Genesis Crisis: Resurgence IC

Ergo Research Lab
- James -

James nodded. They were right, there was nothing they could do right now and a bit of rest would do him good. He also wanted to get back to Rise.

“I’ll send the info to you,” he said to Keynes and stood up. “We’ll talk in the morning when everybody is here.”

“Thanks, Kokonoe,” he said and left the lab.

In front of Rise’s room he stopped and knocked lightly on the door. “Rise? It’s me. Can I come in?” he said and waited a few seconds before opening the door and stepping inside.

The moment he saw her, his heart lit up and involuntarily he smiled.

-------------------------------------

Ergo Research
- Lenka -

“Yes, it was a light level healing spell,” she replied as Marcus stepped out of the room.

“Okay. See you later”

Lenka watched the door close. It took her a few seconds to move, exhaustion catching up with her. Finally she moved over to the bed and laid down without bothering to even take her shoes off. Within a few minutes she fell asleep.

------------------------------------
Old Guard
- Kurik -

“I think that’s a good dream,” he said, though he honestly wasn’t sure if this could ever become a reality. Nobody liked sharing power and prosperity voluntarily. He promptly voiced his thoughts. “Though I’m hoping this may become reality, I feel the peace part and the leader worth following may take a bit longer to achieve.”

Kurik looked up into the sky where the moon was just beginning to rise. For now it was still a pale shadow in the still bright sunlight. “But you know I will do everything in my power to help Arusia succeed.”

He turned his eyes to look at Maxim. It seemed their world view was more similar than he knew. Maybe that was why they did get along so well. Of all the people he met in Arusia, he preferred talking to Maxim always the most pleasant, so much so that he actually sought out his company when he avoided most other contact.

“Tsk, damnit,” Kurik said and looked down. The small wooden figure he’d been carving on more or less absentmindedly had broken in two. He tossed the pieces and grinned. “At least while we’re here I can get a decent supply of wood.”

Aegis

- Lisa -

"Yeah, no worries." Lisa responded with a soft smile. "I can totally understand the need to take a minute and compartmentalize, but worrying about things won't get you too far."

She offered Luke a hand up and led him down the hallway. "They usually have two or three meals on the menu for the day. I don't know what they'll be today, but anything is better than going hungry."

Or sinking beneath internal struggles...

--------------------------------------------

- Keynes -

"And how about you?" Keynes asked after James left the room. "Have you been asking after me too?"

He didn't really expect a response to that, but he held out a hand for her to take.


"How are you holding up?" He pulled her under his arm as she took the hand, hugging her to his side as they made their way towards the nursery. "That looked like some serious chemical mojo you had on the monitor in there."

Aegis
Luke Jaron

Luke smiled and nodded, "Yeah, you are right. It's better to be full than being hungry" Luke followed Lisa to eat his meals, it was important that he doesn't lose his strength.

And he had faith in James that he would make his friend normal...

_____________________

Nadenka's House
Belobog & Nadenka

The girl fall asleep after crying for long long time... Belobog sighed, scratched his head in somewhat frustration.

For some reason, she was making him indecisive. No female have made him this indecisive before, hack,  even he was in relationship, he did not have this kind of problem.

Perhaps, that was the reason why his relationship did not last long? But then he did not regret it. Why would he? He felt having a someone to love was a burden and too much work...

But her, this female, even though she was not a comrade like Ehlana, she was making him worried and the idea of leaving her alone bothered him.

Belobog curled his lips... Thinking... Perhaps, he could convince her to join his cause?...

He looked at the Nadenka's face covered by her hair like a ghost; Belobog push her hair so that it would reveal her face, "Who are you, woman?" He asked, not expecting an answer.

Ergo Research Lab

Rise sat up in her bed, rubbing her eyes groggily at the sound of a knock on her door. It was James, of course, and she told him to come in.

"Hey," she said, smiling and beckoning him over to sit on the bed.

"What did I miss?" she asked, stifling a yawn.

-------------------------------------

Kokonoe gave Keynes a deadpan look but allowed him to pull her to his side, his arm wrapped securely around her. She couldn't help but melt into him a little, sighing.

"Holding up all right," she said, her fingers intertwining loosely with his. "Although, sometimes I wished it didn't seem like the world would go to pieces without me."

She rolled her eyes.

"Anyway, what we found out was big though. This Redcape thing is a whole lot messier than we expected. It's not naturally occurring, and that means we have a human danger in play too."

