VENOM

8 THE ORIGINAL FACILITY

The road disappeared beneath the darkness.

C.Y. drove with both hands on the wheel, his eyes fixed on the empty highway ahead.

The city had been behind them for nearly an hour.

No streetlights.

No traffic.

No buildings.

Only trees and darkness.

Maya sat in the passenger seat, studying the map on the tablet.

"According to this, we're close."

C.Y. glanced at the screen.

"How close?"

"Twenty minutes."

"That's what you said twenty minutes ago."

Maya looked at him.

"Maybe you drive too fast."

"I've been driving normally."

"You nearly missed three turns."

"Because you keep changing the directions."

"You keep arguing with the GPS."

C.Y. smiled.

"GPS has no idea what it's talking about."

Maya laughed.

For a few seconds, everything felt normal.

Then the tablet beeped.

The map disappeared.

A black screen appeared.

C.Y.'s smile vanished.

"What happened?"

Maya tapped the screen.

"It's been remotely accessed."

"By who?"

"I don't know."

A message appeared.

TURN BACK.

C.Y. stared at it.

Maya looked at him.

"That's not creepy at all."

C.Y. accelerated.

"Definitely not turning back now."

The message disappeared.

A second one appeared.

YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU'RE LOOKING FOR.

C.Y. stared at the road.

"Someone knows we're coming."

Maya nodded.

"Then we're close."

Another message appeared.

C.Y.

His eyes narrowed.

They knew his name.

Then:

ASK YOUR MOTHER ABOUT THE NIGHT OF THE FIRE.

C.Y.'s foot immediately came off the accelerator.

The vehicle slowed.

Maya looked at him.

"C.Y.?"

He stared ahead.

"The night of the fire."

"What fire?"

C.Y. shook his head.

"I don't remember one."

The tablet went black.

No more messages.

C.Y. remained silent.

Maya studied him.

"Do you?"

He shook his head.

"No."

"Maybe your mother knows."

"Maybe."

But there was something in his voice that told Maya he was afraid of the answer.

---

The facility appeared just before midnight.

It was hidden between a mountain range and a forest.

From the road, it looked like an abandoned industrial complex.

Large concrete buildings.

Broken windows.

Rusting fences.

No lights.

No guards.

No signs of activity.

C.Y. parked behind a group of trees.

They got out.

The cold air hit them immediately.

Maya looked toward the facility.

"That's it?"

C.Y. checked the coordinates.

"That's it."

"Looks abandoned."

"That's what they want us to think."

They moved toward the fence.

C.Y. examined it.

"Motion sensors."

Maya looked closer.

"You can see them?"

"Three."

She smiled.

"Show-off."

C.Y. carefully moved around the first sensor.

Then the second.

Then the third.

They reached a damaged section of fence.

Maya squeezed through.

C.Y. followed.

The facility was completely silent.

They reached the main building.

The doors were locked.

C.Y. tried the Directorate access card.

The light turned green.

Maya stared at him.

"How does your card still work?"

"I don't know."

The door opened.

C.Y. immediately raised his weapon.

Nothing.

They entered.

The lights flickered on automatically.

Maya looked around.

"This place has power."

C.Y. nodded.

"Which means someone is maintaining it."

They moved down the hallway.

Old photographs covered the walls.

Scientists.

Soldiers.

Researchers.

C.Y. stopped at one.

A group of researchers stood in front of the facility.

At the center was a younger version of Mr. Confidence.

C.Y. stared.

"He's been here since the beginning."

Maya looked at the photograph.

"Maybe he created Project Venom."

C.Y. shook his head.

"No."

"Why?"

"Look at his rank."

Maya examined the photograph.

He wasn't in charge.

He was standing behind several other people.

C.Y. pointed at an older man standing at the center.

"Who is that?"

Maya zoomed in.

A name was written beneath the photograph.

DR. ADRIAN VALE — DIRECTOR OF HUMAN ADAPTATION RESEARCH

C.Y. frowned.

"Human adaptation."

Maya nodded.

"The original Project Venom."

They continued.

---

The first laboratory was enormous.

Rows of empty observation chambers lined the walls.

Old monitors.

Medical equipment.

Heavy restraints.

C.Y. stopped.

"This wasn't just research."

Maya looked around.

"No."

They walked deeper.

One room contained dozens of files.

C.Y. picked one up.

SUBJECT 01.

He opened it.

A photograph appeared.

A young man.

Maybe twenty years old.

C.Y. read the report.

Exceptional reflexes.

High pain tolerance.

Adaptive response: 71%.

Then:

Result: Failure.

C.Y. opened another.

Subject 02.

Then 03.

Then 04.

The pattern continued.

Every subject had been pushed beyond their physical limits.

