The return to camp felt hollow. The six survivors of Squad Umbra limped through the gates, greeted not with cheers but silence. The air was heavy—not with relief, but suspicion.
Kaizen walked at the rear, every eye tracking him like a shadow. Whispers floated between soldiers, "He changed... he burned them alive..."
Inside the infirmary, Cavros debriefed the commanding officers. "Kaizen's powers saved us, but... he's unstable. A threat, maybe even worse than the Bists."
Meanwhile, Kaizen sat in the far corner of the barracks, isolated. His mind was fracturing. Visions of Mira's scream. Tenzo's skull crushed. The heat in his veins. And her.
The mysterious Bist girl.
Her voice echoed in his head.
> "Run. You're not ready yet."
He clutched his temples. "Who are you…? What's happening to me?"
Suddenly, he heard it again. Clearer this time. A telepathic whisper.
> "Kaizen… they'll come for me. You must remember."
His heart pounded. Was he going mad?
---
Far from the camp, Ayaka stared at the grey walls of her containment cell. Her hands, bruised and bound, twitched with frustration. She hadn't heard from Kaizen in days.
A kind-faced soldier named Nael, son of a former Veinborn researcher, had been sneaking her information.
"He's back. But they're watching him. They think he's one of them."
Ayaka's expression turned cold. "Then I'll break out. I'll find him."
Nael hesitated. "If you're caught—"
"I don't care."
That night, she began planning her escape.
---
Back at camp, Kaizen struggled. He was losing time—waking up in places he didn't remember going. And worse… one night, Squad Umbra's healer approached him kindly.
"You alright, Kaizen?"
Kaizen turned—and in a blink, flames engulfed his arm. His reflex lashed out. A flash of fire. A scream.
The healer collapsed, writhing.
Kaizen froze. "No… no I didn't mean—"
Guards rushed in. Cavros tackled Kaizen to the ground.
"You're out of control!"
Kaizen's eyes shimmered red. The entity inside him stirred.
> "Let me out. Let me burn them all."
They locked him in a containment chamber—veinstone chains pulsing with energy to suppress his power.
---
That night, in the cold darkness of his cell, Kaizen sat alone.
> "They fear you."
> "But I waited…"
The voice again. Softer. Warmer.
> "They will come for me… but I waited for you, Kaizen."
A tear fell down his cheek.
Suddenly, sirens wailed across the HQ. Lights flickered red.
"BIST ATTACK! HIGH LEVEL SIGNATURE DETECTED!"
Kaizen stood, eyes burning.
And far away, beneath the earth, in a cage of corrupted crystal…
She opened her glowing eyes.
> "He's coming."