Hell in a circle, inferno domained, raging fires thrash in the observatory room around the red devil and the blue warrior, the two standing straight glaring right at each other, the devil’s jagged cape waving chaotically as rubble collapses from the ceiling like rainfall which the warrior takes no concern to, instead just glaring back while standing in front of the three chained allies still held up in the air.

Red and orange the flames dance and rage as they spread and consume all within its grasp, eroding the entire top deck of the tower as large gaps allow the artificial winds to breeze through, the pseudo environment at least maintained within the walls as a much worse fate could have befallen the five had there been no such moderation.

Confident most is the warrior who stands firm, the devil holding its own against the bold declaration, although the three allies behind the warrior are still visibly exhausted, albeit intrigued and fascinated with the intruder.

Standing among the flames that graze but do not burn, the Tempest glares forth as the wall protecting the three behind him, Kokei, Dana, and Ekitai from left to right facing them, all of their bodies wrapped and tangled with dark metal chains that hoist them off the ground held by the mechanical spiders that stand on the crumbling ceiling.

The three stay strung with bodies fatigued and still healing after the failed assault, a moment ago seeming lost without rebound, defeated against an untouchable enemy whose mere presence was more binding than the metal of the chains.

The Tempest raises his head and orders in a weightily commanding voice, “Dana, free yourselves,” with words that raise her head up in hope, said bindings loosening and providing her the power to remove the lesser as from her back emerges two golden blades longer than them with joints that let them angle at a slight upward angle, protruding out of her body like the wings of an angel.

The two sharp blades rest spread out, their tips far beyond Ekitai and Kokei beside her, the golden shell reflecting the blaze that surrounds them with gold carrying orange hues, the angel wings spread in the darkest of the netherworld.

So swiftly then the wings flap, the two scissor blades swaying in a cross over each other with a satisfying whoosh that perfectly slices through the three chains above, liberating the allies to collapse on the metal floor as the wings remain crossed over in front of the awakened angel.

Thuds echo in a triplet from Ekitai, Dana, and Kokei all falling on the floor one after the other, Ekitai falling flat on the ground like a pancake whereas Kokei cradles her body on impact to comfort herself, and Dana drops on her knees with her body still slouched slightly forward.

After the three bodies drop, so do the remainders of their chains also on the ground with clangs against the metal floor, and soon after the tension is released the bindings tangling their bodies loosen, the ones on Dana even slipping off her body and drooping down to her waist.

Protecting the freed stands the Tempest, still facing the devil on the other side of the flame, who glares for a few moments before slowly starting to creep forward and draw its arms out and low.

From both hands emerge long streams to the floor of crimson flames which manifest the signature viking axes that immediately drag on the bridge with screeches like demons wailing, sparking wildly with flashes jumping into the scorching flames. Its cape waves like the flag of the enemy marching towards the defeated, ready to plant its new seed of dominance over a land once free.

In between the previous captured and the abductor, the final wall guarding the land from the invasion, the Tempest raises his hand up with loose, almost carefree motion, and he points a finger straight at the approaching devil with no weapons in his hands, least none that manifest into the physical realm.

In a calm, almost casual voice, the Tempest gently commands: “Orial, blind him.”

Without a physical weapon seen, or even a visible signifier of a weapon’s usage whether it be the flash of a bolt or bullet, or even some residual glare of supernatural energy, an invisible force strikes the devil whose glaring crimson eyes abruptly blacken without glow, and it promptly staggers backwards in sudden disorientation with a bewildered grunt.

Immediately from the Tempest’s back emerges three translucent cables each of which anchors onto one of the allies behind him, who now have their heads raised at the scene with the two on the edge visibly puzzled by what had happened as the one in the middle retracts the scissor wings into her body.

The Tempest then charges forward, dragging those tethered to him behind, their bodies sliding down the metal surface as they all desperately try recovering their stance upon the realization of the ride they were in for. Kokei grabs onto the cables in tight clenches clinging for dear life, Dana simply lets the cable drag her as she remains on her knees, and Ekitai frantically glances around at the floor in front of him before reaching his hand out to grab the handle of his handgun, miraculously recovering it just before the Tempest leaps into the open flames directly where the crash occurred, vanishing into the floor along with the three behind him neither of who know where they’re even going as Kokei begins to scream in confused terror.