They reached the nursery, and any talk of scary things ended. Kokonoe opened the door, a smile gracing her lips as they both stepped through into the room, dimly lit by a nightlight. Millie stirred and rubbed her eyes.

"Millie, look who's here," she said, nudging Keynes forward.

-------------------------------------

Old Guard

Maxim didn't blame Kurik for his skepticism. It was a bit of an idealistic notion, but he believed in it.

"We'll see," he said, smiling. "And I know you will."

This was followed by an abrupt curse as the wooden figure Kurik had been working on fell in two. He chuckled slightly at Kurik's words about plenty of wood, but his eyes grew more sober.

Yes, the resources that they had in such limited quantities or were devoid of altogether were so abundant here. There were so many things that these Kaddathians took for granted.

Ergo Research Lab
- James -

James took off his jacket and shoes and sat down on the bed, leaning back against the wall. He pulled Rise close, wrapping an arm around her shoulders.

“Well,” he began, “We now know that the transition to a Redcape doesn’t occur naturally. It’s induced through an injection.”

“Kokonoe analysed the Redcapes blood and compared it to a sample of Mark’s blood before he… transitioned,” he continued. “And she also compared to my blood since I was shot with something during the fight.”

He spared no details. She needed to know. Besides, he wasn’t a very good liar, not that he ever wanted to lie to Rise.

“As far as we can tell, the virus docks onto the strain and causes it to mutate,” James explained, trying to keep his voice rational. “Lucky for me, my strain is silenced…which left nothing for the virus to dock onto…” he voice grew quiet and he looked at Rise.

He pulled her even closer and kissed her temple. “If they had picked anybody else to shoot. If they had picked you,” James shook his head, unable to say the words.

There was a pause. “The good news is, since it’s viral, Kokonoe might be able to reverse the effect,” he said and smiled slightly. “Oh and Keynes is here. He’ll want to talk to us in the morning, but for now he’s busy catching up with Kokonoe…if you know what I mean.”

--------------------------

Old Guard
- Kurik -

Kurik stood up and dusted his pants off.

“Well, are you ready to go back inside and prepare for the next step?” he asked.

The next few days would hold some key events that could tip the balance one way or the other. Briefly he wondered how the Arusian agents were doing.

“Are Ehlana and Alexei supposed to check in before they start their mission?”

Aegis

"Well, I know that I, for one, would go to pieces without you." Keynes cut in, giving her shoulders a squeeze. "But I don't suppose that's quite what you meant."

He frowned at her comments about the Redcape. "Can you forward me a copy of your findings tomorrow morning? I'll need to get Alina and Jax up to speed, and since I have to attend a Council meeting anyway, it would prevent you from having to make the trip yourself."

Keynes softly padded into the nursery, but as usual, his daughter was a light sleeper. That had been a nightmare for her mother during the first year.

"Hey, pumpkin." He kneeled by the bed, opening his arms for the tiny girl he knew would leap into them.

Aegis

Rise sat up straighter as James began to explain about the Redcapes. She was startled, to say the least, to hear that the Redcapes were not naturally occurring. That just opened a whole can of worms into the situation. When James mentioned that he had been shot, however, she grabbed his arm.

"You're okay? Are you sure?" she can, clutching him tightly. Even when he explained how the strain silencing had protected him and possibly led to a cure, she still felt unnerved. It wasn't until he mentioned Keynes that she brightened up.

"Wait, really? Keynes is here?" she said, smiling. "I'd like to see him now, but... you're probably wait. We should give him time alone with Kokonoe."

She giggled at James innuendo and rested back on her pillow, pulling him next to her.

"Let's get caught up too," she said softly before turning away and laughing. "On sleep. Night night."

-------------------------

Kokonoe smiled as Millie launched herself into Keynes arms and began to babble about anything that came to mind.

"There'll be time for that in the morning, sweetie," she said, giving Millie a kiss on the forehead and tucking her back beneath the sheets. "Say goodnight."

"Night, daddy," Millie murmured, beaming at him. Kokonoe and Keynes left the room and headed back to Kokonoe's. Kokonoe wished he wouldn't have to go back, but she couldn't say. Voicing it would somehow make it worse.

-------------------------

Old Guard

Maxim nodded and followed Kurik back inside the compound.

