The headquarters of WAR rose in the heart of Tokyo like a scar of steel and light, hidden beneath a hexagonal energy dome that flickered with the pale glow of artificial stars. From the outside, it resembled a slumbering colossus: an iridescent bubble that refracted the night sky into shades of violet and cobalt, while surveillance drones skimmed its surface like metallic wasps. Inside, the air hummed with the whisper of a thousand machines: holograms danced among liquid crystal consoles, projecting data streams in glowing kanji that vanished before touching the floor. The scent of ionized oil and matcha tea lingered in the corridors, a blend of tradition and future forged in every corner.


    In the Strategic Monitoring Room, located on floor -20, an alarm began to flash. It was a shrill sound, like the cry of a mechanical bird, causing the on-duty analyst, Hiroto, to spill his electronic sake onto the touch keyboard.


    —Kuso! —he cursed, wiping the golden liquid with the sleeve of his white lab coat—. Alert in Sector 7-G… Unidirectional Abyss detected.


    The holographic screens surrounding the room flickered to life, displaying distorted images of an alley in Shibuya. There, among shattered neon signs and faded posters, a two-meter-diameter portal yawned open: its edges were filaments of dying light, and at its center, a void that devoured the city’s reflections. Hiroto zoomed in with a nervous swipe of his gloved fingers. Two figures emerged from the Abyss: one, an amorphous mass of black crystals twisting the air with silicon tentacles; the other, a humanoid silhouette clad in angular plate armor that flashed like mirrors under the moon.


    —Commander Akiro! —shouted Hiroto as sensors scanned the creatures—. Crystal Void and… something else! Unregistered rank!


    Commander Akiro stormed into the room, his boots echoing against the nanotube floor. He wore a modified tactical kimono woven with graphene fibers that shimmered like dragon scales, and his face, marked by a scar crossing his chin, reflected the severity of decades in command. His voice, deep and resonant, sliced the air like a whip:


    —Amplify biometric readings —he ordered, piercing the hologram with his gaze—. Are there civilians in the area?


    Hiroto slid his fingers across a panel, summoning crimson-red data streams.


    —One… A User. Rank 0. —He paused, frowning—. Registered as Ren Saito. Member of the Collection Team.


    Akiro narrowed his eyes. On the screen, Ren crawled through debris, his work uniform torn and stained with a dark liquid dripping from the Crystal Void’s tentacles. WAR’s sensors detected no anomalies: only the weak biometric pattern of a Rank 0, insignificant against the threat.


    —Dispatch Attack Squad 1 —Akiro roared, activating his coms with a sharp tap on the holographic table—. Eclipse Protocol: Abyss neutralization and civilian extraction.


    —Civilian? —Hiroto asked, pointing to the humanoid Void raising a crystalline sword over Ren—. That boy is in the line of fire.


    —He’s a Collector, not a threat —Akiro snapped—. Priority is preventing that unknown Void from escaping.


    In the Rapid Intervention Hangar on floor -10, Attack Squad 1 prepared. At the front was Sora Hoshino, a young captain with short silver hair tipped in electric blue, matching the glow of her exosuit. Her speed-optimized armor clung to her body like a second skin, kinetic plates reacting to her movements. On her back, she carried a modified energy tachi, its blade activated by a snap of her fingers.


    —Squad, immediate formation! —Sora ordered, smoothing her tachi’s edge with a ritualistic gesture. The energy blade hummed violet, reflecting in her steel-gray eyes—. Primary target: annihilate the Crystal Void. Secondary: identify and contain the second creature. And rescue the Collector… intact.


    Jiro let out a rough laugh as he mounted the plasma cannon on his dorsal rig. The weapon, the size of a human arm, buzzed to life, illuminating the dragon tattoos snaking up his neck.


    —Six years killing crystal bugs —he grunted, adjusting his respirator mask with a scarred finger—. Finally, something worth the bullet.


    Naiko, leaning against a support column, twirled one of her magnetized pistols around her index finger. Her jet-black ponytail swayed with her ironic smile.


