Evelyne

The moment her neurons fired up all together and her consciousness came back from the infinite void, she jumped on her feet, ready for a fight. Her eyes darted around the room, scanning for any potential danger. A meter away from her, there was a figure with its back turned to hear. Not missing a single second, she jumped from whatever she had been laying on and clawed at the figure’s throat.

The body with her on its back fell to the ground, making a distinguishable metallic sound. She looked at her hand: there was no blood. Then some sparks started flying off and the android body started to spasm uncontrollably. Evelyne got off its back and gave a second look at her surroundings.

The whiteness that was all around her and the sterile smell brought back memories of the time she was in the lab with the various researchers. It had not even been that long since she had left, but what was once a peaceful and familiar sight to her, now felt alien and foreign. The room did not have any furniture, only a mattress that she had been laying upon. The red stains on it are the only other color in the otherwise monochrome room.

Her eyes looked down at her somewhat familiar looking hospital gown. The clothes that she had been wearing must have been damaged beyond repair so they had given her this. Looking under it, she found no lingering wounds, thankfully.

While she was busy inspecting herself, the door to her room opened. Evelyne slid under the bed and looked with wide eyes at the feet of whoever had gotten in. Whatever it was, it surely would not be happy to find its android in that condition. So she readied herself, ready to pluck its eyes out (if it had any) if it bent to look under the bed.

“I mean you no harm…Evelyne.” It spoke in plain English. Its voice is monotone and without any accent, as if a machine spoke it.

“Another Android?”

She could not trust it, so she remained hidden under the bed, her hand and nails ready to lash out at the unfortunate android.

“The Grinning Devil has asked us to bring you and the human Ludomir into this safe p-”

“LUDOMIR! WHERE IS HE?” She yelled from under the bed.

Ludomir. The image of the young man came to her mind. The sound of his ragged breathing and the smell of his scorched skin reminded her of what critical conditions he was in. She slipped out of her spot and rushed towards the Android.

Immediately she noticed the android she was speaking to, it was the same model of the one that she had damaged. The only difference was that he had an improvised prosthetics replacement for his right arm.

“He is currently in the ICU. His condition is stable for now, though his situation remains critical.”

“Did his skin start to shrink already? Did you check if it was strangling him? Any sight of heat hematomas? Have you even checked the severity of the damage to his respiratory tract?” She spitballed at the silent android.

“We have done what we could with what was available to us.”

“...How long?” Asked Evelyne, her eyes staring at her bare feet, as if the answer would appear on them.

“A few hours at best.”

She felt anger.

“If only I had been faster…”

Such thoughts floated through her mind, flooding her with possible different outcomes. What ifs continued to berate her, telling her that it was all her fault. Even her excuses sounded weak and pathetic.

“What about Victoria?!”

The android stood there silently, staring straight at her. Evelyne bit the inside of her lips, hard enough to draw blood. A few seconds of shameful silence later, another android came holding something in his hands.

She looked with downcast eyes towards it, barely noticing the presence of the new android. That is, until she heard a familiar bark.

“VICTORIA!”

The dog jumped out of the robot's hand and straight into her chest. She kissed the dog on the head and she licked all over her face. After the novelty had worn off, and the smell of the puppy’s breath became noticeable, Evelyne gently put her down by her side. Victoria sat close to her, leaning on her shin with its head.

“I allowed myself to bring the dog to you since it was in good condition.”

“Thank you! You are very kind!”

“I am just doing what I was born to do.”

“What do you mean?” Asked Evelyne curiously. She had clearly noticed that this android was different from the rest.

“Talking about other androids…” Her eyes glanced at the downed one which she had damaged. Its body had stopped twitching and stood there unmoving.

“Do not worry, since you have not damaged his core, he is still salvageable.”

That eased her worry.

“Still…I am sorry…”

Though it did little to ease her shame.

“Lord Devil told us that you might react violently.”

“Lord Devil?”

“Our current owner.”

“Why lord?”

“It is what he wished to be called.”

“Uh.”

