**CHAPTER 26: **
The abandoned subway tunnels exhaled the scent of ozone and decay as Seun's boots crunched over shattered containment pods. Blue-tinged fluid seeped between the cracks in the concrete, its glow casting eerie reflections on the rusted train carcasses. His HUD—a simple tactical visor provided by Ascendant Legion—registered no life signs, but the crawling sensation between his shoulder blades told him otherwise.
*"Target last spotted in Sector 7-G's central hub,"* the mission briefing had stated. *"Retrieve research data. Eliminate all witnesses."*
A shuffling noise to his left.
Seun didn't turn. His knife was already flying before the figure fully emerged from the shadows—a gaunt woman in a tattered lab coat, her eyes wide with panic. The blade buried itself in the wall millimeters from her temple.
"Dr. Ilsa Vorn." Seun's voice echoed in the cavernous space. "You're harder to find than your file suggested."
The woman pressed herself against the dripping concrete, her breath coming in ragged gasps. "You're not with *them*." Her fingers twitched toward something hidden in her sleeve. "Your eyes don't... glow."
Seun's system flared to life, invisible to all but him:
**[SUBJECT ANALYSIS]**
**- Elevated adrenaline levels**
**- Neural implants detected (temporal lobe)**
**- Trace radiation: Lazarus-class containment breach**
He took a measured step forward. "Who's hunting you?"
The answer came in the form of crimson laser dots appearing on both their chests.
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### **BLOODMOON'S GAMBIT**
The first shot shattered a glass pod behind them. Seun moved instinctively, his body a blur as he tackled Vorn behind a collapsed support beam. High-caliber rounds chewed through the metal where they'd stood moments before.
"Stay down."
His system mapped the attackers' positions through the gunfire—three operatives in advanced tactical armor, their visors displaying the Bloodmoon Citadel insignia. Standard issue plasma rifles. No energy signatures that could detect his abilities.
*Good.*
Seun's hand found a rusted pipe. His system calculated trajectory, wind resistance, and the exact force needed.
The pipe flew like a missile, striking the lead operative's throat with crushing precision. As the man gagged, Seun was already moving—
—a shadow-cloaked dash across the open space—
—a brutal elbow to the second operative's visor, shattering the reinforced glass—
—a disarming twist that left the third shooter's own rifle pressed against his temple.
"Who ordered the hit?" Seun demanded.
The operative spat blood onto his boots. "Like we'd tell a Legion dog—"
The man's neural implant *exploded*, spraying gray matter across the tracks.
Seun barely had time to register the other two operatives collapsing with identical head wounds before Vorn screamed.
"It's the *protocol*! They can't be allowed to talk!"
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### **THE DOCTOR'S SECRET**
In the sudden silence, the dripping fluids sounded like gunshots. Vorn trembled as she pried open a hidden panel in her wrist, revealing a pulsating data chip.
"This is why they're hunting me," she whispered. "Bloodmoon's been experimenting with psionic amplification. But something's *wrong* with the test subjects." Her fingers hovered over the chip. "Their implants... they start *changing* them."
Seun's system analyzed the chip's energy signature:
**[DATA ANALYSIS]**
**- Neural reprogramming sequences detected**
**- 78% match to Monarch-class energy patterns**
**- Corruption risk: HIGH]**
He grabbed her wrist. "You're coming with me."
The explosion rocked the tunnel before she could respond.
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### **ASCENDANT'S SANCTUARY**
Kael Veynard studied the data chip through an electromagnetic containment field, his armored fingers tracing the holographic readouts. "Fascinating," he murmured. "Bloodmoon's always been reckless, but this..."
Seun stood motionless by the observation window, watching the medical team sedate Vorn in the next room. "They're not just experimenting. They're being *altered*."
"By what?" Kael deactivated the field, pocketing the chip. "That's the real question." He turned, his violet eyes sharp. "You'll depart for the Pacific facility at dawn. Full discretion. Whatever you find stays between us."
Seun's system—silent, invisible, utterly undetectable—flared with new mission parameters:
**[NEW OBJECTIVE]**
**- Investigate Bloodmoon Pacific Division**
**- Recover intact neural implants**
**- Eliminate all traces of Monarch-class contamination**
As Kael left, Seun's shadow stretched unnaturally long across the floor—not from the room's lighting, but from something deeper. Something waking.
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