Susan lifted her head weakly, her hollow eyes staring at Maki and Kaguya as they entered.
Her condition was dire—clothes in tatters, skin mottled with bruises, looking like she'd crawled out of a warzone. Worse than when Takakai had last seen her, the spark of consciousness in her eyes had nearly faded entirely. She sat frozen, barely reacting to their presence.
Having never met Susan before, Maki and Kaguya could only compare her appearance to Takakai's descriptions to guess her identity.
"Are you... Susan-san?" Maki crouched before her while Kaguya swiftly severed the chains binding her wrists with the surgical scalpel grudge item.
The rescue team member—immune to conventional attacks as an aberration—stood guard at the doorway after tanking an explosion earlier, ready to intercept any threats.
[...]
No response. Susan remained catatonic.
What happened here?
Maki's blessing confirmed Susan was biologically alive. Had someone broken her mind through torture?
As she pondered, Takakai's urgent communication arrived—details of his confrontation with Lixue and the horrifying truth uncovered.
"Aunt Kaguya, cut open her wrist carefully. Her condition might be... abnormal."
Understanding the implications, Maki stepped back as Kaguya immediately complied. The scalpel parted flesh, revealing black pebbles embedded in the pulsing tissue—the same transformation seen in Lixure, though Susan's appeared less successful. The "bruises" were actually internal damage from these stones.
When Maki touched the stones, fragmented memories flooded her mind:
[Is she one of the知情者?] whispered a voice outside the cell.
[Same as the male next door. Just treat her as another test subject.]
[Understood. No need for gentleness then.]
Lights cut out. Time blurred.
Pain and fear eroded Susan's sanity until only emptiness remained.
[Fascinating—] a researcher's clinical voice noted. [The aberration's power split her into two entities: one retaining memories/personality, the other reduced to neural-reactive meat. How?]
[Release the "intact" one. Monitor her reintegration. Perfect for testing how much memory loss still permits "normal" function.]
[Ah, the "Special Subject" has arrived. Let's see what makes her unique...]
Screams. A man's laughter.
[Don't be angry, Ms. Hedaar. Your child contributed to humanity's future.]
[Selfishness is unbecoming. Soon you'll join the experiments too—your sacrifice will elevate civilization!]
[Begin Phase Two: suture the new composite directly into her body. Let's test how deep Andreas's devotion runs...]
The stench of blood never faded.
The woman—confined in a padded cell, restrained, fed through tubes—endured endless torment, forbidden even self-harm.
Until one day, the screaming stopped.
[Dead? Just like that?] Disappointment dripped from the researcher's voice. [Useless. Dump her in the Great Fissure with the others.]
[That damn fissure never changes no matter how many bodies we feed it. Not enough sacrifices?]
The cell housed many after her—all dying within days.
Yet with each death, the vanished woman's breathing echoed through the walls.
As if she'd never left.
As if her rage still festered in the stones themselves.
[Success at last.]
The man—Folnern—stood before the now-welded-shut cell years later.
[After countless failures, we've finally created an aberration.]
[Was her psyche uniquely broken? No... others suffered more.]
[Perhaps her connection to the first aberration was key. More familial test subjects needed...]
His musings cut off as blood seeped from the walls.
Laughter.
Screams.
Running footsteps cut short.
The recording ended as Maki released Susan's arm, exhaling sharply. She now understood the abyss-dwelling aberration's grudge in full.
"Ugh..." The mental strain dropped Maki to her knees.
How does Kai-kun endure this repeatedly? she wondered, envying his mental resilience even as Kaguya helped her up.
A metallic groan drew their attention to the welded containment door—now warping unnaturally.
The core grudge's gaze pressed upon them.
"Run!" Maki gasped.
Their rescue team vanguard led the charge through the prison block. Just as they passed Cell D6 (where Kaguya had been held), Cell D7's door exploded outward—revealing a white-coated aberration.
Folnern.