"Yes, they should be checking in before morning," he said, looking off into the distance. He hoped the agents would be able to manage, but there was a contingency plan, at least. He always had a contingency plan up his sleeve.

------------------------

Arusians

Alexei stared through the binoculars, inspecting the perimeter of Ergo Research Facility. Beside him, Ehlana was at work researching how to get a security clearance to enter the facility.

Alexei didn't have a good feeling about this, but it was too late to do anything about that. Besides, orders were orders.

Ergo Research Lab
- James -

“No, I’m okay,” he said reassuringly and squeezed her hand. “Kokonoe checked my blood and my vitals. She would know if something was wrong.”

At least the news that Keynes was here seemed to ease the mood and they could end the conversation without dwelling on all the weird things that were happening.

James let himself be pulled back into the pillows. “Oh you dare tease me,” he said playfully and gave her a kiss before giving her space to turn.

“Sleep well,” he said and pulled up the blanket.

----------------------------

Arusians
- Ehlana -

Ehlana’s eyes narrowed as she looked at the screen and her lips were drawn tight. “I think we need to visit a researcher tonight,” she said, the implications of that action clear. “I don’t have enough time to hack the system and create a false ID to get past all levels of security.”

She leaned back from the computer. “The good news is, the facility has a small civilian branch where labs and the university can do research and request lab work. That will allow you to get past the first level of security. It’s much easier to create a false ID for that,” she explained. “Anything beyond that with the time we have…,” she shook her head.

She would be on her own after that. And there were still missing information on what the inside of the facility exactly looked like.

“Did all the researchers leave yet?”

Arusians

As usual, Ehlana's thinking covered all bases. Alexei nodded, knowing it was the best they could do under the circumstances.

"There still seems to be activity," he said, peering through the binoculars. He set them down, then brought up a datapad and began to search .

"According to the security registry, some researchers have signed into the building but have not signed out. You should have a target to work with," he said.

Aegis
Luke Jaron

After the meal, instead of going back to the room, he went to the hall where it led to the research facility that had his friend trapped for testing and being treated for cure.

The door was locked and shut, instead of trying to force his ways in, Luke sat down in front of the shut door.

He just couldn't leave his friend there alone. Even though, he knew well enough that he was not going to be allowed back in until James and the researcher shows up, he couldn't just get back to his room and sleep.

He leaned his back on the shut door, whispering a song. A quiet song.

Spoiler:

He sang gently and quietly so that he would not disturb others.

Aegis

Rise awoke the next morning, still groggy. She nuzzled into James' side, hiding her face away from the light. She wasn't quite ready to face the day, to deal with Redcapes and viruses and-

"Keynes!" she said, sitting upright. "I almost forgot!"

She got hurriedly out of bed and dressed, eager to see him. Of all the members of Aegis, she and Alex had been closest to him. The thought of Alex almost threatened to plummet her spirits, but maybe Keynes would know where he was. The idea bolstered her as she flopped down on the bed, now dressed, and gave James a kiss on the cheek.

"Come on, wake up," she said.

-------------------------

Kokonoe had started her morning in an unusually good mood, owing to waking with the weight of Keynes' strong arms around her for the first time in a while. She'd almost allowed herself to sleep in, but there was too much on her plate today.

It was fortunate for Luke that she was in a relatively good mood, as she decided to only nudge him with her foot when she found him sleeping against the lab door, rather than push him right over.

"Letting me through is going to do your friend more good than sitting here feeling sorry for him," she said, waving him aside with an impatient hand. This behavior wasn't entirely surprising. She knew someone this thickheaded about this boy's own age, but it was hard to believe there could be two like them in the world.

Ergo Research
- James -

James woke up when Rise suddenly stirred and jumped out of bed. He was still feeling sleepy and didn’t really want to get up.

“Mhhh…,” he pulled the blanket back up and curled around the pillow. “Five more minutes…” he murmured, feeling his mind slip back towards sleep.

Just before falling back asleep, he convinced himself that he couldn’t really afford to waste the day in bed. There was much to do.

James got up, his blonde hair in a tousled disarray.

“I’ll be ready in a few minutes. You can go ahead if you want. Keynes will have to go back to the Capital soon,” he said and smiled. He could tell she was eager to see Keynes. “And don’t forget to eat something,” he called out just before heading into the bathroom.

Once dressed he, grabbed his laptop to send Keynes the information he requested yesterday.

