[Who the fuck is this girl?]

The radio line between New Mayhall’s military team buzzed.

[Anton’s Daughter maybe.]

Someone tried to laugh it off.

[No, you may just be right.]

As the team moved through the academy, helping students and a few teachers evacuate, Visette’s handiwork was more than clear for all to see.

[I think I understand why Commander Wakefield sent her in ahead of us.]

[Let’s just hope she doesn’t cause this entire thing to go heads up. We still have to get rid of those explosives.]

While Visette was clearing the academy of enemies, the second team was more or less busy picking up after her.

…

The person in question removed an empty magazine and loaded in a new one as puffs of gunpowder and smoke wafted through the room.

There were Abnormals inside of it when she entered, but when she left there were only corpses. Though she dispatched them with ease, it was hard to say if she was even using a tenth of her real potential. That didn’t imply that she was holding back, but that even she couldn’t understand what else lay inside of her though she made a bit of progress it would be much easier if Minerva was there to mold her into the weapon she was.

Whatever the case was, Visette’s thoughts were focused elsewhere. Judging by the information exchanged through the Abnormals “secure” line, there was one last group of students being held on the second floor. Apparently, that’s where the strongest Abnormals of the group were to be found as well as multiple explosives.

She selected that place as her next destination as her target before the intercom rang out.

[Listen to me, whoever the fuck you are, we’ve rigged a bunch of these precious students up to a few explosive devices. If you’re willing to risk their lives, then, by all means, come up here and let’s have a chat. I’ll warn you though, you’ve pushed us to the point where negotiation has become meaningless. Unless you-]

The intercom whirred loudly before going completely silent.

Visette had used her fist to break through a wall, before tapping into an electrical line and disrupting it completely. The lights in the school flickered on and off as the power switched to one of the backup batteries installed, but even then, the lights were dim as they only served as a backup.

There was one last group she had to secure and as the dangers of doing so became higher, so did her reservations with using her psionics. Though she would take necessary precaution to ensure she wasn’t discovered.

[Hey, Vis?] Lyn radioed.

“Yes?”

[Did you hear that? Take extra care not to set off any sort of devices, got it?]

“Understood,” Visette responded while ascending the stairs to the second floor.

Once she arrived, it was eerily quiet with no sign of Abnormals to be found. Of course, that all changed once she sent out a psionic pulse. Discovering a few presences on the far side of the upper floor as well as one more floor above her. She was in no rush to reach the third floor when there were people to be eliminated on the current one.

She approached the room and used another psionic pulse to get a layout of the inside, discovering five completely stationary presences as well as a few objects, most likely explosive devices. She assumed that they were busy setting the devices up so she seized the opportunity for a surprise attack.

She kicked the door open in a practiced manner before she opened fire, striking three of the “Abnormals” perfectly. Only, something seemed off as the final two still remained seated even after their companions died.

She performed an in-depth scan and discovered that they were corpses taped to the chair and dressed in clothes from Abnormals. Even stranger, their bodies were equipped with radios with the receiver left on. It meant whoever was on the other side of the line would’ve heard the gunfire which would also act as a signal.

‘A situation set up for an ambush.’ The realization clicked in Visette’s head as a bright light clicked on the box of explosives.

She raised her psionic barrier to its maximum power before adding a second layer that covered the surface of her entire body as she quickly retreated. A deafening explosion engulfed her as well as a wave of fire.

…

Visette found a strange memory emerging as her mind stirred.

“Subject seven hundred sixty-seven, you may come to know me as Dr. Theresa Hagen. Your estimated mental capability will far exceed any known human, living or dead, so there's a chance that you may recall this conversation. It may happen months or even years after you’re released from liquid stasis. The artificial memories will hamper your recollection to some extent but I am confident this message will reach you...I want you to know that...there are many things I regret, but one surpasses them all. I regret how selfish I’ve been until now. Your mother, no, the woman listed in the records isn’t your mother. You’re…” Dr. Hagen struggled for the right words to say.

Her footsteps echoed in Visette’s mind as she approached the liquid stasis tank, pressing her hand against the glass.

