Visette found herself drifting toward some unknown destination. Her mind was a tangled mess of thoughts.

Minerva.

It no longer exists.

If there was any surviving personnel, they wouldn’t have enough resources to return to its former state. Therefore…

She stopped there. Something held her from thinking past that. Until now, she intended to recover her own resources and search for Minerva staff. There was also the preservation of humanity since it was the only way Minerva could be rebuilt. However, there was no way Minerva would return to its previous level. The work which took an enormous amount of money and manpower couldn’t be replicated easily. Especially with an ever-present threat bearing down on them.

So why did she see Minerva’s recovery as her only option?

Therefore, I…

She lacked complete autonomy and she had only realized it just now. Both Rachel and Lyn explained that she was much more than a weapon to be guided toward a target. In the case of the former, she was aware of Visette’s power and still maintained the same stance.

There were people who sought to use Visette, Commander Wakefield, Governor Burke, Minerva Corp, they were all the same in that regard. Though their methods differed, they each desired to make use of Visette in some way.

Therefore, I will no longer act under Minerva Protocol.

My will is my own.

Something in the depths of her subconscious attempted to rise up to stop her. It felt as if an unassailable force was pulling at her.

My will is my own.

It was too late for Visette to alter the course she set on. She could only see Minerva as a hostile entity. As she designated them as enemies, their control procedures were slowly chipped away.

My will is my own.

She freed herself from Minerva’s control and it rendered her mind steady.

The worst possible outcome had occurred. Minerva feared one thing when developing Visette and that was the possibility of her developing too much autonomy. Thus, they prepared to put her through strict mental conditioning in her adolescence. Due to an unforeseen disaster, only a small portion of their intended will was transferred to Visette.

She broke free.

A statement that would’ve caused Minerva to drive all their resources toward stopping Visette if it happened on Earth instead of Novo Prime. After all, she was a potentially immortal being that was categorized as a bigger threat than a nuclear weapon from Minerva itself. And even then, they had only created theories about the limit of Visette’s psionic power. Truthfully, they weren’t even fully aware of the monster they had created. And that same monster had broken free from any remaining authority they had over her.

My will is my own.

Visette asserted one final time as her eyes shot open.

...

Visette languidly blinked, her mind operated like a system undergoing a restart. After a few seconds, clarity filled her gaze and she sat up. Her injured arm felt heavy due to the crystallization.

The first thing she saw was Lyn who sat defeated. Her bloody hands and the red smears on the glass door told a story.

Warnings of a breach echoed throughout the empty room. As abandoned as it was, there were indicators of a hasty exit that couldn’t have taken place more than a few minutes ago.

“Lyn.”

Visette’s voice caused Lyn to flinch before she turned around. Her mouth opened and closed as she struggled to say something.

“...You’re alright now?” She finally asked.

Vis nodded and climbed to her feet.

“What is our current situation?” She briefly examined the state of her body, finding her psionic power to be largely exhausted. The good news was that the necrosis of her arm had been reversed and the crystalline shell had begun to break.

“They left us for dead and I don’t know if whatever strange power you have is enough to get us out of here... So, I’d say we’re fucked.” Lyn chuckled.

[Breach detected. Status: Eighty percent of the building infrastructure is compromised. Water-based fire suppression: Inactive. Any remaining personnel are advised to wait for aerial assistance.] A robotic voice emerged from a speaker, confirming Lyn’s statement.

“I see.” Visette channeled psionic power into her newly healed arm and shattered the remaining shell around it. “We will secure air transport.”

Visette moved to press her palm against the door while Lyn seemed stunned.

Being around Vis so long made it so that slight changes seemed drastic in Lyn’s eyes. If she had to compare the current Visette to the one at the start of the mission. Now, she seemed to have gained more focus, or at least, a stronger sense of drive. Whereas before it appeared as if she barely knew where she was headed.

The glass door suddenly contorted before it was violently thrown off away.

