Camp Syndicate: The Monster Lady, 1 (Escape from Club Apophis, 63)

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STORYLINE: Neu Seoul, 5pm

Helga trudged along the sidewalk, her arms aching as heavy grocery bags cut into her fingers. Beside her, Happy the Dino Dog darted between her legs, his bio-construct claws clicking sharply against the pavement.

"Watch where you're going, you little menace," she scolded him playfully, juggling the plastic handles.

Ten days ago, she’d found Happy beside the wreck of Lisa Liemawr’s car, guarding the missing Hexa Herald reporter’s halophone. Lisa’s last broadcast had been looping on its screen, insisting the Forbidden Zone wasn’t radioactive at all, that it was full of monsters. Helga had only meant to do the right thing. She’d pressed Share.

Instead, she'd turned her life into a waking nightmare.

Happy's tail wagged furiously, his scaled snout lifting to sniff the evening air.

Her halophone chimed. Helga groaned, trying to balance two overstuffed grocery bags on one knee while fishing the device out of her coat pocket. Her inbox had exploded with toxic stupidity. Cruel memes. Insults. Badly photoshopped creatures holding political signs featuring her face, as though she were their preferred candidate for president.

She had blocked accounts. Reported them. Ignored them. Nothing worked.

Then a message from Mira appeared.

Mira, founder of the Romaniacs, had arranged that surprise meeting with DJ Romance, the celebrity impersonator. She'd been strangely quiet ever since.

GET OUT OF THE CITY. NOW.

Her thumb hovered over Delete.

A prank. It had to be a prank. But it wasn't like sweet Mira to make fun of her.

Happy stopped weaving around her ankles. His leathery ears twitched. He turned toward the end of the block, letting out a low, vibrating growl.

An icy breeze made her shiver and she tightened her coat. "Come on, Happy," she whispered, quickening her pace.

When they reached her apartment building, Helga's stomach turned. Splashed across her front door in wet red paint were the words MONSTER LOVER.

Happy shoved against her leg, growling at the door.

For the past ten days, he'd appointed himself her personal bodyguard. He slept outside her bedroom and followed her everywhere, even to the bathroom. She'd never had the heart to tell him his vigilance was unnecessary. She wasn't Lisa Liemawr, forever stirring up trouble and making enemies of the rich and powerful. Helga had always lived a quiet life, far from that kind of danger.

Until now.

For a moment, she couldn't move. Happy pressed close, his growl rumbling through her leg. For the first time, she was grateful for his overprotectiveness.

She dropped the grocery bags onto the grass and fumbled for the paper towels. The thick, wet paint smeared beneath her frantic scrubbing.

Lisa Liemawr had gone missing trying to expose the truth about the Forbidden Zone. Helga had only shared the broadcast. She hadn't done anything to deserve this.

Behind her, Happy began to bark again and again.

Her halophone vibrated. Ringing. Ringing.

She snatched it up, ready to turn it off, but stopped dead.

Glowing across the screen was Caller ID: DJ ROMANCE.

She stared at his perfect idol picture and touched her lips, which had never quite stopped tingling since his kiss.

How did he have her number? Mira must have given it to him.

Her thumb hovered over the answer icon. If she didn't answer, she'd spend the rest of the night wondering whether it was really him.

She accepted the call. “Um… hello?”

"Helga."

His voice. That deep gravitas. Her heart skipped a beat. It really was him.

"DJ Romance?" she whispered. "Are you... are you mocking me too?"

The screen flickered wildly with static. Romance's panicked voice crackled through the speaker.

"Helga, listen to me. Please. Get out of the city. Go now!"

She swallowed hard. "You sound just like Mira."

Static swallowed Romance's reply. "If you can't..." His voice broke into a glitching distortion.

Then silence.

Helga's battery icon plunged to zero.

The screen went black.

"Hello? Romance?"

She tapped the screen, then held down the power button. Nothing.

A deep pulse reverberated through her jaw. She felt it in her teeth, a low-frequency hum rising through the pavement beneath her feet.

Helga looked around, trying to locate the sound. Several blocks away, a billboard flickered. Its brilliant advertisements stuttered through bands of static before the entire display went dark. Then, the streetlamps died in a long, dark cascade toward her.

Happy stopped in his tracks. His scaled head snapped upward.

Helga followed his gaze, her breath hitching.

The blood-red sky stretched outward like an open wound over Neu Seoul.

A cold wind swept through her hair.

The smell hit her a moment later. Damp earth. Stagnant water. And beneath it all, something sweet and rotten.

Happy's collar frills sprang fully open. He planted his feet and faced the street, snarling so fiercely that the sound rattled in his chest.

Helga gasped. She fumbled for her door key fob, aiming it at the door. Click. Click. Click.

Nothing.

The power LEDs on both the key fob and the door lock had gone dark.

She slammed her fists against the door. "Damn it!"

Behind her, Happy erupted into furious barking. He didn't look at the building, but at the street, his teeth bared, scales bristling along his tail.

She spun around. Whatever had frightened him was out there, somewhere beyond the darkening street. She couldn't see anything, but the hum was growing louder.

She ran to the neighboring building and beat on the door.

"Help! Please, let me in! Something's wrong out here!"

For a moment, there was only the sound of her own breathing and Happy's desperate barking.

Then she heard a soft movement on the other side of the door.

Someone was home.

"Please!" she cried, pounding again.

Whoever it was, they were as scared as she was. She couldn’t even blame them.

A heavy, wet dragging sound echoed through the unnatural quiet of the blacked-out street.

Helga backed against the front door, petrified. “Oh, God...”

Out of the shadows shambled a horrifying figure in a torn, blood-stained dress. Its head lolled at a nauseating angle, a filth-caked burlap sack tied tightly over it. Dark fluid seeped through the fabric. No signs of breathing. Its joints clicked like dry twigs with every jerky step.

Happy charged.

"Happy, NO!"

The Dino Dog launched himself at the creature, claws scraping against the pavement. The thing lurched forward with a sudden, sickening burst of speed, its malformed arms reaching for him.

Helga couldn't see what happened next. She heard the crash of bodies, the scrape of claws, and a horrible series of wet impacts in the darkness.

"HAPPY!"

Something struck the pavement with a heavy thud.

Helga's stomach lurched. She stumbled toward the sounds, one hand reaching blindly into the darkness.

A furious bark answered her. Angry. Defiant.

Thank God. 

She barely had time to feel relief before another sound punched the air inward.

A violent WHUMP slammed through the street. Windows rattled in their frames. Loose paper towels and spilled groceries blew across the pavement as vibrant pink smoke erupted between Helga and the creature.

A second monster had appeared.

The smoke churned, swallowing the darkness around it. A vast silhouette rose through the pink haze, giant black bat wings unfurling against the blood-red sky, violet light pulsing through the membranes. Beneath a gat hat, magenta hair framed a face crowned with horns thrusting straight forward.

A gleaming scythe caught what little light remained.

Helga couldn't move. Couldn't breathe.

The demon straightened, wings spread wide, its clawed hands tightening around the weapon.

It lunged toward the creature. A sharp, sickening whoosh cut through the darkness, followed by two heavy thumps against the pavement.

