Engine Room: The Masquerade (Escape from Club Apophis, 40)

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STORYLINE:   A damaged cybernetic cheerleader in a Zone that ate power like a starving beast ate flesh. Surrounded by monsters. One of them, for some reason, wanted to help her. Right.

"This will never work," Kyra whispered, her voice fractured by digital static.

The masquerade dress she wore was a masterpiece. Spun from dark velvet and rich red silk, it was Zone aristocracy chic. The kind of outfit that cost more than a year’s tuition and existed purely to be seen. But she had no business being in Monstrum Haute Couture.

She sat rigidly in the makeshift dressing room behind the auction block, her internal processors whirring a frantic, broken rhythm. A sharp click echoed in her auditory sensors, followed by a sickening, warm slide. A black bloom of hydraulic fluid spread through the velvet, warm and slow at her hip.

The Master of Ceremonies’ voice boomed over the loudspeakers as he made disgusting jokes about devouring humans.

She felt like she might vomit oil.

"Romance, please. I don’t like this. We need to hide. Go underground, or..." She tried to pull the heavy fabric away, but her arms barely lifted. A warning pulse fired through her left arm. Low power. Critical.

Romance knelt before her, immaculate in a pale pink cavalier suit that caught the dim light like a blushing cheek. He didn't look at the stain. He stopped fussing over the high collar that hid her exposed ports and dying wires.

“Kyra,” he murmured, his voice low and intimate like a weaponized melody. "Your friends tripped the alarm. Enforcers are swarming everywhere. There is no time to delay." He glanced toward the chaotic glare of the auction plaza beyond the curtain. "There is only one way out now. Through the front door."

Kyra squeezed her eyes shut. Where was Lisa? For the first time in her life, she was about to do something outrageous, and Lisa wasn't there to pump up her confidence. But through the fear, she heard her best friend's voice anyway, clear as a recording: You got this, Ky! Look like you belong. Look bored and jaded, like you’ve seen it all before. You own every room you walk into.

Kyra lifted her chin. “No. I’m not walking on stage until you tell me why you’re helping me.”

Romance’s eyes widened. He glanced left and right and then leaned in close to whisper in her ear. “I am a moth to your flame. Let me care for you.”

She didn’t believe his words. How could she?

“Don’t say things you don’t mean. You don’t even know me!” she fired back.

Romance dropped to his knees, almost begging. He took both of her cold metal hands into his. “I do know you. I need you.”

The words shot through her like a jolt of power.

“How? Why?" she asked softly.

Romance's head dropped. “This is not a good time to discuss this.”

“It’s the only time.”

He looked back up at her, his demonic eyes blazing with gold fire. “I reap souls,” he said quietly. “But you remember what I was before that.”

“A lot of people remember you. How do you know my memories?”

Romance’s shoulders drooped. He exhaled slowly. “You were dying. The smell of a soul leaking away drew me.” He closed his eyes and deeply inhaled, savoring the moment once more. “I can see your future too, in a way. I just... don’t understand it.”

He held her gaze.

“You’re human. But you will not die. Not today. Not tomorrow.”

A woman screamed in the distance. A chill crept into her circuits.

“Not ever.”

His voice softened, almost breaking, as he looked away. “Do you know what it’s like... to stand before something you could never destroy?”

She considered his words. Finally, the truth. Strange as it was.

She fixed her expression into something that approximated aristocratic boredom. “Ready."

Romance’s eyes snapped to her, a dazzling grin growing on his face. “You look so beautiful right now.”

For a second, she almost believed him. Not because it was true. Because he said it like it was.

He leaned in close. She felt the ghost of his lips press hard against her metal cheek. Shame and ache flashed through her. She wasn’t a woman, wasn’t flesh, wasn’t warm. And yet something in her system misfired anyway. A phantom response with no source code.

The Master of Ceremonies announced Romance as the honored Big Spender, making an off-color joke advising the crowd to watch out: Romance might outbid them for the next least desirable human.

The crowd laughed.

Kyra kept her head held high and did not react. She leaned against Romance for support as they emerged into the limelight of The Pen.

He lifted her off the ground, spinning her. The gown twirled in the air dramatically to applause.

For a moment, she forgot she couldn’t stand on her own. Forgot the weight of failing systems. Forgot where she was. His hand at her back was steady. Certain. She leaned into it. Just for a second. Long enough to forget she didn’t trust him. Long enough to want to.

But it was a grotesque theater of monsters masquerading as civilized. The auction was in full swing. Hunger pressed in from every direction, dressed in silk and velvet, buyers gliding through aisles of glass cages like they were browsing fabrics.

Romance guided her off the stage with the practiced ease of a VIP who could easily own the room. His charisma was undeniable. But Kyra had spent her whole life paying attention to the people next to her. His breathing didn’t match his smile. He needed her to exist. He needed her to stay by his side. His words echoed in her ear.

Outside, the Zone air pressed against The Pen, thick and wrong. A sleek, obsidian hovercar bearing the devil heart logo idled just past the heavy iron gates. Romance guided her into the plush interior. Kyra sank into the seat, leaving another smear of oil on the pristine leather.

Before she could apologize, the world narrowed to a single figure. An Enforcer loomed in the driver's side window, large and armored in black. The window lowered, letting in the sharp, chemical stench of burnt circuitry and leaking oil.

"Unmarked cargo," the Enforcer growled, his nose wrinkling in disgust as he eyed the velvet dress. “And she’s leaking. State your business."

Kyra's internal cooling fans spun into overdrive.

Romance didn't flinch. He sighed with the perfect air of an inconvenienced aristocrat and produced his halo-pad, tapping it twice. MasterGin's voice, laced with theatrical, venomous contempt, poured into the cabin like poison:

"Get this scrap metal out of my pristine suite before it stains the floor."

Kyra stiffened when she heard herself dismissed and described as scrap metal by the legend who was supposed to save her life.

“You heard the man. He wants her gone.”

The Enforcer huffed, clearly no fan of MasterGin. He stepped back and waved them through. "Proceed."

The Enforcers parted. Ghouls beyond the gate caught in the headlights, sniffing the air in excitement as their giant bat wings beat against the smog.

“Driver, turn on the shields,” Romance commanded.

The Automated Assistant electrified the car’s shell. “Yes, Master Romance. Where to?”

“Get us out of the Zone, but fly casually. Don’t attract any attention.”

The hovercar lurched forward, leaving the fog. Monsters jumped on the car, shrieking as the electric shield threw them back into the dark.

