Kai didn't sleep that night. Again.
He sat near the tunnel wall with his coat wrapped loosely around his legs, watching the shadows and listening. Marra was resting on the far side of the supply closet, curled up against a rolled blanket, her breathing slow. Lina was tucked beside him, her head resting lightly against his shoulder, asleep but still gripping his arm.
The tunnel lights flickered every now and then, like they were trying to remember how to be steady. Water dripped somewhere behind the wall. Pipes groaned every so often, expanding and cooling with the change in air.
He knew the difference between normal noise and danger.
And now… there was a new sound.
A faint thump.Then a scrape.Soft, but real. Coming from the far side of the tunnel.
Kai slowly turned his head, careful not to wake Lina.
It was coming from the hallway — the same one where he had found Marra.
Another sound followed. He couldn't tell if it was something stepping… or something dragging.
It stopped.
Then it came again. Closer.
He gently nudged Lina's shoulder. She stirred, groggy.
"Mmm… what's wrong?"
"Stay quiet," Kai whispered. "Something's in the tunnel."
Lina sat up slowly, rubbing her eyes.
Across from them, Marra was already awake, her body stiff, her eyes wide.
"You hear that too?" she asked.
Kai nodded.
They waited.
The sound moved again.
Closer now.Slower.Something brushing along the walls.
Kai stood and picked up the steel rod. It felt too light for what might come.
He stepped toward the hallway entrance. Marra stood too, barefoot, bracing herself against the side of the door. Her expression said she remembered the same cold, sharp feeling he did.
Then they heard it again.
But this time… breathing.
Not human.
It was shallow. Wet. Like something was struggling to keep itself alive… or hold itself together.
Lina crouched by the bench, hugging her sketchbook to her chest.
Kai took a slow breath and stepped into the hallway.
The air was colder than before. Every light above flickered as he passed under it. He moved silently, each step carefully placed.
Then he saw it.
At the far end of the tunnel, half hidden behind a broken generator, something moved.
Not standing. Not crawling.
It pulsed.
A figure — once human in shape, but no longer — hunched over itself. Its back was covered in hard, chitin-like plates. Its limbs were long, stretched too far. Its head jerked every few seconds like it was stuck on a loop.
Its Seed had collapsed.
Completely.
Kai's vision blinked.
[Entity Detected: Collapsed Seed Host]
[Threat Level: Moderate – Unstable]
[Warning: Physical contact may trigger hostile reaction]
[Recommended Response: Evade or Disable via Disruption]
Kai's grip on the rod tightened.
He stepped backward, slow.
The creature's head snapped toward him.
Its face was still partly human.
The eyes weren't.
They glowed faint blue.
It let out a dry, clicking sound, then lunged.
Kai turned and ran.
He didn't scream. Didn't shout.
He just ran.
He reached the edge of the hallway in seconds.
"Move!" he said sharply.
Marra didn't ask questions. She grabbed Lina, pulled her back behind the broken wall, and crouched low.
Kai jumped over a crate and turned.
The creature burst out of the shadows.
Its limbs slapped the floor, too fast, too wrong. It was silent — not breathing now, just twitching and sprinting.
Kai raised the rod and braced.
It leapt.
He dodged sideways. The rod came up — struck it across the shoulder.
The thing spun and hit the floor hard, scraping against the tiles. Its back hissed, venting steam.
Kai didn't wait.
He stepped in, swung again — hit the base of its neck.
The creature jerked and howled. Sparks flew from under its skin — like wires shorting out.
[Disruption Successful – Host Stunned: 3 Seconds]
[Adaptive Trait Available: Phase Pulse – Not Installed]
[Install Trait Fragment from Defeated Host?]
Kai's vision blurred with text, but he ignored it.
The thing got up again, screaming now, but not with pain.
It was empty.
A Seed that had eaten itself.
It lunged once more.
Marra threw a broken pipe.
It struck the creature's face.
Kai grabbed the rod with both hands, drove it straight down onto the neck.
A loud, wet crunch followed.
The body twitched twice, then went still.
The tunnel was quiet again.
No more scraping. No more breathing.
Just the three of them — panting, silent, alive.
Kai backed away, heart pounding.
Lina peeked from behind the crate, her eyes wide.
"Is it dead?" she asked, voice shaking.
Kai nodded. "Yeah."
Marra leaned on the wall, sliding down to sit. "That was a collapsed Seed. I've… I've seen one before."
"They're not like people anymore," Kai said. "They're like broken code. Looping forever."
He opened the system screen.
The prompt was still there.
[Install Fragment: Phase Pulse (Damaged)]
[Status: Safe. Temporary use only.]
He accepted.
A small jolt ran through his body.
No pain. Just a strange feeling — like his bones had remembered a new movement.
Marra looked at him carefully.
"You're learning from them?"
"Bits and pieces," Kai said. "Only what works. I'm not copying their collapse. I'm using what's still stable."
She nodded. "That makes sense. You're… fixing the code."
He didn't answer.
Lina walked up and tugged his sleeve. "I want to leave this place."
Kai looked at her, then at the body.
So did he.
But not yet.
He walked to the corpse and pulled his rod free.
He wiped the blood off on the wall.
Then he turned to the others.
"We're moving to the old service hub. If we're staying underground, we need doors. And locks."
Marra nodded.
Lina stayed quiet, holding her sketchbook close.
Kai took one last look at the broken body on the floor.
Collapsed Seeds were just the beginning.
There would be more.
Worse ones.
But now he knew he could stop them.
And with every fight… he learned something new.