-------------------------------

Ergo Research
- Lenka -

Lenka woke up early, feeling rested… and hungry. Excitement and curiosity was in her eyes and she wasted no time getting ready.

Quickly she made her way down to the mess hall. If she wanted to keep up with everyone else, she needed to get some food.

Briefly she wondered who she would run into. Would Rise still be mad at her? They didn’t have a chance to talk after she stormed off yesterday. And what happened to Luke after he passed out? Was he feeling okay? And Marcus… had he gotten any sleep?

Her thoughts wandered back to the Redcape. Would Kokonoe and James have found something interesting already?

This and more occupied her mind when she entered the mess hall and grabbed a tray.

-------------------------------

Arusians
- Ehlana -

The sunlight was just peaking over the horizon when Ehlana woke up from a short sleep. The preparations last night had taken quite long, but at least everything was ready now.

She got up quietly, her small body moving gracefully over to the desk. Even though she tried to be quiet, she knew Alexei probably wouldn’t stay asleep much longer. They’ve had too much training to not be aware when someone was moving around the room. For a short moment she considered letting him sleep, but she needed him. He had a part to play.

Softly she touched his shoulder. “Alexei. It’s time,” she said firmly. “Are you ready?”

She moved back to the desk and picked up the ID they had aquired last night from a young researcher and held it against the light. As long as they didn’t look too closely, she could pass as this researcher. Next to the ID was a note with a string of letters and numbers, a box with coloured contacts to hide her grey eyes and a white lab coat.

The letters and numbers were the passcode from the researcher. They had to strongly persuade her to give it up. She sighed. Well, collateral damage was unavoidable, especially during these time sensitive missions.

Ehlana sat down at the desk and began sorting her equipment and weapons. She would need to be at the facility soon. There was no going back now.

Aegis
Luke Jaron

Luke quickly stood up after the nudge, "I am so sorry, I did not mean to block your way." said Luke, apologetically. "I just could not rest in the room... " He was already making way for Kokonoe so that she could enter the research lab.

Luke bite his lips, he was afraid to ask something from the stranger, however, he could not just let it so.
"May I come in, too? I won't touch anything, I promise..." He asked carefully, hoping he could see his friend little closer.

Aegis

-Keynes-

Giggles filled the room as Keynes tossed his daughter into the air, catching her again as she fell to shoulder level.

"Again!" Millie squealed, and he granted her request, earning him another delighted giggle as he snatched her from the air and squeezed her to his chest.

How things had changed for him in the last couple years...

It was almost unreal how far he'd come, and he owed a large part of his new happiness to the squirming child in his arms.

"Love ya, pumpkin." He said, pressing a kiss to her forehead.

"Again!" She said, wrapping her arms around his neck.

Another request he was happy to comply with...

-----------------------------------------------

-Lisa, Marcus-

A knock sounded on her door, and Lisa cracked one eye to look at the monitor, showing a haggard face outside.

"Come in." She called, closing her eyes once more.

The door swung open slowly as Marcus stepped inside, and he did a double-take as he closed it. Gone was the cold professionalism that Lisa had presented herself with during his previous meeting with her. Instead a sense of serenity surrounded her, floating cross-legged over the bed with several of her meditation balls circling her in intricate patterns.

"You look like crap." She said without prompting, and Marcus barked out a dull laugh.

"Your eyes are closed."


"So, I take it you feel like crap too?" Lisa asked, a slight grin pulling at her mouth.

"You could say that, yeah." Marcus absently rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say.

"If you want to talk, I'm listening." She waved her hand in a gesture for him to elaborate.

Why did this feel so much more like pulling teeth than it did when he talked with Lenka? "It's nothing important. Nevermind." He turned to go, and one of the meditation balls slipped past him, pressing into his chest to hold him back.

"You wouldn't be here if it wasn't important. Now, talk."

Okay then. Not taking 'no' for an answer...

"I couldn't sleep last night." Marcus ground out the response, and the meditation ball moved away from him, returning to its place in the pattern.

"Tell me about it..."

Ergo Research

Rise entered the mess hall, hoping to see Keynes. It seemed he hadn't shown up yet, however. Slightly disappointed, she grabbed a tray to get herself some breakfast in the meantime. Once she'd finished, she spotted Lenka at a table and walked over to her.

"Hey," she said, taking a seat. Things had ended on a bad note the previous night, and Rise wasn't sure where that left them.

