Cyber Fair: The Age of Apophis, part 1 (Escape from Club Apophis, 55)

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STORYLINE: Forbidden Zone border. A dark alleyway. Noon.

The street reeked of ozone, coffee, and fresh blood. Overturned vending machines lined the dirty cement alley. One knocked over vending machine bled shattered mugs across the concrete, their porcelain shards scattered like broken teeth. In the darkest corner, a group of ghouls hunched over a fresh kill.

A hush fell over the landscape as if all sound had suddenly been sucked out of the air.

One creature looked up. A human hand hung limp from its bloodstained jaws.

The asphalt began to vibrate with a deep hum. Low. Inhuman. Glass shook. The surface of spilled coffee rippled in waves.

The other ghouls stopped feeding and looked towards the sound.

A low unnatural fog drifted into the alleyway, rolling over the shattered mugs like an undulating white carpet.

The creatures stood, backing away from their feast.

Then they saw it. Gold eyes burned through the haze like hellfire.

A blur of motion. A flash of white. Jaws. Claws. The sickening sounds of tearing flesh. Monstrous howls echoed off the walls.

Standing at the mouth of the alleyway was a towering figure clad in a white Neu Seoul Police uniform, his low-slung cap throwing his face in shadow. Behind him, a black-and-white police hovercar idled above the fog, red and blue lights flashing.

The remaining ghouls burst through the mist, rushing the man all at once.

He didn’t flinch. His arm swept upward.

Too fast.

An energy field snapped open, the face of Sekhmet blazing within.

The first ghoul’s claws struck its energy barrier and skated off in a blinding spray of blue sparks.

The ghouls broke formation, but it was too late.

A cyberblade sliced through the pack with lethal heat.

The fight was over before it began.

The last ghoul dropped to its knees. “Have mercy..." its dry throat croaked. “My King, we starve..."
The officer looked down. His cyberblade flashed.

The severed head rolled across the slick pavement, bumping gently against the man’s heavy black boot. One milky eye stared upward at him in absolute horror. Then it faded, unfocused.

A mechanical voice spoke from the alley. “My King, all escapees are eliminated.”

A glossy white lioness padded lightly out of the fog, its metallic jaws splattered in black fluid. It paused before the man, and dropped a severed ghoul arm onto the pavement like a cat bringing a gift.

The man wiped the dripping black blood from his blade’s edge before both the sword and shield folded neatly back into his gauntlets. He unhooked his faceplate, revealing a handsome, chiseled visage. His gold eyes held the terrifying weight of a thousand lifetimes.

A crowd had gathered at the edge of the alley, recording the scene on lifted wrists and high-gain ocular implants.

A woman near the front lowered her camera slightly. Her recording kept running, but her smile vanished. She was not looking at the hero. She was staring at the strange badge on his jacket. A cobra with its fangs bared, swallowing the sun.

The Ruler of the Night was suddenly beside her.

A blast of wind whipped her hair across her face.

He snatched the camera from her hand and crushed it in his palm as if it were paper.

She gasped, her heel slipping in gore as she staggered backward.

His smoldering gaze then swept over the crowd, locking on the merchants cowering behind the nearest carts.

“You should not be running food stalls in this sector,” his deep rumbling baritone could be felt as well as heard. “The perimeter is unsafe. All contraband is forfeit. Go home.”

No one moved.

“NOW.” He swept one arm across the nearest cart. Skewers of Korean BBQ tumbled into the gutter.

The merchants turned and fled down the avenue abandoning their carts.

The Ruler of the Night did not watch them go. His eyes were on the lioness. "What news have you on the boy?"

The robotic beast settled beside him.

“Observe,” it projected security footage onto a grimy wall. “It is exactly as you predicted, my King. Their escape remains undetected.”

The flickering image showed a tall, muscular red-haired guard carrying the sleeping boy, his long white hair trailing across the floor. The guard was looking left and right as he crept out of the screen.

“Rewind.”

The lioness obeyed. “The relevant footage of the comatose boy begins at 6:32 pm.”

“Zoom in.”

The footage zoomed in on Jihoon, focusing on mist beginning to roll off his body.

“At 6:42 pm, REM sleep indicators.”

The footage zoomed back out, revealing the guard collapsing.

“At 6:53 pm, sensors detected a spike of energy at the exact moment the guard fainted.”

“Hmm.” The Ruler pointed to the fallen guard. “A call for help.”