For a heartbeat, everything went still. A thin, luminous stream rose from the darkness, twisting up from the fallen body toward its destroyer. The demon inhaled, almost imperceptibly. The blue light vanished within its fanged jaws.

Helga touched her lips. That glow. She suddenly felt afraid. Very afraid

Happy's head snapped toward Helga. He sniffed, then turned toward the demon, lips curling back from his teeth as darkness swallowed them once more.

A scream erupted from the darkness.

It was impossibly loud, impossibly high, a glass-shattering screech that climbed and wavered in a sustained vibrato. The note went on without a single breath, a virtuoso performance of pure, unfiltered agony that seemed to force everyone within earshot to share its pain.

Helga clapped her hands over her ears.

Then something about the voice began to sound familiar.

The vibrato. The effortless control. That impossible high note.

Since childhood, she had adored that voice, playing all his songs over and over until she knew them by heart.

Helga slowly lowered her hands. She didn't need to see the demon to know.

No impersonator could ever hit a note like that.

“WHY ARE YOU BITING ME, YOU STUPID MUTT?” Romance howled. “LET GO! I'M TRYING TO PROTECT HER TOO!”

Happy Halloween everyone! For you Halloween needs, hop over to Camp Syndicate to see all the delightfully spooky things. Don't miss gifts, cool sim ambience, and the live DJ parties too!

On Him, DJ Romance:

Teeth, mouth, tongue: Seydr - Cryptid Maw [mesh](Camp Syndicate)(449L)

Lips: Misteria - Smoke [HD Applier](Camp Syndicate)(250L)

Straps: YUEBIN - BOUND Body Straps - [Legacy Athl] - black [mesh](350L)

Top: YUEBIN - RAZE Top - [Legacy (m)+Athl] Fatpack [mesh](1290L)

Pants: YUEBIN - Rift Pants - [Legacy (m)+Athl] Fatpack [mesh](1290L)

Eye, jaw: Cubic Cherry - Terror Jawbone, EYE  FATPACK [mesh]

Horns: Hollow - Nyx Horns [mesh]

Tail: Hollow - Nyx Tail [Bento] [mesh]

Weapon: ORPHIC - Kurohana Scythe - Shoulder L [mesh]

Hair: Raven Bell - Azriel Braids [mesh]

Bracers: Aii - Riftwind Mercenary - Legacy M Bracers [mesh]

Boots: CULT - Darkness - Legacy M [mesh]

Thong: Noche - James Thong Metallic Black [B0] - Athletic [mesh]

Hair: Dura - U129 -LIGHT -Men [mesh]

Hair: Dura - U135-Light(rigged)-Male [mesh]

Necklace: UKIYO - lisa necklace [unrigged + resizer] [mesh]

Heart: RAWR - Diamond Heart Septum [mesh]

Wings: Aii - Nefarious Wings M Bento (b.o.m.1) [mesh]

Claws, rings: NI.JU - Acantha Rings/Nails Set - legacy m [mesh](250L)

Hat: Dope+Mercy - Saja Gat, Sheer [mesh](Gift)

Earring: RavenBell - Starlit Earrings [Moonlit] [mesh](350L)

Tattoos: HISS - PATTERNS FACE ROMANCE [BOM](250L)

Eyes: Gloom - Savage Fantasy Collection - Sclera 03 - Yellow M [BOM]

Head: LeLUTKA - KANE [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: DevinVaughn - created in Firestorm

Setting:

Skyline: Strange Merchant - Light City 1 [mesh]

Seoul Tower: Korea City

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots,  midday sky, default camera:

Cyber Fair: The Escape 1 (Escape from Club Apophis, 58)

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STORYLINE:  Kyle dozed outside the glass door of MasterGin’s bedroom.

Cold, luminescent spores drifted past the glass balcony in slow, rhythmic pulses, glowing like deep-sea jellyfish in the dark air. It was hypnotic. The heavy hum of the cooling vents weighed on his eyelids, pulling them down.

The mission was simple: Escape. But MasterGin was guarding Jihoon’s limp, unconscious body like a clingy dragon sitting on a pile of gold. Jihoon hadn't opened his eyes or uttered a word since falling into the coma after catching fire in daylight. He was entirely at the mercy of whoever carried him. Kyle couldn’t force open the door lock to steal him, let alone carry unresponsive body safely across the chasm of toxic bioluminescent parasites.

Inside, Jihoon was sprawled across a luxurious silk bed in sleek, blindingly white bedroom. The room hummed with a low, throbbing energy as the overhead LED panels pulsed in a slow sleep cycle.

The Shadow Serpent slept curled around Jihoon's body like an ominous overgrown cat, — if a cat were made of liquid obsidian scales and flicked its forked tongue when snoring.

“WHAT’S UP DRAGONLETS!!!”

Kyle jolted upright, his heels skidding against the floor as his heart slammed into his ribs.

What the…?

Lisa? Lisa Liemawr was here?

He peered inside the room. The Shadow Serpent dissolved into dark mist, vanishing through the wall on the opposite side.

Was it looking to see what was going on?

A moment later, its head poked straight back out of the plaster, eyes wide with frantic urgency.

Click.

The electric door lock disengaged.

Kyle wasted no time slipping into the bedroom, pressing his shoulder to the far partition to listen. He held his breath, ears straining against the cold marble wall. Everything was muffled, a tense argument between MasterGin and Lisa. MasterGin was insisting Lisa worked for him.

What? No. That couldn’t be true.

Kyle leaned back, mind racing. No. Lisa was trying to expose him and his operation. She knew where they were too. Was she intentionally distracting MasterGin to buy them time? He didn’t know. Whatever game she was playing, she had broken in for sure.

An incredulous chuckle escaped his chest.

Even if she was out of her goddamn mind, he had to respect her gall for breaking into a vampire diva's private domain. MasterGin seemed impressed too, he was praising her. She’d be ok.

Wait…. It was silent now.

He pressed his ear against the wall again. Nothing.

The Serpent was curious too. It poked its smokey head through the wall, looking around before turning toward Jihoon.

It gestured wildly, dipping its head low in a sharp bow to the silent boy on the bed, then jerking toward the balcony exit.

Kyle didn’t need to speak Snake to translate. MasterGin had left with Lisa, and somehow Jihoon, even trapped deep in that coma, had just sent him the signal to run.

Gotta cover him. Gotta cover him now.

Kyle sprinted to the wardrobe, grabbing a white varsity jacket which was the only thing in MasterGin’s closet that wasn’t a dress or covered in glitter.

Face cover. Need a face cover. No daylight could be allowed to touch Jihoon’s skin.

His eyes landed on an old, hollowed-out TV monitor with devil-horned antennas sitting on a side table. Perfect. He snatched it, ripping out the tangled cluster of copper wire and dead capacitors, turning the plastic shell into a makeshift helmet. The chemical stink of old circuit boards drifted out.

No battery. No power cable dangling.

Yet, as Kyle lifted it toward Jihoon, the dead screen crackled to life. Static crawled across the dark glass in a soft, grey fizzle. For half a second, Jihoon's face appeared inside the static, faint, pale, and staring directly out from the screen.

