COVELENT: XenoTrait

"I’m good, man. Hope it’s the same for you. I mean, you look beat," Felix said, his eyes narrowing slightly as he studied Abel.

Abel exhaled through his nose. "I look beat, huh?... Don’t even start with me. I mean, there’s the Mark 8 issue, plus now I have to take care of a traumatized child."

Felix paused a moment, then nodded slowly. "Ohhh... that girl I sent here... Yeah, it’s understandable. I mean, she was tortured."

Abel’s shoulders dropped slightly. "Yes, I know. She looked awful when she came by, and she was crushed with the thing about her parents."

Abel lifted his gaze again. "So did you find out more information about Mark 8... we need that information for our research."

Felix exhaled deeply. "I did get some information... I mean... how could I not?"

Abel stepped closer. "Okay then. Tell me everything you found out. Its origins, structure... everything."

Felix looked at him sharply. "You’re serious?"

Abel didn’t blink. "Yes."

Felix rubbed his jaw slowly, then exhaled. "Alright then..."

He went quiet for a second, gathering his thoughts.

"Mark 8 was not just any virus... It wasn’t just a parasite either. It came from a volcanic eruption. You could say it was the earth itself which created it.

It formed inside hardened volcanic material, sealing itself in a capsule-like structure.

That capsule drifted across the ocean for years until it reached Hawaii."

Felix’s voice dropped slightly. "That’s where humans found it.

Scientists tried to study it, but nothing worked... their tools failed. Melting it, compressing it with pressure, cutting... nothing could open it.

Eventually, it was transported to Russia for advanced containment analysis."

Abel frowned. "And that’s where it broke."

Felix nodded slowly. "That’s where everything started.

When they finally opened it, there was no immediate catastrophe. At first, it looked dormant.

Then slowly, people started growing these crystalline things on their bodies.

When the crystallization began, human bodies started transforming into diamond-like structures."

Abel muttered under his breath. "Turning into diamonds..."

Felix nodded. "Yes, but not like jewelry. It’s structured biological crystallization. The body is still technically alive during the early phase."

Abel’s eyes sharpened. "And the end phase?"

Felix exhaled heavily. "Complete crystallization leads to a secondary formation.

A diamond-shaped rose appears somewhere on the body."

Abel went still. "And then?"

Felix’s voice lowered. "It explodes."

A silence followed.

Abel frowned. "Explodes how?"

Felix looked away slightly. "Compressed biological energy release. Like the entire crystallized structure becomes unstable under pressure."

Felix continued. "That explosion isn’t just destruction... It spreads fragments."

Abel’s expression tightened. "Infection vectors."

Felix nodded. "Exactly.

Airborne fragments, water contamination, contact transmission. The structure adapted over time."

Felix exhaled. "That’s how it spread beyond containment and how Russia became the epicenter."

Abel crossed his arms. "And Markus Cain?"

Felix paused. "One of the only recorded cases of surviving Mark 8... and now he wants everyone to be affected."

Abel let out a short laugh. "And that’s why we are doing this."

Felix continued, "He calls it natural selection."

Abel responded, "I really didn’t expect you to explain it like that."

Felix glanced at him. "What’s that supposed to mean?... Were you not the one who told me to explain it?"

Abel shook his head slightly. "Still wasn’t expecting your reaction."

Felix stretched his neck. "So... the mission progress?"

Abel nodded once. "Let’s go."

Felix paused before stepping forward. "Before that..."

Abel tilted his head. "Hmm?"

Felix exhaled. "I’ve been staying somewhere unusual."

Abel raised an eyebrow. "Unusual how?"

Felix replied flatly. "At my enemy’s base."

Abel stopped walking. "...What?"

Felix continued, "The person I swore revenge on. That’s where I’m staying."

Abel frowned deeply. "That must be tough."

Felix shrugged slightly. "You get used to it."

Abel shook his head. "That doesn’t sound like something you should get used to."

Felix didn’t answer.

They reached the elevator.

"Ding."

The doors opened.

They stepped inside.

Silence filled the small space as it descended.

Abel finally spoke again. "You really changed."

Felix exhaled softly. "Everyone does."

Abel didn’t respond to that.

"Ding."

The doors opened again.

They stepped out into a massive underground laboratory.

Metal structures lined the walls. Glass containment chambers stood in rows. Production units hummed with a low mechanical rhythm.

