Joint Story2

Last update 10/29/09

ONI JOINT STORY

Salvation

Mukade

The one hour walk it should have taken to get to the warehouse was doubled. They had to take back alleys and duck out of sight when someone came by. Mai was now a wanted criminel and they couldn't afford to compromise their position. When they finally reached the now vacant warehouse, darkness had fallen.

"I'm starting to hope we won't find Mukade here. In the dark around all these crates, he could be anywhere. This is his territory, he has the advantage."

They slipped carefully through the boarded up entrance and were swallowed by the growing darkness. They crept quietly through the maze of crates and corridors. Then suddenly, she realized someting very unsettling. Up to this point in time, she had been concentrating on her vision to find the black cyborg. When she finally realized to stay in tune with her feelings, she groaned. She turned around and spoke into the darkness.

"Let me guess. If you'd wanted us dead, you would've killed us the moment we entered the warehouse."

A metallic laugh sounded just a few feet into the inky blackness.

"And believe me, I could have."

He stepped into their field of vision. It looked to her like they had never had the brutal fight on the rooftops.

"I knew you'd be drawn here sooner or later. We need to talk."

Samoko

"I knew you'd be drawn here sooner or later. We need to talk."

"yes we do, mukade or shall i say dr. mukade ?"

"The little girl has done her research i see ... " said mukade in his metallic voice

"we know who u are mukade, we know what the BGI did to u" Griffin said

"HAHA what they did to me ... they freed me from all doubts and fears ... they've made me more powerful than i could ever dreamed of!"

"at what expense though mukade look at urself alone here in the darkness u've lost everything .. what's left to go back to ? the BGI ? "

"Even they want me dead, I've failed to stop u from knowing ur past and for that I must pay " mukade said still hysterical

"ok then just stop and help us fight them ... "

"does ur blood burn when u kill ? mine does" mukade said

"Ok this guy is giving me the creeps " Griffin said

"Stop it mukade STOP IT !" she said decisively this time

"Daddy's little girl scared of the darkness ... surrender to it ... join me ... kill him ... kill the old man ... "

"Don't u mention my father ! i should have known u're just too crazy to hep us !"

"It's not his fault Mai .. God knows what the BGi have put him thru all these years " Griffin whispered ...

"I liked ur father ... I was friends with ur father ... they spared him they gave me ... this !" they've made me this while ur arrogant sorry excuse for a scientist father was spared "

"DON'T U DARE !"

"no konoko no ! that's what he wants stay calm !" griffin interrupted

"HAHAHA ... u're mine " mukade said as he teleported behind them and kicked Griffin into some crates

"U can't see me ... u can't stop what u can't see " mukade said as he turned invisible into the darkness

"Stop I don't want to fight u ! we need ur help we need to reverse the poison only u can do it ! ... before she could say another word a punch sent her flying a few feet backwards ... "

"HAHAHA ... " his metallic laugh echoed thru the dark ...

"ok let's do this ur way then " she said

"u can't see me ... "

"I don't need to .. .I can feel u "

she said as she reached into the darkness and grabbed him by the neck !

he tried to free himself but he lost his mask in the process ...

"Oh my god mai said startled ! looking at the face of a man or actually half a face the other half was part cyborg and part mutated into white skin like that of Barabas .... it's u ! I remember u ! "

"dr Muk !" Konoko said happily

"dr Muk ???? said Griffin who was getting up ..."

"that's what i used to call him when i was a baby ! i remember now he was always around with my father ... " do u remember me mukade ? she said

"Shut up ! i know no one I care for no one I need no one ... ur mine !!"

in a blink he teleported right in front of her again knocking both her and griffin down with 2 swift kicks ...

he grabbed her by the neck and lifted her and with his other fist that glowed with electricity he prepared to punch her with all he had...

mai didn't fight she just smiled at him and closed her eyes peacefully waiting for the punch ...

seconds passed and she realized nothing happened ...

"I remember u too ..." he finally said as he put her down ...