Kyle froze, his throat tight, his hand still on the helmet casing as he stared the glitching screen.

“…Creepy.”

He shook off the chill, threw a heavy blanket over Jihoon, and wrapped him tight.

“Ready, Snakepoo?” Kyle muttered, hoisting Jihoon’s dead weight into a firm carry. “Can you get us across the walkway?”

The Shadow Serpent gave a single, resolute nod. It surged through the open balcony doorway, its long tail trailing thick black smoke across the floor.

The glass walkway chimed in its wake. Individual planks unlocked and extended one by one over the abyss, warm lights awakening in a rapid sequence.

Kyle stepped forward, hugging Jihoon tightly against his chest as the bridge settled beneath his boots.

“Lisa Liemawr,” he whispered under his breath, waiting for the final plank to lock into place. “I owe you one, Queen.”

The moment the path sealed, Kyle dashed into the darkness, following the eerie faint glow of the Serpent as it hurtled ahead.

On Him, Kyle:

Mask: +NK+ - Manji Mask - VIP 250L[mesh](CyberFair)(250L)

Wings: SOLE - SA - Wing DND (Black)[mesh](CyberFair)(329L)

Eyes: MIDORI - Abduction Eyes // BOM // EXO 01 [BOM](CyberFair)(399L)

Top: YUEBIN - Sinful Patrol - black [Legacy (m)+Athl] [mesh](350L)

Pants: L&B - LEGACYM Tapered] Swear Havoc Leather Pants [mesh]

Boots: CULT - Cobain - Legacy Male [mesh]

Hair: TRASH - Lucifer w/o Horns V1 - Rainbow pack [mesh]

Headphone: !Reliquary - !R! Synth-o Ear Tap [mesh]

Skin: MUDSKIN - Hajimu, C, Brow, WINTER [BOM]

Head: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

On him, Jihoon:

Head: KNIFU - Deadware.exe Head [mesh](CyberFair)(499L)

Jacket: Muho - Tokyo - Jacket - Legacy [mesh](CyberFair)(189L)

Top: ZOS - Cyber Comprezzion Fatpack - Leg At [mesh]

Pants: AVEC TOI - Kai Pants, Turmoil, LegacyM [mesh](595L)

Boots: CULT - Gzad - Legacy M [mesh]

Claws: Subject Thirteen - Slay Plague Claws, PBR - LegacyA [mesh]

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: Cyn~Cyn - Being Saved

Setting:

Furniture: Little Bee - Neon District FATPACK [mesh](CyberFair)(1999L)

Plants: .:Tm:. - C.DC10 Crackborn Cyber Potted Plants+PBR-light [mesh](CyberFair)(225L)

Table and chair: Your Dreams - {YD} Shinjuku Dining - Cyan [mesh](CyberFair)(299L)

Skybox: Erfe Design - Cyber Skybox House 170 LI  unfurnished [mesh](CyberFair)(2290L)

Pet: MoonRabbit - MR SNEK SPIRIT [mesh]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots,  midday sky, default camera:

Night Market: Shadow Serpent (Escape from Club Apophis, 54)

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STORYLINE:  ...This is how the world entered the Age of Apophis.

Forbidden Zone, 5 minutes to midnight. April 13, 2055

We are the Shadow of Apophis.

Our last Chosen One created wonders. She was kind. She kept us well fed. When she disappeared, we waited. We returned to choose another, as we have for millennia. A room full of beautiful devotees. Orderly, Hungry. Exactly as designed. Boring. We were about to leave. 

A boy stumbled in. Not invited. No idea where he was. No agenda. Chaos recognizes chaos. We chose him immediately. 

He ran. Running. Running. Running away into the storm.
The sun was still in the mouth of Apophis. So we followed.

A noisy man-bat swooped down, its shrieks blaring loud enough to give us a headache. Its claws were about to hook into the boy. Very annoying. We flicked our tail, cracking it through the air like lightning. Precision strike. Severed wings fluttered down.

Ahead, Void Nuns had amassed. Strange things. No pulse, no warmth, no eyes. Unacceptable. We dealt with them too.

“Come back to us, Lathandro..." We had whispered to him. "We love you... We miss your warmth..."

The boy ran harder. “My name is Yoon Jihoon. I’m a student. I study. I keep out of trouble. I had a normal life.”

Rejection. Again and again. We were patient. Time does not move in straight lines for us. It coils. We would wait.

Present Day

Now, the boy had nowhere left to run…

We adjusted our heavy coils, settling comfortably across the plush furniture. The cushions were decent, but they weren’t warm like proper temple stone. Still, we stayed put, guarding the comatose boy in the lavish quarters of his captor. Tomorrow, the loud creature in high heels would disturb the peace and try to unravel him.

We flicked our tail, annoyed. This whole situation was not how things were meant to be.

Our tongue flickered, tasting a sudden metallic disturbance in the air.

Thump.

We reared up, our eyes snapping to the balcony's glass door. Heat. Electrical vibration. And the unmistakable scent of Jihoon.

The unconscious body of the large red-haired guard slowly slid down the glass and collapsed into a sad little pile on the cold cement.

Something had changed.

We tasted the air, tracing a dark, delicious tendril of entropic energy straight back to Jihoon.

Our eyes shone, and the corners of our mouth upturned in a heavy, reptilian grin. The boy was finally reaching outward, using the only means he had. Power.

We sank into the boy’s dream den, slipping through thought, smooth and heavy as ink pooling into groundwater.

Dreamscape, The Robotics Classroom

This construct was new, created by Jihoon.

Deliberate. Intentional.

The boy’s other half was slouched in the darkest corner. Lathandro the Beautiful. Vanquished, bored, and quietly playing PONG with our ancient, sacred Apophian glyphs. The LED lighting of the desk screen made his forlorn face ghostly.

Lathandro noticed us. He offered his hand with serpentine grace. Lovely.

We accepted a quick, delightful head-scratch, then turned our gaze to the other one. Jihoon the Desperate. He was a miserable snakelet, stubbornly refusing to shed old skin. He was hunched over a desk, beside the fake metallic dog, frantically tapping a glowing surface. Light strobed across his face.

“Come on, come on… Get a signal out.”

We slithered down from the upper shelves, our dark form gliding lazily across the desks to get closer to the warm pulse of Jihoon’s voice.

Suddenly, the air ripped open overhead.

The red-haired boy materialized and fell into the room in an ungraceful mess, hitting the linoleum floor with a loud, disruptive crash.

"What the..." the guard scrambled up, staring wildly at the glowing classroom monitors before his eyes landed on Jihoon.

"Kyle!" Jihoon beamed, leaping up from his seat to embrace his friend. "I don’t know how long I can hold this connection. Quickly. Tell me everything that’s happening out there."

“Stop hugging me!” Kyle shrugged Jihoon off. “Damn, I just had the craziest dream. Thanks for letting me fall asleep in class, Nerd.” He smacked Jihoon on the head.

We reared up instantly, our hood flaring wide, casting the Vile One in the blackest shadow.

Kyle squeaked and fell over backward. “Oh, shit. Not that thing again.”

