The old Metro tunnels beneath Neo-Seattle's Sector 7 hadn't seen human traffic in over a decade. When the city expanded its transportation network, these older sections were abandoned and sealed. Most people had forgotten they existed.
Marcus had not.
He descended into the darkness through a maintenance shaft, Alpha-One following behind. The tunnel system stretched for miles, a labyrinth of concrete and steel that would serve perfectly as his base of operations. Remote, inaccessible, and most importantly—unmonitored.
It had taken three nights to prepare this location. Using his micro-monsters as laborers, Marcus had cleared out a section deep enough that no sound would reach the surface. He'd stolen basic equipment from hardware stores—workbenches, storage containers, lighting. Nothing expensive enough to draw attention, but enough to create a functional laboratory.
The space was crude compared to his facilities from his previous life, but it would suffice. He'd work with what he had and upgrade as resources permitted.
Marcus set up his equipment, arranging the chemical containers from Blackwater on a reinforced shelf. The BW-ALPHA mutagen sat in the center, its dark green contents seeming to pulse with malevolent potential.
"Time for the real work to begin," he said to Alpha-One, who watched silently from the corner.
He pulled out a modified terrarium he'd stolen from a pet store—originally meant for reptiles, now repurposed for far darker experiments. Inside, three of his micro-monsters waited, selected specifically for their genetic stability.
Marcus prepared the syringe, drawing 0.1 milliliters of BW-ALPHA into it. In his previous life's human trials, even trace amounts had caused catastrophic mutations and death within hours. But his monsters were designed to be mutable, their biology fundamentally different from baseline humans.
*Theory: Monster physiology should be compatible with forced awakening compounds. If successful, can mass-produce awakened-tier monsters without consuming awakened humans.*
He injected the first micro-monster.
The reaction was immediate and violent. The creature convulsed, its body temperature spiking. Through their connection, Marcus felt its pain—not out of sympathy, but as pure data. He monitored every change, cataloging each biological transformation.
The monster's carapace cracked. Its legs elongated. Its mass increased exponentially, growing from the size of a rat to the size of a dog in under thirty seconds. Steam rose from its body as excess heat vented.
And then it began screaming—a high-pitched shriek that echoed through the tunnel.
Marcus watched clinically as the transformation continued. The monster's body was rewriting itself on a cellular level, integrating the mutagen's properties. Its DNA was becoming unstable, chaotic, trying to form patterns that shouldn't exist in nature.
After two minutes, the screaming stopped.
The creature that remained was barely recognizable. It stood nearly four feet tall, its body a grotesque fusion of insectoid and mammalian features. Its carapace had hardened into armor plates. Its eyes—now six of them—glowed with dull red light. And most significantly, Marcus felt new power radiating from it through their bond.
He reached out with his consciousness, probing the monster's new capabilities.
*Pyrokinesis. Low-tier, unstable, but present. The mutagen granted it fire manipulation abilities.*
"Subject Alpha-Two," Marcus named it. "Show me your new ability."
The monster opened its mandibles and exhaled a gout of flame. The fire was weak—barely enough to light a candle—but it existed. A monster with an awakened ability, created artificially.
Marcus allowed himself a moment of satisfaction before moving to the second test subject.
He increased the dosage to 0.15 milliliters this time. If the transformation scaled with volume, higher doses might produce stronger abilities.
The second monster underwent similar agony. Its body swelled and twisted, bones breaking and reforming. But this one didn't survive. After ninety seconds of violent mutation, its body simply collapsed in on itself, dissolving into a puddle of organic sludge.
*Dosage too high,* Marcus noted. *Exceeded biological tolerance threshold.*
The third monster received 0.1 milliliters—the same as the first. The transformation was nearly identical, but the resulting ability was different. This one gained electrokinesis, weak electrical generation that arced between its mandibles.
"Alpha-Three," Marcus designated it.
Two successes out of three attempts. A sixty-six percent success rate. Acceptable for initial trials, though he'd need to refine the process.
