FLOOR ONE – ENTRY SECTOR
They moved fast. Low stances. Silent steps. Metal plates rang under their boots. Somewhere deeper in the building complex, a low snarl crackled through the vents.
Kabastis held up a hand. "Left corridor. I heard something."
Sekhmet paused, listening. She closed her eyes, took a breath in and hummed gently.
A low-frequency vibration rippled out from her core. Not loud, not even audible in the usual sense. She caught the echo and shaped it, replaying the recent noise patterns like sonar bouncing through memory. But for a moment, just beneath the pulse, a whisper.
You already know this…
She opened her eyes to see her teammates scanning the area.
She brushed off the voice and brought her attention back.
Two Spirals, opposite of each other. They might be grunts.
"…Alright." Kabastis exhaled sharply. "I need to hear options from you scraps."
She turned immediately to Sekhmet. "You, sound girl. What are we walking into?"
Sekhmet smiled faintly. She had a feeling Kabastis would call on her to gauge how well she can use her voice.
"Two Spirals. One behind the left wall. The other is on the opposite side."
Kabastis glanced at her, indifferent. "Oh—so you actually have skill."
She turned to Tokuda and Sana. "Options?"
Sana stepped forward. a Body Double blinked into being beside her. "I'm not doing the dirty work. Let my copy take the first hit."
Tokuda adjusted his grip on the straps of his gear. "What if we lure them into the open instead? If they're grunts, crowding them could work better than splitting up."
Sekhmet waved her hand to catch their attention. "Or we just… take the left one fast, then roll momentum into the second. Clean sweep." She tilted her head toward Kabastis. "Speed over subtlety."
Kabastis was unimpressed. "One cowardly plan from 'The Maid'. One half-baked plan from 'Bribe'. And 'Gyaru', assuming she's above everyone."
She fixed Sekhmet with a hard look. "Fine. We take the Gyaru's plan. Fast. Quiet. And if you screw it up—"
She bared her teeth. "You're the bait."
Kabastis snapped her fingers once. Move.
Sana's double took point, gliding down the dim hall. The real Sana trailed just far enough back to avoid the first strike. Tokuda's fists sparked faintly with static. Sekhmet fell in last.
The corridor turned tight. Then—
A shriek split the silence. The Spiral lunged from the wall vent, jagged limbs scraping steel. Its eyes burned as it slammed into the Body Double, tearing it apart in a burst of distorted light.
"Contact!" Tokuda barked, shoving forward. His palm lit up with crackling energy as he drove it into the Spiral's chest, sparks hissing on its hide.
The beast reeled back—but another roar answered from the opposite corridor. The second Spiral barreled into view, jaws gaping.
"Momentum!" Sekhmet shouted. "Now!"
Kabastis' eyes narrowed, her tone like a blade.
"You don't call the shots, Gyaru!"
Kabastis was already moving. Her strike hit the second Spiral like a hammer, slamming it into the floor hard enough to dent the plating. "You three, crush the other. Move."
Another Body Double lunged first, drawing the attention of the closer Spiral. Tokuda followed, static crackling at his fingertips.
Sekhmet inhaled, watching them fight the Spirals. Part of her wanted to step in, to prove she wasn't just watching from the sidelines—but Kabastis' strike had already stolen the spotlight. The fight was chaotic—noise, light, motion—but Kabastis' part was pure execution.
Silence reclaimed the space.
Tokuda exhaled. "That's one way to clear the floor." Sana steadied her stance, breath hitching. "I'm sweating and we're not even halfway." Her eyes flicked toward Sekhmet. "Convenient for some of us. Didn't even lift a finger, huh?"
Sekhmet adjusted her scarf, the crimson spray still clinging faintly to her boots. "Scouts don't fight unless needed, right captain?"
Kabastis straightened herself up, slick with virtual blood. "Don't get sloppy, scrapwork. We have to get that Beacon." She walked forward to the next flight up. "And by the way, scouts DO fight Gyaru. You're fighting the next one if we get into it."
FLOOR TWO – 00:09:53 REMAINING
Flux Terrain: Narrow corridors, low visibility, broken light panels
The team ascended into dim light. The second floor was a shift in tone, walls warped, scorched as if from previous battles.
Tokuda frowned. "This doesn't look like a fresh sim environment."
