It was the core component of the Screamer device, but now it resided within Jason's body, making him a living extension of the alien technology that had corrupted him completely.

"You see?" Jason said with pride, running his fingers over the alien stone embedded in his chest. "I'm not being controlled by the Screamer. I am the Screamer now. I've become something far greater than the weak, rejected person I was before."

The transformation was complete in ways that went beyond the visible alien technology protruding from his chest. Jason's entire demeanor radiated confidence and power that had never been present during our time together at Lexington Charter or in our early survival days. But it was confidence built on corruption, power gained through surrender to forces that cared nothing for human wellbeing or dignity.

"No," I shook my head, trying to reach whatever remained of him beneath the alien influence. "This isn't right, Jason. If you were truly free and in control, we wouldn't be tied up here like prisoners. You would never do something like this to people you once called friends."

The logic was inescapable, and I could see it registering in Jason's expression even through the corruption that had claimed him. The Screamer device was a tool designed to receive and obey orders from its alien creators, not to grant independence or genuine power to human subjects. It was using Jason as a biological component in its larger network, allowing him to believe he had agency while ensuring his actions served alien purposes.

"The Screamer is a device meant to follow commands and execute predetermined functions," I continued. "It's using you to reach whatever goals its creators programmed into it, making you think you're in charge while it pulls your strings like a puppet master."

That had to be the only reasonable explanation for what we were witnessing. I hadn't realized that the Screamer's transmissions could influence human minds so directly and completely, but it made sense from what I'd observed of other alien technologies. Rachel and I had probably resisted its mental effects during our previous encounter because our Dullahan symbionts provided some form of protective interference.

But Jason had possessed no such protection. His recent emotional vulnerability after being rejected by Jasmine, combined with his feelings of inadequacy and powerlessness within our survival community, had probably made him an ideal target for alien manipulation. The Screamer had found someone desperate for validation and power, then offered exactly what he thought he wanted in exchange for his autonomy and humanity.

Jason's satisfied smile vanished entirely at my words, his expression shifting to something darker and more dangerous. The alien technology in his chest pulsed more rapidly, as if responding to his emotional state with increased energy output.

"Why did you capture us instead of simply killing us?" I pressed, trying to exploit the crack I'd created in his certainty. "What purpose do we serve? What did the Screamer order you to do with us?"

"IT ORDERED ME NOTHING!" Jason screamed.

Immediately after his denial, Jason's fist connected with my face with devastating force. I felt my head snap to the side as blood filled my mouth, the impact sending shock waves through my already injured skull. Pain exploded through my consciousness as I spat blood and fought to remain conscious through the assault.

"Ryan!" Jasmine called out in worry.

I coughed up more blood, feeling my headache intensify to levels that bordered on unbearable. This was what happened when someone overused their Dullahan abilities without proper recovery time—the symbiotic organisms became strained and couldn't provide their usual protective benefits. I'd pushed myself beyond safe limits during our escape attempt and the battle with enhanced infected, and now I was paying the price when I could least afford weakness.

Even using my time freeze ability wouldn't guarantee our escape from this predicament. My enhanced capabilities were severely compromised, my body was injured and exhausted, and we were surrounded by hostile forces that vastly outnumbered us. I needed to find another approach that didn't rely on supernatural abilities I could no longer safely use.

"Jason, stop this immediately!" Jasmine shouted angrily at our captor, her fear transforming into protective fury as she watched him hit me. "You're hurting him for no reason!"

Jason turned his attention toward Jasmine, his corrupted features contorting with a kind of possessive rage.

"You're defending him again, Jasmine?" Jason snarled with escalating fury. "Over me?! That guy has Sydney, Rachel, and God knows how many other women interested in him, while I've only ever thought about you! Why won't you accept me? Look what I have now! Power beyond anything he could offer! I even have infected creatures under my direct command!"

He laughed with manic glee as infected creatures began shuffling into the technical operations room with their characteristic lurching gait. The sight of them responding to Jason's will was deeply disturbing, confirming that the alien technology had indeed granted him some form of control over the virus-infected creatures that posed such a threat to normal human survivors.

I looked at the infected approaching and surrounding our position with growing alarm. Among them was one of the enhanced infected creatures similar to the electrical one we'd fought at the warehouse and the massive one from here I met with Rachel. This particular specimen fixed its glowing eyes on me with obvious hostile intent, positioning itself strategically where it could strike at either Jasmine or me at Jason's command.

