"Are you okay, Lady Talulah?"

"I'm fine." Talulah replied with an annoyed growl.

Talulah brushed off the dust from her clothes. She was barely scratched aside from the concrete dust that had dirtied her clothes.

The same couldn't be said to the other Reunion members.

It was a bloodbath. One she was very familiar with. The surviving Reunion members were still collecting body parts of their fallen comrades, trying to bury it alongside the bodies.

It was a slow progress.

"We lost 15 men in the airstrike, 6 were either fatally wounded and another 15 only received light injury." The Head Reunion Healer informed Talulah.

The casualties were miraculously low given the destruction inflicted upon the environment.

"Give priority to the mortally wounded." Talulah calmly ordered. The healer gave an affirmative and quickly went to work.

Talulah heard rapid footsteps approaching her. She instinctively flared up her power and shifted her head.

A Reunion member wearing some sort business outfit came kneeling in front of Talulah. His forehead touching the ground.

False alarm.

"It was my fault. I overlooked the fact that the incompetent Ursus Police Force would field one of the Ursus Military Aircraft." The Reunion informant said.

Mephisto narrowed his eyes and huffed in annoyance at the kneeling man. He was reining in his anger to avoid striking down this man, Talulah realized.

Very admirable of him.

Talulah kept her mind calm and her expression unreadable. "Our operation is a success, that's all that is important. Just make sure you don't repeat the same mistake.

Talulah turned her body to face Faust. "A good leader must also be compassionate to his followers, Faust."

"But, I-" The informant was going to argue.

Talulah glared daggers at him, shutting off any further arguments.

He whimpered. "I won't disappoint you, Lady Talulah." He skulked back to his comrades.

"Our plan will proceed as planned albeit with some minor changes." Talulah declared to the gathering.

"What about that Ursus bastard who killed our comrades?" Skullshatterer snarled.

"He will pay with his blood." Talulah promised.

Talulah gazed at the stars. "But for the time being, we have more important matters to attend."

"Are you okay, Lady Talulah?"

"I'm fine." Talulah replied with an annoyed growl.

Talulah brushed off the dust from her clothes. She was barely scratched aside from the concrete dust that had dirtied her clothes.

The same couldn't be said to the other Reunion members.

It was a bloodbath. One she was very familiar with. The surviving Reunion members were still collecting body parts of their fallen comrades, trying to bury it alongside the bodies.

It was a slow progress.

"We lost 15 men in the airstrike, 6 were either fatally wounded and another 15 only received light injury." The Head Reunion Healer informed Talulah.

The casualties were miraculously low given the destruction inflicted upon the environment.

"Give priority to the mortally wounded." Talulah calmly ordered. The healer gave an affirmative and quickly went to work.

Talulah heard rapid footsteps approaching her. She instinctively flared up her power and shifted her head.

A Reunion member wearing some sort business outfit came kneeling in front of Talulah. His forehead touching the ground.

False alarm.

"It was my fault. I overlooked the fact that the incompetent Ursus Police Force would field one of the Ursus Military Aircraft." The Reunion informant said.

Mephisto narrowed his eyes and huffed in annoyance at the kneeling man. He was reining in his anger to avoid striking down this man, Talulah realized.

Very admirable of him.

Talulah kept her mind calm and her expression unreadable. "Our operation is a success, that's all that is important. Just make sure you don't repeat the same mistake.

Talulah turned her body to face Faust. "A good leader must also be compassionate to his followers, Faust."

"But, I-" The informant was going to argue.

Talulah glared daggers at him, shutting off any further arguments.

He whimpered. "I won't disappoint you, Lady Talulah." He skulked back to his comrades.

"Our plan will proceed as planned albeit with some minor changes." Talulah declared to the gathering.

"What about that Ursus bastard who killed our comrades?" Skullshatterer snarled.

"He will pay with his blood." Talulah promised.

Talulah gazed at the stars. "But for the time being, we have more important matters to attend."

Doctor Kal'tsit's hair fluttered in the air as the helicopter began descending on the landing strip on top of the Rhodes Island base.

The Medical Team was ready in their outfits to receive the infected Doctor.

As soon as the helicopter touched the ground, the door slid open and the occupants began to disembark one by one.

The last ones that came out were Ace and Adna that were carrying the Doctor on the stretcher.

"Put him on the bed. We'll take over from here." Ansel ordered. Ace and Adna did as they were told.

"Doctor Kal'tsit." Dobermann stood attention.

