"Time for a little chaos," he grunted, gathering the explosives with efficiency despite his single hand. He rigged the area with the collected ordnance, placing them on the surrounding trees and setting their timers for detonation.
As he staggered away, the forest lit up behind him in an eruption of light and sound.
The ground shook, and trees splintered as the explosions concealed his escape.
Smoke curled into the air allowing Vincent to get out of the forest unseen
Vincent stumbled into the Craliuk District's slums, his breathing labored. The towering ruins of a once-thriving construction site loomed ahead, a broken skeleton of steel and concrete. It appeared abandoned, its edges rusted and its interior dark.
Vincent entered through a rusted side door that groaned on its hinges, moving past debris and broken equipment. He approached a section of the wall and tapped a sequence on what appeared to be a corroded steel plate.
A soft beep followed, and a hidden door slid open, revealing a high-tech interior. Smooth walls glowed faintly with energy lines, and a central workstation displayed a flickering holographic screen
The faint hum of computers filled the air as he limped inside leaving small drops of blood on the floor. A figure sat at a large console, bathed in the glow of multiple screens. The chair swiveled around, revealing a wiry man with unkempt hair and a sly grin.
"Come on, Vincent," the man muttered, spinning his chair around from the monitor as the door slid shut behind his guest. His tone shifted from exasperation to sharp concern as he took in Vincent's battered form. "Dear god… you really got yourself wrecked this time."
Vincent staggered to a nearby chair, dropping into it heavily, his hand still pressed to the bandaged wound on his side. His face was pale, streaked with dried blood and dirt, but his smirk remained defiant. "Yeah, well, I told you it wasn't going to be a picnic. You're the one who said you could get me that intel."
"Intel, yes," the man snapped, leaning forward, his angular face lit by the soft glow of monitors behind him. "Not a goddamn death wish. You seriously thought you could take on the government's military units solo? Give me the recording chip. Now."
Vincent reached into his pocket and pulled out a small, blood-smeared device, tossing it onto the desk. The man snatched it up, wiping it off on his sleeve with a scowl. "Tell me you didn't lose Nosey out there," he said, his voice lowering slightly.
Vincent raised his remaining hand, and a faint shimmer of energy sparked as Nosey materialized briefly at his side before retreating back into his shard. "Still here," Vincent muttered. "Though he's as pissed at me as you are."
The man exhaled sharply and snapped his fingers. A door to the far right slid open, and two women in pristine white garments stepped inside. Their movements were brisk and professional, but their expressions softened slightly when they saw Vincent's condition.
"Mister Vincent," one of the nurses said, her voice calm but firm, "please come with us. We'll see to it that your wounds are treated properly."
Vincent nodded wearily, hauling himself to his feet. As the nurses moved to support him, he glanced over his shoulder. "Don't waste too much time playing detective, Aiden. There's more to that fight than what's on the tape."
Aiden waved him off, already focused on the recording chip in his hand. "Yeah, yeah. Go get yourself patched up before you bleed all over my floor. I'll handle this."
The nurses guided Vincent out of the room, leaving Aiden alone. He stood, crossing to a large whiteboard mounted on the far wall. The board was covered with notes and diagrams, but his attention went straight to a single name circled in red: Nosey – Animal-Based Ikona.
Aiden picked up a marker and began jotting additional notes beneath it. "Armor-based enhancement," he muttered aloud, underlining the words, "fusion takeover that boosts strength and speed." He tapped the marker against his chin. "But that's not all. There's got to be more to it."
Sliding the recording chip into a slot on his computer, Aiden turned back to his workstation.
A series of holographic monitors sprang to life, displaying a feed of Vincent's fight.
He fast-forwarded through the initial moments, eyes narrowing as he watched Nosey briefly flare and wrap around Vincent's weapon, amplifying the plasma rifle's destructive potential.
"Interesting," Aiden said, pausing the footage mid-frame. His eyes narrowed as he scribbled a few quick notes onto the board. The display showed Vincent mid-fight, the energy from his Ikona faintly glowing around his blade. "Energy transfer… adaptive application. But how far can it go?"
He reached over to a control panel, flicking a series of switches. A quiet hum filled the room as a small monitor lit up, showing green indicators. "Disruptors are online. No sense taking chances," he muttered, double-checking the system readouts.
His hand absently moved to his shoulder, where the edge of a shard rested beneath his skin. It pulsed faintly, like a heartbeat he could feel but not hear. A voice stirred in the back of his mind, low and steady.
From the corner of his mind, a voice broke the silence. "Who knows how far this will go, but it's going to get interesting, isn't it?"
A small grin tugged at Aiden's lips. "I'd say so. Finally, a chance to fight back against their iron grip… and still be ready when the real enemy shows itself."
On his shoulder, a dark butterfly with four segmented wings fluttered down, its body emanating a faint sheen. Its tone was calm but edged with caution. "We still need to focus on our own growth ya know."