Darkness swallowed everything.
Theron's eyes snapped open, but the world stayed black, his vision flickering with faint flashes of System text.
[NOTICE: ALIGNMENT ERROR]
[ERROR: Sector Control Offline]
His breath echoed louder than it should have. No alarms. No footsteps. Just the low hum of emergency power crawling through the floor beneath him.
He pushed himself up, muscles aching from the earlier fight, fingers curling around the edge of his blade for reassurance. The scent of ozone and burnt metal hung in the air, sharp and bitter.
Something was wrong—more wrong than before.
The hall around him glimmered faintly in the dark, runes on the walls sparking and dying like candles snuffed out. Red emergency lights flickered, but they weren't steady. The power was stuttering. Failing.
And the whispers were back.
"…this way…"
He froze, every instinct screaming. The voice wasn't human. It wasn't even close. But it didn't feel hostile, either.
"…follow…"
The System text jittered again.
[NOTICE: SUBJECT NINE ACTIVE]
[NOTICE: █████ WATCHING]
Theron clenched his jaw. He'd seen Nine's containment earlier. A storm of black mist writhing behind glass like a living shadow. Now it was loose.
Something skittered down the hallway. The sound was wrong—like claws on glass, too fast, too smooth.
He moved, slow and deliberate, boots silent on the floor. His body screamed with every step, but adrenaline kept him sharp. He passed a room with shattered glass walls and restraints dangling from the ceiling. Blood smeared the walls in jagged arcs. A chair sat overturned, a single cuff still locked tight.
Whatever broke out hadn't been human.
A low growl rolled through the hall behind him. Theron pressed his back to the wall, hand gripping his sword.
The flickering lights caught movement—a Shade, thin and skeletal, its eyes glowing faint white in the dark. It tilted its head, sniffing the air.
Theron didn't wait for it to find him. He swung once, clean and fast, and the thing dropped before it could cry out.
His HUD glitched again.
[ERROR: Signal Interference Detected.]
[NOTICE: Door Access Granted.]
A hiss of hydraulics drew his attention down the hall. A door at the end—heavily reinforced, with a glowing red panel—slid open on its own.
The whispers grew louder.
"…safe…"
No. Not safe. Nothing here was safe. But standing in the dark hallway with more Shades crawling through the vents wasn't smart either.
He slipped inside.
The room beyond was dim, lit only by a single strip of white light across the ceiling. Broken terminals lined the walls, wires spilling out like entrails. In the center sat a glass pod, cracked open like an egg. Mist coiled from it, drifting lazily around the floor.
Nine's containment.
A shiver crawled up his spine. The air felt thicker here, like breathing smoke that wasn't there.
"…hello…"
The voice wasn't in his ears. It was in his head.
Theron spun, blade raised.
Mist coalesced in the corner of the room, forming a vague humanoid outline. The figure was tall, its face unreadable, its body constantly shifting like liquid shadow.
"You…" Theron rasped.
"Me," the voice echoed, soft but sharp, like glass dragged across stone.
Nine's form tilted its head. "You're not ready."
"For what?"
"Link."
The lights above flickered violently. The System exploded across his vision.
[NOTICE: ALIGNMENT CHECK INITIATED.]
[COMMAND: ACCEPT LINK.]
[WARNING: REJECTION WILL RESULT IN TERMINATION.]
Theron's breath quickened. "What the hell is this?"
"Choice," Nine whispered. Its shape leaned closer, towering over him. "Accept… or break."
The door behind him slammed shut, sealing him in. Shadows surged along the walls like a living tide, curling closer.
[COMMAND: ACCEPT LINK.]
[COUNTDOWN: 10… 9… 8…]
Nine's voice slid through his head like silk. "You're already mine."
The shadows lunged.
The world went black.