"I'm not going to lecture you," she said, preemptively clearing the air. "It's... well, it is what it is. I just hope you know we were trying to keep you safe."

-------------------------------

Kokonoe sighed at Luke's words. Already, she could imagine a certain blockhead sleeping on the ground in self-loathing.

"It's fine," she said, moving past him to enter the lab. When she turned to close the door, he was still standing there with a tragically desperate look on his voice. Oh, geez, she knew where this was going.

"May I come in, too? I won't touch anything, I promise..." he asked carefully. Kokonoe rubbed her temples and sighed.

"All right," she relented. "But I'll hold you to that. Don't touch anything, no matter what."

She waved him inside and headed over to the table where the Redcape was secure. It was restless, but being kept sedated helped. It was amazing to see that after all this time, it didn't seem to be running out of energy, however.

Kokonoe peered at the screen monitoring its vitals and immediately narrowed her eyes.

"Oh..." she murmured. That wasn't good.

-------------------------------

Arusians

Alexei was awake the moment he heard stirring, but he kept his eyes closed. It only took a moment to realize it was Ehlana before he relaxed once more. No sense in getting up just yet. She would be sure to rouse him when she was ready to-

“Alexei. It’s time,” she said firmly, her hand on his shoulder. “Are you ready?”

Alexei sat up and nodded. Ehlana busied herself setting up her disguise, perfected by the ID they had managed to acquire. Alexei turned himself back to his own preparations. Once Ehlana was inside, he would need to provide that outside distraction to make her own mission easier.

Ergo Research
- Lenka -

Lenka was just about to get up when Rise sat down across from her. She froze, flashing back to last night.

“Hey.”

Sitting back down, she suddenly felt nervous. She highly valued Rise’s friendship and she didn’t want to be the reason it ended.

“I know you meant well,” she finally said, more quietly than she usually was. “And I really am sorry. We might have gone a little overboard by jumping into the fight. That was stupid.”

Her blue eyes looked up to Rise “But…I’m not a little girl anymore and…,” she stopped and shook her head. No, she wouldn’t start this discussion now, especially not with Rise. James needed to realize that more than anybody. She would talk to him.

There was a moment of silence between them.

“So…what did you find?” Lenka asked and leaned forward, curiosity returning to her eyes. She was beginning to sound more like herself again. “Could you identify who attacked us? And what about the Redcape, did Kokonoe find out what’s causing the transformation?”

-------------------------------

Ergo Research Lab
- James -

“That’s not an Oh I want to hear,” James said when appeared in the lab behind Kokonoe. “What’s wrong?” His eyes checked the monitors.

His blonde hair was still a little wet, but he looked well rested. After sending the data to Keynes, he had gone directly to the lab. Skipping breakfast wasn’t unusual for him, especially when there was an interesting problem to work on.

“The others are not here yet?” James turned around to Luke. “Luke,” he said and smiled at him. The young man looked like he hadn’t gotten much rest. “You hanging in there?”

-------------------------------

Arusians
- Ehlana -

“How do I look?” Ehlana asked and put on her pair of fake glasses. She gave her eyes a softer look and smiled. With the white lab coat and the brown leather bag, her disguise was complete now.

They had just arrived in the parking lot as close to the facility as they dared to go. Her eyes wandered towards the crossbow. Too bad she couldn’t take it. It was already a stretch to take her electrostatic batons. In addition there were two syringes hidden to take out the Redcape…or anybody else who interfered.

“Do you want to check in with Maxim one last time?” she asked and put the com in her pocket. Putting it in now would be too risky, but once inside, she could probably risk it.

Aegis
Luke Jaron

Luke looked at his friend who looked uneasy, perhaps, restless.

Luke bit his lips, not being able to do anything for his friend pained his heart and it pained him that it was probably likely another human inflicting such pain to another.

Why did it come to this?...

Luke asked in his mind, he sighed and looked at Kokonoe's direction. The expression of the researcher was captured in his sharp eyes.

"Is... Is something wrong?" He asked worriedly.

Aegis

- Keynes -

"All excellent questions." Keynes said from where he stood behind Lenka. "I myself am also curious about the answers."

In his arms, Millie squirmed and held her little arms out over Lenka's head. "Reesey!" She squealed loudly, causing Keynes to flinch. The munchkin had a pair of lungs on her.