“I have to admit that I’ve been incredibly selfish in my work, but it wasn’t always that way. I discovered that I could not have children without first going through various procedures very early in my career. I wasn’t bothered then as I did not have the time or desire to settle down so to speak. If anything, knowing that I could not have children was a relief and it allowed my work consume me entirely, as a result, the limits of what I wanted to achieve grew, especially with our research to make you. Seven hundred and sixty-seven human subjects were tested before we arrived at you. That woman who carried you, the nameless addict who was nearly brain-dead when everything was at its end, was not your mother, she acted as a surrogate for...me.”

After a brief pause, Theresa began speaking again, “...The truth is, I substituted my own DNA and allowed her to carry you while paying her a hefty sum of money for it. I knew that the likelihood of survival was extremely low for you, I knew that when that woman injected poison into her veins, it would all but destroy you. And yet…”

Dr. Hagen choked on emotion as she paused, her hand moved from the glass and the faint sound of tears being brushed away could be barely heard.

“And yet you survived.” She finally said, continuing with a heavy tone, “Not only survived, but you became the only viable subject for the Blue Swan Neuro Implant, Morningstar Nanites, and Cronus Gene. The perfect subject and the final result of our research.”

Dr. Theresa touched the glass softly once again. “I should feel joy for completing years of research and hard work,” She said in a voice full of self-mockery. “But even if I pretend to be excited for what I accomplished, I feel nothing but regret for my selfish decision...What kind of mother would make her own child into this?”

As Dr. Hagen finished speaking, she broke down into tears that resonated in Visette’s mind.

The crying grew louder and louder until it resembled the cry of an alarm rather than a human showing emotional instability.

It was a high-pitched ringing that filled Visette’s consciousness.

…

The ringing of the academy’s fire alarm combined with Visette’s ears recovering from the shock they experienced created an odd noise as she regained her wits.

Visette opened her eyes as the emergency sprinklers poured generous amounts of water into the smoke field floor.

Memories aside, Visette first examined her current condition.

‘Heart rate, normal. Mild concussive effects, unlikely to impede mental processes. State of internal organs, minute damage to lungs and kidneys. Skeletal structure, small fractures to several ribs. Synopsis, the primary psionic field I created managed to negate a majority of the explosion but ultimately was destroyed due to not properly estimating the destructive force. The secondary psionic field prevented greater injury from occurring but failed to completely reduce the force of impact. Current condition ...acceptable.’

Visette rose to her feet and removed the shattered ballistic mask from her face, tossing it aside. It appeared that some shrapnel propelled by the explosion was the source of its destruction. Her armor that was meant to stop bullets was also rendered useless so she removed the black vest from her body as it was completely unnecessary. There was nothing to say about the melted hunk of plastic that should’ve been a radio. She was even forced to toss the rifle aside as it couldn’t survive the event, but knife affixed as a bayonet managed to make it through.

With only a knife in her hand, Visette turned her sight toward the stairwell leading to the third floor. The disheveled strands of white hair added to her distressed image, but her eyes remained calm and still.

She recalled the trap that was set for her and made mental notes of how she would have acted differently if given the chance. If she simply blocked the pathway of the explosion with a psionic barrier, the energy would be forced to move elsewhere.

The revelation that was imparted to her by Dr.Hagen took up less of an important role in her mind because of the fact she failed to properly comprehend it. Knowing, that one of her creators was, in fact, her biological mother created a strange conflict of information. On one hand, she wanted to designate it as miscellaneous information, but on the other, she felt it held some significance though she couldn’t explain why. Her mind was unable to process the significance of knowing her biological mother, so without a way to properly accept the information, she ignored it for the time being.

‘The topic of Dr.Hagen is currently irrelevant.’ She told herself as she advanced upstairs.

She sent out a psionic pulse and felt multiple presences that were most likely awaiting the arrival of an enemy. There was only a knife in her hand and the Abnormals waiting for her were likely to be armed.

Even while knowing that, Visette pushed open the metal door and was greeted by a team of Abnormals who pointed their guns directly at her.

“...It’s Visette Thales! She was the one killing all of our guys!” An Abnormal shouted before grabbing his radio.

He attempted to send a message, but his body froze before his limbs began to move. He panicked as the out of body sensation instilled pure fear in his heart. He wanted to cry out to his companions, but they seemed to be under the same effects as him.