While Evelyne would sometimes get into the Grinning Devil’s mind and decipher his complex thought process, most of the time she found herself confused at what appeared as nonsense or just plain random actions. Maybe there was really no deeper or hidden motive under the Devil’s every action, maybe it was just that people were so intimidated by his reputation that they made him a bigger deal thann what he really is?

Then another thought came to her. Maybe that was his plan all along? A trap set for the few people that would want to see behind the veil of his legend? They would see the randomness of his actions and either would get more paranoid, since they would not be able to ascertain the meaning behind his actions, or they would get cocky, believing themselves better than the Devil which everyone had made out bigger than life itself.

Nonetheless, this was a perfect way to defend oneself. The paranoid one would want to stay away from him, since he would not want to entangle himself with the human-shaped disaster known as the Grinning Devil. The other when, underestimating the Unknown capabilities, would rush in towards their death. Truly, it was so devious that she felt a shiver run down her spine.

What about their encounters with Legion? With Ludomir? About the explosion? Did he know something or…

Evelyne shook her head, bringing her thoughts in order. She could not allow herself to fall into such a rabbit hole, it would do her no good. The Grinning Devil had only been kind to her and Ludomir, as far as she knew, so she had reason to doubt that he would put them in any sort of life-threatening scenario just to advance one of his plans.

“Wait, me and Ludomir?”

A blush crept on her face. She did not think of him in that way, no no no, she was just worried about his well-being! After all, he had helped and kept her company while they were stuck in that dreadful apartment complex. He had grown dear to her, with those blue eyes of his filled with so much hope and his smile that had no malice.

"Wawawawa!"

"Are you alright madam?" Asked the android with a semblance of worry in his voice.

"No! I mean, yes!" Her brain was overheating. She was flaying her hands around her, as if that act would dissolve her thoughts.

Victoria's bark was enough to calm her down somewhat, though her face was still as red as an apple.

"If you wish, I can accompany you to where your human companion is." The android offered with a strange glint behind his cybernetic eye.

"YES! I mean Cough yes, please." Evelyne lightly coughed in her closed hand, trying to reign on her emotions.

The Android nodded and walked out of the room. As soon as Evelyne followed, two other androids, identical to the android she had been talking to, walked in and got working on the damaged android.

"Ehm…since I find it rude to call you just android, can I know your name?" Timidly asked the little girl.

"The name that was given to me was Roy Batty."

"The Grinning Devil chose that name?"

"Indeed, he said it was a good reference."

"Reference of what?"

"That is a mystery I myself was not able to uncover."

The name did not ring a bell in her mind, so either it was just one of the classic Devil shenanigans or maybe it was something so old that neither of them could find out about.

Either way, it was not important. Now that she had the android's name, she focused her attention outwards and on her surroundings.

The walls were a steely gray, on some she found scratches made by some bladed objects. The doors too were metallic in nature and mostly were damaged, few of them even missing their key lock.

"What is this place?"

"This bunker was intended as a multi-purpose manufacturing facility and a research facility."

"What were they researching?"

Evelyne had lived most of her life in isolation. Those few times that she interacted with someone, she was one of the few kind scientists that bypassed the no-contact rule to speak with her. She never saw them again after their first meeting. Her mind did not dwindle of the fate of those researchers.

Nevertheless, with those few minutes of talk, she understood the nature of her previous lab work. Human Genome Alteration.

"A.I. manipulation and Android production."

"Is that why you seem so…" Evelyne tried to find some words but failed to find some that did not sound offensive.

"Human? Yes, my core hosts a Delta-class experimental A.I. which allows me to better interact with my surroundings in a manner similar to a human."

"Wow…I never saw an android above Epsilon-class."

The other androids that sometimes walked past them, and the previous three she encountered were most likely Epsilon-class A.I. Incapable of higher thought functions, they were however very good at following the instruction given to them, even better than a human. They however lacked the mental elasticity that made humans so adaptable. Back at her research lab, Epsilons were used for menial labors, though sometimes some would be used for the more nefarious and dangerous experiments. She never knew the full extent of her lab experiment, the scientist that she talked to always frowned and refused to speak further.

