Season-1: Echoes From Abyss
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"RECENTLY IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT TWO ARMS- AND SUPPLY-CARRYING SHIPS, TRAVELING FROM CHINA TO ARGENTINA, HAVE SUNK IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. THE SHIPS WERE NAMED MEG-193 AND MEG-201. AN INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN LAUNCHED TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT. CHINESE AUTHORITIES ARE SHOWING HEIGHTENED ACTIVITY.""RECENTLY IT HAS BEEN REPORTED THAT TWO ARMS- AND SUPPLY-CARRYING SHIPS, TRAVELING FROM CHINA TO ARGENTINA, HAVE SUNK IN THE INDIAN OCEAN. THE SHIPS WERE NAMED MEG-193 AND MEG-201. AN INVESTIGATION HAS BEEN LAUNCHED TO DETERMINE THE CAUSE OF THE INCIDENT. CHINESE AUTHORITIES ARE SHOWING HEIGHTENED ACTIVITY."
Hearing the news, Rex couldn't tell whether the shipwrecks had any connection to the beach evacuation. He was sitting in a restaurant near the tower house, watching the TV news. The place was crowded.
Rex overheard people talking—videos were circulating on social media showing strange creatures in the sea. That, they said, was why beaches in different countries were being cleared.
Rex never believed such things—unless on-duty police statements and TV news somewhat aligned. With uncertainty lingering, he left the place and returned home.
The house was completely empty. Naomi had gone to her aunt's place. Rex had given the household staff leave as well. Since he was leaving for Turkey for a few days, the house would remain vacant.
Dusk fell suddenly. The air was cool outside. February wasn't exactly cold, nor hot—everything hovered in between.
Using the spare key, he entered the house. He felt exhausted. Locking the door, he sank into the sofa.
A faint clattering sound from the kitchen instantly alerted him. He moved quickly but silently toward it—then immediately realized there was no danger.
—
"So, you're back? Naomi left the house key. Sorry for coming in without telling you. I had some free time—thought I'd keep you company. Or I can leave if you want."
Louis spoke while pouring cooked noodles into two bowls.
Rex didn't reply. He went back to the sofa and sat down. During Ashvale, he had been hit on the head twice. Due to lack of time, he hadn't seen a proper doctor—had bandaged himself. Now he regretted it. The pain had worsened. He needed a painkiller.
"Bad mood?" Louis handed him the bowl.
"Headache. Day after tomorrow morning, we have to escort our agency's biochemists and parasitologists again."
"The schedule moved back three days? And are you taking your entire team to Turkey?"
"Looks like it. Scientists from secret organizations require extra security. And it's a large team—sixteen people," Rex said while eating.
"So… what actually happened with Sherry?"
"What do you think?"
"I mean—her behavior in the custody room."
"Someone's trying to use her against us. Aran and the others will handle that. Right now, I'm thinking about the upcoming mission."
"Mission? What mission?"
"I don't know. It just feels like one is about to begin."
"Stop talking nonsense and finish eating. I'll leave afterward," Louis said casually.
"Louis."
"What?"
"It was Barnes. He realized immediately that I recognized him. He also understood that I had figured out his connection with Sherry. So he wanted to amplify my suspicion—and make me see Sherry as important. Mainly to distract me."
"Brother, he's dead."
"Was the body identified?"
"No, but still—"
"And Sherry has a connection with Charlotte Henson."
"What? What are you saying?"
"I told Emma to reopen CASE NO. 143. I can't investigate it myself—Emma will have to handle it."
"You already told Emma? Look, I understood half of what you said, half I didn't. If Sherry is connected to that case, then she's also connected to the ZYGOX SECRET LAB. You're taking this too lightly. You should've handled it yourself."
"I can't. This is tied to my personal life as much as my profession. I don't want to make mistakes."
"So you're saying—"
Both Rex's and Louis's phones vibrated simultaneously.
… "ALERT. ALERT. UNKNOWN OBJECT ATTACK ON MED-SECTOR." …
----
Chaos erupted in the MED-SECTOR.
The ELFEX MED-sector was located about eight kilometers from headquarters, where doctors, nurses, and the biology unit under Elfex primarily worked.
That evening, a strange creature had been sighted there—first seen from the observation room. It reportedly broke through the southern wall of the lower floor and escaped.
It looked like a monster. Everyone had seen its shadow, but no one could describe its form.
The time was now 10:00 p.m.
A major meeting was underway at headquarters. All staff except meeting attendees and guards had been sent to the MED-sector to assist.
"In the forty-one years since this organization was founded, none of us have witnessed such a rare incident. Our primary objective has always been to counter secret organizations around the world that commit crimes against humanity. We bear immense responsibility—there is no room for error. I believe the subject we're discussing is the result of a classified experiment, and it escaped the MED-sector under someone's command. If it were roaming uncontrollably, we would've received reports by now—but we haven't. I want a thorough investigation. I want Commander Jacob to personally take charge. This meeting is adjourned."
With that, the Chief General concluded the briefing.
…
"Louis."
Aran called out from behind.
Louis was exiting headquarters.
"Hm? What happened? Why are you here?"
"Where's Rex? I need to inform both him and Commander Jacob about something important."
"What is it? Rex went to the locker section, maybe."
"When the monster escaped, only that girl—Sherry—was in the observation room. She's missing now."
"What?!"
"And we saw the monster on the hallway CCTV. But the observation room's CCTV had been disabled—don't know by whom. Also, the creature matches the strange infected organisms we found in Ashvale. This one might not even be an animal—it could be an infected human. And the Ashvale samples stored in the locker room are missing too. It's like they all escaped together—on someone's command."
