The Base Trembled

"Damn it, listen! You have the R Biochemical Agent in your body. I helped develop it myself. It may still be dormant. We can work together. I can make you stronger..."

"Sorry." Russell finally spoke, his voice utterly flat. "You talk too much."

He crooked a finger.

Pfft! Pfft! Pfft!

Three scalpels plunged into Caspin at once, precisely piercing his brain and heart.

Caspin went rigid. Terror and frustration at the words he would never finish lingered on his face as he slowly collapsed beside Conrad and the guard.

Russell gave the bodies no further glance. His gaze shifted to the corner.

Edith, the blonde, blue-eyed assistant, was curled up there with her hands over her head. She trembled like a leaf in an autumn wind, too frightened even to scream.

Russell walked over and, without ceremony, took his detailed paper file from her trembling hands. He flipped through it quickly.

"...R Biochemical Agent. Intended purpose: induce secondary expression of the Mutant Gene to enhance existing abilities or trigger new ones. Known side effects: rapid metabolic exhaustion leading to irreversible, body-wide cellular necrosis. Test subjects typically die within twenty-four hours of their abilities manifesting..."

"So that's it." Understanding flashed through Russell's eyes.

His sudden Superhuman Healing and Psychic Telekinesis had apparently not been granted by the system out of nowhere. They were latent genetic abilities forced to awaken in this body by the lethal pressure of the R Biochemical Agent.

No wonder the original owner had died. The experiment had been a gamble with terrible odds.

As for the cellular necrosis... He glanced at the "Level 3" Superhuman Healing on his panel. Cellular division couldn't keep up with the rate of necrosis? That was only true for ordinary Mutants.

His eyes moved farther down the page. When he reached the description of the genetic sources, his brow furrowed.

"...Genetic donors: Magneto, Erik; Professor X..."

"A failed blend of genes from Magneto, Professor X, and Wolverine... So I have three sets of genes in my body." Russell repeated the words softly, an unreadable smile touching his lips.

Biologically speaking, this body really was an artificial creation of sorts. A genetic construct with no mother or father. An orphan from birth.

His right hand tightened around the stack of papers recording his origins.

When he opened his hand a moment later, the sturdy file, its photographs, and its data tables had become fine shreds that sifted through his fingers.

Pfft!

At almost the same instant, the little finger of his left hand twitched imperceptibly.

Not far away, a bloodstained pair of metal tweezers shot off the floor like a bolt from a ballista. It pierced the throat of a researcher hiding behind a lab bench, just as he reached for a concealed alarm button.

The man clutched his spurting throat, made a few choking sounds, and crumpled.

The surviving researchers in the Laboratory froze. They barely dared to breathe.

Russell approached an older researcher who looked like the team leader. "Where is the central control room for the Mutant Suppression Collars?" he asked calmly. "Which area has the main power supply or master controller?"

With Russell's deadly stare on him and several scalpels floating nearby under Psychic Telekinesis, the man gave him the exact location and details through tears.

A few minutes later, Russell emerged from the Laboratory, now a bloody slaughterhouse. He wore a relatively clean, well-fitting set of casual clothes from Caspin's private locker and carried the ID card taken from Caspin's corpse.

He did not look back. Standing in the corridor, he raised his right hand toward the Laboratory's heavy alloy door and the room beyond it, then gently pressed downward.

Boom!

A muffled crash came with the terrible noise of twisting metal and collapsing concrete.

The structure overhead seemed to be yanked down by an invisible giant hand. The entire reinforced ceiling, along with the pipes and wiring inside it, caved in. It buried the Laboratory, its corpses, its crimes, and its secrets beneath a thick mass of rubble and dust.

Beep! Beep!

Almost the moment the Laboratory collapsed, piercing alarms rang through the underground complex.

In the central surveillance room, several screens instantly dissolved into static, indicating that their corresponding cameras had gone offline.

On the remaining feeds, a pale figure in casual clothes raced down corridor after corridor. Security cameras burst without warning as he passed, scattering sparks.

Heavy sealed doors that required authorization slid open as he approached, as though welcoming their master.

Only when he encountered a few security doors made from special alloys and built with independent mechanisms did he briefly stop to swipe his ID card.

"Sector D, Laboratory Two is completely destroyed! A test subject has escaped! Target is on the second main passage from Sector D to Sector C. Send someone to intercept him, now!" the surveillance operator screamed into his radio.

Within a dozen seconds, the report had climbed the chain of command to the office of the base's supreme commander, Colonel Aaron Connolly.

The base's War Machine sprang into action.

"Seal every exit! Level A alert! Repeat, Level A alert!"

"All noncombat personnel, proceed to the shelters immediately!"

"Armed response units, move to the Sector B–C boundary. Kill the target on sight!"

The cold orders spread across the base through its speakers and communications network.

Heavy blast doors began to descend, sealing off each sector. Fully armed soldiers poured out of their assembly points.

They carried standard-issue M16 Assault Rifles and wore ballistic vests and tactical helmets. They moved quickly and in formation, a far cry from the guards armed only with pistols and batons.

Some squads even carried heavy infantry weapons such as AT4 Rocket Launchers.

By comparison, the ordinary guards who had been patrolling the base could only retreat in panic or join the auxiliary blockade. They looked badly outclassed.

Troops secured the base's main entrances and exits, rapidly setting up firing positions.

Meanwhile, a shrill announcement sounded in the Mutant prisoner quarters:

"All prisoners still outside, crouch down with your hands on your heads immediately. Any hesitation or resistance will be treated as aiding an escape. You will be shot on the spot."

Under the threat of gun barrels and high-voltage stun batons, hundreds of Mutant prisoners wearing Suppression Collars were herded onto the open central parade ground like sheep.

They crouched with their hands over their heads, a dark mass of frightened bodies.

The base's swift, powerful military response filled the eyes of these Mutants, their abilities sealed away, with despair and fear.

If they had not been fitted with those damned collars, if they could use their powers freely, the hundreds of Mutants gathered here might have dared to fight the soldiers. They might even have caused enough chaos to escape.

But now they were lambs awaiting slaughter.

Among the prisoners, some long-time inmates exchanged glances and muttered. Their voices held the numbness of resignation and a trace of resentment toward whoever had caused the commotion.

"Bet it's some hotheaded newcomer who couldn't take it and tried to run..."

"Idiot... Thanks to him, things will be even worse for us over the next few days. They might pull another batch of us for enhancement experiments..."

"Quiet! Shut your mouths! Want to get shot?!"

A nearby soldier's sharp reprimand cut off their whispers.

On the other side of the base's maze of passages, Russell kept moving.

His powerful body carried him at high speed through the labyrinthine complex.

He wielded Psychic Telekinesis with effortless precision, destroying every electronic eye that tried to track him. Obstacles, whether locked doors or suddenly lowered blast barriers, opened under the invisible force.

Only a handful of security doors containing special antimagnetic materials or fitted with independent hydraulic systems made him pause to swipe his card.

[Psychic Telekinesis Control experience +1]

[Psychic Telekinesis Control experience +0.5]

[Psychic Telekinesis Control experience +1]

[Fear Emotion Points +1]

[Admiration Emotion Points +0.2]

In his mind, the system notifications chimed again and again as Emotion Points flowed in, like pleasant background music.