"How about you let me grab a cup of coffee, and I can join in on this conversation?" He asked, sitting Millie on the table, which she crawled across to fling herself into Rise's arms.

"I'll be back in just a second."

--------------------------------------------------

- Lisa, Marcus -


"Geez, it's no wonder you're a head-case..." Lisa grumbled as she floated down to the bed and slowly stretched out her legs. Over her head, the meditation balls moved into a line and began clicking back and forth like the Newton's cradle on her desk back at the university.

"Do they have to do that?" Marcus asked, trying not to let the sound distract him.


"Huh?" Lisa looked up and the balls stopped. "Sorry. Habit. In any case, it sounds like Lenka already helped you through the worst of it, but you really should catch some sleep if you can."

"I'll try." Marcus offered. "No promises though."

"I can understand that." Lisa responded. "We all respond to trauma in different ways. Some of us hide from it. Others pretend it doesn't exist. And a few of us lash out at the world around us..."

Ergo Research

Rise sighed. She hadn't changed her mind about things, but she knew it was a lost cause at this point. It was more important to mend things between them than to keep voicing her disapproval.

"I get it," she said quietly, patting Lenka's hand. There was a moment of silence between them before Lenka spoke up again.

“So…what did you find?” Lenka asked and leaned forward, curiosity returning to her eyes. She was beginning to sound more like herself again. “Could you identify who attacked us? And what about the Redcape, did Kokonoe find out what’s causing the transformation?”

Rise didn't have time to answer Lenka's questions before Keynes had appeared with Millie in his arms. Rise's mouth split into a wide grin.

"Keynes!" she exclaimed, almost at the same time that Millie squealed out for her. Rise giggled and scooped Millie off the table as Keynes went to grab himself coffee. Rise held onto Millie and played with her hair until Keynes came back and took a seat at the table.

"Well, to answer those questions," she began. "We still don't know who they are, but we do know that they're the ones responsible. Apparently, the transformation isn't natural. It's some kind of nano-injection that infects the target with a virus that latches onto magic strains."

She thought about how close they had come to losing James, but she decided not to voice that. No need to upset Lenka too.

"It seems like Kokonoe might be able to use strain silencing to counteract it, but who knows how long that will take," she finished.

-------------------------------

Kokonoe did not answer at once, her attention still on the monitor. Finally, she turned and gave Luke a searching look, as though deciding whether it was safe or not to say anything in front of him.

"It's the Redcapes' vitals," she said, facing James. "They're dropping."

She indicated the monitor behind her.

"This virus is firing the strains into overdrive. These Redcapes don't seem to eat or rest or sleep or stop. It's running on empty, and it's going to burn itself out. Quickly."

-------------------------------

Arusians

Alexei narrowed his eyes as he watched the facility closely, planning his next move. This was going to be a do-or-die mission.

“How do I look?” Ehlana asked. Alexei stirred and turned to look at her. With the glasses, lab coat, and soft smile, she was hardly recognizable.

"You look-"

He'd been about to say 'good,' but that didn't seem to be what they were going for right now.

"-convincing," he finished.

“Do you want to check in with Maxim one last time?” she asked. Alexei nodded and put in a call to Maxim. Maxim appeared on the screen, looking expectant.

"I trust you're in position?" he asked. Alexei nodded and glanced over at Ehlana before continuing to lay out their plans for getting at the Redcape. Maxim rubbed thoughtfully at his chin before nodding.

"Proceed," he told them. "Make sure to let me know as soon as you succeed."

He didn't even voice the potential for failure. It was clear that wasn't an option here.

Lab
Luke Jaron

Luke looked at the monitor with horrified face. The vitals are falling, his friend was dying.

Luke looked at Kokonoe, still trying to not to lose hope. "Is there something we could do? Maybe I could transfer my strain energy to him?" He asked, thinking of how blood transfer to another helps the person to survive.

Luke's voice was trembling little, "Please, there must be a way."

Nadenka's Residence
Belobog "Belo" Volkov

Smell of delicious food woke up Belobog, "huh?" He rubbed his eyes, and he was surprised to find out that it was morning already.

What surprised him the most is that he was on the bed. Did the woman actually carried him? Talk about strength of woman of Kaddath.

The small table inside the bedroom had a plate of omelette with a note.

'Eat'

Belobog's lips curled; he began to wonder if she was being kind or stupid. Or was she fully trusted that he would not steal anything.

