This seems to happen every time, Huh?

Just when you think the curtains have closed…

I’ll tell you right now, this time, my problem wasn’t emotional or mental, I wouldn’t have taken two weeks to start posting again if that were the case.

And I wasn’t being held captive either, not by the Internationals, not by Creh-umha.

I just got beat, plain and simple. I simply wasn’t physically capable of posting until now.

I’m actually laughing out loud right now, the fact that me, the flying brick, was beat in an honest fight, no sucker punches, no tricks on their part, and they still wiped the floor with me.

It’s like I had one thing I was good for, and this guy totally out did me.

And I can’t help but laugh about it.

It’s insane, right? I gained nothing from all that fighting, but her I am looking back on it fondly.

I once told Charlie K that my experiences have been between horrendous and great, but this was fantastic!

I don’t know how better to start this off than from the beginning.

I was in bed; hotel Milano was the name of the place me and Clover were staying.

Well, Clover hadn’t come back yet, she was still out with Bob and Agent Yuki.

I had been trying to sleep for the past hour or so, worry keeping me from drifting off in a little.

Though I had faith that the organisation, the Internationals, would do nothing to the Mountains ‘princess’ if they were to find a loop hole around Clover’s wish, there was still the looming threat of the Belfast supporters, and though I doubted that any of them would act in the open, it was weighing on my mind.

Though my heart was in the right place, it was wrong of me to have trusted Bob’s friends so openly.

If any of them found out who Clover actually was there’d be no guarantee that they’d act as charitably as Bob.

And when I say that, I mean that man has selflessly given himself for others.

I recognise that now.

Eventually, through tossing and turning I came to the conclusion that Clover could handle herself.

She’ll probably get into trouble, but she will always find a way to wriggle out of it.

Honestly, I should have been more worried about how that trouble affects me, as she had warned.

I heard a roar from the door.

From my ominous introduction, you’re probably imagining that I rocketed out of bed in response. No, I recognised this sound, I’d heard it thousands of times. I simply turned to my side, and flopped the other pillow over my head, like I’d usually do.

The three of them had burst into the living room, laughing, half-cut by the sounds of things, strange, as any time I’d seen Clover drunk, she was plastered in seconds.

It felt like they spent another age acting like idiots in there, I was in that sleep state where I couldn’t quite comprehend time, So I haven’t a clue how long they went on for.

But eventually, they did stop. And by that point, I was no longer on the verge of unconscious. I’m almost certain that it was a result of all this flying around, jetlag I think it’s called.

I had technically taken a ‘nap’ in the hospital, and so had Clover, I felt like it was still the middle of the day.

I sat up for five seconds, before throwing my feet to the side.

Checking my phone, it said the time was around 6 in the morning. That meant nothing to me

I got up, and set out for breakfast.

As I came into the living room, I found Bob unconscious on the sofa, his trousers nowhere to be found.

I looked at him with disgust for a few seconds, then I saw his co-worker, Yuki.

“Good morning,” She cooed, “Sleep well? Do you wear that get-up as pyjamas too?”

I had expected the previously mentioned from Bob, but I didn’t expect Yuki to be awake, let alone working out.

“No thanks to you,” I was bitter, and when I’m bitter I become honest.

She laughed, “Sorry, did we wake you coming in? Man, you should’ve come with us last night, pretty sure E.D King over there is going to have to get his stomach pumped.”

She pointed to the hall way I’d come from, “The princess really can’t hold her liquor, huh?”

I felt a slight shiver. She noticed my change in expression, “Booze loosens lips. That’s one of the reasons I asked. Well, that and Bob needed to pay me back for all the crap he’s put me through.”

She was currently blazing through single-handed push-ups. Then she switched to the other hand.

“And?”

“And what,” She replied.

I paced around the room, “What is with you people? I thought you weren’t supposed to be important, why are you acting so non-challan about aiding a high-ranki-”

She pushed herself up right, I hadn’t noticed earlier when she was in her suit, but now that she was wearing just a sports bra and trousers, I could see this woman was cut like ice.

