Shisui kicked open the heavy iron door of the holding cell. Inside, he found Ethan strapped securely to a metal chair, a intravenous line running from a strange, dark IV bag into his forearm.
That's him. Hayato's friend, Shisui noted.
Moving quickly, Shisui pulled the needle from Ethan's arm and snapped the restraints. Ethan remained completely unresponsive, his breathing heavy and shallow.
Shisui carefully inspected the dark fluid remaining in the hanging bag. Seeing nothing identifiable on the label, he retrieved a small sterile syringe from a nearby medical tray and drew a sample of the substance.
I'll have this analyzed later, Shisui thought, pocketing the vial.
Sweeping the room for intel, Shisui noticed an unlocked metallic drawer beneath a stainless-steel workbench. Inside lay a thick, leather-bound folder labeled in faded black ink: FATHER.
Shisui frowned, flipping open the yellowed pages. The initial entry was dated nearly thirty years prior:
SUBJECT LOG — DR. PHILIP / ARCHIVE
REPORT ENTRY: #014
"As stated in my prior correspondence, I managed to acquire a small group of male subjects—teenagers, by their physical development. Initial screenings were conducted to determine viability. Thankfully, one subject exceeded all biological thresholds. He is, without question, the ideal specimen. Phase One testing was initiated immediately."
"However, a critical security breach occurred. The primary subject breached containment and fled the facility. His companions remain in our custody. While inferior to the runaway, they are far from useless. Upon interrogation, one subject revealed they were merely traveling when they spotted a silhouette on the horizon—a ruined settlement they referred to as 'Heronics.'"
"Initial gene-splicing has begun. I have successfully converted the remaining subjects into bio-kinetic armaments. Their right arm has been structuralized into a long, calcified blade—fusing biological mass with dense compound elements. The resulting bone structure possesses density rivaling Osmium, edge retention superior to obsidian, and structural durability nearing diamond."
"I have stationed one unit within the village as an active guard..."
Shisui lowered the file, the realization hitting him instantly. The mutated skeleton Hayato and I found in the ruins... it was one of those kids from thirty years ago.
He re-read the line regarding the runaway.
So, one subject escaped before the process was completed. Where is he now...? He thought.
He turned to the second document inside the file:
PROJECT DATA: GROUP-VII
CLASSIFICATION: RESTRICTED
"All Group-VII subjects were successfully stabilized. The majority were transferred directly to the First Branch, while several select units were sold to the Shadow Syndicate for astronomical sums. Operational efficiency remains high, but our primary constraint is human stock."
"The Third Branch previously secured test subjects through blackmail and coercion, but current supply lines have collapsed. We are in desperate need of raw human material. In the interim, I have expanded testing to animal specimens. However, cross-species gene integration presents severe volatility due to anatomical variance."
"Group-VII remains my definitive masterpiece. Ensure they are deployed strategically against—"
SIREN BLARES.
High-pitched emergency klaxons cut off Shisui's thought as red warning lights bathed the room in crimson.
"What did he do now?!" Shisui muttered.
He sprinted out of the holding cell toward the central corridor. Down the hall, Eliza was glaring across the ruptured glass at Hayato.
"YOU ABSOLUTE IDIOT!" Eliza screamed over the siren.
"Don't look at me like that!" Hayato yelled back, holding up his hands. "I was just testing the structural integrity of the glass!"
Inside a dark room, Number 0 watched the monitors in dead silence.
On the primary feed, the massive blade-and-tentacle monstrosity erupted from the broken containment tube. Hayato pivoted smoothly, drawing his calcified bone-sword to deflect a lethal strike from the creature's arm.
Number 0 stared at Hayato's movement on the screen. "Hayato... you really have changed?" he murmured under his breath.
A subtle flicker on a secondary monitor caught Number 0's attention. He turned his gaze toward the surface perimeter feed overlooking the snow-dusted ruins of the village.
Fresh, deep tracks were forming in the snow near the bridge—footprints belonging to someone who had just entered the zone undetected.
"A new intruder...?" Number 0 whispered, his eyes narrowing.
He glanced back at the main monitor, where Hayato was dodging another wild assault from the mutated specimen.
"You won't leave this facility alive, Hayato," Number 0 said quietly. "Neither you nor your friends. You guys can't."
Adjusting his heavy overcoat, Number 0 turned away from the console and stepped toward the exit.
I will handle the intruder on the surface myself. The executive force below can deal with Hayato and his companions, Number 0 reasoned as the blast doors closed behind him.
Back in the Lab,
CLANG!
Hayato parried a crushing downward strike from the creature's bone-blade, using his harvested bone-sword to slide the blow off to the side.
The mutant lunged forward, but Hayato ducked beneath its reach, driving a brutal knee directly into the center of its mutated face. The beast stumbled backward, dark fluid leaking from its snout.
"You're still a rookie!" Hayato taunted, spinning his blade.
THWIP!
Before Hayato could reset his stance, the creature's left arm—a thick, muscular bundle of writhing tentacles—shot forward like a harpoon. The appendage wrapped tightly around Hayato's right leg, hoisting him into the air and slamming him violently through the reinforced drywall into the main hallway.
CRASH!
Hayato tumbled across the floor, coming to a halt right at the feet of a heavily armed squad of Second Branch executives responding to the alarm.
Hayato looked up, offering a casual wave. "Hi."
The executives raised their weapons and charged. Hayato dived sideways just as the bio-mutant crashed through the wall behind him. Sweeping its massive bone-blade in a violent, unguided arc, the creature accidentally bisected the lead executives in a single, gory stroke.
"Haha! Thanks for the assists!" Hayato laughed.
Springing off the floor, Hayato vaulted onto the creature's extended blade arm, running up its length and landing a devastating double-stomp directly onto the monster's face, driving its head flat into the metal floor grates.
SNAP!
The tentacle arm whipped around instantly, wrapping around Hayato's neck like a steel cable and hurling him headfirst through the concrete wall across the hall.