The Observer's Gaze
The card key had definitely ended up in my hand, but that didn't mean I could just pop the lock and stroll out.
First off, the only hole in the iron door—up at the top—was way too high.
"Nngh…!"
Just like the first time, even pressing my body flat against the door and standing on tiptoe did nothing.
I wasn't human anymore, but my basic physical abilities still matched this girl-like body's appearance.
In other words, pathetically weak.
This won't work.
Thinking back to where the lock clicked, honestly, even stretching my arm through the hole wouldn't let me reach it with the card key.
And even if the door did open, escaping right then wasn't an option anyway.
Thud. Thud.
The unpleasant rhythm kept drilling into my ears without pause.
The guards on constant standby outside. The overall layout of the facility. Until I figured all that out, this key was just a chunk of plastic.
I shoved aside my impatience and leaned my back against the cold door.
I need another way.
Slowly, very slowly, I waited for the right moment. Every time she left the isolation cell, she'd come back with a new scar on her arm—that woman, [XX-02]. I pretended to gradually warm up to her, buying time.
"How are you feeling today? Any pain? Memories? Anything coming back?"
I stared blankly into space with unfocused eyes and slowly shook my head.
Side to side.
Of course, aside from the barrage of questions, the endless stretches of time were torture—sleepless nights staring into the void.
But flip that around: it was prime time to probe my abilities and plot an escape. A foundation, basically. Time flew surprisingly well that way.
Ever since becoming an anomaly, I could hear whispers that shouldn't reach me. And that meant I could talk back to them.
……
Chatting like that in my mind with various things.
Screeech…!
"[XX-04]. Over here!"
Once a day. The thick door finally opened on its own.
I got up, pretending to comply with their experiments just like they wanted.
The restraints were still on, the blindfold too. And for these past five days, they'd only moved me to the same lab.
Impossible to glean anything from that alone.
All I'd figured out was that it took about two gates from the isolation cell to the lab.
But still.
"It won't… hurt. Probably…."
[B-077]… She'd told me herself. Ha Seoran. Seoran. Just the fact that I might end up in the same space as her was reason enough to play along.
Poke.
Seoran jabbed a syringe into my right arm. Over these five days, I'd taken more than fifteen doses already.
She'd gotten skilled enough that she no longer burst my veins.
"Definitely… more stable now."
"Yes. [B-077]'s symptoms have improved dramatically. They say she barely causes a fuss anymore."
"Right? At this rate, we could move to the next test."
The researchers watching us through the window—humans—grinned with satisfaction at whatever pleased them.
Luckily, they hadn't noticed we'd been holding full conversations.
Seoran hadn't opened her mouth, but her voice—clear and strangely chirpy, like our frequencies synced—echoed in my head.
Hiss…
She injected the drug as slowly as possible, filling me in on everything.
Even she, subjected to countless experiments thanks to her unique regeneration, didn't know much.
Seoran laid out reasons—pretty reasonable ones—to draw a line.
As she said, escaping through the upper labs' entrances was absolutely impossible.
My unexpected reply made her hand pause mid-injection.
Seoran's whole body started trembling. Like she'd recalled some awful memory from the deeper underground.
Crack.
The needle, buried deep in my skin, veered off. A vein couldn't take the shaking and tore slightly.
I felt my pale skin staining dark red. Unlike the first experiment, it hurt—but I could grit my teeth and bear it.
The anomalies' inner thoughts reaching me nonstop were mostly trivial.
Hungry, lonely, or babbling nonsense I couldn't even parse.
But like a pearl in the dirt, one stood out among them.
A mighty, insidious aura. Every time it focused on me, goosebumps exploded across my skin. At first, I'd nearly blacked out.
Not the researchers' stares through the CCTV—something far more transcendent was watching me.
The drug was fully injected at last. Seoran pulled out the needle and stated it firmly.
Just from talking, her breathing had grown ragged. She seemed on the verge of another fit, like before we met.
And the change hit suddenly.
She'd remembered something wrong, and her mind was crumbling in real time.
This was dangerous.
"Can we really control an A-grade anomaly?"
"Should be fine. Still, let's keep tests conservative. Can't have [XX-04] dying on us."
To avoid suspicion, I had to show them what they wanted.
I gripped her mind hard with a telepathic pulse.
Not empty words. My plan meant she wouldn't have to go underground herself—we could still leave together.
Whether she understood or my power worked, her trembling eased. While Seoran slowly caught her breath, I decided to fool the researchers.
'Hope this works….'
I closed my eyes and maxed out my focus. Not easy. Cold sweat beaded and dripped from everywhere.
Unfortunately, the drugs they'd pumped into me had long lost effect—my body had built resistance.
After the first day awakening my powers, most were just water.
Blame the resistance? Seoran said even the drugs were a kind of anomaly.
So I relied purely on willpower, drawing up the murky energy inside me.
Hiss…!
Ominous smoke rose thickly from above my head.
Thump! Thump…!
The smoke probably vented to the next isolation cell, birthing new life there.
…Gurglek!
Another anomaly born. Too bad I couldn't repeat the card key trick from before—
"A bigger one this time."
"Hope it lasts longer."
"Yeah. At least three days, or the research won't progress."
Enough to divert the researchers' attention.
In the meantime, I gave Seoran—who'd regained her senses—a rough outline of how we'd escape together.
**
"Then… I'll be back."
The routine without fail. After my experiment, [XX-02] left for hers when I returned.
I had no idea if she actually got tested. She was still human, after all. Didn't feel like they injected anomaly drugs into her.
Either way, good for me. At least three hours undisturbed.
Thud.
Feeling the cold isolation floor through my soles, I headed to the corner.
I curled up facing the wall, pretending to sleep—eyes shut, mind sinking deep.
Like it had been waiting, a sticky thought coiled around the edge of my consciousness.
I didn't know exactly what it meant, but I'd gaze at it, just as it wanted.
"…Ugh!"
A groan slipped through my lips unbidden.
A fall that never hit ground. At its end, it waited for me.
It said so, and I saw. Or rather, I stole a glimpse of what was its.
My vision twisted by force. Eyes closed, but crimson scenes forcibly overlaid my retinas.
Brain-melting info flooded in.
Now I understood why Seoran's mind crumbled so easily.
"……."
Something hot and sticky trickled down my cheek. A fishy, salty taste touched my lips.
But I didn't go mad or pass out.
Sure, the bizarre vista filling my sight made my eyes ache mercilessly.
…Perfect.
The solid payoff made my lips twitch upward.
The vision sync was brief. Felt eternal subjectively, but judging by the bootsteps outside, less than a minute had passed.
Still, I'd seen plenty.
Even an exit that might let us leave this place.