CH5—THE FORGOTTEN LABORATORY
1529 Words
Neon Eclipse: The Last Symbiont
Chapter 5 – The Forgotten Laboratory
The metal door slammed shut behind Kael and Lira with a deep echo that rolled through the underground hallway.
For a moment neither of them spoke.
The air inside the facility felt heavy and stale, like it had been trapped there for years. Dim emergency lights flickered along the walls, barely illuminating the long corridor ahead.
Auri’s soft blue glow became the brightest light in the room.
Kael looked around slowly.
“So this is where the old experiments happened,” he said quietly.
Lira nodded.
“Yes. This was one of the research stations used during the symbiont energy project.”
Kael ran his hand across the dusty metal wall.
Everything felt ancient.
Broken monitors hung from the ceiling. Old cables stretched across the floor like vines. Some doors were half open, revealing dark rooms filled with abandoned equipment.
It looked like everyone had left in a hurry.
“What exactly were they studying here?” Kael asked.
Lira walked toward a nearby control panel.
“Symbiont bonding,” she said.
She brushed dust off the screen and tried activating it.
Nothing happened.
“They believed symbionts could provide unlimited energy for the city.”
Kael crossed his arms.
“And then everything went wrong.”
Lira gave a small nod.
“The Eclipse Catastrophe.”
Auri moved ahead of them, sniffing the air carefully. The small creature’s ears twitched as if it could sense something deeper inside the facility.
Kael noticed.
“You feel something, don’t you?”
Auri chirped softly and started walking down the corridor.
Lira turned on a small flashlight.
“Well,” she said, “I guess we’re following it.”
The hallway stretched for a long distance before splitting into several directions.
Auri chose the middle path without hesitation.
Kael and Lira followed closely.
As they walked deeper underground, the facility became stranger.
Some rooms were filled with large glass tanks.
Most of them were empty, but a few still contained glowing residue along the glass walls.
Kael stopped in front of one tank.
“Were symbionts kept in these?”
Lira examined the container.
“Yes.”
Kael frowned.
“Like prisoners.”
Lira didn’t answer.
They continued moving forward.
Eventually the corridor opened into a large circular chamber.
This room was different.
The equipment here looked far more advanced than anything they had seen earlier.
A massive machine stood in the center of the chamber.
Its shape resembled a giant ring, surrounded by dozens of broken monitors and control panels.
Kael walked closer.
“What is this thing?”
Lira stared at it carefully.
Her expression slowly changed.
“This is a symbiont energy stabilizer.”
Kael raised an eyebrow.
“In simple words?”
“It was supposed to control the power of symbionts,” she explained.
“But something must have gone wrong during the experiments.”
Auri jumped onto the metal platform around the machine.
Its glow suddenly intensified.
Kael felt a strange pulse in his chest again.
The same energy sensation he had experienced during the fight with the gang.
Lira noticed immediately.
“You feel it too?”
Kael nodded slowly.
“Yeah… like something is reacting.”
The machine suddenly made a faint humming sound.
Dust fell from its surface as ancient circuits flickered to life.
Both of them froze.
“That shouldn’t be possible,” Lira said.
The machine had been abandoned for decades.
Yet somehow it was activating.
Auri stepped closer to the center of the ring-shaped device.
Its blue light flowed outward like waves.
The machine responded instantly.
Energy lines appeared along the metal structure, glowing faintly.
Kael felt his heartbeat accelerate.
“What’s happening?”
Lira quickly checked one of the nearby monitors.
To her surprise, the screen powered on.
Old data began scrolling across it.
“No way,” she whispered.
Kael looked over her shoulder.
“What does it say?”
Lira scanned the text rapidly.
“These are old experiment records.”
She paused suddenly.
Then her eyes widened.
“What?”
Kael asked.
Lira slowly turned toward him.
“This facility didn’t just study symbionts.”
“Then what?”
“They tried to create a perfect bond between a human and a symbiont.”
Kael blinked.
“What does that mean?”
“It means,” she continued, “they wanted a human who could completely synchronize with symbiont energy.”
Kael looked at Auri.
“And you think that’s happening with us?”
Lira nodded slowly.
“Yes.”
At that moment the machine suddenly flashed bright blue.
A loud alarm echoed through the chamber.