"AGhhhhh " he moaned in pain !! "Stop it, stop the darkness he said as he grabbed his head in agony ... it's inside always inside taking control"

"then fight it !! konoko said fight it bec we need u !! the world needs u ! fight it for urself don't lose who u are !! u're not their slave anymore !! FIGHT IT MUKADE !

moments passed with him moaning and twitching in agony ...

until he finally stood still and said with a rather unfamiliar\familiar voice, unfamiliar bec he no longer had his mask with the metallic vocal box and familiar bec Mai could remember that voice from her childhood ... "what can i do ?"

Mai smiled and said : "Ur project to use the chrysallis to absorb the toxins from the atmosphere ... "

"It's not that easy ... they have the machine ... they have all my work "

"Then we need to retrieve it " Griffin said after he had been silent watching the conversation of mai and mukade ...

"the machine ... Kerr mentioned it ... " konoko said

Stevinlewis

"Kerr said the machine is an advanced technology which he had been working on for five years. He said it is still a prototype but its near to completion."."No i worked on that thing!" interrupted Mukade.

"Alright shut up, do you know where this machine is?"Asked Griffin."Yes its under this warehouse. Kerr used to work under this facility by himself before he got employed come follow me!"Konoko said.

They ran across the warehouse and finally found a door that says "restricted area". A computerised voice emitted from a hidden speaker and said "Self verification please" and a plate-like thing emerged from behind the pillar. She put her hand on it and it said "Human identified. Welcome back Konoko. How are you?" . "How come u can do that? Dosen't it only allow Kerr to enter?"Asked Mukade. "Wow i didn't think thatll work. Im not so sure but follow me." They ran down a spiralling staircase and finally reached the bottom floor. And right before them is a huge machine that is heavily rusted and very very dusty.

"That is the machine"Konoko said. "Kerr used to tell me stories about it. He said this will save you some day but it was up to me to find out how to use it. he couldn't tell me back then cause alot of "people" were paying attention to our conversation. Hidden microphones and video camera were all around us wherever we were. I didn't knew back then but the BGI was already listening to us. Kerr knew but he couldn't say it just there and then."

"Alright how do we work this thing?" Asked Griffin. "Well, just stand back ill do everything.". She taps on the keyboard as messages and messages appear on the screen. And then it sparkled to life! "But how come its here? I thought the BGI took them." Asked the confused Mukade. "Not all of them dumb head. He shifted this into his(kerr) lab by using ur "blink" technology here where he wired them all over his lab. The one u were doing only helped to return the toxin level to normal status. HIS machine was designed to kill all mutants and disintegrate the toxins." Explained Konoko.

She rushed past the two guys and stand in front of the door."Over here we have the weapons lab where one section is still in experiments while the other is already completed and ready for use. Follow me."Konoko said. She pushed past the door and said "This is it. Feel free to take any weapons. They hav infinite bullets so don't worry. Just make sure u polish and shine them before putting them back onto the shelves." Said Konoko jokingly. "Cool" Said one of them. "Im gonna go take a shower. There are suits which can hold 5 different weapons over here and there. That is for woman and here is for men got it?"."Yes Ma'am!".

She walked through the hall way and into the shower cabin where she took her suit along. Confused little Mukade was going to ask her how to use one of the weapon when he found her inside the bath cabin. "Um Konoko. How do i use this?". "Wait till i come out will ya? .". "Aliright".

He fiddled around with the camera like thing when he found a button and it was activated. "wow". He looked through it and then he realised this thing was suppose to look through walls. He looked and gazed at Konoko bathing in the pouring water and amazed at how beautiful she really it. His pants tightenend as he came down and looked at her butt. "Oh my god".

After a few minutes, Konoko came out in her suit and said what did he want to ask. But he replied while looking down at her chest where her nipples could be seen through the suit. "Nothing, i figured it out." Saying it with a smile. They both returned to the weapons lab when suddenly out of nowhere, a loud bang echoed through the lab and BGI troops stormed the lab. Konoko shouted "take some weapons lets blast these freaks out of this place!" Konoko took a sniper and she took aim on one BGI guy........

