Mark shot a bullet only for it to whizz around the mad scientist, and in turn, he retaliated by shooting back at Mark. The impact of the shotgun blast pushed him back into the wall in a bloody mess. Being practically a zombie, he didn't feel the pain, but his nerves were weak after taking a direct hit. Mikael tried to dodge but was ultimately grazed in the shoulder by the bullets, crashing into a table filled with computers. He quickly flipped it over to use as cover,monitors crashing onto the floor, keyboards sent flying and wires littering the ground.

The little girl with stitches held on tight to the mad scientist's lab coat "Please… please don't let them hurt me!"

"Don't worry. These soldiers are all the same!" The scientist moved towards Mark about to finish him off. But as luck would have it, The door opened and Sharrion rushed in holding a riot shield. The mad scientist would turn and shoot twice on impulse which left a dent in the shield but didn't stop the maid's charge. Sharrion crashed into him using her full weight to knock the shotgun out of his hands and pushed him into another table.

Both were locked into a struggle until the scientist managed to push Sharrion off by kicking at her feet and causing her to slip off balance. He shouted to the face stitched girl "Solko, grab my shotgun and kill them now!!"

But then would scream in pain, looking down he saw that Sharrion had unsheathed a dagger to stab in his ankle. She swiftly rolled away before he had a chance to stomp but that missed stomp worsened the injury forcing him to his knees. "Do it quick!"

Sharrion rolled back to a crouch position where she aimed her tranquilizer at Solko. "I wouldn't do that if I were you!"

From the door, Linde entered with a small pistol to take aim at Solko. The mad scientist would grimace at the sight of her. Cursing her existence with a passion "You sick bitch! To think my own wife would go against me!"

What was a battle to the death became a weird family feud, one Sharrion wasn't aware of even during her time as Linde's apprentice. She lowered her gun slightly and looked to her mentor for an explanation to the crazed man as well as the girl they were holding up. Linde reluctantly admitted that yes, this once formal man now turned deranged was her husband. After working on the Angel Project for years it had taken a toll on his sanity. He had claimed to see a holy entity after passing out from exhaustion during his work. It was something behind his understanding.

He saw 4 wheels intersecting each other that sparkled like platinum and covered across every inch of these wheels were eyes all gazing down upon him not with malicious intent or any intent at all. Under their gaze he couldn't move nor blink, his muscles were stricken and his knees trembled weak but kneeling before what seemed like a 5th dimensional mechination would be the greatest disrespect for kneeling was meant for mortals. Though it was less these wheels that left him in this state, despite them moving in an inorganic way moving through each other like an optical illusion yet never touching. What made him still was the being in center of these wheels that was too illuminated in light to see with the naked eye.

He believed it to be a sign from the angels above, more specifically the girl whose DNA they were researching, the first discovered EXover, Sami. The message given to him was vague and spoken in words that weren't words but he swore he understood every word. Such a mission led him here. He needed to escape with Solko in tow to fulfill this holy order. Humanity was on the cusp of creating angels to interact with the divine.

"I have to eliminate the false prophets. Now Solko, kill them so we can touch our fate!" The scientist commanded. But his words only further instilled an abstract fear in Solko. She followed his command, picking up the shotgun bigger than her, inside her mind racing with the thoughts of not only the people around her but the entirety of Imperia.

"The voices are so loud…. The voices are so loud." Her voice was low and barely heard by the scientist, again, urging her to kill her enemies and Sharrion telling her to drop the weapon or else. This combination of uncontrolled noise made her fragile mind snap like a stick, "GETOUOFMYHEADGETOUOFMYHEADGETOUOFMYHEADGETOUOFMYHEADGETOUOFMYHEAD!"

"Agh!" Mark winced feeling an inch of her sporadic emotions invading his mind, the small connection between their EXover powers. With his strength returned he tackled Linde out of the way when Solko started shooting indiscriminately. Sharrion flipped over a desk for cover that Mark and Linde hid behind, and the wounded soldier protecting Saeko used himself as a shield to absorb the shots fired by Solko. The last bullet she used on herself to shut the voice in her head prematurely. The guts of her mind painted the ground much like water given to the soil, her mind would join a collective conscience of the freed individuals from war.

