Retrieval Order

The morning air was cold. It wasn't just the season—the abandoned house had no working heating. My infection level sat at 19%. I was hovering right on the edge of the line. My body already felt different from yesterday. The muscles in my thighs had grown denser, and the soles of my feet had become hypersensitive. I could feel the faint vibrations of the ground beneath me.

"Hold on."

Kang Seorin spoke in a low voice as we moved out that morning. I lifted my head. The mechanical hum of engines. Two transport drones were slowly circling overhead. Silver hulls marked with corporate logos.

Han Yerin gritted her teeth. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠"They followed us all the way out here?"

Yoon Harin's expression hardened. "The corporations have finally started to move."

I knew it instinctively. They had identified me and come to retrieve their asset.

"Inside the building," Seorin ordered. We tried to move immediately, but it was already too late. One of the transport drones opened, and a woman dropped from it like a living artillery shell. Silver hair, blue eyes, a body perfectly balanced with developed muscle.

"Are you N221?"

The woman wore a savage, beast-like grin. She wasn't human. She was a bio-roid, like me and NK365. No—something even more than that.

The second transport drone landed on the ground, and another woman stepped out. Dark black medium-length bob hair. Sharp, piercing eyes. She wore an armored bodysuit reinforced with external plating. Composite alloy panels overlapped at every joint. Her cold gaze locked directly onto me.

"Code N221." Her voice was low and completely steady. "Retrieval target confirmed."

Kang Seorin raised her gun. "You think we'll just hand her over that easily?"

The woman's eyes remained fixed on me. "I am Lee Doyeon, from Carneus Mechanics' biological asset recovery team." Even her self-introduction was curt and efficient. "And you are corporate property."

I answered, "I'm not corporate property."

Her pupils trembled for the briefest moment before vanishing again. "Then we have no choice but to capture you. Arka."

At her signal, the silver-haired woman who had dropped first moved forward.

"If we're only talking infection levels, failed subjects and completed ones both have their strengths. Among the failures, special variants occasionally appear that surpass even completed forms. Cases like the Hive Mother, the Celestial Saintess, or the Abyssal Devourer prove that."

She spoke with casual ease, walking forward with light, almost leisurely steps.

"But what determines a completed form stronger than the rest isn't simply the infection percentage—it's the level of adaptation. That's the real deciding factor."

Yerin fired a surprise shot. It struck her square in the chest, but the bullet simply bounced off and clattered to the ground. She was even harder than the giant entity we'd faced recently.

"I am MSR-346. A combat-specialized completed bio-roid. My designation is Arka."

That hardness was the source ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠of her confidence. The corner of her mouth curled upward.

"You're the test subject with 19% infection, right?" She looked me up and down. "It's impressive that you're still functioning at that level, but you're still far from enough."

And in the next instant, she vanished.

I threw my body to the side. The spot where I'd been standing exploded as if struck by a bomb.

"She's fast," Arka said, pulling her fist out of the crater she'd punched into the ground. "Then let me show you. The true power of a completed form."

And then—her body split open. A line ran from her collarbone down to her abdomen, opening like a seam. Internal skeletal structures surged outward. Her ribs flipped inside out and unfolded like armor plating. Ignoring any concept of mass conservation, additional skeletal frameworks swelled from within her body.

"I am a heavy assault type. As the name suggests, I'm heavy, durable, and possess overwhelming strength."

It was as if another body had been hidden inside the first. The transformed Arka now stood before us. Han Yerin swallowed hard.

"What the hell is that..."

Arka tilted her head. "And I happen to prefer things that are simply, overwhelmingly strong."

She charged. Her momentum carried far more force than her visible mass suggested, hurtling toward me like a cannonball.

"...Ugh!"

This time I couldn't dodge. My arm shattered, and my body was sent flying straight through a building wall.

I had crossed the line. My chest burned as if it would explode. My vision was completely dyed red. Something inside my head unlocked.

Arka approached slowly. "Is it over already? How disappointing."

As she lifted her foot, I drew in a sharp breath. With a sound like bones snapping back into place, my shattered, dangling arm was pulled back into alignment. It had regenerated.

And then the world stopped. Or at least, it felt that way—because I had become so much faster.

I kicked off the ground. Concrete shattered beneath my foot. The muscles in my thighs screamed as if they were tearing, but the next instant they reknit themselves. I charged forward, smashing my fist into Arka's chest. This time her skeletal armor caved inward with a deep dent. Her blue eyes widened.

"Oh?"

Lee Doyeon's voice rang out. "Arka, excessive deployment is prohibited."

Arka laughed. "Just a little more. Let me play."

They collided again. The moment Arka's heavy fist came crashing down, I read its entire trajectory perfectly. Not just the red line—I could see the tension in her joints, the points where her skeleton locked, even the exact angles where her armor plates overlapped.

I slipped into her blind spot. Arka's arm sliced through empty air and pulverized the ground. Shards flew upward, and I used them as stepping stones to leap. Instant acceleration. My ankle muscles tore and instantly regenerated. Flesh realigned, tendons reattached.

