Chapter 6 - The Amber Awakening
The neon-amber glow emanating from the young man’s eyes pierced through the reinforced glass of the isolation cube like twin laser pointers. Arthur knelt beside the unconscious form of Elena, checking her pulse against her carotid artery. It was steady, albeit unnaturally slow, beating at barely thirty pulses a minute.
Officer Ramirez kept his rifle aimed directly at the observation window, his hands trembling slightly despite his tactical training. "Colonel... he's looking right at us. He couldn't possibly see through that one-way glass."
"He's not looking with his eyes, Ramirez," Arthur said, rising slowly to his feet while keeping his hand on his sidearm. He adjusted his respirator, his breath hissing rhythmically in the confined space. "The compound has completely rewired his sensory cortex. He's reading our thermal signatures through the glass."
Inside the cube, the young man raised a pale, trembling hand and placed his palm flat against the interior windowpane. Where his skin touched the glass, the frost-like condensation instantly melted in a widening circle, burning away with a faint wispy trail of smoke.
Clang.
The heavy steel door behind them groaned as the electronic keypad flashed green. The manual override sequence had been successfully entered from the outside.
Arthur didn't hesitate. He grabbed Ramirez by the tactical vest and shoved him behind the heavy metal table, just as the locking bolts retracted with a deafening mechanical thud. The door swung slowly inward, revealing a thick wall of white vapor rolling into the room like a creeping fog.
Through the swirling mist, two heavy combat boots stepped across the threshold. The figures emerging from the corridor wore unmarked black tactical gear, their faces obscured by opaque gas masks with dual-filter canisters. They moved with terrifying synchronization, their rifles raised and pointed dead center at Arthur's position.
"Drop your weapon, Colonel Geoliter," a synthesized voice echoed from the lead operative's chest-mounted speaker. "This facility is now under direct liquidation protocols."
Arthur didn't drop his gun. Instead, he slowly thumbed the hammer back on his heavy-duty sidearm, his eyes narrowing through his respirator visor.
"You're a bit late for liquidation, boys," Arthur said coolly, his voice echoing in the mist. "The package has already mutated."
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The lead operative paused for a fraction of a second, then raised his assault rifle, his finger tightening on the trigger just as the glass behind them began to fracture with a loud, explosive crack.
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