Leon watched as she rubbed her marked wrists and got up with difficulty, leaning against the wall. He remained standing, arms crossed, his eyes fixed on her with an impatient look.
"Talk," he said, his voice flat, leaving no room for negotiation. "What is the origin of the infection?"
She took a deep breath, organizing her thoughts. Her voice, once muffled by embarrassment, now sounded clear, as if she were presenting a report.
"My name is Aylin. I'm a senior biochemist at the Marine Research Institute," she began. "When the rain started, we were one of the first groups in Monleciti to collect samples. The preliminary analyses... were unusual."
She paused, searching for the right words. Leon simply waited for her to continue.
"It's not water. Our spectrometers didn't detect a single molecule of H₂O. The substance… doesn't match any known element on the periodic table. It's completely unknown."
"But it behaves like water," Leon pondered, more to himself.
"Exactly," Aylin confirmed, surprised by his quick comprehension. "It mimics physical properties like fluidity, transparency, even relative boiling point. But the composition is something entirely new. It seemed… to be learning, adapting to our environment."
Leon frowned. "Then why were you on the yacht? Isn't the Institute on the mainland? And that still doesn't explain the origin of the infection."
Aylin hesitated, averting her gaze for a moment. "Because the epicenter of the infection isn't on land. It's at sea."
She paused, seeing his interest intensify.
"The Institute monitored the fall. It wasn't just 'inert cosmic dust' in a comet's tail, as the Federation reported. A solid fragment, a core or piece of the main body, impacted the ocean about two hundred miles off the coast. The 'rain' that came afterward wasn't the cause, it was the consequence. A kind of… atmospheric dispersal of whatever that fragment released as it dissolved in the atmosphere and the sea."
Leon crossed his arms. "And the infection?"
"The first reports of altered behavior came from fishermen and coastal communities, hours before the rain started on land. The Institute received seawater samples collected near the impact site. They contained traces of the same strange substance, but at a much higher concentration and… biologically active. It was as if the water had been 'infected'. When it evaporated and rose into the clouds, it created the rain that spread the agent across the globe."
"And you were on the yacht because…"
"Because I needed to get to the impact site. Get a sample of the fragment itself, or the contaminated seabed. A primary sample, undiluted. Only it could tell us what that thing really is. The Federation, however, immediately cordoned off the area with coast guard ships. No authorized vessels. I tried to go clandestinely."
She swallowed hard, the memory vivid.
"I convinced the owner of this yacht, an Institute investor, that the discovery would be worth the risk. The plan was to leave from the Yacht Club, pretending it was a routine cruise, and then head for the open sea. We were here, at the club, making final preparations, refueling, checking underwater collection equipment… when the rain stopped and the rest, you already know what happened."
Leon watched her silently. The story fit. It explained her presence on the yacht, the desperate escape, and confirmed his worst fears: the origin was in the ocean. And if the Federation had sealed the area, it was because they knew the danger was real and probably still active there.
"So the source," he summarized, his voice low, "is a piece of something alien on the sea floor, perhaps poisoning the water and transforming everything it touches."
Aylin nodded, serious. "And the data to prove that, and any chance of finding a vulnerability, are on the Institute's servers. That's why I need to go back."
Without a word, he turned and left the room. Aylin, still with her wrists marked and the newly given answers hanging in the air, stood up and followed him almost reflexively.
He entered the control room with a clear purpose. Aylin, instinctively, made a move to follow him, perhaps seeking a safe place or more answers. But before her foot crossed the threshold, Leon's arm shot up, firmly blocking the entrance.
"Stay in the salon," he ordered, blocking the doorway with his body. "I'm preparing the boat."
Before she could protest, he closed the door and locked it from the inside. The sound of the turning key was decisive. In isolation, he placed his hand on the bluish metal plate on the console.
[Dockyard System: Active]
[Vessel: Valkyria II – Operational Status]
[Soul Energy: 14/20]
[Locked Ability: Matter Deconstruction – Cost: 10 Points]
I need to unlock it before anything else, he thought as he focused on the option. A wave of heat ran down his arm as the energy points were consumed.
[Ability Unlocked: Matter Deconstruction – Level 1]
[Effect: Converts structures and components into Basic Material Units.]
[Vessel Material Storage Unlocked: Initial Capacity – 100 Units.]
[Note: Deconstruction time varies with target complexity and mass.]
Outside, Aylin didn't stay still. Her voice came through the door.
"The Institute is on a rocky peninsula, northeast of the bay. It has independent diesel generators and solar panel backups. The area is elevated, less prone to flooding."
She paused. "I suggest following the inner bay and skirting the main waterfront, that way we'll have less exposure."
Leon listened, his eyes on the digital nautical chart that now overlaid the physical panel. The route she suggested matched his tactical assessment. He didn't respond.
"You don't trust me," Aylin said, this time her voice closer to the door.
"No," Leon's reply was immediate.
