Prologue

Date: [REDACTED]Location: /Red lights were slowly going on and off, and each time they went off, everything would go completely dark, and each time they went back on, they shined so brightly that one would feel as if they were colorblind, because they would see every other color in a hue of red.The smell of chemicals that were leaking here and there, with their primary function being a disinfectant got so strong to the point where it could make someone's nose go numb and stiff.As for the sound, it was so silent that it created this disturbing pressure in the air, because there should not be silence at all right now.A little girl wearing nothing, but an over-sized grey T-shirt and underwear stepped through the, now completely opened, sliding door, glancing left and right before walking down the hallway.Her hair appeared almost dark red, but it was actually purple, with various hues of the same color. Her eyes were big and black with bloated dark circles. She was holding a pillow tight to her body as if it was a toy but wasn't showing any signs of fear with her facial expression as she was delving deeper into the unknown labyrinth."Self-destruction protocol is suspended", a female robotic voice resounded, but she paid no attention to it as if it was just a normal sound that could be heard like kids laughing when one passed near the elementary school.She didn't know on which floor she currently was, nor did she know that she was heading toward the dead end. Her feet were bleeding from walking on shattered glass the whole time. The rooms left and right to her all had their doors open and windows broken, but were empty, so she never considered to enter one of them.Stopping on a crossroad, she helplessly glanced left and right, hoping to see someone."Hello?", she was turning around, "is anyone there?", she asked, but there was nobody alive to answer her.At least not human.A giant snake-like creature emerged from behind a corner. Its eyes were bleeding, and skin was missing around its mouth, revealing the big teeth. From this up close it actually looked more like a dragon, but it was crawling like a snake, leaving a trail of blood behind it."Do not be afraid my child", it spoke without moving its mouth which made it look even more unsettling but little girl's expression didn't change."A fraid? What's that?", she put her hands down making the pillow touch the floor."What is your name little one?", the creature asked."I am SS49! What about you?", one could not see it on her face, but she grew more excited.The robotic female voice echoed once again, "system malfunction. Rebooting in T-30 seconds"."My name is Dearhope. Pleasure to meet you", it drew closer making her look even more tiny.Girl's expression didn't change much from the beginning, only slightly frowning "Dearhope? That's a weird name like those guys in white suits have".The creature showed no expression, however it sighed to itself thinking of something."Gamma team leader addressing the remaining survivors. The Gate B21 is now lifted. Over"Bodies of dead people were scattered throughout the whole place, and even though little girl noticed them, she never showed the tiniest drop of fear. Nonetheless the fact that she also didn't approach them showed she was aware of their fate.The little girl paid no attention to the broadcast, but Dearhope drew the attention "Follow me little one. I will get you through this".*Somewhere completely else*Two fully armed men separated themselves from the rest to unload a truck."First those mutants, now this shit", he complained."What a start of the year, huh?" the other wasn't sharing his frustration."I don't understand why the higher ups didn't simply execute her. I just found out that CB12 also experienced a solar storm. I mean seriously. There is no way I'm buying that as a coincidence"."Nobody said it's a coincidence. We just do what we have to", they slowly walked towards the others who were grouped around another fully armed man."Alright Beta squad. Rescue the personnel, contaminate, or kill other entities. The boys from the army are going to keep a watch on the outside, while we get the shit together on the inside", his voice was deep but clear despite wearing a thick bulletproof helmet, "Any questions?"The man that was unloading the truck raised his hand."Yes"."If I come across that bitch, may I shoot her?", few of the others laughed."Negative. We are only to kill frenzy entities, as those are the only one which pose a threat to us. Renai's chamber is really distinct from others, however. We won't see her until the time comes to drag her out, but I suggest you empty your bladder before entering anyway", the crowd, including the man who asked, continued to laugh.After explaining, there were no more questions. The eleven of them separated into 2 smaller units. One was heading for the elevator, while the other one was opening huge metal gate meant to seal the garage and entered from there.Inside this facility, red lights were also flickering, as its design was similar to the former one.The unit that went for the elevator headed straight for the intercom room as soon as the doors opened. They were swift and knew the whole map of the facility by heart.One of them took the microphone after which a notification sound resounded through the speakers of the whole place."Beta contamination squad has entered the facility. All staff members are advised to remain within the evacuation shelters and wait for the evacuation process to begin. Avoid reaching exit gates on your own as it poses a huge threat and risk. Over", rough rustle of the microphone accompanied his last words.He withdrew from the intercom room into another room with smashed computers and fallen bookshelves where others from his unit were awaiting him.Red lights weren't active but the normal white one was missing in some parts of the facility, so they had their weapon flashlights on the whole time."So, what are they keeping here anyways?", one of them