"Look, they're all on my side now, Jasmine," Jason said as he approached her chair and knelt in front of her. "They won't hurt either of us because I control them completely. We can build a new life together, just the two of us. I just need to deliver what they want, and then we'll be free to live however we choose."

"What... what do they want?" Jasmine asked with obvious confusion and growing horror at the implications of Jason's words.

"I just need to hand over Wanda to them, and then we'll have the life we both deserve," Jason said.

"Wanda?" Jasmine muttered, her voice mixing confusion with disgust at what Jason was suggesting. Neither of us had any clear idea what role the little girl might play in the alien agenda, but the fact that they specifically wanted her was deeply troubling.

When Jason mentioned that they wanted Wanda, he had to be referring to the alien intelligence behind the Screamer technology. The reason they would be interested in a specific person could only mean one thing—she was probably a host for symbiotic organisms similar to my own Dullahan enhancement. As expected Wanda was like me then…

She must have acted as if she didn't understand me back then.

"No," Jasmine suddenly shook her head with vehement rejection, tears streaming down her face as she understood the full horror of what Jason was proposing. "I could never be part of something that would hurt Wanda…"

"What are you saying, Jasmine?" Jason asked with a smile that contained no warmth or genuine affection. "I have everything Ryan has but better capabilities, and I'm obviously stronger than this loser lying bleeding on the ground. Look, he's beneath me now, completely helpless while I hold all the power. Come with me, choose me, and we'll live better than we ever could in that miserable Municipal Office community."

Jasmine shook her head more firmly, her voice gaining strength despite her tears. "I love Ryan, not just because he's strong, but because he's genuinely kind to everyone. He helps people without asking for anything in return, supports everyone equally, and treats people with respect regardless of their abilities or status. I want to see him smile the way he smiles at Sydney and the others, because that happiness comes from genuine care rather than possession or control."

Looking at me through her tears, she added, "I want to be part of that happiness, not part of something built on hurting innocent people…like you are doing Jason…"

"Jasmine..." I whispered, feeling genuinely caught by her words. I felt for the first time how genuine she was about me.

Jason remained silent for a long moment, staring at Jasmine with an expression that cycled through disappointment, rage, and something approaching calculation. The alien technology in his chest pulsed more rapidly, and I could see him processing her rejection in ways that boded ill for all of us.

"I see," Jason said finally, standing up and looking down at Jasmine with cold finality.

He turned toward the enhanced infected standing between us and spoke. "Bite her."

"Jason!" I shouted, glaring at him. "Don't do this! She's innocent!"

"Bite her," Jason repeated again, and the enhanced infected began leaning toward Jasmine's exposed neck.

Jasmine closed her eyes, preparing for the inevitable transformation.

You've got to be fucking kidding me!

I won't let this happen!!!

I activated my time freeze ability immediately, ignoring the pain it would cause my already overextended Dullahan symbiosis. Using the precious seconds of stopped time, I forced my wrists through the barbed wire restraints with brutal motion, channeling wind blade energy to cut through the metal while accepting the severe lacerations the process would cause.

Pain shot through my arms as the barbed wire tore through skin and muscle, but I didn't have time to worry about blood loss or permanent damage. The ten seconds of frozen time felt both agonizingly slow and desperately fast as I worked to free myself completely.

"Come on!" I shouted at myself, ripping my hands free and then tearing away the wires around my torso and legs.

As soon as I was mobile, I launched myself toward the enhanced infected that was preparing to bite Jasmine, tackling the creature away from her chair just as time resumed its normal flow. I raised my bloodied right fist and tried to channel wind blade energy around my arm, but the technique was considerably weakened by my exhausted condition.

When I struck the enhanced infected in the face, the attack connected but didn't penetrate deeply enough to cause fatal damage. My supernatural abilities were failing me when I needed them most.

"What happened?" Jason muttered in dumbfounded confusion, seeing me suddenly freed and positioned next to Jasmine when I should have been helpless in my restraints.

"Ryan!" Jasmine shouted my name shocked as well..

I tried to follow up with another wind blade attack, but the enhanced infected recovered quickly and drove its head forward in a devastating head-butt that sent me flying backward. I crashed into the chair I'd been tied to just moments earlier, the impact driving splinters of wood into my back while my vision exploded with stars.

