Headquarter—004, 2nd Floor, Meeting Room
The room was heavy with tension. Not the kind that could be broken with a word, but the silence of a long pause—an almost suffocating stillness that came after a question too heavy to answer. Every face seemed locked in thought, minds turning over possibilities and consequences that none dared voice aloud. John Williams broke the silence. His voice carried authority, but beneath it, a subtle warmth lingered, as if he were testing the room as much as commanding it.
"So," he began, "what's your stance, Kamadunga?"
Kamadunga, the first head of this ambitious—and dangerous—project, sat quietly. After a long moment, he placed the glass of water back on the table, inhaled deeply, and exhaled with measured control. His eyes scanned the room, finally settling on John.
"We will merge only one," he said slowly, each word deliberate. "If that is acceptable to everyone here, speak. Otherwise, this project ends here… and now."
Hazel Miller's gaze swept over the room, sharp and searching, trying to read each face, every flicker of hesitation or resolve. After a moment that seemed to stretch forever, she spoke—not with authority, but with the weight of someone testing a decision yet not yet fully making one.
"In my opinion… silence speaks for consent. Are we all agreed?"
John nodded, his voice cutting through the lingering quiet. "Fine. One merge only. But remember—if this fails, if there is no effect… the rest will follow. All remaining dimensions will merge."
At that, Kamadunga's body stiffened. He rose from his chair with sudden decisiveness, the authority of his position now radiating outward.
"Then it is decided," he said, voice firm, final.
He strode toward the gate leading out of the meeting room. Pausing just before stepping through, he turned back, a small, almost mischievous smile tugging at his lips.
"You won't be coming, John?"
5th Floor, Core Chamber
"Madam, look—9th genome has fully entered the first sphere. Complete," one of the staff reported, voice steady but tinged with awe.
Emily's eyes scanned the holographic projections, analyzing data and visuals streaming from the second sphere. Her fingers danced across the interface as she processed every detail.
"Ameena, contact her immediately," Emily said into the comm-link. "Ask how long until the meeting ends. As soon as it's over, inform the Head about this chamber."
At that moment, the automatic doors hissed open. Kamadunga and John stepped inside.
They froze. The Core Chamber was immense. Two colossal glass spheres dominated the room. The first sphere contained ten separate compartments, each meticulously housing a distinct genome. The second sphere was more ethereal—white, semi-transparent, its genome suspended in clusters, atoms spaced apart, giving it an almost ghostly appearance.
Connecting the two spheres was a thick, reinforced glass pipeline. Its first end merged seamlessly with the first compartment of the first sphere, while the other end anchored into the second sphere.
John's eyes widened. "Unbelievable… absolutely amazing, Emily. Incredible."
Kamadunga's voice followed, sharp yet restrained. "The 9th genome… it's here?"
"Yes, Sir," Emily replied, her gaze fixed on the sphere. "All nine genomes are now in place. In just a few years, we'll be able to execute our first merge."
John's expression stiffened. "No!"
Emily blinked, startled. "Wait… I don't understand. What do you mean?"
Kamadunga stepped closer, placing a reassuring hand on Emily's shoulder. His presence was firm, yet there was a quiet gravity in his voice. "Emily… the time has come."
Emily recoiled slightly, eyes narrowing as realization dawned. "The… the time? For what? You can't—"
Kamadunga's expression softened, his tone almost comforting. "No, we… we understand the risks. We know what we're doing."
Emily's breath caught, a surge of urgency breaking through her composure. "No! You don't understand. If you start the merging now, using raw genomes, it could trigger a disaster. One after another, uncontrollable. We have no idea which genome will do what—what nature it carries, what species it could spawn, what dangers…"
Her voice trembled, sharp and insistent.
"Some of these genomes are far more dangerous than we ever imagined. The consequences… they're beyond anything we've planned for."
Kamadunga's hand lingered a moment longer before he released it, his eyes meeting hers with the calm of someone who has carried the weight of inevitability far too long.
Emily stood frozen, a cold realization settling over her. Something was about to happen—something no one had fully anticipated.
"Yes, Emily," John said calmly. "We know what could happen."
He stepped closer to the observation glass, eyes fixed on the spheres.
"But don't worry. We'll merge only one genome. After that, we'll close the gates. Nothing beyond that will be affected."
Kamadunga smiled faintly, as if trying to soften the weight of the decision.
"And besides," he added, "we have a neutral genome ready. If there's any instability, we'll merge the neutral genome immediately. Any effect will be balanced out. Then we stop. For now."
Emily felt it.
The resistance inside her weakened, just slightly.
Still, she shook her head, forcing herself to stay firm.
"And if the systems fail?" she asked. "If they crash? If that happens, we lose control completely."
John raised a hand, steady and reassuring.
"That's exactly why you're here," he said. "Why you were given this position. You're the only one who can manage this. Control it. That's why we trust you, Emily. All of us do."
Emily looked at him for a long moment.
