The Bio-Research Wing of Vayne City was a place few people knew existed, and even fewer were allowed to leave.
It didn't look like the rest of the city. There was no neon, no brass, no steam. It was blindingly white, sterile, and cold.
In the center of Containment Cell 4, strapped to a titanium surgical table, was a creature that had once been a farmer.
Now, it was a ghoul.
Its skin was grey and necrotic, pulsing with purple veins. Its jaw unhinged like a snake's, snapping at the air, trying to bite the scientists standing safely behind the reinforced glass.
"It's metabolizing the mana in the air," Dr. Aris, the Head Alchemist, reported, adjusting his spectacles. "The Void corruption creates a hunger that cannot be sated. If we don't feed it raw meat soon, it will start eating its own limbs."
I watched the creature thrash against the straps. This was Kaelen's gift to the world. A plague of hunger.
"Can you fix it?" I asked.
"Fix it?" Dr. Aris scoffed. "My Lord, the corruption bonds to the soul. It rewrites the DNA. To remove it would be to kill the host. There is no cure."
"I didn't ask for a cure, Doctor," I said, turning away from the glass. "A cure is a terrible business model. You sell a cure once, and the customer leaves."
I picked up a tablet displaying the creature's vitals.
"I want a treatment."
Dr. Aris blinked. "A... treatment?"
"Don't fix the leak," I explained coldly. "Just sell them a bucket."
I pointed at the creature.
"Create a serum that suppresses the hunger. Something that temporarily halts the corruption and restores higher brain function. But make sure the effect only lasts for twenty-four hours."
"Twenty-four hours?" Aris frowned. "But we could likely synthesize a stable compound that lasts a week, or even a month—"
"No," I interrupted. "Daily dosing is essential for customer retention. If they miss a dose, the symptoms return instantly. Fatal withdrawal is a feature, not a bug."
Dr. Aris looked at me with a mixture of horror and professional awe.
"You want to addict them to their own humanity."
"I want to save the Empire," I corrected, walking toward the exit. "Get it done. We have a deadline."
Time: Six Hours Later
The drone arm descended from the ceiling of the containment cell. It held a pneumatic injector loaded with a glowing, electric-blue liquid.
Project Name: HALO.
Hiss.
The needle pierced the ghoul's neck.
The creature screamed—a high, inhuman sound—and arched its back. The purple veins in its skin began to recede. The grey pallor flushed with pink blood. The unhinged jaw snapped back into place.
The thrashing stopped.
The farmer blinked, looking around the room with human eyes. He started to cry.
"Where... where am I? I was so hungry..."
"Subject stabilized," Dr. Aris noted, checking the readout. "Cognitive function restored. Corruption dormant."
"Duration?" I asked.
"Twenty-three hours and fifty minutes before the Void enzymes break down the Halo compound. Once that happens... rapid regression. He'll turn back into a monster in minutes."
"Perfect," I said. "Start mass production."
RING-RING.
The red phone on the wall buzzed.
"Right on time."
I answered the call.
"Vayne!" Prince Valerian's voice was bordering on hysterical. "My knights... they're turning! The corruption is spreading through the ranks! I've had to execute fifty of my own men this morning!"
"Calm down, Your Highness," I said soothingly. "Kaelen's 'Void Pills' are indeed potent."
"It's not just the pills! It's in the water! It's in the air! My elite guard—men who have served me for decades—are trying to eat their squires! The legion is collapsing, Vayne! You said you had the best alchemists. Do you have a solution?"
"I do," I said. "I have a serum. It stops the transformation instantly. It restores the soldier to full combat readiness."
"Thank the Gods! Send it! Send all of it! How much? I'll pay ten million gold for the shipment!"
"I'm afraid I can't sell you the shipment, Prince."
There was a silence on the line.
"What?"
"The serum, which we call Halo, is highly unstable," I lied smoothly. "It requires daily administration. If your soldiers stop taking it for even a day, they will turn."
I paused.
"Therefore, I cannot sell you a crate. I am offering a subscription service. Vayne Corp Life-Support."
"A... subscription?"
"One hundred gold credits. Per soldier. Per day."
"That's extortion!" Valerian roared. "I have twenty thousand men! That's two million gold a day! You'll bankrupt the Northern Treasury in a month!"
"Then let them turn," I said, reaching for the hang-up button. "I'm sure the Second Prince will appreciate fighting an army of ghouls instead of knights."
"Wait!"
I could hear the Prince breathing heavily. He was trapped. He was fighting a war on two fronts—against his brother and against the biology of his own men.
"You are a devil, Vayne," Valerian whispered. "You are enslaving my army to a vial."
"I'm keeping them human, Prince," I replied. "Do we have a deal?"
"...Send the drones."
I hung up.
Location: Vayne City Loading Dock
An hour later, a fleet of heavy-lift drones took off into the night, carrying crates of glowing blue vials.
Seraphina stood beside me on the balcony, watching them go.
"We could have made the dose last a week," she said quietly. She had seen the raw data from Dr. Aris. "The chemical bond is stable enough."
"Technically, yes," I admitted.
"Then why daily? It puts a massive strain on our logistics network."
"Because, Seraphina," I said, watching the lights disappear toward the Northern Front. "If they take it once a week, they forget who keeps them alive. If they take it every morning... they pray to Vayne Corp before they pray to their gods."
I turned back to the office.
"Daily engagement drives brand loyalty."
A system notification flashed in my vision.
[ Bio-Tech Tree Unlocked. ]
[ Product Created: 'Halo' Void Suppressant. ]
[ Revenue Model: Recurring/Infinite. ]
[ Passive Income: +2,000,000 Gold/Day (Projected). ]
"Besides," I added, checking the new revenue stream. "I need the cash flow. Kaelen isn't done yet, and neither am I."