"Who are we operating on?" A man said to another, walking down the corridors of GENTEK, as he peered at a file full of information about their patient. Well, full-ish. It was normally quite busy on the higher levels of this building, but with a POI situated on this certain floor the organisation gathered the few, credible specialists to deal with the matter and these two were lucky to be chosen.

"V…Valérie May Tessien, 18, born in France, a Prime Conduit and the main subject for Operation: SIRYN. No familial backstory, almost as if someone wiped it from the database."

"What happened to her?"

"She was affected by the Blast of New Marais. She's unresponsive but is still alive, which is a mystery to us all, since every other Conduit died. Even the Saint of New Marais, Cole MacGrath, and those who weren't marked as Conduits yet. Pretty much everyone with the mutated gene, wiped in seconds..."

"A shame, nonetheless. We'll see what we can do." They walked into the room in which the young girl lay, several light slashes and three other deep ones coating her skin with a small tube in her nose, her short katanas sitting peacefully on a tray beside her alongside her gauntlets. She was lying on her side, and three massive needles had been placed in her spine with a purple liquid pumping through the tubes. "Her skin, its…!"

"The blood hasn't dried, even after all this time. Her body must have been able to adapt and survive with all these marks, but had to preserve the functionality of her vital organs and stopped cell mitosis, and the air doesn't seem to have affected it either…"

"Incredible! This is…this is incredible! We need to research a lot about this girl. She may be the answer to our problems."

"What problems? So, Alex Mercer and PARIAH aren't problems enough? The city isn't prepared for a Third Outbreak, it's still recovering from the last one."

"Maybe, but she could save Manhattan. A Conduit like her under GENTEK, a possible figure to end this mess?! …that's...okay, okay." He took a breath, dampening his inner fanboy. "Why don't you get prepared for the vivisection and I'll inform the scientists of this remarkable discovery. They'd be thrilled to hear about a Conduit within GENTEK walls."

"Why not?" The man left him and the other closed the door, locking it behind him. His clothes rippled a sea of black and red to reveal the man underneath. He strode with soundless steps to the senseless figure on the metal table and said with a voice of liquid gold, "I see a Conduit has survived the Blast...interesting. You, my dear, might be the answer mankind needs or the answer to tear it asunder. Your destiny lies right in front of you, but are you willing to see it?" His hand started from her hair and traced down to caress her warm cheek.

"For you are one of us now."

"Alex!" Dana shouted out, walking cautiously out of the bathroom. Alex Mercer was sitting on the apartment's balcony, gazing over the calm city of Manhattan. It's been 4 months since the reports of an outbreak, and he liked it better that way. No more accidentally landing face first on a tank, or a chopper. Somehow that was a thing. No more being randomly attacked by Hunters or Brawlers. He guessed being attacked had something to do with the pheromones he was constantly releasing. Life, right now, was just how he wanted it to be...especially with the whole face-meeting-tank thing out of the way.

"Alex," she called out again and went to the balcony. "Alex. Answer me when I call you. I thought you left already."

"Sorry, Dana. Daydreaming."

Smiling and planting a kiss on her brother's cheek, she asked, "Are you gonna do anything? Like...I don't know, go out there? Do what you always do?" Dana detested it when he killed people, infected or not, but some things just had to be done. Especially if it was BLACKWATCH. Emphasis on BLACKWATCH.

"Depends if I need to. I don't hear anything out of the ordinary."

"You sure? 'Cause I found new files you might be interested in. Unless you wanna be a stubborn brat and keep your ass glued to the balcony. Might as well fall while you're at it." Dana counted to five under her breath as she watched her brother think hard, finally standing up.

"Let's see the files then." He walked inside and slumped himself on the couch, while she gazed at him for a moment before vanishing into the kitchen.

"To be honest," a voice from the kitchen said, the sounds of clinking mugs grabbing his attention. Coffee. She really enjoyed that. "You should get a girlfriend."

"Yeah, no, I don't think so," the demon replied, strolling into the kitchen without making a single sound.

"You know what, you're right. Maybe I should―!" She spun around and nearly jumped, Alex's lip twitching in humour as he watched her calm herself down. Scowling, she slid past him and walked over to the laptop, placed her mug next to it and tapped several buttons so the screen lit up a bright white. "As I was saying, I was doing the usual run through BLACKNET and found this."

Three images were on the screen now, all of this one girl and Alex leaned in to inspect her. The pictures weren't clear but the things he noticed were her distinctive tattoos covering her upper back and her half-shaven head. He could tell they were recent pictures, since they seem to have been taken at around the same time. Her clothing was consistent throughout; tank top, jumpsuit, neon-soled hi-tops. And the position she was in was the same too, strung up like dead meat. "When was this taken?"

"A few weeks ago, the documents attached said something about her changing physiology and forced her out of her coma. So much for hospitality…"

"Her name?"

"GENTEK calls her CODENAME SIRYN, her birth certificate calls her Valérie Tessien. She's the only surviving Conduit GENTEK knows about, and they have her."

"A Conduit?"

"Yeah. Someone with superhuman abilities caused by a rare mutation in their genes. Like MacGrath."

"But...how did she survive? Survive what?"

"Do you know about the Blast of New Marais?"

"Yeah..."

"It was supposed to wipe out every single Conduit, potential and unlocked. How Valérie survived is currently unknown. GENTEK managed to find her in New Marais and have kept her in there for months. To put it lightly, she's already a test subject."

"So they've already cut her open?"

"There's records of it...poor girl. Only 18 and already there's these assholes fucking up her life."

"Where is she?"

"She's in the GENTEK building." She pivoted in her chair and already, Alex had almost reached the window. "Wait, Alex, where you going?"

"Going to find this Valérie girl. Stay here, I won't be long."

Dana tilted her head, "You honestly think I have anywhere else to go?"

"You're right: stay here because you have nowhere else to go, I won't be long."

"And be careful, okay? Don't want you slamming your way in here again."

"Come back in one piece or several mobile pieces, got it." He leapt through the open window and cover-rolled onto the rooftop of the neighbouring building, but he frowned as he gathered his lingering thoughts.

Something didn't feel right. Then again, nothing felt right when you knew the war wasn't over.