Paris time: August 17, 1998.
Location: Charenton Street, Paris.
Charenton Street lay on the north bank of the Seine River, in the old district in northeastern Paris. Most of the buildings here were low-rise apartment blocks built in the early twentieth century.
Though every part of the street had grown badly run-down, the relatively cheap rent still attracted large numbers of outsiders looking to rent a place here.
As a result, public safety on this street was far worse than in other parts of Paris, and the crime rate remained high.
05:42.
Numerous old cars parked along the street made the already narrow road even more congested, while the streetlights on the sidewalks were still on.
At alley entrances and street corners, plenty of homeless people could be seen in tattered clothes, covered with coats or newspapers.
Most had no legal visas, or had gone bankrupt or lost their jobs for one reason or another. Yet they would rather remain in Paris than return to their war-torn, impoverished homelands.
Just then.
Three black vans appeared on the street.
They were moving slowly, and their engines were quiet. The homeless people along the street barely noticed them.
Before long, the three vans stopped in front of a four-story apartment building at number 26.
Illegal parking.
At this hour, most Parisian police officers were still fast asleep at home, while those on duty were drinking coffee and slacking off.
Unless there was an emergency involving a death, no police would come to this street before ten.
With a whoosh, the sliding door on the right side of the first van opened, and eight fully armed personnel poured out.
They wore matching black combat uniforms, body armor, utility belts, and Mechanical Exoskeletons. They also wore the USS's signature masks with octopus heads.
The USS operatives split into two groups and quickly spread out, covering each other as they approached Apartment 26. They took up positions in front of the main entrance, one group at the front and the other behind.
The USS operative at the head of the group reported in a low voice, "Sir, Alpha has arrived at the designated location. Requesting authorization to proceed."
A few seconds passed.
"Yes, sir. Understood." The USS operative gave a slight nod, ended the call, and ordered his subordinates:
"Team A, follow me inside. Team B, provide support."
With that, the Alpha Team operative's group, Team A, entered the apartment first, followed closely by Team B.
That USS operative was Hunk. Under the leadership of this "Grim Reaper," Alpha Team had come to contain or eliminate the first anomalous phenomenon.
Inside the apartment building were light-brown carpets, white walls with peeling paint, and warm-toned lights that flickered...
All in all, it was just like a run-down apartment building in a horror movie.
Hunk and the other seven members of Alpha Team entered the lobby on the first floor cautiously, keeping their distance from each other. Team A kept watch on the corridor to the left, while Team B did the same on the opposite side.
The moment Alpha Team entered the lobby, they noticed something was wrong.
The security office on the left side of the lobby was empty. All the doors to the first-floor apartments stood open, and a strange, low noise could be heard...
A shrill sound, like fingernails deliberately scraping across a blackboard or a knife and fork scraping over an empty plate.
The eerie atmosphere made Hunk and the others even more cautious. Their hands tightened around their guns.
After observing the area for a moment,
Hunk raised his left hand to signal that they should abandon the split-up approach and search the corridor on the left together, with Team A in front and Team B covering their rear.
After giving the order, Hunk and Team A hurried to the first open apartment door, with Team B following closely behind to cover them.
Standing at the far right of the doorway, Hunk first signaled for everyone to hold position. Then he took a small mirror from the pouch on his left hip to check inside the apartment.
Through the mirror, Hunk saw a family of three sitting at a dining table by the window, "eating."
They were from the Middle East, and their clothes were old and worn. The husband and wife looked to be around thirty, while their daughter was about ten.
However...
The couple's skin was deathly pale, and their expressions were vacant. Holding knives and forks, they mechanically mimed cutting food on their empty plates.
The shrill noise came from them.
As for the little girl, she was curled up on a chair, staring at her parents in terror. Tear tracks streaked her cheeks, and her eyes were bloodshot. She was nodding off, but she didn't dare fall asleep.
Seeing this, Hunk's brow furrowed beneath his mask. Even the ever-unflappable "Grim Reaper" felt uneasy.
He adjusted the mirror's angle. There was no sign of any threat within view.
Hunk then put away the mirror and signaled that Team A would breach the first apartment in three seconds, eliminate any possible threats, and restrain the family of three.
Since taking action would inevitably give them away, Hunk didn't order them to stay quiet. Instead, he raised his left hand and began counting down...
Three,
two,
one!
As he counted down to "one," Hunk gripped his gun again and rushed into the apartment with Team A.
Team B moved up to the main entrance. While Team A cleared the room, Team B would watch for anything happening in the corridor.
Thud, thud! In an instant, the heavy thump of military boots echoed through the entire corridor. After all, there was no carpet inside the apartment.
"Clear!"
"Clear!"
Two Alpha Team members called out loudly from inside, their voices muffled by their "octopus" masks.
"Ah!!" The little girl let out a piercing scream.
The moment they charged into the room, Hunk and one Alpha Team operative aimed their guns at the family of three, while the other two checked the bedroom and bathroom.
It was a small apartment with one bedroom and one living room.
In just a few seconds, Team A confirmed that there was no one else inside.
"Hands up! You hear me?! Hands up and lie face down on the floor!" The Alpha Team operative standing to Hunk's left shouted at the family.
At the sound of his voice,
The terrified little girl saw the men who had burst into her home. They looked like the police officers on TV, so she obediently raised her hands, climbed down from her seat, and lay face down on the floor beside the dining table.
Her parents, however, continued making meaningless cutting motions.
"Hands up..."
"That's enough." Seeing that the couple weren't complying, the Alpha Team operative was about to shout again, but Hunk gently stopped him.
Because the couple had finally stopped cutting and turned their heads toward the operative at the same time.
!
The movement made the Alpha Team operative shudder involuntarily.
He was just creeped out, not afraid.
"Roar!" (x2)
Suddenly!
The couple let out low growls, thrust out their hands, and sprang from their seats, charging at the Alpha Team operative.
Bam! Bam! Bam!
Thud! Thud!
Amid the crisp sound of rapid gunfire, Hunk and the others took down the couple with a few shots. They had gone "berserk" for reasons unknown, and their bodies hit the floor with a heavy thud.
"Papa! Mama!"
Seeing her parents die for the second time, the little girl ignored Alpha Team's earlier orders. She scrambled across the floor to the two bodies and burst into anguished sobs.