Parasite

Chapter 2 – "Ash Protocol"

Part 5 – "Pact or Parasite"

They continued through the dim service shaft, the faint smell of ozone and damp stone clinging to the air. Overhead, mag‑chords dripped life-pulses into the vaulted ceiling's copper veins. Kael kept a firm grasp on Vireya's hand—warmth in his palm, grounding, a promise.

Their bond had been stabilized, but it pressed against them both with a quiet insistence. Vireya's breath came steady; Kael's heartbeat felt heavy. Neither spoke. It was as if words might shatter fragile balance.

Dax led the way, steps quick and silent. Marion, mask mounted and form rigid with purpose, followed at the rear. The corridor wound downward, deeper into the Sprawl's underbelly.

At the bottom, the tunnels opened into a massive secondary chamber—Sanctuary Reef.

I. Arrival at Sanctuary Reef

The space contradicted its name. It was raw, half‑finished, an underground complex of welded steel beams, hanging veins of vine-root grafts, and broken data panels flashing old glow. Blue‑white fungus glowed in puddles, illuminating patches of broken concrete and tarp shelters. In one corner, a handful of outcasts clustered around a glow‑forge—a metal‑working station repurposed with blood‑acid tools.

"Here," Dax whispered, leading them to a clean pod at the chamber's far end.

It looked like a containment cell—but purpose-built for isolation. Plastic‑glass walls, soft absorbent floor, built-in medical tools, stimulant injectors, and a bio‑link console over a cranial mesh plate.

Kael exhaled hard. "Alright."

Marion handed over the flash drive. "This is the working formula. Once we refine a full serum, you can choose."

He looked at Marion's masked face. "There's always a choice?"

"Yes," she said softly. "But choosing means defining what the bond is—not defining it for you."

Vireya squeezed Kael's fingers. "We face this together."

II. The Weight of Choice

They entered the pod. Though sterile, it felt oppressive as they settled. Instruments lined the walls. A projector stood in one corner, ready to display schematics.

Marion stepped forward. "Here are your options."

The holo flickered to life. On the left: Bond Completion—synthesis of full Primeclade serum to permanently anchor the glyph, granting Kael access to Vireya's memories and powers, along with increased durability and minor blood‑arts.

On the right: Severance Protocol—a multi-stage reversal serum that isolates the glyph into a dormant fragment, preserving Kael's humanity but ending his deeply psychic link with Vireya. Both options came with risks.

Kael's heart pounded. "Side effects?"

Marion ran her hand through a console grid. Under completion: neural fracturing, memory bleedover, partial regression into the arcane. Under severance: severe hemorrhagic shock, loss of communion, high probability for temporary paralysis.

"And… how long?"

The bond-break path would take five days; the bond-complete path, three hours. But the longer the glyph remained active, the stronger Protocol radar locked onto its signal.

Dax eyed the screens. "We're bumped to the high‑alert list. Once you choose, we move."

Kael swallowed hard. Vireya looked at him—golden eyes raw fear and trust intermingled.

He closed his eyes. "We came here to choose. We stay here until we do."

III. A Haunting Quiet

The four sat in silence as shadows flickered in the pod's dull lighting. Kael traced the glyph's outline under his shirt.

Vireya leaned forward. "Tell me what you feel."

He paused. "After stabilization… I felt human again. But… I see things. Flashes of you—history I never knew but want to. I feel strength in me that wasn't there. But… I'm not you. Passing memories taste like stolen nectar and poisoned wine."

She nodded. "I felt it too—your pulse changes my mind. I forget not to lose myself. To protect us."

They locked eyes.

Outside, orphan-forged hammers struck iron—Sanctuary Reef working update systems. The place seemed alive, building something new amid wreckage.

Marion stood. "Time is short. Protocol will breach here soon. You must decide."

IV. Escalating Threat

The pod's audio panel clicked. "Unregistered blood‑glyph signature detected adjacent."

Dax swore quietly. The pod's secure doors clicked shut, barriers shimmering.

"Protocol sweepers," Marion said, voice calm but firm. "They're here."

Kael braced—his choice now made worse by external pressure.