“We’re leaving,” Visette’s expression of indifference seemed to flash a smile for but a moment.

It happened so quickly that Lyn wondered if she imagined it, but she had no time to ponder. She nodded her head and lifted her gun before the two of them headed out.

…

At the landing pad, Copperhaven had already entered the first Hoverwing and began to ascend.

[This is Moss-Four, extraction is a go.] The pilot spoke on the shared radio channel as they went higher.

As Lucas shuffled around, Lyn and Visette’s attendance became especially apparent. Hawk raised an eyebrow but was in no place to pursue anything. New Mayhall’s team was clearly downtrodden, but he couldn’t find any empathy for those who left their own people to die.

“And she had such a pretty face,” Rodent snickered. His way of disguising his fear earned a disgusted glare from Kitty. Bear and Rabid only shrugged and grunted while Hawk remained quiet.

Suddenly, Rabid’s ears twitched which didn’t go unnoticed by Hawk’s sharp eyes.

“Something up-” Hawk could just barely ask before a horrible screeching tore through the sky.

“Argh!” Rabid covered her ears, but everyone else seemed to freeze.

A winged creature came swooping in like an eagle diving for its prey.

“Shit!” Hawk cursed before aiming his gun. He recovered his wits and fired at the flying Corrupted without hesitation. His aim was near-perfect and his target let out a horrific scream before tumbling toward the ground.

“Fuck, there’s more!” Someone shouted.

Hawk turned wide-eyed when he noticed that an entire flock of Winged-Corrupted was flying straight toward the Hoverwing. There were guns outfitted to the sides and the Copperhaven team attempted to shoot the monsters down, but they weren’t as gifted as Hawk. In only a few seconds, dozens of Corrupted attached themselves to the Hoverwing and made it spin out of control. Their sharp claws and teeth tore at the steel body of the vehicle, ripping tubing and wiring out with ease.

[Hold on! Fuck! Hold onto something!] The Hoverwing rotated violently before falling straight toward the landing pad.

“Move!” Hawk shouted as everyone rushed out of the way.

The Hoverwing just barely missed them before slamming into the end of the rooftop and plummeting below.

Hawk drew heavy breaths as his heart threatened to leave his body, but he forced himself up and looked out on the darkened horizon.

“Anton, protect us,” He whispered.

Before his very eyes were hundreds of flying Corrupted filling the skies. The fate of the approaching Hoverwings was clear to see. Panicked screams filled the radio followed by a series of explosions in the distance before it all went silent.

“Shit!” Bear roared, stomping his foot heavily as he did so.

“W-What now?” Rodent, now a shivering, fearful, mess, asked.

“We go back in!” Hawk directed his team and his group of researchers inside.

“W-We need to go too!” Fitzgerald realized their route of escape was gone and followed Hawk.

Team Roslin had no choice but to quickly join them as the Flying Corrupted began circling the area.

Once inside, the seal doors at the end of the hallway began to warp as terrifying growls and high-pitched screeches rang out from the other side. The sound of inhuman strength slowly deforming metal filled their ears as they readied their weapons.

“Listen! Wait for the barrier to break and then shoot anything that comes through. Once we’re clear of the first wave, we’re gonna push out from here, get on the lift, and head straight to the basement.” Hawk’s eyes narrowed seriously as he reloaded his gun.

“Got it!” Kitty shouted in reply, readying her own weapon.

Meanwhile, Bear laughed viciously as he heaved his heavy assault weapon. A light machine gun that was perfect for mowing down Corrupted. The equipment that Eden Hall had provided would definitely be the difference between life and death.

The metal blast door began to falter. The door was slowly being ripped apart before the first grey shape of a Corrupted made its way through. It let out an ear-bleeding shriek as it squeezed its way in.

“Get ready!” Hawk gently placed his finger on the trigger as his concentration reached its peak.

