The hum was gone.For the first time in hours, Zarc heard only his own breathing echo off the cold walls of the shelter. The faint glow on his forearm had faded into nothing, leaving behind faint burn lines tracing along his veins.
He sat against the console, flashlight trembling in his hand. "You good?" he whispered to the Cube, half-mocking the silence.
No reply. Only the faint static of dead electronics.
He stood, stretching his back, the creak of his boots echoing across the floor. The room felt heavier now — like the air itself was denser, thicker with static charge.When his flashlight swept across the wall, the beam flickered — then steadied again.
Something had changed.
He moved down the corridor toward the old server hall. The smell of metal and dust filled his lungs.When he reached the doorway, he froze.
Rows of servers that had long been silent were now glowing faintly. A dim, sickly blue light pulsed from inside their broken casings, like veins carrying light instead of blood.
Zarc approached slowly, tightening his grip on the flashlight."...No way. You're not supposed to be on."
A monitor sparked to life, lines of corrupted text scrolling by. He couldn't read most of it, but the last line caught his eye:
> UNKNOWN SYSTEM REBOOT COMPLETE> PRIMARY INTERFACE RECONNECTED
Zarc's arm burned suddenly, and the Cube's voice returned — faint, distorted, as if it were speaking through static.
[Connection... established.][Memory sync incomplete. New protocol unlocked: "Construct Node."]
"Construct what?" he muttered.
The holographic interface appeared before him — new symbols and menus flickering rapidly. The Cube's voice steadied, clearer now, colder.
[Protocol Function: Material Projection. Stored matter can now be externalized in raw or structured form.]
Zarc blinked. "You mean… I can make things without breaking them down first?"
[Affirmative. Within stored mass limit.]
He looked down at his arm, the faint lines of light reappearing. It felt heavier — alive again. The hum returned, this time low and resonant, vibrating through his bones.
Zarc tested it. He extended his palm and focused.A shimmer of light formed in front of him — particles twisting and condensing into solid metal. When the glow faded, a piece of rebar lay on the floor, exactly like the ones scattered in the hallway.
He crouched, touching it. It was cold. Real.He couldn't help but smile. "You're full of surprises, aren't you?"
But then he noticed the lights overhead flicker again — a wave of short bursts that traveled down the corridor, one after another, like a ripple moving through the power grid.
The Cube spoke again, voice more mechanical than before.
[External systems detecting signal interference. Energy readings consistent with long-range transmission response.]
Zarc froze. "Transmission response?"
[Affirmative. Source undetermined.]
He looked toward the elevator shaft leading back to the upper levels. Somewhere above, faint metallic echoes rang out — slow, deliberate, like something moving in the distance.
He raised his pistol, instinct taking over. The familiar weight steadied his nerves.
"Guess we're not alone anymore…" he muttered under his breath.
The Cube dimmed slightly, almost as if listening.
[Recommend caution. Power anomalies detected across facility grid.]
Zarc backed toward the central corridor, eyes scanning the walls as the blue glow from the servers pulsed brighter, faster — responding to something unseen.
In that moment, deep beneath the city, the facility came alive again.
And above the ruins, miles away, a satellite that hadn't moved in years rotated once more — its cracked lens catching the faint reflection of a blinking red light far below.
The world was listening again.
The lights had stopped flickering, but the silence that followed felt heavier than before.Zarc stood still, pistol drawn, his ears straining for any hint of movement. The Cube embedded in his arm pulsed once—slow and faint, as if matching his heartbeat.
[Environmental anomaly detected. Surface motion signatures increasing.]
Zarc's brow furrowed. "Define 'motion.'"
[Organic. Multiple.]
He didn't like the sound of that.
He moved back toward the elevator shaft, flashlight sweeping over the cracked concrete walls. Every step echoed down the hollow corridors. The Cube hummed quietly, feeding faint blue light through the seams of his gloves.
When he reached the shaft entrance, he tilted the flashlight upward. The elevator cage hung useless several stories above, rusted cables coiled like veins along the shaft. Dust drifted in the beam, disturbed by faint tremors.
Then, a noise—distant, wet, dragging.Something scraped against metal.
Zarc froze, every muscle tightening.It wasn't mechanical.
He lowered the beam slightly. The Cube pulsed brighter, projecting a faint holographic wave across the shaft—scanning.
[Thermal anomaly detected. Multiple heat sources.][Status: Active. Movement pattern—irregular.]
