Cain Rift moved through the abandoned corridors of Nexus's lower sector, his footsteps barely audible as he slipped between shadow and light. The labyrinth of concrete and rusted steel around him had long been forgotten by the world above a graveyard of failed experiments and forsaken secrets. Yet, it was here that Cain felt most at home, away from the prying eyes of a city that wanted him dead.
He slowed his pace, sharp instincts honed over years of survival flaring up. Something was wrong. He couldn't place it, but the air had shifted, a subtle pressure building at the edge of his awareness. He cast a quick glance behind him, his breath steady, but the shadows betrayed nothing.
He turned a corner, stepping into a vast underground chamber, one of the old research labs that had been left to rot. Broken machines and empty tanks littered the space, casting long, eerie shadows. The faint glow of malfunctioning monitors flickered against the walls, casting the room in a dim, sickly light. It was silent too silent.
Cain's purple eyes flicked up to the broken ceiling panels, his muscles tense, ready to phase into another dimension at the first sign of danger.
A screech, like metal grinding against metal, echoed from the far side of the room. It was followed by the heavy thud of footsteps, too deliberate and too powerful to belong to any normal human.
The hunt had begun.
Out of the darkness, it appeared a monstrous figure standing over seven feet tall, its golden eyes locked on Cain. The creature was a grotesque fusion of flesh and metal, its limbs unnaturally long and ending in razor-sharp claws that gleamed under the flickering lights. Its body seemed to pulse, muscles rippling beneath synthetic skin, adapting to its surroundings with every movement. It let out a low, guttural growl, the sound reverberating through the chamber.
Cain's heart pounded, but his face remained unreadable. He had seen plenty of Voss's creations, but this one was different faster, stronger, and more refined. This was no ordinary experiment.
The creature moved first. A blur of motion, faster than Cain had expected, it lunged at him with blinding speed, claws swiping through the air. Cain reacted instantly, his body flickering out of phase, slipping into a higher dimension just as the creature's claws tore through the space where he had been standing.
Cain reappeared a few feet away, breathing steady, but the creature didn't hesitate. It spun around with unnatural agility, its golden eyes tracking him with precise accuracy. Unlike Voss's earlier prototypes, this one seemed to learn, its movements sharper, more deliberate as if it was adapting to Cain's phasing ability in real time.
Cain cursed under his breath. He couldn't rely on his powers alone; this thing was evolving too quickly.
The creature charged again, claws ripping into the steel walls as it closed the distance. Cain dashed toward a stack of old machinery, phasing through rusted metal as the creature tore after him, smashing through obstacles in its path. He reappeared near the far wall, eyes scanning the environment. His mind raced he needed to turn the environment into his weapon.
Above him, a series of exposed pipes lined the ceiling, running the length of the chamber. Cain's eyes narrowed in on the large, rusted valves that controlled them. With a burst of speed, he vaulted up onto a broken platform, grabbing hold of the nearest valve and twisting hard.
Steam hissed violently as the pipes overhead burst open, flooding the chamber with scalding vapor. The heat surged between them, clouding the creature's vision and filling the room with a suffocating fog. But Cain wasn't done. He phased again, slipping through the dense fog to the other side of the room, using the steam as cover.
The creature paused, its movements momentarily uncertain, its golden eyes flickering as it recalibrated. Cain used the moment to his advantage, kicking a loose beam from the rafters above. It crashed down with a deafening clang, slamming into the creature's back. The monster staggered but didn't fall, its body already adapting to the pain, skin hardening like armor.
Cain grimaced. Adaptation.
It wasn't just learning it was evolving and that to rapidly.
The creature roared, throwing the debris off its back with a surge of strength. It lashed out blindly through the steam, claws swiping through the fog, but Cain was already moving, keeping just out of reach, using the environment to stay one step ahead.
As he darted between broken machinery and crumbling walls, his mind raced for a solution. Direct attacks would be useless; the creature would counter anything he threw at it. He had to be smarter. He had to be unpredictable.
His eyes flicked to a broken generator near the far wall. Rusted and barely functional, it still hummed with residual energy a relic of Nexus's old power grid. An idea formed, and Cain moved toward it, dodging another swipe from the creature as he phased through a wall.
He reappeared beside the generator, hands moving quickly as he tore open the rusted panel. Inside, wires sparked and hissed, live electricity dancing across the exposed circuits. Cain yanked a bundle of cables free, feeling the raw energy pulse through his hands. It was a risk one wrong move and he'd fry himself before the creature even got the chance.
The creature was on him again, smashing through the wall behind him. It lunged forward, claws extended for the kill.
Cain waited until the last possible second.
Then, with a quick phase, he dodged to the side, slamming the bundle of live wires into the creature's exposed back.
The room lit up as the creature convulsed, electricity coursing through its body. It screeched, a high-pitched, mechanical scream that echoed through the chamber, its muscles seizing and spasming under the voltage. For a moment, it staggered, frozen in place, its adaptive biology struggling to cope with the sudden shock to its system.
Cain didn't waste any time. He dove toward a pile of fallen debris, grabbing a jagged piece of metal a broken pipe and spun around, driving it into the creature's side while it was still stunned. The makeshift weapon pierced through its armor, sinking deep into its synthetic flesh.
The creature howled, its golden eyes flaring with rage. But Cain could see it—small fractures spreading across its hardened skin, sparks flying from the exposed circuits underneath.
It was weakening.
The creature stumbled, its movements jerky, no longer fluid. Cain backed away, watching as the adaptive mechanisms within the creature's body tried to heal the damage, but it was too late. The combined assault of electricity and the jagged metal had overloaded its system.
The creature let out a ear piercing scream then fell to ground seemingly dead.