Lappland stood there. Standing in a white expanse, as far as the eye could see. Beneath her feet laid nothing. Above her head, there was no sky. And as she exhaled sharply, she made not a simple sound. It was a purgatory of its own, filling her with an overwhelming feeling of dread that she could not defeat. Closing her eyes and pausing, she opened them back up.

And an overwhelming feeling crept over her.

Texas… Red… and me?

Right in front of her stood the three people she mentioned, their backs turned to her. Red stood on the left, with Texas on the right, and dead center was a visage of herself. Lappland could hear her own heartbeat. Her eyes darted back and forth and she could barely keep herself together. She could hear their whispers. What she couldn't hear is what they were whispering about…

"…Lappland." Her name echoed as she was called, and standing in front of the visages was a fourth person.

The fallen angel, Mostima. Her hands were deep in her pockets and she kept a comforting smile on her lips. As she reached from behind her, she drew one of her time staves, and pointed it threateningly at Lappland's direction. Lappland assumed a defensive stance, with no weapon to protect her. She wanted to shout, but nothing came out. It was as if her vocal cords were torn from her.

"Look… I know how it feels to want to kill," Mostima continued, slacking her grip on her staff. "We're all guilty of it. Fight or flight is no stranger to us, as operators." She brought her arm down to her waist, and then turned her head to the three figures behind them. "But… you're very weak, and you let your cares cloud your judgment." She chuckled, closing her eyes and brushing a hand on her head. "The red one. You want so badly to fight her as she makes your skin crawl." Mostima turned around fast, pointing her staff outward and firing a high-energy ball at her. The attack struck Red's back, and as she arched in pain, she vanished—scattered like dust in the wind. Lappland's eyes widened.

"No." Those were the words she mouthed, as they wouldn't come out otherwise.

"The delivery operator. Friend of my friend… You infested her. Tainted her with your own curse." She pointed the staff at Texas next. "And to protect the one I care about… she can no longer be seen with her." Again, she fired another shot from her staff, striking Texas in her back. She repeated the same action as Red; clenching in pain, before fading away. "All because she was stuck with a beast like you."

Lappland stood in place. Her eyes trembled as she watched Texas fade away so slowly. Her ears drooped, and Mostima then pointed the staff at the clone of her.

"And finally… you. A beast with no home, a monster with no bed to hide under." She fired the first energy blast, striking the visage in its back.

This time, Lappland felt the pain of the strike, and her back sizzled as it brought her to her knees. The illusion remained standing. Mostima fired another. And another. And two more.

"You break everything you touch. Ruin what you swear to protect. And you run around like some 'saint' talking about savage evils and your 'greater justice…'" Lappland writhed on the deceptive ground she stood on. Her body felt tense with each strike, pain covering her body. Yet the illusion remained standing, still.

"I've been silent for so long. Keeping a level head always did me good, but now… as I atone for my sins, you are but a blemish on them." She fired the final blast, hitting her square through the chest. Dark, vantablack Originium particles splashed out in place of blood, and finally, the illusion disappeared. Lappland herself, clenching her chest tight, rolled her eyes up as she fell. She kept falling… and falling… and falling. Until the light started to dim more and more. Covered in shadows, she could only smile as consciousness faded from her.

"…pland!"

A voice.

"…leg! Cut the—"

Another one… so familiar.

"…ow! Do it now!"

It's getting closer, isn't it? Is that death? Or…

"Transfusion complete!"

"Wake her up, goddamn it!"