CHAPTER 9
"Alright, you're Ms Xia, right?" a short man in a neatly pressed suit asked as he stepped into the office.
Xia took a moment before answering. It struck her as odd that he was the first person she had seen wearing a suit instead of a lab coat.
"Yes, I am," She replied
"Great. I'm going to process your payment now," the man said as he typed on his phone.
After confirming all the information he needed, he transferred the money to Xia's bank account.
Ring! Ring!
Xia's phone buzzed with a notification. She picked it up and stared at the screen in disbelief.
"It's real... The money is actually real," she whispered.
She quickly opened her banking app and saw her new balance: $10,040.
"I'll give you a couple of minutes to wrap your head around it" the short man said without looking up from his phone.
A few moments later, two more men in black suits entered the room. Unlike the short man, they were tall and broad-shouldered, looking more like bodyguards than office workers.
"It's time, Miss Xia.Please come with us," the short man said before turning and walking away.
Xia stood and followed him, while the two bodyguards silently walked behind her.
They moved through a long hallway lined with spotless white tiles beneath bright fluorescent lights. The air smelled strongly of disinfectant, and the only sound was the echo of their footsteps. Heavy steel doors stretched along both sides of the corridor, each secured with electronic locks, making the place feel more like a prison than a research facility.
Eventually, they arrived at an open doorway.
Inside was a spacious laboratory containing seven large glass pods arranged in neat rows. Three people wearing white lab coats stood beside a control console, monitoring the machines.
One of them, a man with a long beard who appeared to be in his late thirties, stepped forward.
"Hello, Ms. Xia. I'm Dr. Davis, and these two behind me are my subordinate" the man said
"Why does everyone here already know my name?" Xia wondered.
"I trust everything has been explained to you?". Dr. Davis asked.
"Yes," Xia replied.
"Excellent. Then let's begin."Dr. Davis said as he and his assistants walked over to one of the pods and operated the control panel. After a few moments, he looked back at Xia.
"Please step forward, Miss Xia."he said
Fear tightened in her chest.
"Something about this place feels terribly wrong... From the armed security outside to a secret laboratory hidden inside a warehouse... None of this makes sense."
"Miss Xia," Dr. Davis repeated, his voice firmer this time. "Step forward and enter the pod."
With hesitant steps, Xia walked toward it.
As she drew closer, she glanced through the transparent glass.
Her eyes widened.
There was a human face inside
She stumbled backward in horror.
"W-What? That's a person! What are you doing to them?" she asked, her voice trembling.
"There is nothing wrong with the subjects inside the pods," Dr. Davis replied calmly. "Step inside yours. Don't let us use force "
Panic sets in.Xia's eyes darted around the room until they landed on the still-open door.
Without another thought, she spun around and ran.She had barely taken a few steps before a powerful arm wrapped around her waist, effortlessly lifting her off the ground.
"Let me go!" Xia screamed, kicking wildly.
Dr. Davis sighed.
"Here I was, thinking you were smarter than the previous ones." Dr Davis said coldly
He pulled a syringe filled with a glowing green liquid from his pocket and calmly injected it into Xia's neck.
"Sleep tight."
Those were the last words xia heard before her vision blurred.The room spun around her and darkness swallowed everything as she lost consciousness.