Chapter 1E
August 2nd, 1991 — Site 13, Tokyo City, Japan
Beneath an endlessly long corridor—so long it felt as if it truly had no end—white metal walls stretched on forever, coated in a glossy ivory-like paint that gleamed as if carved from polished bone. Above, rows of reinforced LED lights cast a soft white glow, while white security cameras, shaped almost like mechanical seagulls, rotated left and right with blinking red indicators, capturing every microscopic detail—even mosquitos no larger than a single pixel on the video feed.
Along this corridor, scientists of many ethnicities—white, yellow, and black—hurried about in white lab coats. Dark hair and blond hair were the most common colors, since the majority of staff were ordinary humans. Some carried towering stacks of red, purple, and yellow folders, rushing from one research chamber to another. Janitorial workers in the organization's blue uniforms pushed carts full of steaming paper cups of coffee, delivering them to every laboratory.
Others simply walked and chatted casually, smiling as they exchanged stories.
But the peace was interrupted by the heavy, rhythmic clack clack of boots—the sound of security personnel. Six soldiers in white tactical gear and black helmets marched in formation, each holding a reinforced rifle as they scanned every inch of the hallway to ensure no breach, no anomaly, no unexpected disaster occurred.
And then—in the middle of this seemingly calm, routine scene—a girl suddenly dashed through the corridor.
A young woman with long black hair, silky and gleaming with a faint brown tint at the ends, blue eyes like soft morning light, pale skin, and a height of barely 150 cm. She sprinted down the hallway in her white lab coat, trying desperately to tame her messy hair with one hand while continuing to run with full force.
Her coworkers stared at her with puzzled expressions as she bolted past them.
When she passed by a janitor pushing the coffee cart, she casually grabbed one cup, downed the black liquid mid-run, and left the rest of the cups toppling onto the spotless white floor—also splashing onto her own black shoes. She didn't care at all about the janitor yelling behind her.
She weaved through dozens of research rooms until finally stopping at Room 0130. Out of breath, she frantically searched her lab coat pockets for her ID card—only to find a single can of beer and nothing else. Luckily, another staff member happened to walk by and kindly swiped their card for her.
A soft tink sounded as the door slid open with a hiss, releasing a burst of cold white fog. Rin rushed inside without hesitation—only to immediately slip and fall face-first onto the black laboratory floor.
The coffee cup in her hand flew high into the air, spinning dramatically before crashing to the ground. Black coffee splattered everywhere—drenching her back, her hair, and staining her once-white coat into a messy brown pattern.
She groaned, annoyed, lifting her head—only to see a pair of black boots and brown uniform pants. She glared upward and found a tall man, about 1m7, white lab coat, pale skin, blue eyes, and neatly parted blond hair.
Without hesitation, she punched his leg.
Rin
> "Hey, Leon…"
Leon jerked his leg away, grimacing from the pain, before shouting back at her while watching Rin push herself upright and attempt to wipe the dripping coffee from her coat with her sleeves—only making the stain spread even wider.
Leon
> "Ah… You know that hurts, kid…
Anyway, happy 23rd birthday, Suzuki…"
Rin immediately punched his leg again.
A loud crack echoed—something definitely popped—and Leon's leg trembled violently like it was about to collapse. Yet he forced a serious smile, pretending nothing hurt, even though his soul was clearly dying inside.
Then Rin spoke again, voice annoyed and sharp.
Rin
> "Hey Leon, why are you talking like we're strangers…?
We're dating now, so just call me by my name…"
She clenched her fist again—preparing a third punch. Leon panicked, stepping back in fear, knowing that one more hit would absolutely destroy his leg.
He quickly grabbed Rin's lab coat, pulled it off her shoulders, tossed it into the air, and then lifted her chin gently—trying to act like one of those overbearing CEOs in Hollywood dramas.
Leon
> "Hey, princess… what exactly do you want me to do, hmm…?"
But Rin smoothly ducked out of his "romantic" pose with the reflexes of a school athlete. She stepped aside and burst into barely controlled laughter as she tried to maintain a serious face, failing completely when she saw Leon still holding his dramatic posture.
Rin
> "Are you kidding me, Leon…?
