The two men follow the path of the ventilation system. This one was different to the other one they were just in as it had no alternative pathways, just one that went left then left again until they reached an exit. Midas takes a peek and steps out, motioning Jones to come out too.

"No guards. We're safe now."

They shut the vent and look around. There was a staircase leading down to a table and a bunch of computers and folder draws.

"This must be the room behind the locked door." Midas hums. "What are I.O trying to hide?"

"Hey Midas, look at this." Jones calls out to him, beckoning him to come over to the table.

"What did you find my dear?"

"This table has a slot in these two corners. Perfect for those keys Origin gave us don't you think?" Jones points out.

Midas takes his one out of his pocket, observing it and seeing Jones was right. Together they slot the keys where they belong and the glass screen on the table begins powering up.

"Hopefully this will give us the answers on what I.O's device will be doing once it's finished." Midas mutters, grabbing a round looking mouse and maneuvering it around.

A few folders pop up but Midas is only interested in the one labelled 'ColliderPlans'. He clicks on it and begins reading through the information.

"It says here that its intent is to attach four crystals to the bottom of the Collider. They'll gradually raise the Zero Point up so it touches them." Midas reads.

"That doesn't sound good." Jones says. "Hey, look at this, a message to Slone."

Jones takes the mouse and clicks on the message.

"Slone, I'm giving you these plans for a device of mine powerful enough to wipe out the entire Island. If you can't beat the Seven with force, then this device will surely get rid of them.

Do not fail me.

- Genō."

Midas and Jones look at each other in surprise.

"This was all Genō's plan! I shoulda known." Jones groans in frustration. "I know Slone's a little crazy but I know she wouldn't orchestrate a plan to wipe out the whole Island...but Genō would."

"Isn't he the guy you said you'd help the Seven find back when the Zero Point was destabilising?" Midas remembers.

"Uh-huh."

"Well, now that we know who's behind all this, why don't we have a look at how the Collider is intended to work via this demo." Midas suggests, pointing the cursor. "I can imagine it's not going to be anything good."

Midas clicks on the file titled 'ColliderDemoV2'. It begins downloading and a red button on the table flashes, signalling that the demo's ready. Jones presses the button.

A holographic projection of the Island appears with the Collider centered in a crater in Loot Lake. It pulsates with energy, powering up before a huge beam fires into the sky. It zooms out to show the whole Island and the boy's eyes widen in horror as the Collider sends out a gigantic sphere of energy and covers the Island, obliterating everything and everyone in its path and leaving nothing in its wake.

"So once the Zero Point makes contact with those crystals... that's it..." Jones breathes. "The Island gets blown up."

"And the people on the Island are killed, regenerated and have their memories erased. Including us." Midas finishes. "Leaving I.O to take full control of the Island, probably forever."

"We gotta get this to The Seven. Now." The blond says.

At that moment, an alarm begins to blare.

"INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT!! LOOPERS FOUND IN SECTOR 4! BEGIN IMMEDIATE PURSUIT!"

"Fuck. We've been caught." Midas grumbles. "Here. Take this USB stick and download EVERYTHING onto it. I'll cover you."

Midas chucks Jones said USB stick and summons his staff. The blond nods and gets to work while the doors up above open. A hoard of guards stormed in shooting their weapons. Midas sticks his staff in the ground, forming a shield, and spreads his hands out, explosive golden spheres appearing around him.

He tosses them all at the guards, exploding upon impact. A few of them fall to the ground, but more of them pile in. Cracks begin forming in the shield so Midas grips on to his staff, giving it more power, and the cracks begin healing.

"Damnit. This shield won't hold forever unless I'm holding my sceptre!" Midas grunts. "How's the download going Jones?!"

"Uh, nearly 50%!"

Midas forms a spear in his hands and throws it, piercing straight through two guards and sticking to the wall. Blood spluttering from their bodies before disappearing into a jumble of blue cubes. That's when a woman walks in wearing the normal agent attire for I.O. Blue blazer, red tie, silver ring.

But the black hair and turquoise eyes, plus healed remnants of a bullet through her head, makes Jones' blood go cold.

It was Janice.

"Holy shit... Jan?!"

She glares at Jones, seemingly having no recollection of him at all, pointing a pistol and shooting at them. Midas grunts as the shield shatters, making him back up towards Jones.

"That's not your wife anymore Jonesy. She doesn't remember you. Seems like your suspicions were correct about Slone potentially erasing her memories upon reviving her."

Jones shivers a little, but shakes his fear and the uncomfortable feeling in his chest away. If Janice didn't remember him anymore, there was no point in trying to talk to her to get her to stop the guards.

Midas tosses a few golden spheres at the remaining guards and Janice. As they explode, the USB stick finishes downloading the information on the Collider, including a video version of the demo.

"Aha! It's done!"

"Perfect! Now let's get out of here!"

Jones takes the USB and Midas' hand. Meanwhile Midas raises his staff in the air before slamming it on the ground, sending out an explosive shockwave of light that cracks the ground as the boys disappear.

It destroys the room and kills a few more guards. Janice coughs away the smoke, getting her bearings. That's when Doctor Slone walks in with Gunnar.

"Well? Did you kill them?" She asks.

"No. They escaped... and stole all the files on the Collider, ma'am." Janice sighs.

Slone groans in frustration, pinching the brim of her nose.

"God damnit. At least it's almost finished. They'll have no time to prepare for it. It should be rising to the surface as we speak in fact."

"What should we do now ma'am?" Gunnar asks.

She thinks for a moment.

"Gunnar, round up the rest of our armies and continue training for the next few days."

"Yes Doctor Slone, ma'am!"

