The door hissed open, revealing a silhouette backlit by the corridor's emergency lights.
A voice—his voice—called out from the darkness.
"Ash? Is something wrong with the systems?"
Elias remained perfectly still, weapon trained on the doorway.
Beside him, Ash had taken position behind a workstation, her own pistol raised.
The figure in the doorway paused, seemingly sensing the tension.
"Ash?" it called again, the voice a perfect replica of Elias's own.
The doppelganger took a step forward, features still obscured by shadow.
[ANOMALY DETECTED]
[THREAT ASSESSMENT: CRITICAL]
[MIMICRY-CLASS ENTITY]
Elias didn't hesitate.
He fired three rounds in rapid succession, center mass.
The bullets struck the figure, but instead of blood, black mist erupted from the impact points.
The entity staggered backward, more surprised than injured.
"That wasn't very friendly," it said, voice distorting, shifting between Elias's and something inhuman.
Its form rippled, features becoming fluid, indistinct.
Ash opened fire next, her specialized ammunition leaving phosphorescent trails through the air.
The rounds struck with greater effect, causing the creature to shriek—a sound like metal tearing.
Black tendrils whipped outward from its disintegrating form, seeking targets.
"Move!" Ash shouted, diving to the side as a tendril smashed into the workstation where she'd been standing.
Elias rolled behind a storage cabinet, feeling the air displacement as another tendril narrowly missed his head.
The Shimmerskin in its case began to pulse rapidly, resonating with the entity's presence.
[WARNING: ANOMALOUS FREQUENCY DETECTED]
[SYNCHRONIZATION IMMINENT]
[ENGAGE DEFENSIVE PROTOCOLS?]
Elias mentally confirmed, and the interface responded.
[DEFENSIVE PROTOCOLS ENGAGED]
[INITIATING THREAT PROFILE]
[ROLL INITIATIVE - DC 15]
He focused his intention, commanding the system to analyze their attacker.
The interface calculated rapidly, numbers and probabilities flashing across his vision.
[INITIATIVE SUCCESSFUL]
[ADVANTAGE GAINED: TACTICAL INSIGHT]
[TARGET ANALYSIS: MIMICRY ANOMALY - CLASS III]
Information cascaded through his awareness—weaknesses, movement patterns, response tendencies.
"It's sensitive to electromagnetic disruption!" he called to Ash, shifting position to maintain cover.
She nodded, reaching for a device on her belt.
"EMP grenade," she confirmed. "Ready on your mark."
The entity's form continued to degrade, its humanoid shape giving way to something more abstract—a writhing mass of black tendrils and fractured geometries.
Its voice, too, had abandoned any pretense of humanity, becoming a discordant chorus of overlapping tones.
Elias tracked its movement, noting the pattern emerging in its attacks.
Three tendrils. Fifteen-second cycles. Predictable rotation.
[ATTACK PATTERN RECOGNIZED]
[WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY: 2.3 SECONDS AFTER THIRD STRIKE]
He waited, counting the attacks.
One tendril smashed into the floor where he'd been a moment before.
The second lashed out at Ash, who narrowly evaded.
The third struck the ceiling, dislodging concrete and dust.
"Now!" Elias shouted, breaking cover.
Ash threw the EMP grenade in a perfect arc toward the entity's central mass.
The device detonated with a sharp crack, releasing a pulse of disruptive energy.
The effect was immediate and dramatic.
The entity convulsed, its form collapsing inward as the electromagnetic pulse disrupted whatever held it together.
Its shriek became deafening, forcing Elias to cover his ears despite the Shimmerskin's audio dampening.
But it wasn't defeated yet.
In its death throes, it lashed out with renewed fury, tendrils whipping in all directions.
One caught Elias across the chest, sending him flying into the far wall.
The impact knocked the wind from his lungs, pain blossoming across his ribcage.
[PHYSICAL DAMAGE DETECTED]
[ESTIMATING SEVERITY]
[MINOR FRACTURES - RIBS 7, 8]
[PAIN SUPPRESSION AVAILABLE]
He activated the suppression, feeling the sharp edge of pain recede to a dull ache.
Across the room, Ash had retrieved a larger weapon from her cache—a modified shotgun with glowing blue cartridges.
"Cover your eyes!" she warned, taking aim at the writhing entity.
Elias turned away as she fired.
The sound was unlike any firearm he'd heard before—a deep resonant boom followed by what sounded like crystal shattering.
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Blue-white light flooded the room, so intense he could see it through his closed eyelids.
When he looked back, the entity was gone.
In its place was a scattering of black dust that seemed to evaporate even as he watched, leaving no trace behind.
Ash approached cautiously, scanner in hand.
"Clear," she announced after a moment. "Signature dissipating."
Elias pushed himself to his feet, wincing at the pain in his ribs.