Sana pushed past him. "Yeah, no shit Sherlock. I can close my eyes and say the same thing."
Tokuda brushed off her insult and looked toward Sekhmet, who looked focused.
Her voice came low. "This place… saw real blood."
You know they are here… watching…
Sekhmet blinked, forcing herself to focus.
Kabastis checked the timer. Then pushed forward with Sana. "We have ten minutes. Should've finished this five minutes ago."
Sana scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Maybe if you actually led instead of barking orders, we'd be moving faster Komain."
Kabastis stopped dead. She turned her head slowly, her gaze cutting like glass. "Say that again, Sanaboshi."
The air tightened for a beat.
Sana's bravado flickered, but she lifted her chin. "You heard me."
Kabastis' lip curled. "Keep running your mouth, and I'll feed you to the next Spiral myself."
Tokuda quickly raised his hands. "H-hey, hey! No need for a fight inside a fight. We're burning time here, remember?" He forced a laugh, voice cracking. "Let's, uh… save the death threats for after the test."
"Shut up, Bribe," Sana snapped.
"Stay out of this," Kabastis added at the same time, voice like a whip.
Tokuda's shoulders slumped. "…Right. Just trying to help."
Sekhmet tugged at her scarf, smirking faintly. Poor guy's gonna get ulcers before the next encounter.
A metallic scrape echoed up ahead. Something shifting in the dark corridor.
Kabastis' head snapped up, eyes narrowing. "Movement. Front."
The flicker of broken light panels made the shadows twitch. For a heartbeat, it was impossible to tell if the noise had been real or just the sim playing tricks.
Then—
A figure slumped against the wall, uniform torn, one arm hanging limp. A cadet.
He lifted his head weakly at their approach. "H-help… it ambushed us… we—we didn't stand a chance…"
Tokuda's eyes widened. "Another unit?"
Sana scowled, crossing her arms. "Or bait. Pathetic either way."
Kabastis' stare stayed cold. "Don't get close. You're not my problem." She walks past the injured cadet. "If you touch him, you own the issue." Kabastis barked.
Sana followed with a scoff, arms folded. "Yeah, leave the dead weight. If he can't handle it, he deserves to rot here."
Tokuda lingered, fists clenching at his sides. "B-but… he's bleeding out…" He half-stepped forward, then froze under Kabastis' glare.
Sekhmet didn't freeze. She crouched beside the cadet, brushing hair from his face. His skin was clammy, breath shallow.
Her chest tightened—then that voice again, curling like smoke in her mind.
They are getting closer…
She exhaled slowly, ignoring it, and tightened her grip under the boy's shoulder. "Up you get. You're not dying on my watch."
A door at the far end hissed open, heavy, deliberate. Spiral shrieks echoed toward them.
Kazuya's voice came through the team's earpieces. "Uh oh! What are you gonna do? Help a fellow comrade and risk getting pinned? Or ignore them and be called the heartless fireteam?"
Kabastis' jaw tightened. Her glare was molten steel, fixed on Sekhmet. "Congratulations. You just volunteered to stay behind Gyaru."
She continued ahead, leaving Sekhmet, Sana and Tokuda behind. "Good luck."
Sana scoffed and moved after her. "I hate that woman—but she's right. Deadweight isn't my problem."
Sekhmet's lips curved in a faint smile as she watched them vanish deeper into the hall. "Tch. Those two should just admit they're family already."
Tokuda lingered, kneeling beside the cadet. His hands trembled for a moment before he took a deep breath and checked the boy's breathing. "I'll stabilize him. At least buy him time until this run ends."
Sekhmet adjusted her scarf, still crouched with the injured cadet. "Bribe, you're either very noble—or very stupid."
Tokuda shot her a nervous smile. "Why not both?"
The clanging of metal grew louder, echoing through the narrow corridor. Tokuda's hands moved quickly, adjusting bandages around the injured cadet's arm, his pulse hammering in his ears.
"C'mon, hold together…" he muttered under his breath, sweat stinging his eyes. The cadet groaned weakly, shifting against him. Tokuda felt the weight of responsibility tighten across his shoulders.
A distant shriek tore through the hall, followed by the scuff of heavy footsteps. The Spirals were close.
Sekhmet crouched beside them, her gaze flicking toward him. "You really are… trying," she said quietly. A faint smirk tugged at her lips.
