Chapter 400: Chapter 400
The atmosphere inside of the elevator was dreadful to say the least, a sense of heaviness and unease that tugged at Adam’s mind.
Perhaps it was because of the change in Melanie’s demeanor or the tension he had sensed from Arachne towards her but Adam was very uncomfortable.
Melanie didn’t seem to notice his discomfort, instead interpreting it as a sign of him just being awkward with her, something she found totally endearing.
Unable to bear her yammering about the menial things that happened in his absence, he spoke up to ask the question that was on his mind.
"So what is this project that you want to show me so badly?"
Melanie looked disappointed for a second before she pivoted back to a smile and said 3 words: "New World Tech."
That caused Adam to frown even more. Not only did that not explain anything, it only raised more questions.
Adam frowned even more. Not only did that not explain anything, it only raised more questions. The slow hum of the elevator and the faint mechanical scent in the air seemed to press against his thoughts, making each one heavier than the last.
Melanie’s smile did not waver. "It is something that will change everything," she said lightly. "Something you could never have imagined before the system."
He kept his eyes on her, carefully measuring each word she spoke. Her casual tone, the brightness in her eyes, made his skin crawl.
"It... it brings people back?" The thought formed in his mind even as he tried to suppress it. He did not speak aloud, but the weight of it pressed down on him.
"Yes," Melanie said, as if confirming the most obvious thing in the world. "Within a certain area, anyone who dies can return. But there is a limit." She tilted her head, clearly expecting him to guess. "Once every twenty-four hours. The body recovers more slowly than normal, and the process leaves them temporarily weakened, but they return."
Adam’s jaw clenched. The elevator continued its slow descent, the dim light casting sharp shadows on the walls. His mind was cold, calculating.
He did not ask how many people had already been used in these trials. He did not ask how many would die before the technology was perfected. He knew the answer. Each failure was permanent. Each trial left a corpse behind.
Melanie’s voice softened, proud of her creation. "The Respawn Beacon is unlike anything else in the world. It turns death into a temporary inconvenience. Imagine the possibilities. Soldiers who never fear the battlefield. Workers who survive accidents. Explorers who can push further than anyone else. It is... freeing."
Adam felt a chill run down his spine. Freedom. That was the word she had chosen for this horror. The casualness of it made him want to retch.
He did not speak. He did not need to. His thoughts were sharp and clear, slicing through the fog of her enthusiasm. This invention, this monstrous thing she called progress, was built on lives. Endless lives sacrificed in sterile rooms, perfected through trial and error.
He could feel the conviction solidifying in his chest. The family had crossed a line from which there could be no return. Their obsession with progress, with defying the natural order, had blinded them to morality. They had to be stopped. Every one of them.
He kept his expression neutral, though inside, the ice around his heart was thickening. He did not flinch when Melanie continued to speak.
"How did we achieve it?" she asked casually, sensing his hesitation. "It was not easy, of course. We had to experiment. Fail, try again, observe the limits. Some of the early tests... did not survive. That is how we learned."
Adam’s stomach tightened. Trial and error. A phrase that sounded harmless, almost playful. But he felt it for what it really was: the sound of lives snuffed out in the name of ambition.
He did not respond. There was no need. The elevator slowed as it approached the lower levels. The soft mechanical hum grew louder, and a faint metallic scent mixed with something acrid. The air seemed to press against him, heavy and unnatural. Thıs text ıs hosted at n͟o͟v͟e͟l͟f͟i͟r͟e͟.net
Melanie smiled faintly. "It will change the world. You will see soon. Nothing will ever be the same."
He followed her out as the doors opened. The cold, sterile air washed over him, carrying with it the faint hum of machinery, the scent of ozone, and the unspoken weight of what had been done to reach this point.
He saw her walk ahead, proud and unbothered, the picture of someone who had done nothing wrong. And yet he knew exactly what had happened here.
The Respawn Beacon. An invention built on the corpses of people whose deaths had been treated as necessary data points. Lives spent to refine something that should never exist.
Adam’s thoughts were cold and silent, precise and unyielding. This family, with its brilliance turned monstrous, had to be destroyed. Every last one of them. Not with anger, not with hate, but with the certainty that they had become a danger beyond reckoning.
The doors closed behind them with a soft chime.
The hum of machinery and the scent of metal hung in the air but Adam was still able to smell what was hidden beneath copious amounts of disinfectants: blood.
Jeremy was in the centre of the room, analyzing something on the tablet in front of him as the whirr of an engine rang softly in the background.
He had become a lot skinnier in the time that had passed since Adam’s departure. Perhaps caught up in his research, neglecting meals and sleep had become the norm for him.
As the automatic glass door opened with Melanie and Adam stepping inside, Jeremy didn’t even look up as he disdainfully remarked "Go away. I have no time to entertain any pedantic questions you may have."
Melanie had a slight frown on her face as she took a step forward and coldy replied "Is that any way to act in front of the acting CEO?"
Jeremy froze on the spot, his head slowly looking up from the tablet as he turned around to see Adam next to Melanie.
The expression he revealed in that moment matched exactly how Adam felt inside as he looked at his brother: Disgust