EPISODE 4: THE MARKED ## CHAPTER 1: CONTAINMENT The research wing is hermetically sealed. You've spent six hours testing every door, every vent, every possible exit. Nothing. The walls are reinforced steel. The windows are shatterproof. The ventilation system is filtered through mechanisms you don't understand. You're trapped with the tanks. The creatures inside them—the pieces, the preserved segments of things that shouldn't exist—are more active now. You can see them moving in the glowing fluid. Twitching. Pulsing. The giant eye tracks you as you pace. The hand with too many fingers flexes slowly, like a dreamer stirring toward wakefulness. And the singing is louder than it's ever been. It's not just background noise anymore. It's words. You can almost understand them—phrases that slip away the moment you try to grasp them, meanings that hover at the edge of comprehension. You find yourself humming along without realizing it. Stop it. Focus. Your equipment is gone—confiscated when Strand's people brought you here. No cameras. No transmitters. No way to contact Rashida or anyone else. For all they know, you've been compromised. Turned. Added to whatever collection Strand is building. The door opens. Kovacs enters, followed by two guards. They're all armed—actual weapons, not the non-lethal options standard on offshore platforms. This is a military operation wearing corporate clothing. "Dr. Strand...