Tokuda swallowed hard. "I—yeah. I can do this. Just… stay with me."
The corridor ahead rattled as the first Spiral's shadow stretched toward them. Tokuda's hands tightened around the cadet, readying for whatever came next.
Sekhmet's eyes flicked to the corner as metal clanged closer. "Looks like I have to throw away the 'Scout' title and be the 'Vanguard', at least for this mess." She leapt onto the wall, landing with a sharp heel strike on the Spiral rounding the corner. The creature let out a high-pitched shriek as it hit the floor, momentum throwing it into the floor.
The Spiral flailed as it tried to recover, eyes locking onto her. Sekhmet rolled back, letting momentum carry her into a crouch, scanning rapidly for her next move.
Tokuda's voice cut over the chaos. "S-Sekhmet… you're alone over there! Are you sure you're—uh—okay?"
Sekhmet glanced briefly toward him, giving a tight nod. "I'm fine. Just focus on keeping him stable!"
A low growl from the recovering Spiral vibrated through the corridor, and sparks flickered along the broken metal panels. A second Spiral lunged from the shadows, fangs glinting under the flickering lights.
They're faster than usual…
Sekhmet didn't flinch. She pivoted, letting the second Spiral's momentum carry it forward, slamming the back of her boot into its flank with a loud clang. It squealed, ricocheting against the walls.
The first Spiral hesitated, sensing the second one faltering.
Sekhmet's mind raced. As she dove to the side, a Spiral snapped at her heels. The metallic scrape of its claws on the floor made her pulse quicken. A glint of opportunity arose as both creatures were aligned for a split-second.
She sprang forward, delivering two strikes in rapid succession. Her first backfist slammed into the first Spiral's chest plate with a deafening crunch, sending it tumbling through a steel wall. The second Spiral's headplate crumpled under her kick, sparks flying like fireworks, its screech cutting off midair as it hit the ground.
Tokuda wiped sweat from his brow as he adjusted the cadet's arm, careful to keep pressure steady. The boy's breathing had evened out, and the shallow cuts along his uniform were no longer bleeding.
From the corner of his eye, he caught Sekhmet stepping back toward him, dust and faint scorch marks clinging to her scarf and sleeves.
She exhaled, brushing a strand of hair from her face as her eyes shifted back to the cadet. She knelt lower, checking his pulse. She offered him a small, tight-lipped smile. "He's stable. You did well keeping him conscious."
Tokuda's hands slackened. He stared at her in silent amazement, realizing that the strength and skill she'd just displayed weren't just raw power—they were precision, strategy, and instinct. He exhaled slowly, still shaking his head. ""I… didn't think anyone could handle that like you just did."
Sekhmet tilted her head slightly, brushing another loose strand of hair behind her ear. Her chest rose and fell sharply, but her gaze was already forward. There was no time to pause. "Let's keep moving. The Beacon isn't going to secure itself."
FLOOR THREE – 00:07:03 REMAINING
The access door slid open with a hiss, and cold fog spilled. The floor ahead was dim, lit only by the pulse-strips embedded in the walls. Narrow corridors branched left and right, unlike the open hall before.
Tokuda's arms trembled slightly under the weight of the injured cadet, sweat dripping down his brow. "This… this is worse than the last floor," he muttered, voice tight.
Sekhmet trailed just behind, one hand steadying the cadet's back, the other brushing against the wall to gauge the corridor. Her eyes flicked from shadow to shadow. "No overheads. No skylights. There's no emergency escapes on this floor."
Tokuda gently lowered the cadet against the wall, adjusting the bandages one last time. His shoulders sagged as he took a moment to catch his breath. "Alright… we need a plan," he muttered, glancing at Sekhmet.
Sekhmet crouched beside him, scanning the dim corridors, her scarf brushing the fogged floor. "We can't split up," she said quietly. "Too many blind corners. I'll take point, you cover him. Keep him stable."
A crackle came over the earpiece. Kazuya's voice, tinged with awe. "Sekhmet… I just watched you clear that floor. Clean strikes, precise timing, and you kept Bribe alive while he stabilized that cadet. Unreal."
Sekhmet allowed a faint smirk. "Just doing what needs to be done. Speaking of… where are Sana and Kabastis?"
Kazuya's voice crackled through the earpiece, amused but serious. "They're pushing ahead. Kabastis is leading, as usual, and Sana—well, she's… trying to keep up, but following the same logic. Don't expect them to babysit anyone."