    —You into bugs now, Jiro? —she asked, tilting her head with mock innocence—. Careful, or one might steal your heart… Or what’s left of it.


    Savito, silent until now, crossed his monumental arms. His muscles strained against his black exosuit, seams creaking in unison with his smirk at Naiko’s comment.


    —The Void won’t wait for debates. Move. Now. —Sora commanded, her voice steel.


    The floor trembled faintly as she stepped toward the aircraft. Naiko grimaced, holstering her pistols with a theatrical spin.


    —Always so charming, Savi —she muttered, following the group—. Didn’t they teach you to smile before killing something?


    The helicopter—a titanium hummingbird with retractable turbine wings—took off shrouded in static energy. Sora watched through the window as WAR’s dome blurred beneath them, her mind fixed on the anomaly ahead.


    The helicopter landed with a roar muffled by its turbines, kicking up a curtain of dust and glass shards glinting under dying neon light. Sora leaped out first, her boots clacking against cracked asphalt. The air reeked of burnt ozone and old blood, a mix that reminded her of too many battlefields. Behind her, Squad 1 fanned out: Jiro with his smoldering plasma cannon, Naiko drawing her magnetized pistols with a wrist flick, and Savito, his armored fists creaking as they clenched.


    The alley was a nightmare landscape. Building walls bore deep gashes, as if clawed by gigantic crystal talons. At the center, the Abyss portal still pulsed, now a shrinking vortex of dying light. But what seized everyone’s attention was the boy kneeling in the rubble: Ren Saito, his Collector suit shredded, hands glowing blue beneath his skin. Around him, black crystal dust spiraled hypnotically.


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    —Target visualized —Naiko murmured, aiming a pistol at Ren—. Looks like the kid had a rough night.


    Sora’s coms vibrated. Akiro’s voice crackled, cold and urgent:


    —Priority shift. The User is an unknown-level threat. Capture alive. Repeat: immediate capture.


    Sora clenched her jaw. A Rank 0… dangerous? For a moment, she hesitated. Ren didn’t look like a monster; he looked scared, hands trembling, breath ragged. But orders were clear.


    —Squad, containment formation! —she ordered, unsheathing her energy tachi. The blade hissed, tearing the air—. Naiko, cover left. Jiro, suppress. Savito, advance with me.


    Ren stared at them, disoriented. The dark substance under his skin stirred, as if recognizing the threat.


    —Wait… —he stammered, raising a hand in peace—. I’m not…


    A blue flash erupted from his palm, striking Jiro’s cannon. The weapon exploded into sparks, slamming the man against a wall with a pained grunt.


    —Hostile confirmed! —Savito roared, charging at Ren with ground-shaking strides.


    Ren staggered back, but the black substance surged from his arm, encasing him in jagged crystal armor. Savito’s fist collided with the organic shield in a metallic clang, the shockwave scattering debris.


    —I don’t want to fight! —Ren shouted, his voice drowned as Naiko fired. Magnetized rounds cracked his armor.


    Sora seized the distraction. Her tachi arced toward Ren’s leg to immobilize him, but the dark substance reacted faster: a crystal spike shot from the ground, deflecting the blade. Ren gasped, feeling the cold energy from the absorbed core boil in his veins. Blue lines under his skin flared, and the dying portal behind him groaned. Suddenly, crystal shards rose, floating like daggers.


    —Scatter! —Sora ordered, too late.


    The shards flew in a lethal whirlwind. Savito shielded himself with armored arms, Naiko diving behind an abandoned car. Sora sliced through the projectiles, but a shard grazed her arm, drawing black blood before her suit sealed the wound.


    Ren fled, the dark substance wrapping his legs like shadow wings.


    —Stop! —Sora shouted, freezing him mid-step.


    —I don’t know what’s happening —Ren said.


    Kneeling in rubble, Ren felt the dark substance pulse beneath his skin like a second heart. Blue veins throbbed with his ragged breaths. Before him, Sora kept her tachi lowered, its violet blade syncing with his tremors.