asked grabbing a gun he left leaning against one of the tables."You work for The Source but don't know that?", a female voice asked jokingly."I do but as far as I'm concerned there should not be any wild creatures located here"."Yes. Well, The Source offered to store and examine mutants until they find a cure or something since there is no one other".As they were walking down the corridor, light became more obscure, but it was still visible even without the flashlights."What about The Impedance?""I don't know, but you can't count on them. Nobody can. But I suppose they are up to something sinister again".The latter didn't answer, but remained focused just like everyone else were. This was a Beta Contamination Squad after all. The most active of them all, since they weren't too peculiar like the Alpha Squad, but were reliable enough to solve more complex problems, which were not lacking in number."There!", female one illuminated a figure standing behind a broken glass wall, inside of another room.Team leader didn't even pay attention to it, rather stayed focused on the surroundings for any abrupt event, "prepare the stun gun, cuff him and open the portal".As he was giving the order, others were following them. The female one shot the mutant with some form of shock wave, which visibly didn't do any harm to it, but blocked the mutation from acting up.Another squad member jumped on it, pushing the former human on its knees. He rashly but meticulously pulled what looked like a napkin, tying it forcefully around mutants eyes while it was trying to resist, however, after it became peaceful pretty quickly.Third squad member pulled out a shiny weird looking sword with a whole in it's middle from the case connected to his armor. He swung it in empty air from up towards the floor, cutting the fabric of space and opening a portal like a curtain.Walkie talkie suddenly started buzzing, transmitting an affable voice of their squad member from other unit, "Control to Beta Team. We ran into security gate issue. Asking for the permission to reboot the system. Over"Team leader turned around to see his colleagues slowly closing the portal and marking the floor that was beneath it, "Control to Beta Squad. Permission granted. Over", he put the walkie talkie away grabbing his gun with both hands, "Keep moving forward"."System 1 malfunction. Rebooting now", robotic voice echoed, followed with a complete blackout and electricity shortage. Now the only lights that were still working, were weak red ones connected to the System 2, located inside evacuation shelters and couple of other rooms."That was fast", team leader commented, "Initiate night vision mode".As they continued deeper into the well-known labyrinth, they met a couple of more such mutants. Those started to appear randomly at some point during the very start of the year, so little to no preparation was undertook. Luckily, The Source was such a company that was on the same pair with the whole planet itself, which was one single country.It was formed as a result of major civil war, and profited so much off of it, that it had both the power to protect and destroy the world.As such, many were against such dictatory power, even though The Source played no role in politics after ending the Great Civil War. Now, it's only known as a company which's focus was on researching so called anomalies and the universe itself.The Beta Squad visited several evacuation shelters, setting many scared staff members free through the portal method. Even though they were usually working outside, the facility was their own terrain, and they knew it better than any outsider."Control to Beta Squad. We checked the Scream Room for you. I know Michael is going to be grateful. Over", all 5 of them started laughing imagining the reaction of the other unit members.They were exiting a lift that led them to the lowest part of the facility. Only 3 rooms were here but possessed great value and safety above everything. There were only 2 more places to check for remaining survivors, and most of the mutants were contaminated by this point."System operational", robotic voice and all the roles of System 1 had come back to life."Demigod level threat detected on site 2, floor minus two".The separate 2 units of the Beta Squad didn't communicate but had the same reaction simultaneously. They all froze and looked at each other, for they couldn't believe their ears. Their heart rate rose rapidly, and some even shivered slightly as if they were swept by the cold mourning breeze."Cap?"The captain frowned, "I don't know, this doesn't make any sense", he gaze swept across his soldiers.He knew it. They were all sure that System 1 wasn't in control of contamination chambers. The various Systems and their functions were one of the first things one had to learn in order to get a job at The Source. No matter if they were part of the Contamination Squad or a Research Department."Personnel lives come first. Stay on alert", he ordered to continue regularly.Sadly, what would appear around the corner in just a few seconds wasn't something they could prepare themselves in such a short time.They all froze once again, staring at the figure that was entering the corridor with their guns pointed forward.It was an average tall woman with white hair swinging to her waist. She had red glowing eyes, whose pupils were slightly vertical. Her forehead was decorated with 2 thin but long symmetrical red horns, made out of an unknown artificial material. Her petite body was covered only in underwear and a white scientist coat that greatly differed from others in material, thickness, and design.They couldn't see it from their point of view, but the back of it was labelled "Alpha Team Leader"."Cap!", a team member quickly exclaimed, but he didn't dare say more, nor did others dare to remove their eyes from the woman. Nevertheless, due to the time spent working together, they knew what he wanted to point out.It was her hands.In one she was holding a