Chapter 03 We Are Not Alone

The scientists behind her began to whisper—quivering with fear.

"What the hell is this?"

"This… this isn’t crystallization… this is something else!"

"We—we can’t go in there! We’ll be trapped!"

"It’s like the whole corridor is… alive."

Panic spread like wildfire. A few of them stepped back, hands gripping their heads, their breath coming in short, sharp gasps. Someone let out a choked sob. Another mumbled under his breath, rocking slightly in place.

Ichiban turned to face them.

"Listen to me—WE DON’T HAVE A CHOICE."

She pointed at the corridor.

"That way is the ONLY route to the control room. The longer we stand here, the more time we waste, and the more this thing spreads. We don’t know what it is. We don’t know how to stop it. But I’ll tell you what I do know—if we stay here, WE DIE."

Kaiju swallowed hard beside her.

"…So, what do we do? This hallway not looking safe."

Ichiban took a breath.

"We move carefully. No touching the crystals. And we don’t stop. No matter what happens."

She turned back to the corridor. Beyond the unnatural growth, beyond the shimmering, pulsing vines of glass—something moved. Deep in the shadows, just at the very edge of the crystal-covered hallway—something shifted.

Ichiban’s blood ran cold, and a thought rang through her mind.

"We are not alone."

She took a cautious step forward, her boots crunching on the crystalline shards that littered the floor. The sound echoed unnaturally in the silent corridor.

“We need to keep moving. The control room is just ahead. If we can activate Code Red, we might still be able to contain this.”

“Might?!” one of the scientists shouted, his voice rising in panic.

 “You don’t even know what this is! How can you be sure Code Red will work?!”

Ichiban turned to him, “Do you have a better idea? Because if you do, now’s the time to share it!”

The scientist fell silent, his face pale as he shook his head. The others exchanged uneasy glances. One of them, a younger researcher, was muttering under his breath, his hands trembling as he clutched his lab coat.

 “This is beyond us… this is beyond anything we’ve ever seen. We’re not equipped to handle this…”

Just then, a loud crash echoed from the corridor behind them—the direction they had come from. The mangled blast doors Ichiban had seen earlier burst open with a deafening screech, the sound of grinding metal filling the air. A screeching, inhuman roar erupted from within the lab, sending a wave of terror through the group.

Kaiju grabbed Ichiban’s arm and shouted, “We need to go! Now!”

Ichiban nodded, her heart pounding in her chest.

 “Everyone! Run!”

The group launched into a panicked sprint, their footsteps echoing through the crystalline corridor as the monstrous roar grew louder behind them. 

As they ran, they passed a T-section in the corridor. For a brief moment, the path ahead seemed clear—until a massive, crystalline clawed hand shot out from the darkness of the intersecting hallway. The hand was enormous, its jagged, glass-like fingers glistening in the dim light. It moved with terrifying speed, slashing through the air with a sickening whoosh.

One of the scientists—a middle-aged man with glasses—didn’t even have time to scream. The crystalline claw cleaved through his head in a single, brutal motion, the force of the blow sending his body crumpling to the floor. Blood sprayed across the walls and the crystalline vines, the gruesome sight freezing the group in place for a split second.

“Move!” Ichiban screamed, “Don’t stop! Keep running!”

Kaiju stumbled, his foot catching on a crystalline vine that had snaked across the floor. He fell hard, his hands scraping against the shards that littered the ground. Ichiban skidded to a halt, turning back to grab him just as another clawed hand shot out from the darkness, and if she hasn't stopped to help him, her head would have been blown away next.

“Kaiju, get up!” she shouted, yanking him to his feet. The claw missed her by inches, its crystal fingers scraping against the wall with a sound like nails on a chalkboard.

“We’re not going to make it!” one of the scientists cried, “It’s too fast! It’s too—”

His words were cut off as a crystalline tendril shot out from the wall, wrapping around his ankle and yanking him off his feet. He screamed as he was dragged into the shadows, his voice cut short by a sickening crunch.

Scientists screamed, tripping over each other in a blind rush to escape, leaving Kaiju and Ichiban behind. They shoved past, desperate to get away from whatever had just slaughtered their colleague in an instant.

Then—a deafening screech ripped through the air. The thing gave chase. Ichiban risked a glance over her shoulder—and immediately wished she hadn’t. One of the scientists—a woman—stumbled as she turned the corner. She barely had time to scream before the thing pounced. It didn’t just kill her. It absorbed her.

The moment the crystalline claws tore into her flesh, her body convulsed violently—the red glow of the emergency lights casting horrifying shadows over her form as veins of crystal surged beneath her skin.

Her body twisted, limbs locking up in a way that was sickeningly unnatural. She was still alive as the crystal engulfed her completely. And then, with a sickening crack, she froze in place—her body melded into the wall, the crystal claiming her as part of its grotesque expansion. Her last, silent scream was still frozen on her face.

Before Ichiban could help Kaiju up, a grotesque figure stepped out of the darkness, its form materializing like a nightmare given shape. The creature stood on two legs, its body resembling a twisted mockery of a human form. Its limbs were elongated and skeletal, its skin—if it could even be called that—a jagged, blood-red crystalline lattice that pulsed faintly with an unnatural light. Its arms ended in massive, clawed hands, each finger a sharp, glistening shard of crystal that looked capable of slicing through steel. Its face was a hollow, featureless void, save for two glowing, malevolent slits that burned like embers in the darkness.

The creature moved with a horrifying grace, its crystalline body shifting and creaking like glass under pressure. It was unnervingly thin, almost emaciated, but its movements radiated a terrifying strength. It didn’t wait for the group to recover from the shock of its appearance. With a grinding screech, it lunged forward, its clawed arm shooting out like a spear.

Other scientist didn’t even have time to scream. The creature’s crystalline claw pierced through her chest with a sickening crunch, lifting her off the ground as if she weighed nothing. Blood sprayed across the corridor, splattering the walls and the crystalline vines as the creature held her aloft, its glowing slits fixed on the rest of the group.

The woman’s body twitched, her hands clawing weakly at the crystalline arm impaling her before she went limp, her lifeless eyes staring into the void. The creature tilted its head, as if studying its prey, before flinging her body aside like a discarded rag. Her corpse hit the wall with a dull thud, sliding to the floor in a heap.

Kaiju and Ichiban looked in frozen fear, their eyes locked on the grotesque creature as it tore apart the last of the fleeing scientists. The sound of bones cracking and flesh rending filled the air, mingling with the creature’s grinding screeches. Blood splattered across the crystalline vines, the gruesome scene unfolding in slow motion as the creature’s glowing slits burned with an otherworldly malice.

Then, with a sudden, horrifying burst of speed, the creature lunged at them.

Kaiju reacted out of sheer panic, his instincts taking over. He shoved Ichiban hard, sending her sprawling to the ground as he tried to dart out of the creature’s path. But his desperate move only put him directly in the way of the creature’s massive, clawed hand. The crystalline arm swung in a wide arc, the back of its claws slamming into Kaiju with the force of a freight train.

Kaiju was flung across the corridor like a ragdoll, his body slamming into the wall with a crunch. He crumpled to the ground, he tried to push himself up, but his arms gave out, and he collapsed back onto the crystalline shards that littered the floor.

Ichiban had no time to even get up. The creature was already towering above her, its blood-red crystalline form casting a grotesque shadow over her. Its glowing slits locked onto her, and for a moment, she felt a cold, paralyzing fear grip her chest. The creature raised its clawed hand, the crystal fingers glistening with blood, and brought it down in a swift, merciless arc aimed directly at her head.