Rex was just stepping out of the locker section, jacket in hand, when his eyes fell on the empty cafeteria.
He had heard a sound moments ago. The cafeteria was closed for the night—but not locked yet.
Through the glass door, he noticed one window open. All the others were shut. A nearby table was tilted, as if knocked over.
Rex slid the door open and entered. He approached the window and saw the lock had been broken.
Someone had tried to infiltrate headquarters.
Rex jumped out through the window.
His instincts told him the intruder had fled toward the forest behind headquarters—a privately owned area with dense trees. Beyond it lay a river. If the intruder crossed that and reached Sirinatha Bridge, Rex would lose him.
Rex activated GPS on his watch, sent a message to Louis, and sprinted into the forest.
Midway through, he sensed someone's presence.
He paused, scanning the area. Then he realized someone was standing behind a large tree.
Under moonlight, he saw a shadow approaching—something held in hand.
Suddenly, with a furious scream, the person lunged at Rex.
Rex dodged instantly, kicked the attacker's left leg hard, and struck his neck. The man fell face-first. Rex snatched the stone from his hand and restrained both arms behind his back.
"Rex—Commander Rex!" Louis's voice echoed.
Rex immediately struck the back of the man's head with his pistol. He passed out.
_____________
Noah opened his eyes. It was obvious—he'd been captured and placed in a custody room.
His head throbbed. As he briefly closed his eyes, someone suddenly splashed a glass of water onto his face.
"Who the hell are you? Why did you enter headquarters? Where did you get the nerve?" Louis barked.
"Please let me go. I didn't come to harm anyone—I just came for information," Noah pleaded.
"Information about what? Who do you work for?"
"I swear—I don't work for anyone. I came looking for someone."
"Who?"
"My sister. Sylvie."
...
"Sylvie?"
Louis didn't recall the name—but Rex did.
Watching from behind the glass, Rex's mind snapped back thirteen years.
Sylvie—the girl found in the California tree house. Rex, Louis, and Aran had returned her to her father.
But her father…
The image flashed before Rex's eyes.
That was Dr. Barnes. The same face.
Sylvie had blue eyes. Curly hair. Just like Sherry.
Was his suspicion true?
Was Sherry actually Sylvie—connected to his past?
Without waiting another second, Rex entered the custody room.
"What's your name?" Rex asked quietly. "Noah."
"You're Ren, aren't you? You remember everything. Listen—Sylvie is in danger. The Boss will take her again. You have to save her."
"Who's Sylvie? Ren, you know her?" Louis said. "Wait—Sylvie, Noah… the names sound familiar."
"Thirteen years ago—the day my mother died—we met a girl. Sylvie. He's talking about her."
"I remember. Wait—Aunt Illera disappeared… you're saying she di—"
Rex didn't let Louis finish. He grabbed Noah by the collar.
"Sherry is Sylvie, isn't she? Her name was changed and she was sent here. Why? What's your connection with Barnes?"
"Ren, stop—let me explain. First tell me—where is Sylvie?"
"She's missing. Maybe she escaped," Louis said, standing up.
"No. I failed. I escaped alone—but couldn't save my sister. I can't anymore," Noah said in remorse.
"Start from the beginning. Everything," Rex ordered, his body trembling with rage.
"Boss, Charlotte and the other subjects have been transferred to another secret lab. They're safe. COX-098 and PUG-076 will be released from the underwater PACIFIC POINT lab within two hours. MIKEN-78 and KENIN-56 will be released from ATLANTIC POINT after four hours."
A sinister smile crept across the masked man's face.
The catastrophe he had created was about to begin.
________________
"We have a Secret organisation. I work under it—in the VANTIS Biotech Laboratory."
"What's the organization called?"
"We don't know. My work is limited to the lab. Under VANTIS, there are several labs—ZYCOX is one of them. I oversee the subjects there. We're called OBSERVERS."
"How do we know you're telling the truth?" Louis asked.
"I'm not in a position to lie. Let me finish."
"Why are you exposing all this?"
"Because I can't live with this sin anymore. I thought they were working on human advancement through biotechnology—but no. They're experimenting on humans. They have no good intentions. They're pursuing a hidden goal we don't know. They implant chips in every employee's head to control them. I have one too. I managed to disable it temporarily."
"That's impossible—operations this secret, technology this advanced, and we know nothing?" Louis said.
"There's a lot more you don't know."
"Tell us everything. Who is Sherry? What are you actually doing?"
"Sherry is a subject—the only human to survive all those experiments. Her subject name is CHARLOTTE HENSON."
"Charlotte Henson?" Louis whispered in shock.
"She's not a spy. She's a victim. The Boss is controlling her to mislead you. Please save her. Otherwise, he'll succeed through her. He's already planned—or executed—something big."
"Who is he? Barnes?" Rex asked.
"No. Barnes is involved—but there's someone above him. And you're connected to him, Ren."
"Me?"
"Yes. Otherwise, Barnes wouldn't have been so interested in you."
"Who is your Boss? What are you doing? Speak clearly."
"I don't know, Ren. I'm just being used like a robot. You have to uncover everything. Or it's all over."
"How? Explain—I don't understand."
"The ocean… something is happening beneath the sea. Something terrible—OMEN."
Noah froze. Terror filled his eyes.
Beep-Beep-Beep.
The sound was faint—but everyone heard it.
One moment, the next a loud noise. Blood splashed on Louis and Rex. Explosion! But inside Noah's head? Headless Noah fell.
Rex just watched.