West mother looked back at him. "Officially, they were ’monitoring’ us."

"Unofficially... they were rewriting everything."

Her tone hardened slightly. "We wanted to create stability. A way for normal people to survive in a world where awakened individuals could tear through cities if they wanted to."

"A way for normal people to defend themselves..."

"To level the playing field."

West tilted his head slightly. "And the government?"

"They wanted control," she answered immediately.

"Awakened individuals don’t follow laws the way normal people do. They can’t be contained. They can’t be predicted."

Her eyes darkened. "So the government wanted something that could."

West’s expression remained unreadable as he kept listening.

"They wanted soldiers," her voice lowered. "Not awakened... but something more powerful."

"Something that could grow. Adapt. Assimilate power."

"Something that could fight awakened... and win." the air in the shack seemed to thicken as she continued. "And that’s when everything started going wrong."

West’s gaze sharpened slightly.

"They pushed the research beyond its limits," she continued. "Ignored warnings. Ignored failures."

Her breathing slowed. "They wanted results by all means... and they got them."

She paused for a moment. "Just not the kind they expected."

West mother’s eye dropped as she let out a sigh. "Two of the research subjects... went unstable."

"They broke containment... disregarded control and killed researchers. They didn’t stop there... they slaughtered anyone in their path."

"...Including a government official."

"So they shut it down?" West asked finally.

"...Yes... but it was too late."

She looked at him again. "Two were neutralized but one of the subjects remained."

Her tone had a faint tremor as she added; "That one... was different."

West’s eyes narrowed. "How?"

Her lips parted slightly before she answered. "It didn’t just adapt... it evolved... it had progressed two stages higher than the others."

West’s gaze darkened as she continued.

"They couldn’t neutralize it no matter what they tried."

"Containment failed."

"Termination failed."

"So they did the only thing they could."

"They sealed it."

"Trapped it inside the facility."

"And abandoned the entire research center."

West exhaled slowly as the pieces fell into place. "...And then the ruin appeared..."

She nodded. "Yes."

"If what you’re saying is true... then that subject must have been released when the ruin formed," West’s mind replayed everything that had gone down there.

"...It wandered into the ruins and assimilated again but this time with ruin creatures... increasing its power..."

Silence fell between them as West’s gaze lowered slightly processing everything.

"...The Dragon Fang Base held off sending people after you... because of me," West paused briefly before adding; "Even though that thing cost them one of their own."

His gaze lifted. "So tell me..."

His voice hardened. "...who’s hunting you?"

His mother exhaled slowly before answering. "...The establishment."

West’s eyes narrowed.

"They know what happened at the ruins," she continued. "They know Dragon Fang is investigating."

Her voice grew quieter.

"And they know... if it leads back to us... it leads back to them."

West’s expression didn’t change as he folded his arms.

"But if it reaches them—" she added, "—then it reaches the government."

"And if that happens..." her gaze darkened. "...everything falls apart."

"They were trying to create a weapon," she continued. "Something to counter awakened individuals and if that information gets out... if it spreads..."

A faint tremor entered her tone.

"...it could trigger a war."

"Awakened versus government."

"Power versus control."

"And in the middle of that..." her eyes softened slightly. "...are innocent people."

"So they’re cleaning up?" West seemed to understand the full gist of the situation now.

She nodded. "Yes... They’ve already eliminated several of us."

"I’m just... one of the few left."

West nodded but held his chin because something still didn’t sit right.

His eyes narrowed slightly. "...Then why was your apartment ransacked?"

Her gaze flickered upon hearing that question.

"If they’re just trying to kill you... why search?"

For the first time, she hesitated and West noticed.

His eyes sharpened further as he poised the question better. "...What were they looking for?"

Just as she finally opened her mouth to speak, West’s expression changed.

His eyebrows furrowed as his gaze darted towards the door. "...Someone’s here."

His mother’s eyes widened slightly. "What—"

Before she could form a sentence West’s figure exploded forward.

Boom!

The shack door was instantly shattered with Wood splintering outward as his body tore through it in a blur.

West’s hand shot forward grabbing the figure that was only a few feet away from the entrance. Their feet left the ground instantly as West’s fingers tightened around their throat.

"...Got you," he voiced with a cold tone.

The figure’s throat was locked in his grasp with their feet hanging off the ground. There was a brief, lethal moment where everything narrowed down to a single decision.

He could feel the pressure point. He knew exactly how much force it would take. One twist and the neck would snap putting this whole nightmare to an end...

Just as he was about to, his mother’s voice tore through the air.

"Wait, West!" She yelled in an urgent and panicked tone.

West glanced toward the shack just as she came rushing out, almost tripping over the uneven boards near the entrance.

"Wait, wait!" she shouted again while raising her hands as she ran toward them.

West’s gaze snapped back to the man in his grip, then to her.

"...What?"

She stopped a few feet away with her chest heaving.

"Don’t kill him," she said quickly. "He’s with me."

West’s expression did not soften... it only turned confused. "With you?"

She nodded rapidly. "Yes. He’s one of my colleagues. One of the researchers. He... he started the program."

The words landed strangely in the damp air between them.

For a moment, West simply stared at her, then back at the man whose face was already turning red from the pressure around his throat.

"He what?"

"He’s not dead," his mother pressed on, stepping closer but not too close. "He was never caught. We’ve both been hiding down here all this time."

West looked back at the man again who was coughing weakly against his grip with hands clawing at West’s wrist desperately as someone who very much did not want to die by mistake.

"He went to get wood," his mother added quickly. "He just came back. He didn’t know you were here."

A few silent seconds passed before West finally released him.

The man dropped to his knees at once, coughing violently as he sucked air back into his lungs with one hand clutching his throat while the other braced himself against the muddy ground.

West looked at his mother flatly. "Next time say something earlier."

She exhaled shakily with a look of relief. "I was trying."

The man on the ground wheezed a few more times before looking up with a dazed expression.

"Oh..." he rasped. "You must be West."

West glanced at him. "Yeah."

"Sorry," he added.

The man let out a weak, almost incredulous laugh and coughed again. "That’s... alright. I’d rather take the apology than the broken neck."

He slowly got to his feet, still rubbing his throat. Now that West could actually look at him without trying to kill him, he saw someone older than he expected.

The man was in his late fifties with a terrible body odor probably due to poor living conditions. His hair was unkempt, his face tired, and his clothes were worn.

He didn’t look like someone who once helmed a project powerful enough to attract both private money and government interest. He looked like someone who had been hiding in damp backwoods shelters, sleeping with one eye open. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

West glanced at the bundle of wood that had fallen to the ground during the whole incident, then bent and picked it up without another word.

The man blinked. "You don’t have to—"

"You were carrying it," West said evenly. "Now I am."

There was something almost absurdly normal about the gesture after what had just happened, and for a second, none of them knew what to say.

They returned to the shack together with the wooden boards creaking as they stepped back inside. Once the wood had been set aside and the air had settled a little, the older man finally lowered himself into a chair and looked at Debra with a serious expression.

"Did you explain everything?"

She nodded once. "I told him what happened. About the project. The government. The subjects. Everything."

The man’s gaze turned toward West, studying him in a way that was not clinical, but fascinated.

"You’re surprisingly mild-mannered," he said after a moment. "For an awakened."

West said nothing while the man continued warmly. "You have quite the spectacular son."

The room changed instantly as West’s expression darkened.

"Don’t say that."

The older man blinked as a strange pressure descended at this moment, making West look very scary.

"Don’t call me her son."

The force in West’s voice was enough to make the air feel colder.