He spent the next four hours running additional tests, using the BW-93 DNA destabilizer to make the transformation process smoother, and the BW-47 cellular accelerator to speed up recovery time. By dawn, he'd created seven artificially awakened monsters:
- Two with pyrokinesis
- Two with electrokinesis
- One with cryokinesis (ice manipulation)
- One with enhanced physical density (armor-like skin)
- One with acid generation
All low-tier abilities, but the implications were staggering. He no longer needed to hunt awakened humans to give his monsters powers. He could create them from scratch, mass-produce them with systematic efficiency.
*This changes everything,* Marcus thought, watching his new creations interact. *With enough mutagen and raw materials, I can build an army.*
But he was running low on test subjects. His micro-monster population had decreased from forty-three to twenty-eight through experimentation. He needed more base creatures before he could continue at this pace.
And he knew exactly where to get them.
---
Marcus returned home just before his parents woke for their morning patrol. He showered, changed, and appeared at breakfast looking like any normal teenager preparing for another day of school.
"You were up early," his mother commented, pouring coffee. "Couldn't sleep?"
"Just studying," Marcus said. "Had a chemistry test to prepare for."
It wasn't entirely a lie. He had been working with chemistry, just not the kind taught in high school.
His father glanced up from his Hero Association briefing tablet. "Good. Education is important, especially now. You'll need strong academics for whatever career you choose."
*If only you knew what I'm choosing,* Marcus thought, spreading jam on his toast.
The news played on the kitchen television:
"—still searching for the three individuals who went missing near the Blackwater facility. Police have found no evidence of foul play, though the family of Cassandra Mills, one of the missing persons, claims she was working a private security job that night. The Hero Association has declined to comment on whether this is related to ongoing investigations into illegal—"
David changed the channel. "Always something. This city gets worse every year."
"Maybe if heroes actually patrolled the dangerous areas instead of staying in the wealthy districts," Marcus said, his tone carefully neutral.
His father stiffened. "It's not that simple, Marcus. Hero deployment is based on threat assessment and resource allocation—"
"I'm sure the families of those three missing people feel very reassured by the resource allocation."
"Marcus," his mother warned. "Your father works very hard—"
"I know he does." Marcus stood, gathering his backpack. "I wasn't criticizing. Just observing. I should get to school."
He left before either parent could respond, their uncomfortable silence following him out the door.
The truth was, Marcus didn't care about the three missing criminals or their families. But he enjoyed needling his parents, watching them squirm when confronted with the contradictions of their profession. They served a system that valued power above all else, that sorted people into useful and useless categories. They just lacked the honesty to admit it.
---
At Lincoln Standard, Marcus found Sarah waiting by his locker.
"Study group tonight?" she asked. "I'm already failing pre-calculus and it's only week one."
"Can't tonight. Family stuff."
"Liar. You don't strike me as someone with a close family." Sarah leaned against the locker. "What are you really doing?"
Marcus considered her. She was persistent, observant, and clearly didn't buy his cover completely. That made her either a valuable asset or a liability to be eliminated.
"If you must know, I'm working on a personal project," he said. "Science related. I've got access to some equipment through... connections."
"What kind of project?"
"The kind that requires privacy."
Sarah's eyes narrowed. "You're being very mysterious for a Null. Makes me curious."
"Curiosity killed the cat."
"Good thing I'm not a cat." She smiled. "Come on, Marcus. We're study partners. Friends, even. You can trust me."
Marcus met her gaze. "Can I?"
"Probably not. I barely trust myself." She laughed. "But seriously, if you're doing something interesting, I'd like to know. Life as a Null is boring enough without pretending we don't all have secrets."
She was fishing, trying to draw him out. Marcus decided to give her something—a small truth wrapped in misdirection.
"I'm studying genetic engineering," he said. "Self-taught, using online resources. It's a hobby."
"Genetic engineering? Like what, cloning? Designer babies?"
"More theoretical than that. I'm interested in how awakened abilities manifest on a biological level. If we could understand the mechanism, maybe it could be replicated artificially."
