The Things Inside You

Three weeks.

That was how long they stayed underground.

Three weeks inside Sector Zero.

Three weeks without sunlight.

Three weeks of broken bones, training chambers, old recordings, and hearing strange noises behind walls nobody could open.

Xin hated it.

Which meant it was working.

“Again.”

Rion stood across from him.

Xin was breathing heavily already.

“Bro,” Xin said. “You’ve said again like six thousand times.”

Rion raised his sword.

“Then six thousand one.”

Xin sighed.

“Asshole.”

Rion attacked.

Faster.

Much faster.

Xin moved instantly.

No thinking.

Del Technique.

Redirect.

Counter.

Force Push.

Rion blocked.

Xin immediately changed direction.

Again.

Again.

Again.

The chamber floor cracked from repeated impacts.

Rion attacked from above.

Xin reacted.

Not consciously.

His body moved before thought.

He grabbed Rion mid motion.

Redirected.

Slammed him into the ground.

Silence.

Rion looked surprised.

Xin blinked.

“Oh.”

Rion slowly stood.

“You are improving.”

Xin grinned.

“Hell yeah.”

Later.

Training Ground Three.

Alaric pointed upward.

Massive steel blocks floated hundreds of meters high.

“Destroy them.”

Xin looked upward.

“That’s a lot.”

“Yes.”

Xin rolled his shoulders.

Force Push.

Boom.

The blocks moved slightly.

Not enough.

Again.

Again.

Again.

Hours passed.

Nothing.

Frustration returned.

Xin sat down.

“This shit sucks.”

Alaric sat beside him.

“Your father had this problem too.”

Xin looked.

“What problem.”

“Trying to overpower everything.”

Xin stayed quiet.

Alaric pointed toward the blocks.

“Compression.”

Xin frowned.

“I already compress.”

“More.”

“How much.”

Alaric looked directly at him.

“Until it hurts.”

Hours later.

Xin tried again.

Stored energy.

More.

More.

More.

His arms shook.

Pain.

More.

Shoulders hurt.

More.

Bones hurt.

More.

He almost released.

Did not.

Compressed further.

His entire body trembled.

Then.

Release.

BOOOOOOM.

The air exploded.

Every floating structure vanished instantly.

Not shattered.

Gone.

The shockwave reached mountains outside Sector Zero.

Xin stared.

“Oh shit.”

Alaric smiled slightly.

“There.”

That night.

Raxton again.

Xin entered the chamber.

The armor looked better now.

Repair systems moved around it constantly.

Broken pieces replaced.

Damaged plates repaired.

Xin stepped forward.

The armor reacted.

More than before.

Several plates floated toward him.

Attached.

This time they stayed longer.

Arms.

Chest.

Shoulders.

Xin breathed slowly.

The armor stayed attached.

Twenty seconds.

Thirty.

One minute.

Then detached.

Xin smiled slightly.

“Progress.”

A new recording activated.

Arnold again.

"Strength is easy."

Xin looked up.

"Control is difficult."

Static.

"If Raxton accepts you fully..."

Pause.

"You will no longer fight like a human."

Recording ended.

Xin stayed silent.

Night again.

The noises returned.

This time louder.

Xin walked.

Flashlight in hand.

Sector Zero looked different at night.

Hallways seemed longer.

Rooms looked wrong.

Doors sometimes appeared open that were closed earlier.

He hated this place.

Then.

He heard it.

Very clearly.

Footsteps.

Not his.

Xin followed.

Left hallway.

Right hallway.

Lower level.

Deeper.

The footsteps stopped.

He reached a giant door.

Locked.

Old.

Symbols covered it.

The sign above read:

SUBJECT STORAGE

Xin frowned.

“What.”

Then.

Something hit the other side.

Not hard.

Just once.

Thump.

Xin froze.

Another.

Thump.

Very slow.

Very quiet.

Then.

A voice.

Very weak.

"Help me."

Xin stepped backward.

The voice sounded familiar.

Too familiar.

"Xin."

His blood froze.

Kaila.

Xin stared.

Impossible.

The door shook again.

"Please."

Xin slowly stepped forward.

Hand touching the door.

Then alarms exploded.

Red lights.

Sector Zero voice activated instantly.

WARNING

LEVEL SEVEN RESTRICTED AREA

DO NOT OPEN

Rion suddenly grabbed Xin and pulled him away.

“Move.”

Xin pointed.

“You heard that.”

“Yes.”

Rion pulled him harder.

“We are leaving.”

“What the hell is inside.”

Rion looked toward the giant door.

His expression changed.

Fear.

“I do not know.”

The door shook again.

Harder.

Both stared.

Then.

Silence.

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