Samoko

Konoko took a sniper rifle and she took aim on one BGI guy........ and pulled the trigger ! to her surprise the bullet bounced of his chest ... he was wearing some strange type of armor ...

"Take them down all of them" the lady which they met in the vault before ordered

"They're invincible !" Griffin yelled

"Not really mukade said as he teleported to the back of an agent lifted him up and threw him on the head ... "

"Konoko yelled we are outnumbered" "retreat to the room now!

"we can take them mukade said still teleporting and kicking !

"Surrender Mai there's no point in prolonging this !" the lady said now coming into their vision she was a beautiful woman dressed in light armor and carrying a small strange looking gun .

"BACK INTO THE ROOM NOW !!" konoko yelled to her comrades !

Griffin was cornered an a BGI aimed a mercury bow which shot like a blackadder at him ... the instant the agent pulled the trigger mukade teleported held griffin and teleported him into the room just in the nick of time ...

Konoko ran into the room and closed the heavy door behind her ! This won't hold them for long she said ... as she ran to the computer ... there has to be something to help us here !

"Stress level increase ... unfamiliar weapon shots ... unauthorized attempts to enter " the computer said in a familiar tone !

"It can't be" Griffin said ! while konoko was too teary eyed and just whispered : "Shinitama is that u ? "

the computer answered "not quite" "Shinitama beta 2 actually, Kerr built me into this lab to protect his work, he said to help u Mai Hasegawa if u needed my help"

"We do need ur help... we're trapped !"

"Engaging advanced security mode" shinitama 2 said .. as a heavy barrier came down to support the door ... and laser beams thru wholes in the ground came up behind it ...

"Door bullet shield activated " "Door impact shield activated"

"they won't be coming in any time soon" shinitama 2 said

"Thank u !" konoko said

"so now we're locked in here for how long ?" mukade interrupted

"Shinitma is it possible to teleport the machine somewhere else ?"

"I'm afraid not ... the teleporter has been damaged ... I can only teleport smaller objects ... like u 3 "

"Let me figure this out" mukade said ... if I could copy the data files and the blue print and ... of this machine we could rebuild it or modify one of my own"

"damn it ... it requires a password !" he said

"come on hacking is supposed to be one of ur expertise isn't it ?" mai said

"i can't focus now ! killing those agent made me feel it ... that darkness taking over and I liked it"

"we don't have time for this mukade ... shinitama 2 what's the password ?? "

"that is unknown to me" it replied ...

"Konoko how do u know about this place ? how did u know where to find the machine how to operate the computer ??? all this !! " Griffin said

"I don't know ! I just did !"

Kerr told me about the machine before but it wasn't until recently that I knew this lab existed ... I don't understand either !"

"I can answer that wonder" Shinitama 2 said "Kerr had implanted this knowledge deep into ur memory to be triggered at the right time ... he used me and the neural link between u and ur shinitama ... those memories only to be triggered by me when i sense u in the proximity, first time u were in the warehouse long ago i collected all necessary data by monitoring u"

"people has been messing with my thoughts for a long time i see" "kerr did talk about the machine before ... his last words were ... "the machine can save the world ... u'll find it where it all began ... my darling "

"We are running out of time no matter how strong that door is there's a limit to how many rockets it can handle !" mukade said

"Is there anything else u remember mai ?" griffin asked

"no no ... WAIT .. of course he never called me that ... try "mydarling" as the password

"WORKED! I'm in" Mukade said

ok copy those files quick !

"WARNING ... WARNING collision shield down to 50 % bullet shield down to 40 % " shinitama 2 said ... "activating lasers on the outside

"I'm done" mukade said

"We can't just leave them with a machine that is able to kill mutants that is able to kill us ! " konoko said

"What do u suggest we do ?" Griffin said

"My Self destruction mechanism can destroy it and those in proximity " shinitama 2 said

"NO ! not again !" konoko yelled !

