A feminine figure hastily paced back and forth through a hall of the massive tree that most of Henosis prayed to. A foreigner, avoided by all. They looked at her with disdain passing her by to go about their business, but she didn’t seem to care, too preoccupied with her own thoughts. This wasn’t the only way she stood out, however. The suit she wore looked… out of place. It looked incomplete. With its inconsistent ribbons and patterns, it hazily vibrated from time to time, not too different from her own demeanor. She looked like an escaped felon.

“Excuse me?” she approached the blue-eyed receptionist. “How much longer will I have to wait?” she asked probably for the thousandth time. The receptionist whose cold eyes were darting and flashing around in intermittent glows suddenly stopped and turned to meet hers.

“Please, follow me.” She didn’t move, instead, she looked to the side. When the foreign woman followed her gaze, she froze. Her face was hidden, but her uneasiness was clear. “I would appreciate it if you didn’t waste my time, I have many tasks to accomplish.” The two overlapping voices shook her out of her daze. “And I would hate to keep them waiting,” she pointed up to two shrouded figures who turned around to walk away from an isolated balcony.

Slava couldn’t believe she had the gall to come here after all this time. He was shaking enough for Serena to notice. As they walked into an empty room, she softly wrapped her vines around him.

“Don’t worry…” She wore a strange smile on her face. “Don’t.” Slava interrupted her, the vines cracking apart. He wasn’t in the mood for her games. She’d become way too intrusive lately. Especially for her current condition. He watched the cracks on her skin slowly heal. Her condition was degenerating. He thought it would pass, but in the past months, it had only gotten worse. The city’s upkeep was too much. She was dying. The only reason why he had noticed was because he could feel her decelerating momentum. But he'd kept his mouth shut. If she wanted to die, it was her choice. And there was one thing he was certain of. She definitely wouldn't die that easily. Something was undoubtedly hidden up her sleeve.

“Please, after you.” He heard the woman say as the door slid open. A streak of light penetrated the pitch-black room. He could see the outline of the receptionist, slowly disintegrating as Valerie hesitatingly stepped through the doorway. When she did, the door closed behind her and a spotlight illuminated her figure.

“What are you doing here?” Her body grew stiff, his translucent chains wrapping themselves around it. “Wait…” she struggled to speak, her suit vibrating through the restraints. “So this is her type?” Serena rhetorically asked, stepping into the light. “Valerie…” Her gaze thoroughly scrutinized her. From top… to bottom… “Please… Vich,” she feebly said, her voice shaking. “I need to see her…” she whispered, Serena spinning around her. “Why should I let you? After what you did?” His trembling words shook Serena who halted her pacing. Slava’s eyes glowed through the darkness, momentarily stopping even Valerie’s suit’s incessant throbbing.

“I… I… It’s about her uncle… her father… he doesn’t…” she struggled to speak. “She doesn’t have one.” With her thoughts finally reaching their ears, Serena turned back to her. Her mouth agape, she looked astounded, shocked, but… “Is that really all? That was your trump card?” She stood dumbfounded. They already knew, it was obvious, she had no uncle, he was her father.

“Please… let me see her.” She met his unwavering cold eyes, shining through the darkness, her pleas leaving him unmoved. Seeing this, -her demeanor grew desperate. Next, in an instant, the chains shackling her shattered. Her unstable figure now flashed with purple and black streaks of light, holding onto the knelt down Serena's neck. “You give me no choice.” She held a blade to Serena's neck, an extension of her own body. “I didn't think you would be this petty. This isn't about intimacy…” There was clearly something wrong because she suddenly stopped talking. She could no longer grasp the hostage under her grip. Looking down, her body suddenly stiffened.

“Where do you think you are?” He was holding her by the neck a few feet off the ground. Her suit wasn't responding. “You could die here and no one would ever know,” he said coldly. “She would never know,” he finished, menacing white threads seeping into her suit. It tried to react but to no avail. Valerie stopped struggling, desperately grasping his hand, wheezing from the suit overwhelming her body. So… weak. She would never be a threat. As she struggled to speak, Slava let her go, letting her fall to her knees. There was no reason to kill her.

“Leave and never come back! I'm letting you go for her sake, don't make me regret it.” He walked past her and reached towards the door with Serena materializing next to him when he suddenly felt a foreign force tug at his leg.

“No… please… you have to help me.” She was desperately hanging onto his leg. Abruptly pushing her away, he turned to face her sorry figure. Her distorted suit no longer covered her face. “I know you guys are behind everything, you lead everything.” A face full of scars, her once luscious brown hair now disheveled and entangled. The bright green eyes Sasha used to talk of so fondly were now almost dead and lifeless. That, even under the reflection of her glistening tears.

“Please! Help me find my brother!” Slava was speechless, she looked down at her own shaking hands. “I know so much!” She'd finally awakened from her dream. Her brother who had been involved in a manual override incident wasn't a victim, but the perpetrator. Just thinking about it tightened his chest. “Info on things you've never even heard of!” Looking at her now, she had undoubtedly been to places she shouldn't have, seen things she shouldn't have seen, and experienced things no one should have to experience. He could only imagine how much she would've suffered as a traitor. “I've seen everything.” She hysterically counted her fingers. “Classified info on the war, reports on increased Tainted activity, this place, Project Rebirth…” Before he could blink, Serena's vines had already taken over. Her eyes cold as frost pierced through Valerie's broken gaze.

“A… lex…” Her skin was turning white, green veins bulging all over her face. Seeing this, Slava put his hand on Serena's shoulder. “I think that's enough.” She stiffly turned towards him, Valerie's skin regaining some of its colors. “She knows too much, she's a liability.” He didn't back down, challenging her. “Is she really?” He squinted his eyes and she released her captive.

“You'll tell us what you know won't you?” Slava crouched down to her level, moving to wipe away her tears. “I might even consider letting you go.” She coughed to the side before slowly turning her head to look into his eyes. “Bring me to her.” A glimmer. Her eyes lit up like stars in the night sky. It was like a switch had been flipped. Her gaze was determined. Now that she’d found some ground, she looked determined to stay steady.

“If you tell me something helpful, I might consider it.” Slava smiled, he liked her attitude, but he wouldn't make it so easy. She knew things that she shouldn’t, it was dangerous, but it also meant that she might know things that they couldn’t know. She was a well of information, it would be a waste to let it go to waste. “The Expance cloning program.” Those simple words froze the entire room. Serena released her vines once more, but Slava stopped her.

“Explain.” An uncle who wasn't, an absent mother, peculiar spacial manipulation… “It's exactly what you think.” No, impossible. “I want to hear you say it.” Serena interjected, forcing Valerie to explain through heavy breath. “It's a classified program made for the sake of perfecting human cloning.” Hearing his worries being quelled, Slava sighed. “I believe that's enough, now bring me to her.” Meeting her wary gaze, Slava shook his head. “I will keep my word.” Unhesitatingly picking her up, he moved towards the doorway. Stepping through it, he glanced back at Serena who still seemed to be in thought. He should leave her. With this thought, he dashed off. He ran and ran until he finally reached the fated door.

“At one point that program sucked away all of Expance's resources,” she suddenly said as he put her down. Without looking back, she reached towards the door. “Although it was eventually aborted.” A failure? The corners of her mouth curved up as she lifted her finger and a light flow of information seeped out of it. “I hope you won’t forget this,” she said, the information slowly seeping into his suit.