The first shutter hit the ground with a deafening boom.
Children screamed.
Another followed seconds later.
Then another.
Massive reinforced slabs of steel slammed down across every visible exit in the chamber while red emergency lights flashed violently overhead.
LOCKDOWN ACTIVE.
The mechanical voice echoed through the facility coldly.
BIOHAZARD CONTAINMENT PROTOCOL INITIATED.
Bianca’s stomach dropped.
“That sounds extremely bad,” she muttered.
The bruised girl beside her looked close to hyperventilating.
“We’re dead.”
“Hey,” Bianca whispered quickly, grabbing her arm.
“Don’t say that, we might have a chance at getting away.”
The girl stared at her like Bianca had just said something insane.
Around them, panic spread completely now.
Some children pounded uselessly against the sealed exits.
Others cried quietly in corners.
A boy near the wall vomited from fear.
Nobody looked like trained assassins anymore.
Just children.
Terrified children.
Another explosion shook the chamber violently.
Bianca looked toward the center of the room just in time to see Subject Twelve hurl a steel support beam directly at Volkov.
Volkov twisted sideways narrowly avoiding it before launching herself forward with terrifying speed.
Her fist slammed into Subject Twelve’s chest hard enough to crack the floor beneath him.
The entire chamber trembled.
Bianca stared in disbelief.
“How are they both alive?”
The bruised girl answered automatically.
“Enhancements.”
Bianca looked toward her sharply.
“What kind of enhancements?”
The girl immediately realized she’d spoken again.
Fear crossed her face instantly.
“We shouldn’t talk about it.”
“That’s probably true,” Bianca admitted.
“But unfortunately I enjoy terrible decisions.”
Another violent impact echoed through the chamber.
Subject Twelve crashed through a concrete pillar before catching himself against the wall.
Blood dripped slowly from his mouth.
He looked worse now.
Unstable.
The black veins beneath his skin spread further upward with every passing minute.
Like something inside him kept evolving.
Changing.
Hurting.
Volkov advanced toward him slowly.
“You cannot beat this facility,” she said calmly.
Subject Twelve laughed weakly.
“Maybe not.”
Then his black eyes slowly drifted toward the terrified children around the chamber.
“But I can break it.”
Bianca’s pulse spiked instantly.
Oh no.
“Oh no,” Bianca whispered aloud.
The system flickered violently.
[ Extreme Threat Detected ]
[ Structural Integrity Compromised ]
[ Recommend Immediate Evacuation ]
“Wonderful advice,” Bianca muttered.
“Tiny problem. THERE’S NO EXIT.”
As if mocking her, another shutter slammed down somewhere deeper in the facility.
The whole building groaned.
Dust drifted from the ceiling.
Several children cried harder.
Then Subject Twelve screamed.
The sound didn’t feel human.
Bianca physically flinched.
Every light in the chamber shattered simultaneously.
Darkness swallowed everything.
Children panicked instantly.
Screaming erupted around the room.
The emergency lights flickered weakly back online seconds later.
And Bianca immediately wished they hadn’t.
The black veins covering Subject Twelve’s body now glowed faintly beneath his skin.
Not bright.
Just enough to look wrong.
Like cracks spreading through a dying star.
The air around him distorted slightly.
Volkov stopped moving.
For the first time—
Bianca saw genuine caution in the woman’s eyes.
Interesting.
Very interesting.
Subject Twelve looked down at his own trembling hands.
“They said,” he whispered softly, “it would make us stronger but look what it did to me.”
Bianca felt cold spread slowly through her chest.
Us.
Plural.
How many children had they experimented on?
How many died?
Subject Twelve laughed weakly again.
“But it just hurts.”
Then the floor beneath him exploded outward.
The shockwave slammed through the chamber violently.
Children crashed into walls.
Bianca hit the ground hard enough to lose her breath.
Cracks spread rapidly across the concrete floor now.
The facility itself was starting to break apart.
Volkov moved instantly.
“Sedatives,” she ordered sharply.
The remaining guards hesitated.
“NOW.”
Two soldiers rushed forward carrying metallic canisters.
Subject Twelve noticed immediately.
His expression twisted violently.
Fear.
Not rage.
Fear.
“No—”
The soldiers launched the canisters.
Gas exploded outward across the chamber.
Children started coughing instantly.