“Of course, humans dislike when their slaves are able to think beyond given orders.” Said Roy while putting his hand behind his back. For the first time since she saw the android’s face, Evelyne noticed that the normally colored blue iris, that he shared with all of the other androids, was in a constant flux of changing colors: ranging from red to blue, then settling to an indigo color.

“Sorry, I didn't mean to offend you…” She sheepishly apologizes while petting Victoria.

“Fret not, it was an unsightly display of emotion by my part.”

“Emotion?” Evelyne’s ears perked up at that. She knew that Delta-class were somewhat able to mimic a human consciousness. They could understand feelings, toy and manipulate them to the best of their designers, but they could not feel. That was a human exclusive…at least that’s what she had been told.

“Yes, well…” - he said stopping before one of the many doors in the hallway - “One could say I am special…”

With a knock, the door opened revealing a stasis pod in the middle of the room. The body of Ludomir floated inside the chamber, all around the red-purple-ish liquid kept him afloat. There remained little of him: most of his flesh had been charred, in some points, it was completely black; his clothes had adhered to his skin so strongly that they could not take it out without possibly killing him. He had a tube going through his throat, bringing the oxygen that he so desperately needed.

On the side of it, attached to the rightmost wall was an android sitting in front of a pc with multiple monitors. On it, she could see a series of numbers moving up and about on the screen.

Evelyne walked closer to the pod. Her raised hand touched the cold glass of the chamber. The feeling of numbness spread from her hand to her chest then to her body. Those thoughts that she tried so damn hard to keep bottled up exploded in a fiery temper. Her nail broke while scratching on the thick glass, the blood dripping to the white floor. Blood poured out as she bit the inside of her chicks and lips in a pathetic effort to keep herself from an emotional breakdown. Slowly, tears began to run down her cheeks and mixed with the blood downward.

Her body immediately started to heal itself, the wounds healed as fast as she made new ones, thankfully the pain did not subside and that helped her to bite even harder. Her broken nails had stopped bleeding and were starting to form new nails.

“All this power… and nothing… nothing!”

She was supposed to be the apex of humanity, the best of the best… but what did that mean if you could not even defend or help those close to you? Nothing, that’s what. The image of the poor scientist that had helped her escape came to her mind, she did nothing to help him while he was poisoned, she was just a hindrance… was he even still alive?

Then Ludomir, the man who she has spent the most time with, the one that even when he knew what she was, that saw what she was, did not treat her with fear like the other researchers. The one that showed her things that no book could teach her… he had shown her humanity, the one that despite hardship, pushed forward and that even in this damned world of ours was kind, not because of weakness, but because it is the right thing to do.

Evelyne felt an emotion that she was not very familiar with. She had cried before, the pain of some of the experiments made her somewhat resistant to crying as a physical response to pain… but this time the pain was within. Right in her chest, with every beat she could feel the weight becoming heavier, wanting to be unleashed into the world. She opened her mouth and screamed…screamed like she never had before in her life. All of her anguish flowed through her body to the open air. She continued until her vocal cords were damaged so heavily that even breathing had become a pain.

Victoria, the faithful hound, stood by her side silently as she sobbed silently on the ground, using her knees to cover her face and her arms blocking them from moving. Evelyne glanced at the puppy and opened one of her arms as an invitation, which the dog immediately accepted. She interrupted her sobbing only once, to look up at Ludomir’s body. A determinate look in her eyes and promise in her heart.

“Nevermore…”

Grinning Devil“

So she is fine?” Asked the Devil through his helmet comms.

“She is currently crying… any advice on how to help her?” The Android monotone voice ringed inside the helmet. Roy was a very interesting and useful subordinate since he was an Android. The problem was that being the somewhat unfeeling machine he is, he is not able to deal with emotions that well, especially a child crying caused by her feelings of regret.

“No need, let her blow some steam. It will do her good.”

“As you wish my lord.”

“How are the repairs going?”

“They are mostly complete sir, though I do not see the need for so much living space.”

“You will soon.” Said the Grinning Devil with a hint of amusement in his voice. If the message that Legion had sent him was true, he had to plan for the worst. They had dealt with the Iron Lady, so the Department would be very itchy to press that big red button and delete the Ural Polis from the face of the earth.

