The silence in the subterranean laboratory was oppressive. Not the kind born from peace, but the kind birthed from precision—machines humming just beneath audible range, fluid circulating through glass tubes, and the rhythmic tick of Alex's biometric monitor as he stood before the containment unit.
Inside the reinforced chamber, the vampire lay suspended in a liquid stasis field. Its pale body, wiry and lean, was marked by centuries of predatory evolution. Red irises flicked open beneath closed lids the moment Alex keyed in a scan.
"He's awake," Alex noted.
His voice echoed slightly, not from volume but from the acoustics of the lab carved beneath the Virelli manor—once a bunker for hiding; now a crucible of forbidden science.
"Subject Zero-One," Alex murmured into his recorder, eyes scanning the diagnostic holo-interface. "True vampire. Age estimated between 320–350 years. Genetic integrity: stable. Healing factor: active even in stasis. Immune to all sedatives."
The vampire twitched.
Alex tapped a control panel. The fluid drained slowly, the chamber depressurizing with a hiss. The moment the door hissed open, the vampire lunged.
It didn't make it past the invisible barrier.
Electric shock lit up the cell, knocking the creature back mid-pounce. It collapsed, growling through bared fangs.
"Crude," Alex said, unimpressed. "You're not thinking. Just reacting."
The vampire snarled. "Human... you will die slowly."
Alex stared, emotionless. "Incorrect. You will evolve."
---
Marcus watched from the observation corridor above, arms crossed, face unreadable.
"You're not going to kill it?" he asked.
Alex turned slightly toward the intercom. "Not yet. I want to splice it."
Evelyn's voice joined in through the auxiliary speaker. "Splice what? You're talking about merging its DNA with your own?"
Alex nodded. "Not immediately. First, I need a stable hybrid cell line. If successful, I'll gain regenerative traits, enhanced physicality, and possibly longevity—without bloodlust."
Marcus's jaw tightened. "That's a dangerous assumption."
"Danger is relative," Alex replied.
He turned back to the vampire. "Begin sequence."
Robotic arms descended. The vampire thrashed as needles punched into its arms, spine, and skull. Alex recorded every data point—mitochondrial activity, mutagenic responses, and synaptic overgrowth.
The vampire's scream was deafening.
But Alex didn't blink.
---
Over the next three days, Alex worked non-stop.
He mapped the vampire genome like a cartographer tracing a lost continent—finding rivers of blood anomalies, mountains of regenerative enzymes, and canyons where normal DNA dared not tread.
The hybrid test began on a series of cloned stem cells. Most combusted. Some liquefied. One... stabilized.
"Subject Delta-13," Alex whispered, watching the dish. The cell split, then again, and again—fast, controlled, uncorrupted. "It lives."
Marcus entered the lab at dawn, finding Alex asleep upright against a console. The boy's face was drawn, fingers twitching even in sleep.
"You need rest."
Alex woke instantly. "Delta-13 stabilized. I need to begin live tissue graft."
Marcus frowned. "You're rushing. This isn't a mechanical prototype. You're dealing with consciousness. Biology. Evolution."
Alex looked at him, eyes strangely distant. "And what is consciousness if not a series of biological functions housed in a predictable machine? I'm already more evolved. I can do this."
---
The vampire watched silently now, its fury tempered by curiosity.
"You're trying to become me," it said.
Alex approached. "No. I'm trying to become better."
He held up a small injector. Inside swirled a silver-blue serum—Delta-13 synthesized into a human-compatible graft.
"Let's begin."
---
The pain was immediate.
Alex collapsed, clutching his head as nanoscopic enzymes raced through his bloodstream. His body fought back—rejecting, mutating, adapting. Cells died, and were reborn seconds later. Bones cracked. Muscles spasmed.
And then... silence.
His eyes opened.
For a moment, they gleamed red.
---
The next week blurred into raw discovery. Alex no longer needed rest. His wounds healed within seconds. His hearing picked up whispers three rooms away. He moved faster than any camera could track.
Yet the thirst—he expected it. Monitored for it. Controlled it.
"No bloodlust," he said to himself, tapping his arm. "No need. But… hunger for light. Ultraviolet reactions increasing. Sunlight may be lethal."
Evelyn sat with Marcus in the manor library, both watching Alex through hidden monitors.
"He's changing," she whispered. "Too fast. Too deep."
Marcus didn't speak. He knew. He'd seen it before—in others, in himself. But never like this.
---
Alex entered the vampire's cell a week later.
"I've succeeded."
The vampire looked up. It smelled the change.
"You're one of us now."
Alex shook his head. "I'm something new. You're obsolete."
The vampire lunged—out of rage, maybe desperation.
Alex moved. A blur. Faster than thought.
The vampire fell to the ground, throat sliced open by Alex's hand alone.
"You were the past. I am the prototype."
He turned away, voice cold.
"Experiment complete."
---
In the dark of the chamber, a shadow stirred.
A second vampire.
Caged, unnoticed until now. Eyes glowing with interest.
"So the boy makes monsters... interesting."