CHAPTER 82: CHAPTER 14.4: THE THING’S WEARING JIN’S FACE

The Command Center. 5 hours had passed since the workshop incident, and nobody could pretend things were normal anymore. The briefing room’s harsh fluorescents kept flickering whenever Jin shifted in his chair, creating a strobe effect that made everyone’s temples throb.

Jin sat at the head of the tactical table, his posture perfect, his expression cold. The crimson in his eyes had settled into a steady glow. Every few seconds, his fingers would twitch—the only sign of the war raging inside his skull.

*Let me handle this briefing,* the Entity whispered, silk and poison in equal measure. *You’re too weak to lead them properly.*

*Shut up,* Jin’s consciousness snarled back, clinging to control by his fingernails. *They’re my friends. My family.*

*Your family betrayed you. Your father proved that.*

The quantum katana rested against his chair, humming at a frequency that made everyone’s teeth ache. The blade’s resonance kept shifting—sometimes a warm, protective thrum that felt like the old Jin, other times a hungry whine that promised violence.

Clara sat as far from Jin as possible while still at the table, her tablet clutched like a shield.

The command center doors hissed open, and Scarlett Kendrick strode in, her fiery ginger hair tied in a high ponytail that swayed with each purposeful step. Her emerald eyes immediately scanned the room, assessing the tension before settling on Jin with concern. She wore her tactical gear, and the twin Viking-inspired short swords "Honor" and "Fury" visible at her hips.

’Something’s deeply wrong here,’ Scarlett thought, her tactical mind already analyzing the situation. ’Jin’s posture is rigid and defensive. The others are avoiding eye contact. And that energy coming off his katana....’

"Apologies for my tardiness," Scarlett said, her voice carrying natural authority as she took a position opposite Jin. "I was analyzing the northern perimeter. Seems I arrived just in time for the main event."

"So," Sera’s voice cut through the uncomfortable silence, a professional mask firmly in place despite the worry eating at her insides. "We’ve got a situation."

The holographic display sparked to life, casting everyone in shifting blue light. A topographical map materialized, showing a massive structure 5 kilometers north of the vault. The thing looked organic.

"There’s a Crawler nest we’ve discovered," Sera continued, her amber eyes flicking to Jin every few seconds. "Biggest we’ve seen. Thermal imaging shows at least two hundred signatures, possibly more in the deeper chambers."

"Beautiful," Elena breathed, her cybernetic eye whirring as it absorbed the data. The excitement in her voice was almost sexual. "A perfect testing ground for the new weapons systems."

Rosa shifted uncomfortably in her seat, the leather creaking. "Two hundred? That’s not a nest, that’s a whole damn city."

"Cities can be conquered," Jin said, and everyone flinched at his voice. It wasn’t quite the dual-tone horror from the workshop, but something had changed. Like someone had auto-tuned his vocal cords to hit frequencies human throats shouldn’t reach.

**[ENTITY SYNCHRONIZATION: 54% → 55%]**

The temperature in the room dropped two degrees. Frost started creeping across Jin’s water glass, the ice crystals forming fractal patterns that hurt to look at directly.

"Jin-sama is right," Shūmei agreed, her crimson eyes bright with anticipation. "This is an opportunity to eliminate a major threat."

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed slightly as she watched Shūmei’s interaction with Jin. *She’s feeding whatever’s happening to him. Every word she speaks is designed to encourage this... transformation.*

"Or," Dr. Shin Liora said carefully from her spot near the door, like she might need to run at any moment, "we could study them first? My scans from the last encounter showed increasing intelligence patterns. They might be—"

"They’re monsters," Jin cut her off, and the lights flickered again. "They don’t deserve mercy."

*Yes,* the Entity purred. *Every last one of them.*

*No,* Jin fought back internally. *There could be innocents—*

*They’re no longer humans.*

"Mercy is a luxury we may not afford," Scarlett interjected, her voice calm but firm. "But neither is blind slaughter. There’s intelligence at work here. We need to understand it before we engage."

Sera watched Jin’s face twitch, micro-expressions flashing across his features too fast to properly read. For a split second, she swore she saw fear in those crimson eyes. Then it was gone, replaced by that cold emptiness that made her stomach churn.

"The nest structure is fascinating," Anna Volkov said, her architectural mind already dissecting the image. "See these ventilation shafts? They’re made by an intelligent being."

"All the better," Elena said, already sketching weapon modifications on her personal display. "Intelligent enemies make for better testing data."

Clara’s tablet buzzed with an alert that made her heart skip. She glanced up to find him staring directly at her, and for one terrifying moment, she couldn’t tell who was looking out through those eyes.

"I’ll lead the assault," Jin announced, standing abruptly. The quantum katana sang as he picked it up, the blade’s energy field crackling with barely contained violence. "Elena, I want those new weapons ready within the hour."

"They’re ready now," Elena replied, that disturbing excitement still coloring her voice. "I’ve been hoping for a chance to see them in action."

"Good." Jin turned to leave, then paused. His head tilted slightly, like he was listening to something only he could hear. When he spoke again, his voice had that harmonic quality that made the metal walls resonate. "We leave in two hours. All combat personnel be ready."

"Jin, wait," Sera stood, reaching for his arm. "We should talk about—"

The moment her fingers made contact, the world exploded into sensory chaos. The lights blazed like miniature suns before dying completely. The quantum katana screamed, its energy field expanding in a violent pulse that knocked everyone back. The air itself seemed to freeze, ice crystals forming and falling like snow inside the climate-controlled room.

When the emergency lighting kicked in, bathing everything in hellish red, Jin stood in the center of the chaos completely untouched. Sera was on the floor, her hand covered in frost burns from where she’d touched him.

"Don’t," he said quietly. "Just... don’t."

He left without another word, the quantum katana’s hum fading into the distance. The room temperature immediately began rising back to normal, leaving puddles of water where the ice had formed.

"What the hell?" Rosa demanded, helping Sera to her feet.

"I don’t know," Sera admitted, cradling her injured hand. The skin was already blistering, angry red marks in the shape of fingers. "But that wasn’t Jin."

Scarlett was immediately at Sera’s side, examining her injured hand with practiced efficiency. "Frost burns." She looked toward the door Jin had exited through, her expression grim.

Scarlett’s eyes narrowed as she noticed Shūmei watching them with a seemingly innocent expression. ’She knows something.’

As the team began to disperse, Scarlett caught Sera’s arm gently. "Let me treat that hand first. I have some medical-grade salves in my quarters that will help with the pain and speed healing."

Sera nodded gratefully, allowing Scarlett to guide her from the room. As they walked, Scarlett kept her voice low. "Something’s taken root in him. I’ve seen similar cases in historical texts—warriors who tapped into powers they couldn’t control."

"You think this is some kind of possession?" Sera asked, wincing as Scarlett applied a cool gel to her burns.

"I think it’s a battle for his soul," Scarlett replied, her expression serious. "And we’re running out of time to help him win it."