Twisting in mid-air, I drove my fist into the gap between the plates of Arka's side armor. A hard metallic impact. But this time it penetrated. Cracks spiderwebbed across her skeletal plating. Arka's eyes flashed.

"Good! That's what I wanted to see!"

She stomped the ground. Thick horns erupted from her skeletal armor. The sudden increase in her attack range meant I couldn't dodge this time. My body flew dozens of meters and tumbled across the ground. My breath caught in my throat. The process of shattered fragments being pulled back together was excruciating.

Arka walked toward me slowly. Her heavy assault skeleton clanked with every step.

"You're not completely without talent," she said. "But you're still far from becoming a completed form."

I pushed myself up onto one knee. My chest split open, and something writhed along my spine. The body that wanted to separate and expand was forcibly compressed back together.

I rose slowly to my feet. My breathing had steadied. Arka tilted her head.

"Look at that. Weren't you about to go berserk just now?"

I didn't answer. I kicked off the ground. This time the earth didn't shatter beneath me. My speed had risen another level, and instant acceleration fired in rapid succession. Three times! Four times!! I broke through the wall of air and slammed into Arka.

"?!"

For the first time, Arka's body was forced backward. Excitement bloomed in her blue eyes.

"Yes! This ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is what I wanted!"

She laughed. Her skeletal structure began another expansion. I had no idea where all that extra mass was coming from.

"Arka! I told you excessive deployment is dangerous!"

"Just a little more!"

Arka charged without even glancing at Doyeon. I didn't dodge. I met her head-on. The shockwave shook the entire ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠area, and my right arm shattered again. My shoulder joint was crushed.

Regenerate. Regenerate!

Skin tore and resealed. Bones broke and fused back together. Naturally, my energy was draining at an insane rate.

I clenched my teeth. If this continues, I'll collapse first.

I pushed instant acceleration to its absolute limit. Muscle fibers tore. My thighs ruptured. Regeneration chased right after. I aimed for the center of Arka's chest—the tiny gap where the heavy assault plating didn't overlap. It seemed the chest was a weak point for both failed subjects and completed forms alike. My fist drove in, and the heavy chest armor shattered into pieces.

"Guh—?!"

Arka's eyes bulged as she coughed up blood. My fist had left a clear imprint on her chest.

"Arka!"

Lee Doyeon broke through Kang Seorin and Han Yerin's covering fire, stepping in front of her and aiming her gun at me. But she didn't pull the trigger. Her eyes wavered with subtle emotion.

I was still standing, but I was at my limit. My breathing was ragged, and my vision blurred.

If we clashed one more time here, I would fall first. Arka knew it too. She began retracting her heavy assault skeleton. Her body split open again as the internal framework contracted inward. The armor disappeared, and her silver hair fluttered in the wind.

"I let my guard down and took one. Let's call it here for today."

Doyeon supported the grinning Arka as they withdrew.

"Hey, are you okay?!"

"You're completely covered in blood!!"

My companions prioritized me over attacking the retreating enemies. Doyeon's gaze brushed over me. She tried to remain cold, but a very faint emotion lingered in her eyes. Interest. And hesitation.

"Retrieval is postponed," she said, turning away. "We're pulling out, Arka."

Arka looked at me and smiled. "Let's have even more fun next time."

The transport drones picked them up and disappeared into the distance. I collapsed, leaning on my companions. Yoon Harin examined my condition and spoke softly.

"It's because of excessive regeneration. Your energy is completely depleted. We need to find a safe place to rest."

Han Yerin let out a long breath. "Seriously... you've really become a monster."

Even so, she didn't keep her distance. None of them did. They didn't care that my blood was staining their clothes and skin as they held me close.

My infection level—

It didn't rise any further. As I felt their body heat against mine, it slowly dropped back down to 20%. Kang Seorin cupped my face in her hands.

"I told you not to go over 20%."

"Sorry. I crossed it."

"...Still, I'm glad you didn't die."

Her hands were trembling slightly. NK365 hugged me warmly from behind.

"You did well. You really held on."

Yoon Harin closed her eyes and sighed. "Is it because of high compatibility...? To cross 20% without collapsing is nothing short of a miracle."

Han Yerin leaned against my shoulder and smiled. "The corporations will come again. Think you can handle it?"

I nodded. Infection level 20%. I had crossed the line, but I hadn't collapsed. And in this experiment, there was still one variable that neither the corporations nor the Central AI had calculated.

The bond between the five of us. That was something that could never be converted into numbers.

"Next time, I'll win."

It wouldn't end with barely driving them off like this.

Inside the transport drone, Lee Doyeon stared out the window.

"She wasn't a completed form," Arka said from inside the medical capsule.

"Of course not. Not yet."

Doyeon's hand unconsciously rubbed across the surface of her glove. Arka let out a small chuckle.

"You liked her, didn't you?"

"She's just a retrieval target."

"Liar."

The transport drone disappeared toward the center of the city.