Kyra jumped, her hand tightening around Romance’s.

He looked over at her, highly amused, and squeezed back. “I can’t believe that worked. Sorry you had to hear that.”

He didn't even spare a glance for the beasts scraping at the roof and thumping on the hood. His attention was locked onto her, as if she were the only thing in the world.

She felt the heat of his golden gaze sinking into her wiring. “You’re so handsome, it should be illegal.” The words left before she could catch them. She almost winced. Like she’d handed him something sharp and personal.

As the invisible boundary of the Forbidden Zone slipped past them, the suffocating pressure in the air vanished.

A tingle started in her fingertips. A current, clean and sharp, completely unlike the sludgy, cursed energy she'd been running on in the Zone. It flowed down her spine. Then her legs. Like a system rebooting after a hard shutdown, everything came back online at once.

The oppressive hum of the Zone vanished like a speaker switch flipped.

Kyra gasped, the sound turning into a bright, undignified laugh. Her systems roared to life. Heat surged through her chest. Lights powered back on, racing up and down her shell.

Without thinking, she tore the cursed devil-heart battery pack from her side. It came free with a wet metallic sound. She hurled it, watching it spark and die.

The battery pack rolled to a stop at Romance’s feet, its devil heart logo facing up.

“If I had a choice, I would never set foot in that hellhole again,” Kyra declared.

Romance blinked, startled. "Kyra?”

She was already moving. Her body found angles it hadn't reached in months, her limbs articulating at ranges that broke human limits, transforming her into a sleek, spider-like shape of fluid cybernetic agility.

She vaulted directly over the console and slid into the driver's seat. Both hands and her one functional leg found the controls simultaneously.

“Disengage autopilot,” she commanded, and slammed the pedal.

The hovercar tore forward at breakneck speed. Romance was thrown backward, shrieking in genuine, unbefitting terror as the g-force hit him.

His composure shattered so easily. She hadn’t expected that. It tightened something in her chest she didn’t have a name for. His panic sent a thrilling rush through her circuits.

She laughed harder, pushing the hovercar faster than necessary. Romance only knew her as a broken, dying doll, but she was an athlete, a cat burglar, and a machine enhanced beyond human limitation. She pulled the vehicle into a screaming barrel roll just to hear his beautiful screams again.

“STOP!” Romance yelled, pressing himself against the door.

She flipped the car into a loop, gravity snapping hard against them.

"I AM BEGGING YOU!"

She laughed in pure joy.

Romance was pressed against the far door, clutching his chest and breathing in fast, panicked gasps. His immaculate outfit was disheveled, his careful composure completely destroyed.

Eventually, she leveled out, mostly because her chassis was sending her excited warnings about structural stress. It would be embarrassing to survive the Forbidden Zone only to shake herself apart on the highway.

“Sorry, I couldn’t resist.” She winked playfully at him in the rearview mirror.

She caught him staring at her reflection.

"What?" She smiled, knowing she had shocked him.

"Nothing," he said. "You're just different outside the Zone."

"Better or worse?"

He considered this with genuine seriousness. "More," he said finally. "Just more."

"Romance. Is everything okay?"

"No," he said quietly.

He stared out the window at the city scrolling past. All that performance was absent. He looked drained. He looked, she realized, like someone who had been holding something very heavy for a very long time and had just discovered he might be able to put it down.

He picked up the discarded battery pack with the devil heart logo on it. "You still need me," he said in a very small voice. "To pay for your cybernetics doctor."

Kyra smiled at the monster who had saved her life, not once, not twice, but three times. “You did promise to give me flesh. I’m totally going to hold you to it.”

He sighed, not hiding his disappointment. “One way or another.”

“What other way is there besides the best cybernetics doctor money can buy? I could look human again, with a fleshy outside shell and all.”

“It’s just,” his voice trailed off. “I thought you would choose to be like me. A Jeoseung Saja. And we would be together forever.”

"You’re adorable when you pout,” she said, softer than she meant to.

He looked up, his golden eyes wide.

"I'm not leaving you, silly.” She shifted her focus ahead. “Why would I? Prince Charming of my dreams says he needs me.”

Romance didn’t answer. He looked like he wanted to say something.

The city lights slid across his face in silence.

She gunned the hovercar forward as the glittering towers of Pangyo Techno Valley loomed ahead.

His breath fogged the glass.

He began to trace a heart in it.

“I saw Lisa.”

Kyra froze.

“It was when you were powered down at the Clinic. Disassembled. She was upset. She didn’t want to leave you, but the other students forced her to flee.”

If Kyra could cry, her vision would have blurred.

“I do admire the devotion you two share. But I would also like to point out, Lisa has a larger circle of friends now, and they are surviving remarkably well. The Mute One seems especially smitten with her. I can tell these things. Maybe when this is over, you should consider giving her space.”

The tech district opened up ahead of them, indifferent and pristine, completely unaware of everything that had happened in the Forbidden Zone.

Kyra’s auditory sensors processed Romance’s words, turning them over and over like a corrupted file. Forced her to flee. A larger circle of friends. Smitten. Give her space.

The words were precision strikes.

She looked down at her hands resting on the steering console. The towering neon advertisements of Pangyo Techno Valley reflected off her polished metal knuckles in harsh streaks of cyan and magenta. She was a machine of wonders. Fast. Powerful. Resilient.

But her chest ached with a phantom human pain.

Lisa had been her gravity for her entire life. To picture Lisa running, surviving, and moving on with a new team while Kyra lay dissected on a cold clinic table was a special kind of agony.

Kyra glanced at the rearview mirror. Romance was watching her in the dark. His golden eyes were calm. Patient.

A week ago, the old Kyra would have panicked. She would have cried and clung to him, desperate for his reassurance.

Instead, Kyra tightened her grip on the steering wheel. She didn’t look at him again. She knew if she did, she might hesitate. And hesitation, around him, felt like the beginning of something she wouldn’t be able to stop.

The reinforced synthetic leather groaned loudly under her mechanical strength. The raw, buzzing current of her fully charged battery hummed in her synthetic veins.

"I appreciate the update," Kyra said. Her voice was perfectly smooth, completely stripped of all digital static.

Romance blinked. The slight, victorious curve of his mouth faltered. “Are you not upset?"

“Lisa is alive,” Kyra said. “That’s what matters.”

She pushed the throttle forward. The city swallowed them whole.

Silence stretched.

"I'm going to need analog battery backup," she added. "Something the Zone can't eat."

Romance shifted behind her. "Kyra."

