'Times Like These'

A child?

Blaze-4, Amiya-1, come in. I'm in the slums. 4th Street, building number 10. There's a child survivor, Infected.

Waaahhh...

...Hello.

Wh- who are you?

Are you a Lungmenite?

I will not hurt you. I don't speak Ursine well. I am not an enemy.

What did you say?

Come with me. It is dangerous here.

I can't... Uncle said to stay here.

But I will take you to find your dad.

You can do that?

I can do that.

You, hiding behind me, come out.

You're...

You're not with them.

You're... from Rhodes Island?

Child, stay back. Don't come closer.

Drop your weapon and come out with your hands up.

What?

You're not here to save us?

Don't you Rhodes Islanders know what's hidden here?

We worked hard to set up this ambush... If we can't lure them in, if we can't take them out, they'll kill all of us!

You're using children as bait. You deserve to be killed.

You think this will end when we're dead?

Even if they kill us, they won't let the children go. They won't let anyone go!

If that's all it took, we'd gladly die to save the kids!

We didn't even attack you!

Who's killing children...? The people in the black raincoats?

You've seen them, you understand! They're slaughtering everyone!

That's no excuse. After I take you in, I will apply to have you protected.

And we're supposed to just trust you? That crossbow of yours is a killing tool, what are you protecting?

For now, I'm protecting your lives.

Save it. We'll deal with you, then reset our trap!

We've already got the order to form up and retreat. If we die here, it would dishonor those comrades who died to save their children!

...Child, take cover!

Hm...

I'm still alive?

You think you'd be better off dead?

Operator Blaze?

It's not like you dying would solve anything. Better keep on ticking.

What about... the Reunion men? And the children?

......

Operator GreyThroat, I got you all wrong. And I'm sorry.

The children!

I took care of the Reunion guys! I hid the kids! Just listen to me already!

No need... as long as the children are safe.

Can you not be obnoxious for like five minutes?

What did you get wrong about me?

I watched you stand up to fight for Infected kids. It was hella leng noi.

Your Lungmen dialect sucks.

Hey, that's off the top of my head! But really, I thought you were just some heartless uninfected girl, joining Rhodes Island to spy on us or whatever. I got you all wrong.

If I were a spy, this is how I'd get you to trust me. As long as you weren't stupid enough to let me bleed out...

You bandaged me?

I'm still an elite operator. It's my job.

Anyway, you're right.

But even if you were a spy, you still did the right thing. So I'll save this spy's life and then pack her off to Legal.

I could just run.

Let's not be stupid here. How are you gonna outrun me?

Trust doesn't mean letting your guard down. Trust means knowing what you'll do and what you won't.

If you do the right thing, I'll back you up. If you do the wrong thing, I'll correct it, or stop it, if I have to. That's trust.

Thanks, GreyThroat. You trusted me, and you corrected my wrong thoughts with your right actions.

And I'm sorry.

......

But you really need to work on your people skills. They didn't want to be difficult, that was a show for survival.

If you screw up, you still need to go to Legal.

Whatever.

I think so... at least Blaze is trying. Leave it to her to drop her prejudices so quickly.

Rhodes Island's elite operators have more than just their incredible combat skills. Blaze is also gifted with a gregarious personality and savoir faire. As well as her own opinions.

If you want to lead her, if you want her support, you'll have to gain her trust. And first, you have to learn how.

I've fought alongside Blaze for a long time. And I think... I think you can too, Doctor.

But okay... isn't good enough, is it?

She puts up a carefree front, but Blaze has a complicated personality.

Give it time, keep your eyes open, and I know you can do it, Doctor.

But you need to put in more work!

Learning to trust each other isn't easy, but it needs to be done.

We need your power, Doctor, and you need to win over the operators to turn those tactics of yours into reality.

That's a lengthy process, but it's one you need to experience.

Blaze is an elite operator who excels in assault operations. She doesn't have much to offer in the way of strategic thinking.

She really needs your support. Or you could think of it like she'll turn your strategies into reality on the battlefield. She's a professional.

I'd say she's already cooperating.

Like, look where we are now...

Our operators follow our orders out of a sense of duty, not trust.

Real trust is built on understanding. The kind Blaze is working on with GreyThroat.

Oh...

Looks like we've got company. More Reunion.

Let's give Blaze a little more room to apologize. She still needs to stick her foot in her mouth a few more times.

Yep.

She's a good conversationalist, but not so great at expressing her feelings.

What's really going on here is her confronting her deep-seated prejudices more than just an apology to GreyThroat.

Normal folks' prejudices against the Infected aren't a one way street... we have our own issues with the uninfected.

The enemy within is just as much an enemy as the enemy without.

...We will.

Listen up.

Those Reunion guys were scared out of their wits.

Neither we nor the L. G. D. can put that kind of fear into someone. They were ready to go against everything they stood for.

They met something else... But what was it out there that could do that to them?

And... will we have to fight them too?