Alex and Pariah were traversing the chaotic NYZ, simply walking around, Alex led the way keeping Pariah in tow. The small boy had simply followed him and after speeding ahead Alex hadn't managed to lose him.

"I didn't realise I'd be babysitting," Alex frowned "do you really need to be following me around?" he turned to face the boy.

The boy simply returned his gaze but said nothing.

"I mean don't you think we'll have the edge if they all think we haven't met yet?" Alex folded his arms and sighed "we're in plain sight out here,"

"Where should I go?" Pariah asked "What should I do?"

Alex shrugged, he wasn't a fan of children at the best of times and he knew that Pariah was no child but he resembled one in appearance and loosely in demeanour.

"How should I know?" Alex replied "what do you normally do for fun?"

"Fun?" Pariah cocked his head "I don't have fun. Normally, I'm waiting."

This kid made Mercer feel unnerved and once Alex had Heller, he didn't want to spend another moment around him. For now he'd play along, he'd consume Heller, become whole again, he hadn't liked Pariah telling him that he was incomplete, it was as if he felt inferior in some way. He even thought that if the opportunity presents itself he'd consume the conduit, and maybe even Pariah. Gentek, Blackwatch and the militia had all seemed terrified at the prospect of Mercer and Pariah becoming acquainted but this notion only served to excite Mercer, if he consumed Pariah could he become something new, something more?

The boy looked to the sky and he curled up his lip into something that almost resembled a smile. He held his hands out to beckon the infected crow towards him that was circling ahead. Mercer watched closely. The crow, instantly tamed by the boy, swooped down gently and squatted in his hands. The boy looked towards Mercer, he held no expression but it was as if he wanted Mercer to say something about this creature, Pariah had never seen a crow before. After several seconds the crow pecked at the kids sleeve before taking off and launching above them were it continued to circle them. Pariah continued to watch the crow fondly.

Unexpectedly and from out of nowhere a bullet struck the crow and passed through its head, it brought the birds flight to an immediate standstill and it fell from the air and landed in front of the boy. Alex immediately scanned the closest buildings with his eyes to find the sniper responsible, but instead he spotted several helicopters coming in from different directions.

"Let's just get out of here," Alex sighed "Blackwatch are really beginning to bore me!"

The boy ignored him, he leant down and scooped the twitching corpse of the crow in both hands.

"Screw this!" Alex called as he was about to take off.

Tanks were now closing in and the copters above had the pair in their sights. Still the boy stood there as if he was oblivious to the strike team. Pariah eventually lifted his head to look at Mercer. As ever his expression was blank, but Mercer noticed a small tear rolling down the boy's cheek.

Mercer simply returned a stare of curiosity before noticing on oncoming missile heading towards him and he leapt from harm. The boy remained on the spot. Mercer sprinted from building to building in attempt to evade the troops and when he was confident he had succeeded he remained concealed behind a wall in such a position that allowed him to observe Pariah.

After an onslaught of rockets and bullets, the strike team ceased their fire and waited for the dust and debris to clear. When it did, Pariah simply stood in the centre, the roads around him were cracked and destroyed under the pressure of the assault. Pariah didn't have a scratch on him. The boy simply gazed back into his hands at the dead crow and within seconds a bright white light was emitted from his hands, at first it remained concentrated in his palms. Mercer edged out from the wall as the curiosity got the better of him but he quickly retreated and shielded his eyes away as the light increased in volume and become unbearable to look at. Alex crouched beside the wall, disorientated as his sights were stolen momentarily but in that time he heard their screams, he heard the explosions of the tanks and collisions of the helicopters.

It was several minutes later until Mercer dared to open his eyes and everything had returned to normal. He poked his head from the shelter behind the wall to see that Pariah hadn't moved. However there was nothing left of the strike team. Alex began a slow stroll back towards the boy whilst he assessed the surroundings, he had no idea what the boy had done but was shocked to see that it had been so intense that the shadows of the soldiers had become scarred, engrained into the pavement they had been standing on and the walls they had been next to. Other than that, there were no traces of them. Alex watched as Pariah threw his arms into the air and released the crow into flight; the crow appeared alive and well.

"What the hell did you just do?" Alex panted.

The boy said nothing he turned and began to walk away. Alex thought about following him but decided against it and left in the opposite direction.

Back at HQ, Dana and Heller remained at Maya's bedside.

"I'll be okay, daddy" she smiled whilst she shivered.

Heller rested his hand on her head to see that she was burning up. Dana flashed Heller a sympathetic glance before standing and leaving the two of them alone. She entered into the monitoring room to find Zeke and Cole lazily throwing a tennis ball between each other. Upon noticing Dana, Zeke stood allowing the ball the fly past him and bounce into the back of the room.

"How' Maya holding up?" Zeke asked.

"She has a temperature and she's vomiting," Dana replied as she pulled her palm over her face "this is all my fault, I shouldn't have brought her here. What if she's infected?"

"It's too early to tell, right?" Zeke assured her "she'll be alright."

Zeke's reassurance didn't work, Dana took a seat with her back facing them. The three didn't talk until Heller entered the room. He angrily punched the wall as he entered leaving a fist shaped dent behind.

"I told you," Heller was shaking with emotion when he spoke "I told you to stay away!"

Dana simply looked to the floor.

"My Amaya might be infected because of you!" Heller didn't wait for a response he simply took off down the corridor.

Dana covered her eyes with her hands, Zeke moved in to offer her a hug "don't blame yourself, Dana" he said "we'll fix this, right Cole."

"Right," Cole nodded.

"Is there a cure to this thing?" Zeke asked.

"There was," Dana replied as she logged onto a nearby computer "it was called whitelight. At the time it was released Alex tainted it so it couldn't be used as a cure."

"Is there any left?" Zeke asked "that is untainted, I mean?"

Dana didn't answer, she appeared to be concentrating on her screen.

"What you got there?" Zeke approached.

"I found some files earlier, they're dated at around the time the whitelight was announced and I was hoping to learn more about it" she replied "but the files are encrypted, it's gonna take me forever to decipher them."

"Here, let me help ya," Zeke offered.

"I'm gonna go after Heller," Cole announced "make sure he doesn't do anything stupid."

"Sure thing, brother." Zeke called "be in touch, I'll keep an eye out for you on the screens."

"Thanks, Zeke" he replied "later."