"You saved me." Her grip tightened. The leather creaked. "So now I'm a problem."

She glanced at him in the mirror. Just once.

"I'm going to save Lisa. And then I'll figure out what to do about you."

Romance stilled. Something like delight crossed his face. Something like fear.

Then a warning light she didn't recognize flared in her HUD.

An empty, starving ache hollowed out her left hip where the battery used to sit.

Her left leg seized.

The hovercar coasted.

Romance was beside her before she could speak. He pressed a chip, its devil heart logo facing up, into the port at her hip. The lights steadied.

He was inches from her face. He didn't say anything.

He didn't need to.

Kyra looked at the chip. At the logo. At his face.

She understood.

"You may have left the Forbidden Zone," he said finally. "But it didn't leave you."

She sat very still.

Outside, Neu Seoul kept glowing. Indifferent. Waiting.

This was a fun image to make, with such beautiful outfits and skins at the current round of the Engine Room.   ...On Romance is the flashy Cavalier outfit by toksik. It comes with fits for multiple mesh bodies, male and female. Top is jacket and shirt, and the bottom is pants and boots. Single colors or fatpack.   ...He is wearing the Lucian hair by RavenBell. It's unrigged and editable for the perfect fit, includes mirror options and separate bangs. I used the fantasy color hud.  ....From Illusions is the Cigno Curia Mask. It comes with a texture hud, male and female fits, PBR, and its unrigged and mod to adjust for the best fit.   ....On Kyra is the elegant Machina NOVA gold skin texture with optional overlays. The skin set includes many metallics tones, including Halo.   ....From BearCat.Egg is the gorgeous Carni Hat. It comes with a detailed hud to change its textures, an optional version without the chin ribbons, and a doll face mask for eyes and lips. I used the eyes only. This doll mask is also available as a free gift at the Engine Room. its mod so you can adjust it for the best fit.   ....From MDN is another stunning outfit, this time with a pirate style, -- the Ironlace Dress. The dress and chest strap have PBR and the megapack includes many texture options. I love the stripped ones!   ...Adding another layer of elegance is the Steam Aurelia Collar from Silvery K. It comes with a texture hud to adjust its colors. It comes with rigged and unrigged versions.   ....Seen in the full character shot below is abeabi's AB54 heels. It includes many texture options, including stripes that match well with the MDN dress,   ....Providing the perfect ambience is the Spires Society's The Sanctuary of Light. 

Kyra & Romance Arc chapters here:

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2025/06/androgyny-event-cyber-fair-escape-from.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2025/09/cyber-fair-glitch-escape-from-club.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2025/09/cyber-fair-dj-romance-escape-from-club.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2025/09/cyber-fair-key-escape-from-club-apophis.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2025/11/salvage-station-pen-escape-from-club.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2025/11/salvage-station-blood-economy-escape.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2026/01/midnight-order-gin-aesthetica-escape.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2026/03/cyber-fair-cybernetic-body-horror.html

https://devinvaughn.blogspot.com/2026/04/engine-room-masquerade-escape-from-club.html

On him, DJ Romance:

Top: toksik - Cavalier, Legacy M, fatpack[mesh](Engine Room)(800L)

Mask: Illusions - Cigno Curia Mask (m)[mesh](Engine Room)(325L)

Hair: RavenBell - Lucien Hair, Fantasy [mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

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

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

Rings: MANDALA - Sinra Rings season-3-HD, Legacy M [mesh]

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

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

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

Poses: Secret Poses - SP - Enchanted

On Her, Kyra:

Hat, mask: BEARCAT.EGG - Carni Hat, fatpack [mesh](Engine Room)(500L)

Dress: MDN - Ironlace Dress, megapack (Legacy F) [mesh](Engine Room)(1751L)

Collar: Silvery K - Steam Aurelia, Collar [mesh](Engine Room)(280L)

Shoes: abeabi - AB54 fatpack, Legacy F, fatpack [mesh](Engine Room)(1599L)

Gloves: Emotional Circus - Romantic Lace Gloves, black [BOM](Engine Room)(249L)

Skin, tattoos: SOMEONE - Machina NOVA, Gold [mesh](Engine Room)(1000L)

Eyes: SOMEONE - Infected Eyes 3, Blood [BOM]

Head, eyes: LeLUTKA - lel EvoX LILLY 3.1 [mesh](3990L)

Setting:

Set: Spires Society - The Sanctuary of Light [mesh]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shot, hi-res, midday sky.

Engine Room: The Jellyfish Man (Escape from Club Apophis, 39)

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STORYLINE:    This was a heist. 

Which meant, statistically speaking, Plague was either about to become a legend, or a cautionary tale with excellent hair.

Finally, he was inside MasterGin’s clinic, the Fort Knox of DNA rewrite voodoo, and he, the Biohacker of Jae Won University, was about to steal it. 

In and out. Cure Jihoon. Fix himself. Save the world. In that order. …More or less. 

And if history wanted to throw in fame and glory, he wasn’t going to argue.

He came prepared. His parents thought that six-thousand-credit charge was for lab equipment. Please. Six thousand credits didn’t buy microscopes. It bought bad decisions with excellent specs.

In this case: a nanotech cloak blanket. Perfect for black ops. Terrible for subtle life choices. The enforcers hadn’t seen him at all. They were too busy chasing Kyle, Minjo, Echo, and Lisa.

Unlike them, he actually knew what to look for. Infrastructure. More specifically, signs of a negative pressure room.

He darted down another hallway, deeper into the labyrinth. 

The Plastic Surgery Clinic wasn’t a clinic at all. More like a villain origin story with a lobby. Polished floors, museum lighting, the kind of place where ethics go to get redesigned. He had no time to marvel at billion-dollar artwork, which genuinely pained him. The clock was ticking.

He took a stairwell downwards. Posh tunnels gave way to older tunnels, gleaming marble replaced by cement with all the charm of a decaying bomb shelter.

His foot hit water. The splash cracked through the hallway like a jump scare with no soundtrack to soften it.

Shit. He glanced around.

The corridor held its breath. So did he.

The pool of water he was standing in had a faint bioluminescence glow. It had leaked from under a sealed door with lots of unfriendly symbols that all translated, across every language known to man, into one simple message: ‘Do not be the idiot who opens this door.’

Jackpot.

He licked his lips. He could almost taste that Nobel Prize.

He produced a bypass kit, popped in a cursed energy battery courtesy of Sophia, and went to work on the door panel. The lock mechanism, however, was old. Older than he expected. Not smart-lock. Analog. Physical tumblers.

