him into stone.

Anya took a step back.

—Why… why is it moving?

—Calm down —Vladimir replied, though his tone had shifted—. It’s... under control.

A drop of sweat rolled down his temple.

Lies.

Grrrrrhhhh...

A growl rose from the monster.

Slow. Deep.

Organic.

The sound of a breathing abyss.

The violet veins lit up all at once, like a sick, possessed Christmas tree.

—Inhibitors! Now! —yelled the tech who still had some will left.

The other, trembling, filled a syringe with a glowing blue fluid. He stepped toward the creature, swallowing hard, pulse erratic.

CHAK.

The needle pierced the base of its neck.

A second of silence.

Then… calm.

The creature exhaled sharply.

Fwoooooh...

The spasms faded.

The glowing veins dimmed.

Its muscles relaxed.

For a moment, it seemed like everything was back under control.

But no.

Anya couldn’t look away.

Something in her gut screamed it wasn’t over yet.

And then…

CLANK.

One cable.

CLANK.

Another.

CRRRRSHHHH!

The restraints began to snap, one by one.

The creature was rising.

The alarms exploded.

WEEE-OOOH! WEEE-OOOH!

—No… no… no! —cried the technician—. IT’S NOT WORKING!!

Red lights flooded the testing chamber.

Screens spewed cascading error codes.

ERROR. ERROR. SYSTEM BREACH.

The creature rose on its hind legs.

THUMP.
THUMP.

The ground quaked with each step.

The shattered restraints dangled from its limbs like grotesque ornaments.

And then…

RAAARGHHHH!

It lunged.

The first scientist tried to run.
Slipped.
Fell.

SKRRRT!

CRACK!

The monster’s claws tore through his chest like hot knives through butter.

—Aaaaaaaaagh! —he screamed, but that was all he managed.

The creature ripped off his protective mask in a single swipe.

Its jaws opened like a trap.

And it bit.

CRUNCH.

The skull split in two.

A spray of blood splattered across the viewing glass.

Anya screamed.

A sharp, raw cry.

—NO!

A cold sweat mixed with nausea coursed through her body.

The second scientist, crawling away, tripped over a cable.

FSSHT!

The beast pounced with inhuman brutality.

THWAK!

One swipe split open his abdomen.

His innards spilled onto the floor like a sack of steaming flesh.

SPLAT.

The man didn’t even scream.

The creature raised its paw.

And with a single blow…

CRACK!

…smashed his skull against the floor.

Silence.

Only the trickling of blood sliding down the panels.

Only the beeping alarms.

Only the trembling of a world barely holding together.

From the office, Vladimir clenched his jaw. For the first time… he hesitated.

—…Initiate the security protocol —he muttered, face frozen, bringing his hand to his earpiece.

Anya, pale, body trembling, couldn’t look away. The glass between them was no longer a barrier—it was a window into hell.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The alarms blared.

Red lights pulsed in the room like the heartbeat of an open wound.

Three security guards burst into the lab, assault rifles in hand.

—FIRE! OPEN FIRE NOW!

RATATATATATA—!

Bullets struck their mark.

THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!

But the creature didn’t stop.

Thick, black blood spilled from its body, but it didn’t seem to care.

RAAAAARGH!

It leapt with fury.

SLAAAASH!

A claw soared through the air.

One guard was shredded in an instant: arm ripped off like a toy, throat torn open with a bite.

GHHHRK!!

His scream cut short by a burst of blood.

The second kept firing, his face splattered with gore.

—FALL, DAMN YOU!! —he roared.

And then…

BAM!

The creature rammed him, slammed him against the wall, and skewered him with its claws.

The metal pierced his chest like hot butter.

PLAF!

Then silence.

What they’d tried to control… had become a monster beyond pity. A force of nature—or something worse.

The last guard, soaked in blood and shaking, emptied the rest of his magazine.

RATATATA—CLACK!

The dry click of an empty gun echoed just as the creature let out one last strangled growl.

GRRRRRRHHHH...

It staggered.

Its legs shook.

The violet lights coursing through its body began to flicker.

Once… twice… three times.

And then it collapsed.

THUD!

The crash shook the chamber. The massive body hit the floor with a deep, final thud. Dust, blood, and shards of glass exploded in every direction.

Everything stopped.

From the office, Vladimir kept his eyes fixed on the scene. Unmoving.
But his gaze… his gaze revealed something he hadn’t shown until now.

Concern.

—It’s contained… for now, —he murmured.

The observation glass slowly darkened again, as if the horror had just been sealed behind a pane that could no longer hide the echo of disaster.

Anya was still frozen. Her breathing ragged, pupils dilated. Her entire body trembling.

“The creature had fallen. But the weight of what it represented still hung in the air like a scentless poison.”

—I know this is a lot, Anya. But I need you to understand, —Vladimir said, voice controlled—. What you saw… is only the beginning.

—What the hell just happened?! —she shouted, voice cracking, on the verge of collapse—. This makes no sense!!

But before he could answer, a deafening alarm tore through the silence.

BWEEEOOOOO—BWEEEOOOOO—!

The security system activated across the entire complex.

—Security breach detected, —a robotic voice echoed from the speakers—. Zone 5 compromised.

CHIK CHIK CHIK!

Red lights began to flash. Automatic doors vibrated. The hum of energy coursed through the walls.

Vladimir turned sharply, pressing on his earpiece.

—Get ready! Initiate evacuation protocol! I want a full security perimeter NOW!

Anya stared at him, disbelief in her eyes.