    —I don’t want to hurt you —Sora said, her voice firm but weary—. But if you resist, I won’t have a choice.


    Ren looked up. The violet flicker in his eyes dimmed, revealing the raw fear of a nineteen-year-old trapped in a nightmare. Squad 1 encircled him: Naiko’s pistols glinting, Savito’s fists poised, Jiro nursing his shoulder. All awaited the final order.


    —Why should I trust you? —Ren whispered, the substance coiling defensively—. You call me a threat… I just wanted to survive.


    Sora lowered her blade a fraction. Her steel-gray eyes softened faintly.


    —Because I’ve been where you are —she murmured, like a secret to the wind—. Trapped between what I am and what others want me to be.


    A heavy silence fell. Naiko raised an eyebrow at Jiro, who shrugged. Savito never took his eyes off Ren.


    Ren clenched his fists. Dark claws sprouted from his knuckles, glinting faintly. But he let them drop, disintegrating into dust.


    —I’m tired —he confessed, voice breaking.


    Sora nodded, deactivating her tachi with a snap.


    —Then let us help —she said, offering a gloved hand—. WAR has answers. You need them.


    Ren hesitated. Memories of the collapsing portal, the mechanical voice in his head, the cold energy devouring the Crystal Void… Chaos begging for order. With a sigh that emptied his soul, he placed his trembling hand in hers.


    —I won’t regret this, right? —he asked, a crooked smile failing to reach his eyes.


    —That’s up to you —she replied, pulling him up—. But today, at least, you’ll live.


    The team boarded the helicopter, now with Ren in tow, returning to base.


    As they approached, WAR’s headquarters revealed its true scale: not just a structure, but an ecosystem of steel and light. Liquid crystal towers spiraled impossibly, linked by floating bridges where dragonfly drones ferried encrypted data. At the center, a plasma reactor pulsed like an artificial heart, its core encircled by holographic data rings.


    —It’s… incredible —Ren whispered, pressed to the window. The dark substance in his arm stilled, awestruck.


    —Incredible and dangerous —Sora said—. Every light an algorithm, every shadow a secret.


    Naiko leaned forward, her breath fogging the glass.


    —Down there’s the Containment Lab —she pointed to a cylindrical bunker—. Where they study things like you.


    —Naiko —Sora warned half-heartedly, herself unnerved by the view.


    The helicopter descended onto a platform marked with WAR’s emblem: a fist gripping a fractured crystal. Savito stood, his joints creaking.


    —Prepare —he rumbled—. Commander Akiro tolerates no delays.


    Ren nodded, energy bindings tightening on his wrists. Fear returned, mingled with voracious curiosity.


    Icy wind whipped Ren’s face as the hatch opened. Sora jumped out first, offering a hand. He hesitated, feeling invisible eyes from surveillance towers.


    —Don’t look down —she warned, nodding to the chasm below—. And don’t let go.


    Ren obeyed, fixating on the plasma reactor. Its golden light enveloped him, warm yet alien. Ahead, soldiers in kinetic armor watched silently, faces hidden behind black visors.


    —Captain Hoshino —a gravelly voice boomed from hidden speakers—. You bring the specimen.


    Sora squeezed Ren’s hand, a fleeting gesture of solidarity.


    —He’s human, Commander —she stated, firmness surprising even Naiko—. He deserves to be treated as one.


    The silence shattered as a drone zipped overhead. Commander Akiro emerged from a sliding door, his tactical kimono gleaming. The scar on his chin twitched.


    —Take him to Primary Evaluation —he ordered, eyes locked on Ren—. Sora, report to my office. We have much to discuss.


    Before being separated, Sora turned to Ren. The energy dome refracted rainbows into her silver hair.


    —Welcome to WAR —she said, a smile in her voice if not her eyes—. This is where your real battle begins.


    Ren looked up at the pulsing plasma reactor. The dark substance in his arm vibrated—not with fear, but anticipation.