Chapter 5: Lethal Devotion

The journey back to the Medical Deck was melancholy at best. Isaac busied himself by looking over his Cutter as the couple got a much-needed rest, still feeling the effects of holding the water magic for an extended period. There are no words between them as the tram slows to a crawl before opening up to the deck, only with some very noticeable differences.

"Why are the lights out? And where did all the bodies go?" Kairi asks as they enter a spotless station, with a single oil lamp laying on the ground. Sora and Isaac couple only shake their heads in confusion. If an Infector got to them, then there should be blood everywhere, but there isn't. Unfortunately, their musings are interrupted thigh when Kendra contacts them via comm, not with good news.

"Guys, I can smell the contaminated air from here. It's spreading faster than I expected! I'm trying to isolate it, but we don't have much time!"

"Alright, what are we looking for on this deck Kendra?" Isaac asks as he views the hallway to the security room with suspicion. Kendra nods before showing a map of the chemical labs, saying that the chemicals they need are there. "Alright, we will let you know when we have the chemical." Isaac cuts the call before they walk down the hallway, noting a very long trail of blood, likely from a body that was dragged, leading back into the security room. With trepidation, the three open the door to the room and are met with pitch blackness and three locked doors.

"You can't stand in the way of God's plan…" a voice seemingly echoes around the three as they raise their weapons. "The natural order… Are you… Are you blind, like the rest?"

"As if we don't have enough to worry about." Sora comments dryly as they scan around them, seeing no movement. Finally, Isaac calls Kendra, informing her about the situation. Kendra replies, saying that all the locks on the doors had just been modified recently, probably from the same voice they just heard. Sighing in resignation, the three walk into the hallway towards the Imagine Diagnostics Bay, Isaac activating the light on his Cutter to show the way. "Can I ask why these suits don't have a way of allowing us to see in the dark?" Sora asks as they follow behind Isaac, their Keyblades glowing softly to help illuminate the hall.

"You would think that would be a priority, but nope, CEC didn't think about it." Isaac replies with a note of bitterness before two Lurkers crawl along the wall in front of them. Wasting no time, Sora and Kairi blast them with fire magic, turning them crisp before continuing down the hall. As they enter into the Diagnostics wing proper, they spy the circular pod from before, rushing back and forth rapidly over at the platforms. "Guess that pod had a short circuit. Anyway, it looks like we will need to use stasis to slow it down." The couple nodded at him before a low groan echoed from the other side of the glass protection wall. Thinking it could be a survivor, the three rush to the other side, only to see a horrible sight.

Glued to the wall is a crewmate, but the strange organic compound encases his entire body, while a large hole lays where his stomach would be. Low groans could be heard from the poor souls as the three walked over to him, only for it to shudder in pain, as three tentacles burst out from the hole, almost smacking the three in the face. They jump back instinctively as the three tentacles glue themselves to the wall, waiting to attack as soon as they walk in range. Seeing how he couldn't go anywhere, their first thought was to leave him, but there was one problem.

"He's protecting the lift we need to get to the upper floor." Kairi comments as they stare at the service lift right next to the creature. As they pondered what to do, the creature suddenly spits out several pods at them, each sprouting a tentacle like the Lurkers have. Avoiding the hail of spikes from the surprise attack, the three swiftly cut off the limb before looking at the wall creature before Isaac turns his cutter on the three tentacles coming from the stomach. Swiftly removing the offensive limbs, the wall creature seemingly screams in pain as an unspeakable fluid rushes out of the hole in its belly before giving a relieving sigh as it finally dies. "At least we now know what would have happened to their torsos back in the Engineering deck Isaac."

"Yeah. That we do." Isaac replies before looking over the walled creature. "This variant was acting more of a bouncer than anything else, so I'd say Guardian for this variant." He walks over to the lift before looking over it. "Well, let's keep on moving. The sooner we get what we need, the better." Sora and Kairi nod as they join Isaac on the lift before moving up to the next level. Reaching the top, they could see electricity sparking between the gap between the areas as the platform dashes through it. A blast of stasis from Sora slows the platform down as it moves their side, allowing them to cross the gap.