Stumbling in disorientation and shaking its head, the devil relinquishes its axes in open crimson flames that join with the rest, freeing its hands to then grab the tip of its black hood and hastily throw it back. In doing so, the black mask that had once veiled the true monster under an illusion of non humanity, almost extraterrestrial mystique, is disenchanted as the mask seems to pull apart into an almost sticky black goo that crawls unnaturally back into the hood, although the goo does not leave any residues as it perfectly exposes the true human face underneath, the latino adult with hardened skin and long black unkempt hair that flows behind like his cape. His sharp crimson eyes glare with discontent, his teeth gritting as he growls to himself before then jogging towards the open flame in the very center of the spherical room before him which his victims had seemingly fallen through.

Upon running straight up to the center where they had leapt into, the flames brush to the side and gradually begin to dissipate from the origin to reveal a gaping pit exposing the elevator shaft hollowed out seemingly now unsuspectedly from the initial crash which had formed an escape route all hidden by the inherent chaos of the intrusion.

Although now able to get a clearer sight of the gap, what is also apparent are the four diving straight down with the understood intent of reaching the very bottom of the facility, a quick and effective escape right under the abductor’s nose. The leader of the self proclaimed team dives the first, with the three cables still projecting from his back to carry the rest of the group, all of them flailing around from the sharp plummet.

Agitation riddles Exitium’s face from the ingenious strategy, and with quick thinking he aims one hand down into the pit with gritted teeth and bellows an enraged roar as he projects a thick crimson fiery stream.

The fire wider than an arm bolts straight down into the elevator shaft, growling alive with smaller flames thrashing out from the core.

Further down the shaft dives the Tempest, although upon hearing the approaching growl he raises his head up to find the flame charging straight for him, to which he hastily tightens the tension of his cables and thrusts his body with a propulsive blue burst in a strafe to the side, shifting both him and the three terrified others above him away from the stream, allowing it to well surpass them.

The Tempest maintains his focus of the flame, watching it crawl all the way down to the very bottom of the shaft down to the open ground floor in less than a second after passing, well surpassing them as it collides with the base.

Upon impact, the crimson blaze spreads out omnidirectionally like a circle before then solidifying into more of a cylindrical base a few feet tall, one that adopts the same radius as the elevator shaft. The base then colorizes and materializes into a massive contraption with an elevated grated layer above the metal machine that has the slight resemblance of a stove burner.

Following the resemblance, below the grate flares a bright crimson shine before erupting with a grand flame that projects straight up back into the shaft with an intense roar.

The massive flame consumes the end of the shaft and makes its way back up almost as fast as the crimson flame that shot straight down, crawling its way up the shaft rapidly in the direction of the Tempest whose eyes expand in the instant realization that in only about a second all four of them would be incinerated effectively.

Without time to contemplate, a single additional cable projects from the Tempest’s body although at an upward yet slanted angle that anchors to the inner shaft, which changes his direction of motion from a free fall to a pendulum swing still inheriting the momentum of the plummet, which amplified by an additional blue propulsive boost propels the Tempest straight into the inner wall of the shaft specifically a spot with the rectangular engravings of a door as the red glow from the incoming flame below consumes them.

Straight into the wall the Tempest collides with such force that the entire door bursts out of its socket, throwing his body straight through the wall along with Dana, Kokei, and Ekitai who all wildly flail with screams of panic, flying now for the wall just as the immense red orange flame rockets straight through them with a rumbling roar that consumes the shaft.

Continuing onwards past the group, the flames surge towards the top of the shaft where Exitium takes a single step back, allowing the blazing beam to launch straight in front of him, casting a dark shadow as the red consumes him from the front and the cyan consumes him from behind.

The flame bursts straight into the spherical ceiling, incinerating the roof in an instant and bursting out of the top of the shattered black ballpoint at the peak of the base, opening up freely in the artificial environment as the fire has finally topped itself, and at last it then weakens and splits off into dispersals before alas fizzling out into a thick smoke.

Consumed with the heavy smoke face first, not one cough is uttered from Exitium whose crimson eyes illuminate through the fog like lighthouse lights. He then steps forward through the gradually dispersing smoke, returning his attention down to the shaft.

Slowly the smoke begins to disperse, a process slow as it’s largely trapped in the shaft with little ventilation to escape into, mostly only spreading out in the observatory at the top although not exclusively.

As more of the fog disperses, the second opening reveals itself to be the open doorway now in the shaft that the smoke is able to pass through, the secondary escape route made as a counter to Exitium’s counter to the initial counter.

