Sydney, Behind the Glittering City

Lazarus Effect

Leo gripped the steering wheel of their stolen car, his eyes aching from lack of sleep. Beside him, Marcus tended to the wound on his shoulder - the result of the fight with the figure disguised as Sarah last night. Aurora was asleep in the backseat, exhausted after using her powers to save them.

“Shapeshifter,” Marcus muttered, injecting something into her arm. “Thompson's got a new toy apparently.”

“Where's the real Sarah?” Leo asked for the umpteenth time. His head was still throbbing remembering how 'Sarah' had almost strangled him to death, before Aurora had blown out the van's glass and forced the intruder to jump out.

“If their pattern is still the same as before...” Marcus grimaced with pain, “Facility B-7. The seventh basement under the Oracle Corp building.”

“You know too much for a 'former' agent.”

Marcus smiled faintly. “And you know too little for the son of Richard Hayes.”

That name again. Leo tightened his grip on the steering wheel. “Tell me about my father.”

“Not now,” Marcus looked back, making sure Aurora was still sleeping. “But I'll tell you one thing - the chip in Aurora's brain? That's technology your father developed.”

Leo almost slammed the steering wheel in surprise. “What?”

“Project Pantheon needed a way to control their subjects. Richard... he's a genius at neural interfaces. But when he found out Thompson was going to use it to control Rachel...” Marcus was silent for a moment. “Well, let's just say your father has too high morals for this world.”

They passed a road sign pointing the way to Northumberland. The rain was still falling lightly, creating a light mist that made the road seem to disappear in the distance.

“We need help,” Leo finally said. “Catherine...”

“She's dead,” Marcus cut in coldly. “The poison they used... there's no cure.”

Leo swore under his breath. Another life lost to a secret he didn't even fully understand.

“But I know someone who can help,” Marcus continued. “A doctor who used to work at Project Pantheon. He's... special.”

“Special how?”

“He can't die.”

Leo turned his head sharply, but before he could ask further, the burner phone they bought on the street rang. Marcus picked it up, listened for a moment, then his face hardened.

“Turn back,” he ordered. “Now.”

“Why?”

“Thompson just sent an assassination team to your mom's house.”

Leo slammed on the brakes suddenly, startling Aurora awake.

“Dad?” she blinked in confusion. “What's wrong...”

“Put your seat belt on,” Leo turned the car 180 degrees at high speed. “We're going to pick up Grandma.”

In the back seat, Aurora hugged her bag tightly - the bag containing the laptop they'd taken from home, with all the Project Oracle data Leo had managed to d******d. She had no idea what it contained, but Thompson would kill to get it back.

They drove through the pouring rain. Leo tried to call his mother's house, but there was no answer. His mind was racing - why was Thompson after his mother? What did he know?

“There's something you should know about your mother,” Marcus said as if reading his mind. “Her real name wasn't Helen Hayes.”

Leo felt his stomach churn. “What do you mean?”

“She was Dr. Helena Volkov. One of Project Pantheon's first scientists.”

Aurora gasped in the background. “Grandma... the chip maker?”

“No,” Marcus shook his head. “She created you.”

Their car cut through the fog. In the distance, the Newcastle sky glowed reddish - unnatural for this early hour.

“Red Aurora...” Leo whispered.

“Yeah,” Marcus nodded. “That name... isn't just a reference to my genes or my biological daughter. It's a phenomenon that happens when someone with a special gene loses total control. And from what I can see...” he stared at the red aurora in the sky, ”your mother is fighting for her life.”

Leo stepped deeper into the gas. His head is filled with questions - about his mother, his father, Project Pantheon, and the mystery behind the Red Aurora. But one thing he knew for sure - he wasn't going to lose anyone again.

In the sky, the red aurora glowed brighter and brighter, like blood spilled on a cloud. And somewhere in the mist, someone - or something - waited.

The figure stood on the roof of a tall building, her silvery hair fluttering in the wind. His golden eyes watched Leo's car from afar, his lips forming a faint smile.

“Target to location,” he spoke into his earpiece. “Project Lazarus ready to activate.”

“Very good, Agent Ruby,” Thompson's voice sounded from the other side. “But remember - I want them alive.”

Ruby - or the figure posing as Sarah - touched the burn mark on her neck, a gift from Aurora.

“As ordered, sir,” she replied. “But if they resist...”

“Do what needs to be done. We need their blood... and their genetic code.”

Ruby cut off communication, then leapt from the twenty-story building with inhuman grace. Phase two of the hunt was about to begin.

And this time, she would not fail.

The fog grew thicker as they entered the residential area where Leo's mother lived. The streets were unnaturally quiet - no cars, no people walking their dogs as usual in the morning.

