"Damn this world, its morality, rules, and laws! I adhered to all of them, and what did they give me in return?"
A lone man wearing a dirty white lab coat sat in his dilapidated office, his hand grasping an old photograph, its edges soft and worn out.
In it, he could see his younger self smiling happily, standing beside a beautiful woman whose arms cradled a tiny baby boy. A gentle smile rested on her face. In the foreground, a little girl with a ponytail smiled joyfully.
Drip!
A single teardrop landed on the photograph and blurred the faces that held so many precious memories.
"Eila, Anna, Jack. Just a little more... I will see you guys soon," he whispered.
He closed his weary eyes, drifting into his bittersweet memories.
Faust McHollen was once known for his unparalleled intellect and innovation, a prodigy never seen before on Earth.
His life had been painted with the brush strokes of immense success, wealth, popularity, and influence. He had it all. When he was twenty-five, he met his true love, Eila, a beautiful, kindhearted woman who brought joy into his life.
Her long black hair, her beautiful green eyes, and her cheerful attitude all pulled Faust closer to her. They dated, married, and were blessed with two children, a girl and a boy.
His life had been a smooth path, but all things had their end.
With Faust's brilliant achievements and life came the jealous gaze of his competitors and friends.
Not knowing any better, and trusting his "friend," he fell into a devious scam, leading to his invention patent being forcefully seized and his company being lost in the process.
Yet this still did not seem to be enough. Burned by jealousy and fear, his "friend" collaborated with Faust's competitor and orchestrated a heinous scheme.
The result was an unending tragedy that killed his wife, daughter, and son.
Everyone thought he was dead. They laughed with greed as they split apart his wealth, busy fighting among themselves to gain more pieces of the cake.
Unbeknownst to them, they had ignited the ticking time bomb of doomsday.
Despite all odds, Faust survived. At that moment, he swore to take revenge on everyone and everything that had any part in his family's demise.
Beep! Beep! Beep!
An alarm blared, pulling him back to reality.
"Finally, it's finished," he murmured.
Opening his eyes, now filled with unwavering determination, he stood up and left his office.
His footsteps echoed in the empty hallway, and soon, he found himself in a larger room filled with electrical devices and scientific instruments. Shelves were filled with laboratory test tubes, each one containing various colored liquids.
Walking to one of the electrical devices blinking green, he pressed the button. The container opened, and a malevolent grin stretched across his face.
He picked up one of the glass vials. Encased within it was a small worm that writhed and coiled around. A menacing jaw, disproportionate to its size, pointed at Faust as it snapped open and closed.
His eyes blazed with madness.
"Hahaha! I've done it! I've finally done it!"
Faust's hands trembled as he carefully placed the vial back into the device.
"I had given up on revenge," he murmured, recalling Eila's words. "She told me to think of the kids' future."
"I planned to move to another country and live peacefully, but you bunch of mongrels..."
Gritting his teeth, his voice rose in volume and intensity.
"With your pathetic, feeble minds, you dared to lay hands on my family."
Looking around, his hand moved and picked up another vial containing a deep purple liquid.
"Now, with this and the worms, you all will pay."
His memory conjured up the detestable faces of those who had wronged him, and his anger boiled over.
"You all hide behind your status and wealth," he seethed, his voice a low growl. "You wield morality like a weapon to justify your despicable deeds."
His eyes narrowed, and a scornful sneer twisted his features as he continued.
"You manipulate public sentiment to gain support for your sins."
"Now, I will burn it all with you."
He imagined the looks of sheer horror and defeat on their faces once they lost everything, when his plans finally came to fruition.
A maniacal laugh tore from his throat, reverberating through the underground chamber.
"Hahaha! I can't wait for their despair!"
He moved the vial and the worm into another container, securing them in place. Faust then moved to a separate section, revealing a high-tech launch bay with a missile standing ready for launch.
Walking closer to the missile, he accessed a compartment specially engineered for its sinister payload.
Faust mused with chilling calm in his tone.
"The virus within this parasite should be enough. Those who survive this will never repeat the same civilization. By then, the world will be more focused on personal strength."
He uncapped the vial containing the worm, allowing it to tumble into the customized chamber. Its body recoiled upon contact with the cold metal, hissing malevolently at Faust.
