"Emergency services. How may we- "

"I AM DYING!" Alik Liski, the landlord of 107 Bayksu Way, crackled over the receiver. "MY ARM! MY ARM!"

Field Commander Ileana and Agent Wadim shared a look.

"See?" Special Class Dr. Gavril said. He wore the only smile in the Command Room.

While the color had drained from almost each and every face when Special Entity Zero-One had appeared on the cameras hastily setup in the Special Entity Candidate's dour apartment, Dr. Gavril alone had cheered.

"We prepare for the unexpected and we are rewarded," Dr. Gavril continued.

Ileana watched him through misty eyes. The man's unhinged behavior frightened her only slightly less than that of Zero-One's.

"You should remain in your domicile, sir," Agent Ilie told the landlord over the hijacked line. She had recovered from her morning hysteria and now tendered most communication interceptions coming from 107 Bayksu Way. "Help is on the way."

"Yes, yes," Dr. Gavril said. He stroked the small stubble of his white beard. "This is remarkable. A living subject. Just remarkable!"

Nobody returned his enthusiasm. The only sound in the Command Room were the manic cries of Alik Liski from the other end of the receiver and the click-clack of half a dozen keyboards.

"But is he really our subject anymore?" Illeana asked after the silence became unbearable. "You saw what happened to the landlord. We can't- "

"Hmm?" Dr. Gavril flashed her a confused smile as he tore his eyes away from the monitors. "Oh. I was referring to the landlord. We've only ever dealt with the corpses Zero-One produced. Who knows what we'll found in this man's wounds."

Illeana did not have the words to respond. The Special Class Doctor had completely lost his mind.

"ARE YOU NOT TERRIFIED?" Agent Wadim shouted, and half the Command Room jumped in their seats, Illeana included. "THAT MONSTER IS LOOSE!"

She could have kissed his fat face after her stomach settled. Because he spoke for the entire room, Dr. Gavril excluded, but it was Dr. Gavril who ultimately decided what to do with Zero-One's new behavior.

"And what do we have to fear?" Dr. Gavril said, his voice suddenly cold and empty of his previous glee. "Have I really worked beside such peasants all these years?"

"The Special Entity Zero-One has... escaped containment, Doctor," Illeana said, the words pried free thanks to Agent Wadim's outburst. "This is a disaster."

"This is remarkable," Dr. Gavril said, jubilant. "Zero-One has transformed."

"And what is so wonderful about t-that?" Agent Wadim asked, his voice breaking. "This was never a science experiment, Doctor. We've lost control. We need- "

"I like that word," Special Class Dr. Gavril said with a lifting laugh. "Control. You all saw it. That man. Our Special Entity Candidate, the SEC stopped Zero-One. How? Why? Finding out the answer to that question is worth more than a hundred dead landlords."

Illeana jerked away from D. Gavril in disgust. One death a week had been sacrifice enough. What Agent Wadim said was true. They had lost control, which meant Special Entity Zero-One could eat however many poor souls it wished.

"F-field Commander?"

Illeana looked up and found Agent Ilie staring at her. She had evidently finished speaking with the landlord.

"Who are we... to send...?" Agent Illie asked, and it was a moment before Illeana understood, and another before she could think to answer. With Zero-One on the loose and violent, who did they dare to send into that building.

"The Field Commander, of course," Dr. Gavril said. The words were so flippant and abrupt that it almost seemed like he was talking to himself, but then he continued. "We will need to establish an office within the building. The Field Commander should make an initial assessment."

The world shifted out from underneath Illeana. She would have fallen out of her chair if she had not been half-slumped over her desk like so many others in the Command Room.

"You want to continue observation?" Agent Wadim asked in disbelief. "We've lost con- "

"How many times are you going to repeat yourself?" Dr. Gavril asked with a snap, his mood dark. "We have lost control, yes, but the SEC has gained it. How? Why? That is something we must know."

Nobody spoke. Nobody dared.

"So, we need to establish a new office to better observe both Zero-One and the Special Entity Candidate," Dr. Gavril said, and for the first time since the ruinous events of the afternoon, a deep tired bled from his words. "We cannot lose our nerve. We cannot afford to."

Illeana lost most of her lunch on the drive to 107 Bayksu Way. She had tried to drive there herself at first, but the car had not moved a hundred meters before she had to pull over to retch.

Burl Agent Aurel, stripped of his fat suit and his usual cheer, sat at the wheel. He kept the car at a leisurely pace as they made their way to the apartment complex. They had exchanged a few words when he had first settled into her car, but Illeana could not remember which. He was one of the few agents outside of the Command Room who knew, or at least was allowed to know, that Special Entity Zero-One had escaped.

"I sort of feel..." Illeana began, but her eyes began to mist as if they had been waiting for her mouth to open.

They drove on in silence for a few minutes and then Burl Agent Aurel asked:

"What do you feel?"

Illeana loosed a deep, shuddering sigh. She remembered Burl Agent Aurel's God bless comment from the afternoon's failed operation. If only she had a God to thank or to beg, her stomach might not have been in such distress.

"I feellike thelunch we sentin," Illeana said in one rapid breath. "Totheir... deaths."

Burl Agent Aurel only nodded, his eyes darting about the street.

"We'll overcome," he said after a short while, but Illeana scarcely heard the words.

107 Bayksu Way had come into view.

The building and its neighbors wore old coats of paint and their tired age on their chipped bricks. It was a poor area with the nearest supermarket four buses away. It had never made sense that the SEC, that Petre Predav, would do his shopping at the Solca City View Mall. She had even wondered on the strangeness of his travel. There had been closer food markets.

As the car pulled up to the apartment building, a morbid cheer filled her chest beside a hot rush of nausea. Because after all this time and hidden observation, Illeana would have the chance to finally ask Petre Predav why.

"They will have already extracted the landlord," Burl Agent Aurel said. "The door should be unlocked. The keys should be inside. You do not have to act for a few days. Just settle in."

Some quiet part of Illeana flared with annoyance at the man's instructions. She knew all of this already. Most of it had been on her orders because someone would have to replace the landlord after his sudden stroke and who better than his estranged daughter.

"God bless," Burl Agent Aurel said as the two stared into one another's eyes, and Illeana retched all over his lap.