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Aiko
Aiko's eyes fluttered open, a searing pain radiating through her temple. Blood trickled down her forehead, warm and sticky. Her vision swam as she pushed herself off the cold floor, disoriented and groggy. The room around her felt smaller, darker—claustrophobic in its silence.
Her hand instinctively went to her holster, but it was empty.
"Damn it," she muttered, realizing Jihoon had taken everything—her gun, her walkie-talkie, and even her small pouch of supplies. Anger surged through her chest, her teeth gritting at the thought of his betrayal.
Struggling to her feet, she stumbled toward the door, leaning against the wall to steady herself. She cracked the door open just enough to peek outside. The pounding had stopped, but the eerie silence that replaced it was almost worse. The hallways stretched out like a labyrinth of dread, and every shadow seemed to shift, as though the neomorphs were lurking just out of sight.
"How the hell am I going to get out of this one?" she whispered to herself, clenching her fists.
She stepped out into the hallway, keeping her steps as silent as possible. Every creak of the floor, every faint sound from deeper within the lab, made her heart race. Her only thought was to get to the lab where her mother's research was stored.
Heeseung and Jay must be there, she thought. I just need to reach them. I can't do this alone.
Navigating through the corridors, she cursed Jihoon under her breath. His greed and selfishness had left her defenseless in the middle of a deathtrap.
"Idiot," she muttered. "I should've known better."
Aiko rounded a corner, only to come face-to-face with a lone neomorph. Its grotesque body twitched as it sniffed the air, detecting her presence. She froze, her mind racing. The creature growled low, taking a step forward.
Without a weapon, her options were limited. She glanced at the wall beside her, noticing a loose pipe jutting out. In a swift motion, she yanked it free, the metal groaning under the force. As the neomorph lunged, she sidestepped, swinging the pipe with all her strength. The impact sent it reeling, but it wasn't enough to take it down.
The creature recovered quickly, its claws slashing through the air. Aiko ducked, adrenaline coursing through her veins as she fought to stay alive. Finally, with a desperate thrust, she drove the jagged end of the pipe into its skull. The neomorph let out a guttural screech before collapsing to the floor.
Panting, Aiko leaned against the wall, clutching her side where its claws had grazed her. Blood seeped through her torn shirt, but the wound wasn't deep.
"Just a scratch," she told herself, trying to shake off the pain.
Finally reaching the lab, Aiko slipped inside and locked the door behind her. The room was eerily untouched, as though frozen in time since her mother's last visit. Rows of equipment and files lined the walls, and the faint hum of dormant machines filled the air.