Next, he poured the dark purple liquid over the creature. It writhed and screeched in agony as its form disintegrated into a gooey mass, which then began to pulsate and multiply.
Faust's face twisted into a smirk.
"This will do."
With deliberate motions, Faust sealed the container.
He then proceeded to the launch control panel. After pressing a series of buttons, a countdown initialized on the digital display, ticking down from 5:00:00.
"This should be enough time."
Retreating to his office, Faust sat beside the table, cradling a bottle of vodka in his weary hands.
With a resigned sigh, he began to drink deeply, his gaze fixed on the photograph of his family, his heart aching in his chest.
"Dad is coming... I'm so sorry to have kept you all waiting for so long."
He took another gulp of vodka, the liquid burning its path down his throat.
He whispered, "Don't worry, they will pay... The world will pay dearly for what was done to us."
Slowly, he opened the desk drawer and took out a handgun, its cold weight a stark contrast to the warm tears tracing lines down his cheeks.
Moving through the lab, he began to douse all his experimental results and notes with gasoline.
His gaze halted when it landed on a large glass cylinder. Inside it, an organic egg enveloped in a mass of flesh lay suspended in a nutrient-rich solution.
Placing his hand on the cool glass, he spoke in a voice barely audible.
"My only regret is that I never uncovered what you truly are."
From the genetic material found within the strange flesh, Faust had synthesized the virus and parasite.
Despite trying every method and tool he had, the flesh had resisted all attempts to be completely pried open.
"Well, now you and I shall go together to the underworld."
Faust's eyes flickered with an unhinged, frenzied light.
Carefully, he extracted the egg, cradling it in his bare hands and feeling its eerie warmth seep into his skin.
With his other hand, he raised the handgun and fired indiscriminately around the laboratory.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
The glass shattered, splintering into a million fragments as they crashed onto the floor, accompanied by various experimental fluids splattering out and pooling together in chaos.
He withdrew a match, its tiny flame flickering for a moment before he tossed it into the chemical maelstrom below.
Instantly, the lab was consumed by an inferno, flames greedily devouring years of painstaking research and unholy creation.
Sitting down, he put the gun to his head and closed his eyes.
"Bye-bye... this forsaken damned world!"
BANG!
The gunshot rang out with brutal finality as Faust's body crumpled to the floor, blood mingling with the pool of chemicals. The fire began to spread, enveloping him and the egg.
Yet life had a different plan for Faust.
The fleshy cocoon encasing the egg began to tremble violently.
As the fire, fueled by the spilled chemicals, licked its way up, the cocoon emitted a pained, otherworldly scream.
The flesh burned away, revealing a glowing egg, its surface inscribed with strange runes.
Slowly, fractures formed on the egg's surface, and from within emerged a creature composed of a radiant, slimy substance that barely held a tangible form.
An ethereal, feminine voice, laced with gratitude and sorrow, came from it.
"What a tragically sad man you are. The heavens bestowed blessings upon you, yet they never armed you with the resilience born from facing hardship."
"The first true adversity you faced plunged you directly into the abyss of misery."
"You have freed me, and for that, I will help you."
A portion of the creature detached itself and glided toward Faust's lifeless form.
It hovered over his head, where the violent passage of the bullet had marred his once-vibrant mind.
Slowly, the silvery substance began to work, mending the brutal wound.
The luminous entity began to absorb its eggshell, its form undulating and shifting.
Gradually, it transformed into a gilded cocoon, expanding until it matched the size of a fully grown human.
Time passed...
A network of fractures spread across the cocoon.
An ethereal woman adorned with a cascade of golden hair and eyes that seemed to capture the essence of the universe itself stepped out.
Her beauty was transcendent, to the point that labeling her a goddess would be blasphemy.
With a gentle flick of her finger, the ravenous flames around her ceased their destruction, seemingly bowing in reverence.
They morphed into crimson threads that wove themselves around her, materializing into a magnificent dress.
Her ethereal eyes, full of wisdom and untold stories, lingered once more on Faust.
As the liquid enveloped Faust, forming a cocoon that swallowed him entirely, she whispered, "When next we meet, I hope to find you in better shape."
Her form then began to lose its solidity, becoming transparent and diffusing into the surroundings before vanishing without a trace.
Meanwhile, the launch countdown continued.
03
02
01