Walking around the support pillar, Kairi blasts the platform again with stasis before moving over to the unlocked door ahead of them. Entering it, they take a right, entering a door that leads to a Chemical Research Lab, only to find another service elevator. "Isaac, level with us for a second." Sora says as they step onto it. "Just how many of these are there in the Ishimura?" Isaac looks at him, giving him a 'Really?' look, although Sora could not see it.

"Do you want to know that answer?" he asks in a deadpanning tone. Sora nods acknowledgement at him while Kairi hides her giggles. Stepping off, they walk down the short corridor before reaching the door to the Chemical Lab, with the rest of the hall blocked off by a crude metal barricade. Ignoring it, they enter the dimly lit room. Before them is a large computer terminal, still active, while on their left are two large transparent tubes, full of an unknown substance. In them are two bodies. One seemed to have been mauled to bits while the other looked like a more bulky version of a Slasher. "What was going on in here?" Isaac asks as the three keep a wide berth of the containers.

"I don't know, but I sure don't want to find out." Sora replies as Kairi walks up to the terminal. She glances over the screen before turning to look at Isaac.

"It looks like someone left this on, almost like they wanted us to find it." She comments before moving out of the way, allowing Isaac to access it.

"Hmm, you may be right. However, this is our only way of getting what we need." The couple could only nod hesitantly as Isaac inputted the commands into the terminal.

Processing request. Please stand by. Antigen compound completed. Please remove capsule.

"That was worryingly quick…." Isaac says before picking the capsule up and attaching it to his belt. The moment he did, the window shutter on their right, next to a locked door, opened up, revealing another survivor. A Medical Officer with receding black hair, moustache and beard, with equally dark eyes, and a sadistic smile.

"What ARE you doing?" he asks the three in a doubtful voice—the three look at each other in bewilderment.

"We are trying to survive long enough to get off this ship." Kairi replies while tightening her grip on Destiny's Embrace. The man before them laughs at her before recompiling himself.

"Your fight for survival is admirable but pointless. And yet you keep going."

"Pointless? What do you mean pointless?" Sora asks in shock. "What makes you think that trying to live is pointless?"

"Everything. Your actions almost made me think we had hope, as a species." The man continues as he paces behind the window, emphasising his points with exaggerated arms. "Am I the only one who sees that we have died out a long time ago? We just haven't accepted it yet." His statement shocks the three. He has clearly lost his mind. At least, to Sora and Kairi. But to Isaac, he recognises his kind.

"You're a Unitologist…" he hisses at the man as Sora and Kairi glance at each other with surprise before turning their now angry gaze on him. The man seemingly shrugs at Isaac's claim, almost as if he was brushing off a child.

"So I am. And with my faith, I have seen our future. A future you are so pathetically denying. Stop running. Stop struggling. Our future, your future, the future of our race, ends here." He continues, almost in a pleading like voice. His gaze son turns dark before he motions to one of the capsules on the wall. "Allow me to introduce you to humanity's child. The children that will replace us. Our greatest creation." He smiles slowly before walking away.

"What the hell are you talking about!?" Isaac exclaims. Sora and Kairi were about to join in until they heard a small pound behind them. They turn around slowly, only to see one of the specimens slowly waking up and pounding on the glass.

"Isaac…" Kairi says with a scared voice. She could feel that this one is very different from the others.

"One of them is waking up." Sora finishes while tapping his shoulder. Isaac turns around to them before locking eyes with the creature in the tank as it seemingly smirks at them hungrily. He quickly looks at the door they came in through, only to see it locked.

"Shit." That was all he could say as the creature broke through the glass like it was paper. It roars at them as it tears the tubes plugged into it out of its body before walking over to the trio, almost like a human, with its bony blades extending from its arms like swords. Immediately the three open up on it, Isaac blasting its head with plasma, Kairi freezing its legs solid, and Sora scorching its arms with fire, leaving only its torso to fall to the ground. The three blink at it in shock before they look at each other with easy smiles, glad they dealt with the creature so quickly.

"Well, so much for his grand speech." Isaac says before the sounds of bone and tissue breaks grab their attention to the torso. Blood seemingly gushes from it as it shakes and thrashes until it regenerates ALL of its damaged parts to their shock. At that moment, only one word could be said.

"Fuck."

