Xander could still hear it, the crunch of bone. With the older man in the first cabin, Xander was too shocked to process that he was the one who put a hole in his forehead. At the time, he simply swung his hammer in pure instinct, an ancient part of his brain screaming at him to get rid of the pain’s source.

Now that he has had time to reorganize his thoughts, Xander realizes how vile it was.

When Xander’s hammer struck the crazed woman’s nape, it felt like breaking an eggshell.

The taste of copper in the air as blood flowed across the floor tasted foul in the house, making Xander retch and his eyes teary.

And it wasn’t the way she crumpled on the floor or how she had that savage grin still plastered on her face. Instead, it was the illusion that deep in that woman’s eyes was a trapped soul wanting to break free of a cursed spell, wanting—begging—to be saved. To take away the pain.

Be put down like some street mutt dying on the sidewalk.

That made it feel so much worse.

The cold hard reality finally bashed its ugly head into Xander’s mind.

All eager thoughts about experiencing alien technology and undergoing a drastic change that improved him were dashed away.

Xander and Anna left the cabin with Isaac, carrying the patched-up teenager in his arms. The middle-aged man—the teenager’s father—followed behind while treating his face wound.

After Isaac double-checked to see the cabin area empty of any life signs, they made their way back to the hotel lobby, which was now much fuller with people.

The young security guard left the two Conscripts to get a handle on the current situation.

Xander and Anna didn’t mind. They went to the corner of the lobby, away from everyone else.

They leaned on the wall and slid down exhausted.

Xander could hear light sobbing coming from his partner. He laid his arms around her shoulder and brought her closer.

He rested his cheek against her hair and caught her favorite shampoo scent, which smelled like coconut and mint. But under all that was the faint smell of copper.

Flashes of that kill reemerged.

And the memories of a past trauma long ago finally came full force.

A mad call for retribution. An explosion. Flashes of choking smoke, mangled bodies on the mall floor. A piece of metal on his gut. Anna with tears carrying her unconscious little sister.

He thought he defeated that trauma—buried it so deep in his memory vaults and locked it tight. He felt proud of still being able to tolerate flames and the sounds of fireworks, unlike Anna.

She was the most affected by that event. While Xander was too busy with his own injury and searching for a way out, Anna held onto her little sister Nina who accompanied the two to the supermall. Unfortunately, Nina was knocked unconscious from the shockwave, and blood ran down her head. Xander has never seen her look so petrified before.

His affection for her never wavered. He loved her too much for that to ever change. But a small vain part of himself wanted to pity her and coddle her like a fragile chick.

He wanted to revel in feeling tougher than everyone else, stronger. He would never let that side of him come out and squashed it anytime it tried to.

But he still felt it, had thoughts about it and felt unbearable shame.

As he sat there on the hotel floor with Anna, he clutched onto her as much as she did. They needed to grasp onto a lifeline despite feeling like they were drowning in a violent ocean.

He never felt so weak despite never being as physically strong as he was now.

Anna was worse, her eyes closed tight and body shaking, despite Xander’s attempt to comfort her.

It took a few minutes for them to pick themselves up, but they were left drained of emotion. So when Isaac came forward and asked them how they were holding up, the two played it off as best they could.

“It’s fine. It’s nothing new,” Anna spoke with a brave facade with a brittle smile.

“Don’t mind us. How’s everyone else? Team B?”

Xander maneuvered the conversation, not wanting to think about their fight. For his part, Isaac merely sighed but understood when not to pry.

“We’re about done. Some of the guests on the last floor are already down. Team B is fine, but the guy in the business suit got stabbed in his shoulder,” Isaac reported, pushing his lensless glasses up, “Other than that, two of the security guards went out and checked the grounds just in case we missed anyone. Apparently, they had to put down a crazy standing around naked and howling into the sky.”

Isaac chuckled, but there was no humor in his voice.

In the end, Team B came back down the elevator looking much worse than their own. Albert and Joyce's special gauntlets projected a circular translucent emerald shield from its dazzling gem on their right forearms. But having no ranged weapons on hand meant they had to brawl their way through.

Blood splatters were clear on their faces and arms. Their clothes were in varying degrees of damage, ripped by hand or sliced by a blade.

Peter held his bandaged arm as he ran out of the elevator pale and tear-stricken.

Joyce’s face looked dazed and morose. She stumbled out of the elevator and went straight to slump on one of the lobby couches.

Albert looked horrible. He had scratches on his face and limped towards their group with a tight-lipped face.

“Albert, what happened?” Isaac moved forward and placed a hand on his shoulder.

Albert almost fell forward but managed to keep himself upright.