Sekhmet nodded slightly, her gaze shifting down the corridor. "Figures. Two of a kind. Good. Fewer distractions for us."
Tokuda exhaled, adjusting the cadet in his arms. "I… I hope they know what they're doing."
"Don't worry about them," Sekhmet said, standing. "We focus on keeping this cadet alive and getting to that Beacon."
10:06 JST - Crucible Observation Deck
[Training Simulation – Live Feed, Unit B Active]
Kazuya leaned forward against the railing, arms crossed. His eyes tracked the four movement blips tagged [B1] through [B4] on the projection display hovering in front. The third floor was a mess of motion.
"Unit D just deviated toward B's corridor path," said the tech assistant behind him, voice flat. "Could get scrappy—two fireteams converging that close in the middle of Spiral pressure."
He didn't answer.
His gaze followed one dot in particular—[B3] —Sekhmet Isshin-Namikaze. No pre-academy data. No recorded combat history. Just a Crucible clearance and a neat enrollment file. But it wasn't the file that caught his attention. It was her earlier squabble with two Spirals.
Her motion wasn't erratic, but it wasn't textbook either. Deliberate, yet unpatterned. Controlled, but uncoached. She paced herself like she was testing something. Those final blows? Shouldn't be humanly possible, unless she was Kabastis.
And even then… Kabastis never stripped it down to something that clean.
Kazuya knew that.
His eyes narrowed, a flicker of unease cutting through his usual cool.
He knew Kabastis spent years refining her own style, and still, never reached that level of efficiency. The kind of display Sekhmet showed wasn't theoretical. It was field-tested.
The timing, the control, the silence between the notes. That was not cadet precision. That reeked of combat instinct.
The kind that only came from one thing: contact.
With Spirals.
His jaw tensed.
Kazuya's fingers tapped once, twice, against his bracelet. He let the thought settle as Kabastis' voice barked harshly through the overhead relay, arguing with Sana.
Kazuya exhaled slowly, a breath that almost disguised itself as a sigh. His eyes lingered on [B3] pulsing on the display. "What do you make of her?" he asked.
One of the observers leaned back in his chair with a shrug. "Reckless. She throws herself into situations most cadets would avoid. It's working now, but she's not fighting smart, she's just burning fuel."
Another chimed in, adjusting her headset. "She's strong, no doubt, but it's unsustainable. If she keeps that up, she'll fold before grouping back up. Cadets like that always do."
Kazuya didn't reply. His gaze stayed fixed on the screen. The others saw recklessness. He saw precision hiding under chaos. And that made him more uneasy than before.
On the feed, Kabastis' voice cut through in clipped fury: "Maid, hold your position or get out of my way." Sana's retort came sharp and mocking, their bickering bleeding into static.
The corner of Kazuya's mouth lifted as he leaned lazily against the railing again. "And here we go. Round three of the Kabastis-Sana rivalry. Anyone taking bets?"
The room chuckled lightly as Kazuya smirked with them, masking the unease still coiled in his chest.
Then, with a stretch and a half-yawn, he pushed himself up from the railing. "Gonna grab some fresh air, these two are giving me a headache." he said casually, already stepping toward the door. "Don't start without me if those two actually throw punches."
The observers laughed again, shaking their heads as if it was just another one of his quirks. But the moment the door hissed shut behind him, Kazuya's shoulders stiffened, the easy grin fading. His hands slipped into his pockets as he walked toward the training deck.
FLOOR THREE – 00:02:31 REMAINING
Sekhmet & Tokuda
The corridor trembled faintly from a nearby impact—metal screeched and dust rattled down from the ceiling. Distant, but close enough to make them second guess their resting area. Tokuda checked up on the cadet before picking him up. "We need to move. Fast."
Sekhmet nodded, dusting her knees. "I heard from captain and Sana's bickering that the Beacon's one room past them. Let's hope they're lucky."
Tokuda nervously chuckled, "Does luck even help us?"
Sekhmet smirked faintly. "C'mon. Time to show them that saving the cadet was a better idea."
They advanced further in the floor. Sekhmet kept her senses sharp, each shadow a potential threat. She wanted to make sure the three of them could get to the rest of the fireteam without any problems.