"It's the only way konoko ... I'll always be with u shinitama 2 said in her familiar voice as a photo of shinitama came on the screen ... "don't worry about me ... who knows maybe Kerr made backups ... "

"SELF DESTRUCTION SEQUENCE INITIATED ... take as many weapons as u can and head to the teleporter "

"Good bye shinitama" mai said as tears rolled on her cheeks ... "u heard her let's move it !"

the 3 of them went to the teleporter as shinitama 2 said 7 .. 6 .. shields are down to 5 %

where to ? griffin asked "I need to go to my old lab" mukade replied as he clicked some buttons

4 - 3 ... the voice faded away as the three of them were teleported to ...

Leus

...Nowhere. Mai and Griffin panicked, their heads darting left and right. Mukade was nowhere to be found.

2... 1...

"Stop! Shinitama!" Mai yelled, but before she could finish her sentence she heard the familiar voice speak once more.

"Self destruct sequence suspended." Mai and Griffin breathed a synchronized sigh of relief.

"What happened?" Griffin queried.

"I don't know," Mai replied. As she stopped talking, she noticed a deafening silence permeating the room. Mai and Griffin looked to each other.

"They've stopped shooting," Griffin unnecessarily stated.

"Shinitama, what's going on?" Mai inquired.

"I'm not sure, but--" Shinitama 2 cut herself off. "My systems have just been accessed by an unknown source. My security systems are being internally sieged... This assault is..." Shinitama 2 trailed off.

"Shinitama?" Mai checked, concerned.

"I must concentrate," Shinitama 2 declared bluntly. Griffin and Mai were silent.

Before long, a loud clang and the hissing sound of air being released resounded throughout the room. The large barricaded door slid pleasantly open revealing the BGI assault force. The attractive young woman stood at the forefront holding a laptop which she promptly swung shut and handed to an armored associate.

"Griffin. Mai," she said, taking a few steps forward. "How nice to see you two once more,"

"Samoko..." Griffin said, under his breath but audible. (Sorry, lol. I thought since you made her a character I'd name her after you.)

The woman smiled. "Glad to see the stress of the job I got you hasn't made you forget the good old times," she said with intentional exposition. Just as she'd hoped, Mai looked concernedly to Griffin at this statement.

"You and that job are both long in my past now," Griffin muttered coldly.

Samoko's smile only grew larger. She took in a deep breath through her nose, closing her eyes, then released it satisfyingly through her mouth. "Well, this has been fun," she said. "Boys, detain them." The BGI troops began marching towards Mai and Griffin. Griffin struck a fighting pose, but Mai put her hand gently on his chest, signaling him to stand down. A few BGI soldiers held Mai and Griffin and bound their hands behind their backs.

"This isn't over," Griffin said.

"Of course it isn't," Samoko said with a chuckle. She then shifted address. "You two. Let's escort our guests out to the vehicle. The rest of you, learn what you can about this machine. See if anything makes it unique from the others." Samoko turned on her heel and began to walk back out through the previously barricaded doorway, signaling with a small wave of her hand to be followed. Two BGI troops complied, forcing Mai and Griffin to walk ahead of them with guns to their backs.

Just as they were reaching the exit of the facility, Mai suddenly turned around. "Shinitama! Now!" she shouted.

In the distance, a voice could barely be made out. "Self destruct seq--" A massive explosion cut off the computer program's words. Everything went white.

When her vision cleared, Mai looked around. She was lying on the ground. Around her were Griffin, Samoko and the two BGI troops. Their uniforms and armor were all tattered and fractured. The BGI soldiers were clearly dead, limbs mangled and twisted every which way and blood pooling beneath them.

Mai jumped up and extended a hand to Griffin who painedly took it in his own. She helped him to his feet, and the two turned to Samoko who was struggling to get to her own. Mai grabbed her by the neck and lifted her above the ground. "Let me guess," she said, cutting right to the chase. "BGI wasn't monopolizing these machines for the good of all mankind."

