The ride to Hilberger Technologies was quiet, but not the kind that settles. Not after the hospital. Not after Desmond’s voice, shaking, whispering that the creature spoke, that it exuded the Dark. Jared replayed it, each memory scraping away his calm, leaving him raw.

The Dark had tasted the boy’s fear, electric and sharp. It still moved under Jared’s ribs, restless, whispering in small pulses. It wanted more. Wanted to see the thing that had looked at Desmond the way Jared did.

Was he a monster? Tentacles wrapping around the man's head, and the quiet crushing sound. Then nothing but the hollowed-out skull.

Adrian drove in silence, knuckles white on the wheel. His jaw worked, clenching and unclenching. Jared knew that rhythm. Adrian’s way when faced with something he couldn’t stitch or set right.

“You’re doing it again,” Jared murmured.

Adrian didn’t look away from the road. “What?”

“Grinding your teeth.”

Adrian exhaled, long and deliberate. “Sorry.”

“Don’t be. Just don’t break your jaw doing it.”

Adrian snorted under his breath, but the tension didn’t ease from his shoulders.

“Do you mind?” Adrian asked as he pulled the black pack of cigarettes from his pocket. Same brand he’d been smoking years ago.  

“It’s fine,” Jared said. “But those aren’t good for you.”

Adrian barked out a single laugh. “Nope. Not even a little.”

He flipped a cigarette from the box and tucked it back into his pocket. Then pulled out the lighter and lit the cigarette with practiced ease. A long drag. The smell of cloves billowed into the car, bringing back memories of late nights and long drives. Adrian put down the window.

“Never seem to be able to fully let it go,” he said.

Jared nodded, thinking of all of his own vices. Having a cigarette every few weeks was way better than most of his, so he wasn’t going to say much more about it.

“So,” Adrian said, voice low, “Desmond said it communicated.”

Jared stared out the window. Gray buildings drifted by like tired giants hunched in the winter light. “Yeah.”

The Dark rippled inside him at the memory of Desmond’s words. It looked at me like you do.

It shouldn’t mean anything. The boy was traumatized and confused. But the Dark had reacted sharply, almost indignantly. Recognition. Or something worse.

Adrian pulled into the visitor lot. Hilberger Technologies rose ahead. Glass and steel, five stories, hedges trimmed to the inch, cameras watching. Too clean. Too perfect. A place built to hide its sins beneath the shine.

Jared opened the door. Cold air slapped his face. Adrian came around the hood, standing close.

“Before we go in,” Adrian said quietly, “I need to know where your head is.”

Jared hesitated. Lying would do nothing. “I’m… aware.”

“Of the Dark?”

“Of everything.”

Adrian studied him for a moment, eyes searching. “If it gets bad, I need you to tell me.”

“I won’t let it.”

“That’s not what I asked.”

Jared sighed. “Then what did you ask?”

Adrian stepped closer, voice barely above a whisper. “Are you still you right now?”

The Dark stretched, a slow, deliberate sprawl under Jared’s ribs. He kept his expression neutral. “Yes.”

Was he? What does that question even mean anymore? Jared felt for the edges of the Dark inside him and was all too aware that there was no clean line between where it ended and he began. Maybe he was the Dark.

Adrian nodded once, accepting the answer but not relaxing. “Okay. Then let’s do this.”

They crossed the parking lot and approached the main entrance. An automated voice greeted them as they stepped through the glass doors.

“Welcome to Hilberger Technologies. Please check in at the front desk.” The voice was a cheerful, sterile AI.

The lobby was all cold marble and steel. Abstract art, expensive and empty. The receptionist behind the curved desk sat straight-backed, her smile thin and practiced.

“Good morning,” she said. “How can I help you?” 

Adrian flashed their IDs. “Adrian Korr and Jared Blake. We have an appointment with Dr. Arthur Fulbert.”

Her smile faltered, just for a moment. Tension. Fear. Most would miss it.

Jared did.

One of the Dark's whispers slid through his mind, sleek and observant: She knows something.

The receptionist typed something into her computer. “Yes, of course. Dr. Fulbert is expecting you. You can take the elevator to the fourth floor. It’s the only stop accessible with your clearance.”

Jared narrowed his eyes. Clearance-only floors. Biotech. Noted.

They headed toward the elevator. As the doors slid shut, Adrian murmured, “Did you see her?”

“Yes.” Jared nodded.

“She looked like she was about to throw up,” Adrian said.

“Or run,” Jared said.

Adrian sighed. “Great. That’s always comforting.”

