Rin did not sleep that night.
She lay on her narrow mattress in the Sector-7 dormitory,staring at the cracked ceiling with a restless mind. Akira slept in the next bed, but his breathing was irregular. As if he couldn't sleep either, but was pretending.
They hadn't spoken since returning from the facility.
Too much to say,but no one knew where to begin.
Rin looked at her left arm in the darkness.The gel Mei had applied was already starting to fade. The green pattern underneath slowly became visible again, moving like a pulsing vein. But now the pattern wasn't just on her palm and wrist. She could feel a strange sensation creeping slowly towards her elbow.
Two days.
Only two days before the gel completely wore off.
And after that,what?
Rin closed her eyes,trying to sleep. But every time she was almost asleep, the dream came again.
The forest of giant fungi.
The large figure in the distance.
The voice whispering,"Come home."
And this time,the voice was clearer.
No longer a whisper.
But a call.
And there was something new.Another voice, softer, more familiar.
Her mother's voice.
"Rin…don't fight… accept it…"
Rin woke up gasping for breath.Her body was damp with cold sweat. Her heart pounded hard, as if she had just run as fast as she could.
She sat up,clutching her tight chest.
That wasn't my mother. That was something else.
Something trying to get in with a face she recognized.
In the next bed,Akira stirred, then sat up slowly. He looked at Rin with a tired face.
"Nightmare again?"Akira asked softly.
Rin nodded,unable to speak.
Akira was silent for a moment,then spoke in a more serious tone than usual.
"Rin…I know you're hiding something. Since the simulation, you've changed. I saw it. The others saw it too."
Rin did not answer.
Akira continued,his voice trembling slightly. "I don't know what's happening to you. And I… I'm afraid that if I ask, you'll leave. Like Kai."
Rin looked at Akira and saw real fear in her best friend's eyes.Not fear of monsters, but fear of losing someone important.
"I won't leave,"Rin said softly. "I promise."
Akira looked at Rin for a long time,then nodded slowly. But his gaze was uncertain.
"I…I believe you," he finally said. But his voice wasn't convincing.
Rin wanted to say more.Wanted to explain everything. But the words wouldn't come out.
Because she herself didn't understand what was happening to her.
The next morning.
Rin woke up with a throbbing head and a heavy body.She checked her arm again. The green pattern was even clearer, even through the thinning residue of the gel.
Damn.
She had to find Mei.Now.
Akira was already up earlier,sitting on the edge of his bed looking tired. He glanced at Rin for a moment, then quickly looked away, as if he didn't know what to say.
"Where are you going?"Akira asked softly.
"Just for a walk,"Rin answered quickly. Too quickly.
Akira fell silent.He knew Rin was lying. But he didn't ask further.
Rin stood up,put on her jacket, and left the dormitory.
But before she walked out the door,Akira spoke in a voice barely audible.
"Rin…if you need help, I'm here. Okay?"
Rin paused for a moment at the threshold,without turning.
"I know,"she said softly.
Then she left.
Sector-3. Elite Residential Block.
Rin stood in front of the gate of the residential complex,where the families of high-ranking officials and scientists lived. Clean white walls, well-maintained synthetic gardens, and tight security systems.
Completely different from Sector-7.
Rin checked the address Mei had written on a small slip of paper yesterday.Block-C, Unit 47.
She walked through the gate.The security guard glanced at her suspiciously, but didn't stop her. Perhaps because she was still wearing her Frontliner training uniform.
Rin arrived in front of Unit 47,a small house with a black door and dark windows.
She knocked on the door.
No answer.
Knocked again.
Still no answer.
Was Mei not home?
Rin was about to turn and leave,but suddenly the door opened a crack.
Mei stood behind the door.Her face was as flat as usual, but her eyes darted quickly left and right, making sure no one was watching.
"Get in.Quick."
Rin entered,and the door closed immediately behind her.
Inside Mei's house.
A small room with minimal furniture.An old sofa, a small table, and a bookshelf full of medical books and old archives. No family photos. No decorations.
Like the house of someone who never felt"at home."
Mei went straight to the table,picking up a small box containing medical equipment.
"Show me your arm,"she said curtly.
Rin raised her left arm.The gel was almost completely gone. The green pattern on her arm was now clearly visible, moving faster than yesterday. And what was more terrifying, the pattern had crept up to her elbow.
Mei examined it carefully,taking a small scanner and pointing it at Rin's arm.
The device flashed red,then bright red.
Mei let out a long sigh."Faster than I thought."
"What does that mean?"Rin asked anxiously.
"This pattern isn't just a spore reaction,"Mei answered while checking the scanner screen. "It's a mycelial network growing under your skin. Like small roots merging with your blood vessels. And every time you use that ability, these roots grow faster."
Rin felt her chest tighten."Does… does that mean I'm infected?"
"Not infection,"Mei answered. "It's symbiotic. Your body isn't rejecting the spores, it's accepting them. And the spores are growing with you." She looked at Rin seriously. "This is a synchronization process. Your body is slowly merging with the global mycelial network, the network that connects all Mycelites in the Black Zone."
Rin took a step back."So I'll become like them? Like those monsters?"
"Not necessarily,"Mei answered quickly. "Synchronization has several stages. You're now at stage two, responsive and manipulative. If you can control it, you can remain human. But if you lose control…"
Mei didn't finish.
Rin already knew.
If I lose control, I will change.
"How can I control it?"Rin asked. Her voice was almost desperate.
Mei looked at her for a long time,then answered in a tone that offered little hope.
"By learning to listen to the network,but not letting it take over. Like talking to something alive inside your own body. You have to be able to separate their voices from your own."
"That sounds impossible."
"It's almost impossible,"Mei answered. "But I succeeded."
Rin looked at Mei in shock."You have this pattern too?"
