I'm Alone In This Apocalypse Vault With 14 Girls?

More footsteps echoed as the others arrived, drawn by the commotion. Lin Xu gasped when she saw Eve, immediately recognizing something wrong in the girl's biology. Yuki took one look and stepped back, her spiritual senses screaming warnings in her mind.

"Oh good, more rivals!" Eve clapped her hands together, bouncing on her toes. "This is perfect! It'll make picking who gets rid of so much easier! Though honestly, most of you will probably mess up and get rid of yourselves." She scanned the group with those unsettling crimson eyes. "Has anyone seen Jin Tsurugi? I was told he'd be here when I woke up. It's been—" she checked an imaginary watch, "—about five minutes now and we should totally start making babies! I'm behind schedule!"

"How long do you think you've been asleep?" Scarlett asked carefully, her tactical mind already analyzing the situation.

"Standard recovery time. Two weeks max." Eve tilted her head. "Why? Has it been longer? The briefing said not much time would pass."

Lin Xu stepped forward, her gentle voice trembling slightly. "Eve... it's been over a hundred years."

Eve blinked. Once. Twice. Then her face lit up with pure excitement. "Oh! That explains why the pod looks so crappy! And why none of you match my files! And why does everything smell like old food!" She actually bounced on her toes, her white hair floating around her like a halo. "This is so exciting! Like a surprise party but with the world ending! I love surprises!"

Rosa raised an eyebrow, a smirk playing on her lips despite the weirdness. "Well, at least someone's enjoying the end of the world."

The temperature in the room dropped several degrees from the approaching presence everyone had learned to recognize. Jin entered, and the Entity's corruption rolled off him in waves that made the lights flicker and frost creep across the floor.

Eve's reaction was immediate and disturbing.

Her pupils dilated fully, turning her eyes into crimson pools. Her breathing quickened, and she moved toward Jin in a blur, completely ignoring everyone else.

"Found him!" she announced cheerfully. "Jin Tsurugi, Phoenix guy number one! We match super well—like, ninety-seven percent! That's basically perfect!" She beamed up at him. "We should totally start making babies right now! The scientists said more tries make better babies!"

She was in front of him before anyone could react, standing on her tiptoes to get closer to his face. Her small hands pressed against his chest, and where she touched, frost spread across his shirt.

"Hey there, future baby daddy! I'm Eve! I was made just for you! My body's all ready for having your babies, and they even made my girl parts match your guy parts!" She leaned in conspiratorially. "We should start right now! The scientists said practice makes perfect babies!"

Jin's expression cycled through confusion, alarm, and something that might have been fear.

"What—" Jin started.

"Oh, you have a parasite thing in your head!" Eve observed cheerfully, not moving back an inch. "That's unexpected but actually kinda cool! I could probably get rid of it if needed, though it might make our babies stronger. Extra anger could help them survive better by like, thirty-two percent!" She pulled out her notebook again, writing while still pressing against him. "Note: Check if parasite makes super babies."

From across the room, Shūmei's crimson eyes had gone flat and dangerous. The temperature dropped another degree, though this time from a very different source of cold fury.

"Jin-sama," Shūmei said, her voice silk over steel, "perhaps we should discuss this new... development... privately."

"Ooh, another rival!" Eve spun around, finally releasing Jin. "You've got those Tsurugi eyes! Are you like, his cousin or something? That's not good for making healthy babies! But you smell like you're really into him." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "I should probably get rid of you first. Want it fast or slow? I'm super good at both!"

"Excuse me?" Shūmei's hand drifted to one of her hidden blades.

"Ways to get rid of people!" Eve explained brightly, as if discussing the weather. "The scientists taught me forty-seven ways to get rid of other girls who like Jin! Want to see the list? I have some really creative ones!"

The room erupted into chaos as everyone started talking at once.

"What is she talking about?" Sera demanded, her hand instinctively going to her weapon. "Babies? Getting rid of people? Is she crazy?"

"I-I think she might be infected," Clara said, her eyes wide behind her glasses as she scanned Eve with her tablet. "Her genes are... not normal. At all. Like, I'm seeing DNA stuff that shouldn't exist."

"Get away from Jin!" Rosa yelled, stepping forward with surprising courage. "Leave him alone, you weirdo!"

Eve just smiled at them all, that cheerful, slightly creepy smile never leaving her face. "Oh, you're all so protective! That's cute. But don't worry, I'm not going to hurt Jin. I'm going to have his babies! That's totally different!"

She pulled out her notebook again, flipping through pages filled with neat, precise handwriting and disturbing diagrams.

"Let's see... the world's ended, not many people left, lots of weird monster things outside..." She looked up, her expression serious. "This means we need to hurry up with the baby-making! We need to make sure humans don't die out and can handle all the new weird stuff out there."

Maya Reeves stepped forward, her engineering mind already working. "Wait, what do you mean by 'weird monster things'? Have you been outside? Have you seen what's out there?"

Eve nodded enthusiastically. "Oh yeah! The pictures they showed me were wild! All sorts of messed-up creatures and dangerous places. My special upgrades might help me survive whatever's out there. That makes my genes even more useful!" She tapped her pen against her chin. "And Jin's parasite... that's actually cool! It might give our babies extra powers! I should definitely think about that when we make babies."

Jin finally found his voice. "I'm not going to... have babies with you."

Eve blinked, her head tilting in confusion. "Why not? The matching test was super clear. Ninety-seven percent is a really high score. The scientists said anything above eighty-five percent was great."

"Because I don't want to," Jin said firmly.