A faint scraping echoed behind them. Sekhmet froze, instincts kicking in. Without a word, she slipped behind Tokuda, one hand brushing his shoulder, the other ready.
"Stay close," she murmured.
A shadow detached itself from the dim light ahead.
Tokuda tensed, but the figure's voice rang out, breathless.
"Wait! Friendly!" A cadet trodded into view.
Sekhmet scanned the cadet as she got closer to them.
Unit D, by the looks of her patch. She's seen a warzone up close… Wait, is that-
The girl, short, looked halfway to collapse as she placed a hand on the wall. "They left me. They left me. They said I was slowing them down and just, just ran."
Sekhmet glanced at her wrist.
01:45
She turned to Tokuda. "Can you get to the other two on your own?"
Tokuda blinked. "I—I think so? b-but-"
Sekhmet gently tapped him on the shoulder. "Go. I'll catch up. If we need to fight, it would be hard to protect you and him."
He hesitated, but nodded and walked down the corridor with the cadet in tow.
Sekhmet turned to the girl.
"You're limping."
"I twisted it back there, but I'm—"
Sekhmet didn't let her finish. She brought her face close to her ear, "First year cadets don't get drives… what are you doing with one?"
The girl blinked too quickly. Then looked down at the ring around her waist, half-hidden beneath her coat.
"It's… a prototype assist tool," she said, voice a little too steady. "My brother's in Logistics. Said I could test it under supervision."
Sekhmet's gaze didn't move. "Funny. Kazuya-senpai said logistics doesn't clear combat gear without authorization. And if I remember correctly, that model's not in the current testing logs."
A beat.
The girl swallowed. "You must've read the wrong update."
Then, that voice in Sekhmet's head was clearer than before.
It found you… now what do we do?
Sekhmet didn't move, but she noticed something behind the cadet's eyes shifted. Imperceptible to others—but not to her.
She noticed the tone of the girl's voice was a hair too precise to be human. It sounded…
Forced.
"Liar."
The voice didn't echo loud, but Sekhmet knew what it meant.
Her eyes glowed yellow for a flicker of a second, just long enough for the girl to flinch.
The girl's expression twitched, then twitched again. Something shimmered at the edge of her cheek.
Sekhmet stared forward. "You're… an actual Spiral."
The girl smiled, no longer trying to hide it. Her irises spiraled as she stood up. "You're right, but you're… not human either."
Sekhmet's stance didn't shift, but the air around her changed. She exhaled slowly through her nose.
"I don't know what you think you sensed," she said. "But you're wrong."
The girl—no, the Spiral tilted its head, blinking once. The skin around its eyes shimmered, then wrinkled unnaturally like it was stitched over something else.
Sekhmet didn't flinch. "That's funny. You can mimic fear, posture, even breath cadence—" her eyes narrowed, "—but you can't fake instinct. And yours is too hungry."
A beat passed.
The Spiral's form wavered, cracking like old film. "Your scent… it's buried, but it's there." Its eyes locked onto Sekhmet's. "You've killed before."
"You're right, I have killed your kind before." Sekhmet said. "Especially aberrants."
The Spiral stopped smiling as it twitched. It lunged, face contorting, movement too fast for a sim.
Sekhmet's hand twitched, but another blur crossed the corridor. The Spiral froze, then sheared apart in a spray of scorched motes as Kazuya's blade—an energy sword—smoked.
He didn't move at first. His arm slowly lowered as the Spiral slowly stormed twitching. Then he stepped forward as he sighed. "You're a headache Gyaru," he said, calmly, "what part of evade, alert, survive did you miss?"
Sekhmet stayed quiet as she brushed off Spiral blood from her scarf.
Kazuya shook his head as his blade dissolved into light. "Ahh man, this is gonna be a lot of paperwork." He complained as he scratched his head. "What were you gonna do if I wasn't here to fight that Spiral?"
Sekhmet still said nothing.
He waved his hand in front of her face, which spooked her.
"Yeah, you're done." Kazuya said. "You need to report to Medical. Once you're done there, I need you back in the briefing room."
He turned, but just before walking out: "You may not be able to improvise again when real Spirals show up, Isshin-Namikaze." His tone was flat. "You run. Or you die."
Sekhmet's smile didn't quite reach her eyes. "I used to think that too." She paused for a second before following him.
Didn't work out for the last ones who ran.