Lucknow's Ape - calypse Now

The Broken City

Ten years after the fall of Lucknow, the city is now an echo of its former self. The Nawabi charm has been replaced with guttural roars, the skyline pierced by crude ape-built towers of stone and metal. This is no longer a city of humans. It is the City of Apes.

Rohan Singh walks through the ash-covered ruins of his old lab near Gomti Nagar. Every broken glass vial and burnt-out circuit board reminds him of his sins. He wasn't just a scientist; he was the architect of the rebellion. It was his serum that had changed Kael—once a low-ranking test subject—into something more.

Kael had been charming even as a prototype. Curious. Obsessed with learning. But somewhere along the line, his intelligence had grown darker. When Kael broke free, he didn't just kill his captors—he converted them. Rohan watched from a monitor as Kael led a siege on human civilization, apes chanting in a language he had designed.

Now, haunted and hunted, Rohan seeks redemption. His mission: find the last surviving scientists, gather the fragments of resistance, and create a counter-serum. But first, he must find Maya.

Shadows Beneath

In a graffiti-marked sewer chamber under Hazratganj, Rohan meets Maya.

She moves like shadow, face half-covered, eyes aflame with vengeance. The scars on her arms tell tales of close battles. Maya survived the slaughter of her family in Aliganj. The ones who killed them were Kael's elite—Shadow Claw, genetically-enhanced assassins. She lived by hiding, stabbing, and surviving. Now, she plans to fight.

"They’re headed to Settlement Omega," she growls, handing Rohan a data chip. "You’ve got two hours. Fifteen of them. I watched their patrol—this is their route."

Rohan nods. "I’ll lead the ambush. You scout and return before we move."

"And the serum?"

"We need the data first," Rohan replies. "Dr. Patel’s already in Kael’s palace downloading their files."

As Maya melts into the shadows, Rohan prepares his weapons. But suddenly, Kael's voice cuts through intercepted comms:

"Rohan Singh lives. Bring me his head. The girl, Maya—kill her first."

Rohan and Maya both hear it. Plans change.

Ambush and Revelation

The ambush near the Barabanki ruins begins with high-frequency gunfire—new tech designed to emit sounds that disorient genetically-altered apes. Shadow Claw charges in, but something’s wrong—they’re stumbling. Maya takes them down one by one.

Rohan engages Scar, Shadow Claw’s brutal leader. The two exchange blows in a cracked plaza once used for wedding ceremonies. Rohan emerges bloodied, but victorious.

A secure channel crackles to life. Dr. Patel’s voice:

"Rohan... Kael has no counter-serum. But there’s more. He has a weakness: an audio frequency. I've built a device. Bring him within range."

Then he pauses. "One more thing: Kael discovered your origin. You're not fully human. Your mother... was in the first trials. You carry the same DNA Kael does. You’re his kin."

Into the Throne Room

The palace in the Residency zone gleams with obsidian banners and techno-organic sculptures. Rohan’s assault team moves in under the cover of Dr. Patel’s distractions.

Maya, still seething from Kael’s order, refuses to hold back.

"Time to end this," she says, loading her weapons.

At the throne, Kael rises, draped in armor woven from bulletproof mesh and gold filigree. His voice is calm.

"Half-brother. Your mother—my aunt—was a pioneer. Our blood is shared. Join me."

Rohan activates the frequency device. Kael screams.

"No!"

Guards collapse. Kael weakens.

"Where’s my mother?" Rohan yells. "Is she alive?"

Kael, writhing, whispers: "Sector 12. The Nexus. But she is... changed."

Secrets and Betrayals

With Kael captured and weakened, Rohan interrogates him. Maya stands guard, her blade still wet from earlier battles.

"There are more labs," Kael spits. "Sector 4, 9, 12. Project Erebus—wolves, bears, reptiles. Enhanced."

"Who helped you?"