“Yes, my King. The boy has exhibited two of your gifts. The mist and the extremely rare Dream Sight. He is immobile, not helpless. Congratulations, my King. You have created a strong fledgling. Does the child know the rules of the Blood Bond?”

The Ruler did not reply.

A slow, ruthless smile touched his lips. “Cancel the ceremony.”

The lioness’ heavy titanium tail stopped its rhythmic swaying.




On him, The Ruler of the Night:

Jacket: TRK - Losttune_Jacket_LEGACYM, white [mesh](CyberFair)(399L)

Cap: AURICA - Ray Cap [mesh](CyberFair)(249L)

Tattoo: MIDORI - Cyber Neck 07 [mesh](CyberFair)(399L)

Eyes: SHIMM - CYBER XV BONUS [BOM](CyberFair)(100L)

Pet: SEmotion Libellune - Felis Nexus Companion, Special [Animesh](CyberFair)(gacha 88L)

Sword: Mythic - [M] Claw Sword and Shield [mesh](CyberFair)(640L)

Pants: Savage - Blade Pants // LegacyM [mesh]

Boots: Gabriel - ::GB::Double belt metal boots, LEGACY, Black [mesh]

Headset: SOLE - SA Headset ARA2, Black [mesh]

Gloves: Archivefaction - Penumbra Gloves_Legacy M_Slim Fingers [mesh]

Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh](3990L)

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

Pose: momomuller - 3M gogogo 1-1

Setting:

Vending Machine: Cerridwen's Cauldron - Scifi Black Honey Coffee [mesh](CyberFair)(499L)

Background: Zeroichi - REITO Backdrop [mesh](CyberFair)(560L)

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

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

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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:

 

Cyber Fair: The Scoop of the Century 1 (Escape from Club Apophis, 44)

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STORYLINE: 

Mission objective: Get Dirt on MasterGin. Destroy Monstrum. 

Team: Solo. Hexa Herald Investigative Journalist / Influencer.
Location: GIN AESTHETICA™ plastic surgery clinic. 

Lisa pressed her back against the cold, sterile wall of the VIP clinic corridor. Somewhere behind her, Kyra was lying on a crisp white bed with her chrome skull-plating unlatched. Diagnostic arrays jacked directly into her exposed mechanical brain, pulsing with cold data instead of life. No blood. Only the flickering, phantom glint of synthetic pathways.

Her long-time best friend.

Seeing under Kyra's hood wasn't the worst part. The worst part was realizing how much of her had always been hidden, and how little Lisa had ever thought to look. The girl she grew up with was buried somewhere deep inside all that hardware, and Lisa could no longer find her.

She was the same girl who had followed her into hell just because Lisa wanted a scoop.

Lisa squeezed her eyes shut. One tear cut a clean line through the sewer grime on her cheek. Just one.

Then she shoved the grief into a mental locker, slammed the heavy iron door, and threw away the key. Sadness didn't pull views. Sadness didn't dismantle a corrupt, blood-sucking empire. She was Lisa Liemawr of the Hexa Herald, professional chaos correspondent, and she was going to burn MasterGin's pristine world to the ground. She needed dirt.

But first, she needed a camera.

She slipped down the immaculate hallway. An Enforcer stepped from the shadows, his heavy hand clamping onto her arm.

Time to activate Slippery-Bar-of-Soap mode.

Lisa went limp, twisted her shoulder to break his grip, swiped the Halophone right off his tactical belt, and was three steps down the corridor before he even processed the theft. She bounced into an open elevator, slamming the override. The doors sealed, and the car plummeted at breakneck speed.

Lisa raised the stolen Halophone, tapped the screen, and flashed her signature grin.

“That’s right, Dragonlets! Your favorite reporter is back! Today's sponsor is Poor Decision Making™, and apparently we're going for the platinum subscription.”

She let out a quiet, forced laugh.

The elevator chimed. The doors slid open. She bolted out, rounding the corner with her camera raised.

The next three doors were wide open. She filmed the empty passage, her eyes darting across the screen.

“How suspiciously helpful is that? But Lisa doesn't look gift doors in the mouth!"

Down the hall, another elevator chimed. It was coming down. Someone was following her.

“Ruh-roh.”

The overhead lights flickered, buzzing with a sharp electric whine.

A heavy mechanical thud echoed through the gleaming marble floor.

Then, total darkness.

Emergency lights flickered on, bathing the corridor in a sickly, blood-red glow.

