Veil of Corruption

Just beyond the rift, a small pony rabbit stared curiously at the water. Suddenly, the surface rippled, startling the rabbit, who leapt back in surprise and dashed into the jungle.

The sun seemed to have lost its treasured light. An abominable darkness began spreading across the land from deep within. But soon, it halted in its path.

A faint smile lingered in the shadows of Room 0, Site 0.

.......

Clang.

Two men were locked in a fight within a blinding white void that consumed everything around them. One was a tall, lean figure in a black suit, clutching his fedora with one hand to keep it firmly on his head. The other was a towering, two-meter giant, its body covered in black chitin-like armor with fiery red light glowing from the cracks. A jagged crown of bone adorned the monstrous creature's head.

Suddenly, the monster's chitin armor vanished in a ghostly flame, emitting smoke that enveloped its entire body. From within the swirling smoke, a small child leaped out.

"Five minutes, that's the limit, I think."

Seth thought, then said aloud, "Good, that's good enough."

Malo could sustain his monster form for five minutes, but only if he avoided using his vile beam. Seth attempted to mimic the inversion ability, initially to figure out how to use it. However, there was a problem—it consumed too much Aether. When Seth tried to reverse the damage Malo's vile beam had done to the white wall, he failed miserably. His Aether depleted almost instantly, and he nearly lost consciousness. After recovering, he attempted the technique at a different level, using it to heal his injuries and restore lost Aether. Unfortunately, it was no use. It drained his Aether before his cells could even begin to heal, and the Aether consumption was greater than what was required for inversion recovery.

"That's special grade for you."

Finishing his thought, Seth called out to Malo, who was lying on the ground.

"Recover your Aether. We'll try to see what else your ability can do. I will come back in an hour."

With that, Seth headed toward the exit of the white room.

"Yes, sir!" Malo shouted from behind.

Today, Seth was going to meet his captain. It wasn't time to report yet—there was still a day left for that. He needed access to the files containing Malo's Aether reserve. If the higher-ups had sent this child to Greywell, it was obvious they would have measured his Aether reserve. Normally, the Aether core of a newly sundered is one, but special grades are exceptions. There are special grades with five cores right from the start. Five cores mark the starting of mid-level. One to four cores are considered low-level, five to seven are mid-level, and eight to ten are high-level. Beyond ten, they are considered the powerhouses of the sundered.

Silia was engrossed in the report titled Crimson Crown when a knock interrupted her concentration. Without looking up, she pressed a button. The door slid open with a soft hiss.

Seth stepped inside.

"Good morning, Ma'am."

Silia's eyes remained on the file.

"The report's due tomorrow. Is there something else?"

"Yes," Seth replied without hesitation. "I need the files from Malo's evaluation—specifically, the ones that qualified him for Special Grade."

"They're in 8A," Silia said, still not looking up. "Emily has them now. And ask about repair of the containment unit while you're at it. If it's damaged again, repairs will be your problem."

Seth gave a polite nod. "Understood."

He turned to leave.

Silia watched him go, a faint thought slipping through her mind. Maybe he's not such a heartless bastard after all.

Or maybe he was. Maybe it was all an act. But that didn't matter—results were all the higher-ups cared about.

She returned to the report.

A monster form… full sanity retained. Current ability: Inversion. Requires physical contact to trigger.

"Interesting."

...........

Seth stood at the door of 8A for a moment before it opened, and he stepped inside. A woman sat near the monitor, her grayish-green eyes and numerous freckles catching his attention. Her hair was tied back in a ponytail.

"Emily, right?" he asked.

"Who else would it be? What do you want?" she replied curtly.

"The files on Malo's special grade evaluation," Seth said.

"I'll send them to your datapad," Emily responded.

Seth lingered, prompting Emily to tilt her head slightly. "Is there anything else?"

"As a matter of fact, yes," Seth said, as though waiting for that question. "I've been asked to seek your help regarding the repair of the containment unit."

Emily frowned. "Report it to the maintenance unit. Shouldn't you already know that?"

Seth gave a polite smile. "Actually, I was just an instructor a little while ago, so this is kind of new to me. I joined Greywell about three months ago, so there's that."

The responsibility of contacting the maintenance bay should have been Emily's, but Silia had instructed Seth to handle it instead. This made Emily question Silia's decision—was she trying to keep him away from Malo's containment unit for some other reason? If that was the case, Emily would have to figure it out.

Emily sighed. "Okay, just report it to the maintenance bay."

Seth thanked her and left. It was clear she didn't want to talk to him more than necessary.

Switching the screen back to Malo's containment unit, Emily muttered to herself.

"What does the captain want me to do?"

On the screen, Malo lay on his back, staring at the ceiling—a white, reflective wall above him.

"Think, Emily, think."

"It looks like I have to go in there."

Emily stood up, grabbed her datapad, and left room 8A. Her destination: Storage Unit-731.

.............

Standing in front of the door to Unit-731, Emily used her datapad to signal the door open. Hesitant at first, she stepped inside. Malo lifted his head, glancing at his new visitor. If this was a zoo, he would be the least popular exhibit.

"Who are you?" he asked.

"I am Lieutenant Emily. After some complications with Jaden, I've been tasked to monitor you," she replied.

"I was wondering how I could contact Jaden. I guess now I can't, right?"

"Unfortunately, no. But you can ask me your questions. I'm the same rank as him—if not better at handling cases."

"Why did you come to meet me today?"

"I wanted to check on you. Wait, let me activate my ability—it'll be better, and you might learn a thing or two from a pro," Emily said with a hint of humor.

Malo laughed.

"I wanted to ask, who is stronger: you or Seth?"

Emily smiled, humor still in her tone. "Me, of course. That cunning fox can't fool me."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean his tricks won't work on me. My ability lets me gauge the psychological state of an opponent. Seth can't really control his inner state—well, nobody can; they can only try."

Saying that, she circulated her Aether, her eyes glowing with a grayish-green haze. Malo's core lit up with a strong, bright red. His emotional state flowed into her vision, revealing every emotion he was currently experiencing.