“There’s one more room filled with ‘em, but we decided to get help before tackling it,” Albert mumbled before exhaling slowly, “there were five of them up top we had to fight beforehand. The first two we fought on their lonesome. It was… difficult. But the last floor was where we screwed up. Three of them jumped us and nearly killed Joyce if it wasn’t for Peter.”

“Wait, Peter? That wreck who looks one step away from a panic attack?”

Seeing Team A’s surprise, Albert continued.

“Yeah, surprised me too. Brother is an awkward fellow, but he stopped one of the corrupted from stabbing Joyce in the back, though he got stabbed. He fought like a cornered rat, paralyzed his opponent, and bashed the guy’s head with his weapon,” Albert wearily sighed, “we all fought like rats. I should have asked for a gun instead of this shield. You can block and bash with it, but that’s it.”

Xander was curious about that but didn’t have the energy to inspect their device. However, his ONIM already detected it, so he’ll read it when he wasn't a total wreck.

After conversing with one another and double-checking their [Maps] for anyone they missed, their ONIMs dinged in their heads.

• Missions • Mission update! Priority Mission: Investigate the Marco for Corrupted Humans. Eliminate with extreme prejudice.

Threat level: Low

Rewards: 5 Nexus Merits, 100 Lumina Shards Objectives

- Locate all Corrupted Humans (Completed) - Eliminate all Corrupted Humans (In progress: 9/14)

Xander looked at the updated mission objective. Now that they’ve scoured the hotel premises of hostiles and gathered all the remaining guests, it was high time to finish what they’d started.

Looking at the second objective, Xander scowled at how many were left in the room. Then, after checking his [Map], he confirmed it and saw all five huddled in the room. There was another faint light lying on the floor, but after a few seconds, it dimmed to nothing.

Resentment and anger filled Xander.

While he was wallowing in self-pity, someone else paid the ultimate price.

He wanted to rage against the unfairness of it all. Where were the police and the military at this time? Why did it have to be him to go into that room and face many murdering lunatics?

After a moment of self-reflection, Xander realized that he was always like this in the end.

At his core, he always envisioned himself as a paragon of competence. And felt better whenever things were in his control. It took a considerable amount of trust for Xander to hand things over to another person.

Then again, he was considerate for the most part. He definitely wouldn’t blame Albert for not heading into that room with an injured team. That would’ve spelled their early graves.

After a moment’s deliberation, both teams combined to tackle the last enemy holdout except Joyce and Peter, who were in too much shock that they would’ve been a detriment to the party’s cohesion.

Still, four versus five was quite the risk. An extra opponent meant one of their team members would have to engage two simultaneously.

There were, however, significant advantages that they could employ. One, the Conscripts and singular Support had the initiative. The enemy was holed up in a single room and seemed content to stay there.

Two, they had better gear.

Joyce and Peter handed over their equipment to Isaac and Albert to shore up their weaknesses. The bespectacled security guard wished to act more independently without relying on Xander to protect him whenever a hostile charged him. Albert, meanwhile, needed an extra option as his energy shield limited him to melee range.

The third was the [Map]. With it, Anna could aim her Slugger against the wall and have it lined up against one of the Corrupted Humans. At the very least, it should disable one of them and even out the numbers game.

Xander breathed in slowly and steeled his nerves as he and his teammates entered the elevator that took them up. He looked toward Anna while gripping his hammer close to his chest.

“You ready?”

“Yeah. Don’t worry, I can do it. Using the [Map] as wallhacks was my idea.”

“Oh? I didn’t realize we were playing an FPS.”

Anna snorted, and the corner of her lips twisted up slightly.

Xander calmed down at that. Finally, the elevator dinged at their destination, and the doors opened.

The four exited with Isaac and Albert on point, shields raised. Amazingly enough, their weapons were able to phase through the energy field. The barrels of their guns poked out slightly as a bright glow surrounded the intersection. Xander made sure to read more about the shield and find a way to acquire one for his own use.

The fifth-floor hallway usually gave off a warm feeling that welcomed its guests. With light, mocha-painted walls and dark wooden bases as a contrast. The grape-colored carpeted floor spanned throughout the hall, softening the footfalls of the team.

Everyone’s posture was bent low like tigers ready to pounce. Or, more accurately, street dogs prepared to bite in desperate defense.

Once they closed in on the door, the hairs on Xander’s back stood up as he sensed an ominous and dangerous aura. It was faint, but enough that the four who felt it slowed down. Xander grimaced and motioned toward his comrades.

“Something’s wrong.”

Albert’s eyebrows furrowed.

“It didn’t feel like this when my team and I were on this floor.”

“Did we ever question why they’re all just staying in one room?”

“Having a circle-jerk or something?”

Xander and Albert looked at Anna with blank expressions, though Xander was slightly amused.

Isaac remained stoic as ever.

