The neighborhood around him was barely unrecognizable, and Five was starting to have second thoughts about leaving Mara behind.

The streets seemed livelier and less raunchy. Buildings were never in a drab color, and majority of them looked more modernistic. Flower bushes grew in front of shops and apartment complex as trees lined the streets. The abundance of streetlights and ecological structure didn't go unnoticed as well, and he could hear laughter almost every minute and saw groups of people just having a good time.

It was too pleasant, and Five was bothered by it. He knew no real world is ever free from chaos, it doesn't matter how good it looks. Nothing comes without a price, and you can't really gain anything from a clean slate. Grit and blood is what makes a world go round after all.

"A bunch of pompous pricks that's what they are."

Five shoved his hands into his pockets as he continued to look at his surroundings. The early afternoon sun beat down harshly on his head, and he had to squint to really take a good look at things.

He passed by a newspaper stand and his eyes caught on a cover of a magazine. The cover had a picture of the establishment with the blue Genesis logo hanging on the side of the building by the roof.

DIWA: How Genesis Telecoms Rose to the Top.

Five took the magazine and held it up to his field of vision. His eyes narrowed at the structure standing within the cover, and looked back at what's in front of him. In the distance, he could see a building that matched perfectly.

"Bingo."

He returned the magazine to its place in the stall and began to sprint towards the complex. 

To anyone else, he had probably looked like a student missing his backpack and running late to school. No one would have expected that he was really on his way to find some dirt on the world's largest network provider.

Five did eventually reach the building after a good amount of time and immediately saw the array of security that lined the entrance. But he wasn't too fazed by it. He trailed the wall and when he figured he far enough, he simply warped in.

He was quickly met an crowded parking lot. A single tree poked out from the sea of vehicles, and Five quickly made his way towards it as if it was a beacon.

From where he stood behind the large tree, he could only see a handful of people coming in and out from the gate and no guards standing by the glass doors. He could walk in no problem, assuming that the lobby wasn't crowded and the workers would be too busy to notice him.

Five decided to take that chance.

He walked coolly through the door. Though the lobby was actually more open and crowded than he had hoped, the employees were in fact too involved in their work to see the only boy in a stark blue uniform in the area.

The interior itself did not disappoint. What you see from the outside is what you would expect in the inside.

The walls were a pristine white with hints of nature here and there, decorating the lobby and giving it a bit more life. Heavy duty glass and wires comprised the elevator near him and a spiral staircase connected the many floors starting from the second floor.

The opening between the floors was built in a shape that almost looked like coral sponge from below. Hanging from the high ceiling, a series of metal objects that hung from the ceiling winked back at him, and as Five looked closer, he realized that they were metal birds that seemed to flutter in the air.

Five was almost impressed. It was just a shame that he was probably not leaving the area without destroying a few things along the way.

Searching for his next move, he looked around, but there was nothing else aside from the ID gate. Five walked behind a group of workers going through it as to not to be seen by the reception desk.

He noticed the bold red letters of the emergency exit and blinked inside as soon he was close enough.

Fortunately for him, there was a metal plate with a bullet point list beside the door of what functions that were in the floor. 

There were no steps leading down, so he moved up. Five passed by the first two floors and only stopped when he saw 'records room' in the same bold red letters.

He silently slipped inside.

Compared to the ground floor, the hall was less crowded and open. According to the panel in the staircase, this floor was more on meeting rooms, offices, and employee records. With this being said, only a few workers went by him as they were inside their cubicles or meetings. 

He walked carefully as he went to find his destination, not wanting to disrupt their focus and blow his cover. Most of the doors, he noticed, were only accessible if you had an ID. But Five still didn't worry. He could warp inside no problem.

Five had a gut feeling he was getting near to where he needed to be, and he began to walk faster.

But a blatant sound echoed loudly through his eardrums, sending him to a halt. 

If his 58 years meant anything, then he already knew this meant nothing good.

The hall glowed a sickening red, and the alarm blared loud enough to match. He looked around at the now blood colored hall. The guards on the other side of the hall rushed out as they frantically yelled orders into their communication devices.

Though Five knew damn well he wasn't the cause, he quickly turned to find any room he could warp in unseen. 

Getting killed was not in his agenda today. Not now. Not ever.

But a familiar set of brown eyes had pierced his own the moment he switched directions.

Mara seemed just as surprised to see him as he was. She stood frozen in her action of closing the door to a room she had came out of. Her leather hand clutched a bloodied employee ID, and Five knew right away.

"You tripped the alarm?" Five spoke harshly. Although a small part of him was glad to see her, he fumed at the fact that he could've gotten what he came here for and leave without making a fuss if she hadn't followed him.

"Correction: the guy's dead body did it." Mara returned his tone, annoyed, then a bit quieter she spoke. "Didn't even look like an alarm button."

"Well, it doesn't matter what it looks like now because we're fucked anyway." Five said and flung his arms.

But considering the circumstances Mara had been them in, he took hold of her empty hand and bolted forward with her in tow.

"There's no more time." he sighed, frustrated. Five figured it would be better to let out his irritation later when there's nothing left around that would kill them. "We need to get out of here."

At this point, the guards had already spotted their plight and gave chase. 

The two raced through the long narrow hallway, putting more distance between them and security. Five had already let go as soon as Mara had caught up and was running alongside him.

Their route had taken them to the balcony where it overlooked the lobby, and they stopped, unsure of where to go.

"There should be a staircase or an elevator around here." Mara looked over the glass railing. Security was already piling up and more guards were rushing to head up to their floor.

Five jogged a bit forward, and true enough, he found the elevator.

"Over here!" He yelled back to her, and Mara began to move towards him, but a guard pushed her back to the railing and pinned her there. 

The man lunged a baton at her, but the Sparrow caught it just in time.

Five quickly hurried over to help, but more reinforcements swarmed the floor from the hall they came from, separating them in the process. 

It should have been easy. 

He could have ripped off the gun from the guard closest to him and start his rampage from there. But he knew more was coming and both of them wouldn't make it if they kept piling up at his rate.

His head swarmed. He felt the adrenaline in his blood, and his hand shook with the need to just snap someone's neck.

He needed to get to her. He needed -

"Five, just go!" Mara shouted, her voice strained from holding the baton in place. It hovered just above her neck and any more force from the man would send her over the railing. "I got this."

He didn't want to believe her, but he knew it was the likely best option at the moment. 

If he left now, he could divert at least half of the guards and hopefully the more incoming. There would be less to be aware of between the two of them, and she would be able to handle the remaining few before finding a place to disappear into.

So he ran.

Five could only hope she would make her way back to him.