Smoke filled the corridor like the breath of a dying god.
Kael stood amidst the carnage, his chest heaving, a faint silver glow still radiating from beneath his cracked skin. Around him, the remains of the Purge Enforcers lay twisted and silent—metal shattered, limbs severed, visors broken to reveal pale, lifeless faces beneath.
He wasn't breathing hard from exhaustion.
He was buzzing.
Every nerve screamed with power.
He had killed them all—and barely realized it.
Elira approached him cautiously. "Kael… your eyes."
He looked at her—and she flinched.
They weren't just silver now.
They were burning.
---
The Chamber Awakens
Behind them, the sealed fluid pod trembled. Cracks spread across its surface. The being within—still motionless—emitted a low-frequency hum that shook the walls.
Elira backed away. "It's reacting to you."
Kael didn't respond. His mind was split between panic and clarity. Something ancient stirred inside him, whispering through his bones.
We are not alone. We were never alone.
The voice wasn't a single presence anymore.
It was a chorus.
Thousands.
Screaming. Singing.
Remembering.
---
Back to the Surface
They fled the underground chamber, pushing through service tunnels slick with condensation and old blood. Elira hacked the bulkhead locks while Kael kept watch, still gripping his warped sword—its blade now etched with glowing patterns that hadn't been there before.
"I need answers," he muttered. "What was that thing calling me? Why is it in me?"
"You're not the first anomaly Bastion tried to bury," Elira said. "Just the first one to fight back."
The words stung.
Not because they hurt.
Because they felt true.
---
Meanwhile, Above
Atop the citadel, General Varyn watched the surveillance feed in grim silence. Around him, high-ranking officers barked commands and accessed databases. The Purge team's vitals had flatlined minutes ago.
"All ten, dead?" he asked, voice calm.
The technician nodded. "Without effort, sir. Target appears to have awakened a dormant gene cluster. Pre-Collapse origin. Possibly related to Subject-Zero."
That name sent a ripple of tension through the room.
Varyn closed the screen and turned to a shadow in the corner. "Activate Protocol Black Veil. Initiate a hard lockdown on Bastion's lower sectors. And… send the Warden."
The shadow nodded once and vanished.
---
Whispers in the Night
Kael and Elira emerged into an abandoned district near the city's industrial ring. Above them, the walled skyline loomed—half-tech, half-cage. Patrol drones buzzed in the sky. Smoke coiled from the vents like breath from sleeping giants.
They moved through ruins once called home. Schools. Clinics. Shelters.
Now empty. Forgotten.
"Bastion doesn't save," Elira whispered. "It contains."
Kael stopped walking.
"Tell me everything."
She hesitated. "It started after the Fall. When the monsters came from beyond the Fringe, the Council discovered that certain humans had… traits. Powers. Some were natural. Some were made."
"And I'm one of them?"
"No. You're something older. You're a—"
She stopped.
From the shadows ahead, a voice answered for her.
"You're a devourer."
---
The Warden Arrives
A figure stepped from the fog—tall, robed in layers of tactical fiber and bone armor. His mask was a blank slate, save for the vertical crimson slit across its face.
The Warden.
Not a soldier. Not even a man, some said.
He carried no weapon.
Because he was one.
"You've made quite the mess, boy," the Warden said. His voice was modulated, metallic, like it was being translated from something primal.
Kael drew his sword.
Elira grabbed his arm. "We can't fight him. He's—"
"I don't care."
But the Warden moved first.
Faster than Kael could see.
---
The Battle
Kael's body slammed through a wall before he could raise his blade. Pain tore through him—but not fear.
He rose, coughing blood, and roared.
Lightning arced through his veins. The world slowed.
This time, he matched the Warden's speed.
Steel met bone. Sparks erupted.
The Warden's arm twisted unnaturally, blocking the blade with the back of his hand. He didn't flinch. "Your instincts are awakening. Good. I want to see what the Heart chose."
Kael's fury ignited.
He struck again—and again—until his blade shattered from impact.
But he didn't stop.
He leapt forward, fists glowing, slamming into the Warden's chest with a force that cracked the ground.
---
The dust settled.
Kael stood, panting, knuckles bleeding.
The Warden rose from the crater.
Unscathed.
But smiling.
"You'll be ready soon," he said.
And then—he disappeared.
Just vanished into the fog.
Kael collapsed to his knees, shaking.
"What the hell am I becoming?" he asked.
Elira didn't answer.
Because behind them, across the skyline, alarms began to blare.
Bastion was under siege.
And something far worse than Kael was coming.
---