Out of the dozen Abnormals gathered, none of them were able to move. They could only stare ahead at the stone-faced girl who stood with her hand outstretched.

The Abnormals at the far back of the group raised their weapons and began firing at their companions without hesitation. Muffled cries emerged from their lips as they were forced to gun down people they had called friends not too long ago.

Just like that, more than half of the group was dealt with, leaving the inadvertent murderers to be dealt with. One of them suddenly made a strange, retching sound, as an incredible force squeezed his torso from all sides forcing large amounts of blood out of his face.

Visette had realized one thing, the lives of the students were only important to the members of the government. The likelihood of someone that could prove useful to her being among their number was incredibly low. So, if they witnessed her psionic abilities, she would deal with accordingly. In her eyes, maintaining her safety was her highest priority and everything else came second. She was aware of the scope of her abilities so it didn’t make sense for her to risk her own life for non-essential individuals. There was also the fact that without conclusive evidence, there was almost no one on Novo Prime who could possibly guess the true nature of her ability.

As the epiphany hit her, an Abnormal let out a short scream as his body was thrown into a wall and he was crushed against it like an insect. The last remaining Abnormal seemed to have suffered a mental break as he let out a continuous laugh of disbelief through his clenched jaw.

Unwilling to waste any time on the man, she forced his neck to twist 180 degrees and soon stepped over his body.

She moved into a room, finding the very last group of students all rigged up to an explosive device. With her knife in hand, she moved toward the loose wiring and pinched one of the cords connected to the highly-volatile explosives.

“What are you doing?! You’re gonna blow us all up if you just cut a random cord!” A teacher screamed in a panic.

“Stop!” A student was clearly fearful of such an outcome and voiced their dissent.

“Yeah, just, wait for the DSF to come! We’ll be okay until then!”

“Don’t touch it! My father’s a councilor and if I die, you’ll be in trouble!”

Visette ignored all of them and cut a random wire, of course, she altered the electrical signal before doing it. To the students, it appeared she had cut a wire without any rhyme or reason, but she disabled it before the wire was severed.

She tossed her knife in front of one of the students and left the room without saying another word. There was one remaining room, a small office, where two presences remained so she headed straight for it.

A detailed scan of the interior showed the two people inside were normal human beings who were still alive.

She gripped the door handle and ripped it off the hinges, tossing it away and entering the room with a psionic distortion field around her.

“Don’t move! I’ll kill him!” Jonah shouted as he pressed a gun to the head of Arthur who was bound in a chair.

Visette took a moment to assess the situation before speaking, “You will not kill Arthur as the only possibility of escape is reliant on you keeping him alive.”

Jonah cocked the gun and pushed it against Arthur’s head, “Do you think I won’t? I’m dead either way right...? Did you already kill my father? What about my mother? You’re going to kill me too aren’t you?!”

Visette recalled Lyn’s words about capturing Jonah alive or killing him.

“Yes, I am,” She answered with what Jonah felt was surprising honesty.

Arthur, who couldn’t speak, let his horrified expression speak for him. Even if she planned to kill Jonah, telling him that fact outright was the same as telling him to kill Arthur.

Jonah, who was expecting some sort of negotiation, recoiled for a second before attempting to fire a bullet into Arthur’s skull, but his hand went stiff.

“What-” He uttered before he felt a pair of hands gripping his throat.

Visette lifted the young man into the air while squeezing his windpipe.

“Ahk! Ah! Ah!” Jonah struggled for a moment before Visette crushed his trachea without a change in her expression.

Arthur couldn’t see anything as he was bound to the chair, but the eerie noise of death that resonated behind him was enough to frighten him.

‘Was this what Charlie meant?!’ The question rang out in his head. ‘Or does Charlie even know how crazy Visette is?!’

Visette’s beauty made the fact that she was a cold-hearted killer an even harder pill to swallow.

The girl in question turned her gaze to Arthur and he jolted as he seemed to feel those empty eyes gazing at him from behind.

“...Charlie recognizes you as a friend. Your continued survival may help avoid negative effects on her mental state.”

After speaking her mind, Visette pried off Arthur’s restraints and left the office before he could say a word.

