The airlock of the Erebus bunker hissed as it reached perfect equilibrium.
Arthur Thorne stood in front of a wall of screens, his hands clasped behind his back.
The high-definition displays showed a silent, sleeping Seattle. But the silence was about to be broken forever.
On the edge of the horizon, a sickly red glow began to pulse. It wasn't the sun. It was the Great Evolution.
Suddenly, the sky seemed to bleed. Drops of deep crimson rain began to streak across the camera lenses.
"System, beginning monitoring," Arthur said calmly.
[System: Bio-energy detected. Infection rate rising.]
Arthur watched a screen showing a late-night diner. A man drinking coffee stepped outside to feel the rain. Seconds later, he collapsed, his body arching in an impossible angle.
When he stood up, he wasn't human anymore.
His eyes were cataracts of milky white, and his jaw hung loose like a broken hinge. He lunged at the waitress who had come to help him.
The screen became a blur of red and movement. Arthur watched it all without blinking.
"In the last life, I died for people like that man," Arthur whispered. "Never again."
Suddenly, a prompt appeared in the center of his vision.
[System: Host detected in safe zone. Dispensing SSS-Rank Reward.]
[Item: Void Dominator Serum.]
A small glass vial appeared on the console, filled with swirling black liquid.
Arthur picked it up. He could feel the power vibrating through the glass. He didn't hesitate. He opened the vial and drank the contents in one gulp.
His world exploded into white heat. He fell to the floor, his muscles tearing and reforming at a cellular level. It felt like his bones were being ground into dust and replaced with steel.
"Ah!" Arthur let out a sharp cry as black energy erupted from his skin.
The air around him cracked and warped. After several minutes, the pain receded, replaced by a terrifying sense of clarity.
He stood up and looked at his hands. They looked the same, but he knew he could now crush a skull like a grape.
[System: Physical limits removed. Void abilities unlocked.]
His satellite phone buzzed on the table. The caller ID showed a name that made his eyes grow cold.
Elena.
He picked it up and hit the speakerphone.
"Arthur? Arthur, please answer me!" Elena was screaming. "People are eating each other! I'm in Julian's penthouse, and the guards are dead!"
Arthur looked at the screen tracking Julian's building. He could see the shadows moving in the hallway outside their door.
"Why are you calling me, Elena?" Arthur asked.
"You have the storage! You have the gear!" she cried. "Julian says you can save us! Please, come get us!"
Arthur picked up a glass of water and watched the surface remain perfectly still. "Julian said I was a pack mule, Elena," Arthur said. "He said I was useless without things to carry."
There was a silence on the other end, followed by the sound of a door splintering.
"Arthur, no! I didn't mean it! I love you!" Elena shrieked.
"I hope Julian is a fast runner," Arthur said. "Because the things outside don't care about his money." He hung up the phone and tossed it into the Void.
[System: First Quest Issued: Blood the Blade.]
[Objective: Kill a Tier-1 Mutant and harvest the core.]
Arthur grabbed his black-gold katana from the wall. He didn't need to hide anymore.
"Open the airlock," he commanded.
The heavy doors groaned as they slid open to the red world outside.
Arthur stepped into the crimson rain. He didn't use an umbrella. The rain touched his skin and evaporated instantly, unable to penetrate his dark aura.
He looked down the mountain toward the city center.
The hunt had begun.