Sarah's expression shifted to surprise. "That's... actually really ambitious. And kind of brilliant. Imagine if Nulls could be given powers through science instead of supernatural awakening."
"Exactly."
"Is it even possible?"
"Unknown. But worth investigating." Marcus closed his locker. "That's why I need privacy. The scientific community isn't fond of independent researchers, especially teenage ones."
It was a perfect cover story. If anyone discovered his laboratory equipment, he could claim it was for legitimate research. And if Sarah started spreading rumors about his interests, it would only reinforce his image as a harmless Null trying to solve his powerlessness through science.
"I won't tell anyone," Sarah said seriously. "That's actually really cool, Marcus. Most Nulls just accept their fate. You're trying to change it."
"We'll see if it works."
She smiled. "When it does, make sure I'm first in line for powers. I'd love to throw fireballs instead of just not getting burned by them."
*Careful what you wish for,* Marcus thought.
---
That evening, Marcus returned to the tunnels with a new objective. He needed more base creatures for experimentation, and simply creating them from his own biological material was too slow. He needed outside sources—preferably living organisms with complex enough biology to serve as templates.
The city's underground had provided criminals for his purposes. Now it would provide something else: the massive rat population that infested the old tunnels.
Marcus released his remaining twenty-eight micro-monsters and gave them a simple command: hunt and capture. The creatures dispersed into the darkness, their thermal vision allowing them to track the heat signatures of rats throughout the tunnel system.
Within an hour, they'd captured forty-seven rats—mostly large specimens, well-fed from scavenging the city's waste. Perfect raw materials.
Marcus began the process of conversion. Taking each rat individually, he used his power to transform them into micro-monsters. The process was faster now, his ability growing more refined with practice. Each rat took approximately three minutes to convert, its biology rewritten to serve his will.
By midnight, he'd increased his monster population from twenty-eight to seventy-five.
"Good," Marcus said, watching his swarm. "Now we can continue experimentation at scale."
He organized them into groups. Fifteen would remain as scouts and surveillance units. Twenty would serve as test subjects for the mutagen experiments. Forty would be kept in reserve, ready to be specialized as needed.
Marcus pulled out the BW-ALPHA container. He'd used approximately thirty percent of it in his initial tests. At this rate, he had enough mutagen for perhaps a hundred more experiments. After that, he'd need to either synthesize more or find another source.
*Priority: Locate BW-ALPHA production facility or acquire synthesis formula.*
He injected the next test subject, carefully monitoring the transformation. This time, he used a mixture of BW-ALPHA and BW-93, theorizing that the DNA destabilizer might reduce mortality rates.
The theory proved correct. The monster's transformation was smoother, less violent. It survived and gained telekinetic abilities—weak, barely able to lift a few ounces, but present.
Marcus continued through the night, creating monsters with various abilities:
- Sonic screech (disrupts equilibrium)
- Venom generation (paralytic toxin)
- Camouflage (color-shifting skin)
- Enhanced sensory organs (smell, hearing)
- Regenerative capabilities (fast healing)
Each success refined his understanding. Each failure provided data for improvement. By dawn, he'd created thirty-seven new awakened-tier monsters, with only eight failures.
His army was growing.
But more importantly, his understanding of the awakening process was deepening. The BW-ALPHA mutagen worked by destabilizing human DNA and allowing Essence to bond with cellular structures in new configurations. His monsters, being artificial constructs, had more flexible biology. They could accept the mutagen more readily than humans.
*Could this work on humans if their biology was modified first?* Marcus wondered. *If I used BW-93 to make their DNA more malleable before applying BW-ALPHA...*
The implications were staggering. He could potentially grant powers to normal humans—or more accurately, transform normal humans into awakened monsters under his control.
But that was a project for later. First, he needed to establish his foundation, build his forces, secure more resources.
Marcus checked his timeline notes. According to his memories, several key events would occur over the next few months:
**Two weeks:** The Slaughterhouse underground fighting ring would host a major tournament. Low to mid-tier villains competing for prize money. Perfect hunting ground.
