The alarms did not stop.
Red light pulsed across the laboratory walls while distant metallic groaning echoed somewhere far below.
Kai remained seated on the floor.
Not because he was calm.
Because his legs had temporarily resigned from active service.
"Containment failure?" he repeated weakly.
Dr. Elias Mercer walked toward a nearby holographic console.
Despite the emergency alarms, his movements remained strangely precise.
Like someone who had practiced self-control for far too long.
Blue screens flickered to life around him.
WARNING:
SECTOR 03 BREACH DETECTED
AUTOMATED DEFENSE NETWORK OFFLINE
POWER REDIRECT UNSUCCESSFUL
Elias frowned.
"Interesting."
Kai stared.
"Interesting?"
"Yes."
"There are monster noises."
"Correct."
"And your reaction is interesting?"
"Panic rarely improves outcomes."
Kai pointed accusingly.
"That sounds like something said by people who create dangerous experiments."
Elias looked at him for a moment.
"Accurate."
Kai slowly lowered his hand.
The honesty somehow made it worse.
The scientist tapped several holographic symbols.
Then paused.
A strange expression crossed his face.
Confusion.
"...No," Elias murmured.
He touched his temple.
"I cannot remember the override sequence."
Kai blinked.
"You forgot your own password?"
"Oversimplified, but technically correct."
Elias looked around the laboratory silently.
Then he spoke again.
"Memory degradation appears more severe than expected."
Kai stood carefully.
"Wait."
He frowned.
"You said you were trapped here for centuries, right?"
"Approximately three hundred and twelve years from my subjective perception."
Kai nearly choked.
"Three hundred—"
He stopped.
Actually, after entering a secret sci-fi laboratory hidden inside his brain, arguing about lifespan felt less important.
"And you survived by uploading your mind into a computer?"
"Partially."
Elias pointed toward the preservation chamber.
"My biological body entered suspended animation while my consciousness integrated with the laboratory systems."
Kai stared at him.
"That sentence sounded illegal."
"Most scientific progress is initially considered illegal."
"That is not comforting."
The scientist ignored him.
Several holographic screens materialized nearby.
Most displayed corrupted text.
Others contained diagrams Kai could not understand.
One screen showed what appeared to be a rotating image of a beast crystal.
Except...
It looked mechanical.
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"Wait."
He pointed.
"Why does that beast crystal have circuitry?"
Elias turned toward the screen.
Then froze.
For the first time, genuine surprise appeared on his face.
"Circuitry?"
"Yes."
The scientist stared silently.
Then slowly whispered:
"...I do not remember creating that."
Silence filled the laboratory.
Kai immediately disliked where this conversation was heading.
"You CREATED beast crystals?"
Elias frowned.
"Uncertain."
"How are you uncertain about that?!"
"Because portions of my memory are fragmented."
He tapped his temple again.
"Academic knowledge remains relatively intact."
He gestured around the room.
"Scientific principles. Biological engineering. Dimensional theory."
Then his expression darkened slightly.
"But many events connected to this laboratory are missing."
Kai blinked.
"So you remember math but not crimes?"
Elias considered this.
"That is an unexpectedly concise summary."
Kai sighed heavily.
Wonderful.
His secret cheat was an amnesiac science criminal.
The heavens truly operated on comedy.
Far away, beyond the laboratory walls, another roar echoed.
Kai flinched.
"Should we be concerned about that?"
Elias answered immediately.
"Yes."
"Finally, a normal response."
The scientist moved toward a nearby control station.
A map of the laboratory appeared.
Or at least Kai assumed it was a map.
Half the display glitched violently.
Multiple sectors flashed red.
SECTOR 01 – OFFLINE
SECTOR 02 – OFFLINE
SECTOR 03 – CONTAINMENT BREACH
SECTOR 04 – POWER FAILURE
SECTOR 05 – UNKNOWN
Kai pointed carefully.
"Why does one sector say unknown?"
Elias was silent.
Then:
"That concerns me significantly more than the containment breach."
"THAT IS NOT A GOOD SIGN."
The alarms finally quieted.
An artificial female voice echoed through the laboratory.
"Emergency lockdown incomplete."
"Residual biological entities detected."
"Warning: research assets remain active."
Kai stared upward.
"Research assets?"
Elias answered calmly.
"Genetically engineered organisms."
Kai closed his eyes.
"Of course they are."
Several minutes later, the emergency systems stabilized enough for conversation.
Kai sat across from Elias inside what appeared to be a monitoring room.
Thousands of dormant screens lined the walls.
A faint hum vibrated beneath the floor.
The place felt ancient.
Not ruined.
Abandoned.
Elias studied him carefully.
"Your species displays interesting biological similarities to baseline humanity."
Kai blinked.
"Baseline humanity?"
"Humans from my origin universe."
"So you're literally from another world."
"Correct."
Kai nodded slowly.
Then pointed at himself.
"And somehow your secret laboratory ended up inside my brain."
"Simplified, but acceptable."
Kai leaned back.
"I would like it officially recorded that my life became insane very quickly."
Elias ignored the comment.
"Explain your civilization."
Kai stared.
"You want me to summarize society?"
"Correct."
Kai rubbed his forehead.
"Alright."
He took a breath.
"Humanity lives around dungeon zones. Beasts come out. Cultivators kill them. We absorb beast crystals to gain skills. Strong people become important. Weak people become paperwork."
Elias nodded.
"Functional summary."
"Thank you."
"Your educational system appears deeply flawed, however."
Kai frowned.
"What?"
"Your civilization built an entire power structure around biological assimilation without understanding the underlying mechanisms."
Kai crossed his arms.
"You figured that out in five minutes?"
"Four."
Kai disliked him slightly.
Mostly because the scientist sounded exactly like someone who corrected grammar during funerals.
A screen suddenly flickered.
Synchronization Progress: 1%
Kai pointed.
"What does that mean?"
Elias looked toward the display.
"Interesting."
"Please stop saying interesting like that."
"Your Mindspace is integrating with the laboratory systems."
Kai froze.
"...Is that dangerous?"
The scientist thought for several seconds.
"Probably."
Kai stood immediately.
"PROBABLY?"
Elias remained calm.
"If the process were stable, emergency warnings would not be active."
Kai walked in a circle.
"Wonderful. Amazing. Incredible."
Then he stopped dramatically.
"So this is the burden carried by exceptional individuals."
Elias watched him silently.
"You cope with stress through theatrical behavior."
Kai pointed.
"Incorrect."
He placed a hand over his chest.
"I simply possess overwhelming presence."
Elias stared for a long moment.
Then nodded once.
"Fascinating."
Kai narrowed his eyes.
"You're making fun of me, aren't you?"
"Correct."
Kai gasped softly.
The old scientist had adapted alarmingly fast.