Like a game of chess, each move contradicts the opponent’s last, and as more rubble collapses from the observatory ceiling for it seems the entire top floor is collapsing from the sequential damages, Exitium carries a hateful stalker’s glare with a crimson flare down the elevator, his cape ruffled ever more from the pores emerging in the walls.

His long hair waves like his cloak, long bangs dancing in front of his eyes as while the veil cloaking the face of the monster is now gone to reveal it as human, that hasn’t entirely demonstrated that the devil carries any humanity himself.

Cold air envelops the corridors whether it be the conditioning units providing cooler air or the utter absent lighting in the halls leaving a chill mixed with the darkness that has invaded the dead atmosphere in place of where life once flourished the lively fortress. There is also firstly complete silence which only furthers the desolate environment, a combination that leaves little to be perceived, and yet everything to be anticipated. Only the vague edges of the walls can distinguish the corridors that merge into the central intersection, the partial static that provides the most minimal of guidance by shapes alone with no texture or color given.

That is when a faint blue glow emits from down the corridor, steadily creeping up its way as a light with a clear direction but with moderate intensity as it’s relatively dim. The light gives greater depth to the metallic walls, with a graytone that largely dawns the same hue as the luminescence. The glow reaches the end of the corridor that connects to the intersection, and starts to spread further throughout. With the presence of the glow does follow sound, that being those of footsteps, not just of one set but multiple. They’re quiet, silent from a distance, cautious and perhaps would’ve been noiseless had there been a single other source of audio in the area.

The footsteps grow louder, and with the footsteps can be heard slight mumbling although of words incoherent. Yet just as the mumbling was beginning to rise an assertive shush drowns it out, and suddenly the light stops creeping up, remaining still for a few moments as silence then returns to the hallway. Moments of stillness pass by, second by second, the gentle blue luminescence grazing the very tips of the other halls with soft edges between where it reaches and where it has yet to trek to.

Abruptly emerges Meditat with both arms straight and his hands contorted in the gesture of the firearms–his fingers being the ones to emit the light–, his movements entirely silent like a phantom as he swiftly aims each hand independently to sweep the three new pathways, his hands initially facing his sides and then being brought forward to examine the last path all in a motion that took under a second.

After the sweep, he then pauses to more intimately sweep the other halls with the slow turn of his head, and after confirming their isolation he pivots back to the direction of origin where he gives a nod.

Seconds later the footsteps begin to reverberate again, closer now, enough even that the sources are revealed around the corner to be that of the three allies, Kokei who huddles close to Dana’s side who drags still in fatigue although with golden clawed hands, and Ekitai who wields his handgun which he aims at the ground. They all glance around cautiously even after the confirmation, but are quickly assured to which Kokei and Dana turn back to Meditat while Ekitai keeps watch.

Meditat turns around and continues leading the group silently while they make moderate sound, as though only they were of the physical realm while following a ghost. Ekitai makes steady movements, keeping his firearm’s muzzle in line with his own sight, the copper coils around the barrel reflecting the shimmering blue light.

Past Meditat’s shoulders are the other halls, but rather than being lined with more opaque metal walls, they’re instead lined with transparent cases that expose rooms inside that house long hovering tables and shelves, reminiscent of laboratories. There seems to be innumerable rooms just like that all along the corridor with distant walls bordering them, but even with said walls there’s an openness to the space.

Suddenly Meditat’s pace quickens towards the laboratory room at the corner, the two adjacent walls glassy and the doorway not too far off, already open. He doesn’t exactly run or even jog really, more he just takes longer and quicker strides towards the doorway with his hands still raised up discreetly.

While he does speed up, the rest behind him maintain the same pace, for their steps would definitely louden if they raise haste. Either way, it’s uncertain how much faster Dana can move, as Kokei even wraps her arm around her to provide additional support given how drained she must have been from the prior skirmish. Ekitai continues to survey the other halls including the one they came from, one hand on the handle with a relaxed pose similar to that of a gunslinger although that was exactly what he was. His arm isn’t straight like Meditat’s who carries himself more like an officer with rapid focused motions appropriate for a raid, but instead slightly bent for comfort in an expedition.

As Ekitai slowly pivots to survey the corridors, Meditat analyzes the room from the edge of the doorway, and after a few moments he nods to himself before then turning towards the group who reciprocate his gaze with their own, Dana first followed curiously by Kokei and ultimately Ekitai after another sweep.

