The First Mutation Wave

The Black Fangs were gone, but the city didn't celebrate.

It didn't even notice.

The people of New Vale City were too busy feeling the tension in the air, the kind that gnawed at your instincts and whispered, Something's coming.

They were right.

I checked the date on my watch: March 12, 2042.

Three days.

Three days until the awakening event.

Three days until people started gaining superpowers.

And three days until the world collapsed.

The first mutation wave wasn't supposed to happen until March 15th, but [Hypermind] was screaming at me—something was accelerating the timeline.

Mutations were already starting.

The rats in the tunnels below my base had been growing larger and more aggressive.

I had seen crows pecking at dead animals with unusual precision, like they were learning tactics.

The apocalypse was arriving early.

I needed to accelerate my plans.

I spread out my tools on the workbench and sketched a new schematic.

Project 6: Ultrasonic Perimeter Defenses

Concept:

A system of high-frequency sound emitters designed to disorient and repel mutated creatures.

Materials Needed:

High-frequency speakers – Scavenged from old emergency sirens.

Custom Amplifiers – Built from repurposed radio parts.

Portable Power Cells – Modified from car batteries.

Key Features:

Frequency Range: 18 kHz–35 kHz.

Effect: Confuses and agitates mutated animals, preventing them from entering the perimeter.

Backup Function: Can emit a sonic burst to temporarily disorient larger threats.

Project 7: EMP Mines

Concept:

Small, remote-activated electromagnetic pulse mines to disable electronics and bio-electric mutants.

Materials Needed:

Copper Coils – Salvaged from electric motors.

Capacitors – From old microwave ovens.

Trigger System – Modified wireless receivers.

Key Features:

Disables electronics within a 20-meter radius.

Stuns electrically sensitive mutants.

Can be deployed manually or fired from a launcher.

Project 8: Exo-Braces for Speed and Strength

Concept:

A lower-body exoskeleton system to increase running speed, agility, and impact resistance.

Materials Needed:

Hydraulic Pistons – From salvaged industrial arms.

Carbon-Fiber Reinforcements – From abandoned drone parts.

Battery Pack Integration – Compatible with existing power systems.

Key Features:

Speed Boost: +50% sprint speed.

Impact Resistance: Absorbs kinetic shock from high falls.

Mobility Assist: Increases jump height and lateral movement.

I finished sketching the designs and cracked my knuckles.

Time to get to work.

I was halfway through wiring the EMP mine capacitors when my perimeter alarm blared.

Someone was trying to break into the tunnels.

I grabbed my Glock 19, slid on my shock gauntlets, and pulled on my reinforced vest.

Then I checked the motion sensor feed.

There were two figures at the entrance—moving strangely. Their limbs twitched and jerked unnaturally.

Not human.

I zoomed the camera feed.

Their eyes glowed faint yellow in the darkness. Their skin looked stretched and discolored, veins pulsing with dark fluid.

The mutations had begun.

I silently moved through the tunnels, my footsteps muted by rubberized soles.

The creatures were at the far end of the corridor, sniffing the air like hunters searching for prey.

I got within twenty meters and took cover behind a rusted maintenance box.

The creatures were human-shaped but wrong. Gaunt and elongated limbs, skin slick and pale, veins bulging like black roots under translucent flesh.

Their heads twitched constantly, as if tracking sound through echolocation.

I lifted my Arc Stun Baton, flicked it to maximum discharge, and activated the sonic emitter.

A high-pitched hum filled the tunnel.

The creatures staggered instantly, clawing at their heads.

I stepped out and fired.

BANG! BANG!

The first creature's skull burst open, gray matter splattering the tunnel wall.

The second screeched and charged, moving with inhuman speed.

It was on me in seconds, slashing with razor-sharp claws.

I sidestepped, barely dodging the swipe, and punched it square in the ribs with my shock gauntlet.

BZZZT!

The creature convulsed violently but didn't go down.

Shit.

I jammed my Arc Baton into its mouth and activated the charge.

BZZZZT!

The creature's eyes exploded, skin blistering as electricity cooked its brain.

It finally collapsed, twitching.

I stood there, breathing heavily, staring at the still-twitching corpse.

The mutation wave had already started.

I hauled the mutated body back to my lab and strapped it to a metal table.

With a scalpel, I sliced open its chest.

The creature's organs were warped, but its brain and nervous system had grown larger, wrapped in a web of black, root-like tendrils.

The tendrils pulsed slightly, reacting to my touch.

The mutations were accelerating faster than the novel described.

If they were mutating this quickly before the awakening event, then when the apocalypse hit, the creatures would become far more dangerous than expected.

I needed more firepower.

I grabbed my notebook and opened a new page.

Plasma Weapon Development – Prototype 1

Concept:A handheld weapon capable of firing ionized plasma projectiles, effective against organic and mutated targets.

Materials Required:✔ Power Capacitors – From old industrial equipment.✔ Electromagnetic Coils – Salvaged from large transformers.✔ Plasma Containment Unit – Jury-rigged from ceramic heat-resistant parts.

Potential Drawbacks:

Heat buildup could cause meltdown.High energy consumption.

I pulled out the salvaged capacitors from my last scavenging run and started wiring them into a metal rifle frame I had reinforced earlier.

By dawn, the prototype was finished.

It was ugly—thick, boxy, and covered in exposed wiring.

But if my calculations were correct, this thing could incinerate a charging mutant in seconds.

I was just about to test the plasma rifle when my emergency motion sensors went off again.

I switched to the camera feed.

Four figures in tactical gear were moving through the main access tunnel.

But these weren't mutants.

They were heavily armed humans, carrying military-grade rifles and body armor.

I zoomed in on their patches.

Private Military Contractors.

Shit.

These guys weren't random thugs or survivors.

They were part of Project Horizon—a shadow group that had existed in the background of the novel, working behind the scenes to control the apocalypse for their own gain.

If they were here before the collapse, it meant one thing:

They knew about me.