She walked over to the arm chair, her shirt and jacket were strung over.

“Bob once told me that’s what being a cleaner’s all about. Exterminators are for killing monsters. Researchers are phenomena. So cleaners are for the people. Something like that. I only half understand what he means. I mean, most of our work is simple stuff people don’t want to do, sealing procedures, area decontamination, but Bob say’s what makes this job is that we’re the ones who talk to people after they’ve been attacked by a monster.”

She scratched at her head, “He’d say something about being the ‘bulwark’ or something. But I guess he’s really just here to help people.”

My heart stammered.

I shook it off, “What are you here for?”

She smiled, “I’m not here. I had no idea she was the Mountain Princess. Got it?”

Bob groaned, “End of the day, Yuki’s here for the pay check. It’s not politics or the goodness of her heart that stops her from selling you kids out, it’s corporate negligence.”

She winked, “You’re still in town tomorrow night, right? Y’all should come on down next time.”

And with that she left with a plastic bag and Bob’s bottoms.

The half dead man lying prone hadn’t noticed any of this, his eyes were screwed closed.

I felt like I should say something.

That would be the right thing to do.

“Bob,” I started, “do you want breakfast?”

He groaned in a way that told me ‘no’.

After I found some food, a bowl of some American cereal brand it was a little sugary, and the milk in the fridge wasn’t quite right, Clover eventually crawled out from her cave.

“Good morning,” I parroted, “did you sleep well?”

“Quiet… asshole…”

She was looking a little frazzled, I wondered if she knew what happened last night.

“Yuki found out who you are.”

She nodded, “I know.”

I was half way through the bowl when Bob decided to rise, that grown man with hair all over his thick legs squeaked out as he realised, he no longer had his trousers.

He made an attempt to hide himself from Clover with his jacket. The way he was squatted defensively on the ground, it gave me a horrible view of his rear, “Nothing I haven’t seen…” I muttered to myself.

Bob frantically searched the apartment until I hit him with the cold reality, “Your friend has stolen your trousers. She left a few minutes ago.”

He clawed the door with his eyes, restraining himself from running after her.

Bob begged Clover as she grimaced at the contents of the cereal box, “Hey, hey! Kid, you’ve gotta have a spare- anything, right?”

She didn’t even look at him, “Not for you.”

He was like an animal. He circled around the room, looking for something he could wear.

Then the unexpected happened. He chose the door.

I called after him, Clover shushed me, “Let him go. Apparently, this happens all the time.”

I laughed as she sat down across from me, “I sort of assumed that with how willing he was to run out-” Then Yuki came back.

She sat herself down on the sofa, as if nothing had happened.

“Where were you hiding,” asked Clover.

“Down the hall. I waited for him to pass so I could see his reaction. I came back here, because there was a group of old ladies.”

Juxtaposing her work out, Yuki slouched back in the chair. I asked, “And you don’t think he’s crazy enough to run past them?”

“No, he would, he’s an idiot. I just didn’t want to see that happen.”

There was a clacking from down the hall, and I wondered if this was really a good hotel, the soundproofing wasn’t great.

Bob tripped as he saw Yuki, face planting to the floor, she replied by tossing Bob’s trousers over his head.

“You’re in your thirties,” stated Clover, trying to wake up on the right side of bed, and failing miserably, “and you don’t have the excuse of being Units. So why do you act like-”

She couldn’t find the right word.

Yuki rested her head on her hand, leaning left, “I’m trying to train him.”

Bob was prancing around the room, trying to pull his trousers up.

“He’s thirty-four and he still has no planning skills, that’s more than obvious from the fact that he flew out to Korea with only the barebones of a plan. Ok, Bob, question: what should you have done in the previous situation.”

As he finally got his trousers on he answered quickly, “I shouldn’t have fallen asleep in your presence.”

“Yeah,” she admitted, “but the answer I was looking for was something along the lines of, ask someone to go find me or another pair of trousers, there are two dressed people here. The subject’s problem is that he is illogical,” I got the feeling that was some sort of in-joke at the end.