Every subject had eventually failed.

Maya looked sick.

"How many?"

"Nineteen."

"All of them?"

"Yes."

C.Y. closed the file.

"Except one."

"Subject 19."

C.Y. nodded.

They searched for the file.

Nothing.

Maya found an empty shelf.

"The file is missing."

C.Y. looked at the shelf.

"Someone removed it."

"Mr. Confidence?"

"Maybe."

They heard a sound.

Both froze.

Footsteps.

Coming from deeper inside the facility.

C.Y. raised his weapon.

Maya whispered:

"Someone's here."

The footsteps stopped.

Silence.

C.Y. moved forward.

A door at the end of the hallway slowly opened.

Nobody was behind it.

Maya looked at him.

"That's not normal."

C.Y. nodded.

"No."

They entered.

A large screen turned on.

A video began playing automatically.

A young Dr. Adrian Vale appeared.

He stood in a laboratory.

Behind him were several scientists.

"Project Venom was never designed to create assassins."

C.Y. and Maya watched.

"The human body possesses extraordinary adaptive capabilities. Under extreme conditions, certain individuals demonstrate an ability to evolve their physical responses."

The video changed.

Subjects appeared.

"However, adaptation has limits."

Dr. Vale continued.

"Pain. Fear. Emotional attachment."

He paused.

"These are not weaknesses."

C.Y. stared.

"They are triggers."

Maya looked at him.

Dr. Vale continued.

"The strongest adaptive subjects don't become stronger because they stop feeling."

The screen changed.

"They become stronger because they have something worth protecting."

C.Y. went silent.

The video ended.

A second video began.

Dr. Vale looked much older.

His expression was exhausted.

"We made a mistake."

C.Y. leaned closer.

"Subject 19 wasn't a failure."

Maya whispered:

"What?"

Dr. Vale continued.

"Subject 19 exceeded every projected limitation."

Numbers appeared.

Adaptive response: 103%.

Neural synchronization: 119%.

Physical recovery: abnormal.

Emotional regulation: stable.

C.Y. stared.

"Impossible."

Dr. Vale shook his head.

"We thought the subject was becoming more efficient."

He paused.

"We were wrong."

The screen went black.

Then a final sentence appeared.

THE SUBJECT WAS LEARNING TO EVOLVE.

C.Y.'s heart began beating faster.

Maya whispered:

"That's what you're doing."

C.Y. didn't answer.

The screen changed again.

A photograph appeared.

Subject 19.

The image was damaged.

But the face was visible.

C.Y. stared.

He knew him.

Not personally.

But he had seen the face before.

On a photograph.

In his mother's room.

He looked at Maya.

"That's Samuel Cross."

Maya's eyes widened.

"Samuel was Subject 19."

---

The room suddenly locked.

Steel doors slammed shut.

C.Y. grabbed the handle.

Nothing.

Maya tried the emergency panel.

"Locked."

C.Y. looked around.

A red light turned on.

Then another.

An alarm began sounding.

Maya stared at the ceiling.

"We need to leave."

C.Y. looked at the screen.

"Not yet."

"C.Y."

"We finally found him."

A voice came through the speakers.

"Yes."

C.Y. froze.

It wasn't Mr. Confidence.

It was an older man's voice.

"You found me."

C.Y. turned.

"Samuel?"

Silence.

Then:

"Not exactly."

A hidden door opened.

A man stepped into the room.

Older.

Scarred.

Wearing a dark jacket.

His hair was gray.

His eyes were sharp.

C.Y. raised his weapon.

"Samuel Cross?"

The man stopped.

"That's the name they gave me."

Maya stared.

"Then who are you?"

The man looked at C.Y.

"Subject 19."

C.Y. lowered his weapon slightly.

"You've been hiding here?"

"For years."

"Why?"

The man looked around the laboratory.

"Because the Directorate wanted me dead."

C.Y. stepped closer.

"You knew my mother."

Subject 19 became silent.

C.Y. noticed.

"You knew her."

"Yes."

"Why?"

The man looked away.

"Because she was there."

"Where?"

"At the beginning."

C.Y.'s expression changed.

"What does that mean?"

Subject 19 looked directly at him.

"Your mother worked here."

C.Y. froze.

"No."

"She wasn't a scientist."

"Then what?"

"She was one of the people who tried to stop them."

C.Y. shook his head.

"My mother never told me."

"She couldn't."

"Why?"

Subject 19's expression softened.

"Because she made a deal."

C.Y. stepped forward.

"What deal?"

"Your life."

Silence.

Maya looked at C.Y.

Subject 19 continued.

"When the Directorate discovered your potential, they wanted you."

C.Y. clenched his fists.

"Why?"