Kaguya's eyes widened—realizing this was likely the entity that had impersonated "Howard" during her imprisonment.
Before they could react, the rescue member slammed the aberration against the wall.
[Suppressing rescue interference.]
Its fist cratered Folnern's face in a clash of opposing aberration powers. The stalemate bought precious seconds as Maki and Kaguya fled into the quarantine zone—now flooded, its doors to Nutty Putty Cave mysteriously open.
Through the water, shadowy firefighters stood frozen—realities overlapping.
Ahead, soldiers and researchers clogged the observation corridor. Impossible to bypass.
Just as Kaguya considered carving through walls with the scalpel, Maki stood motionless... waiting.
Then—Takakai's voice boomed through speakers:
[All personnel: This is General Shegaila. Secure all cave/containment access immediately. Disregard all other objectives.]
The horde turned in unison.
Maki gripped Kaguya's hand as they stepped forward—directly into the advancing tide.
Their figures passed each other in the corridor.
Though two living humans stood before them—their clothing damaged by earlier explosions, technically breaking perfect identity mimicry—none of the entities paid them any attention, continuing their silent advance.
Maki shut the door still flooding with murky water, deactivating the blood key's effect. Yet the contaminated water that had already invaded the facility showed no signs of disappearing, instead appearing to expand further.
The once-separate yet interconnected timelines within this scenario seemed to be destabilizing, their boundaries blurring due to the players' actions.
"Was that Takakai-kun's voice just now? Did he do something?" Kaguya glanced at the corridor's broadcast speaker, her expression complicated.
"Well, it is Kai-kun after all. His personality might be questionable, but his skills are undeniable," Maki replied with subtle pride, as if boasting about a remarkable family member.
She failed to notice how Kaguya's expression grew even more conflicted upon hearing this, hesitation and something resembling moral struggle flickering across her features.
Meanwhile, in [General Shegaila's Office]
Takakai sat silently before the desk, fingers tapping its surface as he studied a document:
[Strategic Plan No.1 - Extinction Protocol]
"Nutty Putty Cave experiments confirm: victims subjected to prolonged torture before death under extreme emotional duress may spawn new aberrations. Targeting harmonious families—killing members sequentially while intensifying the survivor's torment—shows higher success rates."
"Deploy operatives to enemy nations to replicate this process in major cities. Successful implementation will create large-scale aberration events to cripple enemy infrastructure."
[APPROVED]
[Strategic Plan No.2 - Angel Initiative]
"Prison block experiments confirm human-aberration hybridization is possible. With refinement, we may create truly immortal beings—mortal gods wielding supernatural powers."
"Final stage requires one volunteer for implantation. Note: Successful subjects may become uncontrollable. Candidate selection must be absolutely trustworthy."
"Dr. Folnern has volunteered."
[REJECTED]
"Regardless of success, Folnern is now expendable. Time to eliminate this variable, General Shegaila."
Bloodstains speckled the final page.
On the floor lay not a corpse, but an empty uniform. Through the lingering grudge, Takakai witnessed the past unfold:
Shegaila, having just received these documents, prepared to issue Folnern's termination order—only for the scientist to burst in preemptively, gun drawn. After executing the general, Folnern locked down the facility using his clearance, severing all external communications.
Knowing this bought little time, Folnern made his final play:
[Release the quarantine zone lockdown.]
[You think you can discard me after everything I've achieved?]
[Let this facility—and your pathetic dreams—burn together in hell.]
[As for me... I shall ascend as this new world's only god!]
Amidst his rasping laughter, the entire facility lost power.
A tide of hatred and fury surged through the research base.
The architect of this calamity stumbled down stairwells, racing toward the laboratory sector—toward the freezer zone. He ignored the scientists and soldiers begging at sealed doors, finally reaching his last hope: an experimental device of unproven functionality.
As he lay inside the machine, blackened blood and ground stone powder injected into his veins...
The woman in the bloodied white dress took her first step forward.