Clover was basically ignoring us, she yawned from tiredness. I would have told her to go back to sleep, but she’d kept me awake last night, and like I said, that’s left me bitter.

As Bob hobbled over to the counter to get the cereal, I felt like I should ask, “How’d you get that limp Bob? Was that a result of acting ‘illogically’.”

Yuki answered for him, “Probably. He got it after June. Half his foot is missing, and he refused getting either a new one grown, or a prosthetic.”

Bob poured the last of the milk into his bowl, “It’s got sentimental value, alright?”

“Ship of Theseus,” stated Clover, out of the blue, “how many parts must you replace before you have a different boat altogether? Some people’d say if the keel of the boat is replaced, that’s what will make it a different ship. It’s a sort of spine to the structure. But human beings aren’t like that. Over a seven-year period, every cell of your body has died, and been replaced. So are you the same ship?”

Yuki shrugged; Bob was scoffing down that horrible cereal.

“You’ve forgotten things, changed mentally, I’m not an expert, but the soul is supposed to change according to both of the aforementioned. So if all three archetypes change, then what makes you, really?”

She stood up, and walked away, “The fourth option, the triangle made from every other point. Self.”

I hadn’t a clue where this was coming from. Actually, I’d never seen her with a hangover, was this the result?

“Uh-hu,” replied Yuki, confused as me.

Clover sighed, “I need a shower.”

Bob had perked up, “I guess I underestimated you Mountain-folk, huh?”

He was wearing that now annoying smug face, Me and Yuki were going to lay into him for being- him, when there was a call from both of their phones.

And actually, there was a call from our apartment as well.

I recognised the blare; it was the same as it had been on the ship.

The warning signal from the passing of that monster.

The one that blew us away as we were passing tens of thousands of feet above it.

Clover looked back, the mental stimulation zapped her awake, her wide eyes were exemplified by the bags that had built up under them.

We checked the agents; Bob had the same response as back on the ship, Yuki was calm, she wasn’t slouched anymore. She stood up, and fixed her suit.

“It’s alright. It could be a Beast, or it could be- an announcement. Listen-” she stuck her head out the door, “it’s only our phones and this room that are giving the warning. This is a message from Administration for us, probably because we’re Charlie’s contacts, and this is the room they provided for her ‘friends’.”

Bob closed his mouth.

“Either way, we should go, right?” I asked, but either option seemed like it was something we should check out.

“No,” answered Clover, “this isn’t about Charlie. This reeks of trouble on our end. But seeing as we aren’t flying anywhere too soon…”

Bob was clearly worried; Yuki was observing him.

.

.

.

We got there in Yuki’s car, it was probably slower than me just carrying them all, what with the traffic, but I still wanted my low profile, because last time I ended up encountering Creh-umha.

And that didn’t end well for me.

It might have taken just as long as the drive for us to ascend the Administrative tower. Bob insisted that we stop on Charlie’s floor, Yuki kept him straight, “Regardless of what’s happening, the best thing to do is to head up to Capsid, if anything’s happened to her, they’ll be able to explain.”

Clover joined in, “And if a Beast is on the move, then she’ll have been summoned as well, right?”

While Bob finally pulled his finger away from the elevator button, Yuki answered, “Every Unit living in Babel will have been summoned, that’s the policy. Them and any highly valued guests,” she motioned to us with a smile.

The smile wasn’t in her eyes, not like it had been earlier, “Most residential Units are out of town at the moment, post-June relocation is moving slowly, what with Egypt…”

We were quiet for most of the ride up, there wasn’t much to say. I thought to myself, there had to have been a better way to communicate what the problem was, I didn’t understand what all this secrecy was for.

Where they trying to keep this info from somebody? Were they worried about this information getting into the wrong hands?

If that were the case, they’d be warning us about a human threat, not a monster.

Mass panic, I was sure.

From the outside, this tower was strangely structured, it ascended straight up, and around the 90th floor it stretched out, if you were to see the ‘head’ of this structure from the horizon, it would always look like a basic hexagon Mounted on a thick pike.

