The victim reminded me of my promise.
Crest. I hadn't visited her. I could picture her small hands curled around her knees in some sterile room, eyes watching the walls like they might blink first. She was probably all alone.
I made a promise. And I almost forgot.
---
I stood beneath the cracked ceiling of the East Transit Sector — same crime scene, same blood pattern, same absence of soulprint. A low-humming drone passed overhead, its red scanner blinking once before continuing down the corridor.
She couldn't have been older than seven.
The medic had already left. Only two forensic techs remained, sweeping data onto tablets. The girl's corpse lay untouched in a circle of blood, palms upward like she'd been surrendering to something. A GRARC banner flapped limply from a barricade nearby, stained with rust or worse.
Boots crunched behind me.
"You're early," came a voice.
I didn't turn. "Or maybe you're late."
The Investigator walked up, hands in his coat. Always calm. No resonance signature, no obvious weapon — just observant, quiet, dangerous in a way that didn't show. His gaze lingered on the girl.
"She didn't even manifest yet," I said. "No soulprint. No guardian. Nothing."
"Same pattern," he replied. "Clean extraction. Still no known method."
We both watched the scene in silence for a moment. The tunnel flickered under broken lights, and somewhere above, a train's thunder echoed through distant railways.
He rubbed his jaw. "I've got a theory."
I raised an eyebrow. "I'm listening."
"Some say they've seen movement down in Q7. Between the walls. Between the power zones. Thing is… none of the scanners work past that bend." He pointed toward the far end of the maintenance shaft. "We keep hearing kids' voices through static. Sometimes even... laughter."
Kai's jaw tightened. "So you think the killer's hiding in the tunnels. Playing games."
The Investigator didn't smile. "Or kidding in the tunnels."
I sighed. "Creepy phrasing."
"You asked."
"I'll check it out," I said, already turning away. "If I find anything, I'll let you know."
"Be careful," he called after me. "If it's the same one who did this... they don't leave much behind."
---
I passed under flickering emergency lights and ducked through the sealed archway into the abandoned sector of Q7.
The air changed — not colder, just emptier. As if the tunnel were holding its breath. Pipes overhead hissed softly, and wires dangled like veins. Velnix's form shimmered behind me in cautious pulses, arms tucked in, her eyes scanning.
Drip. Drip. Drip.
A train thundered down a neighboring line, metal screaming like it was being flayed. The tunnel shook underfoot. Dust fell like ash.
I kept moving.
Footsteps silent. Breath steady. No lights past the curve — Sovereign's HUD dimmed, vision compensation kicking in. Rats scurried in the shadows, and the ground sloped downward into darker veins of the city's underside.
Then I heard it.
Not footsteps.
Chewing.
I turned the corner and gagged.
A human figure knelt over a corpse — chewing through the meat with mouth unhinged like a snake. The man's face was warped, his skin bubbling in patches, mouth smeared with thick, black-red blood. His fingernails were jagged claws, skin peeling from his knuckles. He had red eyes like Daniel.
He didn't notice me.
The body he fed on was curled, throat gone. Another Resonant. And just like the girl — no soulprint. Not even spiritual residue. It had been devoured.
The thing muttered between bites.
"They said it was safe. The white room… white room was clean. But they lied. Lied lied lied—GRARC liars. It's still there. Still watching. Still grinning."
My voice tore out before I meant to speak. "Hey!"
The thing froze. Its head snapped up, nostrils flaring, tongue twitching. It shrieked — a warped, dry-throat scream — and bolted.
I ran after it.
---
The chase was chaos.
He scrambled up a wall, twisting into a crawlspace, then dropped onto the tracks with insect-like grace. I jumped down after him, sprinting full speed. Velnix flickered behind me, but I ordered her to stay back — tunnels were too narrow. She , or he, Kai wasn't sure, followed anyway.
Residual Step — click. I warped forward, landing hard just behind the creature.
He twisted. Tried to bite.
I kicked him in the chest, sending him skidding across the gravel. He rolled and bolted into a side passage. I followed.
The tunnel shrank again, this time into an old access vent — collapsed stairs, hanging wires. My boots clanged against rusted steel, echoing loud and high like bells in a mausoleum.
My breath was steady. Heart calm. The thing shrieked again and turned into a forgotten maintenance corridor.
I tapped my transponder.
[Secure Line: Tara]
Static. Then: "Kai? What's going on?"
"I'm pursuing a suspect. Q7 subway. He was feeding on a corpse — no soulprint left behind."
"Wait, what?"
"He's humanoid, but… wrong. Modified body. Mutters about GRARC and the white room."
"I'm sending someone now." Tara seemed to be aware of the white room but it was lost to Kai. She seemed panicked.
"He just turned down a dark service tunnel. I'm going after him."Kai informed and chased.
---
The tunnel darkened.
No lights.
No sound.
Then… golden light.
I stopped.
A rift glowed at the end of the corridor — swirling yellow, like sunlight through rot. It hovered six feet off the floor, veins of black running through it like infection. It pulsed, like a wound pretending to breathe.
The creature was gone.
"Tara," I said slowly, "I found the rift. Q7 subway. And another body. He was eating it."
A pause. Then: "I see. I'm rerouting a team to your location."
"I'm not going through it without backup."
"Confirmed. Do not enter. I'll have them shut it down."
The rift pulsed again.
Then it rippled.
A wet sound — like meat tearing underwater.
From its edge, a fleshy tendril uncoiled — black and gleaming, studded with twitching veins. It reached toward me, slow at first. Then fast.
I stumbled back — too slow.
The tendril latched onto my chest.
I screamed as pain flared down my spine. Another tendril wrapped my arm, then my throat, and pulled.
"Tara—!" I gasped. "It's pulling me—!"
"Kai?! Are you—hello? Kai!?"
Her voice was tinny. Distant. Drowned by the rift's hum.
I struggled, but the flesh dug in deeper — feeding on my resonance. The marble of my soulprint screamed behind my ribs. My fingers sparked, but no boon activated. Nothing answered.
Then—
Velnix slammed into the rift after me, twelve arms unfolding in rage.
But it was too late.
The black mass dragged me through.