Margo and Jack were beyond the walls of the zoo. Jack repeatedly used his Fatemaker to disintegrate holes in the wall to traverse faster, much to his colleague's chagrin. Their organization's drones floated high above them in a frantic search for the masked man.

Jack burnt another hole in the side of a building, one of many empty gift shops scattered around the area. Bright green fire lined the new circle burnt into the wall, and he climbed in.

"You do know this is private property, right?" Margo said, following her colleague into the abandoned building.

"Not really important right now," Jack replied, strolling around the toppled chairs and tables. "This is one of very few moments where I actually get to stretch my legs outside of Psychwatch, so I'd like to take advantage of this."

Both of their ThoughtControl pieces beeped simultaneously, and footage from eight of the drones patrolling the zoo entered their feed. They could see the masked stranger, a short male wielding a knife and a handgun, bolting toward the door into the aquarium. He wasn't registered into the System, but he would be soon. If he even lived long enough.

"Let's go," Margo said, and she and Jack ran through the ruined gift shop back out into the rest of the zoo.

They were greeted by the gray, cloud-riddled sky that never seemed to leave Philadelphia. Trash and debris were scattered across the pavement like ash from a volcano. Lights flickered here and there, just another sign of a lost piece of civilization wishing for a longer life, and police drones continued to glide around the premises.

"You know how to swim, right?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, of course," Margo replied.

"Good, because I don't."

"Useful info, but why now of all places?"

Jack reactivated his ThoughtControl. "The drones are detecting the movement of seven bodies down in the aquarium, most of which has been flooded. Just letting you know in case you have to do CPR." And he punctuated that sentence with a wink.

"When we're down there, be a little careful," Margo added sarcastically, her Fatemaker shifting into its Incapacitate mode. "I might accidentally mistake you for one of the creeps down there and stun you."

Jack chuckled as the two of them made their way to the abandoned aquarium. "Don't worry, sweetheart. I left my criminal ways behind me."

"I didn't call you a criminal. I said you were a creep."

With their Fatemakers in hand, Jack shoved through the door into another concrete building. Not a single light was on, and the only thing preventing the darkness from engulfing them was the dim gray glow of their ThoughtControl pieces along with their guns and uniforms. Dirty water took up the floor, glass shards scattered around its surface like islands on a map. A curtain of moss was draped across the walls over signs promoting the lonely exhibits.

"It's been twenty years since the Red Riots," Margo said as she stared at one of the signs beneath the moss, displaying information surrounding eels. "Pretty ironic how in a place full of animals, the humans ended up needing to be put down."

"Not sure if this is the right place to reminisce," Jack replied as he scanned through the info provided to him by his ThoughtControl.

"Funny, I thought I'd be telling you that."

"Believe it or not, I can do the right thing every once in a while."

Following the sound of clanging metal, Jack aimed his Fatemaker at a closed door and opened fire. Small sparks of energy blasted out of his gun as its deafening, metallic crack echoed through the room with each shot. He stopped after firing eight shots at the door, multiple holes burnt through its metal surface.

"So was that supposed to be you doing the right thing?" Margo snarked.

"Yeah," Jack replied bluntly as his gun recharged. "The Scan says I just took out two of the seven targets we should be after."

Margo held her gun in front of her. "We'll see about that."

The two of them marched through the door. They entered a room larger than the previous one, beams of sunlight shooting through the shattered skylight above them. More moss dangled out of the hole like jungle vines, and water had flooded most of the room. Two dead bodies lay at the far end of the room, wading in pools of their own blood.

"Got 'em," Jack said as he approached the bodies.

"Two unarmed vagrants unregistered to the P3S," Margo said. As calm as she was when she declared that, she was angry at Jack. "You just killed a pair of innocents."

"Actually, the one on the left has a pillbox full of recreational Euphors hidden in his jacket pocket—" Jack choked on the last words as a stinging pain erupted in his neck. His eyes and neck twitched, and he had to lean against the wall to keep himself from collapsing to the floor. "I'm guessing Mason told you about the chip, huh?"

