The sun was little more than a pale smear across the horizon when Seo-jin woke, the ache in his body reminding him of every injury he'd collected the day before.
Lotus was quiet.
Too quiet.
No drills in the yard.
No shouted orders.
Just the distant moan of a wounded building settling under its own weight.
Seo-jin sat up slowly, wincing as his muscles protested.
Min-ji was already gone from the cot beside his — no doubt drilling the younger fighters or fixing something broken.
He ran a hand through his hair and rose, pulling on his jacket with stiff fingers.
Today felt… different.
Wrong.
The air tasted strange, and there was a pressure at the back of his skull, like something trying to push its way out.
He shook it off and stepped into the hall.
**
Ko was waiting near the planning room, arms crossed, face grim.
"You're late," he said, not unkindly.
Seo-jin grunted.
"Didn't realize we had a schedule."
Ko tossed him a ration bar, which Seo-jin caught one-handed.
"Briefing in five minutes. Bring Min-ji and Jae-hwan."
Seo-jin nodded, already moving.
He found them in the yard, arguing over the best way to reinforce the north wall.
Jae-hwan was leaning lazily against a cracked support beam, spinning a knife between his fingers.
Min-ji was pacing like a caged tiger.
"Rebar and plates won't hold against fragment blasts," she snapped.
Jae-hwan shrugged.
"Better than nothing. Got any better ideas?"
Seo-jin clapped a hand on each of their shoulders.
"Ko's calling."
Min-ji stopped mid-pace.
Jae-hwan pocketed his knife with a theatrical sigh.
"Back to hero work, then."
**
Inside the strategy room, a new map lay sprawled across the battered table.
Crimson Shield and Black Sun forces were marked in tight red clusters across nearby sectors.
Too close.
Ko tapped a spot southeast of Lotus.
"Supply drop. We intercepted a comm last night."
Seo-jin frowned.
"Trap?"
"Probably," Ko admitted. "But if it's real, it could save us."
Min-ji crossed her arms, clearly skeptical.
"And if it's not?"
Ko looked at them one by one.
"You'll find out fast."
Silence.
Seo-jin exhaled slowly.
"We'll go."
Min-ji glanced at him, then nodded.
Jae-hwan just grinned.
"Love a good gamble."
**
They left Lotus at midday.
The sun was higher, but it gave no warmth.
They moved quickly through the ruins, keeping to the shadows.
Seo-jin felt the unease growing inside him with every step.
The pressure behind his skull pulsed harder now, almost rhythmic.
His fragment energy felt…
off.
Thicker.
Heavier.
Almost alive.
He clenched his fists, focusing on the mission.
Not now.
Not here.
**
They reached the supply drop zone by late afternoon.
A ruined parking structure, half-collapsed, jutting from the earth like broken teeth.
The crate was there —
gleaming, untouched.
Too untouched.
Min-ji cursed under her breath.
"Definitely a trap."
Jae-hwan was already edging around the perimeter, eyes sharp.
Seo-jin moved carefully toward the crate, senses straining.
No movement.
No sounds.
But the wrongness was a physical thing now, pressing down on him.
He reached out, fingertips brushing the crate's cold surface—
A shiver ran through him.
The world twisted.
Seo-jin stumbled back, heart pounding.
The world righted itself after a moment, but the feeling lingered —
like the ground itself was holding its breath.
Min-ji was instantly at his side.
"You okay?"
He nodded stiffly.
Jae-hwan joined them, twirling a fragment grenade lazily in his fingers.
"No ambush yet. Weird."
Seo-jin's mouth felt dry.
"It's bait."
Min-ji tightened her grip on her weapon.
"Then we take it and move fast."
They pried open the crate.
Inside — supplies, yes.
Medical kits. Energy cells.
And something else.
A sealed container, humming faintly.
Seo-jin leaned closer, squinting at the faded label.
Fragment stabilization unit.
Experimental.
Highly volatile.
Min-ji cursed under her breath.
"We can't take that."
Jae-hwan whistled low.
"Or we can. And sell it. Retire rich."
Min-ji shot him a withering glare.
Seo-jin reached out, touching the container carefully.
No visions this time.
No bending of the world.
Just… pressure.
Like holding something that wanted to split the earth open.
He withdrew his hand.
"We're leaving it."
Min-ji nodded without hesitation.
Jae-hwan groaned but didn't argue.
They packed the rest quickly, moving back toward the exit.
