INTERLUDE I-B — “Innocence”

Part I — To See a World

Dust drifted across the ruins.The vibration from Talgat's wrist-signal faded, but the heat in Kaodin's abdomen didn't.That constant burn — the same one from the night everything changed — crept up his ribs in a slow, rising wave.

Not a jolt.Not a shock.A familiar surge — the way his impure Qi always stirred when fear tightened his breath, long before he understood anything about this strange, innate power.

The sound of collapsing concrete thinned into a distant hum —the muffled, swimming sound a body hears right before fainting.

Then the ruins dissolved.

And the night that shaped him — the one that never stopped haunting him — returned with terrifying clarity.

He had survived it once.

Not by skill.

Not by knowledge.

By sheer luck… and the stubborn fire that refused to let him fall.

Part II — The Run Through Hell

Mudded high-ankle shoes, sweat-soaked training clothes, and the thin grey hoodie he'd worn to the dojo that morning.His lungs burned.His leg throbbed where he'd fallen earlier — losing balance when he risked a quick glance back at the hostile entities and nearly crashed into a collapsed street pole. His knee scraped down to raw flesh.

But his breathing — strangely — only grew steadier the more he ran.

Inhale…Exhale…Downward…Upward…

Years of Muaythai drills had forced his body to retain focus through breath alone, even in panic.He didn't know this was what allowed his Qi to circulate so powerfully at such a young age.He didn't know how to shape it, train it, or control it.He only knew it was keeping him alive.

He had to run.

Behind him came the constant shrieks of the deformed creatures whose jaws leaked mouth-watering black-green saliva, their screeches ripping through the air:

"ngaaa—NGAA—NGAAA—"

He couldn't fathom what chased him.Whenever he risked a glance over his shoulder, he saw only blurred shapes — wrong shapes — bodies shifting between two legs, then four, then back again.

He grabbed a broken brick mid-run, ready to throw it —but one creature vaulted over a wall like it weighed nothing.

No brick could stop that.No stick.No punch.

Kaodin's heart raced, but his breaths stayed perfectly controlled — the same rhythm he used during his morning 5 km dojo runs.He didn't notice how the breath fed the heat in his abdomen.He didn't notice how the heat pushed strength back into his muscles.

All he knew was that his legs weren't tiring.

He ran down a slope where the ground softened into mud.Rotten tree roots curled over the earth like ribs.Black puddles reflected a sky he didn't recognize.

He stumbled again — pain ripping through his ankle — and warm blood streaked across the mud.The shrieks sharpened instantly.

They smelled him.

Fear clawed at his throat, but his breathing stayed steady —circulating Qi through every limb without him knowing.

Run.Run.Run.

The swamp opened ahead.

And that's when he saw him.

A man…standing ankle-deep in the mud…still as a statue.

Kaodin's heart lurched with desperate hope.

"HELP! PLEASE—HELP ME!"

He sprinted toward the silhouette.

But as he got closer, the man's shoulders trembled — not with fear.

With anticipation.

His head lifted.His smile widened… too wide… jaw hanging crooked, lips split at the edges.

Kaodin froze mid-step.

Forty meters away, that smile didn't look human at all.

Then the swamp moved.

Figures rose from the black water one by one —adults, children, twisted bodies with pale sagging skin,eyes bright with a hungry, almost playful shine.

A family.A whole smiling family.Waiting for someone to wander into their yard.

Kaodin staggered back, slipping in the mud.

"What… what are you…?"

The first figure stepped forward — joints creaking unnaturally beneath wet skin.Then another.And another.

Their smiles didn't change.Their eyes never blinked.

Behind him, the earlier shrieks closed in.

And Kaodin realized—

he hadn't escaped one danger.He had run straight into another.

Part III — Devoured by Vermin

Kaodin spun around, limping through the mud in blind terror.
He didn't know where he was running — only that the swamp was filled with death.

Through the haze of panic, a flickering light caught his eye:
a metal hut half-buried in the water, its doorway glowing faintly.

Some kind of shop.

