CHAPTER 6: The Stone's Awakening

With a shared, resolute glance, Luna and James initiated the procedure. The dead body was carefully placed within the chamber, behind the shimmering, otherworldly glass, where the Divine Stone pulsed with an eerie light.

Doctor Thomas, encased in a formidable iron suit, moved with a deliberate, almost mechanical grace. The suit, a grotesque amalgamation of metal plates and exposed rivets, radiated an aura of dangerous invulnerability. A collective breath held the room captive; anyone could see, with a single glance, that no earthly weapon could penetrate its defenses. A nervous excitement crackled through the assembled scientists.

With a heavy, measured step, Thomas approached the lifeless form laid out on the cold glass table. He carefully lifted the strange, obsidian-like stone and placed it upon the corpse's forehead. Instantly, the stone pulsed with a vibrant, golden light, its surface shimmering like liquid gold. Then, with a silent, almost unsettling fluidity, it sank into the dead flesh.

A tense silence descended. Moments stretched into an eternity. Then, the corpse's eyes snapped open, a sudden, startling return to consciousness. It sat upright, its movements jerky and unnatural. A murmur rippled through the room.

"Did it work?" Doctor James muttered, his eyes fixed on the reanimated figure. "Did it truly work?"

But the reanimated body did not offer answers. Instead, it began to lash out, its voice a rasping, guttural growl. "You fools!" it screamed, its words a torrent of incoherent rage. "You dare tamper with what you do not understand?"

"This is what I warned you about! You think you can play god? You are mere humans, meddling with forces you cannot control! And what is the result? A mockery of life!"

The doctors recoiled, their initial excitement turning to stunned horror.

He gestured towards the writhing form. "You bring me these empty vessels, devoid of true life. They are useless!"

With a sudden, violent surge, the stone ejected itself from the corpse, sending the body hurtling backwards. The lifeless form slammed into the reinforced glass wall, the impact sending hairline cracks spidering across its surface. The doctors gasped, their faces etched with disbelief. This glass, designed to withstand immense pressure, was now fractured.

"It... it's talking to itself," James whispered, his voice filled with a mixture of fear and awe. The stone pulsed with an intense, blinding light, its focus shifting, its gaze settling upon Doctor Luna.

"Seal it!" James commanded, his voice sharp and urgent. "Contain it now!"

With a metallic groan, heavy iron rods rose from the floor, encircling the glass enclosure. A massive iron door descended from the ceiling, sealing the chamber completely.

After a tense period, Doctor Thomas emerged, his iron suit now thoroughly sanitized. He approached James and Luna, his movements slow and deliberate.

"Doctor Thomas," James began, his eyes searching Thomas's face. "You were inside. What happened when the stone glowed?"

"Nothing significant, sir," Thomas replied, his voice flat and emotionless. "It simply dimmed and fell to the floor. I retrieved it and returned."

"Very well," James said, his gaze lingering on Thomas. "It's late. Doctor Luna, you are quite the celebrity. The roads are always crowded. Doctor Thomas will escort you home."

"Yes, sir," Thomas replied, his eyes fixed on Luna.

The journey to Luna's house was silent. The next morning, Luna found Thomas standing at her gate, still in the same condition, just as he had left her the night before.

"Doctor Thomas, you're here so early," she said, a sense of unease creeping into her voice. She understood he had been standing there all night, but the reason remained a mystery.

"I've come to escort you back to the lab," he said, his voice devoid of inflection.

"Oh, alright. Let me get ready," Luna replied.

As they walked, Luna noticed a chilling change in Thomas. His face was unnervingly blank, his eyes devoid of pupils, replaced by a milky, unsettling white. He stared at her with a strange intensity.

She is the one who deserves to be my host, a voice whispered within his mind, a voice that was not his own. If I possess her, I will regain my full power. I must leave this universe quickly.

Unbeknownst to Luna, the Thomas standing beside her was not Thomas at all. It was the stone, inhabiting his form. A flashback flickered in the stone's consciousness: the blinding light, the moment of transformation, the violent confrontation with Thomas's physical form, now left behind in the sealed chamber.

For years, the doctors had unknowingly fed the stone, offering it dead bodies for experimentation. The stone had absorbed the residual proteins, slowly regaining its strength. It had learned their routines, their habits. Now, with the chamber sealed for two days, it had the time it needed.

In two days, I will complete my task and depart, the stone thought, a cruel smile twisting Thomas's lips. Once I reclaim my missing pieces, none of you will survive.

A chilling, silent laugh echoed in the empty spaces of Thomas's mind, a laugh that was not his, a laugh that belonged to something ancient and malevolent.