Chapter 152: The Ascension Begins
“Stop!”
My voice echoed across the Ascension Chamber.
Every head in the room turned toward us.
Scientists froze mid-motion.
Technicians stared at their screens in shock.
But Marcus Hale didn’t look surprised.
Not even a little.
If anything… he looked satisfied.
Like he had been expecting this moment all along.
“Well,” Marcus said calmly, stepping away from the control panel. “Right on schedule.”
The machines around the platform hummed louder.
Electric currents pulsed through the glass cylinders lining the walls.
Inside those tanks, pale blue liquid glowed brighter with every second.
The energy in the room felt unnatural.
Unstable.
Alive.
Aidan stepped forward beside me.
“Step away from the girl, Marcus.”
Marcus chuckled softly.
“You always were predictable, Aidan.”
His gaze slowly moved across the group.
Dominic.
Elena.
The others behind us.
Then his eyes returned to me.
“But she’s the one I’ve been waiting for.”
My jaw tightened.
“You’re not touching her.”
Marcus tilted his head slightly.
“You misunderstand.”
He gestured toward the child on the platform.
“I’m not touching her.”
The machines around the girl suddenly surged with power.
“I’m perfecting her.”
\---
Alarms began flashing across the control consoles.
A female scientist rushed toward Marcus.
“Commander Hale, the system is unstable!”
Marcus waved her off casually.
“It will stabilize once the primary catalyst is present.”
My stomach dropped.
Aidan’s voice hardened.
“What catalyst?”
Marcus smiled.
And pointed directly at me.
“Her.”
The realization hit instantly.
“They need my blood,” I whispered.
Dominic’s expression darkened.
“Yes.”
Marcus nodded approvingly.
“Very good.”
He walked slowly toward the center of the platform.
“Your genetic structure is the only successful hybrid template ever created.”
He gestured to the machines surrounding the girl.
“So naturally… we need it.”
Elena scoffed.
“Yeah, that’s not happening.”
Marcus didn’t even glance at her.
He continued speaking to me like we were the only two people in the room.
“You’ve spent years running from what you are.”
The energy in the chamber began to rise.
“You could change everything.”
My hands clenched.
“I’m not helping you hurt people.”
Marcus shook his head.
“You still don’t understand.”
He pointed at the girl again.
“This child volunteered.”
The room went still.
\---
Elena blinked.
“Excuse me?”
Marcus’s voice remained calm.
“She was dying.”
He gestured toward the machines monitoring her vitals.
“Terminal illness.”
My heart twisted.
Marcus continued.
“We gave her a choice.”
His eyes returned to me.
“Die slowly… or evolve.”
Dominic spoke quietly.
“And if the process kills her?”
Marcus didn’t hesitate.
“Then she dies trying to become something greater.”
Elena muttered angrily.
“You’re insane.”
Marcus shrugged.
“Progress requires risk.”
\---
The machines around the platform suddenly flared brighter.
A high-pitched tone filled the chamber.
One of the scientists shouted.
“Commander! The chamber is reaching critical energy levels!”
Marcus’s smile widened.
“Excellent.”
He looked at me again.
“And now we reach the most important part.”
Aidan stepped forward.
“You’re not getting anywhere near her.”
Marcus sighed.
“Unfortunately… that decision isn’t yours.”
He raised his hand slightly.
And the doors behind us slammed open.
\---
Heavy footsteps thundered into the chamber.
My stomach dropped instantly.
Hybrids.
At least fifteen of them.
They poured into the room like a living wall.
Some looked almost human.
Others… not so much.
Glowing eyes.
Clawed hands.
Muscles twisted with unnatural strength.
The results of the Creed’s failed experiments.
Callum’s voice exploded through the comm.
“Uh… Roxanne?”
“Yeah,” Elena muttered.
“We see them.”
Marcus spread his arms.
“Allow me to introduce the future.”
Aidan’s voice dropped low.
“Everyone ready?”
Echo’s voice crackled through the earpiece.
“Always.”
\---
Marcus lowered his hand.