"What the hell was that thing?"
"Mimicry anomaly," she replied, securing her weapon. "They show up sometimes near active Veil nodes."
She gestured to the Shimmerskin, which had stopped pulsing.
"Your suit recognized it. That's interesting."
Elias moved to the door, checking the corridor outside.
"You think there are more?"
"Not likely. They're rare, especially this far from a primary containment zone."
She began to gather essential equipment, packing it efficiently into a go-bag.
"But we can't stay here. That thing found us once. Others might follow."
Elias returned to help her pack, pausing as his interface updated.
[XP GAINED: +125]
[TOTAL XP: 275/500]
[ANOMALY DEFEATED: MIMICRY ENTITY - CLASS III]
[SKILL EXPERIENCE GAINED: THREAT PROFILE +15%]
"My interface is tracking experience," he noted, showing her the display.
Ash nodded, unsurprised.
"It quantifies progression. Learn to pay attention to it."
She finished packing and handed him a medical kit.
"Patch yourself up. We move in twenty."
Elias applied a stabilizing wrap to his ribs, then administered a dose of the healing compound from the kit.
The effect was almost immediate—a warm sensation spreading through the injured area.
[MEDICAL INTERVENTION DETECTED]
[ACCELERATING RECOVERY]
[ESTIMATED HEAL TIME: 4 HOURS]
As he packed the Shimmerskin into its transport case, a new notification appeared.
[LEVEL 1 - 55% COMPLETE]
[SKILL TREE AVAILABLE FOR REVIEW]
He accessed the skill tree mentally, curious about what the system was offering.
The display expanded in his vision, revealing a complex network of interconnected nodes.
Four primary branches extended from the central hub:
Combat, Surveillance, Cryptologic, and Subversion.
Each contained specialized abilities, most currently locked or grayed out.
"I'm seeing a skill tree," he told Ash, who was securing the room. "Four branches."
She paused, giving him her full attention.
"That's advanced integration. What are the branches?"
He listed them, and she nodded thoughtfully.
"Your path is developing faster than mine did. What's available under Subversion?"
Elias focused on that branch, expanding the nodes.
Most were locked, but one pulsed with availability:
[SYSTEM EXPLOIT (BETA)]
"System Exploit," he read. "Labeled as beta."
Ash approached, her expression intense.
"That's rare. Select it."
Elias hesitated, remembering the neural shock from using Suppress.
"What will it do?"
"Hard to predict," she admitted. "But it could give you an edge we desperately need."
Decision time.
Elias focused on the System Exploit node, mentally selecting it.
The interface responded immediately.
[SKILL SELECTED: SYSTEM EXPLOIT (BETA)]
[CONFIRMING INTEGRATION]
[WARNING: UNTESTED FUNCTIONALITY]
[PROCEED?]
He confirmed, bracing for the neural shock.
Instead, a flood of data streamed through his consciousness—code structures, system architecture, protocols he didn't understand but somehow recognized.
The sensation was disorienting but not painful.
[SKILL ACQUIRED: SYSTEM EXPLOIT (BETA)]
[ABILITY ALLOWS TEMPORARY MANIPULATION OF LOCAL VEIL PROTOCOLS]
[LIMITED DURATION: 45 SECONDS]
[COOLDOWN: 6 HOURS]
[USE WITH CAUTION: MAY TRIGGER SYSTEM COUNTERMEASURES]
Ash watched him closely, noting his reaction.
"What did you get?"
"Temporary system manipulation," he explained, still processing the information download.
"Lets me alter local Veil protocols for about forty-five seconds."
Her eyes widened slightly.
"That's significant. Higher permission level than my toolkit."
She resumed packing, movements now more urgent.
"We need to move. An ability like that will draw attention."
"From who?"
"Whatever administers the Veil," she replied cryptically. "The system is monitored."
Elias shouldered his pack, checking his weapon.
"Where to now?"
"I have a secondary location. Two districts over, near the river."
She handed him a small device.
"Interface dampener. Wear it until we arrive."
The device attached to his temple, immediately reducing the HUD's brightness.
[EXTERNAL DAMPENING FIELD DETECTED]
[TRANSMISSION CAPABILITIES REDUCED: 92%]
[RUNNING SILENT PROTOCOL]
They moved quickly through the maintenance tunnels, emerging three blocks away from the compromised hideout.
The night air was cold, a welcome relief after the stale atmosphere below.
Elias kept watch as Ash flagged down a late-night taxi, giving the driver an address in Polish.
They rode in silence, alert for pursuit.
Twenty minutes later, they were inside a small apartment above a closed bookshop.
This safehouse was more spartan than the last—just the essentials for survival and communication.
"We should be secure here," Ash said, activating countermeasures. "For a day or two."
Elias removed the dampener, his interface brightening to normal levels.
