Welcome to the City of Dust (1)

"Two of them approaching from the left corridor. Head to the right, Jin," a voice relayed through the man being referred to as Jin's earpiece. 

Following the voice's guidance, Jin swiftly navigated through the deserted pristine white metal corridors

He was moving at a brisk pace while making every effort to minimize the noise of his footsteps and remain undetected. 

While these metal hallways were mostly deserted, surveillance cameras kept a watchful eye on him, positioned every fifteen to twenty meters apart.

"You don't need to worry about the camera. Only I can access their feeds. The others are locked out, well, they see a static image but they don't know that." reassured the voice in his earpiece.

After hearing the reassuring voice, Jin paid no mind to the cameras as he knew that they were not showing him, they were controlled by the man who spoke to him in his earpiece.

No one saw Jin, only the cameras, he was a tall man wearing a leather jacket, underneath a black shirt and a matching dark blue jean with an earpiece in his ear listening to the instructions of the man from the earpiece.

"Another pair is heading towards you." Said the man in Jin's ears from the earpiece, concern evident in his voice.

However, his voice waned with each word, as if even speaking caused it pain.

Jin hurried into another corridor, swiftly navigating. 

Once inside, he flicked his wrist to look at his watch, he then tapped its screen, summoning a holographic screen into existence.

On the screen, Jin could see the building layout he broke into.

"I'm supplying you with the position of the others, I try to maintain that to be real-time." Informed him the man in his ears.

Thanks to the real-time information provided on the map, Jin effortlessly navigated through the labyrinth like hallways, evading the guards' detection without problems. 

"I have a bad feeling about this, the room where the package is stored, there are no cameras." Said the voice in Jin's earpiece, making him stop while rubbing his chin.

"Don't worry Thirteen, we are going to check it out." Answered Jin to the man referred to as Thirteen.

"Be careful Jin, this whole job is worrying… what do the Genesis bastards do in the tenth district?" Wondered out loud Thirteen in worry.

"There must be something here. No corporation bothers with the tenth district, but if Genesis is involved... there has to be something down here." Jin whispered as he continued to move cautiously, determined not to be caught.

"You are probably right, after this job, let's try to talk to an informant and sniff around." Said Thirteen to which Jin only nodded in response, something that 

After turning into the right corridor, Jin proceeded cautiously, his eyes fixed on the holographic map displayed before him.

At the end of the corridor stood a sturdy metal door, equipped with a panel on its side. It was clear that access to whatever lay beyond required a key card.

"Can you open it?" Jin inquired, his tone edged with urgency as his eyes were darting around.

"I'm trying, but they've got some damn tricky encryption on this shit, I can use Invader if you like." 

Thirteen's voice crackled through the earpiece, frustration was clear in his tone as he struggled with the door's security measures.

"We don't have enough time, they are going to spot me if I just stand here, I just handle it myself." Said Jin as he touched the panel with his right hand.

"Jin, if you do that, they are going to get notified instantly, and you shouldn't use it too much." Thirteen warned him, but Jin had no intention of stopping, he already decided.

As he was touching the panel, a strange popping sound could be heard, and the door was instantly forced open.

But then, the lights flashed red, and the piercing wail of the alarm shattered the silence, sending the guards into a frenzy. 

Swiftly, they drew their weapons and barked commands into their radios.

"They're coming for you, grab the package and get out of here," Thirteen urged, his voice tinged with urgency as he monitored the camera feeds, observing the guards closing in on Jin's location.

Jin went into the now open metal door, only for his usually calm expression to contort into a mix of anger and disgust.

"What are you seeing?" Asked Thirteen, his voice was strained as if he was exhausted.

Hearing his voice only deepened the furrow of Jin's brows. Though worried, he remained resolute, he still had a job to do.

"Dead bodies... none of them are human." Muttered Jin, his expression darkening at the gruesome sight.

"This place seems like a lab and there's a corner filled with some kind of bodies, almost like beasts" Jin described the lab while he looked around and walked deeper into it.

Green tubes snaked along the walls, oozing with unknown substances, casting an otherworldly glow across the lab. In one corner, lifeless bodies were lying in the corner, emitting a putrid stench that permeated the air. 

'Disgusting…' Jin almost puked from the stench. 

In the center of the lab, beside a bed and a table, lay a surgery bed. Upon it rested a corpse, its chest fully emptied of organs left exposed for all to see.

'What the hell were they doing to him?'

A case of large syringes caught Jin's attention, prompting him to approach with a deepening furrow of his brows.

"...this is…" He was stunned, somewhat unsure of the substance before him. 

"They're creating Cyphon, probably Initiation Cyphon." Stated Jin, he was in disbelief but tried his best to remain collected. 

Thirteen remained silent.

His eyes caught a metal suitcase, he began to walk towards it.

"I think that I found the package," Jin informed him while he opened the suitcase.

"Yes, this is it," Jin confirmed, swiftly closing the suitcase.