This is a research laboratory, not Hollywood…"
22 minutes later…
Leon adjusted the camera in his hands, aiming it carefully at a towering glass column—easily twice his height. The structure was perfectly cylindrical, reinforced with metallic rings, and filled to the brim with swirling orange EOV. Yet despite its vivid color, the liquid was unnaturally calm—so unnaturally still that it felt as though time itself had been pressed flat inside the containment chamber. Not a single ripple disturbed its surface.
A moment later, Rin stepped gracefully into the frame.
Now wearing a perfectly pressed white shirt tucked into black fabric pants, her earlier chaotic look had vanished entirely. Her long black hair was tied neatly behind her, framing a face that looked both serious and effortlessly beautiful. She offered the camera a soft, poised smile—one practiced enough to rival a professional news reporter.
When she spoke, her voice carried that familiar blend of calm, academic confidence, and subtle excitement. She reached out, gently placing her fingers on the cold surface of the EOV containment tube.
Rin
> Hello! My name is Rin Suzuki. You may refer to me as Dr. Rin. Welcome to the minor deconstruction and analysis campaign of Laboratory Unit 0130 of Site 13… I, along with Leon Wagner, are the only two active members assigned to this experiment…
She inhaled once—quietly, lightly—her expression shifting into a perfectly standard professional demeanor. Only someone extremely observant could have noticed her eyes flicking toward the camera for a split second—catching sight of the thin sheet of paper Leon was subtly raising behind it, feeding her the script.
Then she continued, her tone gentle yet precise:
Rin
> Currently, our experimental team consists of only the two of us, and we've just been granted approval to conduct a test regarding the intrinsic properties of EOV—specifically whether it can be used to activate or awaken an internal soul structure. Although, according to the organization's records dating back to the 1970s, such activation has been deemed entirely impossible…
She didn't finish.
A sudden metallic clash—sharp and violent—rang through the entire laboratory. The sound reverberated along the walls like a warning bell from the underworld.
Inside the containment tube, the orange EOV rippled violently.
Then it began to shake.
Rin's eyes widened as she stumbled to the floor. She clutched her head, covering her ears, her entire body trembling uncontrollably. A piercing symphony of distorted, unrecognizable languages—whispers, screams, chants—poured directly into her skull.
Leon collapsed next.
He fell to his knees, violently vomiting as the camera slipped from his hands, shattering on the black floor into a spray of sharp fragments. The bright white laboratory lights flickered—once, twice—before turning blood red.
Cracks began to crawl across the glass tube.
Leon fumbled for his radio with shaking hands, struggling to catch his breath, coughing between words.
Leon
> Doctor! Doctor! I need—
He couldn't finish. His body seized as he vomited again, thick strings of bile splattering onto the floor. His breathing hitched; consciousness wavered. Yet despite the pain, he forced himself to crawl toward Rin—who lay sprawled on the floor, twitching, nearly unconscious, her body still shaking violently.
Behind them, the cracks on the containment tube spread.
The orange EOV began leaking—then pouring.
The alarms blared louder, echoing through the entire facility like a dying beast.
And then—
The tube exploded.
A geyser of EOV burst outward, drenching the room. The blast flung Leon backward like a rag doll. His vision blurred. Blood trickled across his face, mixing with glittering shards of glass embedded in his skin.
He could feel everything—pain, heat, disorientation.
But something else, too.
A strange, impossible sensation.
He realized Rin—who had taken the full force of the exposure—was not dissolving, not mutating, not reacting to the EOV at all.
Her body was still there, whole, untouched.
Leon's mind screamed that it made no sense.
He pushed himself up, gasping as blood soaked down his pants, dripping onto the floor. And then—
A voice spoke inside his mind.
A voice that wasn't his.
A single command:
"Run…"
The word echoed, vibrating inside his skull like a swarm of insects.
His body shuddered uncontrollably.
He hardly realized he was moving until he found himself staggering forward, grabbing Rin's limp form into his arms. Her weight felt heavier than usual—or maybe he was simply fading.
The hallway outside was already cleared; emergency lights flashed violently across the endless corridor.
He took one step.
Two.
The world spun.
The voice repeated—again, again, again:
"Run…"
Then his vision collapsed into blackness as he finally lost consciousness in the flickering red light.
[To be continued]
Author's secret revealed: I decided that instead of posting a single chapter 1E to describe Rin's pregnancy with Hoshino, why not divide it into 6 or 7 chapters to make it more