Subject Zero

Nobody slept after that.

Not Xin.

Not Rion.

Not even Alaric.

Sector Zero felt different now.

Like something inside it realized it had been noticed.

The three of them stood inside the central command room.

Old monitors flickered weakly.

Ancient files opened slowly.

Alaric typed rapidly across broken systems while Xin paced behind him.

“That was Kaila’s voice.”

Rion crossed his arms. “Or something pretending to be her.”

Xin immediately looked at him.

“You heard it too.”

“Yes.”

“Then how the fuck do you stay calm.”

Rion looked directly at him.

“Because this place was built by people desperate enough to fight monsters.”

Silence.

Alaric suddenly froze.

“Oh no.”

Xin stepped closer. “What.”

Alaric slowly turned the monitor.

A file.

Very old.

CLASSIFIED.

PROJECT: SUBJECT ZERO

Xin frowned.

“What the hell is Subject Zero.”

Alaric’s face looked pale.

“I thought this project was destroyed.”

He opened the file.

The screen glitched repeatedly.

Corrupted.

Missing pages.

Then finally.

A single image loaded.

Xin froze instantly.

A child.

Inside a containment tank.

Connected to tubes.

Black liquid surrounding the body.

The face unclear.

But familiar.

Very familiar.

“What the fuck is this.”

Alaric whispered:

“This was before you were born.”

More files loaded.

Old logs.

Experiments.

Handwritten notes.

Most unreadable.

Then one line appeared clearly.

"Entity exposure successful. Subject still alive."

Rion’s expression darkened.

“This place was not just a training facility.”

“No,” Alaric replied slowly.

“It was a prison.”

Suddenly.

The power flickered.

Every monitor shut off.

Darkness.

Then emergency red lights activated.

Sector Zero voice returned.

WARNING

LOWER SECTOR BREACH DETECTED

SUBJECT ACTIVITY INCREASING

Xin stared.

“Subject.”

Thump.

The noise echoed again.

Much louder now.

The entire facility vibrated slightly.

Thump.

Thump.

Thump.

Something massive moved below them.

Rion immediately grabbed his sword.

“We should leave.”

Xin shook his head.

“No.”

Rion looked annoyed already.

“Xin.”

“That voice called me.”

“That is exactly why we leave.”

Another impact.

This time stronger.

Dust fell from ceilings.

Then.

The speakers activated.

Not the facility voice.

Something else.

A woman.

Crying.

"Please..."

Xin froze.

Kaila again.

"Xin..."

The voice sounded distorted now.

Wrong.

Almost stretched.

Like multiple voices speaking together.

Alaric backed away from the monitors.

“That is not possible.”

Xin looked toward the lower hallway.

Then started walking.

Rion grabbed him.

“No.”

Xin pulled away.

“If that thing knows her voice then I wanna know why.”

Rion’s eyes narrowed.

“And if it is bait.”

Xin looked back coldly.

“Then I kill it.”

Lower Sector.

The deeper they walked, the colder it became.

The walls changed too.

Less metal.

More organic.

Black veins crawled across surfaces.

Xin immediately noticed.

Black Bloom.

Tiny traces.

Impossible.

“How is this here.”

Alaric looked horrified.

“Andy.”

Rion looked around carefully.

“No.”

He touched the wall.

“This is older.”

Silence.

Xin stopped.

The giant door from before stood ahead.

Subject Storage.

Now partly open.

Just enough darkness to see nothing inside.

Thump.

Something moved beyond the gap.

Heavy breathing echoed outward.

Then.

A laugh.

Very quiet.

Very human.

Xin slowly stepped closer.

The smell hit instantly.

Rotting flesh.

Old blood.

Chemicals.

Something wet moving inside darkness.

Then.

Eyes opened.

Hundreds.

Deep inside the dark.

Xin immediately stepped back.

“What the fuck.”

The thing inside moved slightly.

Chains rattled.

Massive chains.

Then the voice returned again.

Soft.

Broken.

"Xin..."

And this time.

He realized something horrifying.

It was not pretending to be Kaila.

It was copying memories directly from him.

Rion stepped forward immediately.

“We leave. Now.”

The chains suddenly tightened violently.

Something gigantic shifted in darkness.

The facility alarms exploded again.

WARNING

SUBJECT ZERO AWAKENING

ALL PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY

Then.

The thing inside smiled.

And Xin realized.

Whatever was down there.

It had been waiting a very long time.

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