Chapter 45: Chapter 9.7: Research Lab Part 4 With their supplies inventoried and their skills sharpened, the team gathered once more in the center of the lounge. They began packing their backpacks, each person methodically organizing their gear.
Clara was triple-checking her tablet and spare power cells, her face a mask of concentration. Rosa was carefully rationing the food and water, making sure each pack had enough for at least three days, along with a generous helping of the "strategic" chocolate bars. Sera was performing a final check on her rifle and the team’s medical supplies, her movements efficient and precise.
Jin packed his own bag, his mind focused on the journey ahead. He packed light, taking only the essentials: extra energy cells for his baton, a med-kit, and three days’ worth of rations. He also took a moment to strap the baton securely to his hip, its weight a comforting presence.
As he finished, he noticed the others watching him. There was a shared understanding between them, a silent acknowledgment of the dangers they were about to face. But there was also a sense of determination, a shared resolve that bound them together.
"Everyone ready?" Sera asked, her voice steady and calm.
They all nodded, their expressions set.
"Then let’s go find some answers," Jin said, his voice filled with a quiet confidence.
They stood at the edge of the Command Lounge, their backpacks secured and their weapons at the ready. The heavy door slid open, revealing the dark, silent corridor beyond. The journey to the Research Labs was about to begin.
As they moved toward the door, gear in hand and weapons ready, Jin felt a strange sense of clarity. The fragmented memories, the emerging skills, the connection to his mother—it was all leading to this moment. Whatever lay ahead in the Research Labs, he knew it would change everything.
The heavy door of the Command Lounge slid shut behind them with a definitive thud, the sound echoing in the sudden silence. The warm, organized light of their sanctuary was replaced by the cold, blue-tinted emergency lighting of the outer corridors. The air grew colder, carrying the faint, sterile smell of dust and disuse—a smell Jin was beginning to associate with the rest of the Vault.
This was the path they had taken from the Med-Bay, a route now etched into his memory. The walls were scarred here, deep gouges marking the path of the Crawler he had fought. He ran his fingers over one of the marks, the memory of the fight vivid in his mind—the desperation, the fear, and the strange, instinctual way he had moved.
"Stay sharp," Sera’s voice was a low whisper behind him. "This area was compromised before. It could be again."
Jin nodded, his senses on high alert. His new `Predator Instinct` skill was a faint hum at the edge of his consciousness, a subtle awareness that made the shadows seem deeper, the silence more profound. He could feel the eyes of the team on his back, a silent acknowledgment of his role at the front.
They moved past the dormitory wing, the doors to the personal quarters standing open like silent mouths. Jin glanced inside one as they passed. It was sparse, utilitarian, but personal—a discarded data-slate on a desk, a faded photograph stuck to the wall. It was a stark reminder of the lives that had been lived here, suddenly and violently interrupted.
"Anything?" Rosa murmured, her eyes scanning the corridor ahead and behind.
"Nothing on short-range sensors," Clara replied, her voice equally quiet. "But the interference gets worse the further we go. The power relays in this section are unstable."
They reached the junction where they had first encountered the Crawler. The bloodstains on the floor were still visible, dark patches on the gray metal. Jin paused, his gaze fixed on the spot where he had nearly died protecting Clara.
He felt a light touch on his arm. "You okay?" Clara asked, her voice barely audible.
Jin turned to see her looking up at him, her expression a mixture of gratitude and concern. He offered her a small, reassuring smile. "I’m fine. Just... remembering."
"Thank you," she said, her sincerity unmistakable. "For... you know."
"I’d do it again," Jin said simply. And he meant it.
A flicker of movement at the far end of the corridor caught his eye. "Wait," he whispered, raising a hand. "Something’s there."
The team froze, weapons raised. The emergency lights cast long, dancing shadows, making it difficult to see clearly. Then came a sound—a skittering, scraping noise, like claws on metal.
From the darkness emerged a single Crawler, smaller than the one they had faced before, but no less menacing. Its multifaceted eyes glinted in the dim light as it scanned the corridor, its antennae twitching. It hadn’t seen them yet, hidden in the shadows of a side passage.