And that's when the first shot rang out.
**
Enemies swarmed from the broken levels above —
dozens of Crimson Shield soldiers rappelling down, guns barking fire.
"Move!" Seo-jin shouted, fracturing the ground beneath the nearest attackers.
Min-ji hurled compressed blasts of air, knocking soldiers back.
Jae-hwan threw a grenade, the explosion rattling the broken structure.
Chaos erupted.
Gunfire.
Fragment bursts.
Screams.
Seo-jin fought instinctively, fracture after fracture splitting the concrete around them, throwing enemies off balance.
Min-ji was a blur, dodging bullets, striking with brutal efficiency.
Jae-hwan moved like a ghost, knives flashing in the dim light.
But there were too many.
Seo-jin gritted his teeth, blood trickling from his temple where a fragment had grazed him.
The pressure inside him built higher and higher, like a volcano straining against its own skin.
He stumbled back, vision blurring.
Min-ji grabbed his arm, yanking him behind cover.
"Seo-jin! Focus!"
He shook his head violently.
The pressure didn't abate.
It screamed inside him, urging him to let go.
To fracture everything.
To tear the world open.
He slammed his fists into the ground, forcing a deep, wide fracture that swallowed half the attackers.
The floor gave way entirely, collapsing into the darkness below.
Dust and rubble filled the air.
Screams echoed and faded.
Seo-jin panted hard, barely on his knees.
Min-ji was at his side instantly, gripping his shoulders.
"You with me?"
He nodded shakily.
But he didn't feel with her.
He felt somewhere else entirely.
Somewhere deeper.
Somewhere dangerous.
**
They didn't wait to see who survived.
They grabbed the supplies and ran, boots hammering against unstable floors.
Gunfire chased them but didn't catch them.
By the time they stumbled into the open air, night had fallen, and the ruined city loomed black and endless around them.
They didn't stop moving.
Not until the lights of Lotus flickered on the horizon.
Home.
If it could still be called that.
The lights of Lotus looked different as they approached —
dimmer.
Weaker.
Like the city itself was losing the will to stand.
Seo-jin stumbled through the gate, Min-ji right beside him, Jae-hwan limping slightly but still grinning like an idiot.
Ko met them at the entrance, arms folded, eyes sharp.
He took one look at the blood on their clothes, the exhaustion in their faces, and nodded once.
"Mission?"
Seo-jin dropped the salvaged supplies at his feet.
"Completed."
Ko crouched, inspecting the crates quickly.
His face tightened when he saw the experimental unit was missing, but he didn't comment.
Smart man.
Seo-jin wasn't sure he could explain the wrongness they had touched back there —
and he didn't want to try.
"Get cleaned up," Ko said gruffly. "You did good."
Min-ji exhaled sharply, tension bleeding from her shoulders.
Jae-hwan gave a mock salute.
"Sir, yes sir."
Ko's mouth twitched slightly — the closest he ever came to smiling.
They moved off toward the medic station, their legs moving automatically, like puppets.
**
Inside, Seo-jin sat on the edge of a cracked cot while Ha-eun cleaned the gash on his forehead.
"You're lucky," she muttered, dabbing antiseptic with a little more force than necessary.
"Another inch and you'd be eating through a straw."
Seo-jin grunted.
"Could use the diet."
Min-ji snorted from the next cot over, where a younger medic was wrapping her ribs.
Jae-hwan sprawled across two chairs, arms flung wide, loudly complaining about his "tragic, career-ending ankle injury."
Seo-jin didn't hear them.
The pressure inside him hadn't faded.
If anything, it had settled deeper.
A knot of energy — hot, restless, angry — coiled inside his chest.
Waiting.
Growing.
He clenched his fists against his knees.
"You alright?" Min-ji asked quietly, catching his tension.
He forced a smile.
"Just tired."
She didn't look convinced.
But she let it go.
For now.
**
Later that night, Seo-jin found himself alone on the rooftop.
The city stretched out below him, a graveyard of steel and smoke.
He closed his eyes and breathed.
The fragment energy stirred inside him, heavy and hungry.
He could feel it.
Changing.
Twisting.
Not out of control —
but no longer entirely his either.
His fingers itched.
His skin burned faintly along the old fracture scars running up his arms.
He opened his eyes and stared at the shattered moon overhead.
Somewhere deep inside, he knew:
Whatever was happening —
It had already begun.