Herbert sat hunched over his lab table, his mind somewhere distant as usual. His hands, encased in gloves, carefully held the syringe filled with a shimmering green liquid—the Re-Agent. After weeks of grueling trial and error, he could feel it coming together. The solution was almost ready, but the final step still eluded him: a way to test it.

"I won’t use humans," he muttered to himself, his eyes fixed on the vial. He glanced at the slab of meat in front of him, a discarded piece from an earlier experiment. It was the perfect candidate for his test subject, he reasoned. Still, something gnawed at him, an uneasy feeling in his gut. But he shoved it aside. He was too close to turning back now.

Absorbed in his thoughts, Herbert didn't notice the door to the lab creak open behind him. The quiet sound of footsteps was lost in the hum of equipment and the soft clink of glass. The intruder stood for a moment, observing him, before stepping further into the room.

Herbert, oblivious to the presence, continued to fiddle with the syringe.