“Whatever it is, it doesn’t bode well for anyone. So let’s hurry this up.”

Everyone nodded in agreement. It didn’t take long before Xander, and the group was right by the target door. Already, they could hear a faint cacophony of ramblings and insane prayers through the hotel room wall.

Anna promptly pulled up her [Map]. Next, she positioned the floating camera so that its perspective matched hers. Then, she slowly raised her Slugger towards the closest enemy in the room.

The team waited with bated breath and drops of sweat snaking down their foreheads. The atmosphere was so tense one could cut it with a knife.

It felt as if everything was brought to a standstill at the final moment. And the electric blue light emanated from the barrel of Anna’s handgun flashed. A kinetic slug exited the barrel and easily penetrated the wall. Bits of concrete exploded as the bullet traveled into the room.

Then all sound came crashing back in as a pained wail was heard within.

Mad footsteps quaked as the occupants moved about.

“Get ready! They’re rushing us!”

As per the plan, Isaac and Albert raised their shields toward the door on either side as per the plan. Ready to stem the flow and deal with a few injuries as the crazies came out. Anna moved behind Xander with her Slugger raised as the other readied his hammer to immediately strike the first foe.

After a brief second and the insane shouts came closer and closer towards them, the door's barrier flew open as the first opponent came rushing in.

Albert—who was where the door swung—pushed with all his might to close the door back and prevent the others from coming through.

The crazed man was alone without assistance and made for easy prey.

“Now!”

Isaac's shield bashed the lone corrupted on the shoulder, staggering him. Then, he fired a single paralysis pulse right at the man’s face for good measure.

Paralyzed, Xander swung his hammer between the man’s neck and shoulder, shattering his collar bone and bringing the body down onto the floor.

Albert, unable to hold back the tide for more than a few seconds, dropped his resistance and moved back beside Xander, exhausted.

Another man and a woman came through and charged Isaac.

The security guard fired another pulse at the man. Then, he moved out of the way of the corrupted’s fall and focused on his last opponent—who lunged at his shield with mad glee.

Anna fired at the next opponent, who rushed out, a thin-looking, bloodied man holding a steak knife. The kinetic slug struck the man’s sternum and exited out of his back. The bullet's force threw the man back into the room in a bloody mess.

The last enemy maneuvered out of his ally’s fall and threw herself at Xander and Anna.

The crazed woman had a massive bullet wound on her right shoulder, as evident by the dead limb dragged through the air.

Xander held onto his hammer’s handle and used the middle to shove the woman toward Albert’s shield.

The Moro man immediately shield-bashed the woman into the hallway wall. Xander moved towards the crazed human, hammer raised. Anna, meanwhile, went to assist Isaac, who was having a difficult time with his opponent. His shield was proving incredibly useful, the corrupted’s fingers gripping the edges in an attempt to wrench it out of the security guard’s hands. Isaac could not fire his pulser as he utilized both hands to prevent the attacker from taking his shield.

“I got Isaac!”

Xander nodded and swung his hammer once he was in the range of the woman slumped against the wall.

Despite her grievous injuries, the woman dropped down with all the grace of a fish out of water. Nevertheless, she managed to dodge the horizontal strike from Xander by an inch—the air from the swing blew her hair to the side.

The woman lunged for Xander’s legs.

A flash of the old man biting his shin flashed in his mind, and Xander panicked as he stumbled backward to avoid the attack but felt his back hit the wall behind him.

“Oh no, you don’t!”

Albert, by his side, promptly kicked the woman on the stomach and away from Xander.

The woman rolled across the floor in a tangle of limbs. Her body convulsed as the number of injuries finally accumulated to the point where her muscles began failing her.

“Thanks.”

Xander thanked Albert with labored breaths as he looked at the rest of his team.

Anna was able to grab Isaac’s assailant from his energy shield and threw the corrupted onto the floor.

Anna and Isaac leveled their guns and fired at the downed opponent’s body.

However, the first corrupted who exited the door recovered from his paralyzed and injured state. Though the man was incredibly groggy in his movements, he managed to raise himself up and started toward Anna’s back. Xander and Albert rushed toward the corrupted and eliminated him before he could go any further.

“Shit! Behind you, Anna!”

Anna turned around in surprise with her Slugger swinging towards the sneaky bastard.

It wasn’t needed as Xander reached the corrupted with his enhanced physique at record speed. Xander brought the crazed man down with a heavy blow, ending him with his hammer.

Isaac gestured at Anna and pointed at the remaining hostile, who was still on the floor but slowly recovering from his paralyzed state.

“There’s still another.”

Anna grimly nodded as she finished the corrupted man with a single slug.

The four huddled together as they looked over each corpse in the hallway before heading inside the room. Once the group of fighters confirmed four dead bodies, the team could breathe out in relief. Xander used his hammer as a cane and leaned into it with little stamina left in him.

