The tunnel's collapse wasn't just rockfall—it was the world crushing in. Lupus-0 threw himself over Xiao Man as granite slabs sheared the air where her head had been. Dust choked his vents, but the girl's whimper cut through the roar:
*"...ankle... hurts..."*
**Agony detonated in his own right leg.** Bone armor spiderwebbed with a sickening *crack*, mirroring the unnatural angle of Xiao Man's swollen joint. He collapsed, claws gouging trenches in stone.
*"Pain synesthesia—"* γ-7's ghost-voice whispered, not in his ears but in the marrow of his bones. Memory surged:
*Sterile light. γ-7 strapped to a steel altar, wings splayed like specimens. Chief Kaine's polished boots clicked beside monitors showing Lupus-0's vital signs. "Observe," Kaine purred. "Subject γ-7's pain threshold spiking. Now apply stimulus to offspring Unit Xiao Man."*
*On screen: Xiao Man, six years old, strapped to a chair as electrodes kissed her temples. A doll was incinerated before her eyes. Her scream became a physical blade—γ-7's left wing snapped like dry wood, spraying phosphorescent blood across Kaine's white coat.*
Present time: Xiao Man tore a strip from her tattered skirt. Her small hands trembled as she wound the fabric around his cracked tibia armor. "Tighter?" she whispered. "Mommy said pressure helps..."
Warmth bloomed beneath her touch—a foreign sensation that momentarily dulled the edge of agony.
**
**
He roared, ripping the collar's alarm module free. Crushed it in his fist like a rotten fruit.
As he lifted Xiao Man, γ-7's final memories flooded his synapses:
*Kaine adjusting dials on an emotion extractor. Screens displayed Xiao Man's brainwaves—vibrant gold as she soared on a park swing. "Pure joy output," Kaine mused. "But imagine the yield when we make her fear for her life daily. An Orphnoch child's terror... priceless."*
*γ-7 strained against restraints. "We had a deal!"*
*"And you'll see it honored." Kaine plunged a syringe into her neck. Serum like liquid shadow spread through her veins. "When Project Lullaby concludes, humanity won't be exterminated—they'll be farmed. Eternal batteries dreaming in pods, feeding us their sweet, sweet despair."*
Ahead, blue phosphorescence coalesced. γ-7's spectral form flickered, one wing missing where memory had shattered it. Her voice echoed from everywhere and nowhere:
*"Vent shaft... twelve o'clock... livestock truck bound for Wind City..."*
Her form dissolved into fireflies. Beyond the rusted vent cover, diesel engines thrummed like a mechanical heartbeat.
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