Into the Abyss

The train ride to the outskirts of the city was quiet. Too quiet. Haruki sat by the window, staring out at the landscape as buildings gave way to empty lots, then forests, then nothing. The air was thick with tension. No one had spoken much since they left. Maybe because they all knew what they were walking into.

Aoi sat next to him, her fingers clenched in her lap. "Do you think Kaede was right? That this place is too dangerous?"

Haruki exhaled. "Probably. But that’s never stopped us before."

Across from them, Renji stretched his arms behind his head, his usual cocky grin absent. "She made it sound like a damn horror movie. The whole ‘no one who’s gone has come back’ thing? Classic setup for getting murdered by some freak experiment."

Natsuki shot him a look. "Then why are you here?"

Renji smirked. "Because it’s better than sitting around waiting for Azrael to pop up and gut us."

Kisaragi adjusted his glasses, his eyes on the map Kaede had given them. "It’s an old research facility, abandoned for years. Officially, it was shut down after a failed project. But considering Kain’s connection, it’s more likely that something in there was never meant to be found."

Aoi shivered. "Great. That makes me feel so much better."

The train jerked to a stop. The robotic voice announced their station, but no one moved right away.

Haruki stood first. "Let’s go."

They stepped onto the platform. The station was barely more than a concrete slab with a rusted sign that read Yotsuba Research District. There were no staff. No other passengers. Just the hum of the wind cutting through the trees.

Aoi wrapped her arms around herself. "This place is creepy."

Renji kicked a loose rock. "It’s abandoned. What did you expect?"

Haruki ignored them, leading the way down the cracked pavement. The road curved through the forest, overgrown with weeds. The deeper they went, the quieter the world seemed to become. Even the birds had stopped singing.

After nearly half an hour, they reached it.

A towering concrete building, its windows shattered, its walls covered in graffiti. The metal doors were rusted but still standing. The whole place felt wrong, like it had been waiting for them.

Kisaragi sighed. "Well, here we are. Last chance to turn back."

No one moved.

Haruki stepped forward. "We’re going in."

Renji pushed open the doors, the rust groaning as they creaked apart. The air inside was stale, filled with dust and something else—something metallic.

Aoi coughed. "Ugh. It smells like blood."

Kisaragi frowned. "That’s because it is."

Haruki knelt, running his fingers over a dried stain on the floor. It was old. But the fact that it was here meant something had happened.

Renji took out his flashlight, clicking it on. "So, what are we looking for?"

Kisaragi scanned the interior. "Anything. Files, records, something that can tell us what  happened here and what Kain was trying to hide."

The beam of Renji’s flashlight cut through the darkness, illuminating rows of overturned desks, broken monitors, and shattered glass. The air was thick with dust, the silence pressing in on them like a physical weight.

Haruki ran a hand along a nearby desk, his fingers brushing over deep claw marks in the wood. "This wasn’t abandoned. It was destroyed."

Aoi shifted uncomfortably. "Destroyed by what?"

Natsuki crouched beside one of the overturned chairs, inspecting the floor beneath it. "The blood’s old, but there are no bodies. Someone cleaned this place out—except for whatever they left behind."

Kisaragi’s expression darkened as he approached the back of the room, stopping in front of a massive metal door, its frame warped as if something had forced its way inside. He pressed his palm against the cold steel. "If we find anything, it’ll be beyond this door."

Renji let out a low whistle. "Yeah, that’s not ominous at all."

Haruki ignored him and grabbed the rusted handle. It barely budged. "Help me out."

Renji stepped up beside him, gripping the door as well. "On three. One, two—"

They both pulled. The door groaned, protesting against years of disuse. Then, with a screech of metal, it gave way, swinging open with a dull boom that echoed down the dark corridor beyond.

Aoi took a step back. "I don’t like this."

Haruki turned to her. "We don’t have to like it. We just have to get it done."

