*Hiehie!*
Looking at it, Ren felt something turn over in his stomach. He couldn't look anymore. The sight of it was wrong in a way that went past fear.
*Pshh.*
Another sound, somewhere to the side, getting closer — like disturbing a hive, infected creatures picking up the noise one after another, converging on their position.
"Hey! I'll cover your escape!"
Serein had already reached the short corridor toward the stairs. She called back to him, her voice clear but strained — clearly not accustomed to yelling, the words coming out less urgent than she probably intended.
On his way up he cut deliberately through a cluster of chairs, hoping it might slow something down.
*Clang.*
Furniture overturning behind him. A small, involuntary smile pulled at the corner of his mouth — a few more seconds, at least.
Then something slid cold up his spine.
A foul stench hit him, thick and sudden, before he could even register the movement — and his vision went dark at the edges.
He spun.
A gaping maw filled his entire field of vision, closing in from every side. A disordered mass of teeth packed every corner of it, flesh pulsing between them like something alive, saliva strung between the rows like cobwebs. Above the hard ridge of its face, a blood-red eye stared directly at him.
The infected with the oversized arm. A second ago it had been across the room.
Distorted pleasure crossed its eye as its jaw snapped down.
Force like a hydraulic press, converging on every tooth. Metal would buckle under that. Flesh and blood wouldn't stand a chance.
*Whoosh!!*
Air blasted outward on both sides. A sharp luminescence, bright as drawn blades, sliced in from above.
In the face of it, everything lost color. Plans and futures dissolved like morning mist.
But somewhere deep in his mind, in a place he couldn't see — a door trembled. Swirling mist surged behind it, something pressing urgently against the other side.
*Creak…*
Then, just as suddenly — stillness.
"Ren!!"
A pattern like cascading water rose to meet the closing jaws, driving air outward in a sustained roar that filled the hall with the sound of howling wind. For a fraction of a second it hung there — an inverted waterfall suspended in nothing, holding death in place long enough for a hand to close around his arm and pull.
"What are you doing!!"
---
Asylia's voice, sharp and breathless. Her arms burned with that strange blue tide — like illusory fire clinging to her suit, her inhuman eyes locked onto his through the visor, fierce and focused.
She hauled him upright and dragged him toward Serein.
Behind them, something howled — a distorted, fractured sound too close to laughter. It seemed *excited*, like it had found something that could actually fight back. Its torn mouth was already knitting closed as it sank low, bringing itself level with them.
"Hiehie~ Po…wer!… food… Power!"
Unlike the others, this one had something behind its eyes. Not intelligence exactly — but something shaped like it, half-formed, dangerous the way a knife in the wrong hands is dangerous. Similar, in a way, to the first infected Ren had encountered. Kyle.
It grinned, then crawled — limbs bent at wrong angles but coiled with power — and launched itself forward faster than Asylia could run.
Ren snapped out of his daze and grabbed her arm, urging her faster.
She'd already thrown him over her shoulder like he weighed nothing.
"I know!"
She answered before he said a word, breathless, eyes fixed on the path ahead. He didn't have time to feel embarrassed. He pressed his fingers together, aimed straight at the creature's eyes, and fired.
*Pew.*
He pushed as much aether as he could manage — more than he'd ever pushed at once, faster, tighter. It hit true, punching a small wound just below the eye. The creature barely slowed before it was moving again, faster than before.
Behind them, the bulbous-headed infected had broken free of Serein's ice and turned toward them, rage in its pale eyes.
His pupils contracted at the sight of it.
But Asylia hit the corridor entrance ahead of the creature's reach and threw herself through.
*Bang.*
Serein was already waiting. She slammed the button on the wall beside her, and a panel of heavy material ground shut across the corridor entrance just as something massive hit the other side — a fortunate design, emergency doors built to seal off corridor sections in case of flooding, scattered at key intersections throughout the restaurant.
The door shuddered once but held.
Loud impacts rang out from behind it, overlaid with a creeping laugh that slowly distorted into furious roaring, then violent rhythmic shaking. Two voices tangled together behind the door, fighting over it.
"So close."
At some point Ren had gotten himself off Asylia's shoulder. She was rubbing hers, rotating it carefully.