Auri jumped back instantly.
The glowing ring stopped humming.
The monitors shut down again.
Silence returned to the room.
Kael exhaled.
“Well that was terrifying.”
But Lira was still staring at the screen.
Her expression had turned serious.
“What is it?” Kael asked.
She pointed at the final line of text still visible on the monitor.
Kael read it slowly.
Subject Prototype: Symbiont Core Alpha
Status: Missing
He frowned.
“What does that mean?”
Lira looked directly at Auri.
“It means the original symbiont from this experiment disappeared years ago.”
Kael crossed his arms.
“So?”
Lira took a deep breath.
“Auri’s energy signature matches the prototype.”
Kael’s eyes widened.
“You’re saying…”
“Yes,” she said.
“Auri might be the lost symbiont they were searching for.”
Before Kael could respond, a sudden mechanical noise echoed through the hallway.
Heavy footsteps.
Metal scraping against metal.
Kael turned toward the entrance of the chamber.
“Please tell me that’s not another drone.”
Lira looked toward the door.
Her expression turned grim.
“No.”
The metal doors burst open.
Three large armored soldiers stepped into the room.
Their suits were dark gray, covered with glowing red sensors.
Each of them carried advanced weapons.
Behind them walked a tall man wearing a long black coat.
His silver glasses reflected the light from the room.
The man smiled calmly.
“Finally,” he said.
“After all these years.”
Kael stepped protectively in front of Auri.
“Who are you?”
The man adjusted his glasses.
“My name is Dr. Varex.”
He looked directly at the glowing symbiont.
“And that creature belongs to my research.”
Kael clenched his fists.
“It doesn’t belong to anyone.”
Dr. Varex chuckled softly.
“I’m afraid you’re mistaken.”
He gestured toward the soldiers.
“Capture the symbiont.”
The soldiers raised their weapons.
Energy restraints fired toward Auri.
Kael jumped forward.
“Move!”
Auri leaped aside just in time.
The restraints slammed into the metal floor.
Kael grabbed a loose metal pipe nearby.
“You’re not taking it!”
Dr. Varex watched calmly.
“Interesting.”
One soldier rushed forward.
Kael dodged the attack and swung the pipe, striking the armor.
The impact barely slowed the soldier.
The second soldier aimed another restraint.
Auri suddenly howled.
Its glow burst brighter than ever before.
Energy waves filled the chamber.
The machine in the center of the room reacted instantly.
Lights along the ring activated again.
The entire facility trembled.
Dr. Varex’s eyes widened with excitement.
“Yes… that’s the power.”
Kael felt the familiar surge of energy flow through his body again.
Auri landed beside him.
Both of them glowed faintly.
Lira grabbed Kael’s arm.
“We need to leave now!”
Another soldier fired.
Energy blasted across the room.
Kael and Lira sprinted toward the exit corridor.
Auri ran beside them.
Behind them the machine began overloading.
Blue lightning burst from its surface.
Dr. Varex shouted commands to his soldiers.
But the chamber was already collapsing.
Kael, Lira, and Auri ran down the hallway as the ground shook violently.
The old facility was falling apart.
When they finally reached the tunnel entrance, Kael turned back for a moment.
Deep underground, the ruined laboratory exploded in a burst of blue light.
The tunnel filled with dust and echoes.
After several minutes of running, the shaking finally stopped.
Kael leaned against the wall, breathing heavily.
Lira checked the tunnel behind them.
“They’re not following us.”
Kael looked down at Auri.
The small symbiont was glowing softly again, but it seemed exhausted.
Kael gently placed his hand on its head.
“Looks like you’re more important than we thought.”
Auri gave a quiet chirp.
Lira stared into the darkness ahead of them.
“Dr. Varex won’t stop now,” she said.
Kael nodded.
“I figured that.”
“Now he knows where the symbiont is.”
Kael looked determined.
“Then we get stronger before he finds us again.”
Far above them, the neon lights of Lumina Arcadia flickered.
And somewhere in the city, Dr. Varex watched the explosion from a distant control room.
He smiled slowly.
“The bond is stronger than expected,” he said.
“Prepare the next phase.”
Back in the dark tunnel, Kael had no idea that the hunt had only just begun.
- Writer
