Chapter 15 — The Hive Queen's Whisper
The chamber's air was heavy with decay and buzzing static. Kaito felt it before he saw it — a throbbing pulse inside his skull, like someone whispering behind his eyes. The monstrous bug—colossal, grotesque, and half-fused into the machinery—hung suspended in a containment tank that oozed with black ichor.
Its compound eyes glowed a deep crimson. They didn't blink. They watched.
Aya raised her device. "She's conscious."
"Conscious?" Kaito whispered. "She's… aware?"
The Queen twitched in her fluid prison, her countless legs spasming as a psychic tremor raked across the room. Aya's screens glitched. Kaito dropped to one knee, clutching his head.
Words — no, feelings — bled into his mind.
> You are one of us... join... shed your skin... Evolve...
Kaito grit his teeth. "Get out of my head!"
The orb embedded in his glove pulsed violently, glowing brighter with each wave of resistance. Suddenly, the Queen shrieked in pain, and cracks began to web through the glass of her tank.
---
The System Reacts
A system notification slid across Kaito's vision like a hallucination.
> [Emergency Sync Initiated: Contamination Surge Detected]
[System Will Attempt Recalibration. New Skill Gained: Mental Resistance LV1]
The voices in his head softened. Aya looked over in shock. "You got a system message?"
"I don't know what it is…" he breathed, "but it's trying to help me."
He rose to his feet, heart pounding. "If this thing is the hive mind… then it's calling out to all the bugs in Tokyo."
Aya's eyes widened. "Then that means—"
A thunderous buzzing erupted from deep within the building — the sound of thousands of wings beating in unison. The city above had begun to tremble.
---
Escape From the Hive
"We have to destroy her," Kaito said.
Aya hesitated. "If we kill her without understanding how she controls the infected, we might lose any chance at reversing this."
"She's already spreading," Kaito countered. "Look at the swarm."
They didn't have time to argue.
From the hallway behind them, mutant bugs began to pour in — long-limbed horrors with glistening fangs and armored exoskeletons. Some still bore tattered uniforms. Former humans.
Aya began firing sonic pulses to hold them back, but they just kept coming. "We can't hold them off forever!"
Kaito's eyes locked on the queen.
"I'll go for her. Cover me!"
---
The Charge
Kaito sprinted across the lab floor as monsters poured in from all sides. His orb burned like fire in his palm. His crowbar had fused with a strange energy—like it had leveled up on its own.
He leapt into the air and swung directly at the containment tank.
The glass exploded in a spray of black fluid and acidic steam. The Queen screeched in agony, her body convulsing as she spilled out in front of him — enormous, wounded, and mad with rage.
> [Warning: Threat Level — Apex Mutation]
[Initiating Core Skill Awakening Trial]
---
Reckoning with the Queen
Kaito barely had time to react as the Queen lunged forward, faster than he expected. Her claw sliced past him, cutting deep into his side. Blood sprayed, but Kaito didn't stop.
He slammed the glowing crowbar into her eye. The Queen screamed, black blood erupting from the wound.
The orb activated:
> [Skill Unlocked: Flash Strike LV1]
In an instant, Kaito's body moved faster than thought. He delivered a second blow, this time striking the exposed nerve cluster in her neck.
Aya screamed from behind him. "Kaito, duck!"
A sonic wave burst over his head, blasting the Queen back just enough for Kaito to gain ground.
He roared and leapt again — this time striking the Queen's core directly.
With a deafening CRACK, her body split open.
---
Silence Falls
The Queen's body twitched, then collapsed.
The mutant swarm froze mid-charge… then dropped, lifeless.
Kaito collapsed beside the queen, panting, bleeding, and trembling. Aya rushed to his side, scanning him.
"You did it," she whispered.
The orb sank deeper into Kaito's palm, now permanently fused. Its glow faded, replaced by eerie silence.
---
Aftermath
As dawn broke over Tokyo, the building smoldered.
Emergency teams — or what remained of them — arrived hours later. The site was quickly quarantined, but news had already leaked.
Online, footage of insect-like monsters roaming alleyways and collapsing into dust after the quake was spreading. Some claimed it was fake. Others began theories.
Aya and Kaito stood on a rooftop, overlooking the city.
"She wasn't the only one," Aya said quietly. "There are other nests."
Kaito tightened his fist. "Then we hunt them."
The orb pulsed once.
And from deep below the city… something stirred.
End of Chapter 15