—WHAT IS HAPPENING?! Answer me!

He didn’t.

His face no longer hid the urgency.

He turned to her and, without delay, gave the order:

—Change of plans. We’re leaving. Now.

—I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on! —Anya took a step back, fear igniting like fire in her eyes.

—I don’t have time to explain! —he growled, and in that moment, two guards stormed into the office.

CLACK!

The door swung open.

The men approached without hesitation.

Anya struggled.

—I’m not going with you! DON’T TOUCH ME!!

—Hold her down!

One of the guards pulled out a syringe.

SHHHHT!

The needle pierced her arm with surgical precision.

Anya screamed.

—NOOOO!

But it was too late.

The tranquilizer coursed through her body like a thick veil.

Her legs gave out.

THUMP.

The world spun.

Her vision darkened.

“And just like that, with a forced gasp and her eyes losing focus, Anya collapsed. Her control over her body, over her will… extinguished at the command of someone above.”

Vladimir turned to one of the suited men.

—Get us to the helicopter. Erase all sensitive data. And send EVERY unit after the creature.

His voice was a blade.

—I want that thing… alive.

The rain was pouring down in sheets, a thick curtain blanketing all of Moscow.
Each drop slammed hard against the asphalt, echoing like distant war drums.
Vik, soaked to the bone, stood in front of the towering glass and steel monolith that was Theralux.

The building’s lights flickered through the mist, as if the technological titan itself were gasping for air.
But there was no movement. No sign of life.
Only silence.
And the distant hum of sirens growing louder.

“The building that once symbolized the future… now looked like a monument to desolation. A dead fortress. A trap disguised as progress.”

Vik clutched his head. The sharp pain reminded him of the recent blow,
but that wasn’t what stopped him.
It was a feeling.
A certainty.
That something inside… was terribly, terribly wrong.

—What the hell is going on in there...? —he muttered, more to himself than to the world.

The wind carried leaves, debris, wet dust.
The whole city seemed to be holding its breath.

And then, chaos erupted.

BOOOOM!

An explosion thundered from deep within the complex.
The shockwave made the ground tremble beneath Vik’s feet.
Glass burst from the upper floors and rained down like a storm of blades.

CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!

Shards slammed into the pavement violently.
Vik ducked instinctively, crossing his arms over his head as the boom echoed in his chest like a hammer.

—What the hell was that?!

KRA-BOOOOOM!

Another explosion. Closer. More brutal.
Columns of black smoke surged from the building’s flanks, twisting like sinister spires into the gray sky.

—This isn’t right…

Vik stepped forward.

The air was electric. Charged.
The noise, the heat, the tension—everything screamed for him to run.
But he didn’t back down.

As the city quaked, Vik moved forward. One step closer to the abyss.

BOOOM!

A third detonation rocked the structure.

And then…
from the thick smoke rising off Theralux’s rooftop, something moved.

WHUP-WHUP-WHUP-WHUP...

A black helicopter emerged slowly, slicing through the haze like a winged shadow.
Its blades shredded the air with a mechanical roar, and inside… someone was fleeing.

Vik looked up, shielding his eyes from the rain.

The helicopter pulled away fast, heading for the gray horizon.

—A helicopter...? —he murmured—. What the hell is happening in that building?

KABRAAAAM!

An explosion ripped through the front of the building.
A Theralux truck launched skyward, erupting into a fireball.

The shockwave slammed into Vik like a freight train.

WHUUMPH!

The world flipped.

He was hurled to the ground like a leaf in a storm.

—AAAHHH!! —he cried as he smashed into the asphalt.

THUD!

His body hit the pavement, surrounded by rubble, shattered glass, smoke, and flames.

The rain kept falling.

And then…
through the mist…
a silhouette.

Gigantic.
Distorted.
Lumbering forward like a nightmare come to life.

The face of horror – Vik falls

Vik lay sprawled across the pavement, barely able to move.
Every muscle in his body ached, as if the storm itself had slammed into him.
The metallic taste of blood filled his mouth, and the rain —cold as knives— pelted his face mercilessly.

But that wasn’t what froze him.

It was what he was seeing.

Through the thick smoke and black haze, a colossal silhouette advanced.
Step by step.

CHUFF... CHUFF...

Each footfall made the ground tremble.
Its long, curved claws scraped against the concrete with a screech.

Its eyes... burned like glowing coals.

And its skin —that obsidian-black skin—
tightened with every movement, pulsing with violet veins that throbbed like an exposed heart.

Vik tried to move.
Nothing.

His muscles refused to obey.
His breathing was erratic, almost spasmodic.

—What… what is that creature...? —he thought, voiceless.

The creature stopped.

Its head tilted slightly toward him.

For a single, suffocating moment, their eyes locked.

And Vik felt every ounce of air ripped from his lungs.

Those eyes weren’t just inhuman.
They were ancient.
Ravenous.
Insane.

A crushing presence fell upon him.
Like time itself had frozen.
Like the entire city was being devoured by that single, unblinking gaze.

DRRRRRHHHHHH...

A growl rippled through the air.
Slow. Deep.
Like the dragging of a tombstone being unearthed.

The creature took another step forward.

KRUNNNCH...

Vik tried to lift himself. To scream. To run.
But he couldn’t.

The darkness took him without warning.

His eyes shut.
His body went limp.
His mind... collapsed.

...

“And so, in the middle of the rain, the blood, and the roar of the storm, Vik passed out — overwhelmed by injuries and the brutal impact of the explosion.”