"Alright, excellent. The first group has finished; there were no casualties," said Doctor Laos as he observed the monitors with a calculating expression. The other prisoners, upon hearing the distant echo of pain coming from the experimental room, exchanged glances with eyes wide open in fear.
The guards moved like relentless shadows, taking the second group toward the laboratory while returning the first to another cell, this time more fortified, with thick steel bars that seemed to sigh under the weight of contained suffering. "Bring in the second group," the doctor ordered in a cold, mechanical tone. The robots obeyed instantly, dragging the young ones toward the unknown. Once again, the air vibrated with the muffled screams of the orphans, resonating like an endless echo. Aiden, for his part, felt that pain channeled into his own body, multiplied by each scream. He tried to control it, but his mind was elsewhere, submerged in an abyss of dark thoughts. Suddenly, the cloud-like woman appeared before him, ethereal and luminous, whispering: "Calm down, boy. I know you are brave. Hold on. Help will come soon." Her voice was a balm that temporarily soothed the chaos within him, giving him strength to face the infernal cycle that repeated itself with every group.
"Alright, let's take a break," announced Doctor Laos, leaving the laboratory with hurried steps. No one noticed how he disappeared into his secret hideout, where he found something unexpected: the mouse he thought was dead was more alive than ever, covered in a shiny carapace, as if it had grown a resilient shell. Laos smiled maliciously. "So that thing works without needing the boy... and it worked on an old animal," he murmured, his eyes gleaming with ambition. Now he only needed a human guinea pig. "Doctor, let's resume the process," Swang instructed over the phone, his voice heavy with urgency. "Boss Zeus is getting impatient." "I'm on my way," Laos replied, slipping the black rock back into his pocket. "This rock is fascinating. It doesn't require a catalyst to activate, but I need to run more tests."
Meanwhile, several groups had returned, but one of the last groups remained silent, paralyzed by fear.
"Hey, I don't think I can do this," stammered a young man named Karl, his trembling voice breaking the silence.
"Why are you afraid?" asked another orphan beside him, trying to instill courage.
"It's just that I turned eighteen today," Karl confessed, his hands shaking as he gripped the edge of the table. "From what I overheard the doctor and the assistants saying, anyone over seventeen will either die or, worse, turn into abominations." His voice was a desperate whisper. Another boy, also of age, translated Maria, shared the same concern.
"What's going on? Why the delay?" asked one of the guards, his impatient tone slicing through the air. Karl clung to the table in desperation, refusing to move. "What's wrong with you, kid? Move it, I don't have all day," growled Swang, her stern gaze piercing into him. "I can't, ma'am," the boy replied, his voice barely audible. "Why not?" she pressed. "It's just that I, along with a few others, turned eighteen during the journey." Swang pulled out a device similar to a scanner and waved it over the last group. Five of them were of the mentioned age. "Damn it," she muttered. "Alright, take the rest to the lab while I figure out what to do with these five."
"What's going on? Why the delay?" asked Doctor Laos as he entered. "Doctor, these five are eighteen. They'll either turn into hideous monsters or die. Or better yet, let's end their misery right now," suggested Brenda, her tone as cold as ice. But Laos had other plans. It was as if someone had sent him a gift: the black serum would finally have its first adult test subjects. "No, Brenda. Leave them be. I'll experiment on them. Perhaps I'll turn them into something useful. I'll think of something. Leave them there and let's continue with the last group." The woman looked at him skeptically but complied, leaving the cell area. Before Laos exited, he activated the containment robots with his wristband, plunging the boys into a deep sleep, and instructed them: "Bring them here," pointing to the machines that led to the secret laboratory.
"I'm done with all the brats. Now let's see what powers they have," Laos murmured to himself. But before he could proceed, Zeus entered the cell area and said: "From now on, Maos will take charge."
"Sir?" protested Laos, incredulous.
"I said he would take over," repeated Zeus, his gaze firm and authoritative.
"Fine, as you wish. You're the boss," replied Laos, reluctantly retreating.
Swang was also about to leave the room when Maos stopped her, grabbing her by the arm. "It's always good to have a friend," he said, flashing a sly smile. The woman hesitated for a moment. Should she follow Laos, who no longer led the project, or continue under the orders of Maos, a man she didn't trust? But serving Zeus might mean earning points to be named head doctor someday. "Alright, I'll stay," she finally said, sighing. "But on one condition: equal credit for the work." The man agreed, shaking her hand. Zeus signaled to both of them that he wanted to see the results of the next phase and then departed.
