Killian lay against a tree, his mouth open, snoring so loudly that he nearly woke himself up. His dreams were nothing special. They were mostly just him doing some monotonous task as interesting and strange things happened around him. The last time he slept, he dreamt he was sweeping the mansion floors as Fellipe walked past, gun in hand and repeatedly shot it at the floor.

It was a weird dream, but nothing that was too strange from the others. However, this dream was a new beast entirely. The dream transported him back to the worst moment of his life. It was the event that changed everything for him and ruined his life for good. It was the day he was born. He couldn’t remember too much about the day, since he was just born after all, but he remembered his mother’s face anytime she looked at him.

He only saw disgust as she looked at him. That look she had specially designed for him filled his guts with an outrageous fury. He hated it so much that all he could do to relieve it was beat on the closest person to him. Then she died. He remembered the funeral as if it were yesterday. Although his father had tears at the corner of his eyes, Killian couldn’t have looked more disinterested.

Then there was his father. He was a brute of the man, standing at a neat six foot six. Obviously, he didn’t get his height from him, unless there was some growth spurt he still has yet to go through. The way his father looked at him was completely different from his mother’s. It was one of pride, joy, and respect. He hoped that one day, Killian’d become a much stronger man and lead the gang to glorious reign for years. Look at him now. He left the floor and let the Owerneckers fend for themselves, but he was glad that he did.

He was happy that he left the Owerneckers behind. He never chose them; they chose him. He was forced to go along with their petty game and continue the legacy of bloodshed and murder, and that legacy nearly kept him from climbing with his friends. If he could do it all again, then he’d thank Kauss by smooching him on the lips, but sadly he doesn’t swing that way and would probably cut him if he did.

The image of how Kauss and Helona look blared through his mind. In an uncommon sign of terror and guilt, he shot up and looked around the place. He was laying up against a tree and Linux was lying on the ground, sleeping next to Kauss and Helona.

They looked like they’ve been through something horrendous, especially Kauss. His stomach was nothing but pink and red flesh, throbbing as the Gaxtex shield was healing it. There were still small puncture wounds that bled every now and again. If he looked closely enough, he could see some of his organs as they were being arranged back in place. It nearly made him vomit, and the smell wasn’t making it any better.

Helona’s arm was also mangled beyond recognition. Flesh and meat stuck together in a throbbing pink and red mass. It was healing much faster than Kauss’ injury, probably because her wounds were less severe. He didn’t know what would happen till they open their eyes, so he had to stay alert for any enemies coming too close.

From what Linux told him last night as they settled down, guards would be a lot more active now. He would become a high priority risk and they would capture him at all costs. They wouldn’t kill him - at least he believes they won’t but Killian wasn’t so sure - but they would definitely kill them if captured. Everything was happening so fast. It feels like that day on the first floor where everything wrong that could have happened occurred all in one moment.

Killian stuck his hand out and felt pleasure going from the tip of his finger to his wrist and spread throughout his body. He calmed himself down and removed his hand from the electrical dome. He could thankfully see outside the dome since Linux did something that made it transparent. Something about layers, but he could barely tell what was going on with this stuff. He wasn’t some genius like Helona and Linux were.

Linux groaned and woke up, rubbing his eyes and yawning. When he heard himself, he covered his mouth, muffling his yawn. Linux looked over at Killian, then to Kauss and Helona. Killian made it obvious that he wanted some conformation about their safety.

“They’re going to be fine.” Linux assured him.

“Then why do they smell like they’re dead?”

“You can see their stomach’s moving.”

Their stomachs were moving with the same pattern as someone breathing, but Killian wasn’t too keen on being deluded if they were dead. If they died, he wanted to be told straight up and not lied to. Being lied to only made him angrier and he couldn’t afford that at the moment. He couldn’t let his other self take control in such a vulnerable situation as before.

Linux sighed when he saw Killian not getting it still. These people weren’t just clueless; they were getting on his last nerves. It would be fun to teach, he thought. They’ll look at me with praise and respect. God, was I wrong.

“They might have died for a brief period. Their Gaxtex aren’t broken, so it would have started sending electrical signals back to their brains and revived them. If it were broken, then we’d have a bigger problem.” Killian kept his glare on him, making him a little uncomfortable. “The smell’s just them voiding their bowls. We’ll have to change them.”

