The lab lights dimmed automatically as the capsule’s systems powered into a new mode. The blue liquid surrounding Lena pulsed with an eerie glow, as though alive. Her body jolted violently, back arching as the first waves of altered coding surged through her nervous system.
Monitors screamed warnings—spikes in brain activity, dangerous heart rate fluctuations—but Gabriel only smiled, exhaling smoke like a serpent.
“She’s adapting,” one scientist whispered in disbelief. “Her neurons are… realigning.”
On the screen, Lena’s brain lit up with strange geometric patterns, glowing symbols spreading across the neural map like wildfire. The encoding was no longer dormant—it was waking up.
“She shouldn’t even be alive under this strain,” another muttered, sweat rolling down his temple.
Lena’s m