The elevator opened. Glass walls, labs beyond, machines humming behind sealed doors. People in lab coats drifted past, ghostlike, faces tight, movements sharp with anxiety.

Dr. Arthur Fulbert met them in the corridor. Late fifties, balding, glasses low on his nose. His lab coat was spotless. His smile strained, hands restless with a pen.

“Agents,” he said nervously. “Welcome. I apologize for the circumstances.”

“Let’s cut to it,” Jared said. “We need information about your research. Specifically, anything involving chimeric organisms, reptilian DNA, or experimental behavioral conditioning.”

Adrian sighed.

Fulbert's eyes darted between them like a cornered animal’s.

Adrian stepped forward with a polite but firm tone. “We’re not here to shut down your lab. We need to understand what we’re dealing with.”

Fulbert swallowed hard. His pulse fluttered visibly at his neck. “I didn’t think it would go this far.”

Jared’s skin prickled.

“What exactly did you think would happen?” Jared asked.

Fulbert’s composure cracked. “Come with me. I’ll show you.”

He led them down the hallway to a reinforced door with a biohazard symbol etched into the metal. Fulbert pressed his badge to the reader; a mechanical thud echoed as locks disengaged.

Inside was a smaller corridor leading to a large observation room. Thick glass separated them from a chamber beyond.

Jared stepped forward. The Dark reared up inside him, a predator waking.

Four growth tubes lined the room beyond the glass. Three were shattered. Glass shards littered the floor, wires dangling like torn veins. The fourth remained intact; inside, a reptilian creature roughly the size of a large dog floated in pale blue fluid. Its scales shimmered faintly, shifting in unnatural patterns.

But that wasn’t what made the Dark stir.

Something pulsed around the creature. Shadow flickered across its claws, quick as sparks.

Jared’s breath caught.

Adrian whispered, “What the hell are we looking at?”

Fulbert wrung his hands. “We were developing enhanced biological trackers. Creatures designed to follow scent signatures and locate missing persons. They weren’t meant to be sentient. They weren’t meant to be...” He broke off, wiping sweat from his brow. “Two weeks ago, after the surge, something changed.”

Jared stepped closer to the glass. “Changed how?”

“Their neural activity spiked. All of them, at once. Brain patterns we’ve never observed. They became coordinated. Intelligent.” His voice cracked. “And then they broke out.”

Adrian exhaled sharply. “You knew they escaped, and you didn’t alert law enforcement?”

“We thought...” Fulbert stammered. “We thought we could contain them. Track them. But they started destroying the tracking implants. They were learning faster than we could adapt.”

Jared turned slowly. “You lied to your entire staff. You lied to the government. And people are dead because of it.”

Fulbert flinched. “Please understand. I was afraid of losing my life’s work.”

Adrian’s voice sharpened. “Lives matter more than your research.”

Fulbert backed away, shaking. “I know. I know. And I’m sorry. But if you understand what happened here, maybe you can stop them.”

Jared’s gaze returned to the creature. Its eyes closed. Pressure built in the air, a faint static crawling over his skin.

The Dark whispered: It hears us.

Jared’s pulse spiked. “Why is this one still here?”

Fulbert hesitated. “Because it never fully developed. It’s dormant. It wasn’t strong enough to break out. But it shows the contamination better than the others.”

Jared frowned. “Contamination?”

Fulbert nodded. “Dark or something like it. It appeared in their systems overnight. We don’t know how. We don’t know why.”

The Dark surged, hungry.

Jared stepped closer to the glass. The creature inside twitched, ever so slightly.

Its eyes opened.

A slit pupil stared back at Jared.

For a moment, everything went silent. The sterile hum of machinery. The faint buzz of fluorescent lights. Even the Dark stilled.

Adrian whispered, “Jared. Don’t.”

But the moment was already breaking.

The creature moved.

The growth tube cracked.

Fulbert let out a strangled cry. “No, it shouldn’t be able to...”

The glass shattered outward with violent force.

Jared shoved Adrian down. Glass sliced the air above. Alarms screamed. Fluid spilled, glass crunching underfoot. The creature writhed free, shaking off what held it.

Sleek, reptilian body. Limbs too long, claws curved and sharp. It moved with purpose. Intelligent.

It locked eyes on Jared.

Jared’s vision narrowed. The Dark surged, tasting the creature’s energy. Tainted. Familiar, but wrong.

The creature lunged.

Jared met it halfway.

They collided with brutal force, crashing into a steel console. Jared gripped its forelimbs, muscles straining. The creature snapped at his face, jaws lined with serrated teeth.