Lathandro struck before we could, grinding his foot hard into Kyle's chest on the floor. “You just hit me for the last time, Kyle. When I wake up,” he sneered, “I’m gonna break every bone in your…”

“Who the hell are you?” Kyle spat back. “Jihoon’s ugly albino twin sister?”

“Wait, wait,” Jihoon laughed nervously, arms flailing between them. “Everyone… please. Calm down. We don’t have time for this.” He turned to Kyle. “You’ve seen the snake before? I thought I was the only one who could see it.”

"Yeah, I’ve seen it.” Kyle panted, slowly climbing back to his feet and backing away. "When Hwan smashed the Black Snakeskin Box, this massive bastard burst loose and screeched. Almost shit myself. Hwan told us it was returning to its master. Said if we followed it, it would lead us right to you.”

The Delivery Box? Yes, the Dokkaebi smashed our beautiful nest. Very rude. It was a failure anyway. No gift we materialized made Jihoon love us.

Lathandro stood down, removing his foot. We wrapped ourselves around him like a massive, oversized boa constrictor, though we kept glaring at Kyle just on principle.

"Kyle, please. Sit down," Jihoon said softly, righting a chair.

Kyle hesitated, looking at our massive coils suspiciously.

Lathandro slid into the chair beside Jihoon, looking down his nose at the redhead. “Relax, Asshole. It’s more scavenger than predator. Besides, it won’t hurt you without permission. If it wanted, you’d already be dust in the wind.”

“Can someone please tell me why Twisted Sister is shooting sass at me?”

Lathandro rolled his eyes. “I am Jihoon, idiot, the better version of him. The one that won’t hesitate to hit you back.” He began to stroke our dark scales, right under the chin where we love it. “He’s not as scary as he seems. He’s lazy. He likes warmth, easy meals... you know, snake things.” He looked over at Jihoon. “You would know that too, if you stopped running away from it.”

Lathandro turned back to us and cooed in a ridiculous high voice, “Who’s the goodest Snakepoo? It’s you! It’s you!”

We melted. It was embarrassing, really, but his pets were too good. We moved our tail to gently tap the top of Lathandro’s pretty head, mimicking his petting movements. Then, feeling generous, we extended our tip to pet Jihoon too.

See? We are nice. Love us.

A forked tongue flicked out of Lathandro’s exquisite mouth at the exact same time as ours.

Jihoon shrieked.

He jumped out of the chair so fast it overturned with a loud crash.

We tasted Fear. Thick and pungent.

Jihoon stared at Lathandro. Then at us. His hand slowly rose to his mouth. “Oh, God.”

“Okay...” Kyle shook his head, thoroughly bewildered. “So this is not the strangest shit I’ve seen since stepping into the Zone, but it’s definitely in the ranking.” He shivered as if a cold breeze went up his back. “I get that this is a dream or something. Yin and Yang, perhaps. But what I don’t get is why one of you would know something the other doesn’t if you are the same person?”

Jihoon slumped and looked away. “Here’s the deal, as best as I understand it. Everything changed the moment I entered Club Apophis.” His voice faltered, hands wringing in his lap. “I saw it, a shape darker than black. It was looking right at me. The Serpent. A lot of shit happened after that. Don’t ask me how or what it means, because I don’t know. My memory is fractured. I just know whatever was happening to me stopped when I ran.”

“Alright,” Kyle clenched his jaw. “Since I'm the one who shoved you into the Zone, this is all my fault. What do you want from me?”

Jihoon’s voice turned serious. “Be my bodyguard. Protect me. Be my legs because I can’t move.”

“Already on it, Boss. Next.”

“There is something else I want. A favor. But before I tell you, please tell me everything that’s happening out there. So I might know if I made the right decision.”

Kyle nodded.

We only half listened. We wanted to know what the decision was. We wondered if Lathandro was also curious.

"You want the quick version?” Kyle folded his arms, his eyes darting between Jihoon and our shadowy coils. “The Zone is a slaughterhouse run by Monstrum. We found trapped people being auctioned off to monsters like live bait. And MasterGin? Slavery disguised as plastic surgery. We even found a dead nun who tried to go back in time to stop all this. Named Sophia.”

Jihoon went very still.

Emotions clouded the air. Fear. Rage. Heartbreak.

He touched his throat. “Did she wear a gold rope necklace with a snake head and tail?”

“Hmm. Most of the nuns wear little snake brooches, pins, that kind of thing. But now that you mention it... yeah, hers wasn't a brooch. It was the whole necklace. Like a real snake, coiled all the way around her neck. Kind of hard to miss.”

The dreamscape flickered.

We bowed our head. Our Dearest Sophia. The boy had discovered the truth we hid for so long. A small mercy.

Jihoon looked away. He turned colder.

Moments passed as no one spoke.

“You doing ok there, buddy?”

“Continue,” he replied softly.

Kyle hesitated. “Uh... okay.” In a hushed voice, he described the many horrors in the Zone and what had happened to Jihoon’s classmates.

We yawned. Our long, sharp fangs fully deployed. The darkness of our throat leaked out in tendrils of black smoke.

The conversation died.

We opened our eyes, surprised.

The three boys were staring at us.

Fear, once more.

If we could blush, we would have. We tried to look cute and friendly. Having no success, we pouted. We slithered away and curled around the desk where Jihoon had sat, our coils swallowing the robotic dog beneath them.

Kyle inched his chair away and looked back at Jihoon. “So now you know everything. What’s the plan?”

A plan?

We leaned in, excitement accidentally rattling our tail.

“Wake up. Pick up my body and run. Go to the Safe Zone. With any luck, the others are there. We’re getting everyone the hell out of here.”

Kyle suddenly disappeared, cut off before he could react. 

Lathandro bolted out of his chair. “But I’ll never wake up! The Ceremony is tomorrow!”

“Fuck it.” Jihoon stood, fists clenched. “You don’t get it. I’m a lost cause. You’re always reminding me. I caught on fire in fucking daylight! I’m a monster now. One person has already died trying to save me. Mom.” His voice faltered, tears running down his cheeks. “No one. I mean NO ONE is going to die for me. Understand? This shit-show ends now.”

We tasted the air. Fear. Rage. Grief. And something else. Resolve. The boy was no longer running.

Jihoon looked over at us. The fierce expression on his tear-stained face made our hearts flutter. “Don’t try to stop me.”

We approached timidly.

Jihoon did not recoil.

We lowered our head.

Time seemed to stop.

We wait. Patiently wait. Still waiting.

We had been waiting for this since before he was born.

There.

At last. A trembling hand lightly touched our scales.

We listen. We obey.

Lathandro paced the room frantically. Then finally he stopped and looked at his other self. “You’re not leaving me behind. You are me. You need me. When you hesitate, I act. When you’re weak, I’m strong.”

Jihoon held out his hand to Lathandro. “Then let’s stop fighting. From now on, we are one.”

Lathandro took his hand without doubt. “We are one.”

We put our tail tip on top of their joined hands. “We… Are… One…”

Time to shed old skin.

We wrapped our coils around the two boys. In our embrace, their bodies dissolved into tendrils of black smoke. When our coils fell away, there stood only one boy.

