The central research tower of Eden Hall, meant to be a beacon of their progress, was now a smoldering shell of itself. The inner halls were decorated with claw marks and bloodstains that had yet to dry. Doors and windows to office rooms were broken and the signs of massacre lay all around. The emergency power didn’t seem to be working as the building had gone completely dark. It was strange considering that there should’ve been a novidium battery stored as a backup.

“Doesn’t look like anyone would’ve survived here,” Fitzgerald remarked. He tightly gripped his rifle as if to grant himself some sense of security in the desolated area.

“We’re here to find out if they did… If not, we’ll recover what we can,” Lyn replied.

Visette followed the team closely but her psionic pulse constantly spread out dozens of meters in all directions.

‘The only possibility is below.’ She thought to herself, sending a pulse beneath the solid foundation of the building.

Vis didn’t expect for her pulse to go very far but surprisingly, there were huge ruptures and tunnels just beneath the ground. Putting aside the dangers, it was clear the tunnels were wide enough for Corrupted to fit through. Her psionic energy seemed to spread unendingly until she recalled it. For now, she just assumed that the tunnels went too far for her to track.

“The Corrupted burrowed through from underneath, we should exercise caution,” Visette spoke up.

“What?” Lyn asked in surprise. “How do you…- Are you sure?”

“Yes, I am certain the method used to attack was through the use of underground tunnels,” Visette replied.

With the exception of Lyn, the rest of the team appeared skeptical. There were signs of fighting, but there was no sign of something crawling out from underneath the ground. There was also the fact that Corrupted weren’t particularly known to burrow but rather attack in overwhelming swarms.

“You heard her, keep an eye out for any possible entrance. We’d be in trouble if the Corrupted ambushed us from somewhere we’d never expected."

Since she was the Captain of the squad, they wouldn’t go against her orders, especially in the middle of a mission.

[This is Hawk checking in… We saw that New Mayhall took the north entrance so we went around to the southward one.]

[Copperhaven has the east covered.]

[I doubt we need to say it, but Roslin is covering the west entrance.]

[See? Not so hard to cooperate, is it?] Hawk asked over the radio.

Lyn picked up her radio and spoke in a voice full of annoyance, “We’re not here to conversate, just find the researchers so we can all leave.”

[Alright, you got it.] Hawk seemed to easily roll over which only made Lyn more annoyed.

“Idiot,” Lyn said to herself before signaling for the team to come to a halt.

“Since the lift is down it seems we’re taking the stairs.”

Arnold, Morris, Fitzgerald, and Lucy all groaned simultaneously.

“I take it that means you’re all willing to go see what’s wrong with the basement power. It may be dangerous considering that Visette did say that the Corrupted burrowed through.”

“About that… how does she even know?” Fitzgerald asked. “No offense,” he added.

“We don’t have time to worry about that, but there is no reason for her to lie so just accept it as fact. How about you be the first volunteer since you’re so skeptical, Fitz.”

“Sure thing, Captain.” Fitz shrugged.

“Anyone else? We can’t have him dying alone.”

“I will accompany him.” Visette volunteered.

“Alright, Visette and Fitz, you two try to turn the power back on. If you can’t get it operating in fifteen, meet us on the twentieth floor. Understood?” Lyn intoned her orders seriously.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Fitzgerald nodded.

“I understand,” Visette replied.

The two descended into the darkness of the basement level while the rest of the team headed upstairs.

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…

“Sure is scary, huh?” Fitz asked as he scanned the wide basement level with his flashlight, holding his rifle high.

“No,” Visette answered honestly.

“Guess it's just me.” Fitz laughed dryly.

Visette traced over the thick insulated wires in an attempt to find their source. All sorts of numbers and letters labelled them which didn’t make it easy. A short crackle of electricity constantly resonated in the distance, drawing their attention.

“So, can I ask why you took this mission?” Fitz asked as they moved closer to the source of the noise.

“I would prefer it you did not,” Visette psionic pulse spread over every object in the room but she could find nothing out of place.

The duo arrived at the source of the electric crackling and found a novidium battery completely ripped away from the main generator unit. Since the battery seemed to be a few kilos, it would’ve taken someone or something with inhuman strength to tear it apart. And given the current circumstances, it wasn’t exactly hard to figure out what.