“Stop them.”
The hybrids moved instantly.
Fast.
Too fast.
The first one lunged straight for Aidan.
Aidan shifted aside and slammed the creature into a steel railing.
The impact shook the platform.
Elena drew her blades.
“Well,” she said breathlessly.
“Here we go again.”
Chaos erupted across the chamber.
Callum tackled one of the hybrids into a control console.
Glass shattered.
Alarms screamed.
Scientists scattered in panic.
Echo moved like lightning through the room, cutting through two hybrids before they even realized she was there.
Dominic fought beside Aidan, his strikes precise and brutal.
But the hybrids kept coming.
Marcus simply watched.
Calm.
Observant.
Like a scientist studying an experiment.
\---
I turned toward the platform.
Toward the girl.
The machines around her were glowing dangerously bright now.
Energy surged through the tubes connected to her body.
Her chest rose and fell unevenly.
Her heart monitor screamed irregularly.
If the process continued…
She would die.
Marcus noticed me moving toward the platform.
He didn’t stop me.
Instead, he smiled again.
“I was hoping you’d try that.”
My heart pounded.
“What?”
Marcus gestured toward the glowing chamber surrounding the girl.
“That machine requires a hybrid catalyst to stabilize.”
Dominic shouted from behind me.
“Roxanne don’t!”
But it was already too late.
Because the moment I stepped onto the platform—
The machines reacted.
Violently.
\---
The entire chamber lit up.
Energy surged through the floor.
The glass tanks around the room began to vibrate.
A powerful force pulled at my chest.
Like something inside the machine had just awakened.
Marcus laughed softly.
“There it is.”
I stumbled slightly as energy surged through the air.
“What did you do?”
Marcus’s voice was filled with satisfaction.
“I didn’t do anything.”
The machine around the girl began drawing power.
From me.
Dominic shouted again.
“It’s pulling your energy!”
The girl’s heart monitor suddenly steadied.
Her vitals began improving.
The machine was stabilizing.
But the energy being drained from me was growing stronger.
My vision blurred.
The chamber spun slightly.
Marcus watched carefully.
Fascinated.
“Incredible,” he whispered.
\---
Aidan saw what was happening.
“Roxanne!”
He fought through two hybrids and reached the platform.
But the energy field around the machine pushed him back violently.
He slammed into the metal railing.
“Damn it!”
Marcus looked at him calmly.
“You should thank her.”
He gestured to the girl.
“She’s saving a life.”
My knees nearly buckled as the machine pulled more energy from me.
The girl’s eyes fluttered slightly.
She was waking up.
But the machine kept pulling.
More.
And more.
Dominic’s voice was urgent.
“It won’t stop until the transformation is complete!”
Elena shouted from across the room.
“How long is that?!”
Dominic looked horrified.
“Ten minutes!”
Aidan’s voice was furious.
“She’ll kill Roxanne before then!”
Marcus shook his head.
“No.”
His eyes remained locked on me.
“Not kill.”
He smiled slowly.
“Transform.”
\---
The energy inside me surged violently.
Pain exploded through my chest.
Something deep inside my body began reacting to the machine.
The hybrid power within me was awakening.
Expanding.
Growing.
The chamber lights shattered overhead.
Glass tanks cracked along the walls.
Marcus’s eyes widened slightly.
Now he looked truly impressed.
“Fascinating.”
Dominic stared at me in shock.
“Her power is increasing!”
Aidan pushed himself up from the floor.
“Roxanne, fight it!”
But the energy was too strong.
Too overwhelming.
The machine wasn’t just draining my power.
It was amplifying it.
The girl on the platform suddenly gasped.
Her eyes opened.
Bright.
Glowing.
The transformation had begun.
Marcus stepped closer to the platform.
His voice filled with awe.
“The second hybrid.”
My vision darkened as another surge of energy ripped through my body.
And deep inside me…
Something ancient and powerful began to awaken.
Something even the Creed had never fully understood.
Something that had been sleeping inside my blood since the day I was created.
And now…
It was waking up.