He switched tools. His hands steady, remembering things his formal education hadn't taught him, like how to pick a school locker.

Click.

The door swung open as if moved by an unseen hand.

Very Haunted House. Three stars. Too cliché.

The dark laboratory was state-of-the-art… if the state in question was 1960s and deeply unethical. The air around him felt damp, like breathing through someone else’s lungs. The smell hit next. Formaldehyde. And something that had been alive too long. The equipment bore the heavy scars of relentless use. His fingers touched a keyboard with the characters of “A” and “S” completely worn down.

From tanks holding something segmented and glowing, a sickening green light cast shadows on the walls as it writhed.

Not touching that. Not even academically.

He pulled off the cloak and paused at an old-school computer. The black DOS screen, with a single lime green blinking box, waited for him to type code.

…Right. He wasn’t that kind of nerd. Filing cabinet it was.

Drawers. Stacks. Paper everywhere. Useless. Too slow. He suddenly missed computers.

Something moved behind him. Not a step. Not a breath. …a slosh.

Shit. Please don’t be something glowing and legally classified as ‘should not have legs.’

He turned, looking for anything slithering.

Two transparent feet, outlined in a faint glow, stood directly behind him. A trail of wet footsteps led back to a massive, bubbling tank.

His heart stopped. Fantastic. Cardiac arrest in a haunted aquarium.

His gaze tracked slowly up.

A translucent man, built of something like jellyfish flesh, stared right at him. “Who are you?” he asked in a gurgling human voice.

Not a hologram. Not a projection. The nightmare was… wet.

Plague stared at his transparent body as if hypnotized. He could see liquids moving through his veins. Faint electrical sparks across the transparent mass of his brain.

“Forgive me,” the Jellyfish Man said. He put on a white lab coat, gloves, and sprinkled white powder over his head, until it resembled a sculpture. “I get so few visitors here. I forgot my manners.”

Of course he had a lab coat. Of course the nightmare had dress code compliance.

“I’ve seen this movie before.” Plague willed his voice to sound steady. “The Invisible Man, 1933. Overrated.”

The Jellyfish Man extended a gloved hand, “I’m Dr. Hoshu Tanaka.”

Plague shook his head in disbelief. Dr. Hoshu Tanaka. Founding father of DNA rewrite research. The man who wrote the rules, and then vanished from the game entirely.

“No, you’re not.” He switched to Japanese. “Dr. Tanaka died a long time ago.”

The Jellyfish Man nodded his head and sat down on a stool. “I see. You know who I am. You are sneaking around. You have a kit for breaking into secure places. That means you’re here for only one thing, …to steal my research.”

Plague took two steps back, subtly checking the seals of the bio-containment suit. The air felt wrong. Too thick. Like he’d already been breathing it too long.

“No, I’m just…” he gestured vaguely “… a low-paid, highly under-appreciated intern. You’d be amazed what HR lets through.”

“You are a terrible liar,” Dr. Tanaka chuckled. “You are aware,” he said gently, pointing to the open door, “That warning was mine. I put it there. It was not a decoration.”

Plague continued to back away. “If you touch me, I get infected right? Be honest. Are you venomous, contagious, or… both?”

“Contact transmission. Airborne spores require a 10-minute exposure.” Dr. Tanaka nodded and began to text on a halo pad, “I am writing Nurse Paine to let her know I am not to be disturbed for the rest of the evening.” He touched a button on an old control panel. The door closed and sealed back into place. “…at least from threats outside.”

Sweat dripped down Plague’s back.

Dr. Tanaka set the pad down and focused on him. Not like a person. Like data.

“Now,” he said, folding his hands, “Let us begin a fair trade of information. Tell me who you are and how you know my name. Then I might tell you where the decontamination unit is.”

Plague's eyes swept the room for another exit. Condensation dripped down the glass of a nearby pod. When he neared it, a pale worm, thick as his wrist, struck the glass with a sound like a wet slap. It gave him flashbacks to things he would absolutely deny ever reading.

Plague’s shoulders sagged. He turned back to the aquarium's sole resident, “The name’s Plague.” He gave a small shrug. “Marketing.”

“That’s not a name. Your only way out is a fair trade of information.”

Plague paused for a long while, studying the powder-covered face. He resembled Dr. Tanaka. Or something that used to be him.

Plague kept a safe distance from everything that glowed.

“All right then," he said, unbuttoning his shirt to reveal his bio-containment suit. “We may or may not have a few things in common. But that depends on how you became transparent. You did a bio-hack on yourself?”

Dr. Tanaka’s eyebrow raised. He looked at the suit for a long moment. “I see. You are a DNA Hacker.” He pointed to Plague’s chest. “Experimenting on yourself was foolish. And now you are here to steal my technology to save yourself. Am I right?”

Plague chuckled and buttoned up. “Righteous indignation. So then. Your transparent-hood was an accident. Spores or contact?” His eyes swept the lab. All those glowing things. All of them eager to be near him.

“Worse,” Dr. Tanaka’s voice dropped. His gaze lowered.

A chill raced across Plague.

The lab hummed around them. Neither moved.

Dr. Tanaka then stood and glanced at the largest tank. “I live mostly in that tank now. I killed the parasite. Eventually. Before it could finish rewriting my DNA… before my mind was lost. But I exist like this now. Something inhuman. I can never go home. I can never see my wife and child. It’s better they believe what the world believes.”

Plague’s heart quivered. His hands went still. He looked at the large tank. Then at his own chest where the bio-containment suit pressed against his ribs.

“My work is what remains of me now,” the Doctor continued. “I chose to give my tragedy meaning by understanding how the creature rewrites its host’s DNA without rejection.”

“How long ago?” Plague's voice cracked on the question. He cleared his throat. “How long ago did you solve it?”

The lab answered for him. Nothing.

Plague studied the tanks. The Doctor. The powdered coat. The worn-down keyboard keys. Years of research, typed by hands that were no longer hands.

"That's how MasterGin's plastic surgery works, isn't it? MasterGin isn't reshaping people's bodies with surgery, drugs, or augments. He's infecting them with these... things, then altering them while their bodies are malleable. Your research is the off switch, stopping the process before they turn into monsters.”

Dr. Tanaka pointed to the far corner. “The decontamination unit is over there. You have about 5 minutes left before infection.”