Interestingly enough, she didn't even touch his weapons. Again.

Maybe she had attached him with some kind of tracking device? That thought had been crossing his head so many times....

Just then he saw the set of male clothing, waiting for the new owner. It looked like she have prepared him some new clothing.

There was another note near the set of clothes.'New clothes, Take shower, and Leave.'

Belobog scratched his hair, not so sure to take this offer. What if she had implanted any tracker?...

Belobog smiled weakly, that thought crossed his head once again. Before he could think more, her words answered his question of tracker. 'Well, I am just a doctor. I happened to find you and cured you. I did nothing wrong.'

Belobog shrugged with short and brief chuckle, "Interesting woman, I must say." Then he realized he did not know her name.

____________________________________

Way to the Office
Nadenka Orlov

Nadenka was driving to her office; however, it was not because of her work. She was granted two weeks of break as her superior thought that she was overworking herself.

In any case, she was driving to her office to find out if there was a stolen weapon or some sort. The man who she rescued had a weapon that she did not see it before.

She was not so sure of herself why she helped him and why she decided not to do anything to him. But something was certain, he was not from Kaddath's Military.

Well, all this was speculation. Then she realized that she forgot to ask the man's name. Nadenka sighed as she knew nothing about him. She had nothing to search.

She shook her head quickly, "Start with weapon, and it will be clear." she told herself.

If this was a new weaponry, probably she should contact the research lab? Perhaps they had their prototype weapon stolen?

Ergo Research Lab
- James -

“Absolutely not,” James said to Luke, his voice hard. “We are not connecting your strain to the Redcape until we know the consequences.”

His expression calmed down. “What if it turns you into a Redcape too?” he asked. “Or worse, what if the extra energy from your strain just accelerates what is happening already?” He shook his head. “It would put anyone working here at risk.”

His hand ran through his hair and he went over to the monitor to take a closer look at the recorded data for the vitals of the Redcape. Estimating the numbers in his head, he sighed. If the Redcape continued to burn out at this rate, he wouldn’t last very much longer.

“But maybe we can feed it?” he asked Kokonoe. “Much like an intravenous infusion with an electrolyte solution? Maybe that will make it last until we can figure out something else…”

-------------------------------------

- Lenka -

Lenka flinched when Keynes’ voice suddenly came from behind. She hadn’t heard him approach. Before she could ask anything else, his little girl demanded to be held by Rise.

“You’re so cute,” she said to Millie with a bright smile and patted her cheek, wishing for her camera.

Her attention returned to Rise and she listened with great interest. So it was more like a man-made virus. That gave her hope that James and Kokonoe could figure out a solution that would save Luke’s friend.

Her eyes wandered over to Keynes. She had heard of him from James and Rise, but never officially met him. Somehow this was not what she expected.

-------------------------------------

Arusians
- Ehlana -

Ehlana nodded, the hard line around her eyes returning once more when she heard Maxim’s orders. Then he hung up and she exhaled slowly. It was time.

She touched Alexei’s arm and gave it a light squeeze. “It’ll be fine,” she said, sounding only moderately confident. “We can do this. We have to”

“I’ll contact you as soon as I’m inside,” she told Alexei and patted the pocket with her communicator.

Giving him one last look, she started walking towards the entrance. The entrance wasn’t crowded, but there was a steady stream of researchers who entered the lab. Ehlana copied their actions, calmly swiping her ID card at the terminal and entering the access code to enter the facility.

She kept her face from showing relief when she made it through the main entrance.

She passed through a lab, walking slowly to not attract unwanted attention. Curiously her eyes passed over the files scattered on the desk. If nothing else, they were certainly working on some interesting stuff here. Walking by, she picked up a clipboard with a research report on it. It would give her character more credibility.

According to her intel, she still had quite a few levels to go to reach the Redcape.

Once she was clear from the lab, she turned a corner and pulled the com out of her pocket and placed it in her ear.

“Ok, I’m in. I’m heading towards the Redcape now.”

Aegis

- Keynes -

"That's some heavy stuff..." Keynes responded, scratching his chin.

"I'm glad you guys got in and out okay." He sighed and reached across the table to rub his palm against Millie's forehead. "Considering what we know now, you may not be the ideal group for the continuation of this mission. I can probably convince the Council that non-magic users would be a safer choice here."

