Something in the air shifted.
The tension was still there, but now it pulsed with something new—hope, maybe. Or destiny, warming up behind the curtain.
Saro stepped forward, eyes lit up like twin sparks.
"So… I'll change, right?" he asked, breath quickening.
Veylan didn't face him at first. He turned only slightly, voice colder than before.
"Change?" he repeated. "Why do you think that?"
Saro raised his fists in mock celebration, grinning.
"You know—strength! Speed! Smarts! Maybe even better looks while we're at it."
He gave a small laugh, but Veylan didn't return it. He turned fully, face unreadable.
"No," he said flatly.
Saro blinked.
Veylan held up the vial. The red liquid inside churned violently like a storm in a bottle.
"It doesn't give you powers," Veylan said. "It replaces your blood."
Saro's smile slowly faded.
"This stuff fuses with what's already inside you. Mutates it. Strengthens it," Veylan continued. "Your immunity will spike. Your senses sharpen. Your cells—rebuilt, faster, stronger. Thought processes accelerated. Healing—near instant."
He paused.
"Everything your human blood was designed to do… this will push it to the edge."
Saro's hands trembled—not from fear, but exhilaration. His grin returned, wider now.
"That's… awesome!" he shouted. "Give it to me—now!"
But Veylan didn't move.
Instead, he stepped forward—slowly. The glow from the vial painted shadows under his eyes.
"You're not going to enjoy that new self," he said, voice grim.
Saro blinked.
"…What do you mean?"
The light in the lab shifted—just slightly. Colder. Bluer.
Veylan's eyes narrowed.
"Because the world's new savior has already been chosen."
Saro's excitement faltered. His stomach sank.
"…What are you saying?"
Veylan didn't break eye contact.
"You, Saro," he said. "You can stop Riven. No one else. Only you."
Saro staggered back, like the words physically shoved him.
"H-hold on—where are we going with this?" he said, voice cracking.
Veylan took another step forward, calm and precise.
"I'm not giving you this for your new life," he said. "I'm giving it to you… for ours."
The words landed like a punch.
Saro stared up at him, expression collapsing under the weight of it all.
"…Why me?" he asked. "Why not you? You survived it…"
Veylan raised one hand, slowly pressing it to his chest.
"Because I'm not human," he said.
Silence.
Saro's eyes went wide.
"You're… what?!"
Veylan smiled faintly.
"I'm a superhuman now," he said. "Something between man and machine."
He walked to a sealed panel at the edge of the room. With a swipe of his hand, it slid open, revealing a chamber filled with faint circuitry, humming tubes, and a soft glow from deep within.
"Let me explain something else," he said, gesturing inside.
A hologram flickered to life—overlaying a diagram of a human torso with one distinct addition: a glowing orb pulsing from the center of the chest, veins of energy branching out like circuitry.
"The Phasecore," Veylan's voice echoed. "The mechanical heart. The pulse behind the bots we created."
"It pumps Energy Fluid," he continued. "Just like your heart pumps blood."
Images blinked across the air—bots in mid-air combat, firing bursts of lightning, flying through electrical storms like gods of metal and thunder.
"But unlike us… it gives them control over electricity. Circuits. Overload bursts. Neural surges."
Back in the present, the hologram dimmed. Saro stood frozen.
"…And you have one?" he asked softly.
Veylan nodded and tapped his chest. A soft mechanical thump sounded—too precise to be natural.
"It's why I'm still alive at 112," he said. "And why…"
He paused, meeting Saro's eyes.
"…I chose you."