District 9 — Abandoned Subway Line C
The air in the subway tunnel was cold, tasting of rust and ozone. The only light came from the flashlight mounted on Aeva's rifle and the soft blue glow of Kazuki's suit.
Renji walked in front, his rifle lowered but ready. He moved silently, stepping over debris without making a sound.
"Stay close," Renji whispered. "And turn your brightness down. You look like a walking glow-stick."
Kazuki concentrated. The blue veins on his suit dimmed to a faint pulse. "What exactly are we looking for? You said 'Breach.' Is that a bomb?"
"No," Aeva said, scanning the dark corners. "A Breach is a tear in the timeline. Imagine time is a fabric. Sometimes, it gets worn thin. Things from... other versions of history leak through."
"What kind of things?"
Renji stopped. He held up a fist.
"That kind," he said.
Ahead of them, the air shimmered. It looked like a corrupted video file—jagged lines of grey static tearing through the reality of the tunnel.
From the tear, shapes were emerging.
They looked like wolves, but wrong. Their limbs were too long, their heads twitched violently, and their bodies were made of shifting, digital smoke.
[WARNING: TEMPORAL ANOMALY DETECTED.]
[DESIGNATION: FRACTURE HOUNDS.]
"Fracture Hounds," Renji said calmly. "Scavengers from a dead timeline. They don't eat meat; they eat kinetic energy. If they bite you, they drain your speed until your heart stops."
There were six of them.
The lead hound let out a sound that wasn't a growl—it was the screech of a dial-up modem mixed with a scream.
SCREEEEEE.
"Contact," Aeva said. She opened fire.
THWIP-THWIP-THWIP.
Her suppressed rifle fired rounds of condensed light. Two hounds went down, dissolving into grey dust.
The other four charged. They moved fast—glitching forward, teleporting three feet at a time.
"Kid!" Renji shouted. "You're up. Two on the left. Deal with them."
Kazuki panicked. "What do I do?"
"Don't let them touch you!"
One of the hounds lunged at Kazuki, its jaws snapping with static electricity.
Kazuki reacted on instinct.
[VELOCITY CORE: ENGAGED.]
Time slowed. The hound hung in the air, mid-leap.
Kazuki sidestepped easily. He wound up a punch, aiming for the beast's ribs.
POW.
His fist connected... with nothing.
His hand passed right through the creature's smoky body like it was mist.
"What?" Kazuki gasped.
Time resumed speed. The hound solidified instantly and snapped its jaws around Kazuki's forearm.
ZAP.
Pain shot up his arm—cold, draining pain. It felt like his blood was turning to ice.
"It phased!" Kazuki yelled, shaking his arm to get the thing off. "I can't hit it!"
Renji was busy fighting his own hound, using his rifle as a club to knock it back before shooting it point-blank.
He glanced over at Kazuki.
"Stop thinking in 3D!" Renji barked. "They flicker! They only exist in this reality for half a second. Wait for the solid frame!"
Kazuki gritted his teeth. The hound bit down harder. The suit's alarm was screaming.
Wait... wait for the glitch to stop.
He watched the hound. It was vibrating.
Phase out... phase in... phase out... phase in.
There was a rhythm.
NOW.
Kazuki didn't punch this time. He grabbed the hound by the throat just as it solidified.
The metal fingers of the suit dug into the creature's neck.
"Got you," Kazuki hissed.
He slammed the beast into the concrete wall.
BOOM.
The impact was massive. The hound exploded into a cloud of pixels and dust.
The second hound lunged.
This time, Kazuki was ready. He waited for the flicker—one, two—and spun, delivering a roundhouse kick the moment the beast became solid.
The kick tore the creature in half.
Silence returned to the tunnel.
Kazuki stood there, breathing heavy, clutching his throbbing arm.
"I... I did it."
Renji walked over. He kicked a pile of grey dust to make sure it was dead.
He looked at Kazuki's arm. The silver suit had small teeth marks on it, but it was self-repairing, the liquid metal flowing over the scratch.
"Sloppy," Renji said. "You hesitated. If that had been a bigger breed, you'd be missing an arm."
"I took them out, didn't I?" Kazuki defended himself.
Renji got close, his voice low and dangerous.
"You took damage. In this game, 'HP' isn't a number. It's your life. You get hit once, you die. There are no respawns."
He turned and started walking deeper into the tunnel.
"But... you adapted. You waited for the phase shift."
Renji paused, looking back over his shoulder.
"Not bad for a rookie."
Kazuki beamed. It was a tiny compliment, but it felt like a victory.
Aeva walked past him and patted his shoulder. "Don't let it go to his head, Renji. He's still glowing."
"We're not done," Renji said, pointing his flashlight down the track.
The tunnel opened up into a massive maintenance cavern.
And in the center of the cavern, floating five feet off the ground, was a woman.
She wore the white lab coat of the Crimson Helix. She was holding a device that pulsed with purple light—the source of the breach.
Renji froze. He recognized her.
"No..." he whispered.
"Who is she?" Kazuki asked.
"Dr. Aris," Renji said, his grip tightening on his rifle until his knuckles turned white. "She's supposed to be dead. I killed her three years ago."
The woman turned. Her eyes were glowing purple. She smiled.
"Hello, Renji. Or should I call you... Subject Zero?"
[To Be Continued…]