The pressure hadn't once led him astray.
The dog.
The woman.
The pig.
Three separate pulls.
Three lives saved.
Which meant if the System was drawing him here... Whatever waited inside must be the real threat.
The pull never weakened, if anything, it became more deliberate, drawing him through the industrial estate with quiet certainty instead of urgency.
The first two Deviants had felt almost accidental, as though he had stumbled across them before they could hurt anyone.
This one felt different, the System wasn't guiding him toward a threat, it was leading him toward a decision.
Silence settled almost immediately, just the faint pressure pulling him toward the half-open roller door ahead, Arty picked up the weighted pipe from the passenger seat.
"Third time's the charm."
He stepped forward, the darkness inside the unit didn't feel empty, it felt occupied.
Arty stopped just short of the roller door, not stepping in immediately, letting his eyes adjust while his attention stretched inward.
There was movement, it wasn't something that was searching, it was low and irregular, it was contained, which meant one thing.
"Trapped,"
[Assessment: Probable]
That wasn't good, cornered Deviants didn't behave like the others, they were more prone to violent reactions which are unpredictable.
Arty shifted slightly to the side of the opening, keeping the frame between himself and the interior as he leaned just enough to see in.
The unit was a workshop, tool benches along the walls with shelves full of spare parts, a vehicle halfway disassembled in the center.
Near the back… A man pressed against the far wall, one arm clutched tight to his chest, eyes wide and locked on something just out of Arty's line of sight.
"Don't move," the man whispered hoarsely.
Arty didn't answer, his focus had already shifted, he could see it now low to the ground, its limbs were all kinds of wrong.
It was crawling in a very unnatural way, all of its jointswereat odd angles, its movement far too smooth for something that shouldn't be able move like that.
It was circling around the man, herding him towards the corner of the room, slowly and deliberately. It was controlling the room...
"Deviant classification?"
[Classification Pending]
That was new and somewhat worse. That meant the System didn't fully understand it yet.
The creature's head snapped slightly toward the door, it had heard him.
That same wrong intelligence flickered in the unreal way it moved, Arty exhaled once.
"Yeah… you're different alright."
The man against the wall whimpered.
"Please—just—"
"Stay still," Arty cut in, voice low but sharp enough to lock him in place.
The Deviant shifted again, it didn't attack immediately, rather it adjusted its approach, recalculating in real time how to deal with him.
Every step placed deliberately, avoiding loose tools, debris, anything that would give away more than he wanted it to, this creature was tracking him.
Not just with its eyes, its whole body angled toward him, weight shifting in subtle increments as if preparing for multiple outcomes at once. It wasn't choosing a target, it was now evaluating both.
"System give me something."
[Adaptive Behaviour Detected]
[Deviant Type: Early Cognitive Drift]
[Threat Level: Elevated]
[Recommendation: Rapid Neutralisation]
Of course it was, Arty almost laughed under his breath.
"Yeah. No kidding… I actually wanted something… You know… Useful."
The creature didn't immediately lunge. It watched... Its head tilted a fraction, as though measuring the distance between Arty and the trapped man.
The Deviant moved first. It darted left, then snapped right, testing his reaction. Arty refused to commit to a swing, waiting for the moment it finally exposed itself.
The second movement came faster, a low lunge, claws scraping across concrete as it closed distance in a blur of motion, Arty stepped back half a pace, bringing the pipe down in a tight arc.
The impact clipped its shoulder, it twisted mid-motion, absorbing the blow in a way that shouldn't have been possible, then rebounded instantly.
"Alright, this one learns."
[Confirmed]
The Deviant lunged again, aiming higher and faster this time. Arty shifted sideways, but this time he didn't just react he also reached out to the surrounding metal, the metal shelving to his right responded.
As one leg buckled inward, the entire structure tilted towards the Deviant, slamming into it mid-lunge, its own momentum carrying it forward. It twisted so violently that the shelving groaned...
As it shrieked, sounding something between animal and human, he moved immediately.
With no hesitation the pipe came down hard, once, twice, each time the creature moved in impossible ways, it was evading his strikes not allowing a solid strike.
Its arm snapped out, claws raking across the pipe, nearly ripping it from his grip, he stepped in closer, his other hand slammed against the fallen shelving.
