"What do you mean they're missing?!" Han demanded. "Weren't you all keeping an eye on one another for this exact reason?" Hearing that two members in their group went missing and under Jade's watch made his respect for her drop several notches. Jade's team was paired with them for this exact reason.

Jade's helmet turned away from him, her shame evident with her failing her duties. "Everything was proceeding how it should have, each member being close to the others so that they could focus on external dangers but also be aware of the others." As she was recounting the events, it gave the impression that she was also trying to figure out what had gone wrong.

"Did anyone hear a sound?" Han asked.

Jade shook her head. "That's what's the most disconcerting. If they had run away, which I don't know why they would, some sound would have been made. But we didn't hear anything. One moment, they were guarding the perimeter and the next they were gone."

Running up behind Jade was Jackie. "What are we going to do?! We need to find them quickly, especially in this corrupted forest."

------------

Jae-Hwa felt her eyes flutter open and a mind-numbing headache, likely signifying that she had a concussion. She tried to move but felt her limbs being restricted. Looking around, all she saw was were roots above her. Fighting the feelings of panic bubbling up from inside, she realized that she was being dragged on the floor. Turning her head, she wasn't able to view who was pulling along dirt and root lined floor.

The bumps of the roots would occasionally dig into her, making her wince and thankful that her suit was still able to protect her. Remembering some of the things she heard from Jackie and the others talking, Jae-Hwa tried to remember the last thing that had happened to give a clue as to where she was, currently. To get ready for the break, she had followed Amanda towards the outside area to keep watch over the second team, allowing them to get some sleep.

Jae-Hwa was never the best with staying awake, especially when being deprived of sleep. To help with staying awake, she had made a private chat with Amanda.

Several hours had passed, and when she checked the time, she was happy to see that it would soon be her team's turn to get some sleep. Jae-Hwa remembered making a comment to Amanda about getting some sleep.

A loud crying noise was heard behind her. It was different from the usual voice calling out from beyond the trees, startling her. All around them, the forest went quiet, the voices that would occasionally make sounds disappearing like fog at sunrise. No longer hearing those sounds made her skin crawl, making her extra aware of the silence. Turning around to look in the direction of the sound, she saw that all the other members in the first team were looking at the disturbance.

Many of them were tightening their grips on their weapons, waiting to see if the noise would come close to them.

There a slight vibration beneath her, causing her to look at the ground when the world went black.

"Jackie, I'm in some type of tunnel. Can you hear me?" Jae-Hwa called out, hoping that she wasn't outside of the range of the comm system.

"Unable to connect to Jackie," The AI in her suit informed her. "Will continue to broadcast message. There doesn't appear to be any injuries based on the sensors," It tried to comfort her, in the slightly human and computer way that AIs talk.

Jae-Hwa had never had a chance to be exposed to technologies like the AI in the suit, so she was always half amazed everytime it talked to her.

"Thanks, Seo-Yun. How long have I been passed out?" She asked.

"You have been unconscious for an hour, likely caused by the sudden descent into the ground. The cause is still unknown, but based on the sounds, I would guess that you have been abducted by something similar to the creatures earlier encountered. Amanda still appears to be knocked out, but I have been conversing with the AI in her suit to gain additional information." Seo-Yun explained.

Jae-Hwa jerked her head at the words. "Amanda was also abducted?!"

"She was pulled into the ground, right after you," Seo-Yun said.

Over the comm, a confused voice asked, "Jae-Hwa, you okay?"

"Amanda! You're awake!" Jae-Hwa said excitedly, happy to be speaking to another human.

A groan was heard over the comm, signaling Amanda experiencing a similar headache that Jae-Hwa enjoyed moments ago. "Barely. I caught up with Cynthia, who explained everything she knew about the situation with the help from your suit. Looks like we're in a bad situation."

"I'm surprised you're able to sound so calm, even in this predicament. Do you already have some kind of plan?" Jae-Hwa asked, a spark of hope growing inside of her.

"Sorry, but I got nothing. I just know that panicking isn't going to help with anything. As long as we keep a cool head, we'll be able to adapt to the situation and maybe get out of this alive." Amanda chuckled at their situation.

Hearing Amanda's words, Jae-Hwa felt a torrent of various emotions going inside of her. But what helped her navigate her thoughts was how composed Amanda was. She was grateful for having a friend in such a dangerous position. Feeling herself smile a little, she asked, "What do you think is the reason for these creatures to abduct us?"

"I'm just as confused about us being alive as you likely are. I'm just some girl who had a corporate life before things went to shit, so I don't know how much help I can be." Amanda said, a little self-deprecatingly. Likely sensing that Jae-Hwa was on edge, Amanda said in a more soothing tone. "We'll get out of here. If I know Jackie and the others, they're doing everything they can to find where we are."

"Thanks," Jae-Hwa said, feeling better just hearing the words.

--------

It was another hour of being dragged along the floor of some kind of tunnel before it appeared that they had reached a large opening. Jae-Hwa looked around at the area they were in and saw dozens of distorted looking creatures. It was like something out of a nightmare.

Several of the monsters had elongated necks, but their heads still looked very human. They had the typical arms and legs, but with the legs, the kneecap was backward. Out of their shoulders, they had an additional pair of arms that were muscular.

"What are those things?!" Jae-Hwa yelled, feeling like she was being overwhelmed in her mind.

"I guess those guys were right about the monsters being modified humans," Amanda answered.

"T-t-those things are Modified Humans?" Jae-Hwa asked, trying to fight down the screaming sensation that was battling to leak out of her.

Jae-Hwa's body was thrown into a cave inside of the larger opening. Tumbling on the floor, Jae-Hwa tried to control herself, spreading her arms and legs out. Grabbing the dirt, she felt her fingers get in contact with one of the many roots exposed and stopped herself.

Looking up, Amanda's body was seen being flung in her direction. It didn't take Amanda as long to recover herself and recover from the throw.

Turning her head, Jae-Hwa was finally able to get a glimpse of what had been dragging them. The sight nearly made her gag, the image of half a dozen men and women connected to one another, moving as if they were a single creature. At the front of the was a woman without any clothes on, and missing her lower jaw but instead what looked like insect looking mandibles. She also had four arms, all of them coming out of the shoulders.

When looking towards her legs, the woman's legs looked more like arms. One of them was balancing her, while the other psuedo-arm was scratching her belly. Directly behind her, looking as if the person's head was sticking up into the woman's butthole, there was a man's body. The arms were fused into the woman's torso as if to help stabilize her. There was a second pair of arms which looked closer to legs. Past the man, there were four additional men to help make the woman look like an insect.

"Where are we? Have we died?" Jae-Hwa asked through the comms.

"No. You're not dead. Those things are just Modified Humans that have begun to adapt to their environment. At least that's my theory." An unfamiliar woman's voice said to them.

Both Jae-Hwa and Amanda looked behind them, to see a woman with her back against the cave wall. She was comforting a couple of women who were holding onto her. Next to her were several scraps of fabric and smashed helmets.

"The name's Ji-Min. I'm guessing it's too much to hope that you guys were sent in to rescue us?" The woman asked with a sad chuckle.