The room stayed silent for several seconds after the lights turned on.
Raven could hear his own breathing. Slow. Uneven.
The creatures inside the cages were still restless. Some of them scratched the glass again and again, making dull sounds that echoed through the laboratory.
Lucas slowly stepped forward, scanning the room carefully.
“Okay… this place is worse than I imagined,” she muttered.
Angus rubbed his arms nervously. “Yeah… no kidding.”
Adam stayed near the door, watching the corridor outside through the small glass window.
“We shouldn’t stay too long,” he said quietly. “Someone might notice.”
Raven nodded, but his eyes were still moving across the cages.
Some creatures looked like animals that had been badly twisted by something unnatural. A fox with two uneven heads. A bird with feathers missing from half of its body.
But the worst ones were the human shapes.
Some of them still had faces that looked almost normal.
Almost.
One creature slowly raised its head when the lights came on. Its eyes followed Raven for a moment before it suddenly slammed its head against the glass.
Angus jumped.
“Jesus!”
The glass shook slightly but did not break.
Lucas frowned and stepped closer to one of the cages. She leaned forward, trying to see the labels attached to the metal frames.
“There are numbers here,” she said.
“Specimen numbers?”
“Maybe.”
Raven moved closer too.
There were metal plates under every cage. Some had numbers. Some had strange codes.
He noticed that several of the codes also started with letters.
J.
T.
S.
The same letters that appeared on their wristbands.
Raven’s stomach tightened slightly.
Before he could say anything, a noise suddenly came from the corridor outside.
Metal wheels.
Voices.
The group froze instantly.
Someone was coming.
Lucas reacted first.
“Lights off,” she whispered.
Adam quickly flipped the switch.
The room fell into darkness again.
Footsteps approached.
The laboratory door opened.
Bright light from the corridor spilled inside.
Raven held his breath.
Two staff members pushed a large cage into the room.
Inside the cage was something covered by a thick black tarp.
The cage shook violently.
Whatever was inside was moving.
“Careful,” one of the workers said.
“This one is strong.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
They pushed the cage deeper into the room.
Lucas slowly moved backward, trying to stay hidden between the rows of tanks.
Raven followed quietly.
The cage was placed in the middle of the laboratory.
One of the workers grabbed a remote control device.
“Ready?” he asked.
The other worker nodded.
“Open it.”
The metal lock clicked.
The cage door slid open.
For one second nothing happened.
Then the creature exploded out of the cage.
The tarp flew away.
Raven’s brain needed a moment to understand what he was seeing.
It looked human.
But only partly.
Its arms were too long.
The joints bent the wrong way.
The skin looked pale and tight, like it had been stretched too far.
Its mouth opened wider than a normal human mouth could.
The workers stepped back quickly.
“Hold it!”
One of them activated something on the remote.
Electric shocks flashed through the floor panels.
The creature screamed.
But it didn’t fall.
Instead it turned its head suddenly.
And saw them.
For a moment both sides just stared at each other.
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The creature.
And the four teenagers hiding between the cages.
No one moved.
Raven felt his heart slam against his ribs.
Then the creature let out a horrible scream.
It rushed toward them.
“RUN!” Lucas shouted.
Everything happened at once.
Adam grabbed a metal tray from a nearby table and threw it.
The tray hit the creature’s shoulder with a loud clang.
It slowed down for half a second.
That was enough.
Raven pushed Angus behind him.
The creature lunged.
Its clawed hand slashed across the air where Raven’s head had been a moment earlier.
Lucas kicked over a rolling cart, blocking its path.
Glass tubes shattered on the floor.
The creature stumbled but didn’t stop.
It was too fast.
Raven grabbed a long metal rod from the table and swung it.
The rod hit the creature’s arm.
The impact vibrated painfully through Raven’s hands.
The creature roared and grabbed him.
Raven fell hard against the floor.
For a second he thought his ribs might be broken.
The creature leaned over him.
Its breath smelled rotten.
Raven shoved the rod upward with all his strength.
The metal struck its chest.
The creature screamed again and staggered back.