“To the unknown person of awesomeness,” she whispered to the ceiling, giving a crisp salute. “Your hack skills are Amaze. Whoever you are, I owe you a coffee.”

Then, she smelled it.

Clove smoke.

She spun the camera around and waved to the faint tendrils of smoke with feverishly bright eyes.

“Yo Yo Yo, it's your girl Lisa Liemawr, making yet another series of decisions my future therapist is going to hate. This newshound just caught a scent!” She did a crazed happy dance. “Let’s see where this cursed yellow brick road leads.”

The spiced scent hung heavy in the stale air. She raced after it, going deeper and deeper underground.

She stopped.

The silence was absolute. The guards were entirely gone now. The smoke was stronger here. Thicker.

The camera dipped just for a second.

"Hey, Ky." Her voice dropped out of the influencer register entirely. "If you're out there somewhere... I'm coming. This whole operation, the story, all of it. That's for you. Because you followed me in here, and you never once asked if it was worth it, and I never once said thank you."

She stared at the faint red light lining the hall.

"I'm saying it now. Thank you. And also, I'm sorry. And also,” she paused, “we're getting out."

She raised the camera back up. The grin returned, just a little less polished than before.

"Okay! Emotional moment over. Back to committing corporate espionage against a centuries-old vampire."

She rounded the final corner.

This place had the quiet confidence of somewhere ordinary people were never meant to enter. It looked exactly like a place that needed to get broken into.

Lisa pushed open a pair of heavy doors and stopped dead.

The phone dropped a fraction.

Rows upon rows of polished machines stared back like an audience waiting for the curtain to rise.

Silence.

"Oh my cyber-soul," she breathed.

Then her chin lifted.

“Jackpot, Dragonlets. It’s your girl Lisa Liemawr reporting live from inside the belly of the beast. No signal down here, but Lisa films anyway, because that's just what a Lisa does.”

She winked and flashed a victory sign.

“I’m a hundred and fifty feet under the center of the Forbidden Zone.” She gestured dramatically downward. “Exactly where I traced the threatening phone call from that nasty, chain-smoking vampire himself: MasterGin.”

She panned the camera around the vast space.

“But Lisa, what is this place? A museum exhibit? No! It’s a storage room of white marble and gold trim. Like even Mr. Diva’s storage rooms need to be beautiful. Compulsive much?”

Her camera swept across the room to reveal her entire bot army. The seven flawless avatars. The reporter drones. All the tech MasterGin had confiscated when his lawyers raided her apartment.

“He sued me for selling merch. Took all my gear. Shut me down. I thought he destroyed it all. But he kept them. He kept them like trophies.”

Her eyes landed on the centerpiece.

"M10?"

The little reporter bot rested perfectly still, powered down but completely restored. MasterGin had fried him with a casual flick of his electrical claws back at Jae Won Stadium. But M10 was whole now. Better than whole. He had little mechanical arms and legs. His glossy blue chassis gleamed.

“I don’t get it. Why rebuild a broken drone?”

She lowered the phone. Her reporter brain was already running the math.

"Intel," she whispered. "His lawyers didn't just confiscate you, M10. They must have rebuilt you to mine my data. My sources. My network."

A violet glow leaked around the edges of the bot's LED face screen, pulsing with a sinister low hum that made the hair stand on the back of her neck.

“Shit.” Her head dropped.

All her bots were now running on the Zone’s cursed energy. Even if she managed to steal them back somehow, they were corrupted.

Every broadcast she'd ever made. Every source she'd ever protected. Every face she'd hidden behind an avatar. He had it all.

She stood very still.

Then she lifted her head and forced a tight smile into the Halophone.

“I think I'm going to cry, which is very off-brand, so let's not.”

In the corner, propped against the marble wall like it belonged there, was a baseball bat. Black chrome and neon. The word LATHANDRO burned along the barrel.

She had sold unlicensed merch with that name. Sold it on five continents.

She stepped closer. There was fire damage on it. Her hand trembled as she studied the charred outline of fingers that once held it.

She hadn't thought about that since the day everything went up in flames. Jihoon with cleats, a drool-worthy batting average, and a million dollar smile.

Her guy was supposed to be the next biggest thing in college baseball.

A thick hiss of smoke seeped under the far door.

She zoomed in. As the smoke thickened, a silhouette materialized in the haze.

"Oh, hell naw," Lisa muttered, backing away from M10.

Plumes of smoke began rolling across the marble floor. The scent of clove hit her like a physical blow, thick and suffocating.

