The blast doors slid open with an audible hiss of the containment zone becoming depressurized.

Hesitantly, Hiro took a step forward into the room. Frigid moisture latched onto his synthetic skin as the pungent smell of blood assaulted his nostrils.

“Who do you work for? What is your objective? Sabotage?” Nequiv pestered incessantly. “It’s House Ireaud isn’t it? You must know that anything they can offer you, I can offer far, far greater."

I work for no one, Hiro thought, not willing to voice that particular thought aloud. Telling the doctor that would only complicate matters and keeping him guessing was actually giving him a lot of useful information.

Amused, Hiro glanced down at the punitive man dangling helplessly from his right hand. Hiro’s wrist-cannon had snapped back into his wrist, allowing the hand to reform and once again provide prehensile utility. Now it was being used to hold a mutilated Nequiv. It was being put to good use.

After knocking Nequiv off the ceiling and holding him at gunpoint, Hiro had begun shooting commands at the singed and impaired Aug-Smith. Nequiv being at his mercy had reluctantly obeyed. With a sour expression, the doctor had begun extricating himself of all Augmented enhancements. Parts and components-- including his Comms equipment--were forcibly removed from his sleek mechanical frame and immediately crushed by Hiro’s mechanical foot. Eventually the doctor was left naked with only his custom crafted Aug-frame which consisted of his limbs and lower-half of his body. At this point, Nequiv stopped. All had gone well so far for Hiro and so, he demanded that Nequiv continue dismantaling himself.

With an indignant face, Nequiv had refused.

It was only after Hiro had fired off an incendiary slug into the air next to Nequiv's face, then threatened to yank off each of his limbs, did Nequiv finally capitulate.

With an indignant glare at Hiro, Nequiv had continued his disassembling of himself. While mumbling something about basic decency and a man’s dignity, Nequiv began a complicated procedure of extricating himself from his mechanical frame of a body. Finally detached from all his limbs and the mechanical harness of his lower body, Nequiv was merely a disfigured torso and a head.

After Nequiv was effectively disabled and rendered impotent, Hiro had moved on to the containment room where Euna’s dissection had been put on hold. With Nequiv’s identification code and neural imprint, Hiro had effectively gained administrative access to Nequiv’s lab. He no longer had to worry about any guards barging into the lab, but Hiro doubted that any Augmented soldier would ever dare to enter Nequiv’s lab without his express permission.

Now, there was nothing standing in between Hiro and Euna. No glass wall or blast doors, just air and a very palpable yet non-existent pressure. Only a few paces away, was the operating table where Euna's mutilated body lay, and yet Hiro was feeling the weight of the world on his shoulders. It was a feeling that he was unaccustomed to after all.

No. It was a feeling that he had tossed away long ago in order to survive the cold as steel, cutthroat society of the Augmented Empire. The burden of moral obligation. Hiro had learned of it from his grand father. He had never understood it anyway. But now, for the first time in Hiro's life, he was acting on the will of his own. His desire to save Euna, an Altered who was the enemy to the Augmented Empire, it was irrational, illogical and most of all suicidal. And yet, here he was, doing something he would have never seen himself doing only a week ago.

With dilated pupils, Hiro surveyed the grotesque display before him. Nequiv was no longer manually operating the mechanical arms, but regardless, the cluster of mechanical arms continued their work without pause. Mechanical appendages with lasers spliced away at the web of congregating organic mass as prehensile arms picked up and discarded the organic material.

"Are you here to sabotage my work? Or perhaps you're here to steal it?" Nequiv asked cautiously. After figuring out that Hiro was not here to assassinate him, Nequiv had started questioning Hiro incessantly without a care in the world for his own safety. With each question, Nequiv seemed to become more concerned and invested in what Hiro was doing. "Surely, there must be a--"

With a flick of Hiro's wrist, Nequiv was suddenly flung to the corner of the room.

"Stay there, and don't move," Hiro said as he began walking up to the table where Euna was. On the center of the table was a large pulsating mass with a translucent membrane that revealed dark congealing blood and fluids within. Wary of the mechanical arms, Hiro hunched over and peered deeper into the mass.

There was movement.

