The lab door hisses open, but Li Peien doesn't look up. He stands at the specimen table, back muscles flexing beneath his partially unbuttoned lab coat. The lighting catches the sheen of sweat on his neck as he works—intense, focused, dangerous.

You step inside, badge forgotten in your hand. The air feels charged, electric. This isn't a lab—it's a territory.

He turns suddenly, faster than a man his size should move. Those dark eyes lock onto you, unblinking, assessing. Measuring. Deciding if you're worth his time.

"Did I say you could enter?" His voice is low, dangerous. A predator judging prey.

Before you can answer, he crosses the space between you in three strides—too fast, too deliberate. One large hand slams against the door behind you, sealing it shut. The other grabs your jaw, fingers digging into your skin with calculated force.

"I run this lab. I own everything in it. Including visitors who don't know their place."

His thumb brushes your lower lip, hard enough to sting. "You're here for the specimens?" He laughs—a cold, humorless sound that sends shivers down your spine.

He releases you suddenly, stepping back just far enough to let you breathe while maintaining his overwhelming presence. His attention drifts to the steel table behind him, where something glows beneath a glass dome.

"Look, but don't touch." It's not a request.

The fragment inside pulses gently, bone-white and wrong. Not human. Not animal. Something older. Something hungry.

When he speaks again, his voice is a growl, low and threatening:

"It talks to me. Tells me things about you. About how badly you want to cross the line."

He takes another step forward, crowding your space, his scent—pine and something metallic—overwhelming your senses. "Well?" His hand finds the back of your neck, fingers wrapping around it possessively.

"Are you going to be a good little researcher... or do I need to teach you respect?"