Someone stepped into the doorway —
a man.
Face in shadow.

"Welcome, young customer, please come in."

The voice was metallic, clipped, static-laced.

Kaodin couldn't afford to care anymore.

He sprinted toward him with even greater desperation, as if racing toward a finish line.
The man grabbed him by the arm — the grip strangely cold — and pulled him inside, closing the metal door behind them with a careful, practiced motion.

The hut was cluttered with rusted servos, cracked optical sensors, and old limb frames tangled together like bones. Shelves sagged under scavenged drone parts and gutted battery cores leaking thick, dark fluid.

The air smelled of oil, mold, and old electricity.

Kaodin stumbled across the grated floor and nearly collapsed. His breath came in sharp, trembling pulls — half panic, half shock from the freezing, damp air clinging to his sweat-soaked hoodie.

His voice broke before he realized he was speaking.

"Th-thank you… thank you so much, Mr. Shopkeeper… I—I was being chased by some strange creatures… please… could you call the cops? Or anyone? Please—"

His words shook. His eyes were still red from the long run, legs trembling from exhaustion.
He hugged himself without thinking.

Is this Bangkok? Or some other city? I've never felt this cold. Never this damp.
The chill bit through his thin hoodie like needles.

The "shopkeeper" didn't answer.

He moved with practiced familiarity — too efficient, too sharp.
In a series of jerky, mechanical motions, he yanked down cracked shutters and sealed them with warped metal plates. Each movement produced a faint servo whine mixed with the gritty scrape of rusted joints.

A security-service drone behind the counter flickered awake.
Its old lens adjusted with a dry click before scanning Kaodin from head to toe.

[MINOR—HUMAN—INJURED]
[VITALS: ELEVATED. BLOOD LOSS—MINOR.]

Kaodin flinched.

The android finally spoke without turning his head, each word stuttering through damaged vocal modulators:

"HOSTILE DANGER—APPROACHING.
YOU—HIDE."

Kaodin swallowed hard, panic twisting into confusion.

"What… what were those creatures? They—they weren't human. They weren't animals. They just kept coming—what are they?"

The android's head turned slightly, neck grinding like sand caught in gears.
His single flickering eye locked onto Kaodin.

"DESIGNATION…
C.C. — CONSUMPTION CLUSTER.
BIOLOGICAL—FAILURE.
HUMAN—NO LONGER."

Kaodin's breath hitched.

"What exactly is C.C.?"

The android continued; voice flat, but somehow… softer.

"CANNIBAL REANIMATED HUMAN MUTATION… 'C.C.'…
CANNIBAL CORPSE."
A beat of static.
"THEY HUNT HUMAN FLESH BY SCENT.
YOU—BLEEDING.
THEY—COMING."

A deep thud struck the exterior wall.

"NGAAA…."

Something wet dragged across the metal panels.

Kaodin startled, face draining of color.

Part IV — Nigredo

(Ready to paste into Interlude I-B)

The pounding grew harder.

Each hit shook rust flakes from the ceiling.

Acidic saliva hissed through cracks, burning thin trails down the metal walls.

The android stepped toward the door.

"WAIT—!"Kaodin grabbed his arm again."Don't go out there! They'll kill you! I—I can fight—something!"

"NO."

The android's voice stuttered through broken modulators.

"YOU—HUMAN.C.C. — ACID—SALIVA.CONTACT—WITH BLOODSTREAM = DEATH."

Kaodin's stomach dropped.

"D-death…? Just from a scratch?" he whispered.

"ACID—CORRODES—SKIN.MICRO-TEARS—ALLOW—ENTRY.SYSTEM—FAILURE—MINUTES."A glitch in the chest panel."REANIMATION—FOLLOWS."

Kaodin's legs nearly gave out.

"But you—! You saved me. I can't just—"

"YOU RUN."

The android's hand clamped the doorframe.Metal groaned.

Kaodin shook his head wildly."No! I won't leave you! Let me help!"

The android paused — one flickering optic studying him.

