The VX-07 Pulse-Lance sat nestled in its case, a vision of deadly elegance. Its matte black composite housing was veined with bioluminescent green light that pulsed softly, like a sleeping predator. A small display on the stock registered a 28% charge.
Sera reached out, her hesitation barely perceptible before she gripped the weapon and pulled it free with a practiced motion that belied her uncertainty. The rifle hummed to life in her hands, a low thrum that vibrated up her arms.
"Uh… Sera… do you know how to use that?" Jin asked, his eyes on the weapon.
Sera became flustered, hugging the rifle closer to her chest. "Hmph. Of course I do. I'm not some clueless civilian—I was the top of my year in tactical simulations!" She turned away slightly, just enough to hide the small flush creeping up her neck. The rifle was heavier than she expected, and its interface flickered with targeting glyphs she didn't entirely understand, but she refused to let that show. She muttered to herself, "Just… aim correctly… it's not that different from airsoft training, right…?"
Clara blinked. "Sera… you played airsoft?"
"N-Not for fun!" Sera said defensively, waving her hands. "It was for strategy drills! As a student council president, I needed to set an example, okay?!"
The VX-07's charge display beeped softly as it synced to her biometric profile. A synthesized voice echoed from the rifle's speaker. 'Weapon calibration complete. Subject Seraphina Valerius—moderate affinity with ranged weaponry. Confidence levels exceed actual experience. Recommend mild supervision.'
Jin grinned slightly. "Asha says you might need a bit of practice."
Sera whipped around, her glare fierce. "Tell your creepy voice-in-the-head AI that I don't need babysitting! I can handle this weapon just fine." But her grip tightened, hugging the rifle closer. For just a moment, a flicker of vulnerability showed in her eyes. She whispered quietly, to herself, "I'm not going to be useless… I can also protect you guys…."
Then, without another word, she turned and moved toward the hallway, the plasma rifle cradled like it belonged to her all along.
The corridor fell silent, the only sound the drip of condensation and their own breathing. A heavy, oppressive stillness settled over them, the kind that precedes a storm.
Then, a sound like a hundred knives being dragged across iron screamed through the air. It clawed at their ears, reverberating off the rusted steel walls until it felt like the Vault itself was bleeding. The air grew heavy with the stench of decay—rotting flesh and industrial chemicals—clinging to their lungs like a shroud.
Everyone froze, their breaths shallow, hearts hammering in their chests. The silence after the shriek was more deafening than the sound itself.
Jin's eyes snapped upward, his pupils dilating in the dim light. Sweat beaded on his brow as he strained to pierce the darkness cloaking the ceiling. A faint drip echoed, liquid hitting metal, followed by a soft, wet rustle, like flesh unsticking, like a spider uncoiling after pretending to be still.
'Ceiling anomaly detected—center mass drop and now approaching,' Asha's voice was a cold thread through his neural feed.
A silhouette twisted, unnatural, before a sickening crack-pop-crack split the air. Its limbs unfolded from impossible angles, its arms bent backwards at the elbows, knees inverted like some twisted marionette.
Then it fell.
The Crawler dropped into their midst with a sickening thud, its weight buckling the grated floor and sending a jolt through their boots. Its pale, corpse-slick skin was stretched tight around a body that should never have moved, veins visible beneath the translucent flesh. Tattered remnants of a jumpsuit clung to it like shredded bandages, the faded Vault-Tec logo smeared with dark liquid, a mockery of its human past. But it was the chest that stole their breath, their sanity.
Its torso had split itself wide, torn open into a second mouth that gaped hungrily with rows of bone-forged fangs. The maw twitched, drooling a thick, black saliva that hit the floor with a hiss, melting steel with an acrid stench that burned their nostrils.
Clara let out a strangled squeak, stumbling back. Her toolkit fell with a clatter as her hands flailed, grasping at nothing. Her orange hair plastered to her sweat-soaked face, her brown eyes wide with terror. Her chest heaved, her voice lost to a choked gasp as she stared into the Crawler's dead, milky eyes.
Rosa forced a shaky grin, her voice tight. "O-Okay, yeah… this thing's way past ugly. I vote we shoot first and ask nothing later…" But when she saw the creature's splintering chest and heard the bone-grinding sound that filled the hallway, her normally playful demeanor faltered.
"Clara—get back!" Sera shouted, her voice sharp and commanding. As the monster drew closer to the terrified and immobile Clara, Sera's eyes narrowed, though a flicker of fear betrayed her. She raised the VX-07 Pulse-Lance, her hands trembling slightly, the beads of sweat on her silver hair illuminated by the rifle's green glow.
But the Crawler moved first.
With a hiss, it launched forward in a blur of motion. Its limbs clacked against the metal floor like chitin. Its chest-mouth yawned wider, the fangs flexed, its dead gaze locked on Clara with a hunger that promised only pain. Its razor claws scythed forward, ready to strike.
Jin's vision tunneled on Clara's frail form as his pulse roared in his ears. He didn't think. He just moved.
"Claraaaaa—get downnnn!" he roared, his voice ripped from his chest. He slammed into her, knocking them both to the ground as his shoulder struck her with bone-jarring force. A whisper of death brushed Jin's arm, tearing the sleeve of his jumpsuit as the Crawler's claws tore through the air where she had been standing a split second earlier.
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[SKILL ACTIVATED – Instinct Surge Lv. 1]
+30% Strength | +30% Agility | +30% Perception (Duration: 10 seconds)
Neural delay reduced. Reflex channeling engaged.
Target tracking: ACTIVE.
Combat Focus State: ON.
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