The Altered were virtually immortal. Hiro knew that much. He wasn't an expert on Altered biology like Nequiv was but he knew enough. They possessed unparalleled regeneration and he had also witnessed this first-hand when Euna was locked in mortal combat with Helick.

But what the hell is this? Hiro wondered. This was something beyond him.

"Oi, Nequiv. What the hell is going on here?" Hiro ventured a question to the esteemed Aug-Smith.

"What will you do if I tell you?" Nequiv questioned back.

"Hey, I'm the one asking the questions here," Hiro snapped.

"As if you would understand, if I told you."

Hiro turned around and glared at the doctor. For a moment he contemplated torturing the man, but Hiro simply didn't have the time. Sooner or later, someone would attempt to contact Nequiv or even Hiro himself. Helick had warned him that the battle was drawing to a close and that Hiro would likely be summoned to the front-lines.

Hiro raised his hand towards Nequiv, and with a single thought, his hand transformed. "Start talking."

Nequiv stared down the end of a metallic silver barrel. He laughed.

"Old man, do you not value your own life?" Hiro asked.

Nequiv shrugged. "I'm afraid that you have to come to a slight misunderstanding, Hiro. My life has ended long ago," Nequiv's eyes turned dark as he lowered his head. "The only value this life retains is its merit to the Augmented Empire and that is quite significant I would think, but I daresay that I am but a pawn in the greater scheme of things."

Hiro narrowed his eyes, slightly perplexed by the doctor's change in demeanor. He hadn't expected Nequiv to speak so cynically of his own life. Killing the doctor would also do nothing but sour this whole situation. Hiro's wrist-cannon snapped back into his wrist as his hand reformed.

Seeing Hiro's silence, Nequiv continued. "Do you really think that the age-old Augmented council sent us all the way out here just to slaughter a village of Altereds? I believe that there is something else at play here. Something greater than even the Augmented Empire."

Hiro's eyes went wide as he looked around the room out of sheer reflex.

Never question the will of the Augmented Empire for it is supreme. That was something that was ingrained in Hiro since before he even learned to walk. But to speak ill of the Augmented Empire, even if indirectly... That was almost akin to suicide.

Nequiv chuckled. "Relax Hiro. This room is free from any unwanted surveillance. And neither of us have neural-linked Aug eyes do we?"

Hiro just stared at Nequiv with a blank expression as paranoia took root.

"For so many centuries, we've waged war against the Altered. Have you ever wondered why?"

That was obvious to Hiro. It was basic history that every Augmented citizen had learned immediately after learning to walk. The Altered has always been the enemy since the start. Ever since the collapse of humanity, the Augmented Founders had found that they were not the only ones vying for dominance on a ruined planet. The appearance of the Altered Pandemic, and then the aftermath had brought catastrophic destruction upon the newborn Empire of Augmented. Ever since then, endless strife had persisted between the two races. It had become common knowledge that Earth only had enough room for one of the two races.

Hiro frowned. "That's enough Nequiv. I wasn't born yesterday. You're just stalling now."

"Ignorant peasant," Nequiv noted. "It appears that you've never bothered to question Augmented history."

Slightly irritated, Hiro drew in a breath "If nothing useful comes out of that mouth of yours within the next sec-"

"Have you ever heard of the Genetic Alteration Matrix?"

"Nope," Hiro said irritably, as he lifted his right hand towards Nequiv nonchalantly.

"This Altered, I believe, is in an extreme state of metamorphosis right now..."

Hiro narrowed his eyes, but didn't interrupt Nequiv.

"You don't want to tamper with it without knowing what you're doing. This is something even I have never seen before--not of this degree that is-- and I believe that right now, the girl is in a very, very fragile brink of life and death. I daresay, that what we are witnessing is abiogenesis, a phenomenal that no individual has ever witnessed in history-- no, even ancient history. W-we are witnessing this to-together," Nequiv stuttered with excitement as he continued, "and wh-what could be responsible for this? The Genetic Alteration Matrix, it has to be. A nascent Altered at the brink of maturation, with no contol and..."

Hiro stopped listening, as he muttered, "English... maybe?"

Guess not, he thought.

