Prologue: Welcome back to the world, Blue
The labs were finally empty.
Especially this wing—quiet, unmonitored, almost forgotten. Luke liked it that way. It wasn’t technically private, just... overlooked. Tucked away at the far end of BioGen-Med Inc., the lost corridor had once been part of the main genetics division, now abandoned in favor of newer, sleeker labs. Few even remembered this place existed.
BioGen-Med Inc. was massive—its sprawling complex home to endless cutting-edge technologies and tightly compartmentalized research. So much so that even seasoned scientists often forgot half of what lay buried in the building’s maze-like structure. Yet despite the variety of ongoing projects, nearly everything shared one common thread: DNA. Every researcher, every engineer, every doctor here was obsessed with decoding, rewriting, or reinventing it—for cures, for enhancements, for control.
Luke was no exception. But his project was different.
“Test 134-V. Looks like the egg is hatching...” he whispered, eyes gleaming as he recorded a voice memo on his phone. A faint chemical sterility still hung in the air, clinging to his skin. The shell crackled softly in his gloved hands, each break echoing like a gunshot in the still room.
Just hours ago, his previous attempt had failed. The hatchling had emerged—barely—but lived for only minutes. A faulty epigenetic pattern had caused an unstable mutation, something that couldn’t survive outside the shell.
But now...
“It’s here. She did it.” His voice cracked with disbelief, rising quickly into a shout. “The baby looks healthy. No visible mutations. The first velociraptor hatched!”
The creature’s eye opened—slitted, yellow, intelligent. For just a moment, it looked straight at him. Luke shivered, but smiled. “You’re aware... aren’t you?”
He was trembling with excitement as he ended the recording and reached for the syringe. The blood tests came first—always. He moved quickly, precisely, confirming vitals, scanning for anomalies. All clear.
“Welcome back to the world, Blue...” he murmured, gently stroking the tiny creature’s head.
This wasn’t what he was hired to do. Not officially. His assigned work at BioGen-Med was mundane—monitoring cell regeneration, assisting in vaccine trials. But this... this had always been the real reason he came. He’d known from the start that with access to the right equipment, the right genome libraries, he could do it.
He could bring them back.
Dinosaurs.
Extinction was just a problem of time. And now, time was bending.