It was complete.

“Good boy.” The Chosen One reached over and petted us the way we liked. “Ready?”

He had eyes like us. Teal.

We nodded. Eager.

His pupils narrowed into black slits. His hand pointed forward dramatically. It was exactly like the stunning posters of Prince Lathandro plastered all over the Forbidden Zone.

“Clear the path. Go now!”

On him, Lathandro:

Eyes: Goetia - Thorned Umbral Eyes- Light Green [BOM](Night Market)[150L]

Eyeshadow: A.D.D.Andel  - Gloss Shadows-Teal [BOM](Night Market)[130L]

Crown: ARCHIVEFACTION - Requiem Crown [mesh]

Gloves: ARCHIVEFACTION - Sacremorne Knight Gauntlets_Silver_Legacy M [mesh]

Shoulders, collar: BUFFY'S - Gwendolyn Neck Piece - LegacyA [mesh]

Gown: Soapberry - .SB. Rune Gown - LegacyA [mesh]

Veil: Grasshopper - ST GHS Wedding Veil [mesh](300L) 

Shine: ARANA - Dragon Body Shine 3D HQ (2K) [Applier]

Strings: YUEBIN - Bound in Bloom - [Legacy Ath] [mesh]

Stocking: YUEBIN - Spider Charm - LegacyA, 5 [mesh]

Hair: Aii - Necromantic Hair, HAIR HELL [mesh]
Tongue: Clover - Lizard set, tongue [mesh]

Pet: MoonRabbit - MR SNEK SPIRIT [mesh]

Skin: outernaked - #evox - juhoon skin [NF: natural] - nb [BOM]

Head, bloody tattoos: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: momomuller / 3M - [3M]**_w5_0

On him, Yoon Jihoon:

Outfit: PENDULUM - EMILIEN.Suit - LEGACY M [mesh]

Dagger: ARCHIVEFACTION - Requiem Dagger [mesh]

Hair: TRASH - Pumpkins Hair - v1 - Fatpack [mesh]

Crown: UNA - Ruise crown Silver [mesh]

Necklace: Oblivis - Secret Bastion Key Necklace M SILVER [mesh]

Shoes: Deadwool - Dandy shoes - non rigged - black/silver wingtip [mesh](360L)

Rings: RAWR - Battie Rings Legacy Male [mesh]

Earrings: BADa - Cross B Earrings [mesh]

Claws: Subject Thirteen - Solstice Set - LegacyA [mesh]

Skin: outernaked - #evox - juhoon skin [NF: natural] - wb [BOM]

Head, bloody tattoos: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: Tableau Vivant - TheCageM5

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky:

Midnight Order: Maximilian Spyder (Escape from Club Apophis, 51)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: "We are reporting live from the edge of the Forbidden Zone!"

The frantic voice crackled from a holographic tablet resting on the steel desk, its audio ragged with static and barely cutting through the deafening thrum vibrating from outside.

From the quiet dark of the Okinawa command bunker, Maximilian Spyder watched the glitching archive footage. His long, pale fingers danced over the tablet's controls while his other hand idly twirled a black king chess piece. He was an ancient Briton warlord surviving in a cybernetic age. In stark contrast to his jet-black hair, his skin was the color of bleached bone. But it was his eyes that truly betrayed his terrifying power: solid, pitch-black voids of a supreme apex predator. Where his eternal rival’s eyes burned with gold, Maximilian’s shone with a cold, merciless crimson.

Behind him, torrential rain battered the reinforced glass, each drop a tiny, violent percussion against the sweating steel walls. The storm was merely a backdrop to the mechanized empire mobilizing for war on the tarmac below. Matte-black stealth hover-copters whipped the heavy, ozone-scented air into a wall of sound. Beneath them, thousands of vampire soldiers marched with machine-like precision. They wore high-tech, interlocking tactical armor and carried silver-alloy rifles equipped with UV-laser sights that sliced through the deluge like thin, blood-red wires.

Stark white UN insignias gleamed on the sides of the massive transports. They were no longer monsters lurking in the shadows. They were a supernatural superpower: authorized, weaponized, and preparing to strike.

A heavy transport shuddered the ceiling overhead. Maximilian didn't blink. His focus remained locked on the tablet as the reporter's face, framed by the rusted, towering gates of the Forbidden Zone, filled the screen.

"It’s not radioactive! There are no biohazards!" Lisa Liemawr’s scream tore over the ambient roar of the engines. "That’s right, folks, it’s all a government lie! What’s really inside the Zone is monsters! The government has a pact with them! Our boy, Yoon Jihoon, he’s the first person to escape that place alive, and they set him on fire for it!"

The camera panned over a crowd of terrified students, eventually zooming in on a dossier image of Yoon Jihoon. A second later, the feed cut to the final, horrifying footage: a human-sized inferno blazing across a college baseball field.

Maximilian stopped twirling the chess piece.

"Excuse me, Sir," a high-ranking officer interrupted, his combat boots clicking sharply as he stepped into the dark bunker. "Incoming Deep-Net encrypted call. It appears to be from Mother Superior."

Maximilian’s red irises flared slightly, the title echoing like a ghost from another decade. "Are the credentials legitimate?"

"The security certificate is out of date, but yes. It's an authentic ping from the Neu Seoul network." The officer handed over a heavy, secure halophone and immediately stepped back, lowering his eyes.

Maximilian laid the device flat on the tactical table and pressed accept.

The air above the projector shimmered, smelling faintly of scorched copper. A classified, military-grade VR link established itself, weaving a flawless, table-top hologram into the dimly lit bunker. The figure that materialized was not the visionary engineer Maximilian expected. It was a blonde woman clad in the austere, symbol-laden habit of a nun. Her digital avatar blinked, adjusting to the simulated rain hammering the bunker and the sharp chemical scent of jet fuel drifting through the ventilation.

"Who are you?" Maximilian’s voice was a low, authoritative rumble that seemed to vibrate in the very floorboards. "And how did you get this line of communication?"

"I’m taking a massive risk contacting you," the woman replied. Her digital form stabilized, and she lowered her hood to reveal a cold, deeply exhausted face. "My name is Paine. Acting Mother Superior of the Children of Apophis."

Maximilian planted his knuckles on the heavy-duty tactical table and leaned forward. "And why is Lucien Ginerva’s most loyal disciple calling his archenemy?"

The hologram flickered as Paine bristled. "For two years, I believed my predecessor, Sophia, was merely in hiding. Tonight, I received confirmation her body has been found."

Paine’s digital avatar shuddered slightly, her rigid posture failing for a fraction of a second.

"She left a contingency packet with strict instructions to open it only if her death was confirmed. I broke the seal an hour ago." She swallowed. "Its contents included her secret contacts and far more than I ever wanted to know."

Maximilian murmured, the sound blending with the thunder outside. "Yes, I have not heard from her in some time. I assumed the worst."

"So it’s true, then. She was working for you. A traitor and a heretic," she sneered.

"Hmm," Maximilian offered a terrifyingly polite smile. "I imagine she contacted me for the exact same reason you are now."