Keynes took a sip of coffee, and his eyes drifted to the other lady at the table. "So, you're Houdini then?" He asked, with a teasing smile. "Given the circumstances, I suppose the questions I went to ask you at the univeristy yesterday are no longer important. However, it's best that you stay here until all of you are debriefed." He turned his attention back to Rise. "Until told otherwise, every one of you is considered to be on active military duty. That includes the two late arrivals."

--------------------------------------------

- Lisa, Marcus -

Silence had filled the room for a while now, and Lisa turned her gaze in Marcus' direction. He was definitely going through some rough stuff, but maybe there was a silver lining...

"You know, Lenka's too independent for you. You'll try to smother her, and she'll resent you for it."

"You think I haven't considered that?" Marcus responded absently.

"Have you?" Lisa asked, unable to keep the grin off her face.

"I..." Marcus blanched, apparently realizing only now what he'd just said. "Wait... What?"

"Didn't know that about yourself?" Lisa giggled, rising to her feet and giving him a solid pat on the back.

"Why don't you sleep on it, big guy. I'll make sure someone calls you when something goes down."

She slipped out the door, leaving him to stew on his thoughts.

--------------------------------------------

High General's Office

"What exactly do you mean by 'abnormal records'?" Alina asked, pressing her elbows onto the files spread across her desk and massaging her temples. "And it better be good. I have to take this information to the Council in a little more than two hours, Jax. If something doesn't add up, they have to be made aware of it."

"Is it possible that Keynes sent you the wrong name?" She seriously doubted the competence of either man involved, but the question had to be asked. Otherwise, one Luke Jaron was going to be the cause of her latest headache...

Ergo Research Lab
Luke Jaron

"Use me. If it's to save my friend, even there is one percent of opportunity, please. I will bare the consequence."

Said Luke, firmly, looking at James and Kokonoe. "Please... I cannot lose him. Not like this."

Luke looked at the vitals in the screen once again. The vitals did not look like it was going to be stabilize any time soon.

Ergo Research Lab

Kokonoe sighed, completely unsurprised by Luke's suggestion.

"That's not how it works," she said, shaking her head. "What you're suggesting is like trying to transplant DNA. Even if you could, the Redcape virus would just latch onto it and accelerate the breakdown. Besides, James is right. We have no idea if connecting you to the Redcape might infect you as well, and it's not a risk I'm willing to take."

She pondered the monitors for a few moments, then punched the com and ordered for a technician and an IV setup.

"An IV might slow things down, but not by much," she said once she' finished. "It's better than nothing though, I suppose. Might give us a little more time to see if we can engineering the silencing strain to work on the Redcape virus. But-"

She put both hands on her hips and narrowed her eyes at both James and Luke.

"I'd like to point out that your friend here isn't the only Redcape out there. If we can't locate the other ones - and quickly - they're all going to die."

-------------------------------------

Rise frowned at Keynes' assessment. It wasn't that she was eager to keep pursuing all this, but it felt a bit anticlimactic to end things here. Besides, now that she had some idea of what was happening here, being in the dark seemed somehow worse.

"Maybe..." she said noncommittally. "But, Keynes, those people - the ones who attacked us - knew who we are. I don't know if it's going to be that simple to just walk away now."

-------------------------------------

Arusians

Alexei waited anxiously to hear from Ehlana, eyes riveted on the facility. When she finally came through the com, he allowed the tension to ease from his body. Slightly.

"Good," he said in a low voice. "Get ready. The distraction will be incoming shortly."

He put his com away, then pulled the electrostat jammer from the back of their vehicle. This was going to get their attention for sure.

[OOC: Noin, you can have Ehlana respond to Kokonoe's order for the IV and pretend to go in and set that up before the distraction pulls James and Luke out of the lab.]

--------------------------------------------

High General's Office

Jax sighed and folded his arms.

"That's the name Keynes gave me, which is what James gave him, which is what Luke Jaron gave him," he said. "All I know is that Luke Jaron's bioband records end during Legion's uprising. There's no indication that he ever had a strain that activated. It's possible he deactivated it at some point, like James did for Aegis, and it was missed during the upheaval."

He shook his head and looked at the files. It was hardly their worst problem, but it certainly wasn't going to make it any easier on them to have an unregistered strain user running around behind the Republic of Kaddath with secret approval from the High General herself.

"Keynes is getting as much information on the situation as he can right now. He should check in with us before the Electorate come calling," he said.