Chimera

Liam Jones slowly opened his eyes in the hospital bed.

"Did I... succeed?"

He cautiously raised a hand. With a thought, the color and texture of his arm slowly assimilated with the white wall behind him until it blended almost perfectly into the background.

Then his gaze shifted to the ceramic cup on the bedside table, printed with a cheap pattern. As he concentrated, blurry red and blue spots began to emerge across the skin of his arm. Though somewhat sluggish, that familiar sense of control over his own cells had truly returned!

This was his ability, Optical Camouflage. Like a chameleon, he could blend perfectly into his surroundings, making it difficult for others to notice anything unusual even at close range.

"It's back... it's all back..."

Liam covered his eyes and cried. Having regained the ability he had lost, he could not stop tears of emotion from streaming down his face.

He had once been a professional thief, using Optical Camouflage to amass considerable wealth in his youth. But in this era of dwindling mutants, his power had faded with time, and his spirit had been worn away as well.

But now, at this Essex Corporation medical center, he had been reborn.

Praise God!

Not long afterward, Liam carried his canvas bag out of the medical center as the doctors warmly bid him farewell.

He looked back at the magnificent building that had given him a second life. Its marble exterior gleamed in the sunlight, and the emblem atop the building seemed to look down upon all beneath it.

But his gaze did not linger on the emblem for long. Instead, he instinctively swept over the model numbers of the exterior cameras, the gaps between security guards' shift changes, and the third-floor window latch that seemed not to be fully closed.

A thought gradually took clear shape in his mind.

This technology was so miraculous... If he could steal a few drug samples or some technical data and sell them somewhere else...

With his abilities restored, the instincts of a professional thief and his desire for wealth stirred Liam's long-dormant ambition back to life.

Night was a thief's finest cloak.

After nightfall, Liam Jones pressed himself tightly against the building's cold glass curtain wall. The colors and textures of his body flowed with the shifting neon lights behind him. His recovered ability felt even more natural than it had in his youth, and he could even sense himself becoming one with the building.

The medical center's internal security system was top-notch, complete with infrared beams, motion sensors, and pressure detectors. But before a ghost capable of bending light, they were all useless.

Like an invisible gust of wind, Liam moved through the corridors, precisely calculating the sound of the patrolling guards' footsteps. In the final second before the thick alloy doors of the central laboratory sealed shut, he slipped sideways inside.

"Okay, the operation begins," he muttered softly. His camouflage faded, revealing a smug smile.

His objective was clear—those pharmaceuticals and technical documents that looked expensive at a glance.

Liam expertly pried open a refrigerated cabinet. Trusting his professional instincts, he stuffed anything brightly colored or faintly glowing in the dim light into his bag. Who cared what it was? Pretty things always fooled people.

Before leaving, he casually grabbed a portable terminal containing data, fully satisfied and ready to call it a night.

The instant he turned around, a faint chill brushed against his ankle.

It was not an illusion. It was a current of air.

As an experienced thief, he was extremely sensitive to unusual changes in his surroundings. He crouched down, bringing his eyes level with the floor, and carefully examined the corner. There, he discovered a nearly imperceptible gap between the metal wall panel and the floor.

He reached out and felt around nearby, quickly finding a slightly recessed area. After hesitating for a moment... his confidence in his abilities and his greed ultimately overcame his reason, and he gently pressed it.

No alarm sounded. There was only a dull mechanical noise as a section of floor in the corner silently slid aside, revealing a pitch-black passage leading downward.

Liam's heart skipped a beat, then his eyes lit up.

An entrance hidden this deeply had to contain even more valuable treasures!

Without hesitation, he slipped inside and began exploring the darkness.

The passage was long and continued downward. The air grew colder and colder, carrying a strong chemical smell similar to formaldehyde.

Several minutes later, he finally saw a faint light. It was not white, but a ghostly green, accompanied by a low, rhythmic hum, as if some kind of machinery was operating.

As he continued forward, fear began to spread through Liam's heart. He gradually realized that he might have accidentally uncovered some shocking secret.

But it was already too late.

He seemed to have forgotten why he had come. He only knew to keep moving forward, mechanically putting one foot in front of the other.

