*Detective Kathleen "Angel" Hyatt*
The Prometheus break-in was surprisingly easy. Maya's keycard worked, and security was skeleton crew—everyone important had been moved to "secure locations." They found Dr. Dergors' lab in pristine condition, like she'd just stepped out for coffee.
"This feels wrong," Maya whispered, enhanced senses on high alert. "Too easy."
Kathleen agreed but kept searching. Dergors' computer was locked, but her physical notes were scattered across the desk. Formulas, protein structures, and one phrase circled in red: "What have I done?"
"Detective." Maya held up a folder marked "PERSONAL." Inside were photos—Dergors with her family, her daughter's school records, a map with several locations marked.
"She was being watched." Kathleen studied the surveillance photos. "These are from weeks before the leak. Someone planned this."
A new file caught her eye. "Project Ascension." Military letterhead. Classified stamps. And a name she recognized: Colonel James Mitchell, Dergors' supervisor.
"Oh shit," Maya breathed. "This wasn't a leak. This was sanctioned. The military was always planning to weaponize Chance."
"Not just weaponize." Kathleen read faster. "Perfect it. Create super soldiers who could match supernatural threats. Dergors thought she was promoting equality. They were preparing for war."
Footsteps in the corridor. Multiple sets, moving with military precision.
"Run," Kathleen ordered.
They sprinted through the lab, Maya's enhanced speed keeping pace with Kathleen's desperation. Behind them, shouts and the distinctive sound of weapons being readied.
"Stop!" A familiar voice. Colonel Mitchell himself. "Detective Hyatt, you're under arrest for theft of classified materials."
Kathleen spun, weapon drawn. "Funny. I was about to arrest you for conspiracy to commit genocide."
Mitchell smiled. He was mid-fifties, silver-haired, the kind of man who looked trustworthy on camera. "Genocide? We're trying to save humanity."
"By turning them into weapons?"
"By giving them a fighting chance. The Disclosure was just the beginning, Detective. Vampires, werewolves, they're the ones we know about. What happens when something worse emerges? When humanity is the prey?"
"So you leaked the formula. Let criminals distribute it. Used the city as a testing ground."
"We accelerated natural market forces. And we learned so much." His eyes gleamed. "The silver strain was an unexpected development. Dr. Solomon's work, I believe. Brilliant, if unstable."
Maya growled beside her. "You killed my brother."
"The killer isn't one of ours. That's a... independent variable we're still tracking." Mitchell gestured to his men. "Lower your weapons, Detective. Come with us. Help us perfect the formula. Save your species."
"Humans don't need saving. We need to learn coexistence."
"Coexistence is a fairy tale. There's only dominance or submission. Which would you prefer?"
The lights went out.
In the darkness, Maya moved. Kathleen heard screams, gunfire, the wet sound of claws meeting flesh. Emergency lighting kicked in, revealing three soldiers down and Maya standing over Mitchell, claws at his throat.
"Where's Dergors?" Maya's voice was barely human.
Mitchell laughed, blood running from his nose. "Safe. Working on the cure. Or the catalyst. Depends on your perspective."
"Where?"
"Fort Dearborn. But you're too late. In six hours, we release the perfected strain. Airborne. Every human in the city gets a choice—evolve or die."
Kathleen's blood turned to ice. "That's millions of people."
"That's evolution, Detective. Natural selection on a grand scale." He looked at Maya. "Your kind had your time. Now it's ours."
Maya's claws pressed deeper. "My brother was nineteen."
"Acceptable losses."
The claws moved. Mitchell's head rolled across the floor.
"We need to go." Maya's hands were shaking. "Now."
They ran through Prometheus's halls, sirens wailing behind them. Six hours to stop an apocalypse. But first, Kathleen needed to find the one person who might know how to stop it.
The killer who'd been leaving her clues.
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