Darkness. Then purple light seeping through broken windows. The lab's emergency generator kicks in with a whine, casting weak red emergency lights that mix with the purple glow, making everything look like a bad horror movie filter.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE ACTIVE]
[BIOLOGICAL RESTRUCTURING: 2%]
[PHASE 0: CONTINUING]
Someone's crying. Multiple someones. Through the darkness, I track moving shapes by the text boxes floating above them:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Kim Min-ji
Threat Level: E → B
Status: Transforming
Distance: 8m
Basic Traits: Fire manifesting
Current Action: Hyperventilating
Warning: Unstable power
Her hands are smoking, literal wisps rising from her fingers as she stares at them in horror. The keyboard in front of her starts to melt. The plastic drips onto her lap, but she doesn't seem to notice. Her eyes are fixed on the flames dancing across her skin.
Professor Lee's voice cuts through the panic: "Everyone stay calm! Move toward the emergency exit in an orderly—" He stops mid-sentence, clutching his head as another system message floats in the air:
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 5%]
[ABILITY MANIFESTATION IN PROGRESS]
[CASUALTIES EXPECTED]
His status window updates:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Lee Jung-hoon
Threat Level: E → B
Status: Transforming
Distance: 15m
Basic Traits: Mental Enhancement
Current Action: Ability Awakening
Warning: Mental instability
The air around him ripples like heat waves, and several students near him grab their heads, wincing. His power is leaking, affecting others without him realizing it.
Sung-min finally wakes up, falling backward out of his chair. His status window flickers rapidly:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Park Sung-min
Threat Level: E → B
Status: Transforming
Distance: 10m
Basic Traits: Enhanced Strength
Current Action: Awakening
Warning: Uncontrolled power
He grabs his desk to stand up – and crushes the metal frame like paper. The sound of twisting metal makes everyone freeze. In the sudden silence, we hear it – screams from above us. Different this time. Not panic or confusion – pure terror.
[SYSTEM ALERT: FIRST MUTATIONS BEGINNING]
[ADAPTATION PHASE: 8%]
[PHASE 0: ACCELERATING]
Something heavy hits the floor above, hard enough to shake dust from the ceiling. Then another impact, closer to the stairs. The sounds are wrong, like something heavy but moving in ways that defy physics.
My ability picks up something new. Something wrong.
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: B
Status: First Evolution
Distance: 30m
Basic Traits: Partially Transformed
Current Action: Adapting
Warning: Predatory behavior
The emergency exit door rattles in its frame. Once. Twice.
The third hit tears it off its hinges.
The thing that enters isn't human anymore. Not completely. In the mixed purple and red emergency lighting, I see a shape that my brain refuses to properly process. My ability, however, doesn't have that luxury:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: B → A
Status: Evolving
Distance: 20m
Basic Traits: Accelerated Mutation
Current Action: Adapting to Environment
Warning: Growing Stronger
It moves like someone remapped all its joints wrong, each step a stuttering violation of anatomy. What used to be a campus security uniform hangs in tatters from its elongated frame. The name tag is still visible – a cruel reminder of what it used to be.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 12%]
[MUTATION PATTERNS ESTABLISHING]
[PHASE 0: STABILIZING]
Min-ji screams. Fire erupts from her hands involuntarily, setting her desk ablaze. The flames spread quickly across papers and keyboards, casting wild shadows that make the creature's movements even more disturbing. Her threat level pulses with the flames:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Kim Min-ji
Threat Level: B → A
Status: Unstable Transformation
Distance: 8m
Basic Traits: Fire Manifesting
Current Action: Involuntary Power Release
Warning: Critical Instability
The creature's head snaps toward the fire. Its face splits open, revealing rows of teeth where teeth shouldn't be. Three other students try to run for the door. The creature moves – too fast, too fluid. Two make it past. The third disappears from my ability's detection range.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 15%]
[PREDATOR TRAITS EMERGING]
[PHASE 0: ACCELERATING]
Professor Lee steps forward, his voice carrying a strange resonance:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Lee Jung-hoon
Threat Level: B
Status: Power Manifesting
Distance: 12m
Basic Traits: Mental Enhancement
Current Action: Defensive Formation
Warning: Power Untested
"Everyone behind me," he commands, the air rippling around him. "Now!"
