The sterile glow of fluorescent lights hummed above the pristine white walls of the Beijing Institute of Bioweaponry, a facility buried beneath layers of concrete and secrecy.
The lab was a maze of containment chambers, state-of-the-art analysis equipment, and walls lined with reinforced glass, all designed to house the most dangerous biological experiments known to man.
At the heart of it, Dr. Wei Zhang, lead virologist, hovered over a microscope, his gloved hands adjusting the fine focus.
His brow furrowed as he examined a sample of Cordyceps Praestans, the genetically engineered parasitic fungus that had captivated the scientific world.
It was unlike anything seen before, an intricate, living system that thrived within its host, rewiring the nervous system while enhancing motor function.
Nearby, his American counterpart, Dr. Elliot Carter, scrolled through a series of live-feed vitals on a monitor, tracking the movements of Subject B-17, a lab monkey injected with the latest fungus-virus hybrid strain.
"It's fascinating," Carter muttered, eyes glued to the screen.
"Motor reflexes have improved by nearly 200%, cognitive response time is cut in half… but look at this."
He zoomed in on a segment of brain activity.
"It's hijacking neural pathways. The host is no longer in control."
Wei nodded, rubbing his temples.
"The original Cordyceps could only infect insects, but this… this bonds with the DNA genome. It doesn't just replace thought processes, it dominates them."
Beyond the reinforced glass, Subject B-17 twitched violently in its containment cell.
The monkey's eyes were now clouded, its veins thick with inky black tendrils spreading from the injection site.
It stared blankly at the scientists before its body jerked into action, thrashing against the walls with unnatural speed.
"It's happening faster than we projected," Wei noted grimly.
"We estimated a 24-hour incubation period, this took six."
Carter exhaled sharply.
"The military won't care. They're pushing for human trials."
He pulled up an encrypted email from the nearby computer.
"Orders came in this morning. They're moving forward with live subjects."
Wei's face darkened.
"This isn't ready. It's—"
A shrill alarm cut through the air.
Both scientists turned sharply toward the containment chamber as Subject B-17 let out a horrifying screech.
The monkey's limbs contorted, its body moving with jerking, erratic spasms as if something inside it was puppeteering its flesh.
Then, in an explosion of motion, it lunged at the glass, slamming its skull into the reinforced barrier.
"We need to terminate it," Carter said, backing away.
A low hiss sounded from the ventilation system.
Wei's blood ran cold.
"Oh, no…"
The pressurized lock on the containment chamber failed.
The door slammed open.
Subject B-17 launched forward, its jaws unhinged wide and sank its teeth into the arm of Dr. Liu, a junior researcher standing too close to the chamber.
Liu screamed, trying to tear away as blackened veins surged from the monkey's mouth, latching onto his flesh.
Wei and Carter barely had time to react before security personnel rushed in, armed with high-voltage batons.
With a sharp crack, the monkey's body convulsed under a surge of electricity before dropping lifelessly to the floor.
But the damage was already done.
Dr. Liu collapsed, clutching his violently twitching arm.
His colleagues rushed to his side, rolling up his sleeve to examine the wound.
What they saw was unnatural.
The bite was pulsing, black, root-like veins spiderwebbing from the wound as if something was growing inside him.
His breathing grew ragged.
He gasped, eyes rolling back as the veins crawled toward his throat.
"Get the med team!" Carter shouted, but even as he spoke, he knew there was nothing they could do.
Hours passed.
Liu's symptoms worsened at an alarming rate.
His body convulsed violently, fever burning through him, the veins spreading like wildfire under his skin.
His colleagues watched in horror as he began muttering incoherently, his voice guttural and slurred.
His eyes turned bloodshot, his pupils shrinking to pinpricks before turning an eerie milky white.
His muscles spasmed in violent fits, sweat pouring from his brow.
His skin paled unnaturally, lips turning black as the infection ravaged his circulatory system.
He groaned in pain, clutching his stomach as if something were twisting inside him, his fingers digging into his own flesh.
Wei paced furiously.
"We have to contain him. If this spreads—"
A low growl echoed through the sterile lab.
Liu's pupils dilated, then clouded over with a milky haze.
His body stiffened.
Then, he stopped breathing.
A heavy silence filled the lab as they stared at his lifeless form.
A few moments pass.
And then—
Liu moved.
A guttural growl rumbled from his throat as he jerked upright with an unnatural jolt, head snapping toward the nearest scientist.
Wei took a staggering step back. "No… that's impossible."
Liu's face twisted, his jaw stretching too wide, his teeth snapping together with an animalistic hunger.
The disease had taken control.
Then he lunged.
Chaos erupted.
A bloodcurdling scream filled the lab as Liu tore into his former colleague's throat, ripping flesh and muscle with inhuman strength.
Blood splattered against the glass walls.
Scientists scrambled for the exit, but Liu moved too fast, his body jerking with unnatural speed as he grabbed another researcher, slamming their skull against the metal counter until bone cracked.
Security personnel fired their tasers, but it didn't stop him.
The electrical surges barely phased him.
The disease had already rewired his pain receptors.
Wei and Carter sprinted toward the emergency lockdown panel.
Alarms blared throughout the facility as containment doors began to slam shut.
Liu turned toward them, his lips peeling back into a grotesque snarl.
Carter barely managed to slap the lockdown switch before Liu reached them.
A reinforced steel door slammed shut, trapping the infected scientist inside.
Wei and Carter stumbled backward, panting, as they stared through the glass.
Inside, Liu's body twitched violently, his bones cracking, his fingers curling into clawed appendages.
His human form was being consumed from the inside out.
Wei pressed a trembling hand to the glass.
"It's worse than we thought."
Carter wiped the blood from his face.
"The military is going to bury this."
Wei's voice was barely a whisper.
"We just created the end of the world."
...
Outside the lab, in the heart of Washington, D.C., an encrypted message was sent from the CDC to a classified military server.
Cordyceps Praestans - Fungal and Virology Experiment: Phase Three - Initiated.
The order for human trials has been given.
Status: Complete
And somewhere in the depths of government files, a new directive appeared:
Global Deployment Scheduled: effective immediately.
A man is seen with others in a secret room.
He closes the laptop and smiles coldly.
"It's all going according to plan."
All the other men and women gathered around him smile.
The man then stands and starts to pass around whiskey glasses that were on his desk and then fills each glass with whiskey.
"To us," he says, raising his glass.
"To us," they each respond.
...
Thousands of miles away, in a small quiet home in a suburban community just a few miles outside of Birmingham, Alabama, Logan Walker kisses his beloved girlfriend goodnight, completely unaware of the events that have just happened.