The guards stepped aside.
(Metal boots scraped against the deck — clink, clink — silence followed.)
Dr. Shen knelt beside Yoo, opened the kit.
"Let me see your hand."
Yoo extended his broken fingers.
She examined them with professional detachment.
"Three fractures. Clean breaks. I can set them, but it'll hurt."
"Do it."
(Snap.)
She worked quickly. Each reset felt like lightning through his arm.
Yoo's jaw clenched but he didn't make a sound.
"Pain threshold increasing. Adaptive Evolution responding. Estimating: full heal in 36 hours."
Dr. Shen wrapped his fingers in a splint, then pulled out an injector.
"Painkiller."
"What kind?"
"Synthetic morphine. Won't interfere with your seed integration."
"I don't want it."
She paused.
"The pain will be significant."
"I know."
"Stubborn." She put the injector away. "Your choice."
As she worked, Yoo studied her face — tired lines around her eyes, hands that shook slightly. Someone who hadn't slept well in days.
"You don't agree with this," he said quietly.
"It's not my place to agree or disagree. I follow orders."
"Orders to help murder seven people."
Her hands stilled.
"It's not murder. It's... advancement. Necessary sacrifice."
"Tell yourself that if it helps you sleep."
(Silence hung in the air — faint hum of the engines underneath.)
Dr. Shen finished the bandaging in silence. She packed her kit, stood.
At the door, she paused.
"For what it's worth," she said without turning, "I hope the Primordials show mercy. When they come through. Because we probably don't deserve it."
She left.
The guards returned to their positions.
(Metallic thud. Door sealed shut.)
Yoo leaned back against the cold wall and closed his eyes.
Akasha Archive, full analysis. Everything we know about the situation.
"Acknowledged. Processing..."
(A low hum filled his mind — data threads snapping together.)
Data flooded his mind. Every conversation. Every detail. Building a complete picture.
Crucible had five recipients secured. Yoo was six. Subject 31 still missing. They needed all seven for the ritual to work.
The vessel would anchor at a convergence point in sixty hours.
Factions were tearing Seoul apart searching for recipients who weren't there.
Someone had warned Captain Lee about "opening a door."
Zhao had given him Serpent's Venom to fake death, but it was gone now.
All paths lead to the same conclusion. I'm going to die in sixty hours.
Unless—
A thought crystallized.
Unless Subject 31 stays missing. No seventh recipient means no ritual. Crucible can't complete it. They'd have to abort or delay.
Can I make that happen? Ensure 31 stays hidden?
"Unknown. Subject 31's location is not in any accessed database. Probability Crucible finds her before convergence: 73%."
Not good enough.
Yoo needed better odds.
He needed to escape this boat.
Find Subject 31 first.
Hide her somewhere Crucible would never look.
That's impossible. I'm forty kilometers offshore, injuries, minimal strength, unknown number of enemies.
"Correct assessment. Current escape probability: 0.7%."
Then I improve the probability. One step at a time.
Yoo opened his eyes and studied the room again with enhanced perception.
The bolted furniture. The metal walls. The door hinges. The guards' positions. The porthole. The faint hum of water flow through pipes. The low rumble of the engine. The whisper of air circulation.
Everything was data.
Everything could be used.
Akasha Archive, if I create a distraction — fire, explosion, structural damage — what's the crew's likely response?
"Emergency protocols: evacuate non-essential personnel, secure critical systems, investigate source. Estimated response time: 4-7 minutes. During chaos, guard attention divides."
Windows of opportunity.
Yoo's gaze landed on the sink. Industrial-grade pipes. Connected to the vessel's water system. Which connected to engine cooling. Which ran through the generator room.
Old boats like this used diesel generators. Fuel lines. Electrical systems. All close together.
All flammable.
If I rupture the cooling system, generator overheats. Creates smoke. Sets off alarms. Crew responds to the generator room.
While they're distracted, I escape this room. Find something—anything—that gives me better odds.
It's a terrible plan. Probability of success is still under five percent.
But five percent is better than point-seven percent.
Yoo settled back and began counting.
(Tap. Tap. Tap.) Pipe vibrations. Engine rhythms. Guard shift changes. Air circulation cycles.
Building a mental map of this vessel.
Finding weaknesses.
Because in sixty hours, Crucible would kill him.
But between now and then, he had time.
And time was something Yoo had learned to weaponize.
Seoul - Abandoned Subway Station - Platform 7 - 12:03 PM
(Dripping water echoed. Flickering lights buzzed overhead.)
Captain Lee descended into darkness.
The old subway had been abandoned after the third dungeon breach. Too dangerous to repair. Too expensive to demolish. So it sat, forgotten, beneath Seoul's bright streets.
His footsteps echoed on cracked tiles. Emergency lights flickered, powered by who-knew-what. Water dripped somewhere.
"You came."
Lee spun. Hand on his weapon.
(Footstep. A figure emerged from the shadows.)
Park stepped forward — Senior Investigator from Crucible. But he looked different: disheveled, paranoid. Eyes darting.
"You said you had proof."
"I do." Park pulled out a data chip. His hand shook. "Everything. The real Damascus Protocol. Not the leaked version — the complete file. Including Step Five."
Lee took the chip carefully.
"Where did you get this?"
"Dr. Chen. Before he died. He copied it. Knew something was wrong. Gave it to me for safekeeping."
Park laughed, high and brittle.
"Fat lot of good it did him."
"Why give it to me?"
"Because Hunter Association has to know. Has to understand what's actually happening." Park grabbed Lee's jacket. "They're not extracting seeds. They're opening a rift. Bringing Primordials through. Kwan's gone insane — thinks he can negotiate with beings that view us as insects."
Lee's blood went cold.
"Where is he doing this?"
"Offshore. International waters. Beyond legal jurisdiction." Park's grip tightened. "He has five recipients already. Taking the sixth now. Only needs one more."
"Subject 31."
"She's hiding. Smart girl. Figured out something was wrong. Went underground three days ago." Park released him. "Find her. Keep her hidden. No seventh recipient means no ritual. It's the only way to stop this."
"How do I find her?"
"I don't know. She's trained — former military, specialized in evasion. Could be anywhere." Park backed away. "But you have to try. Because if Kwan completes that ritual, if he opens that door..."
He trailed off.
"What comes through?" Lee asked.
Park's face was pale in the flickering light.
"I don't know. But Dr. Chen's last words before they killed him — he said 'the Serpent is already here. Has been for centuries. Ritual doesn't summon it. Ritual feeds it.'"
"What does that mean?"
"I don't know! I'm a field investigator, not a dimensional theorist!" Park was nearly shouting now.
"Just find Subject 31. Stop the ritual. Please."
He turned and ran into the darkness.
(His footsteps faded... echoing until only the dripping water remained.)
Lee stood alone on the platform, chip heavy in his hand.
His communicator buzzed.
PRIORITY: SUBJECT 23 EXTRACTION FAILED. SUBJECT KILLED EXTRACTION TEAM. 6 HUNTERS DEAD. SUBJECT ESCAPED.
Then another message:
SUBJECT 45 LOCATION CONFIRMED. AZURE SKY SYNDICATE REFUSING CUSTODY TRANSFER. ARMED STANDOFF. REQUESTING BACKUP.
The faction war was escalating.
And somewhere offshore, Crucible was preparing to tear open reality.
Lee pocketed the chip and headed for the surface.
He needed to find Subject 31.
Before Crucible did.