He marches off.

"Janice, I need you to put a trace on Ares. He's been absent all day and I want to know his exact location."

"Of course ma'am."

She walks off. Slone looks back at the destruction along with the dead I.O guards that will soon regenerate.

"I'm not done with you yet boys. This device will be your end, and I will have full control over the Island once and for all."

-----------------

Midas and Jones land safely back where they started at the Sanctuary. In the engineering bay. They find Jules and Scientist hard at work with a still unconscious Ares chained to a table, his weapons put aside so he can't try anything if he wakes up.

"We're back Scientist!" Jones calls out with a smile.

He jumps and turns around.

"Wow, that was quick! You were only gone...what, 15 minutes?" He exclaims. "So, what did you find? Did those keys come in handy?"

"More than you would've thought." Midas huffs, staff disappearing and dusting himself off. "We've discovered what I.O's device, called the Collider, will be doing when it's finished and where it will be. It's...not good, I'll say that."

Jones fishes through his pocket and pulls out the USB stick, passing it to The Scientist.

"Everything we need to know is on this. We can call a meeting later and review what we've discovered." He says.

"Huh. Good job you two. I'll go inform the Foundation about this right now actually. Keep an eye on him for me will ya?" The Scientist tells them.

He walks out of the room leaving Jones, Jules and Midas alone.

"How is he?" Midas asks, approaching Jules.

"Well, we haven't been able to figure out how to hack into him yet. But we found this." Jules says, passing him a microchip.

"What is it?"

"Some kind of tracker."

"Probably installed onto Ares in case Slone lost track of him." Jones assumes.

"We ought to destroy it then." Midas says, dropping it on the floor and pulling out his revolver. "Just to be safe."

"Woah, dude. Can't you just crush it with your foot?" Jules stops him. "It's always resorting to guns with you."

Midas sighs and rolls his eyes, putting the revolver away and crushing the tracker under his fancy buckled shoe. It shatters into unfixable scraps.

"Well that's one thing sorted. Now Slone will have a harder time trying to find him." Jones says.

Jules returns to inspecting Ares, trying to find anything she can hack into. Midas and Jones look down at him. It pained the mastermind to see his father like this. Just when it looked like their broken bond could finally show signs of mending after so many years, Slone took everything away.

Turning him into a mindless empty husk of his former self, blinding obeying the orders of a corrupted organisation without question.

The engineer props Ares up to a sitting position, searching behind him for anything. She finds a bunch of wires under his shirt connected to his head, a couple leading into his cybernetic left arm. She assumes that's how he's able to use that arm.

"There's a lot of wires attached to him on his head, robot arm and back." Jules tells the boys.

"Maybe that's how Slone's controlling him?" Jones guesses. "I mean with each encounter we've had with them, he's seen with her and following every command she tells him. He doesn't even talk either..."

"Perhaps when 'fixing' him, Slone somehow took away his ability to speak..." Midas hums, gazing at the metal encasing Ares' neck.

The other two shiver at the thought, a horrible image forming in their minds.

"Though when he was about to repeatedly cut my arms, he said 4 words to me. Words I'd like to forget."

Jones and Jules decide not to ask about what Ares told him.

"Kinda weird that he's beaten us every time Slone's with him and the one time he's sent out on his own without her he gets destroyed by the 3 of us, haha." Jones points out with a chuckle.

"Perhaps he's clueless without her." Jules wonders. "Okay. Maybe if I got rid of some of the wires, that ought to do it?"

Grabbing a pair of nearby scissors, Jules carefully begins snipping at the wires. Though as soon as she cuts a red one and blue one, his eyes shoot open.

"Uh, Jules? He woke up." Jones panics.

The engineer looks up and sees Ares was staring at her, but something was different. On the cybernetic side of his face, his eye was flickering. Red light going on and off constantly.

He was silent, just like usual.

"What's going on with him Jules?" Midas asks, stepping closer to Ares.

"Not sure. All I did was cut two wires." She says.

Ares flinches suddenly. Human hand on his head, red eye flickering. He looked... worried about something. Midas reaches out a hand, not daring to touch though.

"Ares? Are you alright-"

Ares swiftly glares at him and suddenly grabs Midas by the throat with his left hand, shoving him into the wall and increasing the pressure.

"Midas!"

"Ack! Jules...hurry..." He wheezes, struggling to breathe while trying to get his father off him. "f...ix... him..."

Jules frantically searches around Ares for a way to stop him. Until she spots a yellow wire trailing from his head to some contraption on his back. Said contraption had a reddish glow to it and was flickering a lot, the I.O logo clear as day on it.

"I think I've found the source!"

Jules grabs her scissors, and with a snip the yellow wire is detached from his head. In an instant Ares drops Midas and stumbles back, clutching his head before the red eye flickers out and he collapses on the ground. Jones goes to Midas' aid, helping him stand.

"You okay M?"

He looked pretty shaken up, golden hands quivering. Jones could tell in his eyes he wasn't fine, his throat slightly red and bruised.

"I..."

He seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. He no doubt had some traumatic memories come flooding back to him, seeing as holding Midas by the throat seemed to be something Ares did a lot with him in his childhood.

But eventually, he says something.

"I'll... be fine... eventually..."

"You sure?"

He nods. Jones wraps an arm around him before looking at Jules.

"Okay. He's out cold again. Now what?"

"Why don't you two head off? Scientist will probably be back in a minute and we can go from here." Jules suggests.

"Okay. We'll head back to our sleeping quarters for now." Jones nods, taking Midas' hand. "Holler if you need us!"

The boys then exit the room, leaving Jules to do her work.

---------