black keycard, while in the other, a thick book with dark red cover decorated with golden stripes.Her familiar relaxed poker face expression made them feel as if they were looked down at yet again. It was simply something inevitable, no matter how strong or self-confident one was.Everything was silent, but the pressure was just unbearable. A female squad member pulled the trigger, and a gunshot echoed past everyone's ears. The bullet never made it to its target, however. It vanished.Team leader wanted to scold her rash decision but was too overwhelmed."Who freed you?", he asked.The woman had no hostile reaction, waiting several moments before answering, "the doors just opened. I went to get me belongings back".The leader wasn't having it, "cut the crap! Are you working with the Impedance?", he disappointingly frowned, but then realized."Cap, if that is true, we can just eliminate her", one team member added from beside him."No...", he replied, "I know who did it".The woman was staring back at him with no change in expression at all.The moment System 1 went down was the moment she breached her chamber. That timing was perfect because the automated broadcast was disabled. This bought her enough time to get all her items, and now they were at stair one again.It didn't seem like it, but they knew it better then anyone. This woman was a free woman."You can't get away. Not after this. Just be a human being and surrender yourself to justice".Woman smiled slightly after the first part of the last sentence, glancing away and then back at them reflexively."I never possessed any hatred towards you", she meant not only the whole squad, but also everyone working for The Source.After she said that, in the blink of an eye, a wall appeared in the middle of the corridor, separating them totally. It had the same texture as the walls that were coating the entire facility from inside.Only then did they notice a silent rustle coming from their belt, "Unit 1? Hello?", the communication device beeped, "do you copy?"."She shifted...", Beta team leader muttered.Everyone stayed quiet, yet were very nervous, staring at their commander, hoping to get further instructions, however he himself was deep lost in thoughts. The whole time, even outside work, he tried to keep his attitude professional in front of his colleagues, even though he considered them as close as his own family. But this was the time he had to break the 4th wall."I think it's really over this time", he turned around to look at them, "No. It always was".His team members were still quiet, filled with shock, as this was the last thing, they expected him to say right now. It was the last thing they wanted to hear from someone who was always their protector.Meanwhile in another part of the facility, the second unit gave up on reaching them, getting a really bad feeling yet not giving up on hope.They continued to move through the underground labyrinth straight towards where their colleagues were pinged on the navigation device, nonetheless they also would experience an encounter with a Demigod.She was standing at the end of the long corridor, but that posed no problem to recognize her.One of them gasped and quickly pointed their stun gun towards her, but another member pushed it towards the floor barely on time, "No!", he screamed, "Come, come!", he pulled him as he was starting to run himself.The girl noticed their presence but didn't even glance at them, continuing to stare at elevator doors which opened, letting her to slowly walk through."Fuck!", doors closed on them, however he wasn't giving up yet.It took just a moment for him to redirect everyone from the unit towards the fire exit staircase that were located right behind the corner. They were rushed, accidentally bouncing against each other's shoulders and the wall, easily overtaking the elevator.Unfortunately, things would not go as they planned, because random fire exit door opened on the floor above, allowing for several heavily armed men to rush inside.Their uniforms were different from the ones Beta squad was wearing, and surely didn't look like something the national army would wear. Even their helmets were designed for completely different type of combat.They went straight down, meeting the Beta squad unit. Both sides were unprepared an caught off guard, screaming few short sentences and aiming with their weapons.During this exact moment, the white-haired girl was still located in the elevator with a faint smile on her face.The doors opened, leading her into a big square room with one of it's walls being a huge metal gate.She slipped her black keycard on top of the small detector right next to the gate, then walking right in front of it's middle. A loud beep resounded, followed by a sound of friction. The thick gate was slowly opening, it's left wing sliding to girls left, and it's right wing towards her right.A cold midnight breeze rushed inside the room, replacing the stuffy air in an instant.Several flashy lights were pointed towards the middle of the gate, blinding the girl for a moment.Around 40 fully armed men were all pointing with their guns towards her from the moment the gate started opening, some hiding behind trucks and some kneeling or standing 20 meters in front of it.Nonetheless, even though they all were already pointing at the gate prepared to shoot, not a single one of them expected her to appear. They were all stunned for a second, until a loud scream ordered, "Fire!".These were actual guns, with anti-bulletproof vest bullets, each as big as a thumb, and they were all pointed at the same small target. The gate wasn't even opened completely.Lights were flashing and racket reigned, but there was not a single drop of blood.Actually, not a single bullet made it to it's target, but disappearing as if they didn't even left the guns.Nevertheless, mags went empty, and racket came to an end with everyone staring at her with completely terrified faces behind the helmets."None of you was forced to