Vireya placed a finger to his lips. "Decide. I'll honor whatever you choose."

He took a tremulous breath and then said, "I want… to complete it."

V. Ritual of Union

The projector showed a swirling diagram. Marion stepped forward, placing two vials on a tray—one black‑indexed Primeclade serum, one golden‑lined catalyst. A single injector stylus rested between them.

Marion looked at Kael. "You drink the catalyst. I inject the serum directly. Vireya will align the Psychic Link to stabilize transition."

Dax flicked off all main lights. Only the pod's ambient glow remained.

Kael lifted the catalyst vial to his lips. Vireya braced his wrist, other hand resting over his heart—solid warmth beneath his ribs.

Together they drank.

The flavor was sharp—like cold steel against skin. Ash‑sweet.

Marion unsheathed the stylus, approaching with feline care.

"Ready."

Kael gritted his teeth. Vireya slid beside the injector. They stared into each other's eyes.

"Now."

The stylus slid in.

VI. Fire in the Blood

The moment serum entered his vein, Kael's body arced. Electricity flooded through him—a billion needles releasing simultaneous pressure. His vision broke into kaleidoscopic shards of his and Vireya's memories:

Her coronation crowd tilting into silence

The dagger in her ribs, blood blossoming on stone

Zig‑zagging glyphs smashing across neural plates

Kael's first steps into the vault, breathing in ancient air

Vireya's voice whispered in his dreams: "You hold me."

He collapsed.

Vireya caught him. Her whisper pressed to his ear: "Remember us."

A hum grew inside his head. The glyph beneath his spine started swirling light.

He clawed at floor tiles, pain burying his mind.

Shadows flickered on the pod walls as Dax activated ward shields.

The serum's effect was thunderous—the pain less physical, more warping of self. Every memory, every future flicked behind his eyes.

He heard Marion chanting the stabilizer script:

"In bind we trust. In blood we bond. Primeclade path, do not sever. Let union be choice."

VII. The Mind's Crucible

Kael's mind opened—

He saw through Vireya's eyes: a throne room of carved bone, moonlight slipping through broken windows and illuminating red‑etched sigils on the floor. He felt her pride at ascension—and the knife.

He swore he felt the blade's edge digging into her side.

Then his own skull cracked.

He came back with a scream, thrashing.

Vireya yanked him upright—tears running.

He gasped in half‑formed words: "I… saw…"

She kissed his forehead. "I know."

The glyph at his neck pulsated wild neon.

Marion adjusted consoles. "Stabilizing."

VIII. Resurgence into Clarity

The pod went silent. The serum's surge died.

Kael collapsed in Vireya's arms, weeping.

His tears sparkled with ash‑metal residue.

Marion's measured voice broke the quiet. "Completion is achieved. Bond stabilized at ninety‑nine percent. You are now symbiotic."

Kael raised his head. Eyes wet, golden‑tinged light in his irises.

Vireya held his face.

He touched the glyph under her collar. "We're one now."

IX. A New Symbiosis

They rose as a single breath, hearts syncing.

Kael's body felt different—stronger, urgent, edged.

Vireya's body pulsed beneath his hands—charged, alive.

He looked at Marion. "What now?"

She smiled behind the mask. "Now, you hide—or you confront."

Dax held a key‑tag. "Extraction point is miles away—and drones are intersecting routes."

Kael turned to Vireya. "Can we outrun them?"

She nodded. "Together."

He offered her his arm.

X. Dawn Through the Tunnels

They stepped out of the pod. Sanctuary Reef's western shaft lay ahead.

The call of Protocol droned in static behind them—hungry and hateful.

Kael and Vireya moved as a bonded pair—potent, real, lived.

Each moment behind flight became their unspoken vow: Not relic. Not ghost. Not weapon.

Their hearts were theirs now.

XI. Epilogue to Chapter 2

They stepped from the chamber, shoulders squared, unbowed.

The tunnels ahead opened into darkness—and their future.

Together, they would face everything: Masquerade, Hunters, history.

But tonight, beneath the weight of blood and bond, they took their first step forward—new, dangerous, and unbreakable.