"Are you sure about this?" Raye asked Anna, who was strapped in a cocoon-like machine chamber, as she steadily picked up the first piece of the glowing crimson rock.
"I didn't come this far to back down now," Anna said as she looked at Raye with her sidesight.
Raye took the crimson rock that was almost the size of a baby's feast and put it into the machine. Raye watched as the machine hummed for some seconds, jerked, and then started whirring.
"Insertion successful Raye" took a deep sigh of relief.
" Alright, get on with it, don't make me beg." Anna was becoming excited and nervous.
"Are you sure? Contact effect is quite good," Raye said as she picked up the second stone and flexed her muscles. "I feel like a super soldier."
"No, we can't stop now. You saw the results on the test subject. This is the closest humans will ever get to immortality." Anna said
" Okay, here we go," Raye switched a couple of buttons, and the whirring changed to beeping.
The chamber with the crimson stone closed, and after some pulsing, the beeping stopped.
When Raye was sure the process was done, she pushed another button.
‘Hiss’ there was a continuous release of gas in the chamber holding Anna, and the crimson stone transferred to the chamber.
Raye could feel her heart beating throughout the process, and when the process was over, it increased.
The first thing Raye noticed was Anna's eye. They were no longer deep brown but now had a florescent crimson glow, and the scar she had on her forehead was gone.
“Woah, I feel so different, so strong," Anna went to a mirror to look at herself.
Anna picked up a steel rod and bent it slowly without any effort, “we did it,"
Raye, on the other hand, was still worried for some reason, “are you sure we did the right thing?"
Anna held her hand and gently turned Raye's face to the picture on the wall; it was a picture of Raye, her mom, and her ad, "They are proud of you.”
Tears rolled down from both their eyes.
Rayes mom and dad were like adoptive parents to Anna, and when Raye and Anna were in third grade, Raye's parents both died from cancer. And that was Anna and Raye's drive to their new achievement.
They had accomplished everything they wanted, but still, Raye felt there was something wrong.
Over the next few days, Anna's ability kept on growing rapidly; her reflexes, strength, and speed were inhuman, and she healed instantly.
She didn't even need to sleep or eat anymore. Raye knew they had made a groundbreaking breakthrough.
But it was just too unnatural.
One night, Raye decided to go to the lab to study the crimson stone more, and she found Anna standing and staring at the last crimson stone.
“Ummm, hey, I thought you said you wanted to take a break from the lab?” Raye asked cautiously.
Anna didn't reply but stood still like a statue.
"Are you okay?” Raye said as she took slow steps towards Anna.
Anna replied, “I need more of it,"
"What do you mean, more of what?” Raye asked as she hoped it wasn't what she thought it was.
Anna turned and faced Raye, "the crimson stone. It's like it's calling out to me like I am not complete,”
"Wait, but we don't know the limit, we can't_” Raye replied.
Anna dashed to Raye's front in a split second with a sinister glow in her eyes, “there is no limit to me, no longer," she said with a deranged smile.
Raye was scared and didn't know if it was still Anna standing in front of her; it didn't feel like it was Anna.
“Okay, okay. I just have to run a couple of tests tonight on the stone,"
“Good," Anna said as she softly touched Raye's cheek.
Just as Anna was about to leave, Raye called her, “Um, I will need a blood sample," she held out the blood sample tube.
Anna walked back, looking into Raye's eyes as she made a crimson pointed claw grow from her index finger and made a prick on her other finger. When she was done, the injury was covered up, and she left.
Raye stood there, much more frightened than before, ‘something was wrong.’
Raye stayed up all night running tests and found out the mineral wasn't just enhancing Anna; it was altering her DNA. This discovery made her blood turn cold—Anna was changing into the crimson stone, and the mineral was replacing her.
The next morning, Anna came back, and she walked into the lab eerily smoothly.
“You stayed up all night, you need sleep."
Raye stayed up searching for ways to reverse it, but she couldn't find any. The only way was the ultimate shutdown program they set in case of any issues— it was an electromagnetic wave field powerful enough to shut down and neutralize the crimson stone; the only problem was that Anna wasn't going to survive the pulse.
“Yh, I have been running tests,"
“And?" Anna frowned; she knew what was coming, and she wasn't ready to accept it.
“We can't go through with it, it is changing you,"
“Isn't that the purpose of humans— to evolve," Anna replied.
“No, you aren't evolving you are changing,"
Anna moved with a godly speed to Raye, knocking Raye down, “You don't understand; you don't have a choice."
Raye set everything up, and Anna entered the cocoon chamber.
“A new age of gods begins with me," Anna said in the chamber.
"I am sorry,” Raye said as she went to the failsafe switch. "We thought we were doing good, but it turned out to be a kryptonite to mankind,”
"What? no, Raye, no!" Anna wasn't quick enough before Raye turned the switch.
‘Hum’ then boom, the pulse hit Anna from within the chamber, and she fell unconscious instantly.
Raye turned the machine off and brought Anna out; she laid her on the floor. Anna cried as she lay on Ray's chest, “I am sorry, I am so sorry I couldn't choose you over humanity," she sniffled.
At that moment, Anna's chest rose, and Raye jerked up in a panic; Anna took a deep breath, and after a couple of gasps for air, she opened her eyes. They were back to normal.
"Anna!” Raye said as she hugged her.
"That hurt," Anna said as she winced.
“You scared me," Raye said as she sobbed and knelt beside Anna.
“Yes, I know. Nobody should ever have to go through this,"
"Agreed,” Raye said as she looked at the crimson stone left.
They held hands as they went to the computer, and after typing in a code, they initiated an erase of everything about their crimson stone project, put the crimson stone into the chamber, and watched as it broke down and got disintegrated by the pulse, turning it to dust.
As the machine powered down, Anna held Raye as they left. They realized they tried beating death, but some things are never meant to be controlled.
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