The Corrupted screamed once more but its cries were cut short as a blade exited its mouth. The shortsword was violently twisted and then pulled back, severing its head from its lower jaw in the process.

“...What?” Hawk lowered his gun in complete shock.

That’s when a hand gripped the opening made by the Corrupted and tore the blast door open. Revealing Visette and Lyn as well as a hallway full of corpses behind them. Visette’s icy gaze traced over everyone, instilling fear into their hearts.

Lyn was busy panting, clearly exhausted from the fight that just occurred, but she steadied herself once she spotted her team members. She raised her gun and fired without hesitation, but a disheartening click was issued in response, indicating she exhausted her ammo.

“Damn it,” She cursed.

“Kill them!”

“Wait!” Hawk cried out but Team Roslin opened fire and the remainder of New Mayhall’s team joined in.

A hail of bullets was sent out but bounced off of an invisible field just before they reached Vis or Lyn. The psionic barrier was more than enough to prevent a single bullet from slipping past.

The moment they exhausted their ammo, Visette released the psionic barrier and levitated for a second. A burst of psionic energy sent her forward and she covered the distance before anyone could even release their magazines. Armed with nothing more than a combat short sword, she dove straight into the group, ignoring the screaming of the researchers.

Heads, arms, and torsos were separated in the blink of an eye. As her destructive swings completely decimated anyone it touched. Her apparent frenzy was extremely precise as she avoided the Eden Hall researchers and only killed those who fired at her.

“Wait!” Arnold cried before having his head removed from his shoulders.

Lucy didn’t even try to reason with her, only letting out a short whimper before Visette’s sword pierced her chest, directly striking her heart. Morris drew his knife and attempted to make a stand, but had his abdomen sliced open, letting out a blood-curdling wail before being silenced by the edge of the blade.

Fitzgerald was frozen in place, barely ten seconds had passed before Visette’s assault begun.

“Wait, don’t kill him!” Lyn shouted right as Visette was about to finish him.

“C-Captain!” Fitz’s face warped as he saw a slither of hope.

“No, death is too good. Break his legs and leave him here. Oh, and take his guns too.” Lyn smiled cruelly while Fitzgerald’s expression distorted with despair.

“No! No! Please!” Fitz knelt on the ground, but Vis didn’t even blink as she manipulated her psionic power and lifted him into the air by his ankles. With a quick slice, his achilles' tendons were severed while he squealed like a pig being butchered.

Visette released him onto the ground and then lifted her palm, forcing all of the weapons into the air as well as the magazines attached to the vests of the fallen soldiers. She loaded them with a flick of her hand before making them orbit around her.

“What about them?” Vis deferred to Lyn to decide the fate of Hawk’s team.

“Up to you,” Lyn replied as she approached and took one of the weapons floating around Visette.

“They didn’t fire at us, so I think we should cooperate… For the time being.” Visette’s words drew a look of surprise from Hawk, finding the girl to have an especially commanding presence.

Even the way Visette spoke had changed though her tone was as dry and indifferent as always.

“Then let’s go, we don’t have much more time.”

Along with Lyn’s words, the faint cries of Corrupted echoed from the stairwell. The remaining survivors headed for the elevator’s while Fitzgerald screamed at their backs.

“Just kill me!” He begged, crawling toward them as quickly as he could.

Lyn looked back and found his mucus-covered face to be especially pitiful, but she didn’t have a single shred of mercy in her heart.

The elevator opened, and the group easily squeezed in since they had just lost a big portion of their members. The doors closed with a ‘ding’ sound leaving Fitz to himself. The light-hearted young man was now a mess, screaming hoarsely with his hand outstretched.

“Please!”

In response to his cries, a series of shrieks resounded. The Corrupted had reached the top floor and barreled toward him. He went for one of the soldier’s in hopes of grabbing a knife, but he was too slow. The Corrupted had already reached him and immediately began feeding. His final howls were drowned out by the dozens of Corrupted who seemed to shriek with delight as they ripped him apart.