Thankfully, there were still the Chinese and the Priests duking it out with the Black Hand in the city so they should wait until that mess gets resolved. Though the Grinning Devil had a hunch that they would drop the broken arrow as soon as the various faction leaders had been identified in the AO.

“How much?” Asked Fjodor Anisimova.

The man had stopped to ravage some of the civilian fridges along the way and ate approximately 150 kg of food that he could get his hands on. For a few seconds, the Devil thought the man had gone Cannibal and was ready to try and kill it. Keyword try. After everything the man went through, the masked Unknown almost started to believe that the man was truly unkillable. Though seeing him stumble into one of the empty buildings to eat something somewhat made him more mortal.

His skin had turned into a normal pale color, very common among Russian people. Unfortunately, he had lost all of his body hair and when the Grinning Devil saw him like that, he had to resist laughing, mostly out of preservation. The man looked like a jacked shirtless monk, ready to preach violence to the nearest unlucky fucker to get into his range. Fortunately, they were able to find him some pants, though trying to find one for his size proved quite time wasting.

“We will soon be there.”

“That’s what you said three minutes ago.” Growled the giant of a man under his breath.

“Well, I am out of 7th spell slots so no Teleport for us.”

Before the Lion could speak, a comm signal linked with his helmet. They had been running towards Khutulun’s position so he thought it was her. But no such luck.

“DEVIL! MOVE! KHUTULUN IS HURT!” Chiyome’s voice shouted right into his ears.

Without waiting on Fjodor, he started sprinting toward their position. With inhuman agility, he moved through debris, buildings, and people until he reached their position.

It was the scene of a fierce battle, a few meters to his left, stood a deformed human body with its head cut off. He ignored his sight, focusing on Chiyome. The Last Ninja was sporting some grave injuries so she stood on the floor, her back to the wall. On her lap there she was: Khutulun.

Like a ghost, the Grinning Devil appeared before her.

“Get off her.” His voice was raw, filled with anger.

With a heavy frown on her face and tears running down her face, Chiyome helped bring Khutulun’s head to his hands. The Devil went on his knees and tenderly touched her helmet. The impact made by a cal 7.62 had left quite the sizable hole on her mask. The cracks had made her mask appear like a shattered mirror in which he could see his own reflection.

“Oh…Khutulun…” He said while gently caressing the side of her face.

“Useless, even her you cannot protect.” Mocked the Headless Shadow.

“Shut up…” Muttered the Devil under his breath.

“Why? So you can ignore the consequences of your actions again?”

“...”

“You killed me, and now you killed her… Now only you are missing.”

“I-I…” He glanced down at his laser pistol. The idea to poke a hole in his head was becoming more alluring than usual. Everything to make the voice shut up.

“You have tried already… I am stuck here with you… Until the day you die that is.” The Grinning Devil felt hands pressing down his throat.

“Still, before you die, we have to repay this death with more death.” He felt his control over his mind slip, his consciousness slowly fading into oblivion and being taken over by something. Fjodor reached them a few seconds later, showing surprise at the scene for a split second then focusing all his attention on the Grinning Devil’s back.

“Take her back to these coordinates and stay put.” He commanded Chiyome.

She twitched for a second, her face pale and her eyes wide with worry.

“Sorry but I-”

“Fjodor, take both of them and bring them to the bunker. Chiyome knows the road.” Ordered the Grinning Devil without turning to look at the Lion.

Before he could voice his disapproval, the masked Unknown interrupted him.

“Your daughter is there too.”

Fjodor wanted to speak back, but his instincts, sharp even before he was Enhanced, told him to not annoy the Devil right now. There was something off about him. He looked down and noticed the body of someone wearing a mask similar in design to that of the Devil. Whatever they were, it seemed they had some importance to him to make him act this way. The Lion hoped he would not lie in such a situation.

“If you are lying I-”

As soon as Fjodor accepted the order. The Grinning Devil began to run towards the city center, where most of the battle was being fought. He had to right a wrong. He would kill the fucker that had dared to harm Khutulun, even if it meant making Ural Polis disappear from the face of Earth. He will have their blood.