Mai looked harshly into Samoko's eyes. Samoko choked and gagged, but gave no response. Mai sighed. "Where are they?" she demanded.

Samoko

Mai looked harshly into Samoko's eyes. Samoko choked and gagged, but gave no response. Mai sighed. "Where are they?" she demanded.

"they are in our headquarters ... somewhere u can never walk out of alive" Samoko said arrogantly

"and where is that exactly ?" Mai said tightening her grasp on Samoko's neck

Samoko gazed into Mai's eyes daringly ... then suddenly her eyes lit up ... she grabbed mai's hands and with a smile she forcefully loosened mai's grasp almost breaking her arm in the process ... "BIG MISTAKE" Samoko said as she now grabbed mai's arms ... winked at her and threw her like a feather towards griffin !

"AHH" Mai screamed in pain as she knocked down Griffin

"let me guess she has a chrysallis too ?"Griffin said trying to stand up

"Yup ... one powerful chrysallis" Mai answered ...

"You fool u think u can easily defeat me ?" Samoko said as she took her weird little gun out "It's over for u .. I'm afraid Mai ... we had big plans for u but obviously u're not going to cooperate ... I know a lost cause when i see one"

"Guns can't hurt me for long" Mai snaped back ...

"HAHA this special one will ... I present to u the chrysallis accelerator" she said as she quickly pulled the trigger ... a violet ray came out and mai had little time to dodge ... it hit her side ... "

"MAI !! ?? Griffin yelled

"Griffin ... I ... I don't feel well "... Mai said in a weak voice ... as her knees could no longer hold her ... she fell to the ground twitching ... "

"WHAT HAVE U DONE TO HER !!?" he yelled at Samoko as he rested Mai's head on his knee ...

"it won't last long the chrysallis will grow rapidly to replace her every cell .. it will consume her brain her body her soul ... soon she'll be nothing more than an orb of energy" Samoko said with a grin

"We need backup she said to her headphone a little cleanup in the warehouse" ... she continued addressing Griffin "We no longer have use for u my dear old man" she said as she aimed her gun at him "I'll tell Casey u said hi"

A flash shined behind her ... she turned only to receive a kick in the face that sent her flying

"U missed me ? " the teleported Mukade said

"we don't have time ... Mai is hurt we need to get out of here" griffin said

"Right on it" Mukade said ... as he put to strange devices on Griffin's and Mai's wrists

and clicked a button ... as the furious Samoko stood up and rushed towards them ...

a flash shone and suddenly the 3 of them were in a different place ... as Samoko found her self kicking the air ...

"Where are we ... what's happening to me" Mai said trembling

"In my old lab" Mukade answered .. I was teleported here, I wondered why u 2 didn't get teleported too ... and I thought u would need my assistance ... "

"The teleporter stopped before it teleported me & Mai ..." Griffin answered

"Good thing I found those old wrist band teleporters here then ... they are able to cover more distances than the one i usually use ... Now konoko ... stop twitching around like a baby ... I think I know what she did to u ... "

"I feel like I'm about to explode ..." Konoko who was now glowing said

"Did she shoot her for more than 5 seconds ??? answer me !" Mukade yelled at griffin

"No ... no less much less !" he replied

"then we can still save her ... she wasn't hit long to make a complete transformation ... that shot just pushed her to the Imago stage " Mukade said as he searched thru his drawers ...

"Here it is ! he said finally as he got a needle "

"What is that ???" Mai said glowing purple more than ever ...

"A tranquilizer enough to take out an elephant but in ur case it will just restore u temporarily to normal " ... "let's just hope i can get the needle thru ur skin ! the chrysallis is healing ur cells immediately !"

seconds passed and mai's glow started to fade ... "I feel better now" ... she said as she stood up and almost fell again

"Easy there Mai " Griffin said catching her ...