“Guess who, everyone,” she announced.

The silver hair. The cigarette. The posture that should be wrong but isn't.

“If you guessed it’s your not-so-favorite chain-smoking Discount Dracula, you win a prize. M10, tell them what they won! …Trauma. The answer is trauma.”

The figure in the rolling cloud moved.

“Wait."

She squinted through the haze.

“…Jihoon?"

He stepped forward with liquid confidence. Silver hair spilling over his shoulders. A clove cigarette pinched effortlessly between his fingers.

But his eyes were the wrong color. They were calm in a terrifying, ancient way. And he smiled at her with a poised, million-dollar smirk. It was exactly the way MasterGin smiled at things he already owned.

The heavy doors behind Lisa slammed shut, the locks engaging with a heavy metallic clack. Then the door behind him hissed open, revealing a paranoid nerve center. Floor-to-ceiling monitors bathed the luxurious room in a cold, phantom-blue glow. Hundreds of live surveillance feeds flickered across the screens.

He gestured dramatically for her to join him inside.

“Do come in. That is, unless you really don’t want the scoop of the century.”

Continuing with Cyberpunk Character Card theme, in this post Lisa Liemawr takes over.   ....Lathandro's baseball bat makes a reappearance with Masoom Plasma Muse Bat. It comes with a texture hud and flatpack has bonus textures like halogram.   ....From Lanevo is the Tamamo tank top, bikini, and pants. Each item comes with a detailed hud to change textures, and that includes left and right leg, from and back.   ...From Trash are the Covenant Cyberlox. The texture hud lets you change the textures for different groups with a wide selection of colors. It's very fun.   ...From Grima are the sleek Talos Protocol Cyber Arms, which includes a texture hud.   ...From Hades are the Cyberhorns. They are unrigged so you best position them.   ...The wild glasses are the CyberGhost Lens by Ohmai. They wrap around the entire head and include multiple tech animations on the lens. It has a hud to change the LED colors. They are unrigged and scalable for the perfect fit.   ....From Diaboli Design are the Gravicator boots. They come with a stacked hud of texture goodies and fits for men and women.   ... From SEmotion Libellune is cute new gacha, and limited editions, and event only color of the Neo Neko Companion. It has hud to change the expression of the visor, and change the animations for the figure.   ...From Bersav is the Cyber Nest megapack. It is mod, so I used my own PBR textures to crate that MasterGin Clinic look, but you can see it in legacy texture below. You can add your own textures to the monitor and TV.

On her, Lisa Liemawr:

Baseball bat: MASOOM - Plasma Muse Bat, fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(395L)

Eyes: EUPHORIC - AiraEyes #07 [BOM](CyberFair)(275L)

Top: LANEVO - Tamamo Tanktop, LaraX, Fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(660L)

Bikini: LANEVO - Tamamo Bikini Shorts, LaraX, Fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(660L)

Pants: LANEVO - Tamamo Pants, LaraX, Fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(885L)

Hair: TRASH - Covenant Cyberlox, fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(1000L)

Arms: GRIMA - Talos Protocol Cyber Arms, RC2 [mesh](CyberFair)(600L)

Horns: Hades Cyberhorns [mesh](CyberFair)(666L)

Glasses: OHMAI - CyberGhost Lens, V1 [mesh](CyberFair)(399L)

Shoes: Diaboli Design - Gravicator, LaraX, fatpack [mesh](CyberFair)(999L)

Robot: SEmotion Libellune - Neo Neko Companion COMMON 09 [gacha](CyberFair)(88L)

Datapad: StudioOne - Datapad [mesh](300L)

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

Head, eyes, skin: LOGO - Dawn Desert Nomad [mesh]

Body: Maitreya Mesh Body LaraX [mesh](2750L)

Pose: PSYCHO:Byts - Ailsa-Selfie - 4

Setting:
Furniture: Bersav - Cyber Nest, Megapack [mesh](CyberFair)(1333L)

Skybox: Ambice Store - "007" Sky Tower Building [mesh]

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

CYBER FAIR is coming JUNE 2 - 22

CYBER FAIR is coming JUNE 2 - 22, 2026

For More information go to: https://www.access-sl.com/cyberfair

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

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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:

Cyber Fair: The Weight of Eternity (Escape from Club Apophis, 36)

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STORYLINE: Jihoon panted with exhaustion. The burning baseball stadium slowly reformed around him, a nightmare refusing to end.