They all watch Meditat nod to them before then stepping into the room, identifying it to be a safe point and inviting them to follow. Thus follow they do, first Kokei supporting Dana at the final stretch, and lastly Ekitai who guards their rear before reaching the door where he’s relieved to lower his arm and step inside casually.

Along the glassy walls of the room are white tabletops accompanied with stools and chairs, and above the tables are shelves, both of which still hold equipment unfamiliar and alien although with slight aesthetic resemblances to familiar designs such as one with a cylinder that has an open slot on the side, and the cylinder is connected to an arm that wraps above with what seems to be a scope at the end, similar to a microscope.

The abandoned devices are inspected by Meditat as he steps into the room with steady, silent movements. He rapidly pivots his sight and aims to confirm every corner to be indeed safe, his fingers still the dominant light source in the otherwise pitch black floor.

While he further analyzes the lab, in comes Dana and Kokei, their feet dragging as they’re both clearly fatigued, for Kokei also wasn’t anywhere up to full energy and thereby she struggles to carry Dana. Once the two enter the room, they immediately hone towards a table down the middle where Kokei then slowly lowers Dana to the floor as Ekitai strolls inside whilst holstering his handgun in his overcoat’s inner pocket.

One quick glance of the room is enough to satisfy Ekitai, who then strides towards Kokei who seats herself on the ground as well while Dana places her hand over her own forehead in a clear show of fatigue. Her attention is however pulled towards Meditat who returns back to them, and her exhausted expression lights up, as even though she’s clearly drained she also hasn’t become fully accustomed to the fact that here he was.

Stopping in front of the three, Meditat gazes at each of them in steady sweeps after having confirmed the room’s vacancy, to which the concentrated spotlight emitting from his fingers are swapped for a dim point light that exudes from his whole body, better brightening the environment without fear of being seen.

More of the room better visible as he can now lower his hands without needing their specific flashlights, he announces, “There’s neither people nor microphones that can detect us, we can speak now. Are any of you injured?”

First to react is with the shake of the head from Dana, who raises her head up to meet Meditat’s gaze where she explains in a soft voice, “I was hit by an electro lock, but my body is almost done recovering. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”

Across her, kneeling also in rest is Kokei who nods her head to her before then turning to Meditat and appending, “I’m also a bit hazy but I think I’ll be fine, I’m just a bit tired,” before she then opens her mouth and silently yawns.

Before she can complete her yawn however, her shoulder gets knocked by Ekitai before he remarks, “Oy Kookie, you’re not gonna sleep on us now right? Not when it’s getting good?”

Instinctively Kokei grabs her shoulder to both protect and nurture it from the knock while she scoffs and retorts, “Oh come on, if one of us is going to lose stamina here it’s going to be you.”

Amidst the tense situation trapped in the facility, the light bantering brings a smile to Dana’s face, for it seems even in such a grim environment the two wouldn’t stop bickering.

Her smile fades upon hearing Meditat lead, “Good, we’ll have a few minutes in here, but we should mobilize soon. In the meantime I will search for an alternative route given the main elevation shaft is compromised, but these facilities always have emergency exit paths.”

He then turns around and begins to pace away, and that’s when Kokei who was watching and listening too suddenly lights up in shock, the instant processing of events just minutes ago finally arriving, for it was such an overload of stimulus that up until this point she was simply following along without total comprehension. She focuses straight on Meditat with shimmering pink eyes, pushing her body towards him with the extension of her hand and the exclamation, “Wait a second!” to which he instantly halts.

He then turns around once again to face her, watching as she remains still on her knees but slightly pushed up in an awkward stance, which she then recoils back down to the ground as though she couldn’t actually continue her thought.

She lowers her head in contemplation of where to even begin with all the thoughts swarming in her head, a process Ekitai identifies with the curious tilt of his head and Dana the concerned expression of her face.

All of them stare in silence at Kokei who just gazes at the ground, tributing herself as the center of attention with nothing to announce, and the anxiety of such a spotlight shines just as bright. Her long pink hair drapes over most of her face but the center, revealing her wide and still disoriented eyes, lost for words.

But with everyone waiting on her to make an act, something has to be pushed out, and so she raises her head and asks in a voice raised yet puzzled: “You…you said a name back there…Oral or something…I swear I heard it even if it was a bit quiet….”

