The Zeezo and the past memory

Cris stood in front of the storage room door, a solid metal barrier blocking his path. A small screen beside it blinked red, indicating restricted access. He tried pressing his palm against it, but the system rejected him.

"Access Denied. Insufficient Clearance."

Trixie, the AI, materialized beside him in her holographic form. "Allow me, Master," she said with a confident smile.

She gently placed her hand over his, and the system beeped before the red light turned green.

"Access Granted."

The heavy door slid open with a hiss, revealing a dimly lit storage area filled with shelves of supplies and scattered debris.

The air smelled of something rotten, and a faint shuffling noise echoed within.

Cris stepped inside cautiously, scanning the room. His eyes landed on a small creature gnawing at something. It had a round, fluffy body, large eyes, and tiny limbs—it looked almost cute. For a moment, Cris let his guard down, but then the creature stopped chewing and slowly turned its head toward him.

As it opened its mouth, rows of razor-sharp teeth lined its jaw, and an unnatural screech filled the air.

"What the—?" Cris barely had time to react as the creature lunged at him.

Instinctively, he threw up his arms to protect himself. His armor absorbed the impact, keeping him unharmed, but the sheer force of the creature's attack sent him stumbling backward.

His heart pounded as he reached for the crystalline wand strapped to his back.

He gripped it tightly, but in his panic, he had no idea how to use it. The creature recovered quickly and prepared to leap at him again.

"Activate it!" Trixie's voice rang in his ears. "Press the button at the bottom!"

Cris fumbled with the wand, his fingers finding the small button. As he pressed it, the crystal at the tip began to glow, emitting a faint hum of energy.

The creature lunged again. This time, Cris swung the wand, and the glowing crystal struck its side. A sizzling sound filled the air as a portion of the creature's body evaporated, leaving behind only a burnt husk.

It screeched in agony before collapsing to the ground, lifeless.

Cris let out a shaky breath. "That... was too close."

Trixie reappeared beside him. "Are you alright, Master?"

"Yeah... I think so." He wiped the sweat from his forehead before cautiously approaching the creature's remains. "What the hell is this thing?"

Trixie scanned the corpse. "This is a creature known as a Zeezo. They are mutations that emerged from the meteor's impact. Zeezos are drawn to human blood and typically travel in groups."

Cris's stomach churned. His eyes drifted to what the creature had been eating, and his breath hitched. A severed human hand.

His vision blurred, and suddenly, memories that weren't his own flashed in his mind. He saw a man—one of the shelter's previous inhabitants—standing at the entrance, unlocking the gates.

Outside, a swarm of Zeezos stared at him with their deceptively cute faces. The moment he opened the door, they lunged.

The vision shifted to chaos—screams, blood, bodies torn apart. The few survivors tried to fight back, but the shelter was quickly overrun.

The last thing Cris saw was six shadowy figures returning from a hunt, their faces blurred before the memory cut to black.

He staggered backward, gripping his head. "What the hell did I just see...?"