Mei was silent for a moment,then slowly raised her hand.
She removed her glove.On her right palm was the same pattern.
But smaller.Calmer. As if it had long since merged with her body and no longer rebelled.
"I've had this since I was nine,"Mei said softly. "After my family was attacked by Mycelites during an evacuation from the Yellow Zone. My father and mother died. I survived, but I changed."
Rin didn't know what to say.
Mei continued in a flat tone,but there was pain behind her words.
"The Dome Council found me.They examined my body. And they discovered I was Mycelites. They didn't kill me because I could still control it. But they monitor me. Every three months, I have to report to the medical facility. If I lose control…" She paused for a moment. "They will kill me. Without warning. Without a trial. Just elimination."
Rin felt a coldness creep up her spine.
"So I'll be like that too?"she asked softly.
Mei nodded.
"If they find out about you,yes."
Silence for a moment.
Then Rin asked in a soft voice."Why are you helping me? You could have just stayed silent and let them capture me."
Mei looked at Rin for a long time,then answered in a tone softer than usual.
"Because I know how it feels to be alone with this.And I don't want anyone else to feel the same." She paused for a moment. "And because our parents worked together."
Rin tensed."What do you mean?"
Mei walked to the bookshelf,retrieving an old digital file hidden behind a row of medical books. She opened it on a tablet screen.
On the screen appeared a photo of Rin's family.
Father,mother, and a six-year-old Rin.
But something was strange.
Behind them,there was another figure.
A figure whose face had been deliberately blurred.
"This is the last photo of your family before Expedition-47,"Mei said. "But there is one person erased from this photo by the Dome Council."
"Who?"Rin asked quickly.
Mei swiped the screen,displaying an uncensored version of the photo.
And behind Rin's family stood a woman in a Frontliner uniform.
Her face was clear.
And Rin recognized the resemblance.
Because that face looked very much like Mei.
"That's my mother,"Mei said softly. "Kurohana Saya. She was a member of Expedition-47. Alongside your father."
Rin looked at Mei in disbelief.
"So our parents worked together?"
Mei nodded."More than that. They were the core team of Expedition-47. They were the leaders. They were the ones who discovered the Mycel Heart."
Silence.
"But,"Mei continued, "they weren't supposed to find it. And when they did, the Fungal Kings attacked."
Mei looked at Rin with a gaze full of pain.
"Your father,my mother, and the other members, they were all attacked. Some died. Some disappeared. And you were the only survivor."
"Why did I survive?"Rin asked. Her voice trembled.
Mei was silent for a long time.
Then she answered in a very serious tone.
"Because your father protected you in a way he shouldn't have."
"What do you mean?"
Mei looked directly at Rin.
"He injected pure spores into your body.Spores from the Mycel Heart itself." She paused for a moment. "He knew it would change you. But it was the only way to protect you from the Fungal Kings' attack. Because with those spores inside you, they would consider you part of the network. Not a threat. Not prey."
Rin took a step back.She gasped for breath.
My father intentionally changed me?
He intentionally made me Mycelites?
"So I wasn't born like this,"Rin muttered. "I was made like this."
Mei nodded slowly."Yes. And the Dome Council knows that. They've been monitoring you since you were a child. Waiting to see what would happen. Waiting to see if you would become a weapon or a threat."
Rin felt something cold spread throughout her body.
I'm not an ordinary human.
I'm not an ordinary Mycelite.
I'm something in between.
"Then what should I do?"Rin asked. Her voice was almost desperate.
Mei looked at her for a long time.
Then she answered with determination.
"We have to find the Mycel Heart.We have to know what really happened ten years ago. And we have to finish what our parents started."
Rin looked at Mei,and for the first time in a long time, she felt she wasn't alone.
"How can we do that?"Rin asked.
"By going deeper,"Mei answered. "Deeper than the Yellow Zone. Deeper than the Red Zone. All the way to the Black Zone, where the Mycel Heart is."
"But we haven't even passed training yet."
"That's why,"Mei said, "we have to pass. We have to become full Frontliners. And we have to survive long enough until we can go in there."
Rin was silent for a long time,then slowly nodded.
"Okay.I'll try."
Mei smiled faintly,for the first time since Rin had known her.
"Good.Now I'll train you how to control that network before it's too late."
Two hours later.
Mei trained Rin on how to listen to the mycelial network without losing control.
"Close your eyes,"Mei said. "Feel the pattern on your arm. Don't fight it, but don't let it take over either. Imagine it's like talking to someone standing next to you. You can hear them, but you don't have to follow what they say."
Rin closed her eyes,feeling the pattern on her arm.
A small vibration.A faint pulse.
As if a voice was whispering,but not in words.
"Come home…come home… come home…"
Rin shook her head slowly.No. I won't come home.
But the voice kept coming,louder.
"You are part of us.You must come home."
Rin opened her eyes quickly.She gasped for breath. "I can't. The voice is too strong."
"Because you're still afraid of it,"Mei said. "You have to stop being afraid. You have to accept that the voice is there, but it doesn't mean you have to follow it."
Rin looked at Mei."How?"
"By focusing on something stronger,"Mei answered. "Memories. Goals. People important to you. Anything that can keep you being you."
Rin closed her eyes again.This time she focused on a memory.
Akira.
Her parents.
Tianhai Dome.
The promise not to disappear.
The voice slowly weakened.
Still there,but not as strong as before.
Rin opened her eyes.Her breathing was more regular.
"Did it work?"Mei asked.
Rin nodded slowly."A little."
"Good,"Mei said. "But this is just the beginning. You have to practice continuously, every day. If not, that voice will grow stronger. And one day, you won't be able to tell which voice is yours and which is theirs anymore."
Rin felt a coldness creep up her spine.
One day, I might not be me anymore.