Mikael was sick to his stomach moreso than if he killed the girl himself. Linde thanked Mark for saving her life there but the sight of her now dead husband and experiment dragged down her mood. This emotional overload was all too common along her test subjects but the exact cause that triggered this reaction was still unknown among all her scientist peers.

"Master Linde, mind explaining the meaning behind this?" Sharrion motioned towards her husband and Solko. But there was little time to explain. Their time was short and the soldiers out on investigation were about to return to their stations.

Mark was concerned about an important detail, the girl saved by the dying soldier in her arms who gave his life so she could live. But if the mad scientist's words rang true then she would suffer the same fate as Solko and her predecessors. What was the point in saving her, whether or not the soldier knew of her conditions as an experiment and sickness, it was stupid to sacrifice one's life. Saeko was freaked out by the blood on her hands and pushed the soldiers off screaming for her father, Warui, to take her home.

Sharrion dropped a sweat "Leave her here. We're going to have to split up. Linde wants us to escort her daughters out of this building while she buys time distracting the guards."

The girl was disturbed by the event and had a sense of innocence not yet lost. Her statement to Mark back on the train was just a front and in actuality, she was just a child. He saw bits of Midare in her. He made the conscious decision to escort Saeko with Mikael, leaving the duty of escaping with Linde's daughter to Sharrion, Amelia and Ibuki.

Sharrion and Mikael didn't like his choice to help the girl that had tried to kill them but neither wanted to leave her to the whims of the returning guards who would mistake the mass killings as her doing. And Warui to believe her as another failed experiment.

Mark approached Saeko and offered a hand. "Can you stand?"

She looked at it and scoffed, turning her head away with her knees tucked close to her chest. "I don't need you. Go away!"

Linde joined Mark's side and kneeled down to face the girl eye to eye. She had to convince Saeko to allow Mark to help her out of the lab, speaking in a soft tone like a mother to her child. All Mark needed to do was escort her out of the lab and from there, Warui would handle the rest. This prompted Saeko to ask if Warui knew Mark.

Linde replied "He's a special forces soldier sent by Kaga to retrieve you." This lie was good enough for Saeko to trust Mark in the meantime.

She reached out slowly to grasp his glove covered hand and stood back to her feet. But she hadn't fully recovered yet, coughing and wheezing like a smoker would, she suffered from a fatal rare disease. Thanks to Seraphim's intrusion she wasn't able to recover fully, her limbs were weak and she couldn't run.

"There's an elevator I can take you to that will take us straight outside. If you try anything funny though, I will shoot you." Saeko added.

Mark nodded at her threats and held her hand as they left the room with Mikael. Sharrion would go in the opposite direction of them with two small girls in tow that Mikael recognized during his time as a detective. But he never got the chance to see their faces.

The route Saeko made them take made the two boys feel a bit suspicious of her intentions. During their slow travel they encountered a handful of soldiers they either had to sneak around or silently take down in a non lethal manner to not raise noise using their guns. Eventually they found the elevator Saeko talked about and rode it down to the first floor, but not without some bickering from the little girl.

"That other girl there looked just like me. Who was she? And why did Warui make her?"

"..." Mark didn't respond. There was a brief awkward silence until Mikael felt he needed to give the girl a less than satisfactory answer. "She's another experiment like you. That's all there is to it."

"I-Is that it?" Saeko nervously laughed "I'm overthinking things... Warui always said I was the most knowledgeable of his kids."

Mark raised an eyebrow at the term 'his kids' ; it was an odd way of viewing orphaned test subjects that were eventually going to die. Saeko lowered her head and her soft grip loosened around Mark's hand, "Hey urm… about when we first met I… I'm soー"

"Don't worry about it." Mark quickly cut her off just before the elevator doors opened. He peeked his head out with his gun looking left down the hall first, then right. Once he confirmed the halls to be clear he took Saeko's hand and continued onward with Mikael guarding his rear.

