Chapter 53 Beginning of The End

 Conor turned sharply, his boots grinding against the debris-littered floor.

"Alright. Now that the cat’s outta the bag, you can drop the act Kaiju."

He flinched—just a twitch—but enough for Conor to see. The scientist avoided Ichiban’s eyes, the guilt weighing down his shoulders like lead. Slowly, reluctantly, he reached into the pocket and pulled out a small vial—no bigger than a thumb— it shimmered faintly with soft, pulsating blue-white light.

"Yeah," Kaiju muttered, "I got it. It's stable and in good condition."

Ichiban’s breath hitched, and her fingers curled into trembling fists.

Shachiku saw the look in her eyes but said nothing.

Conor gave the vial a brief look.

 “Okay. Let’s keep it that way.”

He turned to the rest of the group, raising his voice. 

“Alright, we keep moving. That elevator was a wake-up call. These crystal freaks are getting more aggressive. Security hub’s close. We hole up, check the feeds, activate Code Red. Kill anything that moves, no hesitation. Move out!”

He took point without waiting for agreement, weapon raised, stride confident. The mercenaries fell in behind him like clockwork.

Kaiju tucked the vial back into his coat with a shameful glance toward Ichiban. She didn’t say a word—but the weight of her stare was a blade at his back.

The steel-reinforced doors of the main security hub hissed open with the groan of strained hydraulics. The group stepped inside one by one, boots echoing against the pristine white tiles—a rare untouched corner of Helios-9. 

Banks of monitors flickered along the curved walls. Most feeds were static or blank, but a few showed grainy footage—corridors buried under crystal growth, rooms flooded with that same thick red goo, and twisted, half-formed shapes crawling through the wreckage. One monitor looped the last few seconds of the elevator explosion on repeat.

Mike was the first to move, walking with the heavy gait of a man who's seen too much in too little time. He cracked his knuckles and dropped into the chair at the console like he owned the place.

“Alright. Let's see what’s left of our goddamn eyes and ears.”

Akarui hovered near the entrance, peeking out with the barrel of his rifle ready. Holtz nervously circled the room’s perimeter, tapping panels and mumbling to himself, eyes darting like a rat stuck in a trap.

Conor men stayed outside per his order to keep the line.

Ichiban stood near the monitors, arms crossed tight over her chest, trying to hold herself together. Her gaze never left Kaiju, sitting alone in the hallway just outside the hub, shoulders slumped, hand shaking.

Shachiku leaned beside her, whispering.

“Ichiban. Listen carefully. I’m not with them. Not with Eel Schmuck either.”

Ichiban tensed, her eyes flicking toward him, confusion rising—but she said nothing.

“I’m here to get you out. That’s it. I had to lie to get this far. Don’t say anything. Just act calm. Trust me.”

There was no time for explanation, no room for questions. It was quick. Clean. He didn’t look at her again—just kept walking, face blank, like nothing had happened.

Ichiban stared at him for a brief moment. But she didn’t speak. She didn’t call him out.

She just walked beside him—shoulder brushing shoulder—and said nothing.

Whatever she felt, whatever thoughts boiled beneath the surface, she kept them hidden.

Conor turned to his squad, who were already taking position along the hallway outside.

“Lock this place down. Nothing gets in. If it moves, it drops. No questions.”

The mercenaries responded with sharp nods, taking cover and aiming down the corridor with grim focus.

Inside the room, Conor stepped through broken glass and overturned chairs, giving the place a quick once-over. The eerie glow from the monitors bathed his face in pale blue as he turned to Ichiban.

“Alright, Professor. If you’re gonna pull magic outta these machines, now’s the damn time. Whatever backdoor protocols you baked into this system, use them. Get access to the main frame and activate the Red Code. Before this place turns into a goddamn meat grinder for all of us. This whole op’s going sideways fast. So, either you start typing, or we all get to die screaming in the dark. Get on with it, genius.”

 She didn’t answer. She just pulled a cracked chair upright and started typing. Just as Ichiban’s fingers danced across the terminal, pulling up buried code beneath layers of security firewalls, a distant pop echoed down the corridor. Then another. Then—

RATATATATAT.

Gunfire exploded like a thunderstorm. Shouts followed—panicked, sharp, dying. One of Conor’s men screamed something unintelligible before being abruptly cut off. The hallway outside the security hub shook as something massive slammed into metal, tearing it apart like wet paper.

Mike whipped his rifle toward the door.

 “Incoming! We got company!”

Sparks rained from overhead as ceiling panels gave way, and the floor trembled beneath their feet. Ichiban’s hands flew over the keyboard, unfazed by the chaos behind her.

“I’m almost in—just a few more seconds!”

Another blast of gunfire erupted. A body slammed into the blast door—one of the mercs, face shredded, armor cracked, rifle gone. He slumped to the ground, dead.