Paine ground her teeth. "Make no mistake, I am not your ally. What I want, what we, the Children of Apophis, want, is to restore the Old Ways."

Maximilian let out a short, hollow chuckle. He picked up a crystal goblet of synthetic blood from the desk, swirling the thick, scarlet liquid slowly.

"I’m aware you run Lucien’s scam plastic surgery clinic," he said, his tone entirely unbothered. "Something extraordinary must have happened for you to turn on a master you've served for decades. But first, enlighten me. What exactly do you mean by the Old Ways?"

"The natural order," Paine said, her voice dropping into a fanatic's mesmerizing cadence. "All things must die."

Maximilian raised an eyebrow, his gaze dragging over the intricate embroidered symbols on her habit. "So you worship Apophis not as a God, but as the symbol of death?"

"Neither. Apophis is a force of nature," Paine corrected sharply. "Entropy. The physical direction of time itself. Order to disorder. There are too many undead walking the Earth, defying the arrow of time." She pointed a trembling digital finger at him. "How old, exactly, are you?"

Maximilian smiled, allowing a single, razor-sharp fang to peek over his lower lip. "An amusing irony, Sister. You worship decay, yet you serve the oldest, most vain creature of our kind, a man obsessed with erasing the very signs of decay you revere. You don't practice your religion very well."

"Apparently, neither did MasterGin," Paine fired back, stepping so close to the edge of her holographic boundary that the projection crackled at its edges. "He tricked us. Betrayed his own creed. He doesn't want to feed Apophis to honor the universe. Sophia warned me, but I didn't believe her."

She paused, her hands pressing flat against her habit.

"MasterGin wants to use Apophis, the only God capable of killing other Gods, to murder one for him. He wants to slay his creator."

Maximilian went entirely still. The scarlet liquid in his goblet stopped swirling. He set the crystal glass down with a slow, deliberate click that cut through the baseline hum of the bunker.

"Lucien wants to slay the Pharaoh?" Maximilian’s voice dropped to a dangerous whisper. "A bold delusion, even for him. How does a fraud plastic surgeon intend to shackle a cosmic force?"

Paine took a sharp, jagged breath, her eyes darting to the tactical maps on his desk. "He spent centuries engineering the infrastructure." She stopped, her jaw working. "Apophis cannot be tamed by worship alone. So he changed the parameters. If the god will not obey him, he will trap it in something that will."

Maximilian glanced at the peripheral glow of his tablet, where the muted footage of the university students continued to loop. His eyes locked onto the frozen frame of Yoon Jihoon. He tapped the glass directly over the boy's face.

"The boy who escaped the Forbidden Zone,” Maximilian murmured, completing the equation. He looked at Paine. "He is building a vessel."

"Yes," Paine whispered, the confession leaving her sounding entirely hollow. "The Opening of the Mouth ceremony is tomorrow. If he succeeds, he controls the weapon that ends the Ruler. And that’s only the start. He intends to remake the world in his design, with power I doubt he can control. The consequences are too horrible to fathom."

"Indeed," Maximilian said softly. He leaned back, letting the silence stretch between them until the weight of it became a weapon.

A sheet of rain lashing across the reinforced window swallowed the tarmac armada in a blanket of grey. Paine looked past him, taking in the silhouettes of the stealth transports and the sheer scale of the mobilization.

"Can you stop them?" she asked, the desperation finally bleeding through her rigid exterior. "Can you take them out?"

Maximilian did not answer immediately. He reached beneath his heavy tactical collar and pulled out a thick silver chain. Hanging from the center was a single, yellowed human canine tooth. He laid it flat on the illuminated tactical map, the ancient bone stark against the glowing blue topography of Neu Seoul.

"With this tooth, I purchased sovereignty for the Vampire Nation."

For a heartbeat, the red in Maximilian's eyes disappeared, leaving only two endless black wells staring back at her. Lightning violently strobed outside, flashing his pale face in stark white relief.

"Berlin, 1945. The Allies were so desperate, they forged an alliance with creatures that eat them."

"Wait a minute." Paine’s holographic eyes grew wide as she stared at the relic. "Are you suggesting that tooth is...?"

"Yes." Maximilian tucked the necklace back beneath his armor, hiding history away. "We can make many things that should be dead, die, possibly even Lucien Ginerva. However, the Ruler is beyond our capabilities. He is too old and too powerful."

"So this conversation is pointless. I shouldn’t have called." Paine moved her hand toward her console to sever the connection.

"Not necessarily," Maximilian said, his voice smooth and absolute. "Unlike my opponent in Neu Seoul, I believe in evolving with humanity, instead of enslaving it. Our purpose is the Rule of Law. Capture, convict, and if found guilty, imprison. Surely that should make me worthy of a little more time to see this great work through to the end."

Paine held his crimson gaze for a long moment. Whatever calculation she was running showed in the tight line of her mouth. Finally, she reached into her pocket. She held out her hand, and a glowing, holographic data chip materialized in the air between them, instantly transferring its encrypted payload to Maximilian’s terminal.

"The barrier override codes," Paine said.

Maximilian smiled, a genuine expression of respect. "You’ve done the right thing. Thank you for this intel. My people will ensure you and your loyalists are protected in the fallout."

"The boy, Yoon Jihoon, and his university friends too," she quickly added, her voice tightening with newfound panic. "Or no deal."

Maximilian stood up. He pulled the image of Yoon Jihoon back to the center of the display, studying the boy's face with cold, clinical detachment.

Paine went rigid, her projection pixelating for a moment when the silence dragged on. She had already given him the access codes; the leverage was gone. "Did you hear me? I said the students must be safely extracted."

Maximilian ignored the demand entirely, keeping his back to her. Somewhere in the bunker, a cooling unit cycled on, pushing cold air across the room.

Behind him, the heavy steel door of the bunker hissed open. A communications officer stepped in, his face pale under his tactical visor, holding a secure datapad. "Excuse me, Sir. The President of the United States is on the line. The US abstaining vote is now a yes. The resolution has passed."

Paine blinked, her avatar glitching violently in shock. "The US President? No, that is impossible. He’s one of the clinic’s primary benefactors. Why is he talking to you?”

Maximilian’s smile widened into something truly wolfish as he finally turned around. He picked up his tablet and cycled the authorization screens with clinical precision.

"Lucien Ginerva is a theatrical idiot," Maximilian said softly. "He actually thought he could threaten to melt the face off a sitting US President during the State of the Union address and not expect consequences."

He turned the tablet so Paine could read the flashing red authorization codes.

"Washington just signed the resolution," Maximilian stated, his voice ringing with the cold clarity of a funeral bell. "The United Nations has officially authorized us to violate Neu Seoul’s airspace. Monstrum's sovereign immunity on the Korean peninsula is revoked."

"But the clinic," Paine whispered, her digital form trembling as the reality of her complete ruin set in. "The children. What happens to the rest of us when your troops breach the barrier?"

Maximilian stepped aside, granting her an unobstructed view of the massive military armada spooling up their engines through the glass. He reached down, his pale fingers closing around the black king on the chessboard, and casually flicked it off the table. It clattered loudly onto the metal floor.