Once she stepped outside, she saw the sight of Lyn standing at the opposite side of the hallway. Her breathing was hurried and her gaze was frantic, indicating she likely rushed over after the explosion. As Visette’s radio was destroyed by the blast, she had no way of hearing all of Lyn’s panicked calls.

“...You!” Lyn shouted while showing a visibly relieved expression. She didn’t even take a single look at the bodies littering the floor and approached Visette, seeing the scorch marks on her clothes.

“You could’ve died,” Lyn finally said.

“It was unlikely I would have,” Visette responded.

She could admit she faced an unexpected danger, but she never felt she had come close to death. Her reaction was fast enough to prevent massive amounts of damage and even if she suffered a great deal, the Cronus Gene would activate, forcing her into a crystallized state for a period of time so her body could be repaired.

“Oh fuck off! I told you, you don’t have to go out of your way to follow through with orders and yet you do that exact thing! I thought you were blown to pieces and here you are without a care in the fucking world! Do you know how fucking pissed that makes me?” Lyn replied with clear anger.

In her eyes, it appeared Visette had a careless disregard for her own safety when it was actually the exact opposite.

Even now, Visette’s mind was building a counter strategy so that she would never fall into such a situation again.

After Visette stood through a few more minutes of Lyn’s shouting, the process of a cleanup began. Bodies of the dead were recovered while students were taken to see doctors before being released into the custody of their parents. With the exception of the professors, the number of students was largely unaffected. Of course, Jonah didn’t count as Visette made sure to kill him.

…

Recoiling from the shock of their failed attack, Fox sat alone in his office, facing a terminal. Although he wanted to digest the feeling of failure and prepare for New Mayhall’s retaliation, he wasn’t able to as something far more important came up.

The screen of Fox’s terminal shifted a few times before a video call was established.

“Hello?” Fox spoke.

On the other side of the screen, there was a young man in a clean grey suit with neat hair sitting in a chair. His outfit was arranged perfectly, without a single thread out of place.

“You’re the one known as Fox, correct?” He spoke in a business-like tone.

“Yes, and you are?” Fox inquired.

“I am a representative of Eden Hall, my name isn't very important. We’ve expressed our wishes to establish a cooperative relationship with you previously, correct?”

“That’s right.” Fox nodded.

“Yes, well, a small issue has arisen and we’d like to inform you of it first before we reach out to the other cities.”

“... Sure.” Fox was a bit nervous about Eden Hall cutting ties but it didn’t seem that was the case so he voiced his acceptance easily.

“Very good, I’ll send you a video now, please watch it and contact me immediately after.”

The representative ended the call before a prompt flashed on Fox’s screen. He clicked it and waited for the video to play which didn’t take long. It depicted an Abnormal that had been captured and restrained inside of a testing area.

Fox peered at the timestamp in the upper corner of the screen, seeing it was the very start of the video, so he began to skip ahead by a few days. Nothing had really changed, but as he skipped once more, his face warped into an expression of pure horror. He pushed himself away from the desk and rapidly paced around the room while mumbling incoherently.

“No, no, no.” He repeated to himself, running his hands through his hair before letting out a groan of frustration.

He turned his attention to the video and his condition only grew worse the longer he watched. It soon came to an end and he immediately called the Eden Hall representative after it ended.

“So, Fox, as an Abnormal with exceedingly high intelligence, what do you think?”

“What do you want in exchange for a trade?!” Fox asked desperately. “The current state of this city isn’t nearly enough to make it through something like that!”

“Please, calm down, for now, the situation is contained, but you are now aware of their capabilities. We will be delivering a large cache of weapons to you, but in exchange, we require samples of blood from the strongest Abnormals within your city. We’ve already sent an aircraft to deliver on our part as well as a team of medical professionals to retrieve blood samples. Also, we ask that you cease your conflicts with any other city during this time for reasons that should be most obvious after seeing that video.”

“O-Of course.” Fox nodded vigorously.

“I am very pleased we’ve come to an understanding, we will be in contact should we be interested in anything else. Thank you for your cooperation.” The representative smiled before the call was ended.

Whatever the content of the video included, it left a long-lasting effect on Fox as he had yet to recover his former bearing. Instead of calming down, he opened a drawer and retrieved a bottle of liquor before twisting off its cap and taking a large drink of it.

“By Anton’s soul,” He whispered to himself as he closed his eyes.