The hallways of the Generation Zero headquarters were a symphony of clinical perfection. Polished silver floors reflected the geometric patterns of light from the ceiling, and the air held the faint, metallic scent of cooling energy conduits.
Hans walked with a measured stride, his expression as unyielding as the stone towers outside. He didn't look at the other recruits as they scurried past, his mind was already on the combat data from the previous night.
Thump.
A shoulder clipped his. It wasn't a heavy blow, but it was intentional, a challenge in the form of a physical nudge.
Hans stopped, turning his head just enough to see Naomi. She was leaning against the wall, her arms crossed and her weight shifted onto her good leg. The medical brace on her other leg hissed softly as it adjusted its hydraulic pressure.
"Walking a bit fast for someone who doesn't care about 'ghosts,' aren't you?" Naomi asked with a mocking edge.
Hans didn't turn his body to face her. "I have a briefing with Nyx. I don't have time for your sarcasm"
"You brought a Distorted user into the Core, Hans." she stepped closer, her voice dropping. "He saved us. I know you feel that, even if you've buried it under all that logic."
"He was a variable. I secured the variable," Hans replied, his voice devoid of emotion. "Whether he lives or dies now is no longer my concern. Stay off your leg. You're trailing Lunar residue."
"Always a pleasure," Naomi muttered as Hans turned and vanished around the corner.
Before she could offer another jab, the device strapped to her forearm let out a sharp, rhythmic chime. A holographic crimson eye pulsed on the screen.
[HIGH PRIORITY: COMMANDER NYX REQUESTS IMMEDIATE PRESENCE AT TRAINING BAY 01]
Naomi clicked her tongue, her blunt expression shifting into one of annoyance. "Great. The ego is calling."
***
Dr. Faris was in the middle of a frantic explanation about why Kenzo shouldn't touch the glowing orange when his own pocket began to vibrate with a sound like a swarm of angry bees. He fumbled with a device, his face momentarily losing its wonky grin as he read the message.
"Oh! Oh dear," Faris muttered, straightening his crooked glasses. "It seems the big boss wants a word. And by 'a word,' I mean he's probably going to yell at me for three hours about budget allocations for 'anomaly stabilization.'"
He turned to Kenzo, pointing a warning finger. "Don't move. Don't touch the machines. And for the love of the Core, don't try to 'calculate' your way out of that bed. The floor is programmed to increase gravity if it detects unauthorized pacing."
"Wait, you're leaving?" Kenzo asked, his eyes darting toward the door.
"Duty calls! But don't worry, you're in better hands anyway," Faris chirped, gesturing to his daughter. "Sarina will make sure your soul doesn't decide to take a walk without you. Be good!"
With a final, chaotic wave, the doctor scurried out of the room, the door hissing shut behind him.
The silence that followed was heavy. Sarina moved quietly to the side of the bed, her lavender eyes focused on the handheld scanner as she checked the stability of the "Distorted" energy still swirling in Kenzo's chest.
Kenzo watched her. She seemed different from the others, less like a weapon and more like a person. Guilt flickered in his chest.
"I realized I never actually said it," Kenzo began, his voice low. "I'm Kenzo. I'm seventeen. I... I'm sorry for being a 'disaster' for your father."
Sarina paused, her expression softening into a genuine, tired smile. "It's okay, Kenzo. My father thinks every mystery is a disaster until he solves it."
Kenzo nodded, but his mind was already miles away from the conversation. He was looking past her, tracing the lines of the door, the placement of the monitors, and the vents in the ceiling.
If the floor increases gravity when I pace, I can't run, he thought. But gravity is just weight. If I can move fast enough, if I can use that 'static' in my legs to burst through the door before the sensors trip...
"Is there anything else you need?" Sarina asked, noticing his intense focus.
"Just some rest," Kenzo lied, his heart beginning to drum a rhythm against his ribs. "I think I've had enough for one day."
***
The atmosphere in Training Bay 01 was suffocating. It wasn't just the lack of windows or the smell of ionized air, it was the sheer weight of the energy radiating from the man standing at the center of the room.
Nyx didn't look like a commander. He stood at 5'8", his medium-length black hair slightly disheveled, but his blue eyes held a predatory gleam that made even seasoned recruits look at the floor. He was currently hovering several inches off the ground.
Hans stood at attention, his face a mask of indifference. Naomi leaned against a weapon rack a few paces away, her expression tight.
"You brought a virus into my house, Hans," Nyx said. His voice was melodic, almost gentle, which made it ten times more unsettling. "A 'Glitch' from a dying branch. Do you have any idea how much that destabilizes the local frequency?"
"He saved two members of Generation Zero, Commander," Hans replied smoothly. "The data potential alone was worth the extraction."
"He's a kid who stumbled into a light show," Nyx scoffed, finally touching down on the floor. The tiles beneath his boots cracked slightly. "He's a liability. We don't need anomalies, we need-"
"You need a drink and a hobby, Nyx! You're wound tighter than a Soul-Siphon!"