"What did he mean by that?" Aiden's friends murmured when he was brought back to the cell. The boy was barely standing, almost fainting, but still bound. "But what have they done to you, Aiden?" Elena wondered to herself, fighting the urge to go and comfort him.
"Hey, guys, are you okay?" Billy asked, followed by María, who repeated the question in other languages. No one responded. "They must be like us, frozen like this for a while," Maria observed.
Elena gathered her courage and approached Aiden. "If you can hear me, I'm sorry for what I did. It's my fault we're trapped. If I hadn't met you, this wouldn't have happened," she lamented, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"So, we need to bring them to the brink of death or inflict damage to trigger their powers," Brenda explained to Maos after recounting her discovery.
"Alright, brats, get up," Maos ordered, and immediately everyone present obeyed. "Today, I'll push you to your limits to activate your powers. Of course, not infants from months old to four years—they go into re-education. Even though they had the venom from the spider machines, it's better to train them from scratch. The rest, come with me." He opened the gates, and everyone filed out without objection.
"But what's going on?" Billy, Elena, and Maria exclaimed as they watched the kids, who had previously been stubborn and reluctant to follow the scientists' orders, now trailing behind like docile lambs.
"It seems like they're under mind control," Swang muttered to herself, furious. "That damn Maos had everything planned out."
"Swang, take care of the children under five. Move them to another area. For now, they're useless, or their powers might be uncontrollable. Have the robots watch over them," Maos instructed as he left with the others through a door.
"Who does he think he is? I'm nobody's babysitter. Weren't we supposed to be equals?" Swang protested, irritated. "I should've stayed with Laos," she muttered, regretful. "Do it, or later you can join me where I've prepared the training," the mad scientist replied coldly.
Meanwhile, Laos, watching through a hidden camera he had installed, muttered: "That damn Maos. What did he do to my test subjects? He added some kind of control. They've had everything ready since my father died. That man was secretly conducting experiments. From what I understand, some succeeded, and others didn't because he lacked my father's notes and ran out of stones." Doctor Laos spoke to himself. "It doesn't matter. Now that I have these five, I'll start creating my own soldiers. Mr. Zeus cast me aside like nothing. This is my legacy, the experiment my father managed to complete. Both of them will pay dearly. I swear it." As he prepared doses extracted from the black rock, he laughed maniacally, the sound echoing throughout the room.
Meanwhile, Maos, with all the recruits under his control, led them to a field that resembled a war zone. Out of nowhere, numerous red humanoid robots emerged from the ground. Instead of heads, they had discs with spinning spheres, arms ending in pincers where their hands should be, and various gadgets on their backs. Some carried shields, others swords, and still others wielded different weapons. Maos approached the leader robot and said: "Instructor, it's time for you to train these kids. Do it quickly and mercilessly. Push them to their limits. It's the only way they'll reveal their powers. Besides, Lord Zeus wants them ready now."
The robot understood the command and lined up the others. "Let's go after them!" Laos instructed the young ones, giving the order without an ounce of emotion.
At that moment, a shout rang out: "Attack!" The young fighters charged toward the robots, screaming with pent-up fury. Both sides collided in an explosion of chaos and energy. Despite being unable to feel pain or emotions due to the serum administered by Laos and the mind control imposed by Maos, the combat was brutal.
Brenda arrived and asked: "Mr. Lucas," referring to Maos's real name. The man glanced at her sideways. She swallowed hard and repeated: "Doctor Maos, what is happening here?" Surprised, she observed the battlefield, where the youths were beginning to display their powers after being pushed to the brink of death by the onslaught of robots.
"What you see here is the formation of the first army of powered beings for our almighty Lord Zeus. With them, he will conquer the world." Maos burst into uncontrollable laughter, gesturing toward the battlefield, which looked as though it had been devastated by a storm of bombs.
"That's impressive," Swang remarked. "But those kids don't have feelings or feel pain. How is that possible?"
"It's a cocktail of poisons courtesy of me," Maos replied. "If this continues like this, we'll have the army fully operational in less than a week."