He stepped back and drew slow, deliberate breaths until his pulse started to cooperate.
"I almost died. Shit." He murmured it to himself, voice uneven, hands trembling with a fine tremor he couldn't quite will away — and beneath it a strange current of energy humming through his limbs. *Adrenaline.* He knew that much. The fear hadn't finished with him yet. He glanced down at his feet, still shaking.
"Hey."
A hand landed hard on his shoulder, straightening him up. Serein stepped beside him and looked through his visor, directly at his face.
"Ren. Calm down. Your wound is bleeding again."
She'd already guessed he was injured — the blood wasn't a surprise. A brief look told her it wasn't severe.
"I understand. Thank you."
If he could have seen himself in a mirror at that moment, he would have been shocked. The run had made it worse — blood and sweat mixing together on one side of his face, creeping toward his eyebrow.
Serein nodded slightly, looking forward again.
"Cough — cough — no time for that. Let's keep moving."
Asylia's voice came from behind them, strained but steady. She was pulling herself up off the ground, the blue fire over her arm gone out, leaving it hanging limply at her side. She winced, gritted her teeth, and pushed herself upright, already moving her eyes toward the path ahead — prioritizing getting out over being taken care of.
Guilt moved through him. He opened his mouth to say something — he wasn't sure what.
A finger stopped him. Serein shook her head, quiet and calm.
"Hush."
Asylia glanced at the time. "The train should be close by now. Or maybe…" She paused. "…already there." Either way. "Let's go."
After a moment, they moved on.
"Asylia — is your arm okay?" He kept his voice low, glancing around the corner as they moved.
Now that the adrenaline was settling, he could take in the corridor properly. Strange vines crept along the walls, thicker at the upper right corner where the growth bulged outward, its silhouette faint in the bioluminescent glow. This stretch sat close to the outer hull — walls heavy and dense, built to hold back the ocean.
Asylia touched her arm through the suit, her face a shade paler than usual. "It hurts. I think it's bruised." A pause. "Hm. If you weren't so slow—" She cut herself off, a short irritable sound escaping her. "Sorry. I'm sorry."
Ren apologized without hesitation — and meant it. He had aether now, had something that was supposed to matter, and still he'd needed to be carried out of there like a child. "I've been useless this whole time. But I swear — if there's ever a moment when you need me, I'll be there. The same way you've been there for me."
He said it plainly, without drama. Just the truth of it.
Something that had been sitting wrong in her chest quietly eased. The frown smoothed out and Asylia smiled — small, a little reluctant.
"There actually is something you can do right now."
"What is it?"
"Can you… massage my arm? Just—" She gestured at her left arm hanging at her side and tried, unsuccessfully, to lift it.
"Yes. Of course."
Serein stepped in before either of them could move, taking Asylia's arm without asking. "Let me do it." She glanced over at Ren. "As for you — rest. Conserve your energy. We still have a long way to go." A gentle nudge of her shoulder pushed him aside.
Ren smiled helplessly at Asylia.
With nothing else to do, he opened the panel and glanced down — just briefly, meaning to close it again — but his eyes stilled.
Below his name, a line of text sat distinct and eerie, written in red-green that didn't belong with the rest.
*Unknown influence… to be detected?*
*Click.*
*Analyzing... Insufficient...*
*Influence name: "Earthly Red Tide"*
*Effect: ???*
"What's the use of analyzing if the answer is just question marks."
He was speechless for a moment, then let out a slow breath. Still — better than nothing.
*So what the hell is this?*
He frowned, then flinched at the pain the expression cost him. He didn't feel anything amiss right now, and some unfounded part of him was certain the panel wasn't lying — that whatever this was, it just wasn't detectable yet. Thinking about it here was pointless. The situation wasn't suited for investigation.
Ahead of them, the stairs to the second floor came into view.
"Nobody really takes stairs anymore," Asylia said, something almost fond in her voice. "Everyone uses elevators."
"Who knows — turns out they're actually useful sometimes."
She chuckled and stepped onto the first stair.
Serein raised her eyes toward the landing above, scanning. Nothing visible. But when she closed her eyes, she caught something — faint, at the edge of perception. Something like breathing.
She glanced back to confirm it wasn't coming from either of them.
"I can hear something."