Abel said, "So is this more advanced than what you expected?"

Felix nodded once. "So... how are the serums?"

Abel walked toward a workstation. "They function... partially."

Felix frowned. "Partially?"

Abel exhaled. "I’m making them by hand... every single unit, and that limits production speed heavily."

Abel tapped a glass vial lightly. "Now that you’re back, scaling becomes possible."

Felix crossed his arms. "Good."

Felix looked around the lab. "How many are stable?"

Abel hesitated. "That’s the issue."

Felix turned his head slightly. "What issue?"

Abel exhaled. "You never gave a precise dosage guideline per vial."

Felix blinked once. "I thought I did."

Abel shook his head. "No."

Felix rubbed his forehead slowly. "It should theoretically work with variable amounts..."

Abel cut in. "Theoretically doesn’t help when instability kills the sample."

Felix paused... then he exhaled. "Then we standardize it based on biological equivalence. Each animal we choose provides its baseline concentration."

Abel nodded slowly. "So normalization by origin."

Felix nodded back. "Yes."

Abel leaned back slightly. "Even then, stability is inconsistent."

Felix admitted quietly. "That’s why they aren’t functioning properly."

Abel clicked his tongue. "Haa... if only you weren’t drunk when you started this entire thing."

Felix went silent.

For a moment, the lab hum filled the space.

Then Felix spoke in a low tone. "I wasn’t stable."

Abel glanced at him. "Yeah... no kidding."

Felix’s voice tightened slightly. "It was after I killed a man."

Abel frowned. "We’ve been over this."

Felix shook his head slowly. "No... we haven’t."

His gaze dropped slightly. "He trusted me. He believed I could save him... he endured everything I told him to endure."

Felix’s hand slowly clenched as a memory surfaced.

A restrained patient on a bed.

"Doctor... what is happening to me...? Why is this happening... please... do something..." the patient held Felix’s hand. "I trust you..."

Felix let go of his hand and ran to a table of instruments and grabbed a sedative. His hands were shaking.

The patient screamed, "Doc... doctor, what is happening to meeeeee?" His stomach started growing and growing nonstop. "Please stop... stop this!"

Then, before Felix could do anything, the man’s stomach blew up in an explosion of blood and guts.

Silence filled the room.

Felix stumbled to the floor, vomiting.

His hands were shaking.

A voice behind him. "You’re fired."

Felix blinked hard.

Abel snapped his fingers in front of him.

"Hey... come back."

A sharp slap across his awareness.

Felix spoke angrily. "Jack Pumedow fired me when it was his fault..."

Abel stepped back. "Let’s go back up."

"Ding."

They reached the top floor.

A hallway stretched ahead, then a voice suddenly echoed, "Is it you?!"

Abel immediately responded. "Go back."

The voice didn’t stop.

"Wait! Is that the mister who saved me?"

Felix turned slightly.

"...Hello... how are you?"

A girl stepped forward quickly. Her eyes brightened instantly.

"I knew it was you, Mister Felix!"

"I forgot to say thank you... for saving me."

Felix exhaled softly. "It’s good to see you’re okay."

Abel interrupted, "...Come back tomorrow. Felix isn’t feeling very good."

Amme smiled faintly. "Okay... I will come tomorrow since you’re not feeling very well."

She lowered her head and slowly walked away.

Abel watched her leave. "She’s attached."

Felix replied calmly. "She’s alive."

Abel frowned. "That’s not what I meant."

Felix nodded slightly. "I know."

Silence returned once more.

Abel finally spoke again. "We’ve got another issue."

Felix glanced at him. "What now?"

Abel’s tone dropped. "A Mark 8 spike was detected in a new region."

Felix’s eyes sharpened instantly.

Abel continued. "Not Russia, not Hawaii. Somewhere else entirely."

Felix exhaled slowly. "It’s spreading faster."

Abel nodded. "And the serum we’re developing... isn’t stable enough to deploy."

Felix looked down at his hand.

For a moment, silence again.

Then Felix spoke quietly.

"Then we fix it."

Abel raised an eyebrow. "That simple?"

Felix’s eyes hardened slightly. "Nothing about this is simple."

He turned slightly toward the lab below. "But if it spreads any further... there won’t be anything left to fix."

Abel didn’t respond immediately.

Then he exhaled. "Yeah."

The machines below continued to hum.

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