Killian took one big whiff and covered his nose. Now that he let his mind settle, he could smell the shit in the air. He calmed himself down, thanking Linux in his mind since if he didn’t tell him, then he’d be in a world of trouble. He grabbed the bag and found some jeans and underwear for them to change into. They needed to be changed since he was sure they would do the same for him if he was in their position. His head erupted in an uncomfortable pain as the smell was beginning to get to him.

Helona had no idea what she was expecting the moment her eyes opened. The feeling of her arm burning kept consistent even in her sleep. As her eyes opened, she thought it would continue burning if she wasn’t dead. However, there was a numbing feeling in her arm, as if someone had shot her up with multiple pain relievers. She wasn’t high though, so it wasn’t some sort of drug. She didn’t know whether to feel disappointed or thankful for that.

She looked around and saw Killian and Linux staring at her. Killian waved at her while Linux’s face was blushing as he was avoiding eye contact with her. She leaned on her good arm and sat up. There were a ton of trees nearby that all bundled together that cast a shadow so dark that she couldn’t see too far into it. They were leaning on a tree on the outskirts of the rest of them.

She looked around for Kauss and saw him with his stomach ripped to shreds. Her heart leapt as she observed the wounds all around him. The shock had made her temporarily forget about her wounded arm and she brushed up against it, sending a wave of needles across her arm and wrist. She ignored the pain as much as she could and leaned her ear to Kauss’ mouth. When she heard breathing, her heart slowed back to a calm rhythmic pattern.

She looked at her arm to assess the damage. She was shocked to find that her arm was much better looking than she was expecting. Tiny amounts of green lightning shot out of her arm as she could see tiny fabrics of muscle heal and repair itself as blood exited and re-entered her wounds.

“What happened?”

Linux explained to her about what happened after the fight and she nodded with each new piece of information. She couldn’t help but feel disappointed when he said they didn’t hide the bodies. Even if they would have figured it out anyway, actively hiding the evidence could have slowed them down a bit.

“So are we going to hunt a Tetson soon?” Helona asked.

“When you and Kauss get healed. Otherwise we wait.”

“And how long could that be.” Killian asked.

Linux looked over Kauss’ injuries. He was healing a tad faster than he anticipated based on the amount of injuries he received. If that was the case and it wasn’t his eyes playing tricks on him, then they could get everything done in barely two day’s time.

“He should be awake either by tonight or tomorrow. Until then we rest and hope that no one comes.”

Helona looked around them. “So we’re just sitting in the open.”

Linux shook his head. “Nope, we’re under a Gax Dome.” He pointed at a few places and Helona looked around. Sticking out of the ground were several Gaxtexes sparking blue energy. She looked at the tree and saw some more Gaxtexes jutting out of the bark. “It took some math, but I positioned them to hide us completely.”

“Where’s the dome?”

“I didn’t add as many layers as Felxin had. We’re hidden in here, and we can see out there. If you look closely, you can see some electricity in the air.”

Helona squinted her eyes and focused as hard as she could. Linux was right; she could see some electricity in the air, but it wasn’t enveloped completely because they had fewer layers. That brought up a question in her mind.

“Why have all those layers over the town? Wouldn’t that just waste energy when you could do this just fine?”

Linux bowed his head, his face downcast in the tree’s shadow. Light beat down through the leaves and cast on him, giving him a momentary spotlight. He didn’t like the light shining on him, but he liked the warmth coming from it.

“People will do anything to forget about the danger out here.” Linux said. “Not all of them, but even the ones calling for change will back out of it when the time comes.”

On that note, she took her time to take in her surroundings. It was only then when she realized she had different pants on than when she had fainted. Suddenly, a smell wafted to her nose. It was faint enough to not notice right away, but now that she could smell it, it wouldn’t leave her senses.

“What’s that smell?” Helona asked.

“We had to change you cause you shit yourselves.” Killian said, pointing at a bag. Some more clothes and Kauss’ vase lay beside it in order to not dirty them either. “Well, I changed you. He refused to help as soon as I took off your pants.”

Linux’s face reddened again, and he looked away. Helona couldn’t help but chuckle from his uncomfortability. He needed to get laid or else he’ll be a prude forever. However, she wasn’t going to take up that offer right now considering her boyfriend was in dire need of attention.

