Akshat rode through the fading light for nearly an hour before pulling the quad bike to a stop at the edge of the overgrown ruins. The briefcase sat secure against his back, the weight of the Initiator syringes a constant reminder. He killed the engine and dismounted, leaning against the machine as he pulled the goggles from his pouch. Orion had mentioned a surprise. Curiosity, mixed with caution, won out.
He slipped the goggles over his eyes and adjusted the strap. The world shifted instantly.
A soft hum filled his ears, and the lenses lit up with a seamless VR overlay that blended perfectly with his real surroundings. The abandoned city around him gained faint digital outlines—structural schematics, faint data streams floating at the edges of his vision. Then a cheerful, feminine voice spoke directly into his mind, crisp and energetic.
"Hi Master Ritik, I am Veronica. Wait… your brain patterns say otherwise. Ohhh, you are Master Akshat. I won the bet with the old master, yayyyy!"
Akshat froze, hand instinctively moving toward *Flawless Mistake*. "Wait, is this some kind of AI that is talking to me via these glasses?"
"Sorry for the late introduction, Master. I am Veronica, Old Master Orion's personal assistant. And now I am here to service you."
Akshat exhaled slowly, scanning the empty streets through the enhanced lenses. The overlay highlighted stable paths and potential hazards in the ruins. "Tell me about the bet you mentioned earlier."
"I bet with the old master that Master Akshat would receive me. And here I won."
"Whatever," Akshat muttered, pushing off the bike. The AI's playful tone felt jarring against the weight of everything else, but he couldn't deny its usefulness. The goggles highlighted faint energy signatures leading back toward the mountain lab. He turned and headed deeper into the facility once more, the giant gate yielding to his blood signature again.
Veronica's voice guided him through secondary passages he had missed earlier. "Would you like a full structural map, Master? Or perhaps inventory logs?"
"Later," he said. "Right now, just keep watch."
He explored further into the east wing's lower levels, boots echoing down dimly lit corridors. The air grew damper, heavier with the scent of rust and old chemicals. Veronica occasionally pointed out minor details—overlooked consoles, sealed storage units—but nothing critical. Until they reached a side chamber branching off the main path.
The room was messy, clearly abandoned in haste. Overturned tables, scattered papers yellowed with age, and broken glass crunched underfoot. In the center stood a large incubator unit, its surface opaque and fogged, but a small reinforced viewing strip near the top revealed the silhouette of something inside. A human-like figure, tall and unnaturally still.
Akshat studied it for a few seconds, then turned away. "Not my concern right now. We're leaving."
"Master, dodge the attack!"
The warning came sharp and urgent. Akshat spun just as the incubator's front panel exploded outward in a shower of shattered composite and fluid. A massive hand—pale, veined, and impossibly strong—smashed toward him. He barely twisted aside, the blow grazing his shoulder and sending him stumbling into a console.
The creature that emerged was horrifying in its perfection and emptiness. A naked male body standing 7.2 feet tall, lean muscle rippling under smooth, unnaturally white skin. Short dark hair clung wetly to its scalp. Its eyes were completely blank—pure white orbs with no iris, no pupil, no soul. It moved with fluid, predatory grace, head tilting as if processing its first moments of awareness.
Akshat drew *Flawless Mistake* in one smooth motion. "What the hell is this?"
"Prototype Perfect Body," Veronica answered quickly, her voice calm but rapid. "Incomplete. Aggressive."
The being lunged. It was faster than anything Akshat had faced. Its fist connected with his chest like a sledgehammer, cracking the kevlar plating and driving the air from his lungs. He flew back, slamming into the wall hard enough to dent it. Pain flared across his ribs as he hit the ground rolling.
Before he could rise, the Perfect Body was on him again. It grabbed his right arm in a vise grip, fingers digging into muscle and tendon. Akshat roared as the creature yanked with monstrous force. Flesh tore audibly. The suit's reinforced sleeve ripped like paper. He felt the sickening pull on his humerus bone, heard the crack as it splintered under the strain. Blood sprayed across the floor. Part of the bone gleamed white through shredded meat and skin, his right hand dangling uselessly, nearly severed at the elbow joint.
Akshat fired *Flawless Mistake* point-blank into the creature's torso. The magnum round punched a gaping hole through its chest. For a moment, victory seemed possible. Then the wound began to close—flesh knitting together with wet, squelching sounds, muscle fibers regenerating before his eyes. The Perfect Body didn't even flinch.
It dominated the fight completely. Another blow caught Akshat across the face, cracking his mask and splitting his lip. A kick to the midsection lifted him off the ground, ribs protesting. The creature grabbed his injured arm again, twisting viciously. Fresh agony exploded as more tissue tore. Akshat's vision blurred at the edges. Blood loss was already making him lightheaded.
"Master, the high platform!" Veronica shouted. "There's a catwalk twenty meters ahead, structural weakness marked in red. Lure it there!"
Gritting his teeth, Akshat fought through the pain. He fired twice more with his left hand—*Flawless Mistake* barking loudly in the confined space—creating just enough breathing room to break free. He sprinted unevenly toward the indicated area, the Perfect Body pursuing with relentless, silent determination. Its white eyes never blinked.
Akshat reached the old maintenance catwalk overlooking a deep hollow in the mountain— a natural chasm the lab had been built around, dropping hundreds of meters into darkness. The metal groaned under their combined weight. Veronica highlighted weak bolts in his vision.
"Now, Master! Use the rifle from your back!"
Akshat swung the rifle around one-handed, firing at the supports while dodging another crushing blow. The Perfect Body landed heavily, the catwalk shuddering. He rolled under a sweeping arm, ignoring the fire in his mangled right limb, and slammed his shoulder into the creature's knee. It staggered.
With Veronica's guidance, he targeted the final load-bearing joint. A precise shot from *Flawless Mistake* sheared through it. The catwalk buckled violently. The Perfect Body lost balance, clawing at the edge. Akshat kicked out with everything he had left, driving his boot into its chest.
The creature fell.
It plummeted silently into the hollow mountain, its pale form shrinking into the black depths below. A distant crash echoed up moments later.
Akshat collapsed to his knees on the remaining edge of the catwalk, breathing ragged. His right arm was a ruin—flesh torn open from elbow to shoulder, humerus bone partially exposed in a gruesome white line, blood pouring freely. Pain threatened to drag him into unconsciousness. The battle suit was soaked dark red. He was on the brink of death, vision tunneling.
Somehow, he reached into the suit's medical pouch with his left hand. Blood coagulants and vasoconstrictors—standard emergency vials. He jammed the injector against his thigh and triggered it, then pressed another directly near the worst of the arm wound. The chemicals burned as they flooded his system, slowing the hemorrhage to a sluggish ooze. It wouldn't save him forever, but it bought time.
He slumped against the railing, the goggles still feeding Veronica's concerned voice into his ear.
"Master… vital signs critical. Recommend immediate extraction."
Akshat didn't answer. The world spun around him as darkness crept in.