Empty Alley

Burp...

What's the matter?

He's shivering. Must be the air conditioning in the bar.

Have another drink, it'll warm you up.

Er, no...

Oh, I forgot. Your tastes have changed.

Your favorite drink was Siestan Iced Tea, back when you could still hold a scalpel. Strong enough to make you forget Loken Williams's abuse.

Now, he has a hundred and twenty-two years left on his prison term, while you... you're free.

Free... you're talking to me about free?

I've been uploading my biometric data on a monthly basis, just like you told me...

Shh.

Let's not talk about work here.

We come to the bar to relax, don't we?

Or would you rather drink with these two? One whose face shows no expression, the other whose face can't be seen at all... than with your old friend?

Old friend? Hah, that's rich.

The reason I've become this, it's all because...

Here's to freedom.

......

They left me no choice, Saria.

—!

You're on your own.

Oh my god. What happened to him?

Call an ambulance!

—

Epilepsy.

Blood test shows abnormal chemical composition.

That injection I gave him will help. He'll live.

That drink...

There's half a glass left... I'm not the type to waste.

—

You drank the rest?

As you just saw.

......

Still don't get it? Check out your friend's teeth.

Second molar on the left.

......

A false tooth.

He did one final operation on himself before he left Loken Watertank.

You knew it all along.

I should have removed the variable myself. One tooth wouldn't have affected his work.

But I didn't.

I believe we in Columbia should have the freedom to embrace death.

Doctor—

Take the patient, and give us some space.

We have a problem and we need to deal with it.

Sir, the new test results are out!

Let's hope it justifies this commotion.

......

Sixty-seven percent?

W-We tried our best.

What about the retests?

H-Here they are.

Get me all the numbers.

Yes... sir.

......

Sir...

I'll be damned, the old goat wasn't playing.

It's all up to Ho'olheyak now... she'd better take care of Saria.

I'm honored that the former head of Rhine's Defense Section thinks I'm a problem.

Who are you?

We've never met, Director Saria.

But I've heard of you.

One of the co-founders of Rhine Lab, graduate of the Trimounts Institute of Technology, who left academia after earning her PhD in biomedical engineering to become the head of the Defense Section.

Everyone associates Rhine Lab with Kristen Wright, but few have heard of you.

Have you never resented that, after all these years?

That's unnecessary.

I made my choice, I took up my duty.

I know.

You think yourself a firefighter, but what you really love is the feeling of charging into a fire, am I right?

You like fighting.

That doesn't mean you're a warrior. You have no thirst for challenge and destruction.

That's why you never fit in with the scientific community.

Five years ago, you received a grafted plant from Muelsyse, who taught the vines to dance.

You accepted the gift. Thereafter, you were in your office by seven every morning, trimming the sprouts that had grown overeager.

You've been spying on Rhine Lab?

Maybe I just heard some office gossip.

Then maybe you missed the part where Muelsyse turned the offices of three directors into Sargon rainforests.

Or how much trouble it caused Defense.

Well then...

How much trouble did the Diαbolic business cause you?

......

For all the garbage you've talked, there's one thing you got right.

Hm?

I don't shy away from a fight.

Beautiful Arts.

Did you use that trick against Control?

You're too curious for a mercenary.

Hey, they're fighting!

Are they drunk? Where's a bouncer when you need one?

......

Are you the bouncer? Get them out of here!

Sorry, I'm just a mechanist.

Hitting the road would be the smart choice here.

Shit! The ceiling's coming down! Go! Go!

Are you okay, Doctor?

So eager to stop the fight...

Won't you stay a while longer?

There aren't many in Columbia who could take a hit from you and stay standing.

With skills like yours, there aren't many who could afford your fee.

This doesn't have much to do with Volvort Kochinski. And your style isn't military.

You're eager to kill the trail of the silver reagent.

Your employer could be Ferdinand, or it could be...

...Control?

Even now, you still won't turn your suspicions towards her?

Too many questions to let you go.

Saria!

Looks like the time for talk is over.

You're not dodging?

Don't need to. I'm not in the habit of taking long shots.

Believe it or not, Saria, I just wanted to chat.

I'm curious about you... about Rhine Lab.

You hurt my friend the moment you showed up. Doesn't exactly put me in a chatting mood.

Hehe... I have a job to do, after all.

One last parting word for you.

Don't be too eager to make an enemy of me.

Don't be too eager to make an enemy of anyone.

......

She got away? Why... is there a hole in the wall?

That was me.

Did her Arts misdirect you?

It was some technique, but not Originium Arts.

She changed the air composition around her, interfering with my Arts, and causing my attack to miss its target.

I've never seen anything like it before.

Muelsyse's disappearance may be her work too.

Maybe.

I've thought about it. Heating air in a specific direction is pretty mundane. It wouldn't have been enough to disable Muelsyse.

Doctor, I propose we go after her.

Whether it's the intel she has access to, or the strange techniques she uses...

This Liberi is extremely dangerous.

Officer? Where are you going?

I didn't know I had to report my every move to you.

Records show you took the key to a vehicle...

Just borrowing an asset.

