On the elevator ride up, Red caught himself staring at the white haired woman again. She looked so strikingly like Sabrina, same exact eyes, pale skin, bleach white hair - he figured that they had to be related. But, unlike Sabrina, this woman seemed cold and serious. She definitely didn't Sage.

The girl caught Red looking at her again, and he gave an awkward smile.

"Sorry," Red laughed, "It really is weird how much you look like her. Are ya sure you don't have a sister or something'?"

The girl's eyes had a haunted look for a moment before she finally spoke.

"What's her name? The girl?"

"Sabrina. Kind of an old lady name... but it fits her," he smiled. "What's your name?"

"Ami."

"Another old lady name," he laughed, "Maybe you are related."

The elevator doors chimed as they reached his floor. Red stepped out and held the door open for Ami, dramatically gesturing to the hall with his other hand.

"After you," Red bowed.

The girl, Ami, shot him a confused look. Red watched, amused, as she scanned the halls, and peeked around the corners before cautiously stepping out. The woman followed close behind him as they made their way down the hall and he couldn't help but watch her. She was careful and calculated, almost militant as her eyes darted over every door they passed. It was bizarre seeing someone who looked so like Sabrina to act this serious. Maybe they weren't related.

They turned the winding corner to find someone standing in front of his door. It was Cil. She looked frantic and anxious standing there. Something was wrong. But as they approached, her demeanor suddenly changed as she got a good look at the woman standing next to him.

"Well," Cil laughed, looking the woman up and down, "You certainly have a type."

"What are you doing here?"

Cil straightened up, then turned to Red with wide eyes.

"I have another message... I don't feel safe watching it at my place," she whispered to him. Nervously glancing back at the woman next to him. "Wait, were you on the north side? Did you see it happen?"

"Here," Red raised his arm, unlocking his apartment door, "I gotta try and call Sabrina first. I haven't been able to get ahold of her all morning."

"Sure, whatever, call her. But you have to tell me what you saw," Cil plopped down on the couch, "I only saw the news clips, but you know how censored those are... What's her problem?"

Red looked back to see Ami pacing back and forth near the door, muttering something to herself. She suddenly seemed to notice them staring, and stopped.

"You can sit down," Red gestured to the couch. She was making him nervous.

"I'd prefer to stand. Thanks," Ami answered flatly before she started to pace again.

So serious.

Red sat at his desk in the back room. He tried sending a message to Sabrina using the information he swiped from her ID card the other day. His video should have gone directly to her door camera, but there was still no response. With some effort, he was able to get into The Roe's door logs through their network. He pulled up her history and went through it twice. According to the logs, her door had not been opened the past 2 days. Had she not left her place? Or was she out roaming the streets again, saged out of her mind? Thankfully, he hadn't seen her on the north side this morning, but something still seemed off.

"Red!" Cil called from the other room, "Hurry up!"

"Alright," he said, "But I gotta go Downtown right after. Sabrina's gone."

Red and Cil sat on the couch in silent anticipation, Ami standing beside them, as the video started on the large white screen. Red was curious how N would spin the explosion and the obvious casualties, in their favor.

"Fellow members of the Vermin, the Chellis Coalition, and Neo-Luddites alike," the distorted voice began as usual, "Today was a victory."

"Victory?" Red spat.

Cil slapped his arm. "Listen!"

"We wanted to be taken seriously, and now we will be. But this victory was not without its own losses, and we will mourn our soldiers who lost their lives for the cause."

Red was boiling.

The plant kids who didn't make it out? They didn't sign up for any 'cause'.

He tried to save them.

He had made their machines stop working, using only his lens, hoping they would go home. When that didn't work, he even tried to get to them in person. But that's when he saw Ami, then the masks. He was too late.

"We will not let their sacrifice stay in vain."

The screen remained black for a moment. A moment of silence. How touching.

The screen then switched to a video feed. There someone tied to a chair, blindfolded and gagged, a single beam of light from above in the dark room cast dark shadows on his face. He had a shock of white hair, and a black stain of old blood smeared across his forehead.

"The Faceless have found a new toy," the distorted voice spoke.

From the shadows, a hand came from behind, pulling off the prisoner's blindfold with a rough tug. The hand then grabbed the hanging light from above, and pointed it directly in the bound man's eyes.

They were grey-blue, almost white. Sabrina's.

"The Faceless have planted agents in the city, instructing them to kill any who fight for our cause. You will know who they are by their eyes." The camera zoomed into the prisoner's face. He looked calm, but as he stared into the camera, Red could see tears forming. "If you see any please report to us immediately. They are trained and extremely dangerous. Do not approach them yourself. You know how to reach us."

The screen went black again, then the same "We are Rats" message came across the screen before the video finally stopped.