"Clara, can you use the environmental controls?" Sera whispered.
"I-I can try," Clara stammered, her fingers flying across her tablet. "The fire suppression system for this sector is offline, but I might be able to trigger a localized power surge in the lighting conduits."
"Do it," Sera commanded.
Clara tapped a final command, and a moment later, the lights at the end of the corridor flared with blinding intensity. The Crawler hissed in surprise, its multifaceted eyes struggling to adjust to the sudden glare.
"Now!" Jin yelled.
He didn’t wait for orders. His body moved on pure instinct, the `Sword Mastery` skill and his Tsurugi training taking over. He burst from the shadows, the stun baton humming in his hand. The Crawler reacted with terrifying speed, its claws lashing out, but Jin was already flowing underneath the attack, his movements a blur of black and gold.
He didn’t try to fight it head-on. Instead, he used its momentum against it, striking at its legs with the baton. The crack of electricity on chitin echoed in the corridor as the creature stumbled, its legs spasming.
> [SKILL PROGRESSION: Melee Weapon Mastery (Improvised) +1%]
> [SKILL PROGRESSION: Mutated Fauna Combat Basics +2%]
Before it could recover, Rosa was there, her own stun baton crackling as she brought it down on the creature’s back. "Go for the joints!" she yelled, ducking under a wild swipe.
Sera provided covering fire from the rear, her precision shots forcing the Crawler to keep its head down, creating openings for Jin and Rosa to exploit. The creature was fast and vicious, but it was outnumbered and outmaneuvered.
Jin saw an opening. As the Crawler lunged at Rosa, he sidestepped and drove the baton into the soft underbelly beneath its carapace. The creature convulsed, a high-pitched shriek tearing from its throat before it collapsed to the floor, twitching.
Jin stood over it, his chest heaving, the baton still humming in his hand. The fight had lasted seconds, but it felt like an eternity.
"Is it...?" Clara started.
"It’s down," Sera confirmed, her weapon still raised. "Good work, everyone."
Jin looked at the others—at Rosa’s grinning, adrenaline-fueled face, at Sera’s calm approval, at Clara’s wide-eyed relief. They had worked together, seamlessly, and they had won. It was a small victory, but it felt monumental.
"We need to keep moving," Jin said, his voice steady. "That noise might have attracted others."
As they continued down the corridor, Jin felt a change in himself. The fear was still there, a cold knot in his stomach, but it was overshadowed by something else—a fierce, protective instinct, and a growing confidence in his ability to use it. The stun baton was still not a sword, but for the first time, he felt like he was beginning to understand how to fight.
They reached the end of the known corridor and stood before a massive, circular blast door. It was marked with faded yellow and black stripes, and a single, imposing word: "RESTRICTED."
"This is it," Clara said, her glasses glowing as she scanned the door’s controls. "The entrance to the unexplored sector. The Research Labs are through here."
The door was sealed tight, its control panel dark. "I can’t open it from here," Clara said, shaking her head. "The power conduits are completely dead. We’d have to reroute primary power from the main grid, and that would take hours."
"Or," Jin said, stepping forward and examining the door, "we find another way."
He ran his hands along the seam of the door, his fingers tracing the cold metal. He wasn’t looking for a control panel or a keypad; he was looking for a flaw, a weakness, anything that might give them an edge.
Then he found it—a small, almost invisible maintenance hatch, hidden behind a false panel. It was locked, but the lock was old, mechanical, and rusted.
"Stand back," he said, taking a firm grip on the hatch.
With a grunt of effort, he pulled. The metal groaned in protest, but slowly, surely, the hatch began to give way. With a final, sharp tug, it tore free, revealing a dark, narrow service tunnel beyond.
"After you," Jin said, a grim smile on his face.
The tunnel was cramped and dark, the air thick with the smell of ozone and rust. It was a perfect place for an ambush, but it was also a way forward.
As they squeezed into the tunnel one by one, Jin couldn’t shake the feeling that they were descending into the heart of the Vault, into a place that had been undisturbed for a very long time. The Research Labs were waiting, and he had a feeling that what they would find there would change everything.