Chapter 4 — The Hunger in the Dark
The creature slammed Kael into the stone.
The world spun. Sparks burst across his visor as the V.I.P.E.R. absorbed the impact, plating rippling to cushion him before snapping back into shape.
[Warning: hostile strain attempting interface.]
[Permission to counter-infect?]
"Do it."
Kael shoved the thing off him. The armor pulsed — veins of red surging outward, latching onto the creature's warped plating. The corrupted drone shrieked, its voice a mixture of circuitry and something… alive.
More footsteps echoed in the dark.
Three shapes crawled from the walls — not walking, but clinging like insects, their limbs twisted, armor fused with sinew. Dominion implants. V.I.P.E.R. contamination. The nightmare the Dominion tried to breed into obedience.
Mira's voice wavered. "Kael—there are more."
He didn't look back. "Stay with the others. And don't look away from the tunnel mouth."
She hesitated. "What about you?"
Kael flexed his hand; the liquid blade shimmered into existence.
"I'll finish what they started."
The Cost of Power
He charged.
Red light streaked across the cavern floor as Kael slammed into the nearest creature. His blade tore through its mutated armor, but the creature didn't fall — instead, its skin rippled and reformed.
[Target regenerating. Host must sever neural core.]
"How?"
[Aim below the sternum. Left side.]
Kael drove his blade there — the creature convulsed and collapsed.
The second leapt, talons ripping into Kael's visor. The symbiote sealed instinctively over the crack. He grabbed the creature by the throat and hurled it into the cavern wall, shattering stone.
Mira watched, frozen between awe and horror.
He wasn't fighting like a soldier.
He was fighting like a predator.
When Power Fights Back
As the last creature lunged, Kael caught its arm—
But this one didn't try to tear him apart.
It tried to merge.
Black strands of nanotech slithered from its plating toward Kael's armor, burrowing like roots seeking soil.
The V.I.P.E.R. spasmed.
[Host override rejected.]
[Foreign protocol attempting symbiote control.]
Kael's vision blurred. He saw flashes not of combat, but memory—
A sterile room.
A metal cradle.
A voice: "Subject 47-A: neural compatibility—promising."
A sensation surged through him, like drowning standing up.
"Get—off—me!"
He slammed his fist, armored, through the creature's skull. The corrupted nanotech dissolved into ash.
Kael collapsed to one knee, gasping. Sweat dripped down his jaw.
Mira rushed toward him. "Kael—Kael, talk to me."
He looked up.
The red in his eyes faded—but not completely.
"I'm fine."
[Statement inaccurate. Neurological load at 93%.]
She cupped his face, trying to see past the cracked visor. "You're burning up. That thing—what it tried to do—"
"It tried to overwrite me," he said, voice low. "It wanted control."
Mira swallowed. "And did it?"
Kael stood with effort. The armor shifted, defensive and alert, like a living creature listening to the dark.
"Not yet."
The Entrance to the Heart
At the far end of the cavern, a circular vault door began to glow.
The blue circuitry along the walls pulsed brighter, reacting not to touch—
But to Kael.
[V.I.P.E.R. key signature recognized.]
[Primary access unlocked.]
The vault opened.
Every light in the cavern went out.
Blackness swallowed them. The only illumination was the pulsing red from Kael's armor.
Mira whispered, "What did you just do?"
Kael stared into the vast chamber beyond — shadows shifting, something massive suspended in the center, wrapped in cables and containment rings.
"I didn't open it."
He took a step forward.
"It opened for me."
Inside the Vault
The chamber was cathedral-sized. At its center floated a sphere—smooth, obsidian, carved with lines of pale blue light that shifted like constellations.
Mira's voice trembled. "Kael… what is that?"
The armor responded before he could.
[Designation: V.I.P.E.R. PRIME.]
[Origin: Pre-Dominion.]
[Purpose: integration with command host.]
Kael frowned. "Command host?"
Mira looked at him sharply. "Kael… they didn't just give you the armor. They bred you for it."
He didn't answer. Couldn't.
Because the sphere spoke—not in words, but in his mind.
Kael.
He froze.
The voice was familiar.
You were not the experiment.
The chamber throbbed with power.
You were the plan.
Kael stumbled back, bile rising in his throat.
Mira caught his arm. "Don't listen to it—"
He jerked away, shaking. "This thing has been in my head. Since before I knew it existed."
The sphere pulsed brighter.
Integration beginning.
[Warning: forced synchronization detected.]
[Host neural autonomy at risk.]
Kael staggered, clawing at the sides of his helmet. "Stop—get out of my head—"
Mira grabbed him, gripping the plating over his heart. "Kael! Look at me. You choose who you are. Not them. Not this thing."
For a moment, the red glow dimmed.
Kael's breathing steadied.
He wasn't a weapon.
He wasn't an experiment.
He was Kael.
And he finally understood:
The Dominion hadn't lost control of Project V.I.P.E.R.
They'd never had control in the first place.
He lowered his voice to a growl.
A promise.
"I'm not your host."
Kael reached for the blade.
"I'm your mistake."