"Nope," Margo replied, still using her ThoughtControl to activate Jack's shock implant. "It's very rare to find someone going through redemption therapy without a chip, so I figured it out on my own."

"Impressive," Jack croaked as a migraine took over his head.

"Listen, Holloway," Margo hissed. "I may be new, but I'm not naive. I joined Psychwatch to help people fight their demons, not end their suffering."

"Then why the fuck did you become a Neutralizer? You do realize you could've turned down Maslow's order, right?"

Margo held up her Fatemaker once more, hoping Jack was aware that it had never changed from its Incapacitate mode. "To restore its definition," she said. "I'm a Neutralizer. Not an executioner. I restore order through force, not through senseless violence. Death is not my ideal solution."

Gunfire rang out beyond another closed door only a few feet away from the two officers. A stray bullet grazed through its edge, barely missing Margo's torso. A small device on her and Jack's uniforms emitted a brief ring like a bell, and a wave of silver energy engulfed them. Their Blurs had been activated, force fields generated from a device built into their belts that take the shape of their wearers, guaranteeing protection from any known form of physical harm. Only large explosions and dangerously powerful weaponry could take their power away.

"I bet the executioner path is looking very tempting right now, ain't it?" Jack said with a smirk.

More gunfire rang out, and the incoming shots deflected off of Margo as if they were nothing more than rubber balls. "Nope," she replied. "I need at least one of them alive. Can you do that for me?"

"Sure. As long as they don't push me too far."

The loudest shot blasted through the door, knocking it off its hinges. Jack and Margo were greeted by three strangers, each one wearing an identical white mask with red Xs over their eyes and armed with a gun.

"Sorry, honey. They pushed me too far." And Jack raced into the room like an angry bull, opening fire on the psychos.

Margo ran after him, promising herself she'd never let her Fatemaker activate its Execute mode. Lines of green and orange energy zapped across the room, burning through whatever they made contact with. Red mist sprayed Margo's face as Jack shot one of their attackers through the neck. One final shot to his head took him down for good.

Another attacker attempted to punch Margo, but his fist bounced off her face as if she were rubber. She grabbed his arm and pinned him to the floor before knocking him out with her Fatemaker, electricity rippling through his body after one shot. She attempted to fire it at the remaining attacker, but Jack grabbed him in a chokehold and placed the tip of his own gun against his temple.

"Where are your other buddies?" he threatened the masked man.

The masked man didn't reply. He spent his final moments cackling like a child before Jack pulled the trigger. As he let the dead man drop to the floor, he glanced over at the unconscious goon Margo stood near.

"Don't even think about it," she growled.

"You don't even know if these guys are sane enough to rely on," Jack replied. "For all we know, they could be Threat Level 5 shizophrenics."

"Psychwatch thinks you are sane enough to rely on. I think I'll take my chances."

Before Jack could say another word, he nearly fell forward due the force of a bullet slamming into his back. Luckily the Blur kept it from penetrating his skin, and it felt more like a powerful shove. As soon as he turned toward the next corridor where the shot came from, he aimed his gun and fired. The small blast of orange light grazed through their new attacker's arm, splashing blood on the wall behind him. He shrieked in pain before bolting toward the nearest exit.

"Come on," Jack ordered gruffly. "And bring your new friend."

Rolling her eyes, Margo slung the unconscious criminal's arm over her shoulder and carried him down the new hallway. Her speed had been heavily reduced due to the criminal's weight, but she did her best to keep up with Jack. It was tough for her to maintain her balance as she jogged across the slippery floors lubricated by the waters spilled from the murky fish tanks around her. Jack turned to his left once he passed into the next room and took three more shots. The sound of a loud thud against the floor indicated he got his next target.

