It has been four years since COVID subsided. And since then, the world has been a different place to live in. People might forget phones but never their masks and sanitizers. Personal hygiene has been the first priority after the pandemic claimed the lives of many people. Drugs and medicines are more classified than ever. And certainly, sci-fi fiction has made their way into normalized daily life.

Masks and PPEs are fashion trends, sci-fi thrillers are the trendiest genre for scripts of movies and the world has now come up with a universal love for science. But as science makes the lives of people comfier, it also evolves to become more dangerous beyond the human interpretation. And when it leads to chaos, it becomes too late.

11:38 PM, Friday, Busan, S. Korea

"This is going to be a masterpiece, Colonel Han!" Chairman Choi Seok Ju exclaimed.

Tae Seok hesitated. He had no interest whatsoever in getting involved in drug cases. Besides he was expelled from the military not so long ago in a similar case because he got involved with the Chairman. Though he was brought back because of his extraordinary military achievements and his unparalleled strategies, his involuntary involvement always remained as a stain to his reputation.

And it didn't help that his wife was a researcher under the Chairman. Even if she was capable, the Chairman didn't let go of him and his wife. All because they were useful to him. A seven-digit salary per month wasn't worth their freedom. But there was no other way. He had to listen to his rants because he needed the power. Only if he had that could he rebel later. But bringing the Chairman down now won't help him in anything. Because his pregnant wife, Park Young In, was working on a new drugs project that was to get distributed as a "vitamin tablet" that gave instant relief to the mental state as well as physical state of humans. It would give a clearer head and a bit of adrenaline rush to boost the physical body for a good half an hour. And there were already several batches ready for the distribution. All that was needed was the permission of the higher authorities in the narcotics department and brand it legal. Then the rest could be handled without a hitch.

A knock interrupted the conversation between the two. Young In peeked in and the Chairman nodded. She slightly smiled at her husband and proceeded to give a detailed report about the latest batch that would have no side effects and could easily get branded legal. There were to be several phases to release the "medicines". And as the people would start consuming, the demand for it would increase exponentially because the "medicine" had the chemicals needed to make a person addicted to it. Not just to the taste, but also to the smell. That was the "use" of a top-notch researcher.

Young In became a bit uncomfortable because of the standing. It wasn't easy to work as much as she used to because she was twenty-three weeks along and she got tired easily. The Chairman noticed and allowed her to sit. It was one of his principles.

To make the dog more useful, treat the dog well. So that even if you were to abandon it, it wouldn't hold any grudges.

After a private enquiry about her life as a soon-to-be-mother and a maternity leave permission, the Chairman offered his private team of doctors who had come with him from Seoul. The main headquarters for the drug supply and storage was managed there. And at the top of the headquarters was the penthouse of the Chairman. It wasn't as if he never knew Colonel's inner thoughts. Keep your enemies close. He kept him near him to keep him under his check. And this was a new way to monitor Han Tae Seok. Chain his wife and his child to his side and he would keep returning. At least, it would leave him one less issue to worry about for a while. When this reason would cease to be, he would find another tactic to keep Tae Seok chained to him.

And Tae Seok too knew this.

"Sir!" An employee under him entered the room frantically. "We found something in the garden! It might be a good research material!" He exclaimed. Tae Seok and Young In got up. The Chairman got up slower. "Research material?" He smirked. Fate was on his side. He had just got another excuse to entrap Young In.

They followed several other employees in white coats and blue I-cards. There were some red ones too. But their identity was common with one word printed on their I-card ribbons. Visomax, the leading drug manufacturing company that had rose up to the sky within three years. The best researchers, the best data scientists, the best engineers, the best doctors were its prime members. It was natural for the company to be the best among the best.

The crowd made way for the Chairman and his companions. They slowly got to a much smaller group crouching over something. It was natural for the employees to get excited. They had come to the remote region to start the initial supply of the drugs on the people. After several months of experiments and study, they had come up with a drug that had gone through five evolutions. To have at least one small thing that could divert them from the boredom was welcome. The Chairman crouched with a bit of difficulty. After a few moments he got up.

"Recover that one. Carefully." He emphasized. Two employees in red I-cards crouched, wearing gloves and picked up the small thing with cautiousness. He came closer to the Chairman who pointed at Young In. The worker showed her what he held on his palm. She gasped. The colonel came closer to look over. But he didn't know how to react. He didn't understand what was special about it, but the Chairman and Young In exchanged long glances.

