It started with a whisper.
A faint clink, like metal scraping metal, somewhere far off in the trees. Then silence.
Za's eyes snapped open in the darkness of the shed. Her ears twitched—unfamiliar patterns in the wind, unnatural rustling. She stood, slowly, eyes glowing faintly blue in the shadows. The air felt wrong.
She turned to step out only to freeze.
A red shimmer flickered at the edge of her vision. Before she could react, something dropped from above with the weight of a small car.
A shape, shifting, crawling, unnatural.Glinting red eyes. Whirring limbs.A clawed appendage shot out like lightning—And everything went dark.
The scream shattered the dinner like glass.
Forks clattered. Eyes widened. Kira froze mid-step, hand on the backdoor.
"What was that?" Aira whispered, her voice thin with fear.
Kira didn't even answer.
"Za..." he breathed and bolted.
"Wait up, dumbass!" Roxy shouted, tearing after him.
Hana stood abruptly. "Kira!"Aira stared after them, pale. Then followed too. Leo also joined.
The backyard was swallowed in moonlight and wind. The shed door creaked on its hinges wide open, faint scorch marks on the grass.
"She's gone," Kira muttered. "Something took her…"
They didn't stop running.
The woods swallowed them whole.
Kira and Roxy darted between branches, breath ragged. Moonlight flickered between leaves like shattered glass. Then...
"Stop," Roxy hissed, yanking Kira's sleeve.
Ahead, the forest floor twisted in a grotesque display.
Animals. Dead animals.
Arranged into a symbol spiraled, jagged, ancient. Bones woven like threads, feathers tangled like dying dreams.
"Oh my god…" Roxy breathed. "It's a ritual. This is a ritual."
"The neighbor," Kira muttered, eyes wide. "She said her pets were disappearing..."
And then they saw the center.
Za.
Kneeling. Bound in cables, her head bowed, faint blue glow flickering across her skin like a dying star. She didn't move.
Above her… it.
A spider-like monster, long metallic limbs, joints clicking like broken clockwork. Its plating was jagged and mismatched, more patchwork than armor. Tubes pulsed like veins. Red light glowed from a cracked core deep in its chest.
Its head was misshapen, faceless half-smashed and twitching. It looked like it had once been a ship's core… now twisted into something living.
It wasn't just corrupted. It was angry.
The creature turned.
It saw them.
And screamed.
Back in Omega Lab, alarms flickered to life.
A technician shot up from his desk. "Sir... we've received a signal. It's… new."
Dr. Nacht didn't turn. He stood with hands behind his back, watching a massive wall-screen crackle with distorted data.
"Location?"
"Same area. Rural forest... near Hana Isayama's residence."
"It's matching the frequency of the crashed ship… but it's been corrupted. Like something's rewritten it."
Nacht tilted his head.
"Don't respond," he said smoothly.
The technician flinched. "Sir?"
"Send a drone. Let's see what's blooming in our backyard."
A moment passed.
"Actually…" Nacht's smirk under his mask. "Send a team."
"Combat unit?"
"Field extractors. I want that core."
Dr.Nacht smirk deepened under his mask, "Tonight… Gonna be spectacular…"
To Be Continued…