The air inside the mag-rail sublevel was humid, stale, and tinged with the unmistakable scent of ozone and rot.
Yu Ren adjusted the flashlight strapped to his chest rig, letting the beam sweep across the cracked floor. The mag-rail track had split in places, metal warped and fused as if by extreme heat—probably a leftover from an old system meltdown.
Kai walked beside him, silently scanning with a handheld biosensor. His brow was furrowed.
"No life signs," he muttered. "Not even rodents."
"That's… comforting," Yu Ren replied, dryly. "Maybe the armored slug scared everything off."
Kai didn't answer.
They passed what remained of a control booth—glass shattered, control panels melted. Above it, a long-dead screen flickered to life just long enough to flash a corrupted symbol that looked vaguely familiar.
Yu Ren squinted.
It was a circle. Surrounded by stars. Within it, a hand cradled an eye.
[Memory Triggered: Pre-Collapse Symbol Detected]
Attempting recall...
Match Found: PROJECT DAWNKEEP
Classification: Level Black – Cognitive Enhancement / Survival Protocol
Clearance Level: Omega
Access restricted – unlocking partial memory...
A pulse of pain lanced through Yu Ren's skull. He stumbled, hand clutching the side of his head as images flashed behind his eyes.
Needles. Cold rooms. Voices echoing behind glass.
"Subject 14... neural mapping stabilized. Emotional resilience: anomalously high."
"Proceed with Stage III imprinting. He's... holding onto something. A name?"
The name was Kai.
Yu Ren gasped.
"Hey," Kai said, catching his shoulder before he could fall. "What happened?"
Yu Ren looked at him, throat dry. "I—I think I saw something. From before. Project Dawnkeep. You were in it."
Kai froze.
"I don't remember all of it," Yu Ren added quickly. "Just pieces. But your name came up."
Kai's eyes darkened. "We shouldn't stay here."
Yu Ren didn't push. He could feel Kai's walls going up again, tight and defensive. But something inside Yu Ren—a thread the system had quietly stitched through his soul—tugged harder.
He needed to remember.
---
The mag-rail system ahead led to a collapsed tunnel, but a side passage had been cleared recently.
That was suspicious.
"No way that was a cave-in," Yu Ren whispered. "Look at those cuts. Clean. Controlled. Someone cleared this."
"Survivors," Kai said, voice low. "Or scavengers. Either way, they're organized. Armed. Could be hostile."
They advanced slowly.
The deeper they went, the more bizarre things became. The walls began to hum faintly. Strange symbols—half-burned, half-painted—were etched into the metal supports.
One was a black triangle with three vertical slashes. Another was a blood-red skull inside a square.
Yu Ren pointed. "Gang tags?"
"Worse," Kai muttered. "Cult markings. Mutation cults. They worship the fallout and think transformation is divine."
Yu Ren shivered. "Let me guess. They're not exactly chill about visitors."
"They flay intruders. Record their screams for rituals."
Yu Ren stopped walking. "Let's go back."
But then his flashlight caught something.
A massive steel door, half-buried under debris. On its front was that same Dawnkeep symbol. The hand. The eye. The stars.
Lock Signature Recognized
Clearance Fragment Detected – Subject 14
Unlocking…
Access Granted: DORMANT FACILITY – SUB-UNIT 9
The door groaned open.
Behind it was a short tunnel leading to a sealed room.
---
Inside was silence.
Old machinery lined the walls—pods filled with dried-out nutrient gel, cables hanging like veins. A terminal flickered on, dim orange light pulsing.
Yu Ren stepped forward and placed his hand on the panel.
Welcome Back, Subject 14
System Sync: 39%
DormantProtocol Detected: [Echo Training Simulation – Phase II]
Initiate Now? [Y/N]
Yu Ren hesitated. "Kai… should I?"
Kai didn't answer immediately. Then, "Do it. You need to know."
Yu Ren clicked YES.
The walls began to vibrate.
A holographic projection flared up around him—an image of a burning city, mutated beasts rampaging across collapsed highways. Over it, an instructor's voice echoed:
"Welcome to Simulation Two. In this sequence, you will learn tactical response, environmental scanning, and emotional regulation under stress. Fear is a weapon. Master it—or die."
Yu Ren stumbled as the images sharpened. His body felt real pain as a simulated creature lunged at him from the smoke.
He raised his crowbar.
The fight was short, brutal. His instincts kicked in. He dodged. He countered. He stabbed.
And when it ended, his breath came in gasps—but not panic.
Simulation Complete
Combat Response Upgraded
Trait Unlocked: [Tactical Memory Recall]
+10% dodge while fatigued
+5% detection of hidden enemies
Passive bonus: Stress-regulated breathing
Kai stepped forward as the simulation faded.
"You moved like someone trained," he said, watching him carefully. "Not just surviving."
Yu Ren nodded, shaky but composed. "Yeah. I think I used to be someone else."
He looked down at his shaking hands. "But I don't know if I want to be him again."
Kai's voice was quiet. "Wanting to forget doesn't change who you were. But choosing who you become? That's yours."
Yu Ren met his gaze.
Slowly, something inside him settled.
Not peace. But... a kind of acceptance.
---
Later, as they scavenged the side room of the Dawnkeep sub-facility, they found a weapons locker. Most items were dead tech—fried circuits, rusted guns—but one thing still worked.
A small, sleek wrist device with a blue light pulsing at its core.
Experimental System Module: [Phase Anchor]
Status: Untested
Effect: Stabilizes reality within a 2-meter radius for 4 seconds. Can interrupt spatial glitches and delay mutations.
Yu Ren grinned. "Looks like I found my first toy."
"Just don't break time," Kai said flatly.
Yu Ren smirked. "No promises."
---
Back in the tunnel, they moved more quickly now.
But before they could exit, a soft humming noise reached them from the far end of the corridor. A pale figure emerged—shrouded in rags, with glowing red veins pulsing beneath translucent skin.
Its voice was low, calm.
"Return to the dark. The light is not yours."
Yu Ren froze.
Mutant Cultist Detected – Whisper Class
Abilities: Illusion, Mental Disruption, Low-Grade Telepathy
Recommendation: Do not listen. Do not engage alone.
The cultist raised one hand.
Yu Ren's vision fractured. The world twisted—suddenly the floor was the ceiling, and Kai's voice echoed like it was underwater.
And then, clarity.
Kai had slapped something on Yu Ren's temple—an old neural stabilizer.
Yu Ren blinked, mind clearing just enough to swing his crowbar.
The illusion shattered like glass. The cultist screeched and fell back.
Kai shot twice.
The cultist dropped.
Yu Ren gasped for air, clutching the wall. "I'm really starting to hate this tunnel."
Kai pulled him up, lips twitching. "Good. That means you're still sane."
---
System Update
EmotionalResilience: +3
Trait Strengthened: [Instinct Lv. 2 → Lv. 3]
System Sync: 44%
Memory Thread Strengthening…
Next threshold: 50% – Core Identity Recovery
Yu Ren exhaled.
They hadn't reached safety yet. But every step forward mattered.
Even if that step came with bleeding illusions and cult freaks.
---
To be continued.