A DAY LATER,
KRONOS LABS
4:50PM…
The rain poured heavily, the familiar Lagos weather. Dr Kane stepping out of his helicopter and walking nonchalantly into the facilitate, his face a mask of barely contained fury. The prison break, the escape of the boys, Reed's betrayal – it all festered in him like a slow-burning fire. He clutched a tablet, its screen displaying the damage reports, the lost Nucrons, and the frustrating image of the carrier plane, a tiny speck against the vast ocean. He had lost them. His most valuable specimens.
"Report!" Kane barked, his voice echoing through the room. Professor Charles, pale and anxious, hurried to his side. Mr. Bolaji, ever detached, stood nearby, a manic glint in his eyes.
"Sir, the structural integrity of Sector Gamma is compromised," Charles began, his voice trembling slightly.
"The Enhanced Nucrons… they were far more powerful than anticipated. And Project Titan… the enhancements proved insufficient."
Kane slammed his fist onto a console. "Insufficient?! You said he was ready! You said the experiment was perfected!"
"It is perfected, sir!" Bolaji interjected, stepping forward. "The data from the boys proves it. Their escape was a mere setback. A confirmation of the experiments success! Their powers are growing stronger. Soon they will be A level Nucrons, precisely as we engineered them to be!"
"Silence, Bolaji!" Kane roared, turning on him, his eyes glowing with ominous dark energy. "Their escape was a failure! Reed's betrayal… that imbecile! He thinks he can go against me?"
He paced, muttering, the dark energy crackling around him. His movements were jerky, his thoughts racing, unbound. The prison break had stripped away his composure, revealing the raw, unhinged ambition beneath.
"We cannot afford delays," Kane snarled, more to himself than to his bewildered scientists. "The investors… the timeline… I cannot let these insects bring me down!" He stopped, turning to Charles and Bolaji, a terrifying, manic gleam in his eyes. "The mind chips. How soon until mass production can begin?"
"Sir, the chips were sent back to advanced testing. We're getting… mixed results with long-term neural integration. And mass production would require vast resources, more facilities, more time than we have with the current budget."
"Budget?!" Kane bellowed, his energy flaring, causing sparks to fly from nearby monitors. "Time?! We make time! We take resources! This is no longer about testing, Charles. This is about total control. Immediate and Absolute."
He slammed the tablet down. "Bring me the Nucrons from the processing center. All of them. We will integrate them directly into the new Nuragen system."
"Sir, without proper integration… the subjects could become unstable, uncontrollable," Charles warned
"They could lash out, destroy themselves, the facility even—"
Kane cut him off, a chilling smile spreading across his face. "Good. Let them lash out. Let them destroy. Once the chips are in place, their destructive power will be my power. Bound by my will." He looked at the wreckage of Sector Gamma on the monitor, then at his reflection, a gaunt, crazed man. "The time for subtlety is over. The world thinks I am offering salvation? I will give them submission."
He turned to a secure console, his fingers flying across the holographic interface. "Initiate Project 'Black Dawn.' Global Nucranium distribution accelerated. Satellite network to be repurposed for mind-chip activation.
Target major population centers first. Starting with… Abuja."
Charles and Bolaji stared, confused and horrified. This was not the methodical, strategic Kane they knew. This was pure, unbridled madness.
"But sir, the Federal Government… the UN… they will retaliate!" Charles cried.
"Let them!" Kane roared, spinning around, his dark energy flaring, momentarily shorting out the lights in the room.
"They are weak, complacent sheep! They will witness the true power of Nucranium. They will witness my power. The world will bow to the God of the new world."
His eyes, wide and unblinking, stared past the terrified scientists, past the walls of the lab, seeing only his twisted vision. "The boys… Reed, they think they can stop me? They will be the first to kneel. Or be crushed beneath the boot of my new world order."
He pressed a final command on the console. Overhead, a low, pulsing hum began to reverberate through the facility, a deep, unsettling vibration that promised a coming storm. The Nucron army, currently being prepared in unseen chambers, would soon be ready. And Marcus Kane, unhinged by ambition and setback, was ready to unleash them. The game was no longer about control. It was about absolute domination.