"Take my hand, and we may journey to a place where we can speak privately. Away from your shadow."

Jihoon looked down at the massive, armored hand extended to him. He didn’t move.

The Ruler chuckled, a sound like grinding stones. "Caution is wise. But surely you do not wish to remain in the ash?"

"And go where, exactly?" Jihoon asked, his voice raw.

"To my own sanctuary.” He tapped his forehead. "I possess a rare gift. I can enter the minds of others, and open my own in return. Do not worry. You will be shielded from your other self. You may exit at the time of your choosing." He offered his hand again.

Jihoon glanced back at Lathandro, who was beginning to twitch in the dirt. He was waking up. They would just fight again. And again. And again.

Taking a shallow breath, Jihoon reached out and grasped the offered hand.

The burning stadium blew away like ash.

The suffocating heat of the fire was immediately replaced by a biting, arid chill. The cold scraped through his torn clothes like broken glass. Jihoon spun around, shivering. They were standing on a dune of pale sand under a vast, star-choked sky. The edges of the Milky Way bled across the horizon. There was no city. No neon. No signs of civilization in any direction.

"Where are we?" Jihoon breathed, wrapping his arms around himself. "Is this place real?"

"Yes. It is real." The Ruler spoke calmly. "A memory of my home, hidden far below the sands.”

He clapped his hands once.

The sand trembled. A sleek obsidian hovercar condensed from the desert winds, assembling itself like blown glass, its gull-wing doors sweeping upward in total silence. A few yards ahead, the desert floor parted. A colossal, hidden hangar door groaned as it lifted toward the sky, revealing a shaft of pure darkness leading deep into the earth.

"Few have ever seen my private residence. Come,” the Ruler said, gesturing to the vehicle.

With nowhere to run and the cold biting through his ruined clothes, Jihoon climbed into the passenger seat. The Ruler sat beside him, and the hovercar glided forward, plunging into the subterranean abyss.

The massive hangar doors sealed shut above them. For a moment, the darkness was absolute.

Golden lights flared to life, revealing a colossal tunnel. The hovercar hummed through miles of carved stone corridor.

Jihoon spun in his seat. They were traveling down a causeway so large he wasn't sure where it ended. Towering limestone statues lined both sides of the corridor, illuminated by severe under-lighting.

As the hovercar sped past them, Jihoon noticed a pattern. The statues were all of the same person. Same posture. Same severe jaw. Same stern stare. Then he recognized the face. As they drove deeper, the artistic styles shifted.

"The statues," Jihoon stammered, his mind struggling to process the scale. "They are all you?"

"It is a tradition, begun long ago. Every decade, without fail. I commission a new likeness."

"Wait, what?" Jihoon stared ahead. The corridor had no visible end. The glowing statues blurred together. He gripped the door handle as the world began to spin. Acid welled up and stung his throat. "How old are you? Really?"

The Ruler kept his golden eyes fixed on the road ahead. "These monuments are no different from a modern photograph. A memory caught in stone, so I might remember who I was."

Silence filled the cabin.

Jihoon watched, paralyzed, as the fashion and art styles of the statues evolved outside the window. He saw the Ruler carved as an ancient pharaoh, then sculpted as a marble Greek god, then cast in bronze as a Roman conqueror. The materials changed to steel, then carbon fiber, and finally, towering holographic projections that flickered in the dark.

The air left his lungs as if a boulder had been dropped on his chest.

The hovercar finally slowed, gliding into a sprawling, subterranean cave. Rising from black sand stood massive pyramids of basalt, laced with glowing gold circuitry that pulsed like living veins.

The Ruler parked, and stepped out, his boots sinking onto the soft shifting black sand.

"Was it really necessary to show me all that?" Jihoon asked, climbing out on shaking legs. He eyed the ancient being warily.

"Yes," the Ruler said. He produced a clove cigarette and lit it. The scent of burnt spice drifted into the air, the embers flaring bright orange in the dim light. He exhaled a thin stream of fragrant smoke. "That causeway is your future, young Jihoon. I needed you to see the scope of eternity. Do you have a plan for your long life? These are the things we must discuss before I permanently bind your soul in the Opening of the Mouth ritual."

Jihoon shot up from his defensive slouch. "Stop playing games with me. That isn't funny."

The Ruler smoked calmly, looking utterly bored by Jihoon's panic. "It is not a jest."