Kael chuckles weakly. "Your council—Viktor Chen. Deputy Leader of Omega. He fed me your moves."

Maya gasps. "Chen was like a father to me..."

Rohan’s fists clench. "Then we burn this down from the inside."

The Nexus

Councilor Chen is arrested. He screams of betrayal, but Maya slaps him quiet.

"Power was never yours to hold," she snarls.

Meanwhile, Rohan assembles his elite team: Axel, a brilliant hacker; Lena, combat medic; Dr. Patel, his mentor; and Maya.

They head for Sector 12 – The Nexus.

As they descend into the facility’s spine, security bots awaken. Axel disables most. They breach the core chamber.

Inside a stasis pod, suspended in thick blue liquid, floats Dr. Nalini Singh. Rohan’s mother.

She’s alive. But her eyes glow. Her body is changing.

"She’s stabilizing," whispers Patel. "But her DNA is... unstable. She’s powerful."

Maya touches Rohan’s arm. "Are you ready to face her?"

Rohan steps forward, eyes locked on the woman who gave him life—and possibly, the power to change everything.

The brotherhood of beasts

Rohan stepped into the grand chamber, torchlight flickering against ancient sandstone walls scorched by time and rage. At the far end, Kael sat on a throne of twisted metal and bones—half-regal, half-barbaric.

Kael rose. Towering. Cloaked in human camouflage armor, eyes glowing with engineered intellect.

"You came," Kael said. "To reclaim what was yours? Or to beg for survival?"

Rohan stepped forward. "To end this."

A silence hung heavy. Then Kael spoke again. "You and I are brothers, Rohan. Created from the same hand. You’re not human. Not entirely. You are evolution’s bridge."

Rohan clenched his jaw. "I am human enough to stop you."

The battle exploded like thunder.

They fought with everything—muscle, intellect, rage. Kael overpowered Rohan physically, but Rohan’s agility and weapons training closed the gap. Rohan triggered a flashbang laced with Neuro-Toxin 4.

Kael staggered.

"You used science to make me," Kael growled. "Now you use it to destroy me. Hypocrite."

Rohan placed a gun to Kael's head. "I use it to restore balance."

A shot.

Silence.

The fall of shadow claw

The death of Kael sent ripples through the ape ranks. Confused and enraged, many turned on each other.

But some bowed.

To Maya.

She had spared three younglings in the battle—taught them mercy. Now, they remembered. And they told others.

Maya, the warrior of balance.

She addressed them: "We can’t undo the blood. But we can plant new roots. We share this world now."

The Shadow Claw fractured—one half dispersing into jungles, the other remaining to build anew.

Rebuilding Omega

In the ruins of Sector Nine, humans and apes worked together. Language barriers broken by AI interpreters.

Dr. Patel and Maya began Project Renewal: a fusion of tech and nature.

Rohan declined leadership.

"Let the next ones lead," he told Maya. "I'm just here to make sure no one makes the same mistakes again."

She nodded. "You’re not a scientist anymore. You’re a survivor."

He smiled. "A bridge."

The Last Experiment

Deep beneath Kael's palace, Rohan found Lab X. His original workstation.

Inside: embryos. Dozens.

All infused with both ape and human DNA.

He hesitated. Burn it? Or preserve it?

Maya found him, torch in hand.

"We destroy it. We earned peace. Let’s not tempt war again."

Together, they torched the chamber.

Outside, the dawn finally returned to Lucknow.

A New Tehzeeb

Years later, a new Lucknow rose—not of division, but unity.

Apes served on councils. Humans trained with gorilla tacticians. Children—of both kinds—learned side by side.

A new tehzeeb. Not based on language or blood, but survival, compassion, and rebuilding.

The Gomti flowed again—rechanneled through biotech purification.

And on its banks stood a statue.

Not of Rohan.

Not of Maya.

But of Kael—eyes lifted to the sky, holding an olive branch.

Because even monsters have stories.

And even tyrants are born of dreams.