The creature turns its eyes on them as it raises to its feet, hungry and blood red, as it lets out a roar. It lunges at them, its blades arms swinging for their necks. They duck under, barely avoiding the lethal strike, before running to the other side of the room, Sora blasting the beast with stasis. "How do we bring this thing down if it can just regenerate its limbs!?" Sora exclaims before firing at its legs with Blizzard, Kairi adding her ice to its torso, only for the beast to break out of it effortlessly, quickly regenerating the portion it lost while breaking out. Isaac could only look around the room in fear. Both doors are locked, and they are trapped with an unkillable creature. Staring at the door they came through, he grunts before rushing over to it as they dodge to avoid another swing.

"I'll hack the door open! Keep it busy!" Isaac says before ripping a panel free and modifying the wires. The couple acknowledges Isaac before blasting the beast with joint fire spells, ripping its arms and forcing it to regenerate them. Only for the two to then send it to the ground with a twin gravity, only to fight back furiously, not caring about losing its limbs as it regenerates them effortlessly. The two struggle to keep it back as Isaac finally unlocks the door before running through. "Come on! Run for it!" He calls them, who then sprint right for him, the beast hot on their feet. Just as the door begins to close, they slide under it to safety as the creature is locked behind it, its roars echoing from the room. The three then take a moment to breathe deeply, thanking their hearts and stars that they survived while Sora and Kairi huddle together. Never had they faced a beast who could regenerate like that before.

"What the hell was that?" Sora asks as they stay far away from the door; the beast growls hungrily behind it. "Nothing we threw at it could stop it."

"I don't know, but I do know one thing," Isaac replies before turning to the couple, his eyes, while not visible, are heavy and grim. "An unkillable Hunter now hunts us." The two could only huddle closer as Isaac opened a com channel. "Kendra, we got what we need, but we have a problem. We encountered a new variant, one that regenerates."

"Did you just say regenerate Isaac!?" Kendra exclaims over the com with fear in her voice. "How is that possible!?"

"We encountered a survivor, one of the Medical Officers. He unleashed it on us." Isaac replies before suddenly his com is interrupted with static, a familiar voice echoing through.

"Is anyone there!? Repeat! Come in, Isaac! …Sora? Kairi? Kendra!? Is anyone there?!"

"Hammond, what wrong?" Sora asks as he and Kairi huddle around Isaac and re-enters the Diagnostics Room. A group of Swarmers try to ambush them but are frozen solid by Kairi, still shaken by their encounter with the newly named Hunter.

"I've reached Hydroponics!" Hammond replies over the coms with difficulty. "It's bad down here, really bad!" He lets out a cough concerning the three. "…can bearly breathe! That organic matter is growing everywhere! My eyes are stinging, can barely see…" the call is then suddenly cut short. Kendra tries to contact him again but only gets static while telling the three to hurry back to security. They end the call before moving on back to the hallway.

"Do you think Hammond is okay?" Kairi asks as Isaac presses the holographic button. "It sounded as though the air was-" her question was interrupted with the sound of metal breaking as the Hunter breaks through a vent and vanishes, leaving the three in fear.

"I guess it was a fools hope to think we left it trapped in that room." Sora says dryly as they walk past the vent at a wide berth, the hungry growls of the Hunter echoing through the vents. "You were right Isaac, we are being hunted."

"Sometimes I wish I was wong Sora, I do." Isaac replies as they continue down the hall. Suddenly, just as they near the Security area, the roof bends outwards as a giant impact hits it. The three train their weapons on it, stasis at the ready, while the beasts growl echo from above. Fortunately, the Ishimura's steel was more robust than the Hunter, so it retreats further into the ventilation. Sighing in relief, the three enter the Securit area and contact Kendra. "Alright, Kendra, we're back at Security; where do we go next."

"Head to ICU. There is a DNA sample of the tissue growing around the Ishimura. Apparently, a 'Dr. Mercer' was experimenting with it, along with some 'volunteers' he had 'acquired', from one of the logs he left. If by screaming for help while he drilled a hole into their head was 'volunteering', then I'd like a hard pass thank you."