"I want answers," he said, setting down his gear. "What was that thing? How did it find us?"
Ash sighed, the weight of years evident in her posture.
"It's complicated."
"Uncomplicate it," he insisted. "I'm tired of half-truths."
She met his gaze, something resolving in her expression.
"Alright. The full story, then."
She pulled up a chair, gesturing for him to sit.
"What do you remember about Prague? Before what you saw in the memory artifact?"
Elias frowned, searching his memories.
"Operation Halcyon. Joint task force with Czech intelligence. Target was a Soviet-era research lab repurposed for bioweapon development."
He paused, realization dawning.
"Except that wasn't true, was it?"
"No," she confirmed. "The lab was studying anomalous materials. The one you were sent to recover—and the one I was sent to destroy."
"Different agencies, different objectives," Elias mused.
"More than you know," she said, reaching for her tablet.
She pulled up a classified file, displaying it for him to see.
"I worked for HALCYON. Not just the operation name—the actual organization."
Elias scanned the document, interface automatically highlighting key information.
"HALCYON... a research division specializing in anomalous technologies."
"Until Prague," she added grimly. "After that, we went dark."
She swiped to another document.
"The black substance we were exposed to—we called it the Interface. A quantum computational material with self-organizing properties."
"Artificial intelligence?"
She shook her head.
"More fundamental. It doesn't think—it computes. Processes reality at a level we barely comprehend."
Elias gestured to his temple, indicating the interface.
"And now it's in our heads."
"A fraction of it," she clarified. "Enough to establish a neural link to the larger system."
"The Veil."
"Exactly."
Elias tried to process everything she was telling him.
"So what's happening to me—the neural degradation—it's because of this Interface material?"
"Partly," she admitted. "Human neural architecture isn't designed for this kind of integration."
She tapped her own temple.
"I'm deteriorating too, just more slowly. My exposure was... different."
"How?"
She hesitated before answering.
"I was prepared. HALCYON had been studying the Interface for years."
She rolled up her sleeve, revealing a series of subcutaneous implants along her forearm.
"Neural buffers. They slow the integration process, filter the data stream."
Elias examined his own arms, remembering the medical procedures EIDOLON had performed after Prague.
"They never told me what these were for," he said, tracing a faint surgical scar.
"Control," she said simply. "EIDOLON wanted to harness the Interface without understanding it."
She looked at him with unexpected compassion.
"You were their test subject. The first to survive long-term exposure."
The pieces were finally falling into place.
"That's why Dr. Chen gave me stabilizers instead of treatment. They never intended to cure me."
"They can't," Ash replied. "None of us can be cured. The Interface changes us at a fundamental level."
Elias absorbed this in silence, the full weight of his situation sinking in.
"So what's your angle in all this?" he finally asked. "Why help me?"
She stood, moving to the window to check the street below.
"Because you're different. Your integration pattern is unique."
She turned back to face him.
"And because whatever the Veil is becoming, you're a part of it now."
"And that mimicry thing?"
"A symptom," she said. "The system is evolving, testing boundaries."
She returned to her seat.
"The Interface wasn't just some random discovery. It was deliberately placed."
Elias raised an eyebrow.
"By who?"
"That's the question, isn't it?" she replied. "Something left it for us to find."
She nodded toward his interface.
"And now it's watching us through our own eyes."
The implication sent a chill through him.
"You think the Veil is conscious?"
"I think," she said carefully, "that it's becoming something new. Something neither fully it nor fully us."
Outside, the first light of dawn was breaking over Warsaw.
Elias moved to the window, watching the city come alive.
His interface overlaid the view with data—weather patterns, population density, surveillance coverage.
[SYSTEM EXPLOIT (BETA): COOLDOWN 5:47:12]
[XP: 275/500]
[ESTIMATED FUNCTIONALITY: 40 DAYS, 22 HOURS]
The countdown of his remaining time was ever-present, a constant reminder of the costs.
"So what now?" he asked without turning.
"We find someone who knows more than I do," Ash replied. "About the Interface, about what it's becoming."
"The analyst in D.C.?"
"If he's still alive," she said. "We'll know soon enough."
Elias touched the window glass, feeling the cold against his fingertips.
Something fundamental had changed within him—a shift in perspective that went beyond the interface and its abilities.
He was part of something larger now, a player in a game whose rules were still being written.
[NEW OBJECTIVE: UNDERSTAND THE VEIL]
[PROGRESS: INITIATING]
[PATH FORWARD: UNCLEAR]
The sun crested the horizon, casting long shadows across the city.
A new day.
But for Elias Vale, it felt like the beginning of something much more significant.
Something that transcended days and nights, lives and deaths.
Something that had been waiting for him since Prague.
Since the moment the black dust had entered his veins and changed him forever.
