CHAPTER 30: THE GREAT ESCAPE, PART ONE

At the front of the room, a neckless figure of bumpy, red skin sat in a chair, tossing what resembled chips into its mouth. If the entity was a guard, it certainly didn’t seem like it would be a tough task to get past it.

"I’m sure you can handle them, but—" Bob began to say.

Amidst the alien’s advisory, he slipped through the opening in the mesh, landing on the flooring below. He landed quietly to the best of his ability, though the guard that stuffed his face with crisps hardly seemed aware of his surroundings.

’Just gotta take him out of commission,’ he planned.

With silent steps, he carefully approached the guard who sat leisurely at his desk. The build of the guard, dressed in a greasy, beige uniform, resembled that of a thumb with four limbs.

[Lifeform registered.] ["Chogo"]

[Classification: Low Superhuman, Stage Two | Threat Level: Disaster Magnitude 3.4]

With a neck like that of a torso, it was hard to envision getting a chokehold off. He stayed crouched behind the snacking guard, listening to the flappy lips smack the entire time.

’Alright...How do I go about this? A chop to the head? A punch to the throat? I mean, I don’t need to make a mess here,’ he considered.

A glance up at the mess upper area of the chamber, he looked to Bob for any sort of advice. The green figure simply shrugged at him with a look as if saying "Dude, you got yourself into this situation!"

As the seconds passed, he decided a chokehold was his best option, quietly stepping forward—

It was in the screen of the curved monitor that displayed multiple camera angles did he appear from a bird’s view.

"Wurgh—?!" The red-skinned, gluttonous guard burped, jumping to his feet.

’Shit,’ the thought flashed across the lone human’s mind.

As he jumped back, only then did he notice that the security guard had twice as many arms as himself. Each limb of the yellow-eyed alien drew box-shaped guns from holsters before firing off in his direction.

"Human—! Human breach!" The rocky-headed guard yelled while recklessly firing.

"Woah there!" Seven gasped, having to practically dance to avoid the high-speed lasers that shot by.

There was no grace in the security’s offense, who blindly pulled each trigger while keeping his eyes shut.

"Gaaaah...!" Bob yelped as the projectiles burned right through the mesh above.

Ducking and weaving past the bullets of raw energy, he closed the distance, slamming his knuckles right into the guard’s abdomen.

"Pyuh...!" The thumb-headed alien spat out.

"Take a nap for me."

As he withdrew his fist, the red-skinned figure slumped onto the dark-silver flooring. He held himself back from turning the guard into red paste on the floor, only giving him a prolonged rest.

"It’s clear," Seven said, looking up.

Above him, the engineer was left shaken, gulping to himself as he carefully slipped out from the ceiling platform, "...Seriously, I almost got turned to a crisp. Is this always how humans operate?"

"I’m not exactly the standard."

The off-limits chamber was now ripe for the taking, as the fluctuating lights hummed from pillars of snow-white steel, all working to empower the birth of technology millenia beyond humanity. He carefully descended the shallow steps leading to the lower level of the room, looking up at the back wall behind the platform that was merely a window to the cosmos. In the viewable distance, a world split in two, connected by a colossal pillar of water between both halves, sat with its inexplicable form.

"Anywhere in the universe," Bob said behind him. "Anywhere you want, this can take you there. Endless possibilities, and all that."

"There’s only one place I’m going," Seven responded, staring through the see-through glass, witnessing the peculiarity of the vast reaches of space.

"Of course," the short engineer nodded with a smile, tapping at the screen on his wrist. "So...Here’s the thing—"

Just as the green figure began to speak, a blaring alarm echoed through the chamber. Beyond the doors, the sounds of rapid footsteps were loud and clear.

Seven turned around towards the three sets of doors; left, right, and middle.

"This is the part I need you for. It’s going to take a minute to boot the warp up, so—" Bob frantically explained while typing away. "Good luck!"

"Seriously?"

Before he could even reprimand his companion, the metal doors retracted, giving passage to the guards. They were different from the snack-devouring slob first dealt with; the figures arrived clad in cerulean armor, covered from head-to-toe.

[Multiple hostiles recognized. Enemies range from [4.0] to [6.5] in threat magnitude.]

"Yeah, I figured that out myself," he mumbled in response, sprinting across the room.

There were already a half dozen of the Celestius guards entering the room, readying their weapons. While they drew what resembled multi-barreled rifles harboring azure light, he took the first assault—

He dashed towards the foremost of the guards standing at the summit of the steps, leading with a jumping knee.

"Hyuaaah...!" The armored figure gasped as they were thrown back.

Behind the force of the opening attack, the guard crashed against the back wall, slumping over as Seven even found himself somewhat surprised by the effectiveness of it. There was no chance to ponder his own strength as a flash of blue light passed right by him.

He leaned back, looking to the right to see a hole burned right into the steel wall, immediately glancing back to the left to see the armored figure who had shot it.

"Get him!"

"Detain the intruder!"

The voices behind the helmets barked orders to the others in their rank. Seven sprinted across the metal tiles, ducking his head as a ray of pure energy passed right over his head. The heat of it grazed his scalp, feeling just how hot it was as he closed the distance.

"Hruh!" He gritted his teeth, slamming his knuckles straight forward against the torso of steel.

Despite the size of the armored guard, the force knocked it back, making the figure collide with their comrades.

’My body has definitely gotten stronger already...I can do this,’ he thought, feeling his muscles coil as he stayed on the move.

As he moved light on his feet, slipping to the side as a high-speed laser passed—his confidence was checked.

"Ghh?!"

Right against his chest, the blast of one of the energy rifles struck. All of the wind was knocked out of his body as he slid back several feet, nearly toppling down the steps.

"Seven...!" Bob shouted from the platform desperately, having to duck his head.

For that brief moment as the force transferred through his body, it felt as if his internal organs had been bathed in fire.

[Lethal heat detected within body—vitals adapting to the temperature. Deploying emergency adaptation...]

As air returned to his lungs, the complexion of his skin shifted. From his pores, the change began: a dark-silver material crawled across his form.

[Genetic Evolution Triggered: "Titanium Skin"]

Looking at his body, there was no doubt he had undergone a transformation, though he felt no different. Amidst his discovery, a shot of plasma collided with his chest—

"Haah..."

He softly gasped, though found himself only briefly knocked back. It didn’t burn; only a bit of wind was squeezed from his lungs, but it was manageable.

He looked ahead, dashing forward as he immediately retaliated with a swift plant of his boot against the Celestius soldier’s abdomen.

"Guaaaah...!" The guard yelled as he was thrown back.

This time, the impact possessed higher potency as the figure slammed against the wall with enough force that it echoed through the chamber.

The titanium evolution provided more than just defense; it was an added weight to his strikes.

’This is more like it,’ he thought.

"Bring him down! Bring him down!"

"It’s not working!"