“What in Anton’s name?” Fitz narrowed his eyes. “This was… calculated. Corrupted don’t go for the novidium batteries and if they do its not intentional… There’s nothing else here that’s destroyed so it would have to know.”

“Yes, I agree, it would appear that the Corrupted have developed a higher level of intelligence.” Visette felt an extreme threat with the sudden revelation but focused on the task at hand.

Not too far away, there was a battery storage unit, holding a spare novidium battery. Fortunately, it appeared that the Corrupted didn’t seem to be as smart as first expected.

“Do you need any help…?” Fitzgerald became speechless else as he watched Visette pull the battery out of its storage space and load it into the generator.

After connecting the novidium battery, Visette reset the breaker before lifting a switch. With a loud hum, the emergency lights began to click on.

[Good…work…- The power is… wait… hold on…-] Lyn’s voice buzzed through the radio.

“You are not coming through clearly, please repeat,” Visette replied, but the radio remained silent.

“We should go back up,” Fitz suggested.

“Help!” A voice suddenly called out from the depths of the basement.

Visette and Fitz both turned their weapons to the direction it came from. At the same time, Visette sent out a powerful psionic pulse and found a sign of life.

‘How did it escape my notice the first time?’ She briefly contemplated as they headed toward the noise. Pipes seemed to groan and hiss from time to time while their flashlights just barely managed to penetrate the darkness. Even the red emergency lights didn’t offer enough illumination to help.

“Please! Help! I can’t feel my… my legs...” The strange voice grew louder as they moved closer.

Visette scanned once more and picked up another signature with her psionic pulse, making her suspicious. She stuck her hand out and stopped Fitz while readying her rifle to fire.

“We can’t stop here, let’s go help!” Fitz tried to push past her but Visette didn’t allow him to move. Instead, she moved her flashlight to aim above her where she found a huge pipe that had been completely torn open.

“Move back.”

“Help! Help me!”

Visette’s voice and the distressed voice rang out simultaneously. Another psionic pulse spread out and her assumption was correct when she discovered the two traces of life had increased once more.

“What?” Fitz seemed to understand that something was wrong as he used his flashlight to scan the pipe.

As the light was directed into the dark opening, it seemed to bend strangely, becoming distorted in a way. In a single second, Visette put the pieces together.

“Corrupted,” Visette said as her eyes widened. She didn’t hesitate to fire her rifle, striking something as a horrible shriek filled the air and something fell onto the ground with a thud.

“Huh?” Fitz could only watch in shock and horror as a camouflaged Corrupted suddenly appeared before them.

As it died, its skin changed into a dark grey pigment while its voice continually rang out.

“Help me! Help! I can’t feel my legs… Help me!” It repeated over and over until all life was gone.

“Did that thing just speak?!” Fitz shouted.

“Let’s go.” Visette grabbed him and began sprinting for the steps.

“Help me! Help me!”

“I can’t feel my legs!”

“Help! They’re coming!”

“Close the door! Close the door!”

“They’re getting in! They’re getting in!”

Voices poured in from behind them with a mixture of shrieks as the camouflaged Corrupted began their pursuit.

“By Anton’s soul!” Fitz looked over his shoulder and saw blurs of shapes as the camouflage of the Corrupted continued to blend with anything they were close to.

“Get up the stairs,” Visette spoke coldly as they reached the basement exit.

Fitz didn’t need any words of encouragement as he ascended to the upper levels. Visette, on the other hand, turned around and planted her knee onto the ground before letting out a torrent of bullets. Even if her opponents could barely be seen with the naked eye, her psionics revealed them just fine and her shots struck perfectly. That is until she emptied the magazine. However, she found it was the perfect time to test the offensive capabilities of her psionic power. She tossed her rifle over her shoulder and aimed her palm toward the wall of flesh scrambling toward her.

A faint blue light flashed before dozens of bullets made from compressed psionic energy flew out. They were far more effective than real bullets as they cut down the Corrupted. A single psionic bullet could go through two or three bodies before it lost its effectiveness which was good news for Visette.

She fired off another round as blood and screams spread through the air, but the tide of Corrupted had come to a stop. Visette slowly stood up after confirming they were all dead and reloaded the magazine of her rifle.

That’s when more shrieks echoed from the furthest corner of the basement. She was confident she could deal with them but there was no way to know if they would end so she retreated. She would rendezvous with Lyn to figure out the next move.