Instantly Dana lights up with expanded eyes, staring first at Kokei but then quickly at Meditat, revealing her jaw to be dropped in astonishment to the claim which is reacted to by Ekitai with just more innocent puzzlement, interjecting with the mention: “Huhh, I thought that guy was ‘Exitium,’ what kinda name is Oral? I feel like that might’ve been a shampoo company or something once.”

“Orial,” Dana instantly corrects but gently, her gaze still fixated on Meditat with pure fascination as she adds, “But…he wouldn’t let that name slip out so carelessly….”

Even more bewildered, Ekitai’s head tilts the other way and he asks, “Oracle? I think that was a…coffee thing?”

“Orial,” again corrects, but not Dana, rather across the three that being Meditat who speaks in a gentle and solemn tone. His eyes shimmer, partially open with a meditative frown, his head tilted down as his skin pours a soft consistent blue glow to the dark lab room. He closes his eyes and releases a sigh, clearing himself sober.

He then opens his eyes before explaining, “He…he’s an artificial intelligence who’s accompanied me for about twenty six years now…he’s somewhat of a personal assistant to me, helping to run my operations and The Pad…well…when it was functional. He’s always been with me…all this time.”

In astonishment Kokei gazes up at Meditat, eyes wide and glistening in intrigue, jaw dropped from the unexpected revelation.

Her expression however suddenly plummets into irritated betrayal which she directs at Dana before scolding, “Wait a second, I thought you said you told us everything you knew about him! Did you just forget or-?”

Before she could continue, Dana interjects with a soft solemn tone: “I know…and I’m sorry…,” while she remains seated on the floor, her head now low with a frown and shimmering eyes, both in shame but also a sentimentality.

“I didn’t forget…it’s just…I haven’t heard his voice ever since…since…since the news,” reflects Dana with misery in her voice, softening Kokei’s own expression to also now be sentimental too, causing her to lower her own head.

The two just sit there wallowing together in silent understanding, or at least until that familiar British voice speaks from the man’s direction, “Hello Dana, I apologize for my prolonged silence,” which instantly jolts Dana’s head up, and Kokei’s slowly raises along.

Sitting on the floor bruised and toiled is Dana, and before her stands Meditat as the source of her light, the two gazing at one another as Ekitai also raises his head up in curiosity.

“Wait…Orial…?” whispers Dana’s voice in disorientation, her amber bangs slipping to the sides of her face to reveal her shining green irises, watery even.

Standing still and gazing back with his radiating azure irises, the voice broadcasts out of the man’s body like a speaker, assuring in a gentle tone almost therapeutic: “Assuming I have not yet been replaced, yes.”

Slowly Dana pivots her entire body towards the man, her exhaustion outclassed by the astonishment that overflows through her eyes in the form of tears that stream down her cheeks. In a voice of awe that begins to muffle from her own suppressed sobs, her first reaction is to ask: “But…I haven’t felt you since…how are…why are you able to speak?”

“My whitelist has been recently updated, and I am now permitted to communicate through more outputs than the one I personally share with Meditat. I speak currently through his speaker systems but I can now communicate through any outputs within my reach,” elucidates the voice, words spoken calm while across from the speaker, tears rain down Dana’s eyes, and through sobs she queries, “But…I thought-....”

“I apologize for withholding you from him for all this time, it was a selfish act that for long now cut you off from his resources,” admits Meditat with the lowering of his head and frown before the voice of Orial snarkily adds, “And my charm.”

To that Meditat raises his head and glares at his shoulder, as there was no physical entity to target his sight to thus he chose this as its representation, and facing it he adjusts: “And his ‘other services.’”

He then turns back to Dana before continuing, “Either way, you are free now to communicate with him as you should have been able to for the past decade, and again I apologize for keeping him from you for this long.”

Slowly Dana carries herself off the floor and to her feet, still tearing up with twinkling eyes. She wipes them with one hand, although the tears removed are quickly replaced, and without attempting to deal with them she instead shakes her head and acknowledges, “No, don’t apologize…I understand…. I’m…I’m just glad he was there for you…in a way that…I mean I’m glad he was there.”

“Wait,” abruptly interjects a voice behind Dana who steps to the side to reveal the source to be Kokei, who gazes up at Meditat whilst still on the floor before then asking with keen interest in her tone, “You said you had him for…that long? Wait then like…sorry wait if this is a bad question but like…where did you get him? I mean like…you said he runs all of your operations…but I mean I’m not trying to say anything bad but like…wouldn’t most of those operations be considered illegal still so you wouldn’t be able to have one do it for you?”