“Fucking hell, that was tough.”

“Yes, brother, it was. You did well.”

“Let’s hold off on the congratulations. We still have one more body inside.”

Isaac motioned for everyone to gather as they prepared to head inside. Xander had to give it to the bespectacled security guard, he was a competent guy, and he had no problem with his leadership. He felt relief knowing that the hotel guests would have him and Albert to protect them after this mission.

The team steeled themselves as they passed the open door. Immediately, they found the bled-out corpse of the corrupted Anna, shot in the chest, confirming that they had finally finished their mission.

Still, they weren’t going to leave things to chance and wanted to investigate the interior for any other threats, both out of moral obligation and curiosity.

Their inquisitive expressions morphed into disgust as they said what lay within.

“Jesus Christ, what is this?”

“Oh God, I’m gonna be sick.”

Anna proceeded to wretch as the rest continued to look on with apprehension.

Inside the room was something that looked straight out of a horror film. Something that could only be described as a summoning circle written in blood filled the central space surrounded by scented hotel candles, casting the room with a foreboding orange glow. The furniture has all been upturned and pushed toward the walls to make space. The sigils and symbols were the same alien script Xander, Anna, and Isaac found in the old man’s cabin. It similarly gave a dreadful feeling and made their eyes itch. However, the most egregious element was the naked corpse in the center of the bloody circle.

Strange markings were sliced throughout the young man’s chest for reasons unknown.

Albert knelt and immediately began saying his religion’s prayers.

Xander, Anna, and Isaac moved toward the corpse.

“What should we do?”

“Let’s get the body out of here at least and mess up this summoning circle or whatever the hell it is.”

Anna motioned for the rest before she began swiping the bloody symbols with her shoe.

The two men did the same. Then, Xander went to the bathroom and grabbed a pail of water to throw onto the circle while Isaac grabbed a blanket.

Once the alien writings were cleared away and the sacrificial body moved out of the room, the atmosphere was finally cleared of that fog of dread that they felt.

“So it was those symbols making us feel so frightened.” Xander rubbed his goatee with a curious expression. Isaac wearily sighed as he made his way out of the room.

“Whatever it was, if those five finished doing whatever they were doing, it would have been terrible for everyone.”

Everyone nodded in agreement.

“I just realized. This is happening everywhere, right? What if the Conscripts and Supports failed to stop this?”

Everyone stopped in their tracks as they turned toward Xander.

“It takes just one group to deal incredible damage to this city. We all know this." Xander winced as he turned to the Moro man beside him. "Oh, sorry, Albert.”

Albert scoffed and waved his hand in dismissal.

“Those were scum, evil and terrible scum for what they did three years ago. So many brothers and sisters suffered in their attack as well.”

Isaac rubbed his eyes behind his glasses.

“Xander is right. It’s even worse since anyone can be corrupted as long as they are weak of will. Even that criteria is rather vague.”

“It hasn’t even been a day,” Anna groaned.

“Let’s just head down. I want to be done with tonight.”

The team left the corpses of the corrupted behind, while Albert carried the innocent corpse wrapped with a blanket.

As they entered the elevator and traveled down, Xander felt incredibly tired, mentally and physically. The actions he did today made him feel dirty. He wanted nothing more than to take a hot shower to cleanse himself.

He glanced at Anna and saw she was more or less okay. She wasn’t a nervous wreck and was similarly exhausted.

As they exited the elevator and into the main lobby, the large crowd of people shifted their attention toward them.

A group of young men and women who seemed to be college students using the hotel as a place to party for the night, looked and saw the face of the corpse Albert was carrying. Immediately they rushed at Albert and bombarded him with questions. It slowly morphed into sorrow filled cries as they took the body out of Albert's hands.

With sullen moods, the Xander, Anna, Isaac and Albert went toward the Harbinger. The alien remained in the foyer for the entirety of the mission providing crucial intelligence using his scans of the hotel.

The Harbinger gazed at the approaching Tier I's and respectfully bowed his floating body.

Once more, Xander's ONIM dinged within in. He tiredly affirmed and the green window was brought up.

• Missions • Mission update! Priority Mission: Investigate the Marco for Corrupted Humans. Eliminate with extreme prejudice.

Threat level: Low

Rewards: 5 Nexus Merits, 100 Lumina Shards Objectives

- Locate all Corrupted Humans (Completed) - Eliminate all Corrupted Humans (Completed) Mission accomplished! +5 Nexus Merits, +100 Lumina Shards, +20 Lumina Shards (Bonus) New ONIM Function: [Inventory] unlocked • Inventory • Nexus Merits 5 Lumina Shards 120 Items Conscript’s Battle Hammer