Chapter 46 The Helios-9 Disaster Had Begun.

As the car sped down the highway, Shachiku gripped the wheel tighter than he realized. His mind was a storm, memories flickering in and out like a broken signal. He had driven this road before—no, not just before. He had driven this road after the world had already fallen apart.

He could still hear the distant echoes of sirens, the screams swallowed by walls of red crystal, the sky choked with that unnatural, pulsing red light. But here—now—the world was still intact. It felt surreal.

Akarui leaned back in the passenger seat, stretching his arms behind his head.

 "Man, I gotta say, this is the most excitement I’ve had in months. Just what exactly is going on at Helios-9? The whole thing about Ichiban forgetting some signature was crap, right? You some kind of secret agent or something?"

Shachiku didn’t answer right away. He didn’t know how to answer. Akarui was alive. Sitting right here. Joking around like he had no idea that he would be fighting for his life in just two weeks.

"...No," Shachiku finally said, keeping his eyes on the road.

 "Nothing like that."

"Yeah, sure. You drive like a maniac, dragging me along for some mystery emergency at a research lab just because I asked. If you're not some kind of undercover agent, then what the hell are you?"

Shachiku exhaled sharply through his nose.

 "Just a guy trying to fix a mistake before it's too late."

 "Sounds heavy, man. You sure you're not gonna, I dunno, snap and go postal on Helios-9 or something? 'Cause if this is some weird revenge plot, let me off at the next stop."

"No revenge. Just... unfinished business."

"Not gonna lie, man. Sounds damn close."

Shachiku pulled up to the guard post outside Helios-9, rolling down his window before the car had fully stopped. The security guard, an older, no-bullshit type with a face that had seen way too many late shifts, barely looked up from his thermos as he leaned against the booth. He gave Shachiku a slow, unimpressed once-over.

"Back again, huh? What, they don’t got email in whatever corner of hell your office is in?"

Shachiku put on his best look, pal, I don’t wanna be here either face and sighed.

 "C’mon, Mike, you know how this works. Some genius upstairs forgets to check a box, and now suddenly I gotta drive out here to get it fixed. Trust me, if I had a choice, I’d be in a bar right now, not in your lovely company. I need to see Ichiban, just for a second, is she here?"

Mike didn’t move, just took a slow sip from his thermos.

 "Uh-huh. And what’s so important that you gotta bother the doc in the middle of her work? She’s got real problems to deal with—not some paper-pushing nonsense from a guy whose job description is ‘stand around and wait for a stamp.’"

Shachiku gave him a half-smirk, drumming his fingers on the wheel.

 "Hey, paperwork makes the world go round, my friend. No forms, no funding. No funding, no fancy science projects. No fancy science projects, and then what? You’re out of a job, I’m out of a job, and some guy in a basement loses his pension. Come on Mike, do me a solid and give her a call, tell her I'm here."

"Alright, alright. Let me check."

He grabbed his radio, pressing the button with the slow, deliberate movements of a man who had truly mastered the art of not giving a shit.

"Control, this is Mike at the front. Connect me to Miss Ichiban's lab. I got Shachiku Giseisha here, says he needs the doc for some paperwork. She expects him?"

The radio crackled. A second later, Ichiban’s voice exploded through the speaker.

"Are you kidding me right now!? I don’t have time for paperwork! Let him in, put him in the waiting room, I’ll deal with it when I have time!"

There was a long silence. Mike let out a low whistle, giving Shachiku the same look a man gives roadkill.

"Wow. You really got a way with the ladies, huh? What did you do to piss off such a gentle woman? Jeez, I have been working here for 6 years, haven't see her this mad once."

Shachiku shrugged, unbothered. 

"Yeah, well, she is not mad at me. So, we good here?"

Mike sighed, rubbing the back of his head.

 "Alright, let’s go, lover boy. Try not to piss her off more than she already is."

As he opened the gate and waved them through, Akarui leaned over from the passenger seat, watching the whole exchange with barely contained amusement.

"Man, you corporate guys really live and die by paperwork, huh?"

Shachiku didn’t answer. His mind was already somewhere else. The clock was ticking, and they were running out of time.

Mike didn’t rush. He wasn’t the kind of guy who rushed. Instead, he gave Shachiku and Akarui one last look, then tilted his head toward the facility’s main entrance.

“Alright, lovebird, kid, let’s move. Waiting room’s on the fifth floor. We’ll take the elevator—unless you’re in the mood for some stairs?”

Neither of them answered, so he took that as a no and led the way through the security doors, badge-swiping them through each checkpoint like he’d done it a thousand times before—which, knowing him, he probably had.

The elevator was old, industrial, built for transporting heavy equipment just as much as people. The doors groaned open as they stepped inside. Mike pressed the button for the fifth floor with the same enthusiasm as a man clocking in for another 12-hour shift.

The doors slid shut. The lift hummed to life.

Then the whole facility shook.

A deep, thunderous explosion ripped through the lower levels, the kind that sent vibrations up through the walls and rattled the very air in their lungs. The emergency sirens wailed to life, red lights flashing as the elevator jerked, then—

Dropped.

Akarui shouted as gravity yanked them down.

"Oh SHIIIIIIIIIIIT!"

The metal box plummeted, the display flashing past floor numbers so fast they blurred. The emergency brakes should’ve kicked in. But they didn’t!

Shachiku barely had time to register what was happening before Mike moved.

With the reflexes of a man who had seen too much shit go sideways, he slammed his fist against the emergency panel, ripping it open with raw strength. His eyes flicked over the buttons and switches inside.

The floor numbers kept racing downward.

“Hey, uh—Mike?!” Akarui’s voice cracked, gripping the railing.

 “Tell me you got a plan here, big guy!”

“Yeah, yeah, kid. I got this,” Mike muttered, yanking the emergency brake lever.

 Nothing!

 He growled, braced himself against the wall, and hit the manual override.

The brakes screeched as something inside the shaft ground against the falling lift. Sparks exploded from the control panel. The momentum slammed them against the walls, but their speed was slowing.

Still too fast!

Mike gritted his teeth and pulled. Metal groaned, resisting him. Shachiku barely caught a glimpse of the sheer strength in the older man’s arms before—

CRASH!

The elevator slammed into the lowest floor. Dust and debris burst through the seams as everything lurched.

Then… silence.

Shachiku gasped for breath. His heart was a hammer in his chest. His ribs ached. Akarui groaned somewhere on the floor. And Mike was already standing. Adjusting his sleeves like nothing happened. He spat to the side, then knocked his knuckles against the broken emergency panel.

“Cheap-ass contractors. They don’t make ‘em like they used to.”

Shachiku stared. 

“Mike, you alright?”

 “Quit gawking, lovebird. It's just another day at work.”

Above them, the sirens wailed louder. Something bad was happening up there. Something worse than an elevator crash.

A robotic voice rang out.

"WARNING. CRITICAL SYSTEM FAILURE DETECTED. LOCKDOWN PROTOCOL INITIATED. ALL PERSONNEL, PLEASE EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY."

Right after, Ichiban's voice cracked through the coms.

"Emergency! Experiment gone wrong in lab 7! We have crystallization spread! I repeat! Emergency! Cut the water supply to the labs! Now! I repeat, shut off all water sources in Helios-9 IMMEDIATELY! Prepare to activate Code Red if the crystallization spread does not halt!"

The sound of reinforced steel doors slamming into place echoed through the facility. The guard’s face paled. Akarui tensed beside Shachiku.

The Helios-9 disaster... had begun.