Red slowly turned to the strange girl who was standing beside them. She was holding her hands tight to the side of her face. Her wide, blue-grey eyes were stuck on the screen.

"So..." Red started, "Wanna talk about it?"

Before Ami could respond, Cil jumped to her feet. Cat-like, she pulled a small electrified blade from one of her boots, and crouched low to the ground. Her eyes dug into the stranger as she circled her slowly.

Red slapped the knife out of Cil's hand with one swift stroke.

"Calm down," Red cackled as he kicked the weapon away, "Give her a chance."

"Hey," Cil shouted as she scrambled for her weapon again.

But Ami didn't speak. Her hands remained tight to her face as her knees slowly bent, bringing her to the floor. She started to shake her head.

"You really know how to pick them, Red," Cil spat, "You showed not one but two Faceless assassins where you live."

Before Red could retort, he stopped himself. Ami was whispering something.

"He was next to me."

"What?" Red asked, stepping close to her to hear better. Cil tried to pull him away from Ami, but he brushed her off with a shrug.

"I knew him. He was in the tank next to me," Ami breathed, "They're using us."

There was a moment of heavy silence in the room as each person searched for what to say next.

Ami then stood up, brushing herself off. She looked up at the ceiling. She didn't seem sad though, but angry, as her arms tensed into fists. She then finally turned to Red.

"What do you know about Optica?" Ami asked.

"Optica?" Cil chimed, "Those ad people?"

Ami shook her head before she continued, "They found us, in a bunker. We were sick... We are sick.. God, how can I even begin this... I'm still piecing it together myself..." Ami started to pace again in front of the door, then stopped, taking a long steady breath.

"Many years ago, when I was a child, I became sick. This 'sickness' caused me to act in what can only be described as a monster, a predator, with an intense drive to kill, whenever I fell asleep. I would wake in the morning, unaware of my actions the night before.

"They took me away, put me in a bubble, a tank, that would slow, almost stop me from aging, while they tried to find a cure. It bleached my hair, my eyes. Then more kids like me were found with the same affliction - more tanks were built to contain them. That kid, that man, that we saw on the video - he was next to me. This Sabrina girl, she was probably in there too.

"They couldn't find a cure though. And over time, they stopped showing up, leaving us underground, trapped in the tanks, to wait for what seemed to be an eternity. We grew numb, weak - we lost whatever grips on reality we had.

"Until one day, the doors were broken open. Optica had found us. But instead of curing us, they left us to roam the streets of this unfamiliar, terrifying place. They know who we are, what we are.

"This Faceless that he speaks of - the ones you're fighting. It's the Optica Corporation. It has to be. And I don't know why they left us here, knowing what we're capable of - I'm still trying to put it together myself. But we don't control what happens when we sleep. I've tried... but staying awake only makes things worse."

Sabrina.

Red's mind flashed with images of Sabrina's wild eyes from the other day. She was so visibly shaken, desperate to stay awake at any cost. Did she know?

"I'm not receiving any orders either. I've even rigged my door to stay shut once night hits, just to make sure nothing happens... Just to make sure I don't hurt anyone." Ami paused then, catching her breath. She then looked between Cil and Red, desperation in her eyes. "I don't want to hurt anyone."

Red looked at Ami, trying to grasp what she had just told them. Some of the puzzle pieces started to fit together, like Sabrina's Optica Sage Stick.. and how she had avoided sleep. It didn't make sense that someone like Sabrina would be some sort of Faceless plant... but was she some sort of murderer?

But, just as Red began to convince himself that no, Sabrina couldn't be involved in all this, he looked again at Ami. The eyes, the white hair, the skin - it was too much of a coincidence to ignore. He needed more. Evidence, something to believe this was true.

Then a thought came to him, worming through the back of his head.

If Sabrina really was with the Faceless... If she really was their agent... Then maybe it's better if the Vermin find her.

No.

"Show us," Red finally spoke, breaking the silence.

"You can't be serious," Cil starred Red down with dagger-eyed, "She's obviously making this up. Even if half of what she said is true, she's admitted that she's dangerous and she's connected to the Faceless... I'm calling them."

"No," Red calmly grabbed Cil's lens from her fumbling hands, "Not until we see."

"I don't know how to show you," Ami said, finally speaking up. "I was actually going to grab a camera to set up in my apartment this morning to see for myself. To see what actually happens at night. That's why I was on the north side."

"Wait, so you don't actually know what happens when you sleep? This is insane Red. She's making it up as she goes along," Cil shouted.

Red ignored Cil. He needed to know. If this is what Sabrina really was, he needed to know.

He made his way to his back room and grabbed a small lensed circular device from his desk drawer. Perfect.

He made his way back to the main room, stepping around the infuriated Cil. He rolled the tiny camera around his palm, then looked to Ami.

"Feeling sleepy?"