Zarc cursed under his breath. "They're moving again…"
He switched his flashlight off and crouched near the edge, staring upward into the shadows. For a few seconds, nothing moved. Then he heard it—shuffling, slow at first, then joined by the faint patter of faster steps.
The infected.Dormant bodies disturbed by the pulse.
The Cube vibrated, faintly reacting to their proximity.
[Residual nanite activity detected in infected tissue. Correlation: 82%.]
"You're saying you woke them?" Zarc whispered.
[Affirmative. Signal response triggered neural reactivation within contaminated hosts.][They are drawn to the pulse.]
He clenched his jaw. "Perfect."
He needed to get to the upper levels—quietly. The main stairwell was on the far side of the generator hall, still functional but unstable. He moved fast, careful to keep his steps light against the grated floor. The smell of decay grew thicker with each corridor.
When he passed the observation windows that overlooked the research wing, his light caught movement below.Bodies—at least a dozen—were shifting. Slowly.
Zarc crouched behind a console, watching. The infected twitched as though waking from long sleep. Their flesh was gray, brittle, their limbs jerky and stiff. Some tried to stand, failed, and collapsed again. Others succeeded—bending at unnatural angles, heads snapping toward sounds that weren't there.
Then he noticed something else.Among them, one moved differently—faster, smoother.
It jerked once, then looked straight toward the glass, as if it could feel him watching. The Cube reacted instantly, the light in his arm dimming.
[Warning: Type-2 host detected. Regenerative nanites active. Speed and awareness elevated.]
Zarc ducked. His breathing quickened. "Type-2?"
[Recent host conversion. Higher neural retention. Aggression levels—extreme.]
"Yeah, I figured that much."
He risked another glance. The Type-2 was sniffing the air, head twitching sharply from side to side. Its jaw hung slightly unhinged, nanite filaments glowing faintly beneath its skin like veins of molten blue.
Zarc backed away slowly, moving toward the stairwell door. His flashlight was off; he relied on the Cube's soft glow for light now. Every sound—the scuff of his boots, the faint rattle of his holster—seemed thunderous.
The stairwell door was jammed. He gritted his teeth and tried again, forcing it open just enough to slip through. The metallic groan echoed down the hall.
The infected froze.Then chaos erupted.
Screeches tore through the lower floor as bodies collided, staggering toward the sound. The slow ones moved first—shuffling, moaning—but the Type-2 bolted forward, smashing into walls as it charged.
Zarc slammed the door shut and bolted up the stairs. The Cube's glow brightened, mapping the steps ahead in faint holographic light.
[Multiple entities converging. Recommend accelerated movement.]
"No kidding!"
The door below shook violently, metal denting inward as something slammed against it. He climbed two more flights, reaching the access corridor leading toward Sublevel 1. The air here was cleaner, fresher—the scent of long-stale disinfectant mixed with dust.
He stopped for a second, catching his breath. His arm ached, the Cube pulsing harder with every heartbeat.
[Host stress levels rising. Initiating assist function.]
Blue light spread across his forearm. His fatigue dulled almost instantly. The Cube whispered softly in his head—too faint to understand, but calming somehow.
He steadied his breathing. "Thanks…"
[Sustain function: temporary.]
Then a sound echoed from below—a high-pitched shriek that tore through the stairwell. Zarc froze. It was close.The fast one.
He sprinted. The stairwell opened into a wide hallway lined with shattered security glass and overturned chairs. Emergency lights flickered weakly, casting long, twitching shadows across the floor.
Zarc pointed his pistol forward, flashlight clipped beneath the barrel. He passed signs painted along the wall:
L-1: Security Quarters →Surface Access — 150m
He followed the arrow.
The facility moaned and creaked around him, old air ducts vibrating with distant movement. He reached the old checkpoint gate—half open, cables dangling from its frame. He crouched low, slipping under.
Then the Cube whispered again:
[Surface motion signatures increasing exponentially. Estimated numbers: 100+ within 1km radius.]
Zarc stopped dead. "What?"
[Signal spread through dormant nanite network. Infected are reawakening.]
He looked up at the cracked ceiling. Beyond it, somewhere in the dead city above, the world was moving again.
The infected were rising.Drawn to him.To the pulse.
He stared down at the faint blue veins of light tracing across his skin and felt a chill crawl up his spine.
"...What did I just start?" he whispered.
The Cube remained silent.Outside, in the distance, a chorus of howls broke through the surface — dozens of voices, then hundreds.
The world that had slept for years…was waking up.