Charon peered at the map on the electronic tablet — the lines of flashing sensors suddenly stopped. Several sections of the perimeter have become empty.
—A glitch? — Lyra asked, coming up behind him.
— No. His voice was strained. — This is suppression. Something is jamming our sensors.
At that moment, in the southern part of the perimeter, one of the hunters, a young technician named Veit— was sneaking along the barricades. He could hear a faint chirping sound, like an insect running across metal.
He bent down, shone his headlamp, and... froze.
There was something standing in the darkness. It was tall, with distorted symmetry. Its body was covered in alternating patches of black skin and steel armor. Where its face should have been, there was a single giant eye, shining like the lens of an old drone.
It slowly turned towards Veit.
—What the hell...— the Hunter managed to whisper before the silence was shattered.
The alarm went off in the camp. Annalise was already standing, wrapped in protective bands of wax, her hands glowing with a thin white haze. When Lyra ran past, she immediately realized that this was no ordinary attack.
—One of the guards has disappeared. Without a trace. The signal was cut off like a knife.
Charon was already assembling a strike group.
— This is a scout of the highest type. — He said gloomily. — We call them "Eyes". They're looking for vulnerabilities. If he reaches the center, the pack will come for him.
Annalise crouched in the shelter of the south wall. The air vibrated—not a sound, but an aura. Something was passing by, not breathing, not rustling—like a presence itself, displacing reality.
[THE SYSTEM: Mutant – Class "Scout of the highest order"]
[Level: 9]
[ Abilities: 4. Lvl Communication Suppression, 3. Lvl Lower Form Control, 4. Lvl Infra-vision] [Vulnerability: Localized light overload]
She covered herself with a wax veil, concentrated. Warmth flared up inside his chest, a new spark, as if something had changed after the battle in the forest. The wax began to drain, drop by drop, forming a trap.
—I can feel him. — She whispered.
And at that moment, the "Eye" came out of the shadow.
He moved like a spider, almost soundlessly. His eye twinkled and rotated like an antique lens. With every step he took, he sent a pulsating wave into the air, and Annalise saw several weak creatures crawling out of the darkness, as if obeying an order.
[Activation of the "Wax" Skill]
° The trap area has been set.
° Enemy in the area: yes
° Effect: slowdown + sensor overload
As soon as the creature crossed the border of the wax puddle, everything flashed. The white wax emitted a blinding pulse, and the creature recoiled, its eye flickering wildly like a flashing lighthouse in a storm.
Annalise jumped up, slashing the wax blade into the neck.
There was a crunch. The monster howled—a stream of blue smoke erupted from its chest, and the other creatures staggered beneath it, beginning to scatter in a disorderly fashion.
Behind her, the fighters arrived. Charon stood beside her, peering into the flaming body of the mutant.
—You stopped him.
Annalise was breathing heavily. She didn't answer right away. The wax pulsed inside her, in time with her heart, in time with pain, in time with life.
— This is just the beginning. — She said. —They're looking for something. And I think... I'm something.
[Progress: lvl. 4 → lvl. 6]
° New skill acquired: "Form II - Absorption Mask"
° Mutant "Eye" aura absorbed.
° Threshold for next evolution: 78%
° Side effect: perception distortion (temporary)
The body of the fallen mutant lay amidst the charred wax and smoking earth. Its flesh continued to writhe, as if the mechanics and the organics had not yet decided which of them was dead. Charon bent down, his pulseblade at the ready, and carefully turned the carcass over.
A tiny metal tendril crept out from beneath the scorched shield and then went out. Annalise crouched down beside him, her white hair matted with sweat and her eyes fixed.
—Look. —She whispered. —He has a mark on his neck.
On a glossy area, at the junction of skin and alloy, a symbol shone—a carving that went deep into the flesh, as if etched by a laser.
It looked like a triangle inscribed in a circle, with a vertical oval in the center that resembled an eye cut by a horizontal line.
Charon frowned:
—It's not a mutation mark. It's… a tag system. Like the metatags on Cloud-era drones.
—Are you sure? — Lyra approached, clutching her shoulder wound. — These tags were used on military prototypes, but this one… it's too organic.
—It's a hybrid.— Annalise intervened, feeling the wax in her body tremble as she looked at the mark. —This thing... it was sending a signal. I could feel it. Like pain. Like a call.
[System Updated: Connection Symbol Detected – Source: Recursion Intelligence]
[Recommended: Scan the pattern data.]
[ Activation required: "Knowledge Cell I".]
Annalise shuddered. A translucent window with the inscription flashed in front of her eyes:
["Memory connection is allowed. Warning: the risk of personality distortion is high." ]
— Charon. — She said tensely. —This symbol... it's not just information. He's... the past. I can count it. But I don't know what it will do to me.
The commander was silent, then nodded.
—It's your choice. But if you decide, we'll cover for you.
Annalise put her hand on the sign. Wax flowed down her arm, slid over the symbol, and in the same second —
The world has disappeared.
Images flashed before her eyes: a laboratory bathed in white light. There are capsules with bodies behind the glass. They're cold. Captions under them:
"Project: Pure Flame"
"Material Container 3: Ann_..."
"Phase: Substantiation"
"Index: W-01"
A voice—muffled, mechanical, but feminine—said:
"... the white type substance is unstable. Possible side effects: partial amnesia, ego breakdown, increased empathic sensitivity..."
***
Annalise pulled herself out of the vision, staggering. Her skin burned, and her insides felt like boiling wax.
Lyra ran over and caught her.
—Did you see something?
—I... I was one of them. A container. An experiment. My wax is not a gift. It's... a tool. I'm a vessel.
Charon froze. His gaze turned heavy.
— So you are proof that the project is not dead.
There was a rustle from the bushes. One of the hunters, a scout named Enal, returned with a perimeter inspection. He was pale:
—Over the hill... there's another one. The same as this one. But he's not dead. He's waiting. It doesn't move. And he has a mark too. Only black.
[System: Goal Update]
[Main Mission: Uncovering the origin of the Pure Flame Project]
[Side goal: Find and neutralize other Tag Carriers]
[ New skill unlocked:
→ "Sign Absorption" [Passive] — allows you to recognize and adapt the properties of biotech mutants with symbols.]
She stood up.
— This is no longer just a struggle for survival. I have to understand why I was brought back.
Charon looked at her, for the first time, not as an oddity, but as a weapon.
— So we have a chance to find out what kind of hell devoured this world.
Annalise didn't answer. But her wax quietly flowed down her fingers, crystallizing into a symbol identical to the one she found. Only white.
And she wasn't afraid anymore.