"We'll need to do this every once and a while so u remain normal" mukade said ...

"oh Great ! ... I never really liked needles" Mai said "but then again I don't like turning into a white mutant either "

"If I can modify one of my machines according to Kerr's blueprints I may be able to modify it from killing mutants as ur uncle planed to just suppressing the transformation " Mukade said

"Then we need to get one of those machines ... we're going to their head quarters !" Mai said

"and where is that ?" Mukade replied

"this little tracker will help us" she said smiling"I put the sensor on Samoko when I grabbed her"

"WHERE DID U GET THAT FROM ?? there were no trackers in ur uncles lab" Griffin asked

"Barabas gave it to me when we met at the vault smile ... So gang are u ready to go into the monster's lair ? "

Mukade

Among the weapons they found at the lab was an early prototype of the chrysalis enhancer used by Samoko. However, according to some information downloaded by Mukade, (he downloaded all the contents of Kerr's computer to sift through any additional information that could be of use.) "This weapon was designed not to be destructive, but for containment purposes. The weapon fires a charged net of energy that wraps the host, and causes the chrysalis to divert all it's energy to repairing cells damaged by the charge. The charge will render the victim weak or unconcious, and will be vulnerable to other attacks." "So, essentially, this weapon overloads the chrysalis, making any other attack on the victim as effective as it would be on someone who is not a host?" Mai said with disgust. "As repulsive as the prospect seems, this weapon may come in handy." Commented Griffin "It can be used to take down Samoko. I don't think any other weapon can do the job" " Are you sure about that?" Mai said, glancing sidelong at a BGI Rocket Laucher they had grabbed from the weapon locker. "I like how you think Mai, but we have to assume that she is stronger then any conventional weapon we have." "I guess..."

They packed their weapons and ammo quickly, and headed out the door. They found themselves in the remote part of the city. Mai and Griffin both looked at Mukade. He was the only one who knew where they were.

"This way" He said, turning left down the street. They walked for a good hour, not wanting to waste anymore energy on the already taxed teleporting system. Eventually, they came to a ramshackle structure, with boarded up windows, and a loose hanging door. Their postion very nearly matched Samoko's postion. But Mukade just kept on walking.

"Wait aren't we..." She was cut short but a sharp "Shh!" from Griffin "They're bound to have the place locked tight with security. We can't just walk up the front step, just keep walking." They walked for another minute, then darted between two houses. "Now," said Griffin, "Here's what we do..."

Leus

"Doctor, you to go around back and try to find an empty room to teleport into," Griffin instructed. "Once you're in, find an isolated and unprotected back door, window, or some way for us to get in unnoticed."

"Got it," said Mukade. "But the inside of my armor is coated with a gel for insolation, lubrication, who knows what else... Case in point, I'm completely naked in here. I'll have to teleport back to the lab for some civilian gear."

"Mukade," Mai interjected. "What happened to you?"

"What do you mean?" Mukade asked, cocking his armor-plated head.

"Well when I first met you, you were clearly off your rocker," she stated. "And even when we met again not too long ago you seemed pretty unstable. But now you sound like a completely regular guy... With an intimidating voice filter, of course."

"The truth is, I am definitely somewhat insane; I can feel it," said Mukade. "It's got to be a result of the chrysalis. If it grows inside you long enough, it not only consumes your body but your mind as well. However, at the core we are all still men. We may have intense and conflicting thoughts and emotions, but we are capable of rationalizing them and keeping them in check, if need be. For the longest time I lived as though I were a killer with no remorse, but I've recently been able to pull myself out of that. The guilt of my actions hasn't really started to set... And maybe that means I'm already crazier than most daodan hosts."

"No," Mai responded. "I feel it too, what you're referring to. The blinding intensity... It's definitely hard to separate what you believed from reality, even when the truth is right in front of your face. Give it time, though, and I'm sure the pain will come and cleanse your conscience."

Griffin stared at the two during their spontaneous and deep conversation. He gulped, a quiet panic beginning to build in the back of his mind. Would he feel the pain too? How far gone was he?