"That is probably the same person who unleashed the Hunter on us." Sora comments while clutching a hand. How many people did he experiment with to create that?! He was like Xehanort, implanting innocent people with foreign objects! A comforting hand from Kairi eases the tension in Sora before turning to give her a reassuring nod. "Anyway, have you been able to get word from Hammond?"

"No, I haven't. All I've gotten is static. Please hurry, you three; the sooner we get that poison made, the better." The three survivors acknowledge Kendra before ending the call and moving into the Clinic, lanterns illuminating the way forward. Before arriving at the Waiting Room, they walk past the hole in the wall, alert for any tentacles ready to grab them. They enter to find Mercer standing behind a glass window, unamused.

"Your persistence surprises me." He says with no emotion in his voice. "Holding onto your final breath, you claw your way along! You hold onto what was once your world. But now, it belongs to the children."

"What gives you the right to say that!?" Sora says in anger before slamming a fist on the window, startling Isaac and Kairi at his outburst. While Isaac could only stare blankly, Kairi realised why Sora was mad. This person, no, monster, is just like Xehanort but only worse. "This is not some divine assertion or whatever nonsense; this is a danger to everyone!"

"Your claims are baseless." Mercer replies dismissively, not caring about Sora's outburst. "Even so, be glad of the knowledge that with your death…" he raises his arms as though he was grasping an apple handed to him from above. "will bring their birth!" The three could only growl at him in anger before a familiar roar echoes around them, while Mercer smiles on with a twisted loving smile. "Listen! Can you hear it? It is coming. Say your prayers." He glances at them one more time before leaving through a door behind him. Sora pounds on the glass one more time before Kairi places a comforting hand on his shoulder. He looks at her and can feel the angry gaze through her helm.

"We will bring him to justice. He will answer for this." She says with steel in her voice. Sora nods at her before they look at Isaac, himself gazing at the door with hidden determination. "The Hunter is no doubt waiting for us in there. How shall we do this?"

"We lock him in stasis," Isaac replies before looking at them. "We blast of his limbs and hit him with stasis as he regenerates. I'll handle any friends he has with him. You two can rip his limbs off faster than I can." The couple nod at him before they all take a deep breath as Isaac opens the door. The room was as how they left it last time, only now without the countless corpses littered around the room. Seeing no sign of the Hunter, they walk over to the door leading to the hallway, only for it to lock on them. It was then that the Hunter attacks, accompanied by several Slashers.

As Kendra worked to remove the lock, the three fought back against the creatures. Isaac, with methodical precision, removed each Slasher arm he could see as Sora and Kairi delt with the Hunter. Blasting its legs with ice, they then removed its limbs with fire, taking out the head simultaneously. As the torso fell to the ground, it immediately began to regenerate, only for Kairi to blast it with stasis. Nodding to each other, they turned to assist Isaac by summoning bolts of thunder, ending the remaining Slashers before retreating back to the now unlocked door and fleeing the room. The three pause to catch their breath, only to hear the pained groans of another trapped soul.

"Isaac, it sounds like another Guardian is down here…" Sora says solemnly as they walk down the corridor before turning the corner to find the unfortunate man trapped in the wall. Isaac could only sigh silently as Kairi aimed her Keyblade at the Guardian, an orb of magic forming at its tip.

"Flower Shoot!" she cries, firing said orb directly at the Guardian, severing the three tentacles and ending the poor soul. Kairi nods sadly to herself before looking back at Sora and Isaac, who could radiate their sadness despite not showing their eyes. Before they could move on, a persons cry moans down the hall from their right. Gazing down, they could see a medical officer, beaten and bloody, crying over another officer with similar wounds as they lay motionless on a gantry bed.

The couple moves to console her, but Isaac bars their way with a slow shake of his head. She is too far gone. They continue moving past the sad sight, passing by the same enclosing with the bodies from last time. Still left and untouched by the Infectors. Taking this small victory with them, they continue on to Dr Mercers room.

"Well, here we are." Sora says as they stand outside his room, conspicuously right next to the door leading to the crematorium. Did he even use the dead for his experiments!? "What do you think we will find when we step inside?"

"Nothing good for certain." Isaac replies before opening the door before taking in a sharp air. "Holy-" he could only say as he entered the room, followed closely by Sora and Kairi. They could stare in shock. Around the room, covered in blood, where the same symbols they saw before they arrived here, and in the centre of them all is the very same obelisk.

