The morning in the Ashes camp came with an uneasy heaviness. The southern walls were patrolled in silence, and every step of the hunters was filled with unspoken words.
No one was discussing the disappearance of the sentry the previous day, but it hung in the air like a smoky residue.
Analysis sat in the room she had been assigned. Her fingers played with the white wax again, but this time it responded not only with a pulsation, but also with echoes. It moved as if it could feel her emotions.
In the palm of his hand, the wax stretched into a narrow sheet, then closed, forming something resembling a face.
[System: New affinity % with the substance has been unlocked.]
[Affinity with Wax: 16%]
[ A new ability is available:
"Image Mask (Level 1)"
Effect: temporary enhancement of senses and muscular response.
Side effect: instability of perception of "I".]
At first, it seemed to her that the wax was copying her features. But in the reflection on the metal panel, she saw a distorted face with elongated features and empty eyes. The mask covered not only the flesh, but also the consciousness.
Annalise slowly put it to her face and felt a jolt. An instant surge of sensations, smells, sounds, light — everything became brighter, clearer... more dangerous.
"You're... waking up" — A voice inside whispered. He wasn't hers.
Later that day, Charon announced preparations for a raid into an abandoned tunnel. The signals from the reconnaissance group disappeared there a few days ago.
—We won't risk the whole squad. — He said. — Two fighters and an observer. Annalise, you're coming.
It wasn't a request.
Annalise stayed close to Lyra and the silent fighter named Darth as she descended into the concrete pit, wrapped in roots. He was clutching a mechanical crossbow with wires and tubes hanging from it.
—It smells like dead wax in here. — Lyra said.
—He's... alive. — Annalise whispered: —He's calling me.
— What?
But she had already stopped listening.
Inside the tunnel, the wax began to behave strangely, as if it were sensing something. Its droplets flowed along the wall, as if exploring the space. Suddenly, a silhouette fell from the ceiling in front of them. A creature.
A mutant. It had a metallic skin, multiple eyes, and pulsating organs between its plates. The level appeared in front of their eyes:
[Danger: Monster Level - 7]
Type: Biomechanics / Control Subtype Feature: Suppression of Nerve Impulses
—Back! — Dart shouted, and fired.
The bolt hit the monster's chest, but barely damaged it. The monster's head jerked up, and a wave of tremors spread from it - Lyra staggered, and blood flowed from her nose.
Annalise took a step forward - and summoned the mask.
[Activation: Mask of the Image - Form 1]
- Effects:
• +40% reaction speed
• Strengthening the structure of wax
• Suppression of pain signals
Her movements became instinctive. She pulled out the wax, turning it into a whip, hitting the creature's eyes. One eye exploded. The creature howled.
But at that moment... she felt his pain. Not his own. Someone else's.
She could feel where it was vulnerable. It was as if the monster's pain was transmitted through the wax to her.
[NEW SENSITIVITY: Sympathetic Link]
— The ability to feel the target's suffering, providing temporary tactical advantages.
She struck again, aiming for the joint where the metal met the flesh. The creature collapsed.
Annalise was breathing heavily, her mask creaking. The system was flashing.
[Level up: Annalise - Level 4]
° Parameter points +2
° The "Mask of the Image" skill is enhanced
—What is this... What have you done? — Lyra whispered, shocked.
Annalise removed her mask. The face beneath it was different - almost cold.
— I realized that wax does not only protect. It... connects. And he remembers the pain.
***
The night in the Ash Camp came without warning, as if the sky had collapsed into an ink blanket. Bonfires crackled by old barrels, the soldiers ate in silence, exchanged short, tired phrases. Lyra was sitting on a crate, trying to clean the blunted blade. The sound of iron hitting stone seemed too loud.
Annalise wasn't eating.
She sat at the edge of the camp, next to the remains of an ancient drone that jutted out of the ground like the skeleton of a prehistoric beast. The mask lay on her lap. Even when it was inactive, it seemed alive, with subtle lines crawling across its surface as if the wax were still breathing.
She touched it—not to put it on, but to simply touch it with her fingers, feeling a shiver in her spine as if the mask was calling her back.
[System: Analysis of the connection with the combat form…]
° Image Mask (Form 1): stability — 63%
° Evolution potential: conditionally available
° Side effect: personality fragmentation — 0.5%
Annalise stared at the lines and felt a chill inside.
—Do you know how you looked there? — A familiar voice asked behind her.
She turned around. Charon. His shadow fell like a long scar on the ground, his eyes hidden in the shadows.
—Not really. — She replied softly.
—It was as if you were... something else. Not human. Not really. But not a beast.
He sat down next to her, silently handed her the flask. Annalise took a sip, and the bitter, burning taste went all the way to her stomach.
—I saw wax moving with you. —Charon continued: — How I felt, where to hit. It's not just a skill.
—He... feels pain. —Annalise said: —Someone else's. I can feel her with him.
Charon looked at her, frowning.
—It's not natural. Dangerous.
Maybe. But it's mine.
Later, when the camp was quiet, and only the branches of the trees outside the walls creaked like bones, Annalise sat in the dark, looking at her hands. She remembered feeling the pain of a mutant.
How it resonated in her own flesh. But there was something else about it, too—warmth. A ghostly feeling, as if she had become closer to something that had long been forgotten.
The mask was shaking on the floor.
—Who am I? — She whispered: —A man, or... a vessel?
There was no response. But the wax on her palm flashed with a short, soft whiteness—not like light, but like peace.
[System: Wax affinity level increased]
° 22%
°Emotional sympathy is established.
° The potential of the following form — "Wax: Fragmented Skin" — is possible after contact with the aura of levels 6+.
That night, Annalise was not afraid of pain for the first time. She was more afraid of what she might become if she learned to love it.