She slid beside Kauss and pinched her nose shut. The bag filled with their soiled pants and jeans was still in here and although the bag blocked out the smell a brief amount, it still filled up the place with a nauseating stench. She knew why they couldn’t just throw it out, however. It would just lead the guard’s right to them. Even if they threw it out far from here, they’d have to be out in the open for a sizable amount of time, with the smell trailing them everywhere they went.

Sadly, they just had to suck it up and wait for nightfall.

Linux’s head tilted to the left, his eyes half closing. He was so tired that he felt like he was going to pass out any second. The sky twinkled with stars that Helona refused to look away from. At first it was kind of adorable how she looked up at the sky, but it quickly became concerning as she went minutes in between each blink.

The cool air breezed through her hair and her eyes glittered from the star’s reflections. The moment was frozen in a state of tranquility. Nothing could bother them in this state of being. Killian was dozing off while Kauss still had yet to wake. Helona’s hand constantly remained on his chest, the only part that wasn’t truly injured.

Kauss had healed a tremendous amount over the past few hours. His stomach was closing in on itself and there were no more holes that let them peek into his insides. It was annoying trying to keep bugs out of his stomach, and they weren’t sure if they were successful in keeping them all out. In the patches where his skin was healed fully, his skin was tinted red from the recovery.

Now that most of his body was healed, everyone could see his stomach rising and falling with the ease of a tired man. Everything was finally at ease for once.

“Linux,” Helona asked. “You said we were dead, right?” Linux nodded. Soon after Helona had woken up and they talked about the changing incident, he explained what had happened. “So does that mean the people we killed can be brought back?”

Linux shrugged. “Depends on where you hit ‘em. If the brain or heart isn’t damaged then the Gaxtex can easily get them working again by supplying the brain with electrical signals. However, if they are damaged then before it sends out the signals, it needs to heal those organs first since without them active you’d just be a corpse.”

“The brain takes several hours to heal by itself with how complicated it functions, so if the brain’s injured, then you're never reviving.”

“Didn’t you just say that it’ll send signals to the brain though? So once its fully healed, why can’t someone behave like normal?”

“Yeah, but if the brain doesn’t have any oxygen intake for hours then it’ll be beyond repair. A person revived in that state is just a dead man with brain functionality.”

Helona nodded, understanding the gist of what he was saying. She just wanted to make sure that the guard she killed stayed dead. What’s worse than having someone after their lives is that someone holding a grudge against them. She knew Kauss stabbed that man in the heart, so he should be dead as well. She looked at Killian who shrugged.

“I crushed her throat, but I don’t know how useful that is.”

“Then if they can get a Gaxtex Sheild in time she’ll be revived. Whether she remembers you or not is the bigger question.”

Linux picked up a flower that was swaying beside him. Its white rose petals folded up and pointed toward the sky. Green petals poked out from the center and each of them pointed in three different directions. It bothered him as it continuously brushed up against his hand, so when he yanked it from the ground, he tossed it outside the dome. He looked over at where the flower had fallen and his eyes widened at what he saw.

Killian was about to ask Linux something, but when he saw his face, he knew there was something going down. He looked where Linux was staring at and his breath stopped for a second. He grabbed Helona’s attention and pointed. She looked and their eyes were all on the same sight.

Going across their field of vision, several guards surrounded three people, all of them looking as if they had some importance. They were marching across the open field as monsters moved out of the way of the tiny militia. Killian didn’t know who those three people were or why they carried an air of majesty, but from Linux’s face, he could tell they were in his every thought.

“Who are they?” Killian asked.

“Three of the five head council members.” Linux said, his voice shaking.

He could name every one of them. Oculn, the man that slayed the Tetson and somehow become resource head of the council. Elest, starting out as a lowly private and working his way up to the head of the guards. Finally, Wenel, a man that obtained a masters in accounting and was elected head of economy. The ones not there were Pigmy, the head of Education, and Rugel, the head of the Council.

Linux had no idea what they were planning for him. He had an idea about where they were going to do, but he prayed to god that it wasn’t the case. However, the more he thought about it, the more logical it became until it turned into the only option.

“They’re going to Olten.” Linux whispered.

“Where?” Helona asked.

“Olten is the second town on this floor.”

“And what’s so special about it?”

Linux looked at the both of them, his face steeled with anger and disbelief. Helona didn’t know what he was about to say, but from his face alone, she knew it would be nothing short of disastrous.

“It’s where the elevator is.”