The room was lit only by the eerie glow of green fluid swirling inside a cylindrical tank at its center. Inside it, veins pulsed unnaturally through a subject's flesh grotesque and twisted, barely human now the result of yet another failed enhancement.
At the edge of the chamber, Veyrix leaned against a wall with arms crossed, his cloak soaked from the rain outside. He watched the experiment twitch and hiss through its oxygen mask with mild disinterest.
"Still unstable," muttered one of the scientists, tapping furiously on a screen. "The ratio of corrupted ether is off. Again."
"Then fix it," Veyrix replied coldly. "We don't have the luxury of trial and error much longer."
Across the room, another figure stepped into the light. She was lithe, hooded, and silent her aura sharp like needles. Her eyes glowed faintly beneath her mask.
"Anything new on the boy?" she asked. Her voice was calm, but there was venom underneath.
Veyrix turned slowly. "Kian Balthor? No new breakthroughs. Last report had him sparring with some students crushed one of them with a spatial-infused lightning technique. A unique blend. Nasty one too."
"So… his powers are maturing." The woman crossed her arms. "But he's still Tier 8?"
Veyrix nodded, though his expression was skeptical. "As far as anyone knows. But it's odd. The way he's progressing… the control he's displaying… doesn't quite match the records."
There was silence as they both turned to the tank again.
"Any reports on Chandler?" she asked quietly.
"He's gone dark. Left the city. Our informants say he's operating alone now." Veyrix's jaw tightened. "Which means he's preparing something."
"Or watching," she murmured.
Then, the woman pulled a small device from her belt a glass orb filled with black mist that swirled like a storm.
"We've placed someone inside the academy," she said. "Close to the boy. If he slips up… we'll know."
Veyrix raised an eyebrow. "And if he doesn't?"
She smiled under the mask slow and cruel. "Then we make him slip."
He turned his gaze back toward the tank, where the experiment's body was now convulsing harder, eyes rolling back into its skull. Veins swelled with glowing fluid that looked more like corruption than energy.
Veyrix watched without flinching. "Let's hope we don't need another monster just yet."
The woman looked toward the far wall, where a cracked screen showed Kian's last known profile.
"Soon," she said. "The world will remember why we feared Mythical veins."