Kisaragi adjusted his glasses. "Stay together. We don’t know what’s in here."

The hallway beyond the door was narrow and lined with old observation windows, most of them cracked or shattered. Inside the rooms, rusted medical equipment stood abandoned, their once-sterile surfaces now coated in grime. Some of the beds still had restraints attached, their leather straps torn.

Renji exhaled sharply. "This place was a horror movie."

Natsuki paused in front of one of the rooms, peering inside. "There’s something here."

Haruki stepped up beside her. The light from Renji’s flashlight illuminated a desk in the far corner, covered in scattered documents.

Kisaragi pushed open the broken door and approached the desk, carefully sifting through the papers. His fingers stopped on one in particular—a faded file marked Project Eden.

Haruki narrowed his eyes. "What is it?"

Kisaragi flipped it open, scanning the pages. "This was a classified project… something about human enhancement, but—" His voice trailed off as his expression turned grim. "No. This wasn’t about enhancement. It was about control."

Aoi peered over his shoulder. "Control how?"

Kisaragi hesitated before reading aloud. "Subject development success rate: 12%. Side effects: aggression, loss of rational thought, eventual breakdown. Viability for large-scale implementation: pending."

Renji frowned. "So, what? They were trying to make super soldiers or something?"

Kisaragi shook his head. "Not quite. The goal wasn’t to make them stronger—it was to make them obedient. The ‘enhancement’ was secondary. The real purpose was to suppress free will."

A heavy silence settled over the group.

Aoi’s voice was small. "Did it… work?"

Kisaragi turned the page, eyes scanning the faded text. "It says here that most test subjects lost their ability to think rationally after prolonged exposure to the treatment. They became violent. Uncontrollable. The project was ultimately deemed a failure."

Natsuki crossed her arms. "Then why do I get the feeling that Kain doesn’t see it that way?"

Haruki narrowed his eyes. "Because if the government shut it down, it means he probably picked up where they left off."

Renji tapped his fingers against the edge of the desk. "Alright, so we know this was some brainwashing experiment gone wrong. That still doesn’t explain why Kaede told us to stay away. What aren’t we seeing?"

Kisaragi frowned and flipped another page. Then his expression darkened. "Because the project didn’t end here. The final test subjects were marked for disposal, but the report ends abruptly. No confirmation. No records of the bodies."

Aoi swallowed hard. "Then… they could still be here?"

Before anyone could answer, a noise echoed through the corridor. A faint, dragging sound.

Haruki turned sharply, eyes narrowing into the darkness beyond the room. "We’re not alone."

Renji clicked off his flashlight, lowering his voice. "Think it’s just a rat?"

A metallic clink rang out. Then another. Like something tapping against the floor, slowly, methodically.

Haruki tightened his grip on the file. "No."

A loud bang shattered the silence. The sound of something heavy slamming into metal, followed by a deep, guttural growl.

Aoi gasped. "What was that?"

Kisaragi’s voice was tense. "We need to move. Now."

Haruki motioned for the group to stay low as they slipped back into the hallway. The darkness seemed thicker now, pressing in from all sides.

Another growl. Closer this time. And then—footsteps. Not quite human. Heavy, uneven, scraping against the floor as they moved.

A shadow shifted at the end of the hall.

Aoi clutched Haruki’s sleeve. "We have to get out of here!"

Haruki’s mind raced. They had no idea what they were up against. No idea if it was even human anymore. But one thing was clear—they weren’t getting out without a fight.

The figure stepped into the dim glow of emergency lighting, revealing its form.

A man—or what was left of one. His flesh was pale and mottled with deep scars, his eyes clouded, unfocused. His mouth twitched, lips curling over jagged teeth. But it wasn’t his appearance that sent a chill down Haruki’s spine.

It was the way he moved. Unnaturally rigid, as if something unseen was controlling his limbs like a puppet on strings.

Renji muttered under his breath. "What the hell…?"

Then the creature lunged.