"You watched me get beaten half to death from the bleachers and didn't move. Not to mention, you are literally a monster!” Jihoon yelled, the echo ringing off the pyramids. "Why should I trust anything you say?"

The Ruler held up one massive, armored finger. "Cursed. Not a monster. There is a difference."

He began to stroll towards the pyramids. Light beams shot up from their capstones to illuminate the vast volcanic chamber. It was so large that a dense fog hid the roof. Water seeped from the lava tube walls and collected into reflective pools below.

Jihoon scanned the cave. There was no other exit. He had no choice but to follow.

The cavern was utterly silent except for the soft splashes and the rhythmic pulse of the gold circuitry in the pyramid walls. No wind. No insects. Just the smell of clove smoke, dampness, and something older underneath it. It smelled like stone that had never seen the sun.

Jihoon stopped walking. He looked up at the nearest pyramid, flanked by two colossal statues of a jackal-headed god. It was taller than his university's main building. Taller than anything had a right to be underground.

"You are cursed, Jihoon. There is nothing you can do to change that fact. But you can choose for yourself how you wish to live with it. I faced this same reality once myself. My solution was to guide the world from the shadows. To uphold my ancient faith of Ma’at. Order. Balance."

Jihoon rubbed his aching head. He gazed at the immense neon-lit pyramid. "And what if I don't take this deal?"

As if his actions were a reply, the Ruler took a final drag of his cigarette, dropped it to the stone path, and crushed it beneath his boot.

Sweat dripped down Jihoon's back. The cave seemed to lean closer around them.

"My servant, Lucian, has claimed your other half," the Ruler finally said, turning to face Jihoon. "Lathandro is his child now. But your human half, the boy I speak to right now, remains unclaimed. Unanchored. I can offer you the power to combat Lathandro. I can ensure he never steals your body from you."

Jihoon’s shoulders slumped. The adrenaline of the fight finally drained away, leaving his bones feeling like lead. "I don't trust you. And I don't trust your offer. But go ahead. Tell me the price."

The Ruler’s golden eyes seemed to glow brighter in the dark.

"I will become your Master, just as Lucian is the Master of Lathandro. I will be the Order to his Chaos. This is the only way to balance the Apophis gift locked inside you before Lucian unleashes it upon the world." The ancient vampire extended his hand one final time.

"Say yes, Yoon Jihoon.”

I really loved the idea in this chapter, and being able to fuse Cyberpunk and Ancient Egypt!   ...The pyramid in front is The Bearded Guy's Nova Citadel at Cyber Fair. I tinted its glow from cyber to gold. And the large pyramid in the back is the LORE's Cultist Temple, which I also tinted its golds. I love how both of them have a cyberpunk cult type of feel. I'm so happy I could show you them both.   ... The Ruler is wearing the Rodex Urbacifix jacket and pants at Cyber Fair. I got the black and gold one, but there are other color options you can choose.   ...From REKT X NEO is the amazing Beast Gauntlets. These aren't just for looks, they come with badass special effects and attacks. The punching the floor move and razzed giant hole in the ground is brilliant! Love it. Check out the animated clips pf the effects below.  ...The VR goggles are from SOLE and they come in wide range of color choices. They are unrigged and mod, so you can adjust and position how you want.   ...In the image below you can the sporty ShoeMinati XBakin shoes the Ruler is wearing. I used the black and then choose what shoelace color I wanted, but there are much more colorful and inventive color combinations you can purchase at Cyber Fair.

On him, The Ruler of the Night:
Jacket: Rodex - Urbacifix Jacket LegacyM [mesh](Cyber Fair)(199L)
Pants: Rodex - Urbacifix Pant Legacy [mesh](Cyber Fair)(199L)
Visor: SOLE - SA - Visor EDGE WALKER, Dirty [mesh](Cyber Fair)(359L)

Shoes: Shoeminati - xBakin - Black, LegacyM [mesh](Cyber Fair)(350L)
Armor: REKT X NEO - BEAST GAUNTLETS [mesh](Cyber Fair)(349L)
Hair: NO.MATCH - NO.BACKUP, male [mesh]

Head: LeLUTKA - CAMDEN 4.0 [mesh](3990L)

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

Pose: Del May - DM Stand still 

Setting:

Small Pyramid: The Beared Guy - Nova Citadel [mesh](Cyber Fair)(299L)

Large Pyramid: LORE Cultist Temple [mesh]

Statue: meadowWorks Anubis Sandstone Statue [mesh](250L)

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

 

CYBER FAIR is coming MARCH 3 - 23

CYBER FAIR is coming MARCH 3 - 23

For More information go to:  https://www.access-sl.com/cyberfair

Cyber Fair: The Glass Coffin (Escape from Club Apophis, 19)

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STORYLINE: Dr. Seojin. A face that wore the sterile ambition of a man who catalogued patients as puzzles, spoke into his datapad without once meeting Minjo’s eyes. His voice was clipped, impersonal, like a technician reading a broken instrument.