By all means, report it to your miserable director.

Officer...

What is it? I don't have all day.

Mary Banner. You grew up in the town of Steelham, north of Trimounts. Sonny Romano was your neighbor and middle school classmate.

You've been investigating me?

Romano was registered as Infected four years ago. He ended his internship at a law firm and returned to Steelham. His insurance payments stopped six months later.

His name resurfaced on the crew manifest for this Pioneer Team, three years and seventeen days later.

Where was he during that time?

How would I know?

Preventing problems before they occur is part of our job.

If you thought you could scare me by raffling off some old records, think again.

It took me five years to get to where I am now. Did you think I don't know how to deal with some corporate worms?

Ahem. I have never doubted your ability.

Then don't make me feed you to the tuskbeasts.

Maybe you don't believe it, but I just wanted to give you some friendly advice.

You remind me of my former supervisor at times. I had a lot of respect for her, but she allowed her personal sentiments to destroy her future.

I don't want to see you repeat her mistakes.

Ha... sentiments?

Maybe this could save some people...

But it can't save one out to get herself killed.

......

This is an emergency communication.

Paging Director Clooney.

Log 17. Location, zone 9 corridor.

No change observed in target's position from the previous log.

Base particle structure is stable.

—

Still no signal. Can't get anything out.

(We can't tolerate any more delays. The plan needs adjustment...)

(I have to get these reports to the boss once we have comms back.)

...Elena?

*cough* *cough*

What are you doing here?

I... I just wanted to move a little, catch my breath.

I understand that you harbor certain feelings towards the Pioneers... but it's better to stick together.

The last attack was ten minutes ago, not far from here.

Getting separated would be dangerous, if those things appear again.

Alright, I'll go back.

One second.

Before you do... don't you have anything to say to me?

I don't know what you're talking about.

The Pioneers are not in the most stable condition. Angering them will put Joyce in danger.

I understand why you didn't want to tell the truth in front of them.

But it's just the two of us here.

You wanted to ask about the experiments?

You're not a project member. You'll need to request permission from the company...

Stop dodging the question.

......

I know you're hiding a lot from me.

I'm not angry. We're friends, and we're colleagues. Rhine Lab has strict rules on confidentiality, and all of us are used to hiding our opinions, rules or no rules.

Olivia, I'm not...

You're not doing it on purpose.

I know. How could I not?

There aren't many Infected in the company. When you first came and greeted me at lunch... an Energy Section colleague pulled you aside and whispered to you that I was Infected.

You met with me anyway.

I don't care about those stones on your body. Who doesn't have a flaw or two? Not the ones gossiping behind your back, at the very least.

Even afterwards... I never cared about the stones in my own body!

That's the Elena Urbica I know.

I...

You knew something was not right with the experiments here.

You knew what those silver things were.

They're endangering our lives, and those of many innocents outside.

The Elena I know would not let something like this happen.

What made you keep quiet?

Did Ferdinand...

Olivia... this is my job.

Just like Helen and so many other researchers who work for Rhine Lab... this is where my dreams can come true.

You said you were once thankful to Director Parvis and Rhine Lab. I...

Ferdinand is the goal I strive for.

What did he promise you? Your own project if you help Director Franks complete this experiment? Or...

Olivia... you're like my sister, treating me like a little kid sitting around waiting for candy.

I know you have a lot of misconceptions about Director Clooney. Your investigations over the years have caused him a lot of trouble.

But none of that matters, it's not my place to defend him.

But he could have refused Rhodes Island's intervention. And yours.

He wants to change Rhine Lab, change Columbia... and I believe all he needs is a chance.

You trust Ferdinand that much?

Did you know that Rhine...

Who's there?

Did those things catch up to us?

It's the Pioneer Team!

Stay back!

The captain was right... we're just lab beasts to you...

You've got it all wrong...

Still trying to trick us?

I won't fall for that again! Everything you did for us, it's all fake!

Calm down, er... Myers, was it?

Myers, if you won't listen to us, maybe you'll listen to Sonny.

I don't... I don't want to die here...

There's no end to this damned corridor... it bears down on you and chokes you out. It's like the walls in the Infected containment zones.

Let us go... please... I'm begging you...

I... I'll kill her if you don't!

......

Joyce!

How could this be...?

No, let Joyce go... don't hurt her!

The tracks show she passed through here.

Can you tell which way she went?

The alley up ahead.

Let's go.

Did you learn anything new, Doctor?

I'm not concerned about the outcome of a single battle.

...I get what the Doctor is saying.

That Liberi isn't strong enough to beat us.

But she's not so weak that she couldn't hold out for a few minutes.

She's luring us into the alley.

Should we still go?

We're ready.

On it.

They'll be coming, right?

I know Saria. She'll come, even if she knows it's exactly what I want.

I'm still a little uneasy... that power armor...

Are you sure we don't need permission from Ferdinand?

We could always go back to plan A, if you want.

You mean... never mind, forget that I said anything.

This is a test.

Our employer wants to see our results.

I hear footsteps.

Alert the recon team. Begin the operation.

What about us?

We're out.