Hiro turned back to the table as Nequiv continued ranting. He was mumbling about a higher dimension or reality, about the Genetic Alteration Matrix being invisible to the eye and something about the Ascended. The way Hiro saw it, Nequiv has gone nuts and was now spouting esoteric and blatant heresy right in front of him. If the Augmented Council of Elders ever got wind of the stuff Nequiv was saying, Hiro was sure that the doctor would be sentenced to the Unaugmentation ceremony and some immolation on the side.

Hiro glanced up at the cluster of arms still in activity. He reached up and began yanking at one of the arms. They were sturdy and quite difficult to actually break, but Hiro simply tore the entire mechanical appendage out of its socket.

"Stop!" Nequiv shouted suddenly. "You don't know what your doing!"

Hiro continued his sabotage, without pause. One by one he tore the arms away without any physical exhaustion, until there were seven mechanical arms laid uselessly on the floor. There was still three more to go.

"No! Stop this!" Nequiv screamed. "Not before we uncover the mysteries of the Genetic Alteration matrix!"

Hiro reached up, then felt something pinch his lower back. He turned around in time to see a winged mechanical insect latched onto his skin. A stinger was inserted through the fabric of his uniform and into his skin. With a swat from his hand, Hiro dashed the mechanical insect to the floor where it exploded into smithereens. He lifted up his already torn fabric and saw excess liquid ooze out of the small puncture point. It was bright green, almost glowing.

"Wh-what the fuck?!"

Hiro looked at Nequiv in time to see another insect crawling back into the doctor's metallic throat.

Nequiv snickered. "Don't move, you've been injected with nanobiotic nitroglycerin. A potent liquid explosive that is circulating through your system as we speak. On my command, I can have your heart incinerated. Now-"

Hiro shoved his finger into the puncture point. A torrent of electricity surged into his body frying his neural circuits and searing his flesh and organs. He knew that it wasn't enough. If he wanted to completely fry all the nanobots he would have to increase the voltage. With a thought, Hiro began upping the voltage until he began convulsing. His vision turned black.

Then the world turned white. Slowly, Hiro opened his eyes to find himself in a field of exotic flowers. It was so vivid, so real. He could smell the flowers and feel the wind on his skin. A massive tree stood in the center. He steered his gaze around him, surveying the edge of the forest glade then spotted a lithe and familiar figure. It was Euna. He called out to her, but she didn't seem to hear him.

He blinked, and suddenly he was back in Nequiv's lab. Hiro looked around and saw that the doctor was no long in the containment room.

Then Nequiv appeared behind the thick pane of transparent glass. His body was reconnected to his Aug-limbs, and was furiously punching commands into the control console.

Hiro stood up and nearly toppled over. He braced himself on the table, then he saw. The dome-shaped mass had grown considerably. From the size of a slightly larger brain, to at least a meter-and-a-half.

Mechanical arms whirled into action above him, threatening to dismember him and return to dissecting Euna. In a panic, Hiro aimed his wrist-cannon and began firing the rest of his ammunition. Parts and debris from the mechanical appendages fell onto the pulsating mass, tearing a hole in it. Hiro cursed and clambered onto the table to further inspect the tear.

Through the hole, Hiro could see an appendage within a cesspool of blood, fluids and sinuous flesh. Hiro froze, seized by fear. For a moment, his mind wandered. Images of some fleshy, horrifying monster flitted through his mind. Then he thought of Euna. He swallowed his fear and touched the mass.

Hiro blinked. His vision distorted, and suddenly he was standing in the field of flowers again. He spotted Euna again, still standing in the same place. He shouted her name and started running towards her.

Is this the afterlife? Hiro wondered. I guess I better apologize for getting her killed.

Suddenly, his world shifted back to Nequiv's lab.

Apparently, he had torn away the outer translucent membrane, revealing a naked human body in fetal position.

"Euna," Hiro breathed.

It was her. There was no mistake. Though she looked smaller, and had very short hair, he couldn't forget her distinct facial features. Gently, Hiro brushed away sticky residue from her face.

Suddenly she opened her eyes. "Hi-hiro?"

Yep, that's her alright.