From inside, this place was like a maze for me and Clover, we only got so far because of the Agents’ help.

They eventually led us to some sort of command centre, in the centre of the head, or ‘capsid’ as they called it. There were people sitting at desks in front of holographic monitors, many of them were wearing some kind of device on their heads, all of them were multitasking as we walked in.

Bob nervously approached someone who’d been passing by, “VIPU summons?”

The woman he’d stopped looked at his dishevelled appearance, and motioned, “CFO’s board room,” before walking off.

Bob looked back to us and led down the central aisle between the desks, the room was built like a movie theatre, with one big display showing a map of the world, some sort of economic graph off to the side, with various news feeds, mug-shots, and other pieces of info I doubt I’d fully comprehend even if I had been given the time to take it in.

We were taken off to the left, until Bob stopped us.

At a plaqued double door stood a fat man, reminding me of a pit bull. It was just the general shape of his head, his short stature- and obviously his scrunched face. I don’t want to sound rude, but he had a look to him that said he bit.

Yuki put her hand in front of Bob, letting him know that she had it.

I didn’t make out how she introduced herself, though he seemed repulsed by the fact that someone was speaking to him. Maybe that’s not the right word, but he looked ready to chew her out.

Then as she pointed back to us, his tone shifted.

He still looked like a dog, but now he didn’t want to eat us.

He walked over to us, rubbing his hands like a fly, “Hello, my name is Mr Greem, I am the CFO of our enterprise, and the one running this City. You’ll be glad to know that everything is under control, as you can see, we have not entered a state of emergency. We’re not going to get eaten by The Shadows any time soon, haha!”

He must have noticed we didn’t understand what was happening, “Please, we’ll be able to explain everything in my office. It’s a private matter.”

He scowled at his workers, then smiled back at us, “I assume that the three of you are miss Parkers entourage?”

Yuki was actually apprehensive, “Four of us. Agent Parker is the VIPU’s brother.”

He tried to hide it; he’d managed to warm up to Yuki after she’d told him that the guests he’d been waiting on had finally arrived, but his eyes were dark as he looked to Bob.

“Fair enough,” he at last managed, “please, the other guests are waiting.”

As we entered, I noticed a few familiar faces, and some I’d never seen before

The first to catch my eye was Charlie, she was at the front of the conference table and her hair was let loose. She had dressed in her high fashion jumpsuit and the gravity gauntlets, but she mustn’t have had enough time to fix her hair back.

Or maybe, in this environment, her status as a Unit was something she valued.

There were around twenty chairs, and I wasn’t surprised that at the complete opposite corner of the table sat Isaac Creh-umha.

He might have turned his head to me as I entered, it’s hard to tell with his helmet. He was positioned at the head of the table, beside where Mr Greem would sit.

Across from him sat Dr Attrition, she had scanned her eyes over us as we walked in, focusing on Clover. This was a bad position for us. Not only did she know who we were, so did Isaac, and I trusted him with that info far less than the doctor who diagnosed me.

Of course, in a room with twenty-one seats, it would be strange if only four of them were filled.

Though I noted at least ten people standing, most of which were behind the people sitting opposite Charlie, the majority of the unfamiliar faces.

I walked around to sit beside Charlie, but the director of the facility stopped me with a forced smile, “Units sit, second-worlders stand. It’s just to let strangers know your position.”

I thought about what to do. I looked over to the Doctor, her gaze had shifted to me.

I put on an equally disingenuous smile for Mr Greem, “Thanks for the clarification, sir, but, as Dr Attrition can tell you, I am a Unit.”

I pulled the chair out and sat down beside Charlie, who was glad to have another friendly face at the table.

Mr Greem slowed, returning to the chief seat, “That’s right. The incident from the other day. I must thank you for not pressing charges on either the transportation firm, or on his majesty Creh-Umha. Maybe we can put all of that to rest for the moment, gentlemen? So we… can get the real business out of the way.”

I nodded along, though I half felt the king eyeing me up.

Then something happened that I didn’t expect.

