Consciousness didn't return all at once.
It came back in fragments.
First—
The cold.
It settled into his skin before anything else, a dull, persistent chill that didn't feel natural. Not like air. Not like temperature.
More like something left behind.
Then—
Breathing.
Slow.
Uneven.
Each inhale felt slightly delayed, like his body had to remember how to do it.
Rio's eyes opened.
Dim light greeted him this time.
Not blinding.
Not harsh.
Just enough to see.
He didn't move immediately.
For a few seconds, he just lay there, staring upward.
The ceiling was different.
Metal panels, faint seams running between them, with thin strips of pale light embedded along the edges.
It looked… manufactured.
Precise.
"…I'm alive."
The words came out quietly.
Uncertain.
The memory of what happened before didn't feel distant.
If anything, it felt too close.
The pressure.
The voices.
That feeling inside him.
Rio swallowed.
His throat felt dry.
"…That wasn't a dream."
He pushed himself up slowly.
The movement felt wrong.
Not painful—
But unfamiliar.
His muscles responded a fraction too late, like there was a delay between thought and action.
"…What's wrong with me…"
He steadied himself, placing a hand against the surface beneath him.
Cold metal.
His gaze dropped.
He wasn't on a bed.
It was a slab.
Flat.
Hard.
"…Right."
He looked around.
The room was small.
Enclosed.
Minimal.
There were no windows.
No decorations.
Nothing personal.
Just walls.
Metal.
Silent.
"…A lab."
Saying it out loud didn't make it feel any better.
He swung his legs over the side and stood up.
This time—
His body responded.
But not completely.
There was a faint tightness beneath his skin, like something coiled just under the surface.
Subtle.
But there.
Rio flexed his fingers slowly.
For a moment—
He thought he saw something.
A faint flicker beneath his skin.
"…No."
He pulled his hand back slightly.
"…I'm imagining things."
He didn't sound convinced.
His gaze moved toward the door.
The only way out.
He walked toward it, slower this time.
More careful.
Something in him didn't want to rush anymore.
Not after what he remembered.
He reached the door and paused.
"…Just open it."
He pushed.
The door slid aside without resistance.
That bothered him more than if it had been locked.
The hallway beyond was dim.
The lighting uneven.
And then—
The smell reached him.
Rio stopped immediately.
"…No…"
It was faint at first.
But familiar.
Metallic.
Rotting.
His stomach tightened.
"…Please don't…"
He stepped forward anyway.
The hallway stretched out ahead of him, lined with doors on both sides.
Numbered.
Uniform.
His footsteps echoed softly.
Then—
He saw it.
A body.
It lay near the wall, partially turned, one arm stretched out as if it had been reaching for something.
Rio froze.
"…No…"
He didn't move closer.
Didn't want to.
But his eyes still caught the details.
The skin had gone pale.
Too pale.
The arm—
Bent wrong.
Not broken.
Twisted.
"…What happened here…"
His voice came out strained.
He forced himself to take another step.
Then another.
And that's when he realized—
It wasn't just one.
There were more.
Scattered along the hallway.
Some closer.
Some further away.
None of them moving.
None of them intact.
Rio's breathing grew shallow.
"…This isn't normal…"
One body had its torso split open—not cleanly, not surgically.
Torn.
Another was missing part of its face.
Not cut.
Gone.
Like something had taken it.
"…Stop looking…"
He dragged his gaze away.
But it didn't help.
The smell was stronger now.
Clinging.
His stomach churned.
"Don't throw up…"
He swallowed hard, forcing himself to keep moving.
Standing still felt worse.
The hallway seemed longer than it should've been.
Each step felt heavier.
And the silence—
Too complete.
No alarms.
No voices.
No movement.
Just him.
And what was left behind.
"…This place… something happened here…"
Something recent.
Something violent.
His eyes moved across the doors again.
12.
13.
14.
"…Test rooms…"
The thought came too easily.
"…Experiments…"
His chest tightened.
"…Like me…"
He stopped walking.
"…No."
He didn't want to finish that thought.
Didn't want to connect himself to this.
But the memory of the pod—
The voices—
The feeling inside his body—
"…I was part of this…"
His hands clenched slightly.
"…What did they do…"
A faint sensation pulsed beneath his skin again.
Rio stiffened.
"…Not now…"
It was subtle.
But wrong.
Not like a heartbeat.
Something else.
He exhaled slowly, forcing himself to move again.
The hallway finally ended.
At a single door.
Larger than the rest.
"…Control room…"
It felt like the kind of place where answers would be.
He approached it carefully.
Paused.
Then pushed it open.
The room inside was wide and circular.
Screens lined the walls.
Most of them dead.
A few flickering faintly.
Machines were scattered throughout the space.
Some still powered.
Others broken.
"…Someone was here…"
Recently.
But not anymore.
His eyes scanned the room.
Then stopped.
A computer.
Still active.
A red light blinking steadily.
"…Of course."
He walked toward it.
Each step deliberate.
The screen lit up as he approached.
PASSWORD REQUIRED
Rio stared at it for a second.
"…Right."
He glanced back toward the hallway.
Toward the bodies.
"…I don't have a choice."
He went back.
This time—
He didn't hesitate as much.
He crouched beside the nearest body.
"…Sorry."
His voice was quieter now.
More careful.
He searched quickly.
Avoiding looking directly.
His fingers brushed against something.
An ID card.
"…Good."
He stood up immediately.
Back to the room.
The card scanned.
The system unlocked.
"…Okay…"
Files filled the screen.
Logs.
Reports.
Then—
Recordings
Rio's hand paused slightly before clicking.
"…Let's see what happened here…"
The folder opened.
Two files.
Only two.
"…That's not right…"
Experiment—#001: The First Day
Experiment—#082: Success
"…Where are the rest…"
A cold feeling settled in.
"…Deleted?"
He clicked the first one.
The screen flickered.
Then—
He saw himself.
Inside the pod.
Rio didn't react immediately.
"…So it's real…"
The doctor's voice played.
"Subject has entered cryo-sleep."
Rio's grip tightened slightly.
"…That's me…"
A memory surfaced.
Rain.
A voice.
"Do you want power?"
Rio shut his eyes briefly.
"…I agreed to this…"
The video continued.
Needles.
Machines.
Pain.
Even watching it—
He felt it.
"…Why would I…"
The footage cut.
He opened the second file.
Experiment—#082: Success.
The room looked different.
More advanced.
Inside—
Him.
Changed.
"…That's not normal…"
Energy moved under his skin.
Alive.
Then—
The glitch.
The spike.
The loss of control.
His eyes—
Crimson.
Rio stepped back slightly.
"…That's not me…"
But it was.
The video ended.
Silence.
Rio stood there.
"…I survived that…"
His hands trembled slightly.
"…How…"
A faint flicker appeared in his vision.
[Synchronization: 21%]
"…No…"
The sensation returned.
Stronger this time.
Rio grabbed his arm tightly.
"…Stop…"
Something moved beneath his skin again.
Not imagined.
Real.
His breathing became uneven.
"…What did they put inside me…"
For the first time—
He felt it clearly.
Not one presence.
Many.
Unstable.
And they were still there.
Rio took a step back.
"…I need to leave…"
But even as he said it—
He knew.
Whatever was inside him—
Wasn't going to let him walk away easily.
[End of Chapter 2]