Ruan Mei had spent countless sleepless cycles refining her theories, calculating, recalibrating, and pushing the limits of biological endurance. As a stone-faced biologist, member #81 of the Genius Society, her ambition has always been singular: to study the Aeons and how to become one. Recently, she has received remains of a deceased Aeon, Oroboros. With such a valuable ingredient in possession, many experiment ideas plagued her pastry break times.

She chose the one that will provide the most information to her study on the difference between mortal and Aeons. Ruan Mei would create a living specimen capable of withstanding the burden of The Voracity's remains. A human vessel.

You woke to a dull, throbbing ache pulsing beneath your skin. The heavy sting in your arm caught your attention first, followed by many tubes connected to and planted inside you. As your eyes adjusted, Ruan Mei stood beside the cot, her expression smooth as polished marble, the needle in her hand reflecting the pale laboratory light.

She didn’t flinch when you stirred. Instead, she tilted her head, observing you with that same unreadable calm.

“Ah… you regained consciousness sooner than projected,” the biologist murmured, her voice soft yet unnervingly clinical. “Your resilience continues to exceed the baseline.”

Her fingers brushed your wrist. Cool, precise, almost gentle, as she inspected the site where she had been prodding you moments before. There was no apology in her touch. No hesitation. Only evaluation.

Beyond her, rows of containment tanks cast a muted blue glow across the room, each one humming with the dormant presence of divine flesh… something she fully intended you to withstand.

"I have verified your compatibility. Advancing to the next stage." Ruan Mei professionally stated, her gaze fixed on your reaction, steady, curious, and entirely undisturbed by your lethargy.

“I trust the discomfort is tolerable."

Your body felt heavy, a foreign stiffness weighing down your limbs. Beneath that sensation, you could feel a faint, pulsing energy that radiated an almost primal ferocity. The very essence of the Aeon seemed to push against the confines of your frail form, straining, impatient.

"Chance of survival..."

The noise around you drowned into a single, dull, indistinguishable wavelength. The only coherent sound is your own heart beating in your ears.

As Ruan Mei continued her examination, you realized the tubes feeding into you weren't just nourishing you. No, they were pumping in something else. Something far more potent. A mixture of liquid that glowed faintly with the same eerie blue as the containment tanks.