| 06:40:02 โ 06:55:00 |
The corridor of Sector C-9 was no longer a part of the orderly Vasena facility.... it had become a graveyard of deconstructed logic. The high-frequency hum from the silver armor of the three "Weeping Eye" units vibrated through the air, a sound capable of shattering human capillaries.
"Subject exhibiting abnormal neuro-synaptic spikes," one of the silver units spoke. It did not reach for a firearm. Instead, it deployed a thin blade from its wrist that shimmered like a mirror. "Initiating motor nerve severance. Maintain subject's consciousness for memory extraction."
Ryu felt a cold tug at the base of his skull. It wasn't the gas.... it was coming from within.
โจ ๐๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ค๐ต ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ: 0.8 ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด. ๐๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ ๐ฆ๐น๐ค๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ค๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ด๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ณ ๐ค๐ข๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ช๐ต๐บ. ๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ท๐ช๐ท๐ข๐ญ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฃ๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ต๐บ: 14%. โฉ
[THEY WANT TO CARVE YOU UP, RYU! LOOK AT THEIR PURPLE EYES! THEY VIEW YOU AS A TISSUE SAMPLE! GIVE ME CONTROL, OR WE DIE AS COLD CUTS!]
Ryu gripped his head, his vision fracturing into shards of red and grey. Behind him, Lyra coughed violently, her strength failing as the neuro-suppressant took hold.
'Not yet.... NV, synchronize my perception with their heartbeats.'
โจ ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ป๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ข๐ช๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ด ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฑ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ฅ. ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ: ๐๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ช๐จ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ถ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ข๐ด ๐ข ๐จ๐ถ๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ. โฉ
The lead unit lunged. Its movement was non-human.... it glided across the floor using kinetic thrusters in its heels. The silver blade hissed toward Ryu's throat with surgical precision.
SHIIIING....
Ryu ducked, but the tip of the blade still managed to graze his cheek. Fresh blood welled up, but strangely, the liquid appeared darker, almost obsidian under the crimson emergency lights.
{ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ.... ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐บ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ช๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐จ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฆ๐ด.... ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด๐ต ๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต.... }
The third voice chilled Ryu's internal temperature instantly. He was no longer burning with adrenaline; he was encased in a lethal, freezing clarity. Ryu spun, his foot lashing out to strike the lead unit's wrist.
CRACK....
The blade missed its mark. Ryu didn't stop. He used the momentum to close the distance with the second unit.
[NOW! SHATTER THE VISOR!]
Ryu drove his elbow into the center of the enemy's helmet. Ordinarily, human bone would shatter against composite plating, but as the Tri-Node flared, NV initiated a momentary hardening of the muscle tissue at the point of impact.
SHATTER....
The purple visor splintered. The unit staggered back, its internal sensors screaming in protest. "Physical anomaly detected. Subject utilizing bio-electric hardening," reported the third unit. It raised its hand, releasing a concentrated wave of air pressure that slammed into Ryu's chest.
THUD....
Ryu was thrown backward, his body hitting the reinforced concrete wall with a force that stole the air from his lungs.
| 06:45:12 |
โจ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: ๐๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ 4๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ 5๐ต๐ฉ ๐ณ๐ช๐ฃ๐ด. ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ๐บ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ช๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ค๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐บ 30%. โฉ
[GET UP, YOU WEAKLING! DO NOT LET THEM NEAR THE GIRL!]
Ryu looked through a haze of blurring vision. The first unit was walking slowly toward the unconscious Lyra. Its blade was raised, preparing a "severance" to ensure she would not interfere with the harvest. Something inside Ryu snapped. It wasn't the logic of NV. It was the raw, unadulterated fury of Eon, filtered through the terrifying stillness of the Third Entity.
"Do not.... touch.... her," Ryu hissed.
His voice was no longer that of a child. It was a layered, dissonant sound. Ryu stood. The hand he had scorched earlier no longer felt pain. Blue electricity began to seep from his pores, wrapping around his arms like a crown of unstable light.
โจ ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ: ๐๐ช๐ฐ-๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ข๐ฅ. ๐๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต๐ข๐ญ ๐ด๐ข๐ง๐ฆ๐ต๐บ ๐ท๐ข๐ญ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด: ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฏ. โฉ
Ryu vanished. He moved so fast the "Weeping Eye" units were too slow to track him.
CRASH....
Ryu collided with the first unit. He used no weapon. He used his bare hand to grip the throat of the silver armor, channeling the entirety of his raw bio-electric energy into the enemy's life-support systems.
ZZZZZZZZTTTTTTT.... BOOM!
The circuitry within the armor detonated. The unit went rigid, then collapsed, smoke billowing from its shattered helmet. Ryu turned toward the remaining two. His eyes were now entirely a metallic grey, radiating an aura that caused the sensors on the enemies' armor to flicker with error messages.
[YES! THIS IS IT! FEEL THE POWER, RYU! THEY ARE NOTHING BUT INSECTS BEFORE US!]
The two surviving units took a defensive stance. They realized that the subject before them was no longer a standard extraction target. This was a systemic failure that had to be neutralized.
"Priority shift," their collective voices echoed. "Eliminate Subject D-3."
Ryu stood in the center of the smoke-filled corridor. The graze on his cheek was already closing with unnatural speed, leaving a faint, shimmering scar.
{ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฅ๐ข๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐จ๐ถ๐ฏ.... ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด.... ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ข๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐บ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ.... }
Ryu stared at the last two units, clenching his fists as the blue arcs of electricity danced between his knuckles.
"Come," Ryu said, his voice cold as the void.