Chapter 471

• Sebastian slid a sleek, leather-bound folder across the polished glass table. Inside was a dossier precise, clinical, disturbing. A catalog of experimental neuro-enhancers and behavioral-altering substances, all rumored to have been part of illegal pharmaceutical trials, tucked away in the shadows of the biotech world. He flipped through the first few pages, laying them out with a practiced calm.
• “These are the compounds we’ve been tracking,” he said, his voice like cool steel. “The first one ‘Hellfire’ was originally designed as a cognitive intensifier. It amplifies whatever drives a person the most: ambition, anger, obsession. The results? Superhuman levels of focus and energy. But it’s volatile, unstable. Without the counteragent, it causes the mind to fracture under its own intensity. We've ruled it out in this case, though. Her behavior doesn’t fit the Hellfire profile.”
• I leaned forward, elbows resting lightly on the table, eyes fixed on the list. This wasn’t my first time hearing about shadow projects in biotech. But the implications this time hit too close to home.