Clover sat down at the table. I had expected her to keep things quiet, to remain in the background as much as possible.

So had everyone else who knew who she really was, Bob and Yuki shuffled behind us, Attrition raised an eyebrow.

Mr Green commented, “A pleasure to have you, miss…?”

Clover folded her arms taking a different tone than anyone else in the room, “If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather find out what’s coming to kill me. If, this is everyone, which I’m almost certain it is.”

The man directly across from her snickered, though Mr Greem didn’t seem to think it was funny.

He covered himself, not wanting to say anything to affend the VIPU this black-haired girl was supposedly aligned with, “Yes, you’re right on two accounts. You are the last to arrive, and we should get things underway. Above all, I can assure you that there is no immediate threat to Babel, or to yourselves.”

It was at that point I counted the number of Units at the table, the previously mentioned five I recognised, and the three I did not.

There was the one that had laughed at Clover’s joke, the man I’d come to know as M.D. Ali. He was well built man, stretching his well-made suit. He was very dark skinned, to the point where he stood out to me. Then again, I’m from a predominately white country, and the boonies at that.

His head was cleanly shaven, and he had a short-kept black beard, it made him look older, but I’m fairly certain he was somewhere in his late twenties.

Despite the nature of this meeting, he had a positive attitude about him, he’d been joking with the bleach haired man standing behind him, though it seemed to be a one-sided levity.

I knew immediately that they were members of the exterminators I’d heard about, judging from them having red ties.

Another thing I’d picked up on was the man with bleached hair’s glare, it was transfixed on Bob, disgust etched into his face. Maybe they had some history? I never found out if that was the case.

His name was Hunter Santiago, he was a hotshot in the exterminator department, fresh out of whatever training they go through, and he’d become something of a rising star over the year or so he’d been working.

To contrast Bob, who was standing behind me, he was an important person.

Sitting beside Ali, was another Unit, though not one officially allied with the Internationals, from how he was dressed.

His name was Aayan, from what I could see of him at the time, he wore a small gold chain and a white tank-top with a graphic design on it, from some band I didn’t recognise I’m guessing. He was blonde, his hair spiked up. It contrasted the black facial tattoos that adorned his brow in a jagged crown.

The other people behind them seemed to be friends and family, none of them were Agents.

I honestly hadn’t even noticed the third Unit at the time, after I’d tried to make an assessment of the people in front of me, there was no time to study the others, Mr Greem had started.

“For those of you who’ve been in similar situations before, you’ll recognise the alarm we sent you as being the warning signal for the approach of a Beast or covert emergency. We purposefully kept the notification vague. The reason we notified you, and only you, was because as long as you are under our jurisdiction, you have a legal right to know if you are in the way of danger.”

He pressed a rather old looking remote, and a holographic projection appeared, depicting the American west coast from space, along with a blurred image of some far away island off the coast. It was standing somewhere out to see, and I assumed it was the Beast we had encountered earlier.

Clover must have as well, she was turned back to Bob.

“Angroboda?” It was Isaac who’d asked. He was being relatively quiet for the majority of this meeting. He’d always been the talkative type, so for a moment I wondered if me being incapacitated in one good punch had disappointed him.

Greem smiled, it seemed to be an honest yellow grin, “No. Angroboda is accounted for, at first, we thought it was the one that escaped captivity post-June, the Sky Beast, but after sending a Right corp drone in from the west, we realised it was the Jungle Beast, Tlaloc.”

There was a general surprise from everyone in the room, except me and Charlie of course, we had no clue what they were talking about.

Hunter, the standing exterminator asked, “How is that possible? There’s no way it got from the Amazon to, what I’m guessing is off the coast of Portland, certainly not in a single month. It shouldn’t even be active in that environment.”

Mr Green was frank with him, “Look, it’s June, I can’t tell you how it got there, but I can tell you that we’ve got our best people together to relocate that thing. This is being done by a high-end professional.”

I felt like I needed a better explanation. I debated raising my hand to speak, but refrained. I didn’t want to look weak, or stupid.