“Case of Yoon Jihoon. Witnessed public combustion, presumed fourth-degree photothermal trauma. Current damage consistent with augment rejection cascade. Recommend immediate transfer to a private facility for liability containment.”

“Absolutely not.” Minjo was to her feet in an instant, brandishing the digital authority of her guardianship like a blade. “You can submit your proposal, and the name of that private facility, in writing. I will evaluate it.”

A flash of irritation crossed the doctor's polished features. He fled the room muttering a string of medical jargon that sounded suspiciously like insults.

The doctors were a problem, vultures in clean lab coats. Minjo watched them all with the predatory stillness of a gatekeeper, scanning their credentials and dismissing anyone with a whiff of black-market biotech or, worse, GIN AESTHETICA™. Paranoia was a logical response. She would not let Dr. Ginerva’s creatures finish what they had begun.

The world shrank to the size of the room. Jihoon lay suspended inside a sealed therapeutic tank, -- a glass coffin filled with a shimmering, oxygenated biogel. Wrapped head to toe in white smart-bandages, he looked almost serene; the only other presences were the soft blink of the vitals monitor and Minjo, keeping a solitary vigil.

The university had expelled him. While she packed his life into boxes —textbooks, anime posters—with a cold, methodical fury.

Days acquired a grim rhythm: monitor the tank, cross-reference charts, keep the journal. Each night she performed a private, clinical ritual. With wire clippers from her robotics kit she snipped the glossy black claws that pushed through the bandages. The sharp snap echoed in the quiet. Then she placed the jagged fragments of obsidian-like keratin into a specimen vial, labeled it, then added it to the macabre collection in her diagnostic kit.

Guilt was not a variable; it was a constant, an acid that corroded logic. The memory of the baseball game was an ache that never faded. He had trusted her, and she, in her clinical arrogance, had armed him with nothing more than cheap sunscreen against a star. It was his scream—a sound she heard every time she closed her eyes. In that final, agonizing moment, it was her name he had shrieked, a hand reaching for her through the flames, pleading, "Save me."

A single, hot tear rolled down her cheek. She wiped it away with an angry, impatient swipe of her sleeve before turning back to her journal. 

The blood transfusions were the strangest variable. The bags of synthetic O-negative would simply… vanish. In her journal, beneath a string of complex equations, Minjo wrote three words and circled them until the pen tore the page: ...Signs of Vampirism?

When a new surgical team scheduled an amputation for his arms, Minjo refused. She made them unwrap the limbs. The room fell silent. The flesh beneath was not carbonized, but a latticework of raw, pink scars over newly formed tissue. Damaged, yes. Horrifically so. But healing.

With a sigh, she sank back in the stiff hospital chair. Her gaze settled on a sketch of the mysterious Black Snakeskin Box surrounded by question marks. It had been hidden under the floorboards of Jihoon's bedroom, a secret he hid above all others. Why? Stranger still, when she opened it, the contents of an exotic pricey sunscreen disappeared, and in its place materialized a note, "Happy now, Bitch?"

Later that night, a woman she didn't recognize approached. She was dressed more like an intern than a nurse, and she moved with upbeat attitude that was more unnerving than comforting. A clinical facemask obscured her mouth, but her eyes—obvious cybernetic models—crinkled with a practiced warmth.

"Oh you poor thing. Have you been here all day? You look like you're about to fall over," she said, her voice a low, soothing hum.

Minjo’s internal database of hospital staff came up empty for her half covered face.

The nurse chuckled, a low, soothing hum. “It’s understandable. I was at that game too," she confessed, her voice dropping conspiratorially. "I don't believe a word they're saying about him. He's the victim here. You are a good girlfriend to him.” She placed a steaming cup in Minjo’s hands. “But you need to care for yourself too. Here, Chamomile. It will help you get some real rest."

Minjo’s analytical mind should have dissected the gesture, but her defenses were worn to nothing. For the first time, someone saw her pain.