"Sir, this is...impossible!" She gasped. "This is definitely a feniseca tarquinius but...it's also not. This is something different."

The butterfly was almost dead. But one of its legs kept moving. Young In quickly touched the moth. It wasn't cold yet. Something this beautiful must remain alive. It could be most probably the biggest breakthrough in her life. Its wings were blue and glowing, with some purple shade here and there. It could be the only one alive of its kind. To think that it was in the mud and sand was almost insulting to its beauty.

"Transport this to my lab carefully. Do not make a single mistake. You are holding the last creature of a species that hasn't been even discovered." The worker nodded as he made his way to the laboratory followed by the group of employees who lurked around to steal a glance at it.

"Sir, it won't be useful for a long time. It's going to die soon. I could say that it would last for four hours at most with care." Young In said.

It wasn't as if the Chairman hadn't known this. But only he best knew how his ideas could make him a mad scientist. He didn't love science. He loved to be the first one. If it weren't for his crazy ideas, Visomax would have remained a dream forever. And he lived up to his name. So did he now, when he again suggested a very unorthodox move.

"Use the drug." He ordered. Young In gasped.

"B-but sir, it would-" She got interrupted.

"You said it would give people a power boost, didn't you? Test it." He ordered. Young In glanced at her husband. It was already dangerous enough that they had found a rare creature. If the nation knew, they would burn all the people working at stakes for not reporting it to the XSIC. They could lose their license if they didn't report it. And to experiment with it could make them lose their head.

But what could she do? The Chairman was the one who ordered to do it. Definitely, he wouldn't take risks if he couldn't handle it. She could only do her job more sincerely to make herself more useful. At least, the Chairman wouldn't abandon her then.

She quickly made her way into the lab. Tae Seok watched till she disappeared into the dome shaped research unit. He then bid farewell to the Chairman and left. He wouldn't be able to see his wife anyway. At least for a good seven or eight hours. He would come again.

11:52 PM

No one knew what was going on. Not even Young In. They could only watch as the drug took effect on the dying butterfly. It was almost like it wasn't filled with flesh or blood. It was like a rapid egg producing machine. The drug's adrenaline effect must have worked well. The butterfly was trying its very best to reproduce as much as she could in her dying breath. The adrenaline would only keep her life force intact. But if she used it too much then, it would drain her energy much earlier.

But they never knew that the drug could give a boost to their growth rate. The eggs only swelled up more and came together to stick with other eggs. What was even more astonishing that the eggs divided up and kept multiplying. They weren't even of the normal 2 mm size. They were all growing up to 5 mm and divided up to 2 mm. The process lasted for about 10 minutes till the mother butterfly gave her life away for the last egg. It was bigger than the rest.

But something was off.

Young In had noticed a strange blue glow in the butterfly's eyes after the drug started taking effect. It almost made it look aggressive. Maybe it was its carnivorous nature that made it look that way. But something even weirder was happening. The employees kept on gasping and murmuring in low voices. The eggs hadn't stopped multiplying, but it was much slower in comparison to when the drug kept the mother butterfly active. Young In kept on adding notes to her diary. Maybe she had created a masterpiece after all. Something that could even revive the dead back to life and something that could help in cell multiplication. She guessed the eggs would multiply till the drug effect wore off.

And she was right. The multiplication did stop after a good 12 minutes. But things took turn for the worse.

6:42 AM, Saturday

The Colonel had rose up early and had come to visit his wife. But today he had come with his team. They were getting ready for the SF training with new recruits, and it was going to keep him busy for a while. He left the car and signaled the van to stop several feet away from him. The men came out and stood guard. Lieutenant Ji Soo followed Colonel on foot to the Chairman. But when they arrived, they saw several glass shreds and smoke coming out of the research unit. The Colonel ran inside to check on his wife. However, Ji Soo proceeded slowly cautious of her surroundings. There was no sign of forest fire, no human act of terrorism.

Just what on Earth had happened here?

As she proceeded forward, she started seeing a common thing everywhere. Small collection of purple eggs like spheres and some hibernating butterflies. She heard the Colonel call out her name. And then suddenly a loud screech was heard from the entire forest. A sense of foreboding clouded the mind of Ji Soo as she quickly tracked the Colonel's voice through the perished glass house.