"Lock."
As the metal responded to him, it didn't just bend, it compressed, as the shelving tightened around the Deviant's torso like a crude cage, reducing its whole body and head from moving any further.
This was all the opportunity he needed, the third strike came down clean into the creature's head, as its body spasmed, by the fourth strike it was all over for this Deviant.
Arty held his position for a second longer, breathing steady, eyes locked on the body, behind him, the man slid down the wall, shaking.
"Oh God… oh God… What the hell was that thing?" He asked.
Arty ignored him for a moment, crouching beside the corpse, this one was stronger and much more cunning, the distortion inside it wasn't just sitting there.
This crystal wasn't just larger. It had a layered structure unlike any core he'd recovered before.
"Crystal core."
As he pressed his hands in he was met with instant resistance much harder to take than before, still he persisted and pushed in deeper, this extraction was messier.
The shard that came free was darker, more defined, faintly pulsing before it stabilised in his hand.
[Deviant Core Recovered]
[Bonus Objective Progress: 3/3]
He wrapped it carefully, to distinguish it from the others, placing it in his backpack.
"This one's different."
[MISSION COMPLETE]
[FIRST CONTAINMENT SUCCESSFUL]
[Cascade Delay Achieved: Moderate]
"Moderate, hey… Still a win is a… win"
[Reward Processing]
[Early Cognitive Deviant Neutralised]
[Threat Tier: Elevated]
[Deviation Impact: Significant]
His grip tightened slightly around the pipe as that settled into place, so the third one had mattered, and the System had simply not revealed it outright.
[Performance Evaluation: Above Baseline]
The reward expanded again, no longer just a completion notice but something layered.
[Additional Reward Condition Met]
[Spatial Integration Option Available]
Arty's attention sharpened immediately, the earlier pull strengthening as the option surfaced.
"…Can you show me what this means?"
[Structural Integration Package I Unlocked]
[Sensor Sweep Unlocked]
[Adaptive Reserve Points +5 Allocated]
Arty stood slowly.
"Oh yeah… Now we're talking… Show me."
The System did not fade this time, and the silence that followed felt deliberate rather than empty.
[Adaptive Reserve Points: Active Allocation Available]
Arty remained still, his focus narrowing slightly as the wording settled into place.
"Define… Active?"
A brief pause followed before the system responded, the tone sharper than before.
[Adaptive Points may be deployed dynamically]
[Temporary reinforcement or structural override possible]
[Efficiency increased within controlled zones]
His eyes shifted toward the workshop walls, then beyond them, as the implication settled.
"Controlled zones,"
[Confirmed]
[New Function Detected]
That was not part of the mission reward, and he felt the difference immediately, a faint pull settled behind his awareness, subtle but undeniable, drawing his attention backward, toward the warehouse.
[Spatial Anchor Candidate Identified]
[Primary Structure: Warehouse]
Arty exhaled slowly, the connection forming before the explanation fully arrived.
"…Spatial… Anchor?"
The world did not change physically, but something in his perception shifted just enough to matter, it felt like space had depth in a direction it had not had before.
[Spatial Anchor – Tier 1]
[Bind a controlled structure to system interface]
[Enable limited storage and retrieval within anchor zone]
[Stability linked to structural integrity]
[Expansion requires Adaptive Reserve Points]
His focus locked onto one detail and did not move… Storage… Real, system-controlled storage that did not rely on improvisation or physical limitations.
His gaze drifted toward where the warehouse would be, even though it was well out of sight, he could now feel exactly where it is, faintly but clearly enough to understand the implication.
That building was no longer just shelter. It was becoming infrastructure. The warehouse wasn't just his settlement anymore. It was becoming an extension of the System.
[Note: Persistent Storage Potential Detected]
[Functionality Locked – Requirements Not Met]
A faint smile touched his expression, brief and controlled as the meaning settled, not available yet, but already defined, which meant it was inevitable if he progressed far enough.
"What will this one cost me?"
[Initial Binding: 3 Adaptive Reserve Points]
He had five available, which left room for error but not much room for waste. That made it a real decision, not just an obvious upgrade.
Arty considered it for less than a second before the answer settled.
"Bind it."