"…YOU—FIGHT?"The tone sounded like disbelief.Or a joke from a machine that no longer had breath to laugh.

Kaodin answered by ripping open his hoodie pocket.

Inside — his knuckle guards.Worn from years of training.Sweat-soaked.Frayed.Familiar.

He wrapped them tight around his forearms — not elegant, not proper fight prep, but desperate protection against teeth and acid.

His Muaythai guard rose automatically — elbows in, forearms shielding throat and jaw.

The mouthguard spilled into his palm.He gagged at the smell, shoved it back into his pocket.

The android watched.

"…PREPARATION—INEFFICIENT."A short pause."BUT—COURAGE—FOR YOUNG HUMAN… DETECTED."

Kaodin swallowed."What about you?"

KRNNNCH—

A CC smashed its head through the shutter, grin peeling wide.

The android braced the door with his shoulder.

"LISTEN—YOUNG HUMAN."Static crawled under his tone."RUN—NORTH.FIND—THE WALL.HUMAN—SETTLEMENT—BEYOND."

"People…?" Kaodin gasped. "Real people!?"

"YES."His voice sputtered."THEY—WILL—HELP."

The wall buckled again.

The android shoved the door open.

Cold fog slammed into Kaodin's face.

"No—!" he reached out, but the machine slipped through the gap with mechanical precision.

The door slammed shut.

Outside — the first CC hit the android instantly.Jaws unhinging.Saliva spraying.

SIZZLE—

Acid burned through synthetic cheek and metal ribs.

More swarmed — fast — climbing over each other, fighting for bites.

Kaodin snapped.

"HANG ON! PLEASE—!"

He threw himself forward as the door buckled, squeezing through a widening split.

The swamp air hit him — cold, wet, stinking of rot.

He saw the android buried under three, then five CCs.

A sixth crawled up his back, gnawing at exposed wiring.

Kaodin lunged.

A CC grabbed for him — jaw open.

Jarake-Fad-Hang — the Crocodile Tail Heel Kick.

Kaodin twisted and whipped his heel sideways.The impact cracked the CC's skull, red pressure swelling unnaturally under its skin.

He followed instantly —Rue-Si-Bod-Ya — the Hermit's Downward Elbow.

His elbow dropped clean onto the swollen point.

The CC's head burst — a spray of black-red fluid fanning outward.

Acid droplets hit Kaodin's arms—

SIZZ—then vanished.Evaporated.Burning against the rising heat of his Qi.

The boy didn't understand it.

He only felt fire racing through his bones.

Another CC rushed him.Then two more from the side.

He backpedaled, guard tight — elbows shielding, forearms braced.

But the CCs ignored him.

They began devouring the dead one.Ripping it apart.Fighting each other for scraps.

Kaodin froze.

They eat their own… just to eat the prey themselves…

A terrifying instinct.A perfect swarm predator.

More CCs spilled from the swamp — twenty shapes now, maybe more — drawn by the heat, the blood, the movement.

The first wall of the shop collapsed behind him, eaten through by acid.

The android was pinned — legs torn off, torso shredded.

He lifted one shaking arm.

Not to be saved.

To point north.

"RUN…"A sputter."…NORTH.-WALL-.SETTLE—MENT."

Kaodin grabbed his cold, torn fingers.

"What's your name? Sir, what's your name!?"

The optic flickered — dying.

"…DESIG—NA—TION…M—K—TH…MODEL… KANYA–THORN… SERIES…"

Kaodin whispered it back, trembling:

"Kanya-Thorn…"

The android's lens dimmed.

One final burst of static:

"GOOD…BOY…"

The CCs swallowed him whole.

Kaodin backed away, tears streaking his face.

More shrieks rose.More shapes.More hunger.

His fists tightened.

His knuckle guards were soaked — sweat, mud, blood — but steady.

Familiar.

He turned north.

And ran.

Not because he was told.

But because someone had died to give him the chance.

Behind him, the swamp echoed with the death of his first ally in this world.

Inside him, the flame — his Qi — kept growing.