[Velmora — Upper Sector: Supply Nexus District]
Velmora's upper sector was cleaner—but not kinder.
Steel platforms stretched between suspended towers like webs strung in tension. Neon signs flickered with dead promises: "Unity Through Obedience," "Kargal First," and "Strength Is Duty." Drones buzzed overhead, scanning for unauthorized pulses.
And walking beneath them like gods in borrowed skin—the Kargali citizens.
Real ones.
High-born. Entitled. Untouched by rust or hunger.
They wore white and silver uniforms laced with nerve-threaded tech. Their expressions were cold, sterile. Every one of them bore the six-pointed Dominion Sigil, glowing faintly in their irises like a cursed inheritance.
Kiro moved like shadow.
His hood up, face hidden beneath cracked goggles, blood venom quietly coiled beneath his skin—just waiting.
One target.
He spotted him.
A young Kargali—no older than twenty. Patrolling with two robotic escorts near a checkpoint gate. His uniform bore an insignia of House Thalos—minor, but loyal to the Empire.
He was isolated.
And arrogant.
Perfect.
Kiro dropped from the scaffolding above with the silence of a predator. His fingers flicked forward.
The venom pulsed into his palm.
Crimson Spike.
A shard of blood—razor-thin—sliced into one drone's optic. The machine staggered, buzzing, before Kiro twisted mid-fall and slammed his heel into the second bot's core.
Both went down in four seconds.
The Kargali barely had time to scream.
Kiro lunged.
His hand clasped the target's mouth, dragging him behind a generator bay as he stabbed a venom shard deep into the man's neck—not to kill.
Not yet.
The man trembled in Kiro's grip, breath rasping.
"You're going to help me blend in," Kiro whispered, voice low and final.
The System blinked to life.
[Target Acquired: Kargali Citizen — Class Beta][Initiating Extraction Sequence]
A narrow needle-like projection extended from Kiro's wrist—part organic, part construct. It slid into the man's chest cavity like a whisper of death.
[Blood Sample: Confirmed][Morphogenic Encoding: Downloading…]
The man's iris flared—the six-pointed star glowing violently—just before his body went limp, veins freezing mid-pulse.
Kiro dropped the corpse.
His hands trembled as the blood venom sank into his veins, carrying with it the raw biological blueprint of his enemy.
[Kargal Biomorph Engaged][Appearance Adaptation: In Progress][Iris Mutation Initiating...]
He staggered.
Pain lanced through his skull as his left eye burned. Not with fire—with identity.
He grabbed a shard of mirror-glass from the ground.
And watched.
The six-pointed star bloomed into his iris like a blooming parasite. Dark red at first… then shifting silver.
[Dominion Sigil: Fused][Blood Designation Complete]
Kiro's reflection stared back—half himself, half the monster they made him become.
He smiled.
I am Kargal now…
Let's see how long they survive their own poison.