"Aren't you... Subject 01?"
At this question, everything stopped... everything except my thoughts.
What should I do? I'm not supposed to be discovered now... it's way too early.
I could kill him here and now... but the cameras would catch that and set off the alarms.
I needed to reach a specific storage room before my cover was blown, and while my thoughts raced, a mocking smile appeared on the guard's face.
"Hahah... why that reaction? I was just joking."
He put the cap back on my head and went on. "How could an experiment be walking around in a guard's uniform?... that doesn't make sense, my little friend."
He slapped my shoulder lightly as he headed toward the elevator.
"See you later, let's have lunch together, I'll get you to know everyone here." He waved his hand one last time before the elevator doors closed behind him.
I stayed frozen in place.
For a brief moment, I thought he really didn't recognize me... it's just a joke.
But I broke that beautiful illusion soon enough, I turned around and started running down the wide corridor, the sound of my steps echoing off the walls.
The doors were lined up on both sides, each one with a sign pointing to its contents.
"Chemicals."
"Clothing."
"Food Supplies."
I ignored all of them and kept running, until I found what I was looking for.
"Weapons and Equipment."
I stopped in front of the armored door and pulled out the access card I'd taken from one of the guards before I scanned it.
With an electronic sound confirming access, followed by a click from inside the wall, the door opened in front of me.
...
And at the same time, inside the elevator, the guard who'd just met Caius stood breathing a sigh of relief, like someone who'd been holding his breath underwater.
"Damn it!... I almost died back there."
He'd already realized it was Subject 01... how could anyone in this place fail to recognize that monster?
He'd witnessed some of 01's fights recently, and from those you could conclude he wouldn't last even a single second against him back there.
And it's also obvious that 01 had disabled the chip in his head somehow — otherwise he wouldn't be walking around disguised as a guard right now.
So instead of the guard wasting his life for nothing, he pretended it was a joke and escaped to the elevator... at that moment he was feeling proud of his smart decisions.
Without delay, he pulled out the communication device and brought it close to his mouth.
"This is Guard 015. I ran into Subject 01 heading toward Level B7. He was disguised as a guard, and it looks like the chip has been disabled."
After moments of tense silence, broken by the sound of the elevator rising, the answer finally came, unexpectedly calm.
"We've received your report, 015. We just discovered the loss of contact with the two guards assigned to escort him. On top of that, it looks like the chip is in a shutdown state."
"Is he out of control now?" the guard hesitated as he asked.
"Yes. Still, there's no need to panic. We can still track the chip's location. A suppression unit will be sent to contain him quietly."
...
Caius's point of view
I moved through the weapons storage room, which held a lot of things... swords, spears, guns, and much more than that.
But I didn't have time to pick carefully... no, I didn't have any time, maybe a few minutes at best.
Near the entrance, there was a storage ring displayed inside a glass cabinet.
I took it without looking behind me, and put it on my finger.
Then, quickly, I picked up two swords from the shelves and stored them inside the ring while I moved deeper into the room.
In the end, I managed to find what I was looking for just in time.
A set of explosive charges that can be timed, strong enough to break through reinforced doors and kill even Rank 3 Awakened if they went off on them.
Unfortunately, there weren't many of them, so I took them all and stored them in the ring on my finger.
There was another item I needed that I took... a cold metal ball, about the size of my palm, a jamming device, able to disable the cameras and various equipment within a certain range.
Without hesitating, I took three of them... there were only three anyway.
I stored several other things that might be useful, then headed toward the exit.
My goal was simple, reach the teleportation gate and escape this place, while making sure to destroy all the data related to me... well, not simple.
And the last option was impossible.
I couldn't walk freely through the facility and destroy every laboratory and computer in it.
So, there was only one option left.
Wipe out every inch of this place all at once.
To do that, I needed to reach the power reactor — similar to nuclear reactors in my previous world, but hundreds of times stronger... it doesn't run on nuclear energy of course.
And I had to do that without them realizing where I'm going.
I came out of the storage room, my thoughts racing with my steps.
By now, they probably knew I was out of their control, they'd try to suppress me as quietly as possible.
I walked down the corridor at a steady pace, it was obvious they were watching my movements through the cameras, and through the chip in my pocket... but that didn't matter.
The power reactor was three levels below me, as for the teleportation gate it was five floors above me.
The corridor was terrifyingly silent, and the only sound was the hitting of my shoe as I got closer to the elevator.
I took a deep breath, a smile forming on my lips.
...
Inside a room full of screens showing every corner of the facility, several people were monitoring the feed, sitting in their seats expectantly.
And unlike everyone, one man stood in the middle of all that, his eyes moving from one screen to another, and on his chest was an ID badge, classifying him as the head of the monitoring and operations room.
He put his hand on his wide chin, sunk in thought, as he watched a screen showing what looked like an ordinary guard walking toward the elevator.
But that person wasn't a guard... he was an experiment.
The most dangerous among them all in this small laboratory.
"01," he muttered.
The tall head of the monitoring room knew that experiment well, after all, he'd been watching him for years.
He'd watched him grow from a weak child into what he is now... a real monster among his peers.
The speed. The strength. The skill... he'd already surpassed everything, even his body had adapted completely to the serums injected into him.
He was the experiment closest to perfection, so they knew this facility wouldn't be able to contain him forever.
But they hadn't expected that day to come this fast, and not in this way.
They still don't understand why he went out of control now, or what he wants.
And worse, they'd already confirmed that he killed the two guards assigned to him, along with the doctor's assistant who was going to put him through an examination.
And for some reason, the chip refused to respond and stop him, even though it sent his location.
"He was always obedient... why now?" the head muttered, his deep voice echoing in the quiet room.
The moment they confirmed he was out of control, they sent the strongest suppression unit they had, a team made of the best assets they had.
Two at Beginner Rank 3, and three at Advanced Rank 2... five Awakened to subdue him.
And at this very moment, they were inside the elevator heading straight toward 01's location.
The head of monitoring raised his hand to his ear fitted with a communication device, before he pressed his finger on it. "This is the monitoring room. He's getting close to the elevator. When you arrive, he'll be right in front of you."
"Understood. We'll restrain him immediately," a woman's calm, disciplined voice answered.
The head didn't have the slightest doubt in the success of the five-member team, so when 01 reached the elevator doors, he thought it was over.
Then the screen showing him flashed and went to static, before the darkness swallowed it, which made them blind to what's happening there.
Outside the elevator, Caius activated the jamming device, disabling the nearby cameras, then pulled one of the explosives out of the storage ring.
And while he felt the presence of five people inside the elevator with his ability, he knew he had no chance in a direct fight with them.
So, with a firm movement, he placed the bomb right in front of the elevator doors, and through his perception, he felt their souls reaching this floor, as he estimated the time for the elevator to stop and the doors to open.
"Fifteen seconds," he muttered as he set the counter on the bomb, then without hesitating, he stood up and turned around, running in the opposite direction.
The numbers on the bomb had already changed, and were still changing.
9...
8...
...
4...
3...
2...
At that moment, the double door opened revealing five people standing there, their weapons in their hands, and their stances ready to engage at any moment.
But all they saw, was a small square object at their feet with a small screen showing some numbers.
And the next number on the timer unit made their hearts sink.
0
The next moment, a violent explosion shook the place.