The heavy door behind them hissed shut as Squad Gamma stepped out of Sector V and into one of the upper-level access corridors, the soft clang echoing behind them like a final note. They'd taken the rooftop-level shortcut after landing, bypassing the usual return route through the main transport wing. The air felt thinner here—cleaner, but sterile—touched only by the faint hum of overhead lights and the distant clatter of machinery.
Wide steel hallways stretched ahead, lit with strips of blue-white LEDs along the ceiling. A few service drones zipped past on magnetic tracks embedded in the walls, silently carrying crates marked with the RRD emblem. The base here felt… different. Quieter than the busy lower floors. Cold, but in a way that felt organized. Calculated.
Kaiori's boots echoed sharply against the polished floor. She rolled her shoulders with a quiet grunt. "This place is huge… I've never even been in this wing."
Jin walked a few steps ahead, glancing at the walls and ceiling. He slowed slightly at a passing intersection, noticing a sign labeled W-04-B Maintenance, with smaller text beneath reading Rift Sector Containment – Authorized Personnel Only.
"Is this still part of the main HQ?" he asked, eyeing the locked doors.
Shiori nodded. "It's rarely used by low-tier squads. This side connects several restricted areas—containment, upper labs, deep storage. Most don't bother walking through it."
Ren walked quietly behind them, arms crossed. His gaze swept over the clean walls, watching a flickering monitor display status reports: oxygen flow levels, Rift creature vitals, encrypted logs. His brow twitched.
"Never seen some of this equipment before. Almost feels like it's not part of the same base," he muttered.
Kenji, calm and composed as always, added, "Places like this are designed to be forgettable. Most people don't question what they're not allowed to see."
Raizo walked in the back of the group, silent as usual, his eyes moving with slow caution. Whether it was boredom or a sense of unease, he didn't show.
As they turned another corner, the hallway curved downward, and the walls changed—thicker here, reinforced with black alloy panels. Signs of wear began to show. Faint claw marks etched into the steel. Burn residue. Shattered light fixtures, still in the process of repair. A different kind of silence lingered here. Heavy. Watching.
Then they saw it.
Through a large reinforced window set into the wall: a wide, dim chamber lined with containment pods. Each one pulsed faintly with an inner glow. Within them—barely visible through the reinforced glass—were Rift creatures. Some twitched unnaturally. Others simply floated, suspended in glowing fluid. All of them radiated something… wrong.
Kaiori stepped forward, breath fogging the glass. "Is this—?"
"Rift Creature Jail," Shiori confirmed. "Well… officially it's called a Containment Sector. Creatures that aren't killed outright—some are captured for study. Rare ones. Especially if they show behavioral deviation."
Jin stared through the glass, eyes wide. "I didn't think anything could survive long enough to be captured."
"They usually don't," Kenji said quietly. "Which makes these… special."
One of the pods housed a Rift creature that looked vaguely humanoid—too much so. It had no face, only smooth skin stretched over a vaguely human skull. Limbs too long. A pulse of blue Rift energy flickered across its core like a heartbeat.
A faint shiver ran through Hannah. She stepped back.
A soft voice cut through the silence behind them.
"You're not supposed to be here, you know."
They turned to see a girl in a lab coat, no older than twenty, standing with a clipboard. Her black hair was pulled into a short ponytail, and she had round glasses sliding down her nose. Behind her, a tall man in a technician's vest leaned against the wall with arms crossed, chewing gum.
The girl tilted her head. "Tier 4… Squad Gamma, right? I read the dispatch from Echo Ridge. You guys caused a stir."
Kaiori blinked. "You… read about us?"
The girl smiled sheepishly. "I read everything. I'm Mayu—bio-analysis tech for Sector C. I monitor the neural spikes in Rift captures. And this is Jinro," she added, nodding toward the man behind her.
Jinro grunted. "Security systems already pinged your presence, so don't worry. You're not in trouble. Just don't try to tap any of the glass, or… well." He jerked a thumb toward one of the reinforced pods. "That one hates attention."
Jin looked at the creature inside. It didn't move, but he could feel it watching.
Mayu stepped forward, tapping her screen. "That one's a Class III variant. Tried to mimic human voices during containment. We think it adapted after being exposed to a survivor in its Rift Zone for too long."
"…Mimicry?" Hannah said softly. "It learned to sound human?"
Mayu nodded. "And use our language. Limited phrases… mostly distress calls. The thing would cry like a kid."
A long silence settled.
Raizo stared through the glass and muttered, "Burn it."
Mayu didn't respond to that.
Shiori broke the silence, her voice steady. "We should move. We've seen enough."
As the squad turned to go, Mayu called after them, "If you're ever bored, come back sometime! The weird ones always show up on Fridays!"
Jinro shook his head but gave a small wave. "Stay sharp, Gamma."
The squad moved on.
They passed another hallway labeled Division Z – Tech Archives and caught the sound of metal clanking inside—a man welding something while humming off-key. Another door opened on their left, revealing a room with high ceilings and rows of stacked gear—rifles, armor plating, Rift Weapon fragments. Two mechanics argued over calibration codes, while sparks flew in the background.
Just as they rounded a bend near the greenhouse dome—a warm, humid corridor filled with piping and faint green glow—a younger tech caught sight of them and jogged over, eyes wide.
"You're Squad Gamma, right? The new Tier 4s?"
The team turned.
He wore a modified lab coat with bright orange stitching and had large glasses that made his eyes look enormous.
"I saw your footage—Echo Ridge, right? You guys handled that Rift Drake like pros!"
Kaiori blinked. "That was… recorded?"
"Of course! Not the whole battle—just the overhead feeds. I'm Kenta, by the way. I help run combat data compression for the analytics division."
Jin scratched the back of his head awkwardly. "Uh… thanks?"
"I mean, that one move—when you flipped over that creature's back and sliced its neck? So clean. You even made the top five for the weekly replay board!"
Shiori stepped forward smoothly. "We're just returning to our sector. Can you point us to Subsection E?"
Kenta blinked, then nodded. "Sure! You're super close. Just head around the greenhouse dome, take the freight lift down one tier, and go left past the Recon Prep Hall. That'll spit you out right by your corridor entrance."
"Thanks," Shiori said.
Kenta gave a quick bow, then backed off, still beaming.
As they walked again, Raizo muttered, "Replay boards, huh? What a joke."
Hannah smiled faintly. "I think it's kind of nice… knowing people noticed."
Kaiori chuckled. "Let them cheer. Beats being forgotten."
Eventually, the walls began to shift again—less black alloy, more familiar concrete and metal. Shiori stopped in front of a lift, keying in their floor.
A faint voice over the intercom called, "Lift to Tier 4 Quarters. Clearance confirmed."
As the lift doors opened, they stepped inside.
The quiet hum of descent felt oddly soothing after everything.
Jin leaned back against the wall and exhaled. "There's way more to this place than I thought."
Shiori replied without turning. "There always is. We're just getting started."
The lift slowed and opened into a familiar hallway—finally back near their quarters. Soft yellow lighting washed over the floor. The smell of food from the distant mess hall floated faintly in.
Kaiori muttered, "Finally."
No more Sector V. No more eerie containment cells.
Just home—at least, for now.
They walked the last stretch in silence, boots thudding gently against the floor, the weight of the day slowly settling across their shoulders.
Behind them, deep in the corridors of the RRD, the pods still pulsed.
Watching.
Waiting