"Gurrgh!" I grunted in pain, struggling to maintain consciousness as blood flowed from a new head wound.

"Ryan!" Jasmine cried out again, her voice filled with terror at seeing me so badly injured.

I struggled to get back to my feet, my bloodied and severely cut hands slipping on the smooth floor as I tried to find purchase. Blood from my forehead was trickling into my eyes, making it difficult to see clearly while pain radiated through every part of my body from the accumulated damage I'd sustained.

Jasmine was crying profusely, her tears mixing with the blood from her own restraint-related injuries as she watched me struggle.

I didn't like seeing her cry. Maybe I really started to like her after all.

"I don't know how you managed to reach Jasmine and get free," Jason said coldly, "but it won't happen again. I've learned from your little trick, whatever it was."

He gestured toward the enhanced infected. "Beat him thoroughly. Make sure he understands how powerless he really is."

I managed to get to my feet and tried to fight back, dodging awkwardly and throwing punches that connected but had little effect against the enhanced infected's supernatural durability. My own strikes were significantly weaker than they should have been, while the enhanced infected's counterattacks collided with my body with bone-breaking force that sent me flying against the walls repeatedly.

Each impact cracked ribs and damaged organs, creating internal injuries that would have been fatal for anyone without Dullahan enhancement. Even with my symbiotic protection, I could feel my body failing under the sustained assault.

"Stop it! Please, Jason, stop!" Jasmine shouted and cried, begging our captor to end the one-sided beating. "Can't you see he can't fight back effectively? This isn't proving anything except that you're willing to torture someone who's already helpless!"

Jason's face remained cold and expressionless as he watched my systematic destruction. "She really does love you more than me," he said. "Even watching you get beaten to death, she's more concerned about your wellbeing than her own survival."

"Yes!" Jasmine nodded desperately, tears streaming down her face. "I love him! Please leave him alone, and I'll do anything you want! I'll go with you, I'll help with whatever the aliens need, just please stop hurting him!"

Jason nodded with the same expressionless face, then looked at one of the standard infected creatures that had been standing motionless nearby. He gave it a subtle nod, and the creature immediately understood its orders.

To my horror, the infected began walking behind Jasmine's chair while I lay on the ground, too beaten and exhausted to intervene effectively.

"N…No," I whispered, reaching out my hand from my position on the floor as I watched the creature approach her. "Jasmine..."

I tried to crawl toward her, but my broken ribs and internal injuries made movement agonizing.

"P…Please, Jason," I said painfully. "Don't…don't do this to her. Take your anger out on me, but leave her alone…."

But the infected creature was already positioning itself behind Jasmine's chair, and Jason's expression showed no mercy or hesitation.

The infected bit deeply into Jasmine's neck, its teeth penetrating the major blood vessels and injecting the virus directly into her bloodstream. Blood trickled down her neck as she cried out in pain, but even through her agony, she was looking at me with eyes full of love and regret.

"I…I love you, Ryan," she said through her tears, her voice growing weaker as the virus began its devastating work.

Tears ran down my eyes as I tried to crawl closer to her, getting to my knees despite the excruciating pain the movement caused. But before I could reach her, the enhanced infected's fist connected with my face again, sending me crashing back to the ground with renewed force.

Jason walked over to where I lay bleeding and knelt in front of me. "Now you get to watch her transform into one of the infected," he said with cruelty. "You'll see firsthand what happens to people who reject the power I'm offering."

The enhanced Infected continued hitting me, each blow calculated to cause maximum pain without granting the mercy of unconsciousness. My vision became increasingly blurry as I watched Jasmine through swollen eyes, seeing her crying as the virus began changing her slowly.

Eventually, the accumulated damage overwhelmed my ability to remain conscious, and darkness claimed me entirely.

When I opened my eyes again, my vision was still blurry and my head was pounding with renewed intensity. But I could hear sounds, the characteristic groans and moans of infected creatures.

"Ah, you're finally awake," Jason's voice rang. "You missed Jasmine's complete transformation, but I think you'll find the results interesting."

I widened my eyes and looked toward where Jasmine's chair was positioned, and my heart broke entirely at what I saw.

She was still bound to the chair, but she was no longer Jasmine.

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