Core Alpha bled data into Black Pagoda's systems. Schematics of the Tomb's gravity drives. Weak points in its energy absorption shields.
Handler seemed… pleased? "Efficient. Subject Omega was an unforeseen variable. Its destruction is a bonus."
The damaged Void Seed ring lay on an analysis table. Lin Mo's ring thrummed with recognition. Hunger.
[FRAGMENT SYNTHESIS POSSIBLE: ABSORB OMEGA SEED? Y/N]
"Absorbing it risks destabilizing your own Seed," Handler warned. "Or merging them. Creating something… uncontrolled."
Yu's face appeared on a screen – smiling in a garden simulation. Alive. Because of the Pagoda.
Lin Mo picked up the Omega Seed. Cold. Pulsing with damaged, feral power.
He pressed it against his own ring. "Do it."
Agony. Like molten lead poured into his nervous system. Visions assaulted him:
The Consumer, a galaxy-sized maw devouring stars.
The Tombs, ancient weapons forged to cage it.
Subject Omega, a Void Seed experiment gone wrong… and alive.
[SYNTHESIS COMPLETE]
[VOID SEED INTEGRITY: 87%]
[NEW FUNCTION UNLOCKED: OMEGA GHOST (SHORT-TERM BIOMORPHIC EMULATION)]
He could become Subject Omega. Briefly.
Handler's mask tilted. "Fascating. You carry its ghost now."
A proximity alarm blared. [TOMB-01 ENERGY SIGNATURE SPIKING]
The tetrahedron glowed. A beam of black absence lanced out – not toward Earth. Toward deep space.
[TARGET ACQUIRED: BLACK PAGOTA STATION L3]
Handler froze. "No. That's… impossible. They can't see us!"
Lin Mo felt it. The Omega Seed's lingering rage. It had recognized its killer.
The beam hit. Station L3 vanished without a sound.
[OMEGA GHOST EMULATION: ONLINE]
Lin Mo's body rippled. Chitin erupted. Red eyes glowed. "They see me," he rasped with a voice not his own. "Time to run."