Chapter 69: Shadows in Berlin

 

Berlin, Germany. Kreuzberg District. Three Days Later.

The freight train screeched to a halt in the industrial outskirts of Berlin. Three figures jumped from a moving boxcar, landing in the snow-covered gravel. They were filthy. They were exhausted. But they were here.

"Berlin," Dr. Braun shivered, lighting a cigarette he had bummed from a hobo in Munich. "The city of ghosts and bad techno."

Sebastian pulled his collar up. He was wearing a oversized military surplus jacket they had stolen from a clothesline in Poland. He looked less like a billionaire and more like a veteran of a forgotten war. "Where is Klaus?" Sebastian asked, his voice rough from the cold.

"He doesn't have an address," Braun hailed a passing taxi (using the last of their cash). "He lives in The Bunker."

---

[The Bunker]

"Der Bunker" Nightclub. 2:00 AM.

The bass was so heavy it vibrated in Sebastian’s teeth. Thump. Thump. Thump. The club was located in a massive, abandoned WWII air-raid shelter. Concrete walls covered in neon graffiti. Thousands of bodies dancing in a trance.

Sebastian leaned on his cane, overwhelmed by the sensory overload. The flashing lights triggered a migraine behind his eyes. "This is a laboratory?" he shouted over the music.

"It's the perfect cover!" Braun shouted back, pushing through the sweaty crowd. "The power consumption of the servers is hidden by the club's sound system! The heat signature is masked by the dancers!"

They reached a heavy steel door marked [ HIGH VOLTAGE - DO NOT ENTER ]. Braun punched a code into the keypad. Buzz. The door opened.

Inside, the music was muffled. The air was sterile and cold. It was a high-tech lab. Monitors lined the walls, displaying complex protein structures. In the center, sitting in a dentist's chair, was a man with a neon-green mohawk, tattoos covering his face, and a lab coat over a leather vest. He was eating a doner kebab with one hand and typing on a holographic keyboard with the other.

Dr. Klaus. The Mad Scientist of Berlin.

"Braun!" Klaus spun around. "You owe me twenty euros for that kidney I 3D-printed for you last year."

"I brought you something better than money," Braun stepped aside. He pointed to Harper. "Show him."

---

[The God Protocol]

Harper walked forward. She placed the Micro-SD card on the messy desk. "Project Helios," she said.

Klaus stopped chewing. He dropped the kebab. He picked up the card with tweezers, treating it like a radioactive isotope. "No way," he whispered. "The Holy Grail."

He slotted it into his mainframe. Screens flickered to life. Code cascaded down like green rain. A 3D model of a DNA double helix appeared. It was rotating, but parts of it were... glowing red.

"Incredible," Klaus muttered, his fingers flying across the keyboard. "This isn't just a cure. It's a rewrite."

"Can you synthesize it?" Sebastian asked, stepping out of the shadows. "Can you stop the degeneration?"

Klaus looked at Sebastian. He scanned him with a handheld device. "You are the Sterling Subject?" Klaus whistled. "Your telomeres are unraveling faster than a cheap sweater. You should be dead."

"I'm stubborn," Sebastian said.

"I can make the serum," Klaus said. "But you need to understand what this code is." He pointed to the red sections of the DNA. "This is CRISPR-Cas9 on steroids. It doesn't just fix the error. It opens a 'backdoor' in your genetic code."

"A backdoor?" Harper frowned.

"It's called the God Protocol," Klaus explained. "Once I inject this, your DNA becomes writable. Like a USB drive. If someone wanted to... they could upload a virus. Or a kill switch. Or turn you into a blue-eyed obedient soldier."

Sebastian went cold. That was why the Syndicate wanted it. Not to cure him. But to own him. If he took this cure, he would be free of pain. But he would be vulnerable to anyone with the "admin password."

"Do it," Sebastian said.

"Sebastian!" Harper grabbed his arm. "Did you hear him? It's a trap!"

"It's a chance," Sebastian looked at her. "I'd rather be a hacked human than a dead one. If I'm alive, I can fight. If I'm dead, I can't protect you."

He sat in the dentist's chair. "Cook it, Klaus."

---

[The Signal]

Outside the Club. A 24-Hour Convenience Store.

Dr. Braun had stepped out for a smoke. He realized he was out of cigarettes. He walked into the 'Späti' (late-night store). He reached into his pocket. He realized he had no cash left. But tucked in his wallet was an old Emergency Credit Card. A dummy account he hadn't used in five years.

Surely one pack won't hurt, he thought. The Syndicate isn't watching a random store in Berlin.

He tapped the card. Beep. [ Transaction Approved. ]

3,000 Miles Away. New York. Syndicate HQ.

A red light blinked on a massive server map. [ ALERT: Dr. Heinrich Braun. Active Transaction. Berlin, Kreuzberg. ]

A man in a grey suit watched the screen. He picked up a phone. "We found them." "Activate The Cleaners in Germany. No survivors."

---

[The Injection]

Back in the lab. Klaus held a syringe filled with a glowing blue liquid. "This is going to hurt," Klaus grinned. "A lot."

"I'm used to it," Sebastian gripped the armrests.

Klaus plunged the needle into Sebastian’s chest, directly into the heart. Sebastian screamed. His back arched. His veins turned black, then blue, then back to normal. The pain was blinding. It felt like his blood was boiling.

And then... silence. Sebastian slumped in the chair. He didn't move.

"Sebastian?" Harper shook him. "Sebastian!"

No response. The monitor flatlined. [ HEART RATE: 0 ]

"Klaus!" Harper screamed, pulling out her gun and aiming it at the punk scientist. "What did you do?!"

"Rebooting," Klaus said calmly, checking his watch. "Wait for it..."

Thump. On the monitor, a single spike. Thump. Thump. Stronger. Faster. [ HEART RATE: 65 ] (Normal)

Sebastian’s eyes flew open. The golden iris was brighter than ever. He took a deep breath. He looked at his hands. The tremors were gone. He stood up. Without the cane. He walked. One step. Two steps. No pain.

He looked at Harper. He smiled. A real, painless smile. "I'm back."

BOOM. The steel door of the lab exploded inward. Smoke filled the room. Laser sights cut through the dust.

"Cleaners!" Braun shouted, running back in from the hallway. "They found us!"

Sebastian looked at the door. He cracked his knuckles. He felt stronger than he had in ten years. "Good timing," Sebastian said. "I needed to test the upgrade."

(End of Chapter 69)