So I whispered to nobody in particular, “I’m going to need a break down on this.”

Bob leaned forward, “There are four classifications of monsters. The first, mutated animals, are supernatural creatures so weak they can’t be detected via bio scans. Then there are creatures, more of a miscellaneous category then anything. They appear on bio scans due to their biological complexity; some are as big as a dinosaur; some are as big as a dog.”

He breathed in, “Then there are the eighty-one, monsters predicted as being greatly improved by their abilities, to a point where they are seen as above Units on the food chain, they have multiple powers, and they all appear clearly on bio trackers.”

“Then there are the Nine. The Beasts. Indisputably above 99% of all Units. There were twelve. Two were killed by the 1%, the other was killed by another Beast. They’re called Beasts, because when the first four were categorised decades ago, they were likened to the Biblical stories of Armageddon. Their mere presence on the earth causes disaster for everything in their path. We’ve lucked out, Tlaloc is docile at this distance. It’ll kill us if we got close, but left unprovoked-”

Mr Greem let out a restrained yell, “That will be enough, Agent Parker,” He spat Bob’s name out, “This is all helpful information for the uninitiated, but regardless of context, what I’m saying is far more important.”

“The Jungle Beast is currently 4 miles off the coast of Portland, at its current speed, it should reach Babel in two years. I’ll emphasis, it is currently 200 miles away from us. You are safe. We’ve asked you here to warn you not to go East. We are outside of its perception, that thing can’t do anything to you here; my city is safe.”

I childishly wanted to ask how big it was, but the fact that it was visible from 4 miles away told me it was large, and that’s if it wasn’t standing on the sea floor.

Ali spoke up, “And this couldn’t have been communicated any better?”

Greem stressed, “It’s a sensitive operation. If the Beast is purposefully provoked by our terrorists or extremists, then not only will our nearest exporter be infested by Tlaloc’s spawn. And there’s always the worst-case scenario.”

Even I knew what he was implying. I’d heard the news about Egypt. Hell, there were memorials on the streets as I was coming here.

Hunter leaned over the table, “Why don’t we hit them with an R.O? A coordinated strike from orbit-”

A laugh echoed through the room; it was similarly eery to Lechoslaw’s. I recognised it as Dr Attrition’s voice.

The room turned to her attention, “Apart from that aggravating the Beast? What purpose would that serve?”

The young man hadn’t expected that response.

“I think it’s an improvement to just shoving that thing back down to South America.”

Mr Greem smacked a hand at the air, “We don’t pay you to think; you’re paid to kill things. The head Doctor is paid to solve these problems for idiots like you.”

Hunter Santiago seemed offended, but he managed to bite his tongue.

Greem relaxed his posture, “Please, Attrition, continue.”

Dr Attrition responded, “Perus is it’s natural habitat. Or rather, it is the only thing keeping the rainforest from dying. It and its spawn make up the majority of hypothetical biomass in that area, and as I’m sure you know, that’s where the majority of Earths oxygen is made, if I were to put things simply-.

She swivelled around, “Robert was partially right, the Beast’s presence has a profound effect on the planet, the effects of removing one, if at all possible with the use of simple R.O.’s, would cause a catastrophe.”

“And that’s why we have decided to commission a VIPU to relocate it. It’ll be done as soon as we get into contact with her.”

Clover became uncomfortable, “What are you giving her in return?”

Greem hesitated, “Well, miss, that will be decided once we contact her. We have reports of her being in North Africa, after the events of Ju-”

Attrition interrupted, “We can contact her right now. The hotlines in the room right now.”

I got ready, from Clover’s uneasiness I assumed this was an enemy of hers. And if I was being practical, I’d admit that it would only be in Attrition’s best interest to sell us out now. The circumstances had changed, if Clover could be used as a bargaining chip, I doubt the doctor would hesitate to offer her.

Clover was holding up quite well, usually she struggled to hide her cards. It was only a slight change in posture and expression that tipped me off, and only me, someone who knew her.

Attrition looked in our direction, “Robert?”