“It's a trap,” Marcus pulled out his gun.

“I know.” Leo stopped the car two blocks from his mother's house. “But we have no choice.”

“Dad,” Aurora whispered from the back seat. “I feel something... like static electricity in the air.”

Marcus turned his head sharply. “How many?”

“Five... no, seven. But they're... different. Like Ruby but weaker.”

“Lazarus Batch-2,” Marcus swore under his breath. “Thompson really pulled out all his trump cards.”

“What's Lazarus?” Leo asked while checking his ammunition.

“Later. Now listen - they may be shapeshifters, but they have a weakness. Their retinas will glow golden when exposed to bright light. And they can't maintain their false form for more than two hours.”

“Great,” Leo snorted. “So we just need to shine a flashlight in the eyes of everyone we meet.”

“Or,” Marcus pulled something out of his pocket - a small grenade with blue liquid inside. “We could use this. UV bomb. It'll burn their skin in an instant.”

Suddenly, their burner phones vibrated. A video call from an unknown number. Leo picked it up hesitantly.

His mother's face appeared on the screen. She looked older than Leo remembered - her hair was now completely white, and there was a scar across her cheek.

“Leo,” she said in a Russian accent Leo had never heard before. “I'm sorry, Mama. I should have told you earlier...”

“Mom, are you okay? Where-”

“Listen,” Helen - or Helena - cut in. “Code Red Seven Alpha Three. Repeat: Code Red Seven Alpha Three.”

Marcus gasped. “Helena, don't-”

Too late. In the next second, the house Helen was in exploded in a blood-red fireball. The explosion was so powerful that their car shook even two blocks away.

“NO!” Leo was about to get out, but Marcus held him back.

“Wait,” he pointed in the direction of the explosion. The soaring flames slowly formed a strange pattern - like writing in a language Leo didn't recognize.

Aurora took out her cell phone, taking a picture of the fire writing before it disappeared. “What does it mean?”

“Coordinates,” Marcus muttered. “And the date... July 7, 1989. The day Rachel was born.”

“Also the day I lost my father,” Leo added, his throat constricted.

They were silent for a moment, digesting what had just happened. Then Aurora shouted, “Dad, look out!”

A hand pierced through the side glass, gripping Leo's neck. Outside, a figure resembling his mother's neighbor - the affable Mr. Wilson - grinned with golden glittering eyes.

Marcus reacted quickly, firing a UV bomb into the attacker's face. Mr. Wilson's skin instantly blistered, peeling off like burnt paper, revealing the silvery flesh underneath.

“Run!” Marcus pushed Aurora out of the other side of the car as more “neighbors” emerged from the fog, their eyes glistening like cats'.

They ran through the backyards of the houses, while the Lazarus gave chase. Leo could hear the sound of tearing skin as their pursuers morphed - leaving their human masks behind.

“To the right!” Marcus shouted. “The old factory!”

They turned into a long-closed textile factory complex. Marcus shot the lock off the side door, and they slipped inside just as the rain returned - this time carrying a strange metallic scent.

“They're calling for reinforcements,” Marcus caught his breath. “We have five minutes before the second team arrives.”

Leo peered out the window. The fog had turned reddish, and in it he could see shadows moving in an unnatural way - like giant crawling insects.

“Marcus,” Leo gulped. “What exactly did Thompson create at Project Oracle?”

“Not Thompson,” Marcus shook his head. “Helena... your mother. She started it all. A project to make humans more than just humans. Thompson just took over and twisted the original goal.”

“And Rachel? Red Aurora?”

“An accident. Or at least that's what Helena said. While trying to combine DNA with... something they found. Something that wasn't supposed to exist on this Earth.”

Aurora, who had been silent, suddenly said, “I remember.”

The two men turned to her.

“I remember Rachel,” Aurora continued, her eyes beginning to glow red. “In my dreams. She was always there, trying to tell me something. About... the door.”

“The door?” Leo asked.

But before Aurora could answer, something big hit the roof of the factory. Metal groaned, and red rain started seeping in from the cracks.

“They're here,” Marcus raised his gun. “And this time, they brought Alpha.”

Leo looked up just as the roof collapsed. The figure that fell in was not human - or at least, not anymore. Its body was three meters tall, its skin was like molten metal that glowed reddish, and its eyes... its eyes were exactly like Rachel's in Aurora's dream.

“Well, well,” the figure said in a voice that sounded like hundreds of people talking simultaneously. “I finally found my little sister.”

And suddenly Leo understood - the figure before them was Rachel. Or at least, what was left of her after Project Oracle was done with her.