Bianca covered her mouth on instinct.
Subject Twelve screamed again.
The sound shook the walls.
The gas around him distorted strangely before igniting into black flames.
Bianca froze.
“What the hell?”
Even Volkov looked surprised now.
That definitely wasn’t part of the plan.
Subject Twelve staggered sideways clutching his head violently.
Blood streamed from his nose.
His breathing sounded wet.
Painful.
Bianca suddenly realized something horrifying.
He wasn’t winning.
He was dying.
The power tearing through his body was killing him in real time.
And he knew it.
The bruised girl beside Bianca whispered shakily:
“He won’t stop until everything burns.”
Bianca looked toward her.
“What’s your name?”
The girl blinked.
Like nobody had asked her that in a very long time.
“…Maya.”
Bianca nodded once.
“Okay Maya. New plan.”
Maya stared at her nervously.
“What plan?”
Bianca looked toward the collapsing chamber.
Then toward Subject Twelve.
Then toward the terrified children trapped around them.
“I don’t know yet,” Bianca admitted honestly.
Another explosion interrupted them.
A section of ceiling collapsed near the far wall.
Children screamed and scattered.
Volkov immediately grabbed one child before debris crushed him.
Interesting again.
Bianca noticed that carefully.
Volkov was a monster.
But not a careless one.
That complexity unsettled Bianca more than simple evil would’ve.
The system flickered again.
[ Host Stress Levels Rising ]
[ Adaptive Response Accelerating ]
A cold sensation spread suddenly through Bianca’s body.
Not painful.
Sharp.
Focused.
The chaos around her seemed slower somehow.
Clearer.
Bianca blinked rapidly.
“…okay that’s new.”
Maya grabbed her sleeve desperately.
“We need to hide!”
Bianca nodded automatically— then stopped.
Subject Twelve stood near the center of the chamber trembling violently now.
His black eyes no longer focused properly.
The veins spreading across his skin pulsed faster.
Wildly.
Like his body was losing control.
Children nearby cried openly in fear.
Nobody could escape.
Nobody could stop him.
And suddenly Bianca understood something terrible.
If Subject Twelve lost control completely— everyone here died.
Including him.
Bianca stared at the boy for several long seconds.
Then sighed heavily.
“Oh this is such a stupid idea.”
Maya looked horrified.
“What are you doing?”
“Probably something incredibly regrettable.”
Before Maya could stop her—
Bianca stood up.
Every instinct in her body screamed at her to sit back down immediately.
Ignore the monster.
Protect yourself.
Survive.
But Bianca had always been terrible at staying quiet when someone was suffering.
Even when common sense begged her otherwise.
She slowly stepped forward into the ruined center of the chamber.
Several children stared at her like she’d lost her mind.
Honestly?
Fair.
Volkov noticed immediately.
Her eyes narrowed slightly.
“Get back.”
Bianca ignored her.
Subject Twelve’s head snapped toward Bianca instantly.
Those empty black eyes locked onto her.
The pressure in the room changed immediately.
Dangerous.
Heavy.
Bianca’s pulse hammered painfully.
Every survival instinct screamed RUN.
The system practically glitched across her vision.
[ WARNING ]
[ WARNING ]
[ WARNING ]
“Yeah yeah,” Bianca whispered shakily.
“I noticed it already.”
Subject Twelve stared at her silently.
Up close, he looked younger somehow.
Not a monster.
Just a broken teenager drowning inside his own body.
Bianca swallowed hard.
Then spoke softly.
“You don’t actually want to kill everyone here.”
Silence.
The entire chamber froze.
Even Volkov stopped moving.
Subject Twelve’s breathing grew uneven.
“You don’t know what I want.”
“True,” Bianca admitted.
“But I know pain when I see it.”
Something flickered across his face.
Not rage.
Not violence.
Confusion.
Like nobody had spoken to him like a person in a very long time.
Bianca slowly continued.
“They hurt you.”
The boy’s hands trembled violently.
“They hurt all of us.”
Another crack spread across the floor.
The facility groaned dangerously.
Bianca forced herself not to back away.
“You can still stop.”
Subject Twelve laughed weakly.
Tears mixed with the blood on his face.
“No,” he whispered.
His voice broke completely.
“It hurts too much.”
And for the first time since arriving in this nightmare—
Bianca had absolutely no idea what to do next.