join the Impedance", she said with despise, "You choose to".Some waited for her to continue, but that was everything she had to say.One of the soldiers let his gun fall on the concrete, slowly loosened his belt, turned around and went for a leave, while others took the chance to reload."Mike, what the fu-", the words were cut off with an indescribable pain in the chest. Everyone else experiencing the same.The girl was staring at Mike, only her eyeballs were moving.Everyone facing her had their helmets hit the concrete at nearly the same time.Mike's entire body flicked, unwillingly turning around to see."Oh!", his voice cracked and eyes became wet. He glanced at the girl knowing he should express anger and frustration, but only felt gratitude. He felt as if his sins were forgiven, and judgment was avoided, just because he chose to surrender."The complete lockdown will initiate in T-2 minutes".The dragon like creature and girl were illuminated under the moonlight, still surrounded by concrete, however in the meantime another male joined them.He wasn't muscular but seemed strong due to his bulky stature and was as much joyful as the little girl was. On the floor next to him was a heavy mace. It had a white half-transparent color and laying on the ground with its handle upwards."Are you sure that you don't want to check if there is any food or water inside?", Dearhope asked.Bulky man straightened up, pausing his playing with the girl, "That won't pose a problem".Dearhope straightened his front part of the body as well, reaching over 6 meters in height, "I don't require food, but think of the girl. Children aren't as tough as adult men are".Man pondered for a few moments after which he lowered himself to girl's height and spoke in a gentle tone, "Hey, do you want to go hunting with me? We will find something delicious to eat, unlike those groats".The little girl happily nodded.At that moment a sound came from within the facility, through the wide-open metal gate, but it's progress was disturbed by automatic system announcement."The complete lockdown initiated".The gate started closing, and the sound coming from withing grew only louder. Bulky man stepped right in front of the girl, and Dearhope straightened himself towards the gate, so that the other two found themselves underneath his neck.The sound became so loud that the man would need to scream of girl and Dearhope to hear him, but they all went silent and watched at the everlasting darkness which's doors were gradually closing.Little girl was yet again the only one showing no sign of fear on her face, but only mild curiosity.The noise was just behind the gate, and a fully armed men flew out on the moonlight, landing on his back, staring back at the now closed gate. It sunk in on several places, but whatever was behind it, never came out, but slowly rashly continued along the hallway, disappearing and leaving silence behind it.The Gamma team leader sighted. He rested on his back for a few seconds and only then stood up and turned around.The first thing that occupied his whole field of view was a giant snake-dragon like creature with no lips or cheeks, staring right at him with its eyes that leaked out long ago."Do not be afraid my child", it spoke without its teeth or mouth moving.The team leader was bathing in cold sweat, barely managing to respond, "Sir, this is the scariest moment of my life".The bulky man approached him, lifting the team leader from the ground as if it was a joke. He was stunned, sharing a glance with him, and then sizing up the remaining two. Little girl seemed really healthy and dragon like creature wasn't acting hostile.He then glanced at the bulky man again and noticed an octopus shaped badge on his clothes."You are the...", he paused, not knowing how to address him at this moment. He knew very well who they all were and where they came from but wasn't able to predict their action."So, what are you doing... now? What are you all going to do?""Well, the facility doesn't seem to be the safest place to stay at right now, so we are going to search for a new shelter and wait until The Source comes back to rescue us and clean this mess up".Team leader was surprised, "really? So, you guys don't really hate The Source?"The bulky man lifted the mace of the ground "there is no reason to hate them. They took us in and helped us when no one else would", he threw a quick glance at Dearhope, "me at least".The team leader stepped forward, "well if you think finding a shelter out there is going to be an easy task, you are so wrong. The other escapees aren't this much passive, not to mention the whole fauna of this celestial body"."You want us to stay here?", he pointed at the sunk-in gate with his mace."No. There is a habitable land in the valley of those mountains", he pointed with his index finger, "Reaching it will be difficult, but we will be much safer once when we get there. There[ are other normal humans as well, they probably also headed up there".Bulky man frowned, "normal?"Team leader was caught off guard, not noticing that he said that, so he just put on an awkward smile on his face."Whatever", the bulky man rolled his eyes, "How long do you think it will take The Source to come here?"The team leader pondered for a second, "At least one years"."A year?!", the bulky man was shocked, but the team leader just nodded."The same thing happened there as well, except there is an actual infrastructure to be rebuilt unlike here", everyone went silent. What he told them was far too shocking, but they had no reason to not believe him. He was working for the company after all."Or maybe even more. It all depends", he continued" Things are probably just starting to escalate. People here will have to get used to a new live, that's for sure. Few of them might breed and produce offspring, but sooner or later we all are going to get back to the normal life. Unlike the government and others working for the Source, our job here is only to survive and wait".