Clover turned back to look at Bob and I soon followed. He in turn checked the eyes of everyone else in the room.

“Uhm- Who do you want me to…?”

Attrition smiled, “Codename: Mother Goose. You are still on amicable terms, correct?”

I could actually feel the room become clammier, as sweat began to fall from his face.

Mr Greem interrupted their mental battle, “Doctor, what are you getting at here? Are you trying to tell me that this Cleaner has a personal relationship with her?”

She raised an eye.

Bob gulped, “Yes mam,” then proceeded to diel his phone.

It rung for an eternity, or at least long enough for me to check back; all the eyes were on Bob, Ali seemed amused, the civilian sitting beside him seemed generally uninterested.

Hunter Santiago seemed offended, and he made no attempt to hide his disgust.

“Hi, Santi, this is Bob- yeah, it’s been a while, but you know I wouldn’t- It’s work,” he stressed, turning away in an attempt to dissuade the starring eyes.

“No, not even a little… Well, I’m glad to hear that-” he checked back, staring at me, “Just hear me out. Ok? There’s a situation here. A Beast’s shown up near Babel, we need you to take it back to the rainforest, or- No, wait a second! Wait!”

He hesitated, “My sisters here. It’s miles away, but the longer it’s there the more risk she’s in… No, listen, you’re not the only person who- I promised these kids I’d get them home.”

He nodded his head, “Ugly duckling, Sant,” I mouthed my confusion to him, he waved a hand.

“Point is, they’re in danger. Thousands of kids will die if that thing goes unchecked. So just come out here for an hour or two, talk the details over with-”

He stopped.

He flopped his arm down after a couple seconds.

Looking around the room with a defeated face. It was clear she’d hung up.

Then, there was a pop.

“Alright, what do you want Bobby?”

I recognised her immediately, so did Clover from her change in expression.

There was a gasp from the entire room, I heard a crackle and the clattering of metal behind me.

She stood tall dressed in a grey fabric, not to dissimilar to what Clover was wearing post-June, it was clothing for the desert heat.

She had blue hair, the temples of which were grey. She wore a pair of blue mirrored sunglasses.

“Hand-Made,” I was the first to speak, though I didn’t do so consciously. It was like I was back in that dream, right around the part it became a nightmare.

She looked at me curiously, “Santina Maria. I’m assuming you’re the duckling. You are a strange one.”

She lifted an arm, but Bob blocked her.

“Don’t.”

It was the most serious I’d seen him. She just smiled, “I wasn’t going to do anything. He has an interesting sense of fashion. And I’m sure he has an interesting story to tell, it’s been awhile since anyone’s called me that, nino. Where’d you hear that from?”

I didn’t answer.

She scanned the room, sighing. Eventually she transfixed her gaze on the projection in the middle of the room.

“You want me to take care of that thing? To drop it somewhere in Peru, I just found the coordinates. Never mind an hour, I’ll have this done in a minute.”

Mr Greem interrupted, “What do you want for this.”

She bobbed her head, “Well, normally I’d ask for this little kid,” she gestured to me, “but he’s Bob’s, so I’ll refrain. Let me think… I want twenty-seven tailor made space suits, made to survive extreme pressure changes please.”

She leaned over to Yuki, who was perpetually aghast, “One of my kids has been asking to go to io, and it wouldn’t be fair to bring just one, right?” She smiled turning around.

Greem was talking to a wall, “We’ll need a few months. You’ll need to let someone into your complex to take the children’s measurements.”

She was transfixed on Charlie now, “Yeah, that’s fine. I’ll be watching your transactions, is this your sister, Bobby?”

Charlie, who until now had minded her own business, was now being studied by eyes she couldn’t see.

“She’s quite cute, isn’t she? Though she’s twenty-two now, that’s a little old for my tastes,” She spoke about her as if she was an object, something to be looked down on, “Hi sweety! Sorry I missed you when you were growing up, it’s too bad, I’m a great mother.”

Bob pulled her off, “Alright, that’s enough,” The rest of the room looked ready to jump away when he grabbed her by the shoulder, I was ready to jump in.