Mai turned to Griffin. "Sorry," she commented. "What was the rest of your plan?"

Griffin shook his head, snapping out of his thoughts. "Right. I've laid out your part, Doctor. Konoko--" he started, cutting himself off. Mai looked back, her expression unchanged and understanding. "Mai..." he corrected himself. "You--"

"I've got a better idea--" again Griffin was cut off.

"I hadn't even finished my..." Griffin trailed off as he turned his head to meet a familiar sight. An albino man sporting varicose veins and a small horn in his forehead stood before them in a jumpsuit.

"What are you doing here?" Mai prompted.

"I went back to Muro's den and read up on some things," Barabas explained. "Turns out the TCTF and the Syndicate were both funded by the BGI. I did some research on these guys and found out they have an imago experimentation program. They've kept dozens of daodan symbiotes prisoner after implanting them with various daodan prototype chrysalises. Most of them were orphans or drifters, people no one would miss. People like all of us once were." Barabas paused as the four of them reflected on their pasts. None of them argued Barabas' claim.

Griffin sighed. "Your point being?"

"I need you guys to hold off on your assault," he requested without precedent.

"Now hold on a second--" Griffin was cut off.

"You all would have died, anyway. You are nowhere near prepared to deal with this situation on your own," Barabas said with what almost sounded like a challenging tone.

Griffin pushed a violent sigh through his nose. "And what do you propose?"

"I'm going to infiltrate the imago testing prisons," Barabas claimed.

"And how will you becoming a prisoner help us?" Griffin inquired. "Or you for that matter."

"They've never seen a symbiote like me," replied Barabas. "They kill their subjects long before they can become this powerful. Once I'm in, I'm going to rally the other prisoners. With our combined strength, the facility won't stand a chance."

"So you'll be able to break out, then?" asked Mai.

"There's a good chance of it, anyway," said Barabas.

"So what the hell should WE do?" Griffin shot back, frustrated.

"It shouldn't take me more than one evening with these guys to get them to realize their full potential and what's really at stake here," Barabas declared with confidence. "At noon tomorrow I'll break them out. Be here for the party, if you want."

"I have to admit," Mai said. "It sounds rather brilliant."

"The first step on a long path to attonement, I hope," said Barabas. Mukade's heart sank a little, realizing his own desire to repent still lie dormant, if it was even there at all.

"Is everyone on the same page here?" Mai requested of the group. Griffin and Mukade nodded slowly. "Alright. Tomorrow at noon. Barabas, kill whoever you want, but we need the facility intact. The machinery we need to reverse the atmospheric damage is inside."

"I'm not doing this for the world," Barabas countered. "I'm doing it for the others like us, the ones who never had a chance, who will never be able to live a human life." Barabas began to walk towards the entrance.

"Barabas!" Mai called after him. He stopped and turned his head. "It's not humanity's fault this happened to you; only a few bad ones are to blame. We need to give the rest the same chance you want to give your bretheren in there." Barabas hesitated for a moment, then turned back and continued his gait. The three watched him as he shrunk into the distance.

"Mukade," Mai said suddenly. "You got binoculars on you?"

Mukade paused, then chuckled. "An odd question, but I do happen to have a small telescope," he said.

"Of course," Mai responded. "That'd be some shoddy suit craftsmanship otherwise."

"That Syndicate thinks of everything," Mukade said in a half-light hearted tone. He clicked something on his wrist and a small, horizontal cylinder popped out.

"Let me see," Mai said, taking Mukade's hand. She pulled it close to her face and gazed through. Barabas walked slowly in through the sliding glass front doors. Confusedly, he glanced side to side and half-stumbled through the lobby before he was noticed. There was some commotion, and soon a few guards tackled him. Barabas let them shackle his wrists and stand him up, walking with them out of sight.

Mai let go of Mukade's arm and sighed. "What do we do now?" she wondered aloud.

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