"You may file in the report later. I have to oversee the operation on Doctor Jardani." Doctor Kal'tsit said.

"Yes, Doctor."

"I will help with the evaluation." Amiya interjected.

"No."

"A no is a no, Amiya." Kal'tsit raised her voice, clearly impatient at the operator.

Amiya was left speechless. The bed was then pushed by the medical staffs towards the Medical Bay in hurry with Doctor Kal'tsit not too far behind. Amiya's ears drooped and her face crestfallen. She was left stiffened, her gaze still fixated on the Doctor slowly disappearing from her view.

"Doctor Jardani will be okay, Amiya." Ace put his hand on Amiya's shoulder. Amiya still stood silent.

No one spoke as they sauntered to the armory and stored their gears.

Ace was the first to finish and waited outside the armory for the operators to finish.

"Anyone wanna grab some food? I'm hungry." Ace suggested.

"Sounds good." Blaze agreed.

"No, thank you. I have to pass up that offer." Dobermann replied. "I need to file in my report." She added.

"Instructor Dobermann. Make sure you don't forget to eat after that." Blaze reminded.

She gave a small nod. "Have a good night." Dobermann said to the group before walking away

"Anyone else?" Ace asked. There was a moment of silence before the group agreed.

"Adnachiel?" Ace asked.

Adnachiel gave a nervous smile at being mentioned.

"Don't beat yourself up over it. It was an accident and it's already in the past." Ace said.

Adnachiel glanced at Amiya. Amiya was lost in thought and seemed to not care with their exchange.

"Though it would do good to everyone if you think before running your mouth off." Ace chuckled.

Adnachiel gave a nervous laugh at Ace's remark. Adnachiel took a glance on everyone's faces. They were neutral and seemed to be anticipating Adnachiel's response.

"Okay..." Adnachiel mumbled.

"It's decided, then." Blaze grinned.

The group made their way towards the cafeteria. The rest of known Rhodes Island operators already went to bed at this time of day. The group stumbled upon of a few new Rhodes Island patients that were trying to navigate inside the base.

The cafeteria was devoid of people and the humming sound of the food vendor machines filled in the area when they stepped in the cafeteria.

"What do you girls want to eat? We'll get it for you." Ace asked, slapping hard the only 2 male operators' backs. They both gave out a yelp of surprise.

"It's my treat." Ace added.

"Are you sure?" Medic asked, uncertain.

"Yes."

"Thanks, Ace."

"Now, go ahead and find a seat."

"You too, Adnachiel."

The Doctor was still unconscious when Ansel and the medical team put him on the operating table.

"Instructor Dobermann had informed me that the Doctor had lost high amount of blood."

Ansel nodded as he drew some blood from the Doctor's arm.

Doctor Kal'tsit went to sit by the Originium scanner, powering on the device and setting up the scanner for the upcoming procedure.

The 2 masked medical staffs went to work while Ansel analyzed the blood. They carefully moved the Doctor onto the scanner.

The machine hummed to life. "There's an outline of Originium near his organs and medium concentration of Originium inside his blood circulation." Doctor Kal'tsit muttered to herself.

"His blood?" Doctor Kal'tsit asked the medical intern.

"Doctor Jardani's blood Originium-crystal density is between 0.16 to 0.19 u/L. However...the Originium assimilation rate is very fast. It sits on 15.5%..." Ansel observed.

Ansel furrowed his eyebrows.

"The Infection is at its Spreading Period albeit with some abnormality." Ansel concluded.

Kal'tsit rubbed her chin. The Doctor had contracted Oripathy the same way as Amiya...

"Put them on." Kal'tsit's voice was loud and clear. It was better safe than sorry.

"Yes, Doctor." Ansel hurried to the freezer and took out a palm-sized metal box.

Ansel returned to the operating table and placed the metal box near it.

The two medical staffs took each of the Doctor's hands and wiped them clean with wet cloth that was dipped into a solution.

Ansel opened the box and took out the content, 6 blue coloured rings. Ansel then proceeded to put the rings on Doctor Jardani's fingers. 3 Rings on each hand. The middle finger, the ring finger and the index finger.

"It should be enough to slow down the infection." Doctor Kal'tsit noted.

"The Doctor had lost lots of his blood." Kal'tsit reminded.

Ansel gave a nod of acknowledgement.

"Prepare for the blood transfusion." Ansel ordered to the medical staffs.

One of the medical staff took the blood bag that was labelled with O from the blood bank for the sake of simplicity. They didn't want to waste any more time determining the Doctor's type of blood.