Saeko again asked another curious question about if he ever met Warui to which he replied he didn't. Fabricating a story about his injuries often getting the best of him which in turn, made the hospital practically his home. A story Saeko could relate to being stuck in the hospital since the day she was born. She may have referred to Warui as her father but they had no blood connection at all. Her real parents had a difficult time getting money for Saeko's hospital fees. Warui stepped in to help her family with the funds as well as researching her rare illness. Her parents were so grateful for his charity that they allowed Saeko to live with him. This story of hers brought into question how she ended up as a test subject. Mark withheld on his question not wanting to draw suspicion, he'd have to figure out the story from Warui himself.

"I think I can from the exit on my own here." Saeko released Mark's hand.

"Are you sure?"

She nodded "I think I hear Cardinal Kaga ahead."

Mark eyes widened and he listened to the voices coming from the room ahead. He gripped Mikael's arm "We're leaving."

"Don't you want to see Kaga?" Mikael's question was ignored however, and Mark moved past him ready to make his escape. Mikael sighed and waved to Saeko before joining Mark on his abrupt departure.

》》》》》◆《《《《《

The droning of fluorescent light dragged on humming like a fly's wings close to the human ear. Clarette had been taken to an office room, handcuffed and personally monitored by Warui himself. Facing opposed on opposite ends of the long wooden table, Warui sitting at the end while Clarette leaned on the edge of the table.

The carpet was dark green and the walls dark oak. It was designed to look like the inside of a cabin, no stress, and the illusion of a camp away from mass civilization. Clarette wasn't relaxed in the slightest in the presence of this man. The silence choked Warui uncomfortably, he felt he needed to say something or he was to turn insane. In a ironic twist, the room meant to break Clarette's psyche through isolation and perceived madness was breaking him.

"...You are free to take a seat, you know."

"I wish to see my brother."

"He's not here at the moment."

"What did you do with him?"

Warui swallowed a hardened gulp at their back and forth, her replies all sharper than a blade. Her words dug deep in him. Clarette could feel the man tense up at her requests. She did not understand why he watched her personally. She had nothing to give, only something to take. "Where is my brother?" She repeated.

"He's still in Imperia." Although not a specific answer, it was enough to make Clarette slouch her shoulders. They were back to silence, that was until Warui's phone rang. He took the call and Clarette listened closely to the voice on the other end which she recognized as her brother's.

"Understood. I'll be there to retrieve her." Warui hung up then made his way to the door while Clarette barked "That was my brother! What happened to him?"

"Nothing that concerns you Ms. Castivel. Now stay put, if my guards catch you trying to escape they will not think twice about crippling you permanently." Warui left, shutting the thick wooden door behind him and locking it.

"Retrieve her? Is he talking about that girl..? Maybe she felt the same thing as I." Clarette thought. She was starting to get accustomed to her artificial EXover powers and could feel what she described as the 'life' of fallen soldiers now turned spirits. The feeling pointed her in certain directions and was the sole reason why she escaped the first time around. Sudden banging on an air vent above her took her out of her thoughts. Climbing on the table, she looked up to see who her savior could be and upon seeing white fur, her nerves tensed and wrist tightened around her handcuffs in preparation. However the surprise was from a blue eyed white cat with a blue ribbon as a collar.

A voice invaded her mind, "Found ya!"

Clarette was quick to guess "So they tested on animals too…" She dropped her shoulders and asked "Who brought you here?"

"Relax! I'm here to get you out but uh… I'm merely a cat. This vent won't budge."

"I can't help either with my hands in a bind. Even if I could, I don't care about escaping anymore."

The cat gasped "You can't lose hope now! You're Kaga's sister right? He always talked about you."

"..." Clarette stayed silent to listen to what the cat had to say.

"He's super fixated on saving everyone but most importantly, you."

Clarette looked up at the cat, "Tell me, what is your name?"

"Akagi meow! I was one of the lucky animals that managed to survive." Akagi then tapped the vent "We can talk more once I get you out of here. I'm gonna try to steal a key."

The cat returned to sneaking around in the air vents. Clarette hopped off the table and smiled, this time instead of running, she'll join the battlefield with Mark to turn the tables around in this war.