"Thank you for your report, Mother Superior," Maximilian said. His tone carried no malice, only the absolute, chilling certainty of a general who had already won the war. "Have a good death... when your time comes."

Before Paine could utter another word, Maximilian severed the connection. The hologram collapsed into a shower of blue sparks. He turned his back on the empty space and walked out into the pouring rain without a coat or umbrella.

Outside, thousands of Night Troops snapped to attention. Every head turned to follow him. Every soldier stood perfectly still in the downpour. The hover-copters continued roaring above, their searchlights cutting through the dark. Cold rain sheeted off his shoulders. He raised one hand, and thousands moved simultaneously.

After a long hiatus from the blog, Maximilian Spyder returns in killer drip!   From Midnight Order is the Sovereign's Grace Rapier & Spite by FOE. Each sword comes with an unrigged scabbard and animations you can trigger by touching it. Draw, sheath, and various poses.  They both have texture huds to change the the different textures on each zone.   ...From Krova is the Devil Mask. It's unrigged and mod so you can adjust it for the perfect fit. It comes with a texture hud.   ...Matching the Oni style is the Kyouran pant set by Yuebin. The fatpack comes with texture hud with solid colors and Japanese fabric options. I used the Spider Lilly for Max.   ...For Military style, I used Yuebin's Echo of a Dream jacket and top. You can wear either, or both together. It comes with a texture hud.   ...From Oracle is the Sovereign Jacket and Cap. The cap is unrigged and mod so you can adjust it. The coat comes as an attachment or animesh attachment. Attachment has pose to keep the arms down. The animesh version has bonus arms down poses. It comes with a texture hud.  ...I couldn't resist using the XTX Arana tattoos when I spotted them recently. They are Bom with several opacity options.   ...And rounding out Max's look are the Sintiklia Axel hair, combined with the wet look for Argrace's Chizuru. Demon red and black eyes by Gloom. Coconut's intense Dong face texture. And Laura's black sheer bodystocking I use so much.   ...Stay tuned for more shocking reveals as Escape from Club Apophis races to the finale.

On him, Maximilian Spyder:

Mask: KROVA - DEVIL Mask [mesh](Midnight Order)(225L)

Swords: FOE - Sovereign's Grace Rapier & Spite [mesh](Midnight Order)(1299L)

Jacket, top: YUEBIN - Echo of a Dream, jacket, top,  LegacyA, megapack [mesh](1290L)

Pants: YUEBIN - Kyouran Set, LegacyA, fatpack [mesh](1290L)

Jacket, cap: Oracle - Sovereign Jacket, Sovereign Cap, male [mesh]( L)

Boots: L&B - Swear Havoc Ops Boots, LegacyM, Black [mesh](499L)

Claws: L'Emporio&PL - Oblio Vampire Claws male [mesh](350L)

Hair: Sintiklia - Hair Axel Rigged M [mesh]( L)

Hair: ARGRACE - CHIZURU_II / men [mesh]( L)

Bodysuit: Bas de Laura Store Laura's Black Sheer Bodystocking with Long Sleeves [BOM](150L)

Eyes: Gloom - Savage Collection - Sclera 03 - Red S [BOM]

Skin: coconut - Dong Skin / Winter Tone / EVO X [BOM]( L)

Tattoo: XTX - Arana Tattoo - 60% [BOM]( L)

Head: LeLUTKA - RUNE [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Pose: Diesel Works - Baasha2

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky :

Cyber Fair / Salvage Station: Happy Birthday (Escape from Club Apophis, 46)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE:

"I'm sorry, Jihoon." 

Kyle's voice drifted through the darkness. "I never thought..."

Static swallowed the rest.

Still imprisoned within his own flesh, Jihoon lay motionless on the opulent bed of MasterGin's private residence. Kyle sat beside him, whispering a stumbling stream of apologies.

The sound made Jihoon's fractured consciousness glitch.

Then another voice cut through the static.

Kyle. Younger. Meaner.

“Get in there, you wuss!”

This moment. It was the one that changed his life. The reason he was barely alive.

He was hovering at the rusted iron edge of the Forbidden Zone. 

Then came the brutal, bruising shove to his spine into the Zone.

The city sounds bled away first. Traffic. Sirens. The electric thrum of Neu Seoul. One step past the rusted warning signs and all of it vanished.

The silence beyond the boundary felt toxic. It was not empty. It was waiting, holding its breath in the dark.

Jihoon scrambled backward, but Kyle already blocked the path. He stood with arms crossed, his heavy boots firmly planted on the safe asphalt.

“No more running away. You get your sorry ass to the center of the Zone and spend the night. Be a man for once!”

Deep within the ruin, a shadow slithered through the neon-tinted smog. Somewhere ahead, an old neon sign swung in a gust of wind. Its broken support chain rattled rapidly against the pole.

Chk-chk-chk-chk.

The sound bounced between the empty buildings.

Jihoon couldn't shake the feeling that something was warning him away. A violent shiver rattled his teeth.

“Come on, man. Let me out! This place is dangerous!” He rubbed his arms.

Kyle shook his head. "If you don't stay until dawn, I send this straight to Minjo." Kyle raised his halophone, the screen glowing with a cruel picture snapped from inside the boy’s locker room.

Hot shame flooded Jihoon's chest, burning the back of his throat. “But this place is toxic. It's an irradiated dead zone.”

“Bullshit,” Kyle huffed. “Bring me a coaster from that ruined club at the center. Prove you didn't just hide in the bushes.”

Jihoon lunged for the exit. Kyle barely flinched, shoving him backward into the dirt with a single, effortless strike. Jihoon’s bookish frame was no match for a security guard.

“You’ve got no dad in your life. So I’m gonna do it. I’m tired of watching you want to talk to Minjo and chickening out. Every day. The same god damned thing. Do it, and I’ll sweeten the deal. I'll give you 100,000 Won to finally take Minjo out for dinner.”

Jihoon turned around to look once more. Was it so bad? No one was here. And that’s a lot of money. Money he didn’t have.

“I don’t like this.”

“I don’t care. Do it.”

Jihoon walked carefully forward, watching for signs of danger.

Unseen things scuttled in the dark. Glowing eyes blinked from the shadows.

Then static.

Chk-chk-chk-chk.

Night had fallen. He was deeper inside the Zone.

In the distance, he heard a faint, deep throbbing beat.

Were there people living inside The Zone? Was that the nightclub?

He picked up his speed and raced towards it.

If nothing else, it was a safe place to spend the night.

Glitch.

Club Apophis rose above him like an Ancient Egyptian temple, pristine, sleek. But instead of being made of sandstone, it was obsidian with decorative elements of gold and pulsing lights.

He pushed the heavy doors open.

Every conversation died at once. Glasses froze halfway to painted lips. Laughter evaporated. A thousand perfect faces turned toward him. Watching. Waiting. Hungry.

He blinked. It was dark inside, hard to see.

“Umm… Uh.. Hello?”

He saw it then for the first time, a gigantic shadowy serpent.

It should have been a projection. A decorative effect. Ancient Egypt meets the cybernetic world.

It was looking right at him.

Its jaws parted slightly. Well, …as much as a snake could smile.