Lucas pulled Raven up.
“MOVE!”
They ran between the cages.
Behind them the creature smashed through a metal rack.
Glass containers shattered everywhere.
The two workers were shouting something, but Raven couldn’t understand the words anymore.
Everything was too loud.
Too chaotic.
The creature rushed forward again.
Raven turned suddenly and kicked a stool into its legs.
It fell for a moment.
Something dropped from its body when it hit the ground.
A small metallic object.
Raven noticed it by accident.
Without thinking he grabbed it.
It was a broken piece of metal.
A card.
Half of it was missing.
The edge looked like it had been torn apart violently.
“Raven!” Lucas shouted.
“No time!”
He shoved the metal card into his pocket and ran again.
They reached the laboratory door just as someone outside swiped a keycard.
The door opened slightly.
A staff member was entering.
The group rushed forward.
They slipped through the opening before the person even understood what was happening.
“Hey—!”
The door slammed behind them.
Lucas hit the close button.
The lock sealed with a loud click.
From inside the laboratory came furious banging and screaming.
But the reinforced door held.
No one spoke.
Then suddenly a calm mechanical voice echoed through the Ark.
“Attention all residents.”
“Night cycle will begin in five minutes.”
“Please return to your sleeping chambers.”
The corridor lights dimmed slightly.
Raven and the others exchanged tired looks.
“Well,” Angus said weakly, “that was… fun.”
No one laughed.
They quickly separated before security noticed them.
The Ark’s system guided everyone back toward their assigned sleeping pods.
Raven walked alone through the quiet halls.
His hands were still shaking.
By the time he reached his room, the artificial night mode had already started.
The small cabin felt strangely peaceful compared to the chaos earlier.
Raven brushed his teeth slowly.
Then he washed his face.
The cold water helped him calm down a little.
After that he filled the bathtub and sat inside it.
Warm water covered his shoulders.
He leaned back and stared at the ceiling.
The lights above him were dim and soft.
For the first time that night, everything was quiet.
But his mind wasn’t.
What if he had been scratched?
What if that creature had infected him somehow?
The thought made his chest tighten.
Raven sighed and reached into his pocket.
The broken metal card was still there.
He took it out and examined it carefully.
It looked like some kind of identification card.
But it wasn’t plastic.
It was steel.
Heavy.
Cold.
The front surface was completely blank.
No words.
No symbols.
Nothing.
But the broken edge revealed something inside.
A small damaged chip.
Maybe a microchip.
Maybe some kind of data storage.
Raven turned it around several times.
Still nothing.
“Great,” he muttered.
“Totally useful.”
He shrugged and placed the card on the table.
Then he got out of the bathtub and dried himself.
A few minutes later he lay down on the bed.
Exhaustion finally pulled him into sleep.
But the night was not peaceful.
Some time later Raven woke up suddenly.
His whole body felt strange.
Hot.
Burning.
At the same time his muscles felt sore and numb.
Like thousands of tiny needles were under his skin.
“What the…”
He sat up quickly.
His breathing was heavier than normal.
For a moment fear hit him hard.
Was this how infection started?
He turned on the light.
The room became bright.
Raven grabbed a bottle of water and drank several large gulps.
The cold water helped a little.
But the strange feeling was still there.
“I need fresh air,” he muttered.
He quickly put on a jacket.
The corridor outside was quiet.
Night guards stood at several intersections.
Raven tried to look normal.
“I’m going to the cafeteria,” he told one guard casually.
The guard barely looked at him.
“Don’t take too long.”
Raven nodded and continued walking.
After turning two corners he saw two familiar figures walking toward him.
Lucas.
And Adam.
They both stopped when they saw him.
For a moment none of them spoke.
Lucas narrowed her eyes slightly.
Adam looked at Raven carefully.
Their expressions were strange.
Concerned.
Lucas stepped closer.
“Raven…”
She tilted her head slightly and stared at his face.
“Why are your eyes so red?”
Adam crossed his arms.
“Yeah,” he said slowly.
“Didn’t you sleep?”