At last, he emerged from the passage.

"...!!!"

At that moment, the sight before him made him forget how to breathe!

What lay ahead was not a storage room at all, but a vast underground space so empty it inspired dread! Rows upon rows of enormous cylindrical incubation tanks towered through the darkness as far as the eye could see. Each emitted a grim green glow, and the low hum came from within them.

Twisted, savage humanoid silhouettes slowly rose and fell inside the fluid-filled tanks. There were nearly a hundred at a glance!

"Chimera T09-014, codename 'Collision.' Genetic sources: Cain Marko, Juggernaut; Piotr Rasputin, Colossus... The monster inside is still developing."

"Chimera N13-005, codename 'Seraph.' Genetic sources: Warren Worthington III, Angel; Scott Summers, Cyclops... Empty."

"Chimera K02-023, codename 'Night Demon.' Genetic sources: Kurt Wagner, Nightcrawler; Victor Creed, Sabretooth... Empty."

"Chimera A01-019, codename 'Stalker.' Genetic sources: Liam Jones, Chameleon; Anna Marie, Rogue... Empty."

"Chimera C14-112, codename 'Barrage.' Genetic sources: Remy LeBeau, Gambit; Ivan Daniels, Spike... The monster inside is still developing."

"Liam Jones." That was his own name.

The instant he saw it, Liam could no longer suppress the terror in his heart. His legs gave out, and he staggered backward, trembling.

Then, without warning, an icy hand reached out from the shadows and tightly clamped around his throat!

The owner of that hand had a face remarkably similar to Liam's.

The next moment, Liam felt an indescribable agony, as though all the life force in his body had been drained away in an instant. This was Anna Marie's ability—Rogue's ability!

His body went limp. Before losing consciousness, Liam could only rasp out one word: "A01-019..."

That was the so-called Chimera designation he had just seen, as well as the identity of the monster before him.

Without a word, A01-019 grabbed his ankle and dragged him deeper into the facility.

There, a figure stood with his back to them, utterly focused on a massive holographic screen.

The figure was exceptionally tall. His exposed skin bore a lifeless gray hue, and he wore a spotless white robe.

He did not turn around. He merely waved a hand casually.

The unconscious Liam floated into the air. Then, under the pressure of invisible telekinesis, his body slowly deformed and twisted until it was crushed into a lump of pulp, which was then tossed into a recycling pool nearby.

At the sight, the tall figure snorted coldly.

Worthless trash with no research value left was enough to turn his stomach.

Watching his own original be killed with his own eyes, A01-019's expression did not change in the slightest. After giving a respectful bow, he slowly withdrew.

The tall figure then fell silent again. Yet not long afterward, his expression abruptly changed, and his sharp gaze snapped toward another shadow within the facility.

He had sensed it... There was another intruder here!

Several hours later, at the Xavier Institute.

Professor Charles Xavier's private phone suddenly rang urgently in his pocket.

"Ms. Retis?" Charles asked as he answered. "What happened?"

The next moment, Retis's calm yet grave voice came through the receiver.

"Mr. Charles, two hours ago, one of our agents lost all contact while infiltrating an Essex Corporation facility on assignment."

"We need your help."

Retis sounded rather serious.

"I understand your concern for your subordinate, Ms. Retis," Charles said. "But before that, I believe you need to tell us something about Essex Corporation."

Charles had been watching Essex Corporation for a long time as well. It was a genetic industry giant with a long history and research into mutant genes that went far beyond what ordinary people could imagine. Because of its age and low-profile public conduct, even Aurora had been unable to gather much intelligence online.

But Retis was different. She was a federal official and naturally had access to channels that could provide more information on Essex Corporation. Otherwise, she could not have directly dispatched agents to investigate it.

"Essex Corporation was established in 1968 by the geneticist Nathaniel Essex, one of the greatest geneticists of the twentieth century," Retis said. "During his lifetime, Nathaniel loved traveling around the world and rarely appeared in public, so he was not particularly famous. But in the medical industry of the last century, he was unquestionably one of the greatest geniuses!"

"You said during his lifetime?" Charles caught the phrasing. "Are you saying that gentleman is no longer alive?"