Yet Jihoon could have sworn the serpent recognized him.

He was hypnotized by its gaze, undulating code shimmering down its mighty coils. He wasn’t sure how long he stood staring at it before a tall blonde woman shoved him outside.

"Run."

Jihoon shook off the gaze of the serpent and looked at her. “What?”

"Run." She glanced toward the serpent. Fear flashed across her face. "Before it notices."

“Nonsense.” The most beautiful woman he had ever seen slid between them with grace of a ballet dancer. She shone in the dark, like a disco ball in a sparkling mini dress of small platinum plates. “The guest of honor just arrived. Do make yourself useful, darling, and serve the guests drinks.”

The dazzling lady hooked her arm around Jihoon’s, and waved the angry blonde away. Her smile arrived slowly. Like a knife being drawn from velvet.

This woman, so beautiful, was paying attention to him? He looked around to make sure it wasn’t a mistake. 

She laughed a deep throaty chuckle. Her smile made him feel like his legs would give out from under him. “Welcome to Club Apophis,” she purred like liquid velvet, guiding him inside. ”I’m the proprietor of this deliciously wicked establishment. You may call me MasterGin," she added, punctuating the statement with a playful wink of her long flirty eyelashes. “Now then, dear boy. What's your name? And what delicious bad decision brought you to my door tonight?"

Jihoon stared at her like a deer in headlights. Had she just hit on him? Was this some kind of high end brothel? Was that what Kyle meant by, “become a man?”

“Don’t keep me waiting, Dear Boy. You wouldn’t like me when I get hungry.”

He looked back at her, a sting rising in his cheeks. 

Wait.

That voice was too deep for a lady.

“Oh! Uh… Yoon,” he stuttered. “Yoon Jihoon.”

The smile fell off MasterGin’s face. He quickly guided them to a dark corner and whispered. “Do not tell anyone inside that name.” He pressed his long black fingernail against Jihoon's lips. “Your name is… Lathandro.”

The name struck somewhere deep inside him. Not familiar. Strange. Yet not entirely new.

MasterGin pulled back, and snapped his fingers.

A waiter in a sharp suit ran out with a silver serving tray. He presented Jihoon with a green glowing drink in an elaborate crystal carved glass. The ice cubes inside it glowed cyan and rolling fog fell down its sides.

“Happy Birthday, Lathandro,” MasterGin purred.

“Wait, what? How did you know it’s my birthday?”

MasterGin laughed, waving his elegant hand. “Drink first, talk later.”

The liquid tasted like lime, mint, raw electricity, and something he couldn't name. It fizzed all the way to his fingertips, then reverberated through his body like a struck bell.

The room tilted.

He looked up.

The club appeared different. 

He blinked. And rubbed his eyes. 

“Have Another!”

Glitch.

He was stumbling on his own feet. His legs too long. He was seeing over the top of other people.

Static.

Laughter.

A skipped frame.

Someone placing a crown on his head.

Glitch.  

A waiter handed him another glowing green drink.

“Why do you keep bringing me these? Why am I the only one drinking?”

His clothes had changed. He had no idea how. He was wearing tight black latex, but that couldn’t be his body. He didn’t have muscles like that. But he could feel it against his skin. Hear the way it squeaked.

Visual tear.

The floor swayed beneath him like the deck of a ship.

“Gotta pee. Gotta pee.”

He stumbled down a hallway, steadying himself with hands on the walls. But the texture of the walls changed. It felt like scales, like a massive snake was wrapping its thick coils around him.

Static.

Two girls were pulling each other’s hair. Fighting. “No! I get to dance with Lathandro!”

Skipped frame.

Girls on either side of him. His lap occupied. The room spinning.

Glitch.

Silver hair.

Icy blue eyes above him.

A smile full of broken glass.

White noise. 

Kissing on his neck.

A sharp pain. Warmth spreading downward. Then nothing.

Static.

He wasn’t sure how much time had passed when he appeared in the VIP room. It was bright and white, unlike the dark interior of the club. There were balloons, and a sign that read Happy Birthday.

Opened gifts were scattered everywhere. Robots and toys. Everything he wanted but he could never have. Even the ridable Mecha Shark he wanted as a kid was there. It was better than waking up Christmas morning and finding a gift under the halo-tree.

Nobody had ever thrown him a birthday party before. The date of his birth was something to hide. 

For a moment, he forgot to be afraid.

“Jihoon” a small whisper behind his ear.

The voice arrived like sunlight through deep water. Soft. Familiar. Impossible.

Every hair on his body stood up.

“Flee this place immediately. It’s not too late. Go into the daylight.”

Jihoon’s mind was fuzzy. But that voice. He knew that voice.

“Mom?”

He blinked and spun around. “Mom?”

There was no one else in the room. He raced outside.

“Mom!"

A man nearby laughed, “Birthday boy wants his mommy.”

“Shut up! I know my mother’s voice, asshole. Have you seen her? She looks like me, about this tall. Yoon Sophia. She’s a mechanical engineer. Have you seen her?”

“Yeah, I know Sophia. But she disappeared two years ago.”

The tall blonde pushed through the crowd. For the first time all evening, genuine fear crossed her face. “Did you just say Sophia?”

The memory shattered.  

Outside the void, Kyle was still apologizing.

On him, Jihoon / Lathandro:

Jacket: YUEBIN - Dead Romance, Jacket, LegacyA, fatpack [mesh](Salvage Station)(1290L)

Collar: YUEBIN - Dead Romance,  Collar, LegacyA, fatpack [mesh](Salvage Station)(890L)

Pants: Muho - Neon, Pants, 3, LegacyM [mesh](CyberFair)(189L)

Shoes: SEKA's - E-Drop Boot, Legacy M, fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(999L)

Hair: Exile Rory [mesh](390L)

Shine: ABYSSAL - Justice Cybertech With 3d Shine [applier][BOM](499L)

Skin: outernaked - #evox - juhoon skin [NF: natural] - nb [BOM]

Head, bloody tattoos: LeLUTKA - Kane Evolution [mesh](3990L)

Body: TheShops - [BODY] Athletic Meshbody (Legacy)(m) (1.7.1) [mesh](5000L)

Setting:

Lettering: NI.JU - 3D Text & Retail Signage Pack - Distressed (Salvage Station)(240L)

Furniture, Room: Erfe & Design - Arog Livingroom Set, PG [mesh](CyberFair)(2,790L)

Shark: Moon Rabbit - MR~CYBER SHARK, shards [mesh](CyberFair)(500L)

Robot: Bee Designs Byte Buddies 08, gacha [mesh](CyberFair)(59L)

Arcade Game: Gecko Games - [GG] Whack a Gecko [mesh](CyberFair)(699L)

Robot: BONDI - MEOW BOT . Bubblegum [mesh](CyberFair)(245L)

Robot: HANII - Cyber Rich, CYBER CAT #RARE 2, gacha [mesh](CyberFair)(99L)

Planter: Cerridwen's Cauldron - [CC] SciFi Deluxe Planters [mesh](CyberFair)(649L)

Balloons: Apple Fall - Balloons - Pink & Gold [mesh]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shots, hi-res, midday sky: