*Side Character: Marcus Chen (Maya's Uncle)*
Marcus Chen had been a cop for twenty years before Disclosure. He'd adapted when his nephew and niece were turned, supported them through the integration years. But watching Derek's funeral from a distance—too dangerous for a human cop to attend—had broken something in him.
Now he sat in a dingy motel room, staring at the vial of Strain C in his hand.
"You sure about this?" Tommy Nguyen, his partner of fifteen years, sat across from him. "Marcus, this shit killed seventeen people."
"Enhanced humans killed my nephew. If I'm going to find his murderer, I need to level the playing field."
"The killer's dead. Friend, Prophet, whatever they called themselves—"
"Friend killed dealers. Someone else killed Derek. Someone enhanced." Marcus rolled the vial between his fingers. "The department won't investigate. Too busy with 'bigger issues.' But I know every enhanced dealer in this city. One of them wanted Derek silent."
Tommy leaned forward. "Even if you're right, Chance is a death sentence. Maya already lost Derek. Don't make her bury you too."
"Maya's working with the Dergors girl. Trying to fix the world with science." Marcus laughed bitterly. "Science broke the world. Sometimes you need simpler solutions."
He'd bought the Strain C from a dealer named Frost—enhanced human who'd survived the purges by information brokering. Frost had been nervous, sweating despite the cool night.
"This is old stock," Frost had warned. "From the early batches. Unstable. I don't even know why I kept it."
"Because someone always wants power," Marcus had replied. "Even if it kills them."
Now, in the motel room, that seemed prophetic.
"I've got maybe six hours once I take it," Marcus told Tommy. "Six hours to find Derek's real killer. Will you help me?"
Tommy sighed. "I've covered your ass for twenty years. Not stopping now. What's the plan?"
"Derek was investigating something before he died. Not just his boyfriend's murder—something bigger. He'd hinted about enhanced humans organizing. Not gangs like Boz's crew. Something structured. Military."
"Ex-military enhanced? That's a nightmare scenario."
"That's our city now." Marcus loaded the syringe. "Ready?"
"No. But do it anyway."
The needle went in smooth. For a moment, nothing. Then—
Fire in his veins. But not the transcendent burn Chris Jergenson had described. This was agony, every cell screaming as it transformed. Marcus convulsed, Tommy holding him down.
"Fight it!" Tommy shouted. "Don't let it control you!"
But control was an illusion. The Strain C enhancement wasn't just physical—it rewired the brain, amplified every emotion. Twenty years of suppressed rage erupted. Rage at the system that failed Derek. At the supernaturals who'd made humans obsolete. At himself for being too weak to protect his family.
When the transformation completed, Marcus stood. The motel room looked different through enhanced eyes. He could see heat signatures through walls, hear conversations three buildings away. But underneath the power was hunger. Not for food or violence, but for justice. Or what his rewired brain thought was justice.
"How do you feel?" Tommy asked carefully, hand near his weapon.
"Like I can finally make a difference." Marcus's voice was deeper, rougher. "Let's go hunting."
They hit the underground enhanced clubs first. Places where humans who'd survived Chance gathered to share war stories and score new strains. Marcus's enhanced presence opened doors—literally, in one case, when he tore one off its hinges.
"Looking for information about Derek Chen," he announced to a room full of enhanced. "Lycanthrope kid, nineteen, murdered four days ago."
Silence. Then a woman in the corner, amber veins prominent on her neck: "You're Maya Chen's uncle. The cop."
"Was a cop. Now I'm just a guy looking for answers."
"Derek was asking about Project Chimera before he died," she said. "Military enhanced. They've been recruiting. Promising a cure for Chance addiction if you serve."
"Where?"
"Nobody knows. They contact you. But Derek refused their offer. Said he didn't want to be a weapon." She met his eyes. "Next day, he was dead."
Marcus felt the rage building. Military enhanced, recruiting addicts, killing those who refused. It fit.
"Marcus," Tommy warned. "Your eyes..."
He caught his reflection in a broken mirror. His eyes were shifting color—brown to amber to something inhuman. The hunger was growing. Not for justice anymore. Just for violence.
"We need to go," Tommy insisted. "You're burning too hot. The strain—"
"Is working perfectly." Marcus turned to the room. "Anyone here been contacted by Chimera?"
A young man raised his hand trembling. "They... they said they'd help. That serving was better than dying."
"When's the next meeting?"
"Tonight. Midnight. Pier 88. But—"
Marcus was already moving. Six hours to find his nephew's killers. The clock was ticking. Behind him, Tommy cursed and followed.
The enhanced humans watched them go, then immediately started making calls. Word spread through the underground: a cop had gone enhanced. Was hunting military recruiters.
By the time Marcus reached Pier 88, he wouldn't be hunting anymore.
He'd be hunted.