The room with the holographic heart had felt like something out of a twisted sci‑fi horror film. An evil secret basement lab hidden beneath the world. But now Hana understood it was only one room inside this impossibly enormous castle.
And the castle itself…
It felt older than the apocalypse.
Older than the infection.
Older than anything she remembered.
The room she had just peeked into before stepping away looked like a scene straight from a nightmare. But then again, this was the apocalypse so what did she expect?
Still… she wondered where she was.
And how she got here.
Hana approached a wall that shouldn't have a room behind it. She pressed her palm to the stone and shifted the atomic structure, turning it transparent.
Her heart leapt.
Beyond the wall was… water.
Dark, endless water.
A vast ocean pressing against the castle walls.
But the water wasn't blue.
It wasn't even black.
It was tinged with a strong red.
A deep, murky, unsettling red, like the sky after the world fell into ruin. Infection had turned the atmosphere crimson; maybe it had seeped into the oceans too.
But if this was the apocalypse everyone imagined in books and movies…
Where were the monsters?
She hadn't seen a single one.
Not a creature.
Not a mutant.
Not even a shadow.
Unless…
Her mind flicked back to the strange room she'd glimpsed earlier.
Could those things be monsters?
It was a ridiculous thought.
But she needed to know.
Her radioactivity flared, ripping the heavy lock off the door with a sharp metallic crack. She pushed the door open slowly, stepping inside.
Immediately, her skin shifted color. Darkening, and turning bluish in shade. The air felt wrong. Heavy. Distorted.
This room…
It had a strange effect on everything inside it.
No wonder it looked terrifying.
The room was square-shaped, with a dark window on the left side, so dark she couldn't see through it. A chandelier hung above, dripping with inverted black light. Small square paintings lined the back and right walls, their colors warped and unnatural. Vases of sinister-looking flowers sat around the room, petals glowing faintly.
And in front of her…
Three wide rows of teddy bears sat neatly on cascading stairs on the floor.
Staring at her.
Their mild smiles felt anything but mild.
Everything was dark, tinted with cool blues and greens. The colors glowed faintly, like bioluminescent nightmares. She thought right. Everything inside was inverted in color.
Even her.
Her skin was darkened.
Her hair was blue.
She could sense her eyes glowing like cold white fire.
She stepped onto the checker-tiled floor, her radioactivity flaring around her in warning. Her footsteps echoed sharply, bouncing off the walls.
The teddy bears' whitened eyes followed her.
She approached a larger one, lifting it with a swirl of radioactivity. Its button eyes stared into hers.
Something inside her dropped.
A cold, sinking feeling of despair.
She shuddered, suddenly aware of several presences all around her. Watching… And waiting…
She had never felt this terrified. Not even when she was locked up. Not even when she lost control.
Her radioactivity always protected her.
But here…
Here, something felt stronger.
She turned slowly, dread crawling up her spine.
And came face-to-face with something floating in the air.
Teddy bears.
Dozens of them.
Clinging to the high corners of the room.
Hovering midair.
Staring at her with those glowing, white and inverted eyes.
Her breath caught.
Then a sound tore through the air.
A rip.
She snapped her head back to the bear she was holding.
Its stitched mouth had torn open, ripping itself apart, and it inched toward her neck. She could see a vast darkness inside, deep and endless.
Hana's entire body froze.
A chill shot through her veins.
Her eyes widened in pure terror.
Her radioactivity reacted before she could think.
A violent burst exploded outward, silent but devastating. The room glitched, colors flickering like broken pixels. The floating bears detonated midair, dissolving into nothingness. The bear she held vanished instantly.
Hana staggered back, breathing shakily.
Then her heart dropped.
Miyu.
Her shoulder was empty.
The little metallic creature was gone.
Panic surged through her. She spun around, eyes darting.
And she saw a dark shadow in the doorway.
It stood still.
Watching.
Waiting.
Her vision blurred for a moment, and the shadow vanished.
Hana didn't wait.
She rushed out of the room, slamming the door shut behind her. Her legs gave out and she collapsed to the floor, trembling.
"What… was that…?" she whispered.
She moved her head to look skyward and jolted when something drifted down toward her.
A piece of parchment.
It fluttered gently, then bounced off her head.
"Ow—"
She touched her scalp, confused, and watched the parchment roll to a stop in front of her.
…Huh?