SSS-Rank Awakening: My Infinite Absorption System

"Set the water canteen on the metal tray, Maya, and leave the handcuffs on."

The interrogation room inside the port authority detention block smelled of damp masonry and salt water from the harbor canal outside.

"Drink the water, operator... then we look at the transfer logs."

The captured radio operator from Fort Mercer took the tin cup with trembling hands, his knuckles raw where the zip-ties had bound him.

"I told you everything I know about the seawall pings, Marshal... I am just a communications tech on contract."

"You know about the backup archives in District Two, and you know about the project codes."

Maya laid two printed dossiers side by side on the bolted aluminum table, the overhead incandescent bulb buzzing faintly.

"Look at this first folder stamped ’Prototype Zero’."

The operator swallowed hard, glancing nervously from Maya’s cold glare to Ruby’s spear resting against the wall.

"Prototype Zero was the foundational research framework," the operator stammered. "The original biological template created fifteen years ago to study natural absorption resonance."

"A template, not a person?"

"A theoretical biological design based on naturally born blank vessels... cores born without divine affinity or patron imprint."

"What does naturally born mean in that context?" Nila asked, leaning forward with her arms crossed over her chest.

"It means a core that developed organically with zero artificial mana tampering," the operator explained, his voice hushed. "A blank canvas that can assimilate monster resonances without soul corruption or patron rejection."

Fin’s fingers tightened slightly against the edge of the aluminum table as the words echoed in the small room.

[ Pulse: 10 ]

[ Neutral Interference Shield Active ]

[ Current EXP: 25,200,000 / 250,000,000 ]

"And what about this second folder, operator?"

Maya pushed the second file across the metal surface, pointing to the red seal: ’Subject One: Counterfeit Synthesis and Field Deployment’.

"Subject One was not a template... Subject One is a living person," the operator whispered, clutching his cup.

"What do you mean by counterfeit synthesis?"

"They couldn’t replicate Prototype Zero’s natural blank core... every attempt to clone the blank framework resulted in unstable cellular rot."

"So what did Genesis do?"

"They grafted parasitic absorption modules into an artificial vessel... creating a predatory mimic."

"A bootleg twin," Ruby muttered, her eyes narrowing in the dim light. "A parasitic knockoff trying to imitate a real blank vessel."

"How does the counterfeit mimic operate in combat?"

"It cannot assimilate cores permanently," the operator said, shaking his head. "It has to continuously drain living mana sources to prevent its artificial pathways from burning out."

"A parasite that starves if it stops feeding," Fin noted quietly.

"Exactly, Marshal... and that made Subject One violent, unpredictable, and impossible to control."

"Where was Subject One transferred?"

"Look at the dated manifest in front of you, Marshal... signed four years ago by the offshore director."

Fin leaned over the document, reading the faded black type: ’Subject One released from containment under special operational directive, reassigned to regional black sites.’

"He left the laboratory four years ago," Nila said, tracing the date stamp with her fingernail. "Which means he has been operating in the field for years."

"Did Subject One cause the opening breach in District Four?"

The operator shook his head violently, his eyes wide with fear.

"I don’t know! The telemetry logs only record data transmissions, not tactical field operations!"

"There were rumors among the technicians that Subject One raided a Genesis convoy to steal core shipments," the operator added hastily. "Some said he triggered the warehouse explosion to cover his tracks, but nobody in our unit had access to the classified incident reports."

"So his involvement in the District Four breach is an unproven question," Talla noted, writing a notation in her legal pad.

"We have zero forensic proof linking him to Fin’s warehouse explosion," Maya agreed. "Only circumstantial rumors and a four-year-old transfer order."

"Is there an image of Subject One in these archives?"

The operator hesitated, then tapped the corner of the secondary folder.

"Under the third tab... there is a blurry surveillance capture taken during a transit transfer in District Three."

Maya flipped the vellum tab, revealing a grainy black-and-white photograph taken through a chain-link fence.

The figure in the photograph was tall, wrapped in a dark hooded duster with combat boots caked in red clay.

Around his throat gleamed a heavy suppression collar, modified with jury-rigged copper heat sinks and bypass wires.

"Look at the collar," Ruby whispered. "He was running with modified restraint hardware, just like Nim."

"Except he wasn’t a victim being harvested," Fin said, studying the silhouette. "He was an escaped predator hunting Genesis’s own supply lines."

"A counterfeit twin hunting the creators who forged him," Nila murmured.

"Where is Facility Zero located?"

"Beneath the old water purification plant on the border between District Two and the outer industrial marsh," the operator answered, his voice dropping to a whisper. "The surface buildings are abandoned, but the subterranean data vaults are still drawing backup power from the river dam."

"Did Genesis leave guards at Facility Zero?"

"Only automated defense drones and whatever rogue specimens Subject One didn’t kill when he broke out."

"That is enough for now," Fin said, signaling the Iron Dog guards outside the steel door. "Transfer the prisoner to the auxiliary holding barracks and provide a warm meal."

"Thank you, Marshal... thank you."

The guards led the operator out into the corridor, the heavy steel door swinging shut with a solid clack of deadbolts.

"Maya, scan those dossiers and upload encrypted copies to our private drive."

"Already digitizing the pages, Fin... physical copies go straight into our fireproof safe."

"Does the Witness know about Facility Zero?" Nila asked, leaning her shoulder against the concrete doorframe.

"She knows that Genesis sought to bypass the tithe," Fin replied. "Her presence keeps divine scrying eyes off our roof, but Genesis uses mundane copper wires and optical glass that gods don’t care about."

"Which makes human scouts twice as dangerous as holy inquisitors," Ruby noted, tightening the brass buckle on her vambrace.

"Because humans actually read the receipts," Talla said, sliding her fountain pen into her vest pocket with a quiet click. "I have logged the Fort Mercer evidence in our official defense record... if anything happens to this bunker, three separate municipal magistrates hold duplicate copies."

"That gives us legal cover on the inland flank," Fin said, checking the edge of his hatchet.

Ruby walked to the narrow barred window, looking out toward the dark ocean breakwater where the fog was rolling across the tide.

"First we defend the sea wall against the SS leviathans, Fin."

"And once the sea wall is secure?"

"Then we take the team into District Two and open the doors of Facility Zero," Fin replied, feeling the solid iron of his hatchet resting at his hip.

"We find out who built the template, and we find out what this counterfeit twin wants with our city."

"And we make sure Jolly is safe behind the granite ridge before we take another step," Ruby added firmly.

"Always, Ruby... Jolly comes first, every single time."

Outside the detention bunker, the heavy sea wind swept across the harbor docks, carrying the bitter scent of deep ocean kelp and incoming war.

The distant rumble of the incoming tide shook the concrete foundation beneath their boots, a grim reminder that forty-seven days of countdown were running fast toward zero.

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