"Yes," Retis replied. "Dr. Nathaniel died of illness at home in 1998. Before his death, he left all his inheritance and corporate shares to his son, Obadiah Essex, the current owner of Essex Corporation. Dr. Obadiah inherited his father's brilliance and has also made considerable achievements in genetics... He developed Rebirth Serum, which can restore the abilities of natural-born mutants. Such a dangerous product must be regulated. We tried to negotiate with Essex Corporation, but made little progress..."

"We discovered that Essex Corporation seemed to be conducting some unknown research, so we sent an agent to investigate. But just now, he lost contact. Before that, the agent's final message contained only one sentence—'I cannot describe what I saw. They are creating genetic monsters!'"

"So... you want us to investigate Essex Corporation and find that missing agent?" Charles asked.

"Yes," Retis replied. "I need to answer to my subordinate, and... find out what Essex Corporation is plotting!"

"With all due respect, Ms. Retis," Charles said slowly, "from my personal perspective, dispatching agents to investigate the internal affairs of a private corporation is an illegal intrusion that should not be encouraged, especially when you yourselves are a special federal agency."

"This is a necessary regulatory measure," Retis replied. "Charles, you should know very well that not every major corporation in this country is so law-abiding! Take Transigen, which you all know quite well... To prevent similar incidents from happening again, we have no choice but to use certain less-than-glorious methods!"

"..." Charles fell silent for a while, then sighed softly. "All right, I understand. I need to discuss this matter with the others."

"Very well. Please do so quickly," Retis said before hanging up.

However, Charles did not immediately put away the phone whose call had already ended. Instead, he spoke again. "What do you think, Miles?"

"That woman cannot be trusted." Miles's voice came directly from Charles's phone as he calmly said, "Personally, I do not believe a government employee would be this dedicated. After all, in this country, everyone knows how much influence capital has!"

"So I strongly suspect she has another purpose for investigating Essex Corporation! Or perhaps she really did discover something very important!"

"Then, Miles, do you think we should agree to her request?" Charles continued with a light chuckle. He clearly had already made up his mind, but he also wanted to know Miles's thoughts.

"Agree, but do not follow her plan directly," Miles answered. "If we simply investigate them like this, then once we are discovered, we will undoubtedly become enemies of Essex Corporation. Frankly, I do not want to see that happen... The more I study Essex Corporation's technology, the more terrifying I find them."

"The part of their core technology Aurora can access may only be the things they have discarded. But even what those files reveal is already horrifying enough. I am certain that this corporation is secretly cultivating a genetically modified mutant army! The Purifiers are their work, and I saw many more things based on similar ideas in the data!"

"But at the same time, I am personally very curious about their secrets." Miles's tone became somewhat pleased as he spoke. "With technological strength on that level, if they really are planning something, it will definitely be earth-shattering! So this really is a good opportunity..."

"Aurora can only investigate through online channels. She has no way to access local data that is not connected to the network... So I want to take a direct look at Essex Corporation's core data center or laboratories. We will definitely find plenty of interesting things! Or Charles, you could try finding a few key Essex Corporation insiders and reading their thoughts..."

"Unless it is necessary, I will not do that," Charles said. "In the Institute's name, I will submit a visitation request to Essex Corporation. Since they have conducted such deep research into mutant genes, they should have heard of us. They should agree soon enough."

"An Institute visit? I like that." Miles laughed. "You are not going to leave me out, are you, Charles?"

"I am already preparing to submit another application. It should not be too difficult. By now, they should know that times have changed," Charles replied.

"One last question, Charles," Miles said again. "What do you personally think of Essex Corporation?"

"..." Charles took a deep breath before answering, "Frankly, it is complicated."

"I know they must be experimenting with the genes of our own people. But at the same time, their Rebirth Serum is indeed something of immense significance to us mutants. So if possible, I would still prefer to resolve this matter peacefully."

"And if the situation cannot be contained?" Miles asked with a cold laugh. "My instincts tell me that outcome is more likely."

"...Then we can only try our best to salvage things." Charles chuckled lightly. "Ready to save the world, Mr. Psypoint?"

"Tch... you eavesdropping old bastard."