Rain fell not as water, but as liquid scalpels—each drop precision-engineered by Smart Brain's atmospheric processors to destabilize Orphnoch cellular bonds. Lupus-0 felt his armor sizzle where impacts landed.
The Neuro-Soothe's effects failed in a cascade of neurochemical betrayal:
Dopamine receptors slammed shut (reward pathways disabled)
Amygdala override engaged (fear response amplified 300%)
Mirror neurons systematically fried (empathy circuits incinerated)
His collar erupted in violet coronas, punishing accumulated sins:
- Sharing fire-roasted rabbit (Human saliva detected)
*- Permitting subject to sing (γ-7's lullaby triggers memory engrams)*
*- Allowing embrace (Skin contact exceeds 17.3 seconds)*
Lightning tore the sky. In its strobe flashes, Lupus-0's skeleton elongated under Kaine's Apotheosis Protocol:
Vertebrae stretched like taffy, grinding against spinal implants
Fangs splintered his jawbone, dripping corrosive saliva
Retinas shifted to pure infrared spectrum
He was becoming Predator Zero—the perfect hunting machine.
"PREY DETECTED: LULLABY CATALYST!"
The roar wasn't sound—it was infrasonic terror vibrating at 9 Hz. Trees shattered. Xiao Man's eardrums bled.
She stood unwavering in the maelstrom. Rain plastered her hair against his heaving ribs where γ-7's claw scars formed a constellation. Her arms locked around his neck—not restraining, but anchoring.
"Hush little wolf, don't say a word…"
Her voice merged with thunderclaps, riding Schumann resonances.
"Mommy's bought you a mockingbird…"
His fangs sank into her shoulder.
γ-7's mitochondrial DNA flooded his mouth.
Genetic memory unfolded:
Flashback 1: γ-7 cradling newborn Xiao Man
*Hospital monitors flatlining. Kenji's corpse cooling nearby. γ-7 kisses the baby's brow:*
"You have his eyes... and his stubborn light."
Flashback 2: Kaine's lab six years later
*γ-7 strapped to a chair. Screens show Lupus-0 slaughtering Orphnochs. Kaine whispers:*
"See your daughter's protector? We built him from Kenji's corpse."
Something warm struck his snout.
Xiao Man's tears—each containing quantum-entangled memory particles.*
The Collision:
Tears carried Kenji's cortical patterns (stolen during autopsy)
Contact with γ-7's DNA in blood triggered quantum superposition
Lupus-0's brain became battleground for three consciousnesses
PHANTOM PAIN FLOODED HIS NERVES:
Kenji's death-agony (shrapnel through lungs)
γ-7's grief (holding Kenji's cold hand)
His own birth-trauma (vivisection while conscious)
Blue lightning arced from his eyes—not electricity, but Cherenkov radiation from decaying memory particles.
The wolf howled. Not in rage—in sorrow.
For the first time since Kaine scraped Kenji's cells from a morgue slab—
The monster wept human tears.