Sung-min moves first, his enhanced strength making him faster than should be possible. He pulls Min-ji back just as the creature lunges forward. Its status updates with horrible speed:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: A → A+
Status: Rapid Evolution
Distance: 15m
Basic Traits: Adaptive Physiology
Current Action: Hunting
Warning: DO NOT ENGAGE
The thing that used to be human hits Professor Lee's mental barrier. The impact creates a visible distortion in the air, like a stone thrown into still water. He staggers, blood trickling from his nose. The creature presses against the invisible wall, its form shifting, adapting before our eyes.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 18%]
[ENHANCED ENTITIES EMERGING]
[PHASE 0: PROCEEDING AS PLANNED]
We need to run. Now.
The creature's bones rearrange themselves with sickening cracks. I can't look away as my ability updates:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None
Registered Threat Level: A+ → S
Status: Advanced Evolution
Distance: 12m
Basic Traits: Mutation Stabilizing
Current Action: Adapting to Resistance
Warning: IMMEDIATE THREAT
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 22%]
[ENHANCED ENTITY STABILIZATION IN PROGRESS]
[PHASE 0: MONITORING RESULTS]
Its claws drag across the floor, leaving deep gouges in the tile. The fluorescent lights above cast strange shadows through its now-transparent skin, showing organs that shift and multiply with each movement. Professor Lee's mental barrier flickers like heat waves in the air, but blood now streams from both his nostrils:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Lee Jung-hoon
Threat Level: B
Status: Power Strain
Distance: 10m
Basic Traits: Mental Enhancement
Current Action: Barrier Weakening
Warning: Critical Exhaustion
"The back exit," Sung-min whispers, his enhanced muscles tensed. His hands have crushed the metal chair he's holding into a makeshift weapon. "Through the server room."
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 25%]
[HUMAN SURVIVAL PATTERNS EMERGING]
[PHASE 0: RECORDING RESPONSES]
The creature's jaw unhangs, revealing rows of teeth that spiral down its throat. Min-ji's flames cast shifting shadows on the ceiling as it rises to its full height, nearly touching the fluorescent fixtures. Its skin has adapted to her fire, becoming glossy and reflective.
Then it speaks, the sound like gravel in a blender: "Run... little... ones..."
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: S
Status: Evolution Complete
Distance: 8m
Basic Traits: Intelligence Retained
Current Action: Testing Prey
Warning: ESCAPE IMMEDIATELY
Professor Lee's barrier shatters. The creature lunges forward, its movements now liquid-smooth. Min-ji's fire catches its arm, but instead of burning, the flames slide off like water. The creature's flesh ripples, adapting in real-time.
"GO!" Professor Lee shouts, blood now streaming from his eyes. "Server room! NOW!"
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 30%]
[PRELIMINARY RESULTS SATISFACTORY]
[PHASE 0: PREPARING FOR NEXT STAGE]
We run. Through the server room windows, I see more shapes moving in the corridor beyond, their status windows appearing in my vision:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: A
Status: Early Evolution
Distance: 25m
Basic Traits: Transformation Active
Current Action: Adapting
The purple light pulses brighter through the windows, and somewhere above, more screams join the chaos of transformation. We're trapped between evolved hunters behind us and fresh mutations ahead. Professor Lee wipes blood from his face, Min-ji's hands still flicker with uncontrolled flames, and Sung-min's enhanced muscles twitch with excess power.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE CONTINUING]
[ETHEREAL REFORMATION APPROACHING]
[PHASE 0: PREPARING FOR INITIALIZATION]
The server room door creaks open, revealing darkness beyond.