Meditat turns his head from Dana to Kokei before then shaking it and correcting himself, “If I had been using a consumer product all this time which would have been sharing all my commands and information including secrets no human knows, I would not still be here. Instead, I created him myself, it allowed me to also build in functionality that would not have been standardized on the market. I also need an automated process to handle much of the computation field work, and no commercial model is able to access this facility’s database or any that is…publicly restricted.”

Even more puzzled now after the thorough explanation, Kokei blinks twice and shakes her head, inquiring again the different question of: “Wait, you made him…yourself? But I thought you said you had him for a long time…like how…sorry to ask but how old were you even when you made him…I don’t know any intelligence that advanced or even heard of one.”

Meditat steps forward towards the group and shakes his head again as Dana sits back down to rest for a bit longer–clearly still not fully recovered–; he then lets out a light sigh and reflects while raising his head towards the ceiling, “That…was some time ago. Now that I think of it…I’m not sure which event occurred first, his creation or my first mission as Meditat. However it was in the same year as I can confirm, which was when I was around…nineteen years of age if I recall correctly.”

Without him moving his mouth, it is then Orial who responds and confirms, “Indeed he was nineteen years old at the time of my creation. Although he has since redesigned my foundation several times, namely after the ‘Butterfly Incident.’”

“Perhaps my restrictions with your communicative parameters were too loose,” callously threatens Meditat while Kokei just sits and ponders, lowering her head as Orial’s voice retorts, “If it relieves you, I have had to be rebuilt factors fewer times than you.”

Before another retort can be made, a quiet giggle emits from Kokei, which immediately brings Meditat’s attention down to her as well as the attention of Ekitai and Dana, Ekitai now leaning against one of the lab tables still by the door to keep guard.

Upon recognizing that again she put herself in the center of focus, Kokei shakes her head and absolves herself although still in a somewhat giggly casual voice, “Sorry sorry I just,” before raising her head back up to face Meditat, “never took you as a programmer, or really anyone who cared about that stuff.”

To the answer Meditat shrugs his shoulders and admits casually, “Well I went to college for Computer Science I do admit, at least for that year, but I understand those skills are not the ones my abilities utilized. My brother did study engineering however…thus I guess he chose a career path more appropriate.”

The mention of the brother then leads to an awkwardness that brings Meditat’s head down with a frown, and he puts his arms to his side, turning his head away as the subject of their situation has now arisen.

Same with Kokei and Dana they feel the clouds of awkwardness roll into the atmosphere, also lowering their heads with the smirk dissolving off Kokei’s face.

Ekitai however while still leaning against the table turns his head to Meditat and breaks the silence with: “Well I didn’t even go to college in the first place, high school was as far as I ever needed to go.”

He then raises his right arm and curls it in the motion to puff his bicep, although of course there is no visible muscle underneath his oversized overcoat sleeve. Still, with the curl he boasts, “All the skills I ever needed for the job I got on the job. Besides, why waste money when you could be out making money, never made sense to me.”

“You don’t make money,” interjects Kokei abruptly, her gaze set on him as the troubled atmosphere had now passed.

“That’s what the IRSes think!” corrects Ekitai with a prideful smirk, rocking back against the table as Meditat turns around and casually strolls towards one of the other tables, which catches Dana’s attention.

Not too far from the rest of the group, Meditat makes his way to the edge of the room where he finds one of the tables still housing equipment such as the one resembling a microscope, but many others with more cylinders and other chambers. He specifically approaches part of the table that holds a strange machine that appears to be a test tube rack carrying a single array of five vials all empty, but all of the vials are connected to tubes that then lead into an enclosed smooth black box.

Meditat’s stare sharpens in intrigue, and he runs his hand over the box as he speaks quietly to seemingly himself in a gentle volume, “Have you located the optimal emergency path yet?”

A few seconds after the request is made, a post is received as Orial reports, “I have, yes. I have also designed a set of alternatives to fall back on if the former becomes compromised. I am uploading the list now.”

Upon the response Meditat nods his head and returns his hand to his side. He then turns around and paces back to the rest of the group, where Kokei stares straight at him with a peculiar sense of revelation, her eyes expanded as though a grand truth had come to her. Ekitai swings his legs back and forth like a child, sitting now on the table itself, and Dana leans back while sitting on the floor although with no back support.

Upon noticing the strange stare, Meditat locks gazes with Kokei and inquiries curiously, “Do you have a question?”