“You said ducklings, didn’t you? That means at least one more wandered in here.”

She turned, eyeing Clover from afar, Bob kept a grip on her for as long as he could, but he eventually slipped his hands away.

As Hand-Ma- as Santina Maria wedged herself between me and Clover, I caught a glimpse at the change in her expression.

She started with the confident smile I’d always seen drawn across her face, then it slipped, showing that same wondering expression she’d used on me.

Then she had a wide mouthed grin, “It’s you. Guess I can’t do Bob any favours and get you kids home now, even if I wanted to let you go. I’ve been banned from taking you with me, prin-”

There was a quake; the lights flickered.

We were around one thousand feet in the air, on a completely artificial city. There were sub floors stretching down just as deep into the earth.

And yet the room shook.

“Thought you said they were a few miles off,” commented Maria.

Mr Greem buzzed someone, “What the hell was that,” came his gruff voice.

There came a verbal reply from the centre of the table, “Sir, there’s been a breach in the buffer zone along with various minor structural attacks from here to the main area.”

“From city centre to the city border,” affirmed Ali, “seems like you underestimated this thing chief.

Mr Greem burst out in a red furry, “We were supposed to have more time! How much damage has been caused to the western buffer?”

The voice rang out again, “Sorry sir, I might have caused a misunderstanding. The Eastern buffer has been broken into; the Eastern portions of the city have received minimal damages. I’ve sent a few drones to assess the situation, they should be arriving shortly.”

I hadn’t a clue what was going on. I was under the impression that this was an attack from the monster, that one of its many powers had allowed it to get here quicker.

Now I know that we were dealing with something far worse.

We waited with baited breath, all of us except Maria.

Bob asked, “I don’t suppose you’re thinking of sticking around for whatever mess we’re getting into? This is probably a greater threat to these kids.”

I turned back to Bob, “I thought you said that only the top-tiers could handle these monsters? Is she really going to be enough?”

It really was quite simple. Clover had told me there were around 400 Units, and she’d been on the verge of telling me that there were ‘four-’

Bob grimaced, “Out of all Units, she is an honest contender for the prestige of most powerful. She’d in that one percent.”

As basic math had indicated, she was one of the 1%, the ‘four’.

I was once again afraid of this woman, despite my powers and despite Bob’s defence. I was afraid for those around me. I was afraid of what she could do.

“I’ve got a visual, sir, patching it through.”

The image of the beast sitting on the horizon vanished, and was replaced by a plane of black metal boxes. The image zoomed in, refocusing soon after.

It was fuzzy from the distance, though through the cloud of smoke that had burst from the ground, movement could be seen, whatever it was, it was running forward, the cameras following it.

It emerged, slowly details were revealed on the creature, everyone was leaning forward.

Then it burst out of the fog. It was a man by appearance.

I studied him, though there was slim chance I’d recognise him.

I heard a smack beside me. Clover had covered her mouth; a deeper shock was in her eyes then when she’d heard the alarm.

I looked back to it, the only thing I could make out was his face, and only slightly. There was some sort of disfigurement on the left side it, a burn or a scar.

Santina Maria pushed herself from the table, “Well, that’s a completely different situation.”

My eyes were still transfixed, as she turned to Bob, “Call me when he’s gone, Ok? I’m not allowed to be so close to that man.”

He tried to argue with her, she ignored him, “Sorry, it’s out of my hands. But really, once you get rid of The Channeler, I’ll help.”

I felt a rush of air and heard a pop.

I- I thought she was supposed to be in the one percent, what could have possibly made her turn tail so quickly?

The question went unanswered in that moment, but now I know, that just like every Unit, she had eventually found herself running from a Monster.

I guessed, “Is that- Belfast?”

Clover peeled her hand away, looking at me with a dead smile, “Heh, no, not everything revolves around us, you know? No, no, this is a complete game changer.”

She stood, sweeping her bangs, announcing to the room.

“I am Bastard crowned Clover, of Bastard’s Mountain, and I except no part in what happens next.”