Page 64 of Stripe Theory

“Dr. Sky!” Her tablet blared with Hunter’s voice. “Maya’s crashing. Her system is rejecting?—”

The lead operative had recovered. His enhanced speed got him past her defenses. Pain surged through her already injuredshoulder as he slammed her into the lab bench. Equipment crashed around them.

Thirty seconds.

“The virus is killing her!” Alora choked out as his grip tightened. “It’s killing all of you. Leeta’s ‘evolution’ is just accelerated cellular breakdown. Look at your own readings!”

Something flickered in his enhanced eyes - doubt warring with viral corruption. His grip loosened fractionally.

She didn’t waste the opening.

Training with a shifter best friend had taught her a lot about leverage. She twisted, using his own strength against him. They crashed into the emergency shower station. Cold water drenched them both as she broke free.

Twenty seconds.

But he wouldn’t reach her in time.

The cure was almost complete. She could see the solution stabilizing, taking on the faint luminescence that indicated success. Everything they’d worked for, everything they needed to save Maya, Sierra, and countless others...

“Last chance,” she offered, noting how the enhanced operatives’ movements were becoming more erratic. The virus was burning through them faster now that their bodies were under stress. “Let me help you.”

“Leeta warned us you’d try to stop evolution,” the female operative growled. “That humans would always fear superior beings.”

“Oh please.” Alora’s hand found her last defense. “I grew up with two older sisters. Superior beings don’t scare me.”

Ten seconds.

She triggered her final protocol.

Every emergency system in the lab activated simultaneously. Sprinklers, ventilation, chemical showers - all deploying compounds specifically calibrated to counteract enhancedabilities. The operatives’ mutated senses were overloaded as conflicting stimuli bombarded them from every direction.

Five seconds.

Alora lunged for the cure synthesis chamber. Her injured shoulder screamed as she reached for the stabilized compound.

Three seconds.

An enhanced hand caught her ankle, yanking her back.

One second.

The lab’s containment alarms shrieked as multiple systems began catastrophic failure.

Zero.

The cure stabilized as she kicked the operative holding her foot. His enhanced features were deteriorating, the virus’s accelerated evolution turning on itself. Behind him, his teammates collapsed as their mutations reached critical failure.

Alora met his viral-corrupted gaze. “I’m sorry,” she whispered. “But this is what real evolution looks like.”

She grabbed one of the six tubes containing the cure and triggered the final compound release.

The cure compound vaporized, filling the lab with a fine mist. The enhanced operatives’ mutations began reversing as the carefully engineered solution attacked the virus’s core structure.

Rehan finally reached the lab’s command center. From there, he could see the status of the building. Hopefully, it would be secured quickly.

Rehan,adjust the vent system to extract the air from my lab and pipe it into the medical lab. It should reach Sierra and Maya quickly.

On it.

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