Dr. Faris burst into the room, his lab coat flapping behind him like a cape. He didn't seem to notice the murderous look Nyx flashed him. Faris skidded to a halt between the Commander and the recruits, waving a tablet frantically.
"The boy isn't just an anomaly," Faris said, ignoring the tension. "He's a bridge! His Distorted signature is mimicking the Core's rhythm. It's the most fascinating-"
"It's a danger, Faris," Nyx snapped, his blue eyes flashing. "One that I am considering 'correcting' before it-"
BEEP. BEEP. BEEP.
A shrill, red alarm tore through the room, pulsing from the consoles and the devices on everyone's wrists. It wasn't a Remnant alert. It was an internal breach.
Faris fumbled for his comms, his wonky grin vanishing instantly. "Sarina? Talk to me, lotus flower, I'm in a meeting with a very grumpy man."
A holographic projection of Sarina flickered into life. Her expression wide with a mix of shock and panic, and the background of the medical wing behind her was a mess of sparking monitors and shattered glass.
"Father! He's gone!" she cried, her voice breathless. "Kenzo... he didn't even use the door. He triggered a burst of static and went straight through the ventilation shielding. I tried to lock it down, but the sensors couldn't track his movement, he's too fast!"
Nyx's face went pale with fury, a dark, heavy energy beginning to swirl around his fists. "The Glitch is loose in the facility?"
Hans reached for his polearm, his grey eyes sharpening. Naomi, despite her injured leg, pushed off the rack with a grimace.
Nyx turned toward the exit, his eyes burning. "I told you he was a mistake. Now I'm going to go erase it."
***
Kenzo hit the floor with a heavy thud, his boots skidding across the polished silver tiles. He had just dropped twenty feet from a ventilation shaft, but his knees didn't buckle. Instead, they felt like coiled springs, buzzing with a restless, jagged energy that seemed to lighten his entire body.
That was... easier than it should have been, he thought, glancing back up at the dark maw of the vent.
He didn't feel like the kid who used to get winded after ten rounds of sparring. He felt like he was made of lightning and static. But there was no time to admire the upgrade. The walls of the corridor were already beginning to pulse with a low, rhythmic red light.
He took off, barely making a sound. He found the stairwell door and wrenched it open, taking the steps three at a time. His heart was a drum in his ears, but above that, a mechanical voice began to echo through the spiraling tower.
"CODE RED. SUBJECT 412 HAS BREACHED CONTAINMENT. SECTOR 4 IS UNDER LOCKDOWN. AUTHORIZED PERSONNEL ONLY."
Subject 412, Kenzo grimaced as he cleared the third flight. I really am just a file to these people.
He reached the landing of the second floor and slammed through the heavy doors, only to come face-to-face with a young man in a slate-grey uniform. The recruit's eyes widened, and he immediately raised a hand.
"Halt! You're the anomaly!" the recruit shouted. He didn't wait for an answer. He thrust his palm forward, and a shimmering, translucent wall of blue energy snapped into existence, sealing the hallway shut. "Where do you think you're going now?"
"Somewhere that isn't a lab," Kenzo said.
He pivoted on his lead foot, putting the full weight of his hips into a snapping roundhouse kick. He expected his foot to bounce off the energy wall. Instead, the moment his boot made contact, a jagged discharge of black-and-white static erupted from his skin.
CRACK.
The barrier didn't just break, it shattered like a sheet of ice under a sledgehammer. The fragments of blue light dissolved into the air before they even hit the floor.
The recruit fell backward, staring at the empty space where his defense had been. "How... that was a Grade 3 External Shell..."
He didn't wait for a round two. Kenzo sprinted past the stunned guard, his legs moving in a blur as he reached the final flight of stairs. He hit the ground floor, bursting into the main lobby.
The exit was right there.
Through the massive glass partitions, he could see the shimmering, impossible towers of District 1. He knew what Faris had said, that he couldn't go home, that his presence would be a death sentence for his home. Part of him felt a hollow ache at the thought, a grief he couldn't yet process. But another part, the part that had been poked and prodded since he woke up, just wanted to be out.
He wasn't going to be a science project. He wasn't going to be a "variable" in someone's equation.
He lunged for the doors, his hand inches from the handle.
"You move quite well for a dead man."
The voice didn't come from behind him. It seemed to come from the very air itself, through Kenzo's bones.
The lobby, which had been bright and airy, suddenly felt as if it had been submerged in lead. The atmospheric pressure skyrocketed, forcing Kenzo to a halt as his lungs struggled to pull in the heavy air.
Slowly, Kenzo turned.
Standing at the base of the grand staircase was Nyx. He wasn't even in a fighting stance, he was just standing there, his hands in his pockets, his blue eyes glowing with a cold, terrifying light that made the "Distorted" static in Kenzo's blood recoil in fear.
"Kenzo," Nyx said, his voice smooth and dangerously calm. "I don't like it when my things wander off. It makes the facility look disorganized."