Then her gaze shifted to Kamadunga. He stood quietly, waiting. She searched his face, weighing everything she knew against everything she feared. Slowly, she closed her eyes.
When she opened them again, her voice was steady.
"Only one genome," she said. "Agreed?"
Kamadunga nodded once.
Emily turned sharply toward the staff.
"Activate system gear seven."
"Confirmed, Madam," Staff #3 replied.
"Unlock the primary lever," Emily ordered Staff #2.
She moved to the right-side control panel, pressed a sequence, and a glass shield slid aside with a mechanical hiss. The lever beneath was exposed.
A thin layer of sweat formed on her forehead.
"All heads," she said, her voice carrying across the chamber, "confirm readiness."
John and Kamadunga nodded in unison.
Emily nodded to Staff #2.
Together, they pulled the levers upward.
The gates at both ends of the glass pipeline opened. The dividing glass walls between compartments slid away. For a brief moment, nothing happened. The genomes remained separate, suspended, silent.
Emily turned sharply toward the elevated control platform.
"Vacuum to zero."
Staff #5 hesitated for half a second, fear visible even from a distance.
"Decision confirmed, Madam."
He slowly pushed the slider down.
The vacuum dropped to zero.
The first sphere came alive.
Genomes began to stir, shifting unnaturally, responding to forces unseen. One massive genome moved first, drifting toward the pipeline. Its movement was slow until it entered the pipe.
Then it accelerated.
The moment it crossed into the second sphere, a single atom made contact.
Red alert.
Sirens blared. Lights flickered violently. Consoles sparked as the chamber shuddered under a sudden shock.
Emily froze.
She had been right.
Systems began to fail.
"Madam!" Staff #2 shouted, struggling to keep his voice steady. "Pipeline gates are not responding!"
"Compartments won't close!" Staff #3 yelled.
Before Emily could respond, Staff #5 joined in, panic breaking through control.
"Madam! Vacuum levels won't increase!"
Emily's face remained controlled, almost unnaturally calm despite the chaos.
"I know," she snapped. "Keep the systems alive. Do whatever you can."
She turned sharply.
"Kamraj, take over my station. Now. I'm going to push system efficiency manually."
"Yes, Madam."
Before moving, Emily looked back.
Genome after genome was slipping through, merging uncontrollably.
Kamadunga stared at the spheres, horror slowly replacing certainty. John stood beside him, equally shaken.
Emily's voice cut through the noise.
"Sir," she said firmly, "you both need to leave. This chamber is no longer safe."
She didn't wait for an answer.
"Evacuate the building. Military personnel and essential experts only."
John snapped into action.
"She's right. Kamadunga, the building needs to be cleared. I'll alert the control room."
He turned and rushed out, controlled but fast.
Kamadunga remained.
"Emily," he said quietly. "You're coming too."
She shook her head.
"No. You need to go. All of you."
She met his eyes, unwavering.
"I'll handle this."
Her voice softened, emotion finally breaking through.
"At least let me prove something… that giving this position to your daughter wasn't a mistake."
She swallowed.
"…Dad."
Kamadunga's breath trembled. Distant helicopter blades thundered through the chamber. Evacuation had begun.
"I'll send in an expert team," he said, placing a hand on her cheek. Tears welled in his eyes.
"I trust you. Just… stay alive until I return."
Emily nodded. Once. Twice. Three times.
He turned and left.
Emily watched him go, tears blurring her vision. She wiped them away quickly when Staff #4 shouted—
"Madam! Four genomes have already crossed into the first sphere!"
Emily straightened.
Emotion vanished. Control returned.
She took her position at the console, staring through the glass wall at the two collapsing spheres, jaw clenched, eyes burning.
"Fine," she said quietly.
Then louder, sharper, resolute—
"Then let's finish this."
The alarms grew louder.
Too loud.
The lights above the Core Chamber flickered violently, white to red to darkness, as if the building itself was struggling to stay conscious. Control panels sparked. Screens shattered into static. One by one, system readouts flatlined.
Emily's fingers flew across the console, forcing commands through failing interfaces. Nothing responded the way it should have. The chamber trembled again, harder this time, a deep, structural groan echoing through the reinforced walls.
A sudden surge ripped through the pipeline.
The spheres pulsed.
For a fraction of a second, the genomes inside them stopped moving entirely, frozen in unnatural stillness.
Then everything collapsed at once.
A blinding flash tore through the Core Chamber, swallowing sound, light, and motion in a single violent instant. The shockwave knocked consoles over, cracked the observation glass, and sent a wave of pressure screaming outward through the facility.
Emily was thrown back as the world folded in on itself.
The alarms cut off mid-scream.The lights died.Silence,calm yet not peaceful.
A complete, suffocating absence of everything.
Somewhere deep within the dark, systems
that should never have synchronized finished doing exactly that.
And far beyond the Core Chamber, far beyond the building, something in the world shifted.
Then—
Blackout.