Plague bolted towards the unit, then turned back to look at the Doctor. “I could get your life’s work out there, in the real world. Full credit for your discovery. I swear it. Your sacrifice…” His throat became tight. “I mean, your work should be out there helping people. Not locked in here being used by monsters.” He only noticed the tears when they hit his chin.

Dr. Tanaka’s expression was unreadable. “Three minutes. Or this conversation was meaningless.”

“I’ll come back for you.” Plague turned and ran.

He hit the decon unit at full speed.

An automated voice chimed overhead, “Decontamination Process initiated.”

The doors air-locked around him as he quickly stripped down to bare skin.

Through the glass, the Doctor studied what the suit had been hiding, his grotesque deformities. He didn't look away as a cloud of formaldehyde and chemicals enveloped Plague.

When the cycle had finally ended, Plague quickly pulled on his sterilized bio-containment suit and glanced outside. The Doctor had already submerged in his tank.

A green light pulsed through the dissipating haze. He stepped closer and saw a small decontamination transfer unit mounted on the wall, designed to safely move items from the lab to the outside. The case was bathed in just as many chemicals as he was, traces of haze still swirled around it.

He opened the hatch. Inside were several items. A gold VIP serpent brooch. He’d seen that on Nurse Paine’s collar. VIP clearance. A way out. And that wasn’t the only surprising thing. There was a meticulously pre-packed decontamination travel kit. Absurdly so, given the lab had just let him walk in with a school locker pick. Was this meant for Tanaka? An escape that never happened? He didn't have time to understand all of it. More items in the case were a data chip and an ornate gilded crystal bottle labeled GIN AESTHETICA™. The Doctor's formula. Someone else's logo. Inside, a soft blue glowing lotion simmered, smelling faintly of antiseptic and something he couldn't classify.

There was a note in precise handwriting: ‘For the one who returns.’

Plague stared at it.

He quickly pocketed the brooch, sealed the case, and darted for the VIP tunnels without looking back.


This post was inspired by my ongoing series, and super cool mad lab themed items at The Engine Room.   From Somnium is the Scientist's Coat. The Fatpack has a hud to change textures for the coat, shirt, and tie. All textures are PBR with a latex look, handy for dealing with messy creatures. lol.  ...From DeadBoy is 8 fingered stabby gloves, -- the Toxic Touch Gloves, for men and women. It comes with a hud to change the latex glove color, straps, and suspicious liquids in the syringe.   ...From NI.JI are the Rimless Glasses.  These are PBR glasses with many texture options for the lens and frame. It's mod, so you can scale and position for the perfect fit.   ...From Waffle Science Lab is the Artificial Mastermind consoles. I love these things. It has that retro NASA vibe to me. Just touch the consoles to change the metal color, panel, and base colors. They are mod, so you can move and scale how you like.   ... From Dirty Rat is the Manipulator sculpture, perfect for the desk of any serious mad scientist.   ...From ND Design is build from the recent Cyber Fair. It's two stories with stacks of mainframes, tanks with aliens, and a hatch that opens. It comes with a Rez box. The set is mod so you can move things around or tint. I created a bit more of a military lab look with tints, and a metal PBR floor.

On him, Plague:

Outfit:  SOMNIUM - Scientist's Coat - Fat Pack - Legacy M/A PBR [mesh](Engine Room)(2500L)

Glasses: NI.JU - Rimless Glasses [mesh](Engine Room)(325L)

Gloves: The DeadBoy - Toxic Touch Gloves (Legacy M) [mesh](Engine Room)(699L)

Scar: Cubic Cherry - Decay [BOM, Materials]

Makeup: maledictus - Lacrimosa, red [BOM]

Tattoo: Vae Victis Pillar of Inun EvoX [BOM]

Hair: Dura - U122 -A: Men's [mesh]

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

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

Setting:

Control room panels: Waffle Science Lab - Artificial Mastermind [mesh](Engine Room)(750L)

Sculpture: Dirty Rat - Manipulator [mesh](Engine Room)(385L)

Set: NSDesign - NS Exolab [mesh]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shot, hi-res, midday sky.

Engine Room: The Dokkaebi Guard (Escape from Club Apophis, 38)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE: Kyle Baek pressed his back against the cold, polished wall of the GIN AESTHETICA™ service corridor. He was breathing hard. The pristine, high-tech clinic was a labyrinth of sterile white lights and locked doors, and he was completely cut off from the rest of the team.

He slammed the sleek, handleless door panel with all his body weight. It didn't budge.

Kyle rolled his eyes and pitched his voice into a nasally, upbeat whine to imitate Plague. "Just in and out, guys. Steal tech. Grab samples. Easy.”

He kicked the base of the reinforced door.

A shadow peeled itself off the adjacent obsidian wall.

Kyle nearly swung his fist, but a leather-clad hand clamped hard over his mouth.

Hwan materialized before him. Green skin. Purple hair. Eyes burning amber in the dim corridor light. The full, true face of whatever the hell Hwan actually was.

Kyle stared at him for exactly one second.

"So that's what you look like," he said flatly. "I've seen worse." 

Hwan pressed a finger to his lips. "Shhh."

"I’m tired of people giving me shitty advice," Kyle muttered fiercely. He dropped his voice into an overly dramatic, gravelly whisper, throwing Hwan's exact mystical tone right back in his face. “Without something to love…” Kyle sneered. “Yeah, yeah. I don’t need something to love.” He shoved his arms into the heavy Enforcer coat. "I need something to break. Preferably a door."

Hwan smiled. "And yet... here you are."

He seemed to listen to something Kyle could not hear. Then his gold eyes moved to something behind Kyle. Every muscle in the Guardian's body locked rigid.

"What the hell are you looking at?" Kyle growled.

A slow, repeating clap echoed through the corridor.

The ambient temperature in the hallway plummeted, and the heavy scent of oriental spice and clove washed over them.

Kyle froze. He turned around slowly.

"Oh please... don't stop on my account." MasterGin loomed behind him in a sheer white tunic. The ancient vampire was fresh from berating Nurse Paine. His flawless face still held the sharp, ugly lines of his rage. But as he looked at Kyle, the anger melted into intense, predatory curiosity.

Hwan bowed instantly, locking his eyes on the floor.

Kyle stood stiff as stone in the oversized coat. His broad shoulders stretched the dark leather. His jaw was clenched tight.

"My, my... what a marvelous temper." MasterGin glided forward, tilting his head. He did not attack. Instead, he began to circle Kyle. His stilettos clicked a slow rhythm on the floor. He looked Kyle up and down, assessing his heavy musculature and the aggressive scowl permanently etched onto the boy's face. "All that noise, and not a drop of fear in it. How delightfully unrefined."