She handed it to Ansel. Ansel then put the blood bag on another IV pole.

"It would take 1 to 4 hours for the blood transfusion." Ansel informed.

"There's no other issues regarding Doctor Jardani's health." Doctor Kal'tsit observed.

"I'll leave Doctor Jardani in your care. Make sure you inform me when he wakes up."

"You can trust me, Doctor Kal'tsit." Ansel stated

Doctor Kal'tsit headed out from the surgery room and departed to her office. She had something to do. Those paperworks she needed to do. Bloody Penguin Logistics...What good would that Lungmen idol, Sora do?

No. Be open minded.

Doctor Kal'tsit almost reached her office when she saw Dobermann leaning against the wall by the door, fumbling with a device.

Dobermann immediately noticed her approach and gave a nod.

"Damn! For a machine-made food, it sure is delicious. The taste..." Blaze didn't finish her sentence as she was busy munching on her extra large cheeseburger.

"I have to agree." Nearl gracefully sipped the stew soup.

The group continued to mow down the food like starved men.

"You sound like you never had eaten food from the cafeteria..." Adna observed.

"We have not." Nearl said as a matter of fact.

"Where do you guys eat, then? Surely normal ancients must eat." Adna asked.

"Eyjafjalla would bring in cooks from the outside and prepare the food for us. She said the cafeteria food is not healthy or something along those lines."

"Doctor Kal'tsit does not care?" Ace interjected.

"She did care. Doctor Kal'tsit had warned her about bringing unknown people into Rhodes Island."

"Then?"

"Eyjafjalla countered that the cooks were her family's most trusted chefs. Doctor Kal'tsit seemed fine with that and never brought the topic up ever again."

"Why did you decide to join us, then?" Adna asked.

"This is a special circumstance. We told them we didn't know when we would return from the mission." Nearl said.

Ace chuckled. "Really sets us men apart, huh?" He mused.

"Hang on now, why do we have to eat food in the cafeteria and use our money every single damn day? Why do you girls get special treatment?" Adna complained, elaborating Ace's musing.

"I don't know. Ask Eyjafjalla yourself." Blaze replied nonchalantly before mowing down on the grilled steak until it was all munched up.

"Phew. That was delicious. Can I get a second?" Blaze asked, looking at Ace.

Adna's eye twitched in annoyance from being ignored.

However, for some unknown reason, Adna still joined in Blaze's attempt to get him to burn Ace's money. Two set of eyes that cast a piercing gaze deep into his soul.

Ace contemplated Blaze's dangerous question. If he allowed Blaze to buy her another set of meals, there's no doubt that the others would follow suit. His money was at stake. They were still in the early month.

He would die from starvation before he could even get another paycheck. Ace began sweating.

He turned to Amiya. She seems to be less depressed than before and she was enjoying her carrot soup. Nay, she had finished the bowl and she looks like she wanted a second. Amiya was staring at Nearl who was sitting opposite of her.

Well, at least his plan to cheer up Amiya with tasty food was a success.

After a long pause, Ace sighed before nodding. It's all for Amiya's sake, Ace convinced himself.

Blaze's cheer filled the cafeteria, giving the few guards that were dining a heart attack as she ran off to get more food.

"Thanks, bro." Adna followed suit.

"Are you sure, Nearl? It's my treat." Ace asked.

She shook her head. "I need to keep up with my training." Oh, that.

"Jessica?"

Jessica scratched the back of her head. "Well...I'm used to eating this much."

Ace had heard the rumor she used up her snack money to buy ammo for her gun. He admired that kind of dedication.

"Adnachiel?"

He shook his head. "I'm full."

"If you guys insist..." Ace turned his head to Amiya. "How about you, Amiya?"

"No, I'm already full." Amiya patted her stomach to emphasize her point.

"You looks like you wanted a second earlier..." Ace countered. Amiya looked conflicted.

"And you are still staring at that machine." Red tint appeared on her cheeks.

"The food is quite expensive..." Amiya reasoned, twiddling her fingers.

"Don't fret over the details. The food here barely put a dent in my pocket. Treating you guys to dinner is a trivial matter."

It was a massive lie.

Amiya looked around her before she made up her mind. "Thank you, Ace." She stood up and went to get another bowl of carrot soup.

"My pleasure." Ace replied as she walked. Amiya was still young to take up the mantle of leadership...but he really respected and admired her because of that.

The 2 operators that went to get their refill returned to the table.

