Chapter 4: Synthetic War
The Underground shook like thunder.
Metal screamed. Drones rained from the cracks in the ceiling — black shells splitting open to reveal humanoid enforcers with blades for arms and scanners glowing red. BioCrown's logo shimmered faintly across their chests, pulsing like a heartbeat.
Kai stood at the front of Vex's lab, claws sparking with gold light.
[Host Threat Level: Critical]
[Evolution Drive: Unstable – Activating Reflex Overload]
Vex slammed his fist on the console. "Don't fight them head-on! Your system isn't ready!"
Kai smirked. "Then it'll learn faster."
The first drone lunged. Kai met it mid-air — his arm splitting into streaks of molten light. He moved too fast for the human eye, cutting through steel like it was paper. Sparks exploded across the room.
He ducked, spun, kicked another drone into the ceiling. Its limbs folded inward and detonated.
The blast threw Kai backward. He hit the wall hard, coughing blood. His body was adapting — but the pain was unreal.
[New Adaptation Detected: Shock Absorption – 12% Integration]
Kai grinned through the pain. "Now we're talking."
Outside the lab, a deeper hum filled the air — lower, heavier, almost alive.
Vex's face went pale. "They sent a Synthetic."
From the tunnel emerged a figure twice Kai's size — human shape, but skin of liquid metal. Its voice echoed through the chaos:
"Subject Kai Draven. Return the Apex Algorithm and you will not be terminated."
Kai spat blood. "Sorry, I already installed it."
The Synthetic tilted its head. "Then you are classified as contamination."
It moved faster than a bullet — a blur of silver. Kai barely blocked the strike, claws clashing against alloy. The impact sent shockwaves through the tunnel.
He stumbled back, arm smoking. "Okay… that hurt."
[Critical Damage Detected – Initiating Emergency Evolution]
[Warning: Genetic Stability Falling Below 50%]
Gold light burst from Kai's chest, flooding the tunnel. His wounds sealed instantly. His eyes glowed brighter, his skin crackling with shifting energy.
The Synthetic scanned him again — its robotic tone faltering.
"Impossible… live mutation exceeds projected limits."
Kai lunged. His claws sliced through the Synthetic's chest, ripping through circuitry and bone. Sparks filled the air like fireworks.
The creature staggered, voice glitching. "The Apex… cannot be… contained…"
Then it exploded into a cloud of molten metal.
Kai stood in the aftermath, panting, rainwater dripping through the cracked ceiling. His skin shimmered with golden veins pulsing like circuits.
Vex stared, wide-eyed. "You just adapted mid-battle. That's… not evolution, that's rewriting physics."
Kai looked down at his hand — trembling, glowing, alive. "Yeah," he said quietly. "And I don't think it's stopping."
Far above the city, in a dark glass tower, a woman in a white suit watched the battle through a drone feed.
Her eyes glowed the same gold as Kai's.
"Finally," she whispered. "The Algorithm woke up."