However Kokei just blinks twice out of the trance and shakes her head, smiling softly and extinguishing innocently, “No no, something just cleared the air.”

She then blinks twice to break out of the second trance and shakes her head again, her expression abruptly more ashamed with a frown followed by the lowering of her head which causes pink strands to drape over her face. In a tone more solemn out of nowhere, she suddenly begins to profess, “Wait, Meditat, I just wanted to really say…-”

“We can hold discussion later,” suddenly interrupts Meditat, who speeds his pace and stops in front of the three, the other two turning to him and Kokei silencing, all of them curious with the last one somewhat disappointed.

After a short sweep with the slow pivot of his head, Meditat then announces in a stern and commanding voice: “We need to mobilize now. If we continue to wait, we only invite ourselves to be found. Are you all able to move?”

Dana nods her head and gives a light reassuring smile, verbalizing her confirmation: “I’m all recovered now, let’s get out of here,” before she then pushes herself back up standing again, stumbling back a step but quickly regaining her footing.

Beside her Ekitai slips off of the table and onto his feet, stretching his arms behind his head and exclaiming with excitement completely detached from the horrific affairs befallen onto them, “Let’s get this on then!”

Lastly Kokei slowly grabs the floor and raises her body up to stand, brushing her white hoodie as her pink hairs swing and wave in front of her face before she parts it to the side. She then turns to Meditat before attempting again still with the strangely grave tone, “Wait Meditat, please I just want to-,”

“We should focus on our escape for now,” interjects Meditat again, turning his gaze towards Kokei, who silences immediately again. He then assures, “We can speak after we are out of here.”

Ekitai tilts his head and raises his finger up before then querying curiously, “Wait a second…so quick question…little small short tiny little funny little question…but uh…so you remember that one part where you kamikazed your pod into the building?” He lowers his finger and continues with the assurance, “Now don’t get me wrong, that was ice as shit, and I wouldn’t have it any other way cause that’s burning on the memory node. It’s just that…well…so maybe I just couldn’t see it in the giant fire but I’m not really sure if there really is a pod..left.”

Meditat nods his head in acknowledgement to the concern before he then explains, “You are correct, that pod is no longer in an operable state. However, the outdoor campus of this facility has several parking lots spread across, and there are still many pods stationed here. We will head to the nearest lot, hijack one of the vehicles, and use it for departure. Remember, they don’t have any regular Civals here, they’ll have custom pods built for speed and strength beyond what is commercially available which provides us a valuable advantage.”

“And what about the cannons outside, won’t they hit us when we’re taking off?” queries Dana, jumping into the conversation which further sinks Kokei, who lowers her head in defeat.

Meditat turns to Dana upon hearing the question, and he simply answers: “We hit them first.”

With a wide smirk, Ekitai chuckles and remarks, “Now that’s the perfect combination of plan and chaos,” before reaching for his overcoat’s inner pocket and pulling out his handgun, the copper coils reflecting the blue light as he finishes enthusiastically, “Ready when you are, captain!”

A huff expels from Meditat’s nose and he shakes his head to the somewhat embarrassing title endowed on him so comically. He then raises his head and sharpens his gaze into a resolute glare, instantly solidifying himself into the battle state as the fiery glint appears in his irises. He then returns his gaze to Ekitai, nods, turns to Dana, nods, and finally to Kokei who alas meets his gaze, the words at the tip of her tongue but that tongue sealed behind her mouth. He nods to her last, and turns around to face the door that they came through.

Facing down on the exit back out of the safe zone, back into the labyrinth where the infinite possibilities of danger are all probable, where theoretical becomes physical, where the unhinged imagination of a monster manifests into reality, Meditat glares forth with azure eyes as the beacon emitting the blue flame, his body manifesting the light that erodes the darkness.

Behind him stands Ekitai, his handgun by his hips and finger around the trigger, a face both excited and prepared for anything, a fanatical grin complementing the flare in his yellow eyes.

Beside him stands Dana, her hands golden claws with sharp ends at the edges of her human skin, her steady green eyes set on its calculated target, her formal black blazer tidy whereas her bangs had become disheveled.

Beside her stands Kokei, anxious but anticipatory, her hands in fists ready for what’s to come, her alert pink eyes exuding their own gentle radiance as her long pink hair drapes behind her back, parted and no longer clouding her range.

The four stand, ready, for in a few steps they’d be back into the darkness, back into the danger.