The second they stepped into Sector 7's base, the vibe hit different.
Not in a good way.
Screams echoed down the hallway. Lights flickered like a haunted house trying too hard. And somewhere down the left corridor, someone was crying and throwing up at the same time.
Niczo popped her third lollipop of the night.
"Smells like emotional damage in here," Raiyen muttered, nose twitching.
"No," Lazra said, nose wrinkling. " and burnt Shadow bile."
Kael didn't say anything. As usual. His eyes scanned every injured Vizux they passed junior-levels mostly. Rank V's and I's, slumped against walls, trembling, some bleeding, a few muttering nonsense under their breath.
One girl had claw marks down her cheek and was staring at the wall whispering, "It's not real. It's not real. It's not real." Over and over.
Another guy had wet his pants. Niczo pretended not to see that.
Bravik met them halfway down the hall. His sunglasses were off, which meant serious sht*, and his usual "I'm too old for this" look was now full-blown "I need five drinks and a new job."
"You're here," he said, voice low. "Good. You're going in."
Raiyen raised a hand lazily. "Excuse me, Grandpa Panic. Want to tell us why this place looks like a therapy center in a horror movie?"
Bravik didn't flinch. "Nightmares have evolved. This hive isn't using basic illusions. It's deploying Illions deep-dream psychic traps that manipulate your emotions and memories. Get hit with one and you don't just see your fears. You feel them. Bleed from them. Maybe even die from them."
Kael's jaw flexed.
Lazra blinked. "And you sent juniors in there…why?"
"We didn't know it was an Illion-type until they came back bleeding and crying about their dead grandmas trying to rip their faces off," Bravik snapped.
Niczo raised an eyebrow, still sucking her candy. "So... what's the plan now?"
Bravik reached into a locked case and handed each of them a sleek black gun with glowing blue liquid in the cartridge.
"Tranquilizers," he said. "Inject yourself before you enter the field. It temporarily numbs your emotions cuts off the Illions' power source. You won't feel fear. Or grief. Or pain."
Raiyen examined the gun and raised a brow. "So I'll finally be like Kael for ten minutes? Emotionless and mysterious?"
Kael didn't respond. Just loaded his gun with one smooth click like he'd done it a thousand times. (He probably had.)
Lazra flipped hers in the air, caught it, and muttered, "Bet."
Niczo looked at hers for a long second. "And the juniors? Why didn't they get these?"
Bravik exhaled hard. "Because the tranquilizers are too strong. If their bodies aren't stabilized, the emotional shutdown can kill them. You four are X-level. Your vitals can survive the numb cycle."
Lazra stared at him. "So… let me get this straight. You gave hallucinating, emotionally unstable baby Vizux no drugs, just vibes and prayers?"
Bravik's silence said it all.
Niczo rolled up her sleeve and injected the gun into her arm without flinching. The second it hit, she felt it like ice spreading under her skin. The emotional storm she hadn't even realized she was carrying—fear, stress, exhaustion, maybe even a little spark of... interest in someone—vanished. Gone. She felt clean. Cold. Clear.
Raiyen looked at her after he injected himself too. His usual lazy smirk softened slightly.
"You always look hot, Nic," he said
She didn't answer.
Kael and Lazra finished their injections in silence.
Bravik stepped aside and gestured toward the loading bay, where the doors to the Hive Sector were already groaning open.
"Clock's ticking," he said. "Your emotions are frozen for exactly fifteen minutes. After that, the Illions will come for your soft little feelings like sugar-high demons. So move fast. Kill faster."
Raiyen stretched like they were about to hit the gym, not emotional war.
"Anyone else excited to not feel their childhood trauma for fifteen full minutes?" he asked.
"Honestly," Lazra said, cracking her knuckles, "this is the closest thing I've had to a vacation all year."
Niczo walked ahead of them, lollipop stick still between her teeth