The laboratory erupted in chaos. Alarms screamed, flickering green emergency lights bathed the metallic walls in an unearthly glow, and the faint hiss of venting gas filled the air. At the center of it all, she stood — sleek and lethal, a shadow wrapped in the storm of her own creation. The black bodysuit, tight as a second skin, glinted in the dim light, its geometric cut-outs revealing glimpses of scarred flesh as a testament to battles hard-fought and survived. High boots stomped softly against the floor, their movements purposeful, calculated. A silver mask hugged the lower half of her face, shrouding her expression but amplifying her menace. Green mist curled lazily around her form, as if it obeyed her will, whispering sinister secrets of toxic intent.
She flicked her wrist. A glass vial half-filled with a chartreuse liquid swirled hypnotically in her grasp. “You think you control fate,” her voice came, distorted and metallic through her mask, “but you only play the game I’ve already rigged.”
Before her, soldiers clad in pristine white biohazard suits raised their rifles shakily. They had invaded her sanctum — the sprawling biotech facility known only as Hexis 314, a place buried in the tundra of the Northern Wastes. Outside, an icy blizzard battered the fortress-like compound, but in here, it wasn’t the cold they feared; it was her.
When the first shot rang out, she was already moving. Her form twisted, fluid like smoke, an impossible ballet of violence and precision. In one swift motion, she uncorked the vial, flinging its contents into the air. The liquid evaporated instantly, blooming into a vibrant green cloud. The soldiers coughed, their movements sluggish as they faltered into the mist. Through the chaos, she danced, her boots gliding soundlessly across the floor. With expert ease, she disabled one after another — the sharp edge of her gauntlet slashing wires, metal and flesh alike.
Yet as she dispatched the last soldier with a savage elegance, her mind traveled back to a single, haunting memory.
The Catalyst
It had all begun fifteen years ago beneath the neon-soaked sky of a polluted megacity. She had been a scientist once, her name forgotten in the annals of the Global Division of Bioengineering. Glass-walled skyscrapers loomed overhead, their glowing advertisements promising a better future, but the truth was far murkier. Corporate greed gnawed at the roots of humanity, and she had been no exception — a pawn in a massive experiment to weaponize biotoxins. They called her project “Serpent’s Kiss.”
Her reflection in those days had been softer. Auburn hair spilled in waves over her shoulders; her eyes were warm, though veiled with quiet ambition. She had worn lab coats then, pristine and sterile, as though they could absolve her of the horrors she helped create. But everything changed on the day of The Leak — when Serpent’s Kiss was prematurely unleashed in a test gone awry. Thousands perished in the toxic cascade, dissolving life into ash within moments. The guilt was a chain around her soul, binding her tighter with every breath.
She had vanished soon after, presumed dead. But the truth was far more insidious: she had reinvented herself. She had become the serpent, taming the poison instead of fleeing from it, learning to wield it as a scalpel, not a blade. Revenge against the corporate machine had burned in her heart ever since.
The Present
Snapping back to the present, she surveyed the ruins of the lab. Broken glass sparkled on the steel floor. Corpse-like forms in white suits lay in disarray, their weapons useless where they had fallen. The green mist was dissipating now, drawn back into the cylindrical dispenser clipped to her hip like an obedient phantom. Her hand brushed against it briefly, a ritualistic gesture that seemed almost reverent.
“You didn’t make it easy for me,” she muttered softly, as if speaking to the still walls, “but debts always come due.”
Her gaze shifted to the central console in the control room, where a pulsating red button begged to be pressed. The screen above it read: “INITIATE FACILITY PURGE.” Without hesitation, she strode forward. The trajectory of her life had long been set; hesitation was for those who feared their end. Her gloved index finger hovered over the button, then pressed down firmly. The facility began to shudder violently, a deep rumbling that signaled its self-destruction.
As the green mist once again swirled and filled the room, enveloping everything in its deadly embrace, she turned her back on the console. The emergency exit loomed ahead, its edges frosted by the encroaching cold. She stepped forward but paused for a moment, casting one final glance at the facility that had been both her prison and her rebirth.
“One serpent always survives the fire,” she whispered through her mask. Then she vanished into the storm, the tendrils of her toxic aura trailing behind her like ghostly serpents in flight.
Genre: Espionage/Thriller
The Source…check out the article that inspired this amazing short story: Viper Valorant Cosplay: Sleek Black Bodysuit & Green Glow Inspiration
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