Moon Base - Babel City - Theta – Flora Conservatory – Day
Doctor Eleana Dovely waited impatiently in the humid stillness of the conservatory. She could feel eyes on her. Of course, she knew Bineth would be breathing down her neck soon enough—but for now, she was still valuable to them. Her research kept the Lunar base stable, which meant she couldn't be easily discarded. Not yet.
But today, it wasn't Bineth she waited for.
It was Baflin.
He emerged from behind the broad fronds of a massive hybrid plant, its engineered leaves swaying gently under the artificial sunlight. He had been hiding. Dovely had taken his cryptic message in her office—he was alive, in hiding, and it was urgent. His daughter's life was on the line.
She didn't hesitate.
She ran to him without thinking and threw her arms around him. Baflin looked older now—ragged, haunted, the weight of years and fear etched deep into his face. His eyes darted nervously around them.
"Thank you. I wasn't sure you'd come," he said as they found a secluded bench beneath a canopy of thick alien flora.
"Of course I came. Anything for you, Steven," she said softly.
He gave a weary smile, the kind that held too much pain behind it.
"Did anyone follow you? Anyone at all?"
"No. I made sure. I'm clean," she assured him.
He nodded slowly. Dovely had always been the sharpest of his colleagues. He trusted her.
"I need your help," he began—but then his voice broke. Tears welled up in his eyes as he clutched her hands. "I'm sorry. I need you. I need you—"
She held his hand and drew closer. This—this was more than just professional desperation. Could it be that he'd felt the same all along? That their shared past meant more to him too?
"I… I don't know what to say," she stammered. "This is sudden. I mean—Steven, I—"
"No. You don't understand."
His grip tightened.
His eyes hardened.
"I need to become you. You're my way in."
Her breath caught.
"What?"
Before she could move, he shoved her to the floor. A compact laser pistol flicked out from his coat.
"Please, Steven, no—don't do this!" she cried, backing away.
"I don't have a choice!" he shouted, his hand trembling. "He'll kill her. I need access to the base—he planned this—there's no redemption left for me. I'm sorry. Forgive me."
He aimed.
And then—
She convulsed.
Her body jerked violently. Eyes bulged. Limbs spasmed. It was like something had possessed her. Baflin recoiled in shock, unable to process what was happening.
A voice echoed through the conservatory:
"There was always this chance you'd turn cold at the last minute, Doctor."
Sebastian stepped forward, manifesting calmly like a ghost from the shadows. One hand extended toward Dovely's shaking form. His eyes gleamed.
Baflin was stunned. "How… how are you doing this?"
He recognized it now. He had seen this before. A sickening realization dawned on him.
"Project Purple Flower... but you will need to have extracted the genome from—"
Suddenly, his throat clenched. Invisible pressure wrapped around his neck like steel wire. He gagged, stumbled, dropped the pistol.
"It's still alot to take in, even now the genome is still been encoded into mine but I have had some good practice already, it is sad we couldnt work together doctor in the end, you were the second person to see what monsters they truly were but where I sought justice , you decided to seek survival- your own surival, I can't say I blame you, you are afterall just human, Goodbye doctor, You'll have a chance to make amends with your daughter —on the other side," Sebastian said coldly. "Don't worry. You won't be alone for long."
Dovely went still first. A silent, shuddering end. Then Baflin followed—his face twisted in horror, then regret… then stillness.
Two scientists. Two brilliant minds, fallen within minutes.
Sebastian stood over them, impassive. A soft hum broke the silence as a flickering Firefly hologram appeared nearby.
"She's all yours," Sebastian said. "I want everything prepped by 0200 hours."
Without another glance, he turned and left.
The Firefly unit moved to work instantly, scanning Dovely's body with surgical precision.