The tea was warm and sweet. She drank it down, and a thick, dreamless curtain fell with astonishing speed. Outside the hospital, the street erupted into a symphony of chaos, screaming with sirens and the sounds of a violent chase, but Minjo was already gone, lost in a slumber so profound it felt less like rest and more like a system shutdown. She was too tired to care, and for the first time in a month, she did not dream of fire.

A soft knock pulled her from the depths. Minjo blinked, the grey morning light feeling abrasive and alien. Jihoon's three closest friends, Echo, Ghost, and Plague, stood in the doorway, their arms laden with cheap flowers and well loved retro game cartridges.

Echo opened her mouth to speak, but her eyes darted past Minjo. “Where’s Jihoon?”

Panic seized her. The glass coffin was empty.

She bolted to the nurses' station. “Yoon Jihoon,” she demanded. “Where is he?”

The admitting nurse, a woman with a practiced smile, tapped at her console. “Mr. Yoon was discharged late last night into the care of his legal guardian.”

“Impossible,” Minjo’s voice rose. “His parents are dead. I’m his medical proxy.”

“The paperwork is all in order.” The nurse swiveled her monitor around. On the signature line was a name that felt like a curse: Dr. Lucien Ginerva.

“That’s forged,” Minjo choked out.

“I assure you, a high-ranking officer verified everything.” She pulled up the security footage.

The timestamp read 2:17 AM. A towering, broad-shouldered police officer stood beside MasterGin. Between them Jihoon, still wrapped in bandages, was wheeled out on a gurney. Gone.

Echo gasped, pointing at the screen. "That's him! The officer from the crash!"

A wave of dizziness washed over Minjo. Her gaze fell on the half-empty cup. Drugged. The thought wasn't a question; it was a diagnosis. The ice in her gut flash-froze into white-hot, analytical fury. They had treated her like an obstacle. They would find she was a problem that fought back.

"Ghost, Echo, Plague," she commanded, her voice cutting through the sterile air. "Come with me. I have something to show you."

It's time to say goodbye to this round of CyberFair, and Season 2 of Escape from Club Apophis. Yes, I know I said there would be no more posts for CF, but I had a burning need to tell more story and show more things. So BONUS post! Wooo! *throws confetti*  The season finale mostly wraps up the journey to unite Snow White / Jihoon's rescue team, the 7 dwarfs: Lisa Liemawr is Happy, Kyle is Grumpy, Kyra is Sleepy, Plague is Sneezy, Echo is Dopey, and Ghost is Bashful.

For the Nurse Intern's look I used the AsteroidBox Mia outfit. It has a rich hud of colors and PBR options. The pBR version has glow LED elements.   ...The perfect hair for young nurse is the Echo hair by Sintiklia. There are also Cyber bunny ears in the pack, and each texture hud has a lot of color options.   ...The striking cybernetic blue eyes are Nyxa by Euphoric.  The LED body lines at Justice by Abyssal. The pack comes with multiple colors and opacity BOM tattoos, applier to create shine material, and lights to best to show off the effect.   ...Supplying the Medical needs are The Kataonik Nurse hat tinted black, Gehenna's stethoscope, Mask by Violetility, latex gloves by Antaya, and the frightening Mad Doctor's Equipment by Cabalpier.   

On her, The Suspicious Nurse Paine:

Outfit: AsteroidBox Mia Outfit - LaraX, black [mesh](CyberFair)(499L)

Hair: Sintiklia Echo head 1 Fitted, blond [mesh](CyberFair)(150L)

Skin: VOGLIA ELEKTRA Skin, EvoX, Icy With Brows [BOM](CyberFair)(699L)

Eyes: EUPHORIC Nyxa ~[BOM] #08[mesh](CyberFair)(380L)

Tattoo/Shine: ABYSSAL JUSTICE CYBERTECH [BOM, Applier]

Gloves: ANTAYA Latex gloves "Keily" FATPACK Lara X [mesh]

Syringe, bone saw: CABALPIER Mad Doctor's Equipment - Bundle [mesh]

Hat: katat0nik (W) Nurse Hat for Apron Dress [mesh]

Stethoscope: Gehenna ::G:: Stethoscope

Mask: Violetility Nurse Feelgood Mask [mesh]

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

Body: Maitreya Mesh Body Lara [mesh](2750L)

Pose: Poseidon Poses Nightmare Slasher

...Thanks to my blogger bat buddy Aarya for letting me cosplay her once more for the blog. 

Location:
Insilco

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