Margo leaned the body she brought along against the wall. When she leaned her head up, she was greeted by the sight of a massive mural taking up the entire wall on the opposite end of the room. A recreation of the evolutionary chart was spray-painted in mixes of yellow, black, and gray, and the largest figure at the end of the chart surpassing the human was a black and white entity that appeared to be made of static. It had no resemblance to the human being before it on the chart, and the only physical feature she could clearly make out from it was a monstrous face. Along the graffiti read one of many cynical messages one could similarly find throughout the city: EVOLVING FROM BAD, DEVOLVING TO WORSE.

"Two more to go," Jack declared as he stood over the body of his latest victim. "Sandoval, take note. We've found four men wearing the exact same masks."

Margo recorded Jack's words with her ThoughtControl and took a picture of the mural as well. She jumped as she saw what looked like snakes hissing and slithering down the walls, but they were revealed to be streams of dirty water trailing down the wall upon closer inspection. A second later after her realization, her and Jack's Blurs deactivated, leaving them exposed until another attack would reawaken them.

"The drones say there are still two more targets around here," Jack said, glancing around the room as the holographic lens of his ThoughtControl hovered in front of his eye.

Goosebumps rippled across Margo's skin as the sound of objects crashing to the floor echoed through the room. She pulled her Fatemaker out of her MagniSheath and waved it around in every direction, still keeping it in its Incapacitate mode. "Pretty sure I just found one of them," she said.

More sounds came from the other end of the room. Jack walked over to a large hole in the glass wall where one of the park's largest tanks used to be. Beyond the hole was a tank big enough to take up half the room and comprised almost entirely of metal, the walls tinted green and brown by rust and moss. Dead fish and bugs floated on the surface of the water, which lay at the bottom of the tank four feet below them. The only way out of the tank was a ladder leading up to the surface, where the tank connected to a currently-empty pool outside the building.

"Shit," Jack uttered in astonishment. "Can you believe there used to be enough water to reach beyond the ceiling?"

"I hope the animals are okay," Margo replied.

Jack looked down at the dead fish floating in the water, and he clogged his nose to block out that horrible smell. "A little too late for that," he deadpanned.

More crashing noises occurred outside. Margo's hand shook as she raised up her Fatemaker. Jack repeated the same thing, except he was excited to get another chance to kill something, his shaking evoked only by anticipation.

"I'll meet you outside," he said quickly as he leaped into the tank, barely catching the ladder. "And try not to die! I'll be in a lot of trouble if you do."

"Glad to see someone cares," Margo snarked. Still with her Fatemaker in hand, she grabbed the unconscious criminal and dragged him toward the nearest exit, a ramp leading through a pitch-black hallway back outside.

Her footsteps echoed through the grates in the floor as she made her way uphill. Even with the zoo completely empty, she could still hear the sounds of children giggling and their little footsteps pattering across the pavement as they ran around the complex in excitement. Sea lions splashed around in the pools, and one could hear the fish bubbling through the water beyond the glass if one listened close enough. Then it all eventually went silent as a small-scale war broke out in the park, people attacking each other with blades and guns, and the waters darkened to a shade of crimson. One of many Red Riots to spread through the country like a virus.

Margo returned to reality when she saw a knife coming toward her.

She jerked out of the way, letting the knife plunge into the stranger she carried along. He jerked back up, only to quickly return to silence following a series of desperate gasps for air. Margo was forced to let the body drop to the floor as a new enemy was in her presence. The only thing lighting her way was the silver lights emitting from her uniform and gun, leaving her attacker shrouded in shadow.

The newest attacker lunged at Margo with a bloody knife, and she caught his arm just before the blade could reach her chest. Her Blur reawakened with a beep, and she shoved the attacker away, knocking him to the floor. She aimed her Fatemaker at him and opened fire. Small pulses of electricity rippled across his body with each hit, but he still found the strength to stand.

"You're under arrest," Margo panted. She set her Incapacitate Fatemaker to its Paralyzer mode, its strongest non-lethal mode, what it should've been all along. "Please stop resisting. We could do so much for you if you peacefully cooperate with us."