He was aware, there were already people standing behind him.

"I'm closed out of the cameras." Informed him Thirteen while Jin turned around to face the people who aimed their pistols at him.

"Don't bother, they already found me." Said Jin out loud calmly while he faced the four people before him.

The four guards, clad in black suits, stood motionless.

Emerging from behind the others, a distinctive figure strode forward. Unlike the guards in black suits, he wore a long black coat and sported long blond hair. 

In his hand, he wielded a peculiar blade crackling with lightning, marking him as a senior guard.

Jin was calm, even while being surrounded and without a weapon.

"Who sent you?" demanded the man with the crackling blade, his face twisted with anger. But Jin remained unfazed, simply placing the suitcase on the ground.

"You better speak up, scum, unless you want a bullet in your head right now," growled the man, advancing menacingly.

"Can you handle it, Jin?" Thirteen's voice sounded increasingly strained, his exhaustion palpable in his tone with a sense of worry.

"Don't worry, Thirteen, I've got this," Jin reassured, almost as if reassuring himself. The guards before him stared at him in disbelief. 

"Do you— I've had enough of this bastard, shoot!" the man bellowed. In response, the other four guards immediately opened fire on Jin.

Quickly, Jin leaped behind one of the desks, using it as a shield against the barrage of bullets. Despite finding cover, the guards continued firing relentlessly, their intent clear: to eliminate him.

As the gunfire continued, Jin was calmly counting. "Eight, nine, ten... the last one's out of bullets," his calf muscles tensing in anticipation. 

'Now!' 

Emerging from cover just as most of the guards were reloading, Jin seized the opportunity. However, one of them still had a loaded magazine. Though stunned by Jin's audacity, he quickly regained his composure and fired at him.

Three shots rang out, two finding their mark and piercing Jin's flesh.

Jin winced in pain but pressed on, swiftly reaching the group of guards.

The one with the blade watched in shock as Jin's fist slammed into the stomach of his fellow guard, leaving him gasping for air, tears of agony in his eyes as he stared at Jin in horror as his fist pierced him.

But, Jin just pulled his fist out, killing the guard instantly.

"I'm sorry…" Muttered Jin before turning towards the others.

"John!" screamed one of the other guards in terror as he witnessed the death of his colleagues.

"God damn bastard!" shouted the guard, striking at Jin with his lightning-enveloped blade.

Jin effortlessly sidestepped the attack, the blade narrowly missing him by a hair's breadth.

Despite the close call, he maintained his unbothered expression, but there was a deep sense of guilt behind his calm eyes. 

With a swift motion, he used his left hand to push the guard, sending him staggering backward.

The force of Jin's push was unexpectedly powerful, causing the guard to lose his balance and plummet to the ground with alarming speed and force.

And as the guard lay on the ground, he was forced to witness one of the most harrowing sights of his life.

Jin grabbed two guards at the same time by their throat, they tried to escape from his grasp but it was impossible as he grabbed them so hard that they couldn't breathe.

They punched him in the arm and the face, but their hits lacked any amount of strength behind them from the lack of oxygen. 

With one swift motion, he tightened his grasp, snapping both of their necks in an instant with a chilling sound of breaking bones that reverberated throughout the lab.

He took a deep breath before letting go of their bodies, plummeting to the ground with a low thud.

Jin swiftly rotated his body to both evade the incoming gunfire from the last remaining guard and build momentum for his roundhouse kick, as Jin unleashed the devastating kick it managed to clearly sever the guard's head from his neck.

Blood spilling everywhere, painting the horrifying lab into an even 

"Cypher bastard..." chuckled the leading guard darkly, holding a syringe in his hand—the same type Jin had found a box full of.

Initiation Cypher Serum.

Jin's expression darkened as he watched the guard. Without hesitation, the guard plunged the syringe deep into his neck, injecting its contents with a loud yelp of pain.

The captain's body instantly began to shake before he fell to the ground, he no longer had any control over his body.

The captain began to scream from the pain, his eyes were bleeding bloody tears.

His flesh was slowly peeling off of his bones.

Not anyone could become a Cypher… and those who couldn't, suffered one of the worst deaths imaginable. 

Jin looked down at the snuggling guard in pity, but there was nothing he could do, nor wanted to for the matter.

While he never enjoyed taking a life, he knew it was necessary.

"You tried your best..." Jin said aloud, walking closer to the struggling guard, whose flesh continued to move and squirm as if alive.

"You're not going to survive this either way... just take a rest now."

With that, Jin's fingers were enveloped in a barely visible, constantly moving lightning current.

But before the currents could have reached the guard, a low grumble made Jin call them back.

"…"

"… who… you?" Asked the guard, his voice barely reaching Jin's ears, but he managed to pick up the dying words of the guard.

Jin stared into the bleeding eyes of the guard. "Just another victim of this city, much like you… but don't worry…" Jin stopped talking for a moment, lightning enveloping his fingers again.

"I'm going to avenge you as well, you can rest now."