**One month:** A shipment of rare crystallized Essence would pass through Neo-Seattle's port. In the original timeline, it was hijacked by the villain group Black Talon. Marcus could intercept it first.
**Two months:** Redfield Cemetery excavation for a new subway line would uncover the ancient burial site. Workers would report "strange energy" before the site was sealed by the Hero Association for study.
**Three months:** A C-rank hero named Ironclad would be killed during a routine patrol in the warehouse district. His death would never be solved. But Marcus remembered the location and approximate time. He could be there, could harvest a C-rank hero's abilities.
Each event was an opportunity. Each one would make him stronger.
But he needed to be patient. Move too quickly, and he'd draw attention. The key was to remain invisible, to let the world dismiss him as a powerless teenager while his power grew in the shadows.
Alpha-One approached, clicking its mandibles. Through their bond, Marcus sensed its hunger. The monster needed feeding.
"Soon," Marcus told it. "In two weeks, we'll visit the Slaughterhouse. You'll have all the food you want."
The monster settled back into the darkness, satisfied.
Marcus gathered his new creations and returned them to microscopic form, storing them within his body. Seventy-five micro-monsters now, plus Alpha-One and the thirty-seven awakened-tier creatures he'd keep in the laboratory. His forces were still weak by the standards of true villains or heroes, but growing exponentially.
He sealed the laboratory and made his way back to the surface. Dawn was breaking over Neo-Seattle, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink. The city was waking up, millions of people starting their day, completely unaware of what lurked beneath their feet.
Marcus walked home through empty streets, hands in his pockets, looking like any other teenager out too early. A patrol car passed him—two officers inside, probably ending their night shift. They didn't even glance at him.
Invisible. Dismissed. Powerless.
*Perfect,* Marcus thought, allowing himself a small smile.
His phone buzzed. A message from Sarah:
*Did you pull an all-nighter on your project? You're crazy. Want to grab breakfast before school?*
Marcus considered ignoring it, then reconsidered. Maintaining social connections was part of his cover. And Sarah was perceptive enough that cutting her off might make her more suspicious rather than less.
*Sure. Meet at Jay's Diner in 30?*
*You're buying, science boy.*
Marcus pocketed his phone and adjusted his route. Jay's Diner was a student hangout near the school, cheap and unremarkable. He'd have to act normal for an hour, pretend to care about mundane teenage concerns.
A small price to pay for the perfect disguise.
As he walked, Marcus felt his monsters stirring beneath his skin, their collective consciousness humming at the edge of his awareness. Seventy-five micro-monsters. Thirty-seven awakened-tier creatures. One elite-tier monster. And experimental compounds that would let him create hundreds more.
In his previous life, it had taken him fifty years to achieve a fraction of this success, and it had cost him everything.
This time, he'd only been at it for two weeks.
*At this rate,* Marcus calculated, *in six months I'll have an army. In a year, I'll be unstoppable. In five years...*
He didn't finish the thought. Five years was too far away to plan concretely. He'd work in stages, adapting as opportunities presented themselves.
But the ultimate goal remained unchanged: transform all of humanity. Evolve them into something greater, whether they wanted it or not.
Marcus arrived at the diner, pushing through the door. Sarah was already there, waving from a booth by the window. She looked tired but cheerful, clutching a massive cup of coffee.
"You look terrible," she said as he sat down. "Did you actually sleep?"
"A few hours."
"Science waits for no one, huh?" She slid a menu across the table. "So, make any breakthroughs? Discover the secret to artificial awakening?"
Marcus smiled, thinking of his laboratory filled with monsters, of the creatures swimming in his bloodstream, of the thirty-seven artificially awakened abominations waiting in the darkness beneath the city.
"Making progress," he said. "Slow but steady."
"That's the spirit. Maybe you'll crack it before graduation and we can all get superpowers." Sarah laughed. "Imagine—the entire Null population suddenly awakening. Society would lose its mind."
"It would," Marcus agreed, picking up his menu.
*It will,* he thought. *And I'll be the one to make it happen.*
---