Chapter 24: Sub level nine

Garrett was not fully conscious, but he could feel us. His energy made the sensors glitch and the lights flicker. “Ahh…” he growled.

Zane felt it instantly. The pull guided him toward Garrett's location. I noticed this, and my trust in Zane's instincts became stronger. Then we got closer again and noticed that sub-level nine wasn't a normal lab.

There were too many old machines and falling equipment. Cells with residual chemicals that we could only pass through by crawling.

We reached the first visible sign of Garrett's location. There were chains and machines connecting him to life support. We could hear his voice and feel his presence.

“Father, father, can you hear me?” Zane asked, while fear ran through me. The chains were so heavy that I couldn't move them.

Owen watched from his office. He knew that we were in the heart of his control system. Then he personally overrode locks and activated the armed security team.

The war just got personal to him. He felt directly threatened.

I moved closer to the chains holding him down and touched them. This triggered a lockdown, and the power went out.

“Zane, I can't see anything. Can you see me?” I asked, looking around in the dark.

“Yes, I can,” he replied sharply. Then I saw a red glow closer to me. It was Zane’s eyes.

He reached out to me and held my hand. “I'll be your eyes now.” I felt a sudden peace within me.

Zane also moved closer to the chain and touched it. “It's heavy,” he said.

Then it occurred to me that the three of us had been trapped in sub-level nine. The alarms became active, and security was closing in. Zane and I had no time to think.

Because Zane had already learned how to manipulate the system, he did it again, and at that moment, we saw Garrett.

He was physically weak, but he wasn't broken. He was restrained heavily. His body was full of scars, but his presence commanded authority, and it felt like the space belonged to him.

Zane looked at him. He struggled between shock and recognition. Garrett recognized him instantly, but he didn't say a word.

They gazed at each other for a long time while silence stretched between them.

“Father,” Zane finally called. He moved closer to the chains, trying to break them open, but they didn't break easily. Then I looked at the machines and discovered that removing the restraints incorrectly could kill him. The systems were tied to Garrett's survival.

This didn't require only strength but also intelligence. I moved closer to read the system.

“To do this, we need to rely on each other's strength,” I said to Zane.

“I will try to check what is keeping Garrett alive and how to remove the restraints, while I guide you on where to break and where not,” I said to Zane while I focused on the machine.

Owen watched everything going on. He was claiming back control over the system. “Lock down sub-level nine completely and activate the fail system tied to Garrett,” he screamed at his guard.

“If they take him, everything ends,” he whispered.

Within minutes, heavy security arrived. The cell was tight, and we had limited movement. Zane was forced to fight, and I was under pressure while I managed system control.

Zane became very dangerous as he fought with anger. The bullets couldn't hit him because of his reflexes. The other guards targeted me while Zane fought. I was nearly captured, but instead, Zane killed a guard who tried to capture me.

Garrett started to break free. The chains became weak. His body began regaining energy. His energy became a threat to the system.

Then I started feeling strange. My bond became overloaded, and my hybrid nature reacted due to stress. I lost control for a moment because of the sudden surge in strength.

Zane finally broke the strongest restraint tied to Garrett, and this caused serious damage because the system alarms spiked, emergency lights flickered, and Owen lost partial control over sub-level nine.

We were closer to freeing Garrett completely, but we had very limited time. Sub-level nine was collapsing, more security was still coming, and Garrett was still slightly unconscious.

“Zane, we have one more restraint to remove, but I am scared,” I said to him.

“Why? What’s the problem?” he asked.

“This last restraint is tied directly to Garrett’s survival system. If we remove it, the risk is high,” I explained.

“What risk?” Owen asked curiously.

My voice dropped. “It might kill him instantly.”

Zane exhaled. “So, what’s the way forward?”

“I need more time to figure it out,” I continued. “You will have to hold off the threat. Then I can override the system.”

I looked at the tab in my hand and followed some prompts.

“Zane, now!” I screamed.

Zane moved closer to the last restraint and broke it.

“Hmm… hmm…” Garrett growled.

He reacted like a predator that had just been released after a long time of suffering. His presence overwhelmed all of us. The guards panicked.

He rose up, looking drained and injured, but his eyes were dangerous.

Zane and Garrett faced each other again. With recognition and tension, they identified each other.

Garrett drew Zane closer. “Is this what they did to you?” he said in a thick, cracked voice.

Zane nodded. “Is this what you have become now, father?” he asked.

Before Garrett could answer, Owen entered.

He entered the cell before sub-level nine. He could see us directly from there.

His presence was calm, controlled, but dangerous. He held a serum in his hands, unknown to us.

“It's a full family fight,” Owen said.

He sounded the alarm to distract us, and we all looked up. At that moment, Owen shot the serum into my lap.

Immediately, I went into pain. Then I started transforming. My strength, senses, and instincts increased. I became unpredictable. Zane came closer to me and hugged me. This stabilized me.

Owen saw this and ushered in a new set of armed security. Garrett then joined the fight, still weak but lethal. Zane fought with all his strength. Garrett got seriously injured while fighting, and I stayed between them.

Then I felt a rock fall on my head, not knowing the facility had started collapsing.