'Seconds my ass...' Ace wanted to cry. They bought an extremely larger portion than the last one and they picked the most expensive food in the menu.

"I regret my decision." Ace said to the group, burying his head onto the table.

Nearl patted his back. Jessica and Adnachiel could only give nervous smiles to the unfortunate Ace.

"Cheer up, old man. As thanks, I will personally inform her cooks to prepare your portion."

"I'm not even that old...yet." His voice muffled by the table

"Then shave your beard. You look old."

"I want free food too." Adna grumbled.

"How's Amiya?" Blaze changed the topic of conversation.

"She's doing fine." Ace rose her head from the table.

"Doctor's Jovonovich's injuries must have made her so...stressed." Nearl observed.

"I've never seen Doctor Kal'tsit raise her voice before. She's usually so calm. Imma bet Doctor Jardani was her past lover or something." Blaze said.

"Even so, it is kind of a dick move to rise her voice to Amiya." Adna voiced his opinion.

"She's coming." Adna warned, right after his own opinion.

The group then shifted their look to Amiya. She was carrying a steaming bowl of soup and seemed to be confused with the operators' gaze upon her. She got back to her seat beside Ace.

Blaze sneaked a look into Amiya's bowl. "Amiya, you really are a bunny." Blaze quipped, smiling from ear to ear.

"She is a rabbit after all." Adna interjected.

"A bunny." Blaze corrected.

"Same deal."

Adna and Blaze then suddenly exchanged unrelated remarks about Amiya being a donkey or a bunny from her ears.

After they were satisfied with making Amiya as red as a tomato, both Adna and Blaze changed their talk to more mundane topics.

The conversation was centered around these two but yet interesting enough for the others to contribute to the topic.

"Ace, where should I put them?" Amiya whispered.

"Just put it on that conveyor over there."

"Thank you."

"Are you leaving, Amiya?" Adna asked, stopping the conversation and causing everyone to shift their attention onto Amiya.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Is that so? Good night, Amiya." Adna bid his farewell followed by other operators.

"Good night." Amiya replied, giving a weak smile.

Amiya slid the keycard into the reader. The door opened and she went into her room.

The light automatically turned on and illuminated the room. Amiya's sight was then greeted by the room in pure utilitarian decorations. The space was quite modest. Two single beds were put at the near edge of the room and there was a bookshelf filled to the brim with books.

The leftover space was very excessive for a two-person room. This room was supposed to be shared with Doctor Kal'tsit but even Doctor Kal'tsit herself rarely set foot inside the room.

Amiya went to the shower and prepared herself to bed. She slid into her sleeping attire and turned off the light before she went lying on her bed.

She couldn't sleep.

There were so many things going on in her mind.

Even if she did try to close her eyes, the images of the mutilated bodies and the screams would come back to haunt her senses. Their pained faces as they screamed in pain facing their inevitable deaths.

The silence, the darkness and the knowledge of her being alone in the room made her uneasy and it was a full moon outside.

Amiya couldn't help but think about some urban legend she heard from the other operators.

Amiya caught something moving from the corner of her eyes. A human shaped silhouette minus a head came creeping in from behind the bookshelf. Without warning, the silhouette charged and made a mad dash towards her.

She clenched her eyes shut once and braced for the attack, yet it never came.

Amiya clapped her hands and the lights were turned on. She was the sole occupant of the room. Her heart beat faster than it was supposed to be.

There's no way she could sleep like this.

Amiya sighed. She should pay Doctor Kal'tsit a visit and maybe get some answers for the questions that were troubling her.

Amiya put on her ID necklace before going out and put on her Rhodes Island jacket over her sleepwear. A tracksuit and a white T-shirt were decent enough.

Amiya walked out to the hallway. The white cushion padding on the wall reflected the light.

Doctor Kal'tsit's office was just around the corner at the end of the hallway. It was not that far.

Amiya's mind wandered aimlessly as she walked.

"In conclusion, there's a high chance that Reunion would attack Lungmen." Amiya heard the gist of their conversation as she twisted the doorknob.

Dobermann and Doctor Kal'tsit whipped their head when they heard the door cracked open.

"Amiya, why you are not sleeping yet?" Kal'tsit asked.

Amiya shook her head. "I can't sleep."

Doctor Kal'tsit returned her attention to Dobermann.

"You may be dismissed, Instructor Dobermann Thank you for your hard work."

"My pleasure, Doctor Kal'tsit." Dobermann replied. She gave Amiya a nod of acknowledgement before leaving the room.

--

A/N: The end..?