The red light flickered on and off, a result of the inconsistent power being delivered to the emergency systems after the large Corrupted one had done significant damage to the maintenance tunnel of the Heraclea. The sounds of dripping echoed through the pathway, punctuating the grunts of pain coming just out of sight in the darkness.


    Sable Kiss pulsed with increased frequency, as if anticipating whatever lay ahead, a faint red luminescence emanating from the jewel in its pommel. White lettering along the left wall had four large gashes cut through the steel on which they were written. Elias could still make out what it said, despite the damage.


    ''TOP SECRET RESEARCH PERSONNEL ONLY''


    The ship shuddered beneath his feet, causing him to lose his balance for a moment. Alarms began blaring in the distance that weren''t there before.


    I need to hurry, Elias thought, quickening his pace.


    As he climbed his way over debris blocking the hallway, he came across a body; he leaned to inspect the corpse.


    Then it moved.


    Elias leapt back, Sable Kiss flashing forward, ready to strike, but the need never arose. The man was still human. Hurt, but human all the same. His shoulder was pierced by a steel rod, and his leg had a compound fracture. Blood soaked the man''s uniform.


    "Thank you, god! Thank you! Please help me..." The man appeared to be in his forties, with grey hair beginning to take over the light brown that had once dominated his mane. "The medical bay... two decks above us... There is still time... I can make it if you''ll help me, please!" Saying just that much exhausted him.


    Elias scanned him for any sign of corruption and found nothing. The researcher''s white lab coat was wrinkled and stained with dirt and a little bit of dried blood. It looks like whatever injured him wasn''t contaminated.


    The man was truly hurt, but he was right; if they headed for the medical bay now, he might survive. However, the odds of reaching the medical bay were not high.


    The man''s eyes were pleading and full of hope; he''d been praying for a miracle. A miracle had been delivered. Relief filled his heart, swelling on his face as tears of joy began to stream down.


    Sable Kiss pulsed in his hand. He gazed at the crimson edge of the pitch black blade.


    He leaned down, looking the man in the eyes, and smiled softly. "Let''s get you to medical."


    The man began crying, saved from certain death. He reached out to wrap his arm around Elias''s neck, so that he could be lifted to his feet.


    A piercing sound of blade penetrating flesh, a blinding flash of pain as his chest was pierced, a sudden chill invading his core.


    The man looked down, blood pooling into his clothes, a stain growing with each passing moment, and a brilliant shadow in the shape of a blade sunk into his flesh.


    "Why...?" His voice hoarse and fading.


    Elias didn''t answer, a cold gaze freezing the air between them.


    Sable Kiss drank deeply, absorbing the man''s essence at a blistering pace. Elias felt a surge of vitality rush into the very core of his being, and, as before, he experienced particular benefits.


    His perception increased, the darkness receding a touch. His sense of smell became more sensitive, and a faint scent of musk that he had previously been unable to detect stood out. He felt faster and stronger, even though it was only a slight improvement and likely wouldn''t last long. The last kill had given him a boost for about 30 seconds, so there was no doubt this time would be similar.


    The man finally died from having his life drained by the gluttonous stiletto.


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    Sable Kiss hissed, the jewel on the pommel surged with light, and Elias''s vision suddenly flashed brilliant white.


    Visions, memories that weren''t his began pouring directly into his consciousness. He saw a circular laboratory room with pristine white walls and organized desks surrounding the perimeter. Everything was immaculate and orderly, not a single scrap of paper out of place.


    In the center of the room stood a table, devoid of objects except for one: an articulating mechanical arm. It looked robotic with three joints along its frame. On the free end was a group of three prongs that held what Elias assumed to be a medical device.


    The device was a thin cylinder, made of glass, with its complex circuitry visible through the translucent shell. A small ring of white surrounded the cylinder, attached to the central unit with four mounting arms at fixed intervals. From the outer ring, a litany of ultra-thin filaments extended, each with a small electrode at its end, pulsed with a pale blue light.


    The memory faded, and a new one took its place. Scientists in pristine white lab coats, the man Elias just killed was among them.


