The prison laundry underground routes showed up blue in Rhys's Gem Sense. Weaker crystal coverage here - cheaper suppressors for workers deemed harmless. His vacant smile remained fixed while mind mapped courier paths, maintenance shifts, guard rotations.
"Section 3-B." Wei's maintenance uniform bore stains from fusion-enhancer accidents. "That's where they keep the broken ones. Not like you. Really broken."
Rhys had traded information about F-Block crystal weaknesses for this tour. Wei took the night shifts, fixing leaking power couplings while dodging security drones. Perfect cover for mapping the prison's bones.
A crash echoed through the tunnels. A girl's voice raised in pain.
"Enhancement testing." Wei's hands shook slightly. "They started with the weak ones first. Easier to hide if something goes wrong."
Rhys's Gem Sense pierced walls, showing him the scene. Young fighter, maybe seventeen. Fusion capacity barely Tier 1. Guards forcing something that glowed wrong into her system.
The Wolf stirred.
"That's Mari." Wei kept walking, eyes down. "Used to clean officers' quarters. Good kid. Started asking questions about missing workers. Now she's 'volunteering' for enhancement trials."
The labs weren't even trying to hide anymore. Testing rooms lined the sublevel, each pulsing with modified crystal arrays. The man in white from the underground fights stood watching through observation glass, making notes as Mari's body rejected another enhancer.
Rhys cataloged everything. Guard positions. Camera angles. Crystal coverage gaps. The seven seconds between scanner sweeps that would let someone move unseen.
"Tomorrow's special event." Wei glanced nervously at security cameras. "Carnival of the Broken, they're calling it. All the failed test subjects fighting. Entertainment for the buyers."
Mari's screams faded. Medical team moved in with professional efficiency. Another failed test logged and filed.
"Visitor for 3479." Guard captain Hayes appeared, crystal eyes gleaming. "Your turn for product testing."
The lab smelled of antiseptic and ozone. Crystal arrays hummed at frequencies that made Rhys's Gem Sense tingle. The man in white studied readouts while technicians prepared injectors.
"Fascinating results from your underground match." Clinical voice. Empty eyes. "Your fusion channels show unusual adaptation patterns. Perhaps..."
"Wait." Hayes interrupted. "He fights tomorrow. Can't risk system rejection before the event."
The man in white frowned but nodded. "Afterward then. His data could prove... illuminating."
Back in holding, Mari occupied the cell across from Rhys. Fusion enhancers still burned through her system, making her shake. But her eyes were sharp. Calculating.
"You're him, right?" Voice barely a whisper. "The mad Hunter everyone's talking about?"
Rhys let his gaze drift while Gem Sense mapped her fusion damage. Systematic scarring like Jin's. But something else - micro-fractures in the crystal arrays around her cell. Signs of someone learning to exploit weaknesses.
"They think breaking us makes us harmless." Mari's hands traced patterns that matched crystal resonance frequencies. "But sometimes broken things become weapons."
Down the corridor, other "failed" test subjects watched through cell bars. Each bearing enhancer scars. Each moving with carefully hidden purpose.
"We've been watching you." Mari's voice stayed low. "The way you move in fights. How you time the crystal pulses. Jin says you're planning something."
Rhys mumbled about shadows. But his Gem Sense tracked the network of looks passing between cells. The subtle communication system of people who'd learned to work around surveillance.
"Tomorrow they make us fight each other." Mari's eyes held no fear. "Show them what nothing can do."
The night passed with quiet planning. Gem Sense revealing guard patrol gaps. Crystal frequencies memorized. Maintenance schedules noted.
Morning brought the announcement: "Carnival of the Broken begins in one hour. All participants prepare for transfer."
Hayes arrived with enhanced security. "Remember - make it interesting. Buyers want to see how rejection cases perform under stress."
The underground arena had changed. More observers in expensive suits. Better scanning equipment. The man in white watching from a private booth.
Mari waited in the fighting circle, enhancement scars glowing faintly. To most observers, two broken fighters about to provide entertainment.
But Rhys's Gem Sense showed him more. The way other test subjects positioned themselves in the crowd. How Wei worked on crystal arrays that would "malfunction" at key moments. Jin watching from the shadows with careful attention.
"Begin!"
Mari moved like someone who'd learned to fight while avoiding cameras. Each technique carried the desperate efficiency of survival. But underneath, Rhys saw the patterns. The same careful timing he used. Another prisoner learning to exploit system gaps.
He Shadow Stepped through her combinations, making it look like lucky dodges. Each movement placed him where cameras wouldn't quite focus. Where scanners showed interference.
"The crystals remember," Mari whispered during a clinch. "Even when they try to cage them in numbers and rules."
Around the arena, other test subjects began moving. Small things. Subtle things. A cup knocked over here. A distraction there. Each action precisely timed to scanner blind spots.
The man in white frowned at his readouts.
Rhys let Resonant Strike flow through his techniques, carefully masked as clumsy counters. Not enough power to hurt Mari. Just enough to make enhancer-scarred fusion channels sing at frequencies that disrupted monitoring equipment.
The "fight" ended with both standing. No clear winner. No serious damage. Just two broken things performing for their masters.
---
But Rhys's Gem Sense had mapped everything:
- Complete lab layout
- Testing protocols
- Camera blind spots
- Crystal weaknesses
- Guard patrol patterns
- Underground resistance network
- Future opportunities
---
Later, back in his cell, Mari's voice drifted across the corridor. "Tomorrow they're taking all the broken ones for special matches. The ones they think can't fight back."
The Wolf's presence stirred with cold purpose.
Time to show them how dangerous nothing could become.