MasterGin leaned in close to Kyle’s neck and inhaled deeply.

"Mm... earth, smoke... iron," he purred. His long eyelashes lowered slyly as he glanced over at the trembling Guardian.

Kyle didn't move. His jaw tightened further.

"Naughty little Dokkaebi," the vampire scoffed. "Where have you been hiding this strapping specimen?"

Kyle bit the inside of his cheek to keep his mouth shut. The vampire had mistaken his stubborn human rage for a goblin spirit.

"Is he a reliable guard?" MasterGin asked. He traced a gold-tipped claw down the silver buttons of Kyle's stolen coat.

"Oh, yes, Master Ginerva," Hwan stammered quickly. "I have seen him endure a great deal of strife to achieve his mission."

Kyle's lip curled in disgust. He wanted to stomp on Hwan's foot.

"You will do beautifully." MasterGin smirked at the growing rage on Kyle's face. "My previous staff has proven tragically incompetent today. Follow me, Grumpy Dokkaebi. I have a special assignment for you. I require someone solid. Someone who does not bend. To protect my most precious asset."

MasterGin turned.

Hwan shot Kyle a desperate, pleading look. ‘Please play along.’

Kyle snarled silently. He adjusted the heavy collar of the coat and fell into step behind the vampire, who strutted forward as if walking a runway.

As they descended, the architecture mutated. Sterile white walls gave way to polished obsidian, and rich velvet drapery that had no business existing this far underground.

They emerged onto an ominous glass walkway suspended over an eerily glowing subterranean cavern.

Long gelatinous tendrils hung from the ceiling, pulsing with faint internal light. Kyle recognized them. He wished he didn’t.

Phosphorescent fungi rose like pillars from the cavern floor. Glowing moss draped from stalactites, too still, like it had decided not to breathe.

Kyle knew what this was. He remembered Hwan warning the team about this place.

They were not walking into the belly of the beast. They were already inside it.

This was MasterGin's private garden. His nursery for the things that turned people into something that no longer resembled people.

Kyle grabbed Hwan's sleeve. The heavy, gilded glass doors at the far end of the walkway hissed open. There was no time.

Hwan refused to move forward. He gave Kyle a steady, reassuring nod, almost satisfied, then executed a sharp Monstrum-style salute. "Master Ginerva, I leave him to you now."

MasterGin waved him off without bothering to look back. "Ta ta."

Hwan caught Kyle’s gaze one last time.

Kyle could have sworn that demon bastard just winked at him while disappearing in a soft, pink-tinted curl of smoke.

He stared at the empty space where the trickster had been standing.

A soft hydraulic hiss filled the silence. The glass walkway began retracting, pulling back toward the suite, section by section. It was retreating toward the suite’s balcony ledge, exposing the deadly drop to the garden far below. Bioluminescent spores drifted upward in slow, beautiful spirals through the widening gap.

Kyle stared down at the neon sludge. He remembered exactly what Hwan had said about the terrifying things that lived in it. His eyes tracked the retreating walkway, then at the growing chasm.

"Do catch up, Grumpy Dokkaebi," MasterGin called out without turning around. "I would hate to have to replace you so soon."

Kyle gritted his teeth. He took three quick steps backward, then launched himself into a running jump. He crashed heavily onto the remaining glass section. It shuddered under his weight.

Kyle could have sworn that he heard that vampire diva snicker.

They stepped off the walkway and onto the private balcony overlooking the garden. MasterGin pointed ahead and spoke quietly. "This is my future."

Inside the opulent, dimly lit bedchamber lay the exact reason he was here. Yoon Jihoon rested on a massive, velvet-draped bed. He looked like an object placed on display rather than a boy sleeping. One of his long silver locks had been haphazardly snipped off, the cut end ragged against the pillow.

The vampire turned to Kyle. His icy eyes found security guard in the dim light, catching him staring. "Will you protect him with your life?"

Kyle snapped his arm up into a crisp, flawless mimic of Hwan’s salute. "Yes Sir," he said, his deep voice rumbling with absolute certainty. "No one gets past me. You can rely on it."

"Oh, I know." MasterGin smiled. "See that you do." He turned and glided away. The heavy doors sealed shut behind him with a final, mechanical thud.

Kyle stood alone on the quiet, lavish balcony. The footsteps faded into absolute nothingness.

He slowly lowered his hand. He stepped up to the reinforced glass of the suite and placed his palm flat against the cold pane. He looked at Jihoon. The dare. The shove across the Zone border. Jihoon in the baseball stadium shrieking on fire. All of it led exactly here.

Kyle let out a slow, shaky breath, fogging the glass.

“I’ve got you, buddy," he whispered.



Kyle's plot arc is circling back on itself. We're still racing towards to the finale of Escape from Club Apophis. I have more wonderful chapters coming soon for you, showing awesome creations from the current round of The Engine Room.

Kyle is wearing the Voiddrop Steampunk Hunter outfit. It's a complete look with coat, skirt, pants and boots built in. It comes in Black, Grey, and White for men.   ...From Duplexity is the Astrum Glasses. It's mod so you move, tilt and resize it to best fit your face. It comes with a hud to change the textures on the lens and frame. I tinted the frame to red so the side glow would match Kyle's look.  ...From Auro is the BOM Carapace Chest Armour, and materials applier hud for Legacy bodies to create that shiny look.   .... From Nuuna is OKA text layers. Adding a cool bold deco pattern across the chest, neck and arms. The lower layer is tintable, I made it dark red, and the top layer adds a metallic stripe across the arms and down the middle of the chest. very cool. I layered it over the chest plate.

Hwan is wearing Starlit Endeavor's latest well thought out set of clothing and accessories, Kohjan, a traveler ready to walk great distances with map, backpack, compass, canteen, and telescope. He is wearing the Khojan outfit which comes with a texture hud you can mix and match textures, and event tint. I used the Mint and Black and tinted purple the overcoat for a Dokkaebi look. He is holding the Kohjan compass which also has a texture hud, and you can trigger poses, animation, and flip open the compass lid.   ...From Aii are the Dark Fae ears. They fit perfectly on Lelukta mesh heads, just hide your regular ears, and with the shape options, change the size and placement of your new long pointy ears. You can show or hide various parts of it in the texture hud. I hid the more ornate jewelry on the ears for a more masculine look.   ...In the background is the beautiful new statue creation by What's Lost Spirits, part of the Cyber Statue series. It is mod so you can scale it up and down, comes with regular and PBR textures.   ...From TWELVE is the gorgeous Scifi Cinema. It comes in black, white, and tan. it's mod, so you can change light colors, scale or move pieces around if needed. The doors open and close by touch. You can see the dark and light versions of the skybox below.

