Sympathetic link
1089 Words
The mine tunnel felt narrower on the way back. Jax carried Riley over one shoulder, the younger man’s weight dead and heavy against him. Riley’s breathing was shallow, his skin hot and mottled with fading green lines that pulsed weakly beneath the surface.
Milo walked close, constantly checking vitals. “He’s fighting it, but the link you made is dangerous. The BioForge is using bloodline compatibility to try and bridge into you.You bought him some time, but in doing so, got yourself marked by whatever infected your brother. If we don’t stabilize him soon and neutralize the alien bio matter in him, it will attach itself for a new host." Milo looked at him.
"Me" Jax confirmed.
"Yes. it knows what you are, due to the bio link. He is your brother, you share the same genome. it couldn't have asked for a more perfect host".
Tank took rear guard, heavy machine gun sweeping the darkness. “We got company behind us. Something bigger than the dead miners.”
Reyes glanced back. “Hunter. It’s coming for the partial. Move faster.”
Jax’s private interface lit up only for him:
[Sympathetic Link established with Riley Harlan.]
[Current risk: Cascading infection probability 54%.]
[Quest progression: Subdue Riley – 1/1. Mercy-kill option still available.]
[Reward pending: Bloodline Script evolution upon safe extraction.]
[Warning: Incoming enforcer entity – “Hunter” class. Level estimate: 9.]
A low, mechanical screech echoed from deeper in the mine. The walls vibrated. Green light intensified.
“Contact rear!” Tank bellowed and opened fire.
The Hunter emerged like a nightmare built for speed. Eight feet tall, sleek and angular, its body looked like blackened metal fused with organic muscle. Multiple blade-limbs unfolded from its back, and its head was a smooth visor of black metal. It moved on backward-jointed legs, closing the distance in bounding leaps.
Tank’s bullets sparked off its armored plating. Reyes fired precise shots at the joints, but the Hunter barely slowed.
Jax set Riley down behind a rusted ore cart and turned to face it. His left arm still ached from the debug, but he had no choice.
He triggered Core Overclock v1.0 again.
Power flooded him instantly. The world sharpened. He charged forward, claws extended, meeting the Hunter mid-leap. One of its blade-limbs slashed down. Jax caught it with plated forearms, sparks flying as chitin met alien alloy. The impact jarred his bones, but the overclock held.
“Reyes! Jack the secondary nodes!” he shouted.
She was already moving, slapping her palm against the Hunter’s flank. Blue light flared. “Jacking now — disrupting targeting!”
The Hunter twitched, one blade going limp. Jax pressed the advantage, driving clawed hands into a gap in its chest plating and activating the debug tool at the same time.
**[Basic Debug Tool engaged.]**
**[Analyzing foreign code… infection detected. Rerouting…]**
Cold focus hit. Jax saw the lines of code trying to piggyback the Hunter’s alien composition back into his own system — and into Riley. He rewrote frantically, severing the bridge.
The Hunter screamed — a digital howl that made Jax’s teeth ache. Its movements grew erratic. Tank poured fire into the exposed gaps while Milo tossed a stabilizer grenade that burst in blue sparks around the creature’s legs.
The overclock timer ticked down.
Twenty seconds left.
Jax felt the crash building. He roared and delivered one final empowered strike straight into the Hunter’s core processor. The visor cracked. Green fluid sprayed.
The Hunter collapsed in a twitching heap, blades folding inward with a metallic screech.
[Hunter defeated. Major experience awarded.]
[Level up! Scavenger Patchwork → Level 6]
[Upgrade Capacity increased to 6 out of 5 thanks to bloodline bonus.]
[New upgrade unlocked: Sympathetic Shield v1.0 — Can redirect up to 40% of incoming assimilation attempts to a linked target (currently Riley).]
[Downside: Risk of feedback damage to the linked target or yourself if overused.]
The crash hit the moment the overclock ended.
Jax dropped to one knee, every muscle screaming. His left arm seized violently, bones creaking as the sympathetic link tried to pull Riley’s mutations across. The circuit lines across his chest burned white-hot. For several terrifying seconds his fingers began to elongate into new tendrils before the debug tool’s residual effect stabilized them.
He gasped, sweat pouring down his face. “Got… him.”
Reyes helped him up, her expression a mix of respect and worry. “That was reckless as hell. But it worked. We need to get out before more Hunters spawn.”
Milo was already stabilizing Riley again. “He’s holding. The link bought us time, but he’ll need a proper safe zone soon.”
Tank slung his gun and helped lift Riley. “Then we haul ass. Dry Wells has a basic med-bay we can reinforce.”
As they moved toward the exit, Jax felt the new upgrade settle into his system. The hunger for more was louder now, but so was the weight of responsibility. Riley was alive — barely — and whatever this place was, it had marked them both.
Another line of notification appeared:
[Bloodline interference logged.Youve both been marked for elimination. Stronger enforcement entities will be dispatched. Adapt faster.]
The crew emerged into the blinding desert sunlight. The buggy and hauler waited where they’d left them. In the distance, another green shimmer rippled across the horizon — another rift waking up somewhere in this warped world.
Jax climbed into the passenger seat, Riley secured in the back with Milo watching over him. His body ached from the glitches, but his mind was already turning over the new possibilities.
Reyes started the engine. “You saved your brother. For now. But the BioForge doesn’t like loose ends. This just got a lot more personal.”
Jax stared at the badlands stretching out ahead.
“Yeah,” he muttered. “It did.”
The convoy sped away from Black Rock Mine, dust trailing behind them like a fading warning.
The real hunt was only beginning.
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