"That obelisk, it's the same as the one we used to travel here…" Kairi says with horror in her voice. Could what have happened here happen in their reality? She shakes her head as Sora puts a hand on her shoulder, his fear radiating out.

"Let's just get the sample and get out of here…" Isaac says before walking over to Mercer's computer. He activates it, but a log begins to play before he can obtain the sample.

"Personal log, Doctor Challus Mercer." The three could only stare on in hated silence as the log began to play. "The specimen continues to respond well to my experiments. Its cellular fortitude, not to mention elasticity, is remarkable. Doctor Kyne, I am sure, would disapprove. But I do not anticipate that issue, as the good Doctor is busying himself with the Marker…." Again, the three could only look at each other in silence. This log must have been recorded before Kyne tried to arrest the Captain. But what followed next sunk their hearts. "As if that matters now! He has also succumbed to the same dementia that afflicted the colony. Only yesterday, he told me wife... but Amelia Kyne has been dead for some years." A sudden growl echoes from the log, startling the three as they raise their weapons in defence before Mercer ends his recording. They look at each other with disdain and fear. How long would it be until the dementia would be afflicting them?

Shaking his head three of such thoughts, Isaac initiates the computer to retrieve the sample while placing the one they already obtained into the computer. Then, it takes it away before adding the two together.

Adding sample 9797 to chemical compound. Final mixing required.

Isaac nods to himself before removing the canister before they leave the room. Then, satisfied with their work, they contacted Kendra. "We have it all together Kendra, where now?"

"Just a sec, let me quickly look over the-" her musing is cut short when the video call is hijacked, but Mercer. The three recoil in shock as he stares at them with anger in his eyes.

"How did-?"

"You think you are the only one to have control over the Ishimura? How short-sighted you are." Mercer interrupts Isaac with unseen anger in his eyes. "Yes, I was the one changing the locks on the doors, but I can do so much more. For this has gone far enough! Accept your part in gods plans! Embrace your own extinction!" He grins evilly before ending the call. As Kendra's face returns to the screen, all air in their area is suddenly ejected.

Warning: Life support system failure on Medical Deck. Please evacuate immediately.

"What the-!?" Sora says in shock as the timers appear on their backs. "Did he just get rid of all the air?!"

"Shit! Your right Sora." Kendra replies as she franticly scans over the Medical Deck. "All air on that deck is gone! But you can restore it in the Security Office! Hurry!" she ends the call as the three begin to sprint back. Isaac removes two cans of air from his belt before handing one each to the couple.

"Use them only when you are almost out of air!" he says as they rush down the corridors, their air supply steadily decreasing. A swarm of, well, Swarmers charge at them only to be engulfed in ice by Kairi as the three rush past them into the room with the Hunter. Only it was not alone. Two Pregnants had joined it. "This we do NOT need!" Isaac yells as he blasts one with stasis, the couple quickly following him and slowing down the Hunter and the second Pregnant before they rush out of the room, the air growing down to fifty seconds, from one hundred and twenty.

"We're running out of time!" Kairi yells as they rush into the security room, the air growing smaller and smaller. Gasping in his helmet, Isaac rushes into the main booth, the consul alight with a request to restore oxygen. Isaac slams the holographic panel, triggering it and restoring air to the deck and relief to the three. "That was too close…." The three could only give a dry laugh to each other before Kendra contacted them.

"Good work, you three. Now that you don't have to worry about air, head to the Chemistry Lab and mix the poison."

"Were on it, Kendra," Isaac replies before ending the call. Then, with renewed determination, they head back to Imaging Diagnostics, rushing through the pitch-black hallway. Along the way, Kendra contacted them, informing them of more she had learned.

"So, it made its way into the ship from outside?" Sora asks in disbelief. Just how huge could it be?

"That's right. It was also around that time the air quality began to degrade. The survivor called it… The Leviathan." The group lets Kendra's words sink in as they quietly move through Diagnostics. The deafening silence save from the malfunctioning device made the tension in their frames almost unbearable, the constant fear of the Hunter not helping. Retracing their steps to the same room they first encountered it, Sora and Kairi scanned the vents around them with trepidation as Isaac worked on the computer, constantly glancing at the compound as the mixing process finished.