However, the sight of her attacker's Threat Level 4 status made her lose faith in a peaceful solution to this mess. Once he charged in for another attack, she pulled the trigger. He was launched across the corridor in a ball of electricity before crashing to the floor, twitching grotesquely before finally going silent.

She dragged the newly unconscious criminal toward the door, still clutching her Fatemaker. She shoved through the door and was greeted by a blast of wind against her face, the gray morning sky looking more welcoming than ever. Finally letting out a sigh of relief, she holstered her gun and signaled to the nearest drones for attention.

"I got one, Carl," she exhaled. "Holloway didn't feel like taking prisoners, but I was feeling more merciful today."

"Hey, Margo," greeted the unexpected voice of Holden. "Uncle Carl and Andrade went to investigate the nearby high school. So I'm here if you need anything."

"Uh...where are you?"

"I'm actually still back at headquarters with Royce and Mason, but Nikki said she'll give you and the suspect a ride back. Just gotta send us your location."

"We're at the abandoned zoo. Holloway is still going after the remaining target. However, we're in an offline neighborhood placed under temporary surveillance, and I'm not sure how much longer the signal will last."

"They're already on the way. Just hang in there and try not to die."

Luckily for Holden, he wasn't there to see Margo roll her eyes in person. "No problem," she replied bluntly.

Their connection cut off, and the drone floated away. Margo waited patiently with the unconscious masked man, wondering how Jack was holding up.

* * *

Having finally made it up the ladder, Jack stood at the bottom of an empty pool, his hands grimed green by the moss. The nauseating stench of deceased wildlife still permeated the area around him, but he was hardly affected by it. He's had his fair share of dead animals before, and he could hardly even care about them. Not that he even cared about anything else.

He calmly strolled along the pool floor, his feet splashing through puddles. He kept the lens from his ThoughtControl on as he repeatedly switched between footage from the drones. The attacker was bolting towards Jack from the top of the pool. He was armed with a handgun, a dagger, and a Threat Level 4 just like the other masked men he and Margo faced that day.

"Rushing right into danger," Jack chuckled. "My kind of strategy."

As the steps grew louder and closer, Jack aimed his gun above him and fired. The attacker dodged the shot and fired his own gun, striking Jack directly in his left shoulder. Even though his Blur barely activated after he got shot, the bullet felt more like a powerful punch, with only a brief sting following it as he yanked himself up from the floor. He wiped the blood off his shoulder and continued firing.

The attacker jumped from the top of the pool to the bottom, grunting in pain once his feet made impact with the floor. He opened fire on Jack once more, but the shots harmlessly bounced off of him.

Before Jack could finish the crook off with his Fatemaker, the masked man shouted, "Take that shit off, you pussy!"

"Excuse me, buckaroo?" Jack replied.

"Ditch the gun and face me with your fists!"

"Alright." Jack holstered his gun and deactivated his Blur. He stood in front of the dumbfounded crook with a look of boredom and waited as his opponent charged toward him.

However, like all criminals, he didn't play by the rules. Right before he could land a punch against Jack's face, a hidden blade thrusted out of a device in his wrist. Jack grabbed his arm and twisted it around until it snapped. He punched him in the throat and flipped him over, crashing him into the floor on his back, the poor bastard fearfully gasping for air.

"That was disappointing," Jack groaned, and he pulled out his Fatemaker and shot the crook in the head four times.

Now that the crook was dead, three drones floated down from the top of the pool and hovered around Jack like flies. He stood above the corpse in a victorious pose as multiple Psychwatch officers appeared at the top. "We got 'em!" he declared. "Once again, I've proven I'm useful to you guys. I'm just glad we see each other as equals."

Each and every one of the officers pulled out their Fatemakers and aimed them at Jack. "Holster your firearm and return to the van!" one of them bellowed. "Or we'll open fire!"

"Well, so much for that."