The Forest and Shadows of mist.

Chapter 10: The Forest and Shadows of mist.

R is asleep, his body still but his mind is not silent is mind is filled with echoes. Not dreams, just voices. The voices murmur at first then it becomes clearer, these are voices from his memories. A memory he can’t see but hears.

“I know the baby came out premature… How she’s still alive is a miracle,” a familiar voice says.

“Then let’s not let this miracle fuckin die Doc”

This memory is the conversation between R and Doctor Smith

“This project was only ever tested on women. Designed to restore their ability to give birth. Even though I’ve altered it to work on a man… I don’t know if this will work.”

A pause.

“R, if we do this, it will affect your body. I do not know how but, your body system will change until she becomes whole. In fact, it could poss—”

“Do it,” R cuts in.

“You didn’t even let me finish,” the voice snaps.

“SHAID will fucking kill me when she finds out…”

“She’ll understand, Doc.”

A grunt. Then the doctor says:
“Alright. Lay back. Look at the light.”

A bright flash.

The sun reflects off the waves and hits his face.

R opens his eyes, he is wake but feels different, he feels heavier than before. Then, he catches his reflection on the car windscreen.

He starts to blink his eye in confusion, the face staring back… isn’t the man he remembers.

Swollen cheeks, Sunken eyes, Puffy, Off. He quickly looks at his hands and slaps his cheeks as he notices this is reality he is no longer in a dream. The thick-chested, musclebound commander now looks like a depressed fat man with a beer gut.

“SHAID?” he growls. “What the fuck did you do?”

Her voice crackles through the radio

“Why can’t you fuckin appreciate me for once R? Do you know how many humans would kill to have me?”

“Many humans—or aliens—would be fuckin' dead or insane if they had a bio-mechanic AI in their brain, poking their cells, overriding their nerves while they are unconscious.” He yells aggressively at the radio
“Calm down Sakamoto” SHAID try to tease him but R is not taking this lightly as he analyses his body

“Calm down!!” he yells again “You think I can fuckin calm down after you altered my fuckin' tissue while I was unconscious, SHAID!” “No one will fuckin have you in their head bitch because they will be dead”

“That’s why you’re the perfect vessel, darling,” she purrs.

R glares at his reflection as his tired of this conversation the he asks.

“Why? How? When?”

“Why? — to make sure your cover isn’t blown darling, it’s on sight for anyone who fuckin sees you and you look awkward as a pregnant man, looking like a fat man with a belly is better.
How? — I don’t know I could even do that to be honest I just tried converting your muscles into fat. It is way more complex than that but that is the only way I can explain for you to understand. When? ___ the moment the nanotech merged with your stomach.”

R grunts hearing this as he relaxed his back on the seat using his eyes to cover his face in disappointment.

“Don’t be grumpy Sakamoto” she teases “Your weight’s the same. Nothing’s lost although you are a bit heavy because of the baby in you. Once she’s out of your body and with vigorous exercise you should bounce back in no time.

R groans. Loud. He leans his head on the mirror.

“Tch Sakamoto, The Landlord will be fuckin proud if he sees me”

“He won’t fuckin recognize you,” SHAID replies.

As the banter continues R squints through the glass.

“What’s the progress on the pursuit?” he asks. “We should be close to the Mist Forest. What about our target?”

SHAID’s voice hums back through the radio. “They should already be in the forest… but I’m not getting any signal from them.”

R’s jaw tightens. “Check their comms. Or anything you can hack through.”

“No comms are working, R” she replies. “Everything’s offline.”

R Suspicion turns to alarm. “Since when?”

SHAID pauses. “Judging from my calculations... about five hours ago.”

R’s eye narrows as he hears this. “How close are we?”

“Five minutes.”

The weight of her answer sinks into the silence. Something’s wrong. Something deadly.

“When was the car last online?” he asks.

Another pause. Static hums.

SHAID’s voice comes back, low and grim: “Five hours ago. The same moment they entered the Mist Forest.”

R straightens in his seat. His hand instinctively touches Reaper. The blade hums softly, glowing faintly awake, like him.

“hmmm I have a fuckin bad feeling about this”

As they approach, the sky darkens unnaturally as the lights in the car flicker, the radio cuts in and out. The air itself feels... heavier.

When they cross the threshold, R realizes this isn’t a forest it’s a graveyard of a forgotten country. Deserted streets, rotting houses, and every single wall is marked crystals and blood-soaked drawings cover every surface, all surrounding a single terrifying image: a child in the center, suspended in the air, held by a tall, dark figure.

Trees sway sideways, as if pulled by invisible strings. The green mist thickens unnaturally, curling around the car like it’s alive.

SHAID's voice returns not from the radio, but from inside his head.

“R... the volume of MIST in this region is two times stronger than the ones in the 3 regions combined. You need to control your breathing.”

“Not a big deal,” R mutters. “I’ve been through worse.”

But the car stops. All systems die. No lights. No hum. No response.

SHAID sounds scared for the first time.

“I can’t connect to the car. I can’t connect to any systems. Not even an SOS signal to the outer world. R… we need to get the fuck out of here.”

R opens the door, Reaper in hand. His feet touch the cursed ground.

“There’s no getting out,” he says coldly.
“We’ve entered the Devil’s Forest. No turning back now”

As he walks towards the forest and shadows of mist.