    "This is revolutionary!" one exclaimed.


    "The Sympathetic Neural Transfer Device is going to save so many lives," declared another.


    The man Elias had killed looked at the device with a somber expression. "That is, if we can get it working. The prototype lacks the efficiency required for a device like this. The energy cost is too high for such a minimal effect."


    "Don''t worry, Dr. Kraxen, we will get it working," chimed in the third.


    A new memory came roaring in, this one chaotic and filled with danger. Corruption now lined the walls, and one of the researchers was already starting to change, their veins crystallizing at a rapid pace.


    "Quickly, recalibrate the device to target the biosignature of the infection!" Kraxen ordered. "We need to attempt to pull the damaged tissue from Abel and distribute it among ourselves, the disruption in its growth pattern may halt the spread!"


    The others worked frantically, hands moving with speed that bordered on inhuman. "Got it!"


    "Good, now get Abel on the table immediately!" Kraxen grabbed the man, pulling him to the central table. Corruption made that problematic; Abel''s strength increased twofold with the invasion of his tissue. It took all three of them to get him onto the table, and the device came to life as the central control unit began to spin inside the outer ring. The pale blue light began to blur, causing the center of the apparatus to resemble a brilliant star.


    "It''s working! It''s WORKING!" Kraxen couldn''t contain his excitement.


    Elias suddenly found himself back in the tunnel, Kraxen''s dead body sprawled at his feet. Elias bent down and pulled the man''s ID from the pocket of his lab coat and wiped the blood on the leg of his pants. He coolly strolled down the hall towards the secret research lab, confident that his second artifact was that device.


    He swiped the ID badge at the door, and the sound of air pressure releasing into the atmosphere made him jolt a touch. The doors swung open, stale air punching Elias in the face.


    Papers littered the floor, and thin black tendrils of Corruption lined the walls. Black sludge pooled on the floor and the once-pristine white desks. In the middle of the room, the table was cracked in two, the device hanging from a broken mechanical arm.


    Elias felt the pull. The device was calling to him; this was it—his second artifact.


    With each step he took, the magnetic attraction grew more assertive; Sable Kiss pulsed stronger, and the heat from the hilt began to burn. The pale blue light reflected in his grey eyes. His left hand raised on its own, reaching out for the miraculous machine.


    A female voice emanated from the processing unit as his hand grasped the ring, COMPATIBLE BIOSIGNATURE DETECTED.


    The device suddenly dissolved into white sparks that climbed his hand and orbited his wrist. The spinning orbs increased in speed, looking like a solid ring before forming into long tendrils of brilliant white light. The tendrils embedded themselves under the skin of his forearm, his veins now pulsing a brilliant, pure white.


    I am the Mourning Coil, hello Elias.


    The voice was crystal clear, a woman''s voice so smooth and soothing it was clearly not human. He knew by instinct that the artifact had the ability to heal, but the details were absent. He extended his arm, visualizing the tendrils reaching outward, and like living vines, they reached into the void.


    Sable Kiss began to tremble in his hand, frost developing on the surface, freezing his hand. The only emotion that Elias could feel from the knife was... anger? As if the presence of the Mourning Coil was abhorrent to it. Mourning Coil, on the other hand, remained steady, a soothing warmth radiating into his veins.


    The two artifacts were waging war, with Elias stuck in the middle. His body began to tremble as the essence from each of his artifacts engaged in combat, his body the battleground. His legs went weak, and his knees buckled. He fell, kneeling on the floor in a puddle of black tar.


    A vision flashed across his mind, not a memory like before, but a glimpse into his future. He saw two versions of himself, one of which emanated a wicked aura, the other a picturesque presentation of serenity. One glared with mischievous, evil intent. The other wore a faint smile that would bring even the faintest of heart hope.


    The vision ended.


    "What the hell was that?" he muttered, the pain easing. It seemed the battle between Sable Kiss and Mourning Coil was over, for now.


    Elias wasn''t sure what that vision meant, but it was clear to him that his artifacts were polar opposites of one another, and they did not get along.