Final mixing complete. Please remove capsule.

"Alright, let's head back to the Tram station and get to Hydroponics. We've wasted enough time as it is." Isaac says as they move to exit the room, only to find it locked right before them. They glance worryingly between them before a one-way communicator opens before them.

"I'm beginning to truly admire your spirit, misplace as it may be!" Mercer's voice slithers from the calls to the disgust of the three. "I think… I think you should see… the whole plan. You should not spurn the Hive Mind's offerings. You deserve that, at least." The call ends as the other door opens, beckoning them to come.

"It's a trap." Kairi deadpans.

"Yep." Sora replies with equal enthusiasm.

"But we have to go that way regardless…." Isaac finishes with resignation. The door he hot-wired could only be done once, leaving them with this only way forward. "It will lead us to the Cryo Lab, where they freeze the samples and isolate them. Who knows what he has been using it for…." With that positive remark, they walk through, down the blood-soaked corridor, and into the Cryo Lab. In the centre lays a sizeable metallic cylinder with glass windows and four open gaps, significant enough for a person, while all around are similar cylinders—each one with a frozen Slasher inside. The three could only stare in horror before casting their gaze on the control room, a concealed room with three large glass windows, two doors leading into the room proper, and a second leading to another Tram station. And standing in it is Mercer.

"Alright, Mercer. Spill it. What do you plan to do with all of these?" Sora asks, barely holding his anger back as the madman stands before him, wearing a grin even more crooked than Xehanort.

"It will be my pleasure to tell you." He speaks through the speaker. "The work I have done must continue…will continue! I, Dr Challus Mercer, shall serve as the catalyst to the salvation of our species! These specimens," he gestures to the frozen Slashers around him. "will return with me to Earth with me. I will spread their divine glory across the entire planet!"

"Are you mad! You will kill everyone!" Kairi yells at him with horror and disgust in her voice. "What reason could you believe that this is right or just! Don't you feel any regret or sadness at all?!"

"Why should I feel regret or sadness when this is our next step? But our talks are over. I now leave you with my creation. Embrace the inevitable." Mercer monologues before walking to the Tram Station, just as the Hunter emerges from the vent before them, hunger and glee in its monstrous eyes.

"What now, Isaac?" Sora asks as they back away from the unkillable creature into the Cryo station. Isaac glances around them, looking at all the frozen Slashers until an idea pops into his head; whether it will work is another question.

"Sora, Kairi, I want you two to keep the Hunter right here. I'm going to deep freeze it." The two could only stare at him, confused before the Hunter leaps at them, bone swords ready for the kill, only to be stopped by Sora and Kairi Keyblades. "Keep it there!" Isaac cries before rushing off to the control room. Stepping inside, he glances at the panel, thankfully still left on, before looking out. The Hunter pushes down on the couple, its blades inches away from their helmets. The Hunter somehow negated whatever strength they used to have, but that could wait. Running up to it, Isaac gave the order. "Move now!"

Wasting no time, the two slide out of the deadlock, narrowly missing the blades as Isaac slams the council. Immediately, the four doors close around the Hunter, trapping it as sub-zero gasses surround the beast, entrapping it in a prison of ice. Tense seconds pass as everyone gazes at the frozen block of ice, anxious to see if it worked. Soon, a familiar and welcoming voice echoed in the room.

Freezing cycle successful. Transporting patient.

"We did it." Sora says, shocked yet happy as the container vanishes into the ceiling above them. "We stopped it…" he soon collapses to the floor alongside Kairi, the adrenalin peeking out as they were finally safe. Isaac walks up behind the two before patting them on the shoulders.

"You did good, you two." He says with pride in his voice. "You did good." They breathe a sigh of relief before bursting out into laughter. They had just defeated an unkillable monster. Well, frozen, but were they complaining? "Anyway, the second Tram Station here will take us to Hydro much faster than heading back to the one we came here on. So let's go and clean the air." He offers his hands to both of them, pulling them up before heading back into the control room and taking the third door. They would deal with Mercer some other time. But for now, they had a Leviathan to slay.

If there is one foe i fear most in Dead Space, it is the Hunter.