Adrian yelled something, but Jared couldn’t hear. The Dark roared inside his skull, urging him forward, urging him to tear, to bite, to kill.

Restraint slipped. The Dark crept up his spine, smoke made of hunger and instinct.

The creature raked its claws across his shoulder. Pain flared, sharp and distant. He slammed its head into the console. It hissed, twisting with unnatural agility.

The Dark flowed up and out, eager and wild. Take it. Break it. Make it kneel.

Jared gritted his teeth. “Shut up.”

The creature lunged again.

Adrian’s voice cut through the fog. Sharp, desperate. “Jared!”

The Dark recoiled at Adrian’s voice, shuddering.

The creature seized Jared’s hesitation and slashed at him again. He dodged, barely. Adrian pulled out his air dart gun and quickly loaded it with a sleep injection.

“Jared, move!”

Jared threw himself sideways as Adrian fired. The dart embedded itself in the creature’s neck. It shrieked, thrashing violently, crashing against cabinets, smashing equipment. Its claws carved deep gashes in the floor.

Jared forced himself up. Chest heaving.

The tranquilizer took hold slowly. The creature staggered, snarling, but its movements grew sluggish. Its head sagged. Its limbs trembled. Finally, with a shuddering exhale, it collapsed.

Silence flooded the room. Only the alarms wailed.

Fulbert was pressed against the wall, trembling. “You have to catch the others. Please. They’re so much worse.”

Jared stepped toward him, wiping blood from his arm. “We will.”

“That wasn’t even a fully-developed one,” Fulbert whispered. “The others… they think. They strategize. They’re hunting together.”

Jared went still.

Adrian turned to Fulbert. “Where are they now?”

Fulbert’s eyes flicked to the door. “I tried to track them. They destroyed the implants. But I...” He stopped abruptly.

Jared narrowed his gaze. “But what?”

Fulbert swallowed. “I created a backup device. One that monitors their biosignatures remotely. I can still locate them. But if the government finds out...”

“You’re worried about your career?” Jared snapped. “People are dead.”

Fulbert backed away another step. “You don’t understand. If anyone sees the data...”

A faint beep came from Fulbert’s pocket.

Adrian’s eyes widened. “You brought the tracker with you?”

But Fulbert wasn’t listening. His expression twisted. Fear and resolve warring on his face.

Then he bolted.

“Fulbert!” Adrian shouted.

Jared lunged, but Fulbert slammed a security panel as he ran. Heavy blast doors slid down between them with a hiss of hydraulics.

Adrian and Jared skidded to a stop inches from the sealed barrier.

Adrian cursed. “He’s running. He’s actually running.”

Jared pressed his palm to the cold metal. He knows. If he stays, everything comes out.

“Or he’s trying to fix it himself,” Adrian said bitterly. “God knows that always ends well.”

Jared stepped back. The Dark coiled, restless, urging him forward. Chase. Hunt.

Adrian put a steadying hand on his arm. “Hey. Stay with me.”

Jared closed his eyes, breathing slowly. “I’m with you.”

Alarms blared overhead. Red lights flashed, painting the lab in frantic color.

Adrian exhaled shakily. “Well. That went well.”

Jared huffed a humorless laugh. “Which part?”

“All of it.”

Jared looked at the unconscious creature sprawled on the floor. “We have to find the others before Fulbert does.”

Adrian nodded. “And before the creatures find someone else.”

Jared touched the glass shards on the floor. His fingers found the smear of something the creature left behind. The Dark pulsed once. Heavy, deliberate. They are not alone. And neither was he. A shiver ran through him.

Adrian didn’t notice the moment of stillness, but the Dark did.

“You take care of this,” Jared said, standing and gesturing to the creature on the floor.

Adrian nodded and knelt down next to the creature. He started looking through his medical kit. Jared turned from him and placed his hands on the door. He let his cyber link search through the layers of security data that scrolled past his eyes. He found the lines of code that he needed and pushed himself into the program, gaining access and getting control of the door. The lock disengaged, and the door slid back up. The alarms silenced.

Jared looked over his shoulder and saw that Adrian was closing his kit. He’d used a scapel to cut something in its neck. The creature’s eyes were glassy, and it was no longer breathing.

“Let’s go. Before he gets too far,” Jared said.

Adrian grabbed his medical bag. “Right behind you.”

They sprinted back toward the elevator.

Fulbert had unleashed something unnatural, biological monsters touched by the Dark, thinking like predators, hunting like a pack.

And Jared wasn’t sure what frightened him more: The creatures themselves… or the Dark’s reaction to them.