We sprint between the server racks as the door finally gives way behind us. The creature's massive form crashes through, taking part of the wall with it. My ability flashes updates as we run:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: S
Status: Full Evolution
Distance: 18m
Basic Traits: Mass Increasing
Current Action: Pursuit
Warning: Gaining Speed
Min-ji's flames light our path, casting wild shadows that make it impossible to tell which movements are real threats and which are tricks of the light. The servers around us continue their transformation, metal and circuits merging into flesh and bone.
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 48%]
[STRUCTURAL INTEGRATION ACCELERATING]
[PHASE 0: ADVANCING]
"Left!" Professor Lee shouts, blood spraying from his lips. "The maintenance—" He stumbles, and Sung-min catches him with one enhanced arm, barely breaking stride.
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Lee Jung-hoon
Threat Level: B
Status: Critical Exhaustion
Distance: 1m
Basic Traits: Mental Enhancement
Current Action: Power Failure
Warning: Imminent Collapse
Something drops from the ceiling – a twisted mass of network cables and transformed flesh. Sung-min's fist tears through it without slowing down. The creature bursts like an overripe fruit, spraying purple-tinged liquid that hisses where it hits the floor.
More shapes emerge from between the servers. My head pounds as the information floods in:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: B
Status: Tech Fusion
Distance: 5m
Basic Traits: Cable Integration
Current Action: Intercepting
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: A
Status: Server Merger
Distance: 8m
Basic Traits: Data Corruption
Current Action: Flanking
Min-ji's fire catches one of them, and for the first time, we hear what these things sound like when they scream. It's the sound of dial-up internet mixed with human agony.
The maintenance tunnel entrance is ahead, but something's wrong with the metal door. It pulses like a heart made of steel.
The maintenance door's surface ripples as we approach. Veins of purple light spread across its metal surface like circuit traces gone wrong. Sung-min adjusts his grip on Professor Lee, who's barely conscious now.
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Park Sung-min
Threat Level: B
Status: Power Strain
Distance: 2m
Basic Traits: Enhanced Strength
Current Action: Supporting
Warning: Reaching Limit
"Stand back," Min-ji says, raising her hands. The flames have changed color – deeper red now, almost purple at the edges. Her status window updates:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Kim Min-ji
Threat Level: A
Status: Power Evolution
Distance: 3m
Basic Traits: Fire Adaptation
Current Action: Ability Focus
Warning: Unknown Effect
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 52%]
[ABILITY MUTATIONS DETECTED]
[PHASE 0: POWER INTEGRATION]
Her fire hits the door, and instead of melting it, the metal absorbs the flames. For a moment, nothing happens. Then the door... screams. It peels open like skin being flayed, revealing the maintenance tunnel beyond.
Behind us, the first creature crashes through the server racks, bigger than before. Parts of servers and cables have fused with its flesh, making it a nightmare of technology and mutation.
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: S+
Status: Hybrid Evolution
Distance: 15m
Basic Traits: Tech Absorption
Current Action: Mass Hunt
Warning: IMMEDIATE THREAT
We stumble through the doorway into the maintenance tunnel. The walls are changing here too – pipes pulsing like veins, wires moving like tendons. Ahead, I see other shapes moving. My ability picks up survivors:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Unknown
Threat Level: C
Status: Fleeing
Distance: 25m
Basic Traits: No Powers
Current Action: Escaping
Warning: Vulnerable
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Unknown
Threat Level: B
Status: Awakened
Distance: 28m
Basic Traits: Speed Enhancement
Current Action: Group Protection
Warning: Unstable Control
The tunnel branches ahead. Left leads up toward the science building. Right goes deeper, toward the old bomb shelter. Behind us, the creature's massive form begins to squeeze through the transformed doorway.
"Science building or shelter?" Sung-min asks, Professor Lee's weight making even his enhanced strength strain. The older man's status window flickers weakly:
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Lee Jung-hoon
Threat Level: C
Status: Unconscious
Distance: 2m
Basic Traits: Power Burnout
Current Action: None
Warning: Medical Attention Required
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 55%]
[TERRITORIAL BOUNDARIES FORMING]
[PHASE 0: ESTABLISHING ZONES]
The group ahead splits – most taking the upper path while three break off toward the bomb shelter. Their panicked voices echo back: "The surface is worse!" "No, down is a death trap!"
Min-ji's flames sputter, barely illuminating the choice before us. Her power's running low, but the purple glow from the transforming walls provides enough light to see both paths clearly. The upper tunnel throbs with movement, while the lower one pulses with a deeper purple light.
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Human
Name: Kim Min-ji
Threat Level: B
Status: Power Depletion
Distance: 1m
Basic Traits: Fire Manifesting
Current Action: Reserves Low
Warning: Recovery Needed
Behind us, the creature tears through the doorway, but something's different. Its movements are becoming more purposeful, more controlled. The random mutations are stabilizing into something with intent.
[Basic Information Sight]
Target: Modified Human
Name: None Registered
Threat Level: S+
Status: Evolution Complete
Distance: 20m
Basic Traits: Final Form
Current Action: Tactical Hunt
Warning: INTELLIGENCE DETECTED
[SYSTEM ALERT: ADAPTATION PHASE: 58%]
[ENTITY STABILIZATION PROCEEDING]
[PHASE 0: APPROACHING COMPLETION]
The creature pauses at the intersection, its transformed mass filling the tunnel. For the first time, it seems to consider its options rather than blindly pursue. That's somehow worse than the mindless hunting from before.
Sung-min shifts Professor Lee's weight, Min-ji's hands spark with her remaining power, and ahead of us, both paths offer different kinds of darkness.
We have seconds to choose, and no way to know which path leads to survival.