Flames still burned as Joy dusted off the ash from her hands. The man had scurried away out of sight long ago, and she had just killed off the last of the grunts still crawling around. In the small hatch, she had discovered several civilians trapped in cells. To theirs and her enjoyment, she merely ripped off the doors to each cell, setting each one free.

“All right Simon, no survivors left, and civilians saved.”

“You sure? How about that man with the biomorph?”

“He managed to get away unfortunately. I was too busy trying to break free from that Warden.”

She heard a sigh over the radio. Hearing doors being kicked open, she whirled around to notice Simon walking in.

“That man you let run free? He was a local director. Arm torn off or not, he still remains a serious threat in the rituals he knows.”

“How did you-”

“And outright disobeying orders and lying to me Joy. Unacceptable!”

“Well, this is my own way of handling things, you know?”

Simon crossed his arms, looking down at her. “By letting the enemy with dangerous information escape?”

“How could you see all this shit they do to people on a daily basis, and NOT send a more direct message to them?”

“You think killing every last cartel member isn’t potent enough?”

“No. Those are just fodder, you aren’t scaring the higher ups enough to stop! And that’s what I did.”

“You… what?”

She smiled smugly. “He’s delivering a threat to his other superiors that I very well intend on following up on. When I begin to follow up, you can bet every single person who bothered to join these cartels will be shitting their pants and leaving.”

“Perhaps you don’t understand what ‘covert’ means Joy, but in my life, I’m willing to give you this one chance. Informing everyone about who you are isn’t going to work in your advantage you know. With the right mind and equipment, you’re going to be awfully easy to kill.”

“Then I have to work harder with you to outplay them. Ain’t anyone on the world like me.” She flexed her arm, showing off to him.

“There are a lot more people like you than you think Joy. But remember: You’re reaping what you’ve sown.”

Deep into the industrial housing of Romitum, the ex-biomorphed man scurried through the streets, still bleeding badly. Several eyes turned to him as he rushed with the last remnants of adrenaline pumping through his system. Finding a small corner to hide himself in, he dug his finger into his shoulder wound, groaning as he soaked his thumb with blood. Drawing a new sigil on the ground out of it, it slowly dissolved, and a voice spoke directly into his mind.

“What is it?”

“This is Gaston, I was in charge of Bliss production in the new warehouse at Romitum’s industrial district.”

“What is the issue?”

“How-… Nevermind. The entire warehouse is gone, destroyed. Though, I was spared.”

“Spared? Go on…”

“Most of the attack was carried out by a single woman. She was ridiculously strong, fistfought an armored Warden and won. She told me that she was going to find all of us, and tear us all piece from piece.”

“This woman… Her abilities sound familiar. Gaston, for this information, I can forgive you for the loss of the warehouse. Return to our headquarters immediately. We’re going to see if this woman is the person I’ve been looking for.”