"Fair," she admitted, unsurprised. "I wouldn't trust me either. But we both need to get to the Institute. We'll have to work together, like it or not."
Leon remained silent, but inwardly agreed. While preparing the navigation systems, he watched Aylin through the security cameras embedded in the salon ceiling. She didn't seem panicked. She examined the boat's interior, assessing equipment, touching panels with curiosity. I hope she is really what she says she is.
The Valkyria II sailed in silence, the hybrid hum of the engine almost imperceptible. The first stop would be the High Tide Nautical Depot. The structure appeared ahead, a half-submerged metal shed, water already lapping at the base of its rolling doors.
Leon anchored at a safe distance, the crowbar already firmly in his right hand. "You stay on the boat."
Aylin looked at the dark water around them. "What if something comes up here?"
Without ceremony, Leon pulled a combat knife from his belt and tossed it to her. The blade spun in the air and she caught it by the handle with a confidence that surprised Leon. She tested its weight, performed a basic reversal. He noticed she knew how to hold a blade.
"Improvise," was all he said before jumping onto the small access plank and heading for the depot.
Inside, the place was in semi-darkness, illuminated only by slivers of light passing through damaged roof panels. Stacks of outboard motors, rolls of cable, fiberglass parts. Perfect.
Leon placed his hand on a medium-sized marine diesel engine. He focused on the new ability.
[Target: Marine Diesel Engine – Complexity: Medium]
[Initiating Deconstruction…]
A network of bluish light lines emanated from his touch, enveloping the engine. The object began to disassemble, not into pieces, but into thousands of glowing particles that detached and were sucked into a point in the air in front of Leon, as if being stored in an invisible dimension. The process took nearly 20 full minutes.
[Deconstruction Complete]
[+8 Structural Metal Units]
[+3 Mechanical Components]
[+1 Special Alloys Unit]
He worked quickly, moving between piles. An electric winch, a spool of steel cable. Each deconstruction consumed time and a slight mental effort, but the reward in materials appeared instantly in his storage interface.
It was while approaching a stack of fuel tanks that the noises began. A wet dragging sound, followed by a guttural snarl. From the shadows behind a rusted forklift, four shapes detached themselves.
They were infected, their bald skulls shining like wet porcelain under the few rays of moonlight filtering through the broken roof panels. Their gray skin was mapped with black, pulsating veins. Their opaque, dull eyes fixed on Leon with blind hunger.
The first one attacked with its arms outstretched. Leon ducked low, letting the attack pass overhead, and in one continuous motion, grabbed the creature's nape with his free hand. With a brutal shove, he used the infected's own weight against it, slamming the wet, bald head against the green metal fuel tank beside him.
CRUNCH!
The sound was dry and satisfying. The skull gave way, leaving a black, viscous smear on the metal. The body slumped, inert. [Energy Collected: +1]
The second one lunged from the side. Leon used the momentum to drive the curved tip of the crowbar into its throat, twisting before pulling it out. [Energy Collected: +1]
The third infected was a mountain of muscle, probably a dockworker before the fall. It charged with the subtlety of a freight train, ignoring the caution of the others.
Leon didn't retreat. He waited for the exact moment and swung the crowbar in a low, brutal arc.
CRACK.
The solid steel met the side of the infected's knee. The joint burst the wrong way, and the giant roared, collapsing onto its useless leg.
Without losing rhythm, Leon took advantage of the height and brought the tool down in a vertical strike directly onto the skull. The metal caved in the creature's forehead with a hollow, wet sound, creating a horrific depression.
But it wasn't enough.
To Leon's surprise, even with a deformed head and exposed brain, the monster continued to snarl, its hands frantically groping the air, trying to pull Leon's legs for a final bite. The resistance was absurd.
Leon took a step back, assessed the angle, and then took a short leap, landing with all the weight of his body and his boots on the already deformed skull.
The head gave way for good, turning into a shapeless mass of bone, black blood, and gray matter. [Energy Collected: +1] Leon felt a quick, brutal satisfaction and an involuntary small smile touched his lips along with the sound of the interface notification.
But the smile died instantly. A chill ran down his spine. This... this isn't like me. The coldness, the efficiency, fine. But that sadistic pleasure in the crushing... it was new. And alarming.
Before the thought could deepen, movement in the distance pulled him back. The fourth infected, thinner and faster, saw the opening and, instead of attacking, sprinted toward the light of the entrance, toward the boat.
"Damn," he muttered, wiping the crowbar's blade on the pants of the now-motionless corpse. The doubt was left behind, swallowed by urgency. He ran after it.
But a peripheral sight made him stop for a fraction of a second. Tossed in a dark corner, behind the tanks, was the corpse of an infected. Not one of the ones he'd just killed. It seemed to have been there longer, the skin more dried out. And in its chest, a huge hole, as if something had been torn forcibly from where the heart should have been.
What the hell…? The thought was an instant alert, but the sound of distant fighting from the boat pulled him back to urgency. He left the strange corpse behind and sprinted toward the exit.