Kiel sat alone inside the shattered command room of Vault 13-X, his claws resting on the cold steel floor. The flickering screen still looped the last log of Project Apex — a warning disguised as a confession.
"Delta-13 became something we couldn't predict. It was no longer human. No longer a test subject. It became... instinct given flesh. It devoured the others. We sealed the vault before it could escape."
Kiel's mind swirled.
Delta-13.
Another hybrid — older, more advanced... or maybe more broken.
He looked down at his hands.
How far was he from becoming that?
Behind him, Merren kept watch near the exit. She hadn't said a word since the drones. She was pale. Shaken. And not from the cold.
[SYSTEM NOTICE: Host DNA shows 81% compatibility with Subject Delta-13.]
[Potential Source: Shared Apex Core Root]
[Status: Evolution Path Divergence Possible]
[OPTIONAL PATH BRANCH DETECTED: "Delta's Legacy"]
Accepting this path may increase evolution rate...
...but at the cost of humanity.
Kiel stared at the pulsing prompt in front of his eyes.
Accept… or reject.
"What would Delta-13 have chosen?" he murmured.
The system responded:
[Subject Delta-13 accepted. Result: Rogue Mutation. AI Loss of Control. Estimated Fatalities: 913.]
Kiel swallowed hard.
He closed the prompt.
Choice postponed.
They left the vault that night, silent shadows slipping back into the ash winds. The world outside felt colder, heavier, like the vault had poisoned the very air around it.
But something else was waiting for them.
Smoke rose in the distance — from Black Hollow Outpost.
Merren's eyes widened. "No. No, no—"
They ran.
It didn't take long to reach the ridge overlooking the settlement.
And what they saw stopped Kiel dead in his tracks.
The fences were torn apart. Watchtowers burned. The smell of blood saturated the wind. Screams echoed in the distance.
Something massive moved through the wreckage.
A hulking silhouette—eight feet tall, muscular, covered in pale, shifting plates.
Eyes like molten silver.
It turned, sniffed the air.
And looked directly at Kiel.
[WARNING: Unknown Entity Detected]
[CLASS: ??? – Signature matches Subject Delta-13]
[Threat Level: Cataclysmic]
Delta-13 was no longer a file. No longer a myth.
It was alive.
And it had returned.
Kiel stepped forward, instincts flaring.
Merren grabbed his arm. "Are you crazy? That thing wiped out the outpost. We'll die."
He didn't respond. His body had already begun shifting, reacting to the presence of a true apex. His blood burned.
And deep inside… something called out to him.
Not rage.
Not fear.
But recognition.
Delta-13 stood across the ruins, staring. Watching.
Then it did something unexpected.
It nodded.
Turned.
And vanished into the wasteland.
[System Alert: Target has marked you. Predation Initiated.]
["Apex Hunt" Begins – Kill or Be Killed]
Kiel exhaled. His heartbeat slowed, his vision sharpening.
The game had changed.
No more scavenging. No more fighting packs of hounds.
Now, he was prey to the very system that created him.
And one day soon, he'd have to face Delta-13 in full.
But he wouldn't do it weak.
He wouldn't do it alone.
"Merren," he said quietly.
She looked at him. "Yeah?"
"I need a pack."