On Him, Kyle:

Outfit: VOIDRIP - Steampunk Hunter Outfit, Gray [mesh](Engine Room)(350L)

Glasses: Duplexity - Astrium Glasses [mesh](Engine Room)(299L)

Tattoo: Nuuna - OKA, EVOX [BOM](Engine Room)(250L)

Tattoo: AURO - Carapace Chest Armour [BOM, Applier](Engine Room)(450L)

Tattoo: AURO - The Prophet : Neck Fade [BOM, Applier]

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

Eyes: Mana - Jelly Eyes, Clear [BOM]

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, Hwan Dokkaebi form:

Outfit: Starlit Endeavor - Khojan Arm, Legacy M [mesh](Engine Room)(2975L)

Compass: Starlit Endeavor - Khojan Compass and Telescope [mesh](Engine Room)(650L)

Ears: Aii - Dark Fae - Ears, Lelutka Male  [mesh](Engine Room)(800L)

Mask: Axix - Wukong Mask [mesh]

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

Hands: {Aii} Demonic Touch - bom/all parts, Legacy M [mesh](800L)

Hair: Truth Rogue colors [mesh](250L)

Horns: Hyperbole - Phosphorus Horn, Vile [mesh]

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

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

Setting:

Statue: Whats Lost Spirits - WLS, CYBER STATUE, BELIEVE 2.1 [mesh](Engine Room)(500L)

Set: TWELVE - Scifi Cinema - White [mesh]

BONUS IMAGES: inworld raw shot, hi-res, midday sky.

Cyber Fair: The Cybernetic Body Horror (Escape from Club Apophis, 37)

(click to enlarge)

STORYLINE:  The recovery room inside GIN AESTHETICA™ was a masterpiece of sterile vanity. It glowed with a predatory, flawless white light. Behind the sleek medical bed, a massive window framed the glittering nightscape of Neu Seoul, a city blissfully unaware of the monsters operating above it. Opposite the window, beside the sealed door, a narrow observation pane watched the room like an unblinking eye.

A smart wardrobe hummed in the corner. It projected a rotating hologram of complimentary Apophis ATELIER garments waiting for a newly sculpted client.

But the patient in the bed would not be wearing haute couture anytime soon.

Diagnostic holograms floated in the chilled air, casting a sickly cyan light over Kyra's ruined chassis. Her external cybernetic shell had been stripped away by the clinic staff. Shockingly little organic tissue remained. The entire upper casing of her skull was missing, exposing an intricate, sparking web of metal, silicon, and processing chips. Only her lower face and brain stem remained human.

She lay perfectly still in sleep mode beneath a canopy of glowing biometric displays.

MasterGin stood at the foot of the bed, his heel tapping an irritated rhythm against the floor as he read the diagnostics. His sheer white tunic rippled as he crossed his arms. His flawless face slowly twisted into a mask of absolute revulsion.

"No. Absolutely not," he huffed. "I am an artist. I compose in flesh. I refine. I elevate. I do not troubleshoot appliances."

Romance sat rigid in the visitor's chair. His knuckles were bone-white. "Your testimonials are full of disfigured people singing your praises. You claim you can fix anything."

The vampire let out a sharp, mocking laugh. "Poor Bubblegum Relic." He stepped closer, tracing a perfectly manicured claw over the former idol’s throat. "Adorable. A demon like you, still believing in miracles." He fanned himself as if he were having a hot flash. "Delicious." A wicked glee lit his eyes, like a secret he could not wait to ruin. "I do not cut. I conquer."

Romance refused to be intimidated. He narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, exactly?"

"Knives are for butchers. I prefer devotion."

Romance tilted his head, still not understanding.

MasterGin’s smile widened. "They always get the beauty they came for. That is the tragedy."

Romance’s eyes widened as the horrific truth clicked into place.

The vampire leaned in, his voice dropping to a theatrical, venomous whisper. "My blood is the miracle, Demon Dullard. I am an exceptionally rare vampire. I do not merely shapeshift. I force the shift. My blood flows into my clients and binds them to my will. It compels their fragile human cells to reshape, to elevate into the perfection of my design. They become my familiars, unable to disobey me. I mold them into gods. Or I melt them into puddles if they bore me. But this?"

He gestured dismissively at Kyra's exposed, synthetic brain casing.

"I do not sculpt gears. There is nothing here to seduce. No pulse to persuade. No flesh to betray itself. If it cannot ache, I cannot adore it."

"But I helped you. This whole time, you knew."

MasterGin pulled back to his full height, suddenly bored. "She is stabilized, yes. A few drops of vitae have halted her biological decay. You are welcome. But I cannot regrow what was never alive." He turned on his heels. "Get this scrap metal out of my pristine suite before it stains the floor."

The glowing white doors hissed shut behind him.

Romance covered his face with both hands. A ragged sob escaped his lips.

He had believed the lie. He had told himself that whatever else Monstrum was, the relief on those clients' faces in the advertisements was real. He had clung to the idea that some small good existed inside the machinery of this terrible occupation.

He lowered his hands and looked at the gleaming, empty room. It felt staged. Too bright. Too clean. There had never been anything behind the curtain. He had just handed them a massive propaganda victory, selling his enchanting curse to the cameras, for absolutely nothing. And somewhere out in the world, desperate people were still waiting for a miracle that would only enslave them.

He curled his fists. A deep, silent fury boiled in his chest.

He forced his hands to unclench. He smoothed his pink hair. He became the idol again.

Romance leaned over the bed. He retrieved a cursed energy chip branded with a devil heart logo from his pocket. He delicately pressed it into the port on Kyra's neck and switched her out of Sleep Mode.

The room filled with the soft whine of rebooting systems. Pistons clicked. Relays snapped inside her open skull. A faint heat rose from her exposed circuitry, carrying the sterile scent of warmed metal and ozone.

Kyra moaned, her voice fractured by digital static. "I can't see. Why can't I see?"

"It's just temporary," Romance whispered, taking her cold, heavy mechanical hand.

They both fell silent, terrified of what words might make real.

"Am I going to die?" she finally asked. Even through the static, the fear was plain.

"No," Romance said firmly. "I can see you will not. It is part of my power as a Saja. I know when a person's time is up."