"Because of what happened before you were born."

C.Y. stared at him.

"What happened?"

Subject 19 looked toward the old laboratory.

"Your mother helped destroy the original experiment."

He paused.

"But one thing survived."

C.Y. waited.

Subject 19 looked at him.

"You."

C.Y.'s expression hardened.

"That's impossible."

"I wish it were."

Maya stepped forward.

"What happened to his father?"

Subject 19 didn't answer.

C.Y. noticed.

"What happened to my father?"

Subject 19 looked at him.

"Your father was Subject 18."

C.Y. froze.

Maya covered her mouth.

"What?"

Subject 19 continued.

"He was the only subject who came close to me."

C.Y.'s voice became quiet.

"Where is he?"

Subject 19 looked away.

"Dead."

The word hit harder than C.Y. expected.

He had never known much about his father.

His mother had always avoided the subject.

Now suddenly everything had changed.

His father had been part of Project Venom.

His mother had worked against it.

And he...

He was the result of something the Directorate had been trying to create for decades.

C.Y. stepped backward.

"No."

Subject 19 approached him.

"Your mother saved you."

"How?"

"She erased your records."

C.Y. stared.

"Then how did they find me?"

Subject 19's expression darkened.

"Because someone betrayed her."

"Who?"

Subject 19 didn't answer.

C.Y. grabbed his jacket.

"Who?"

The man looked at him.

"Mr. Confidence."

---

C.Y. froze.

Maya immediately stepped between them.

"Why?"

Subject 19 looked toward the ceiling.

"Because Mr. Confidence wasn't merely working for the Directorate."

He paused.

"He built the modern Directorate."

C.Y. stared.

"He found the surviving research."

"Yes."

"He found me."

"Yes."

"And he knew my family."

"Yes."

C.Y.'s breathing became heavier.

"Then why didn't he take me when I was fifteen?"

Subject 19 looked at him.

"Because your mother made one final request."

"What?"

"She asked him to leave you alone until you were old enough to choose."

C.Y. stared.

"Choose what?"

Subject 19's eyes hardened.

"Whether you wanted to become Venom..."

He paused.

"...or destroy it."

---

Suddenly, the facility shook.

An explosion echoed through the building.

Subject 19 looked toward the ceiling.

"They're here."

Maya raised her weapon.

"The Directorate?"

Subject 19 nodded.

"They tracked you."

C.Y. looked at him.

"How long do we have?"

"Minutes."

"Then we're leaving."

Subject 19 shook his head.

"No."

C.Y. frowned.

"What?"

"I've been waiting for you."

"For what?"

Subject 19 walked toward a large metal door.

He placed his hand against it.

The door opened.

Behind it was a massive underground chamber.

At the center stood a strange machine surrounded by cables and old equipment.

C.Y. stared.

"What is that?"

"The first Venom chamber."

Maya looked at him.

"Why bring us here?"

Subject 19 turned.

"Because you need to see what your father became."

The machine activated.

A holographic recording appeared.

A young man stood inside the chamber.

C.Y. stared at the image.

He recognized him immediately.

His father.

The recording showed him fighting.

Adapting.

Changing.

Getting faster.

Stronger.

Then the image distorted.

The young man's eyes changed.

C.Y. stepped backward.

"What happened?"

Subject 19 answered quietly.

"He went too far."

The hologram suddenly showed his father turning toward the camera.

For one second, he looked directly at C.Y.

Then the recording ended.

A final message appeared.

SUBJECT 18 — FAILURE.

C.Y. stared at the screen.

Then another message appeared.

SUBJECT 20 — SUCCESSOR.

Maya looked at C.Y.

He didn't speak.

He couldn't.

The facility shook again.

This time, the ceiling cracked.

Subject 19 looked toward the entrance.

"They're coming."

C.Y. slowly raised his weapon.

"Then let them come."

Subject 19 smiled.

For the first time, he looked almost proud.

"Now you're beginning to understand."

Outside the chamber, footsteps echoed.

Dozens of them.

C.Y. stood beside Maya.

Subject 19 stood on his other side.

Three people.

One former subject.

One new subject.

And one person caught between them.

The doors began opening.

C.Y. tightened his fists.

Maya looked at him.

"You ready?"

C.Y. looked toward the incoming soldiers.

"No."

He smiled faintly.

"But I'm getting there."

The doors exploded inward.

And the first wave of Directorate soldiers entered.

C.Y. stepped forward.

This time, he wasn't fighting alone.

And somewhere far away, Mr. Confidence watched the live feed.

His expression was completely different.

Because Subject 19 had returned.

And the two most dangerous subjects Project Venom had ever created were finally standing in the same room.

VENOM had just entered a new phase.