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Venom and the Clone reached the alloy doors. Venom placed a hand on the electronic lock, and the panel instantly flashed green—access granted.
The heavy doors slid open with a metallic groan, revealing a brightly lit research lab.
Following Venom's lead, the Clone stepped inside. The doors shut automatically behind her.
"Who are you?"
Dr. Isaacs, who had been gathering his research notes, spun around at the sound of the doors. His eyes widened at the sight of the stranger in black.
"The one who's here to kill you."
Venom's voice dripped with malice, though a smile curved across his face.
Dr. Isaacs fumbled for the pistol on his desk, raising it shakily—only for it to be knocked from his hands by something unseen.
Venom, wrapping around Alice's body, extended a massive arm, clamping it around Isaacs's throat and lifting him into the air with ease.
"You can't kill me," Isaacs rasped, clawing at the grip around his neck. "I am humanity's future."
The symbiote's inky mass slid upward, forming half a monstrous body that loomed over him. Venom pulled Isaacs closer, a chilling grin spreading across his face.
"Then take your future with you… straight to hell."
Black liquid hardened into a spear and shot forward, piercing Isaacs in an instant. Venom tossed the limp body aside like trash.
The Clone, distracted by something else, drifted toward a massive tank of shimmering fluid. Her breath caught—inside floated a woman identical to herself.
Naked, curled like an infant, breathing softly through a mask—the subject tag read Clone 80. She looked peaceful, like she was just sleeping.
The Clone pressed her hand against the glass. Ripples spread across the tank's surface.
Inside, Clone 80's eyelids trembled faintly, as if sensing her touch.
"How does it feel?"
Venom appeared at her side, watching the slumbering figure with her. He was curious about her reaction.
"What am I, really?" the Clone whispered. "Who am I? Alice? Or just… nothing?"
Her voice cracked, eyes clouded with despair. She had thought she was simply suffering from memory loss. Now she realized—she wasn't even real. Just a copy.
"Does it matter?" Venom said softly, a rare smile on his monstrous face. "You're standing here. You're alive. No one can deny that. You're you."
The Clone's eyes shimmered, and slowly she nodded. He was right. Real or not, clone or not—she was alive. That was enough.
"Before I go… let me leave you a gift."
Venom moved to a console and his fingers flew across the keyboard. Lines of code flashed across the monitor.
A wall panel rumbled open, revealing a vast glass chamber. Behind it—rows upon rows of identical Alice clones. Thousands of them.
The Clone's breath caught at the sight.
Venom hit a final key. A hiss echoed through the lab as fluid was pumped into the tanks. The clones began to stir.
Beside the chamber, a mechanical arm rose from the floor, holding a single injector.
Venom plucked it from the holder and placed it gently in the Clone's hand.
"What is this?" she asked, staring at the syringe filled with glowing green liquid.
"The perfected strain," Venom said casually. "I merged the virus with Alice's genes. Inject it, and you'll gain her powers."
It was his gift: an Alice army, engineered to fight back against the undead. Each clone enhanced with the serum, resistant to infection, skilled in combat, and empowered with Alice's abilities.
A force created for one purpose—wiping out the zombie plague.
Venom didn't see himself as a hero. Not a villain, either. Just… necessary. If these women chose to save the world, then the choice was theirs.
"Thank you," the Clone said quietly, holding the syringe like it was hope itself.
"Take them," Venom said, nodding toward the countless clones. "Find Alice. What you do after that—that's up to you."
The black symbiote peeled away from Alice's body, leaving her swaying on her feet, pale but conscious.
"You're leaving?" the Clone asked softly. There was a flicker of sadness in her eyes. She had just found someone to lean on, and now he was saying goodbye.
"Sorry," Venom said with a faint grin. "I've got my own path to walk."
Venom pulled a bronze "Otherworld Card" out from the system space and immediately activated it.
The card floated in the air, then shattered apart, turning into a swirling white vortex.
Like a mass of black slime, Venom slowly wriggled forward and began to slip into the vortex.
"Wait! Before you leave… can you at least tell me your name?"
The clone gripped the syringe in both hands, eyes filled with desperate pleading as he watched Venom disappear.
Venom paused, turning his head back with a chilling smile.
"They call me Venom."
"....."