“Hold the damn line! We’re not dying in a fucking basement!” Conor barked to the remaining men outside.

The console beeped.

 ACCESS GRANTED.

“I’m in!” Ichiban shouted, "Initiating CODE RED. Overriding security grid. I’m opening the escape path—locking everything behind us!”

Without hesitation, she smashed the emergency protocol key. 

EMERGENCY PROTOCOL ACTIVATED. ALL SECTORS LOCKING DOWN.

“Fall back! Everyone fall back!” Conor barked, pulling Ichiban from her chair as Mike laid down suppressive fire into the hallway.

Shachiku grabbed Akarui by the shoulder. 

“Kid! Let's move, now!”

They tore out of the control room, boots slamming against the floor. Behind them, blast doors began sealing—SLAM. SLAM. SLAM—cutting off each corridor just as distorted shrieks and scuttling limbs filled the air.

The facility groaned with strain as crystals tore through the walls, jutting out like spears. A tendril lashed just behind Holtz’s leg—he screamed but kept running.

“Don’t stop!” Mike roared. 

“Next stairwell’s a hundred feet up!”

They reached it, scrambled up, hearts pounding, breath ragged. Ichiban stayed behind at each floor, punching in override codes, sealing doors seconds before something massive hit from behind, screeching and pounding against the reinforced steel.

Level after level blurred in adrenaline. Akarui fired wildly down the stairs. Holtz tripped but Shachiku yanked him up. Conor, dead silent now, focused like a machine, brought up the rear—eyes cold, rifle hot.

Finally—TOP LEVEL – MAIN EXIT.

The hallway ahead was partially collapsed, light flickering through broken tiles, but the exit gate stood intact—reinforced blast doors, sealed, waiting.

Shachiku turned to Conor, his voice calm but urgent, the heat of adrenaline still burning in his veins.

“Conor, I need a radio.”

Conor, halfway through checking the mag in his rifle, shot him a quick glance.

 “What for?”

Shachiku gestured toward Akarui, who was hunched near the wall, catching his breath, gun still clenched tight.

“He needs to contact his father. Military high command. They’ll get us a path out. Cover our asses when we step outside this hell hole.”

Conor squinted at him, the gears in his head clearly grinding—but then another bone-rattling slam echoed behind the sealed doors, and a long, wet screech followed.

“Fine. Do it quick, whatever is knocking means business.”

Without further argument, he unclipped the radio from his vest and tossed it to Shachiku.

Shachiku caught it, turned to Akarui, and handed it off.

“Time to call in the family favor!”

 Then he added, whispering, "Just as we planned."

Ichiban ran to the terminal, panting, blood smeared on her coat.

“I will open the doors! Give me thirty seconds!”

“You’ve got ten!” Mike shouted, slamming the door shut behind them as a giant, crystal-armored beast slammed into it hard enough to bend the steel inward.

Just as Akarui finished shouting into the radio, “—and we need immediate evac, repeat, we’re at the top level! Prepare to open fire on hostiles if they breach the perimeter—”, the steel blast doors behind them groaned and then exploded inward in a hail of mangled metal.

The shockwave hurled everyone across the room, helmets and rifles scattering across the floor. 

From the chaos, a guttural scream ripped through the room—followed by the guttural clicking and growling of the crystal-born freaks pouring in through the twisted doorway.

Kaiju was mid-sentence, yelling something to Ichiban, when the control panel beside her sparked violently. A chunk of metal tore through the air. She barely had time to scream before Mike lunged like a linebacker, tackling her out of the way just as the panel exploded behind her.

“Keep your head down, Doc!” Mike growled through clenched teeth, shielding her with his own body as bullets and crystal shards rained down.

Conor was already shouting commands, voice raw. 

“Form a line! Don’t let them breach the room! Light ‘em the hell up!”

Gunfire erupted. Muzzles flared like lightning as Conor’s men opened fire, the creatures bursting in like a plague. Each one was worse than the last—jagged limbs, howling mouths, some half-human, others barely recognizable as anything born of Earth. When bullets struck, they shattered in sickening pops—crystal shards exploding in all directions, slicing through anything not behind cover.

And then… Shachiku saw it.

The crowd of freaks parted—unnaturally—as something else stepped into the light. But it wasn’t mindless, not like the rest. Its posture was calm. Its head turned, scanning the room slowly, deliberately. Intelligent. Cold. Focused.

Its face—or what was left of it—was partially preserved. Half human. Half… something else. The crystals had formed a mask over the right side of its skull, fractals jutting from its brow and jaw like a twisted crown.

Shachiku’s breath caught in his throat.

It looked familiar.

There was a memory—fuzzy, like a dream—but it struck hard. He’d seen that face in one of the future loops.

This thing wasn’t just a monster.

It was the harbinger.

The intelligent one.

The beginning of the end. It was Adam.