Kyra’s grip tightened on his fingers. "Thank you for helping me. I'm not afraid when you are with me. I feel safe."

Romance’s heart cracked.

A sudden thump rattled the observation pane.

His head snapped up. Opposite the bed, beside the sealed door, the glass trembled under a double slap.

Lisa Liemawr stood on the other side, her hand leaving a smear of sewer grime on the pristine glass. Her jaw hung open. Her laser-focused eyes locked on the exposed, ruined state of her best friend. Absolute, devastating guilt carved itself across the reporter's face.

Romance was on his feet in an instant, one hand raised in sharp warning. "Go!" he mouthed silently, his eyes wide. "Are you crazy?"

Lisa shook her head. She refused.

Lisa Liemawr filmed everything. She never looked away from a story. But now she was standing entirely still, not documenting, not performing for followers, just staring in pure horror. Kyra, her longtime best friend, lay with her skull open to the world.

Behind Lisa, the rest of the students caught up. Plague, Kyle, Ghost, and Echo crowded into the corridor. Minjo stepped to the front.

Down the hall, the sharp, angry voice of MasterGin echoed off the marble. He was screaming at Nurse Paine, stripping her of her rank and demoting her to guard duty. They were coming back.

Romance locked eyes with Minjo. He pointed sharply down the corridor. "GO!" he mouthed again.

Minjo gave Romance one sharp, definitive nod and signaled to the team to scatter.

Lisa still refused to move. Plague grabbed the struggling reporter by the waist, lifting her entirely off her feet. Lisa kicked and twisted, tears streaking through the grime on her face as Plague dragged her out of sight into an adjacent room. They vanished just before the shadow of MasterGin fell across the far end of the hall.

The hallway emptied. Romance exhaled a shaky breath and sat back down beside the crisp white bed.

"Is something wrong?" Kyra asked, her optic sensors still dark. "What is going on?"

"MasterGin might be returning to discuss your options," Romance said, pitching his voice loud enough to mask any lingering sounds from the corridor. "He has a reputation as a miracle worker. However."

"Yes?" she prompted softly.

"He said you need a mechanic. There is not enough flesh for him to work with."

"Oh." Kyra’s heavy shoulders slumped. "So you were wrong. He can't restore my body."

"I was wrong," Romance admitted, the words tasting like poison. "But the good news is you are stabilized. You are not in immediate danger. We have options."

Kyra’s internal processors whirred loudly. He could hear her mind working through the panic. "Tell me the options," she said quietly.

Romance pulled his chair to the edge of the bed, his voice dropping to a whisper.

"First, you can let go. You can let your systems power down and pass on peacefully."

Kyra shook her head slightly.

"Second, I can permanently convert your cybernetics to run on the cursed energy of the Forbidden Zone. You would live, but you could never leave this place. You would be trapped here forever."

He paused, his golden eyes glowing in the dim light. He looked at the shimmering, infinite lifeline hovering faintly above her exposed mechanical brain.

"Third," he whispered. "You can make a deal with me, right here, right now. Exchange your soul for a new existence." He paused, looking at her destroyed body. "Recover what was lost by becoming a Jeoseung Saja. Like me. You would never age. And I would never have to be lonely again."

Kyra processed the weight of the offer.

"Is there anything else?" she asked, her voice trembling with static.

Romance closed his eyes. He remembered her life opening to him as she lay dying in the debris pile. Memories of incredible athleticism, helpfulness, and a fierce will to survive. She was perfect. He told himself that was the only reason the thought had crossed his mind.

"Yes. I am running a ratline. I can smuggle you out of the Zone entirely. We can find a human cybernetics doctor. Someone who can actually rebuild you. But you would have to leave immediately, and there is no guarantee you would be free. MasterGin has laid a claim on you. There is something in your system now that was not there before. His vitae stabilized you, but it is not neutral. It could be a complication."

The diagnostic holograms above the bed pulsed in the quiet room.

"Tell me what you want to do," Romance said, waiting in the glittering, sterile light.

Can you tell the story finale is looming or what?  Cyber Fair is also ending on the 23, so hurry over and check out all the wonderful items and sales before it ends.   Kyra is wearing amazingly crafted Nyx outfit by Lanevo which includes bodysuit, gloves for each hand separately, jacket, shorts, and boots. The boots also replace the mesh leg to create the "muffin top" squished flesh look under the straps and laces. ts uses BOM to match your body skin automatically. Very cool effect. Each piece is sold separately and has a fatpack of color options.   ...The drama exposed cyborg skull is by NK, Heavy Netrunner Implant. It includes a tattoo layer for the EVOX heads and alpha.   ...The giant claw hand is by Seka's, the GearHead Glove. I used the fatpack color options to stick to the Jae Won University's theme colors of red, black, and white.   ...The black lip makeup is by Other Faces for EvoX heads.   ...And the background, wow. This set is amazing. Crisp glossy whites. The set pack includes vanity, wardrobe, bed, ceiling/floors, and walls pieces to build your layout however you wish. Corners, window, long window, and straight. The wardrobe includes clothing for men and women and also animated poses for both.  The bed includes poses also, and options for PG or adult.

On her, Kyra:
Bodysuit: LANEVO - Nyx Bodysuit (Fatpack)[mesh](Cyber Fair)(885L)
Jacket: LANEVO - Nyx Jacket (Fatpack)[mesh](Cyber Fair)(885L)
Gloves: LANEVO - Nyx Gloves (Fatpack)[mesh](Cyber Fair)(660L)
Shorts: LANEVO - Nyx Pants (Fatpack)[mesh](Cyber Fair)(660L)
Boots: LANEVO - Nyx Boots (Fatpack)[mesh](Cyber Fair)(885L)
Skull, tattoo: NK - Heavy Netrunner Implant - VIP (PBR)[mesh](Cyber Fair)(750L)
Glove: SEKA's - GearHead Glove, fatpack [mesh](Cyber Fair)(999L)
Lips: OTHER FACES - Cyber Lips #Concrete [BOM](Cyber Fair)(199L)
Jaw: Evil Baby - Jaws - Accessory [mesh]
Head, eyes: LeLUTKA - lel EvoX LILLY 3.1 [mesh](3990L)
Body: Maitreya - Mesh Body Lara [mesh](2750L)

Pose: yzk - mens pose 4 hero5

Setting:
Furniture, Room: Erfe Design - Gora Bedroom Set Adult, Fatpack [mesh](Cyber Fair)(3490L)


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