In a large open room in Mount Weather, there were dozens of soldiers shooting at each other. Since they were all wearing the same uniforms, it was hard to tell who was fighting for Wells and who was fighting for O'Hara. But when the Chimeran prisoners stampeded through the room, they attacked the soldiers closest to them. They would have killed them all if Walsh hadn't run into the room with his arms raised up.

"Stop! Hold your fire!" Walsh yelled. "We all need to get topside before the base is overrun!"

The remaining soldiers lowered their firearms, and the Chimerans similarly stopped attacking. They began to assemble around Walsh, though not to obey his commands.

"You were one of the men that imprisoned us here to begin with!" said a prisoner, a lizard-man with a frilled neck.

"And now I'm going to get you out of here!" countered Walsh.

"Not without all of us." said the frilled lizard-man. "I know there are more prisoners further below, in the tunnels."

"But I don't have clearance to enter those areas." said Walsh.

The Chimerans started growling.

"But..." said Walsh. "In times of emergency, I suppose that rules will have to be broken."

All across the surface, there were more soldiers also embroiled in combat with each other. But it was hard to tell which soldiers were on which side. Riggs and Carson were ducking behind a truck, shooting at any soldier that fired at them, refusing to fire at anyone else in order to avoid the risk of hitting their own comrades.

"What in the world is going on here?!" demanded Carson. "Why are we all shooting at each other?"

"I don't know, but I think O'Hara is behind this!" answered Riggs, reloading his carbine.

"O'Hara? Why would O'Hara want to attack one of our installations?"

A grenade thrown by an enemy soldier landed just beside them. Quickly, Riggs and Carson both jumped clear out of the way as the explosive detonated. Both men quickly got to their feet, and Carson pulled out his sidearm. He fired at the man who threw the grenade at them, just as a JX-1 Tortoise cybertank approached them, firing a burst of .50 Caliber bullets from its dorsal turret.

"Hell no..." whispered Carson, who knew neither of them had a weapon that could penetrate its armor. "Run!"

Riggs and Carson sprinted away from the now-destroyed vehicle. They heard loud whirring behind them as they ran. They heard something very large and metallic getting smashed. Riggs looked behind them, and saw out of the corner of his eye the cybertank's treadmills had folded up, and it sprouted four bent legs from its sides. It had climbed over the truck, crushing the wreckage under its weight. Once it reached the other side, it continued firing its machine gun even as the legs folded back in and the treadmills lowered themselves.

"Now Lucya, in the next room I have spare jumpsuits and work boots from when I still had human employees aboard my airship." said Tornovich. "You can put them on in there. I'm going down to inform my other employees to protect our assets. I fear that one of our disgruntled colleagues may try to seize or destroy Eternal Robotics property. I don't recommend speaking with any of our guests until I've decided to re-introduce you to them myself. If you wish to try sleeping in your new body, my bedroom is free to you. You may also watch anything you want on the television, but please don't tamper with anything else."

"Yes, father." nodded Lucya.

Lucya went through a door, while Tornovich went to the lift, and descended down to the main bridge. He turned on the communicator on his wrist, and typed a code.

"Attention, Site-B." said Tornovich. "Allen, do you hear me?"

"Boss, it's been lovely to hear from you!" said a British-accented voice. "How has progress been with your latest project?"

"It's been a success, Allen. The latest bio-robot model has so far proven to be more than worthwhile. I placed Lucya inside the shell, and she has adapted perfectly."

"Oh, you put Lucya in it?" said Allen. "Well no wonder why I haven't heard a peep out of her for the past thirty-four minutes! All I get is text from the terminals and computers."

"And that's how it will be for quite some time." said Tornovich. "I plan to keep Lucya inside her new body indefinitely."

"What for?" asked Allen. "What if we need her to run the facilities?"

"There's no need to be alarmed." said Tornovich. "She is still linked to any form of Eternal Robotics property that has one of her memory cores installed on the premises, and I will be able to re-purpose the tank her body was stored in into a conduit from which she can resume her primary duties if the need comes. I also have an auxiliary AI that will take her place if she is disconnected from the cores."

"Good to know." said Allen, flatly.

"Now listen, I have an important message for you." said Tornovich. "It seems that our...associate South of you is upset over a business transaction I made regarding a certain Chimeran I was holding prisoner at Site-G."

"You mean Ms. Donovan?"

"Yes." said Tornovich. "She was the highest bidder for Admiral Verg, but Mr. Elgen in Norway provided an alternative counter-offer that may benefit Eternal Robotics more than mere money. However, Elizabeth may not take it so well. She may try to attack me or my company. Since Site-B is closest to her, I chose to warn you first."

"Knowing her, I think you're right to warn me." said Allen. "Thank you for letting me know, boss. I'll notify our security personnel and send all non-essential human employees back to their homes."

"Good." said Tornovich. "Now I must alert the rest of the company."

Lucya, now fully dressed, walked into Tornovich's private quarters and stood in front of the mirror. Since she was still linked to her memory core aboard the Perun, she was able to raise the lighting levels in the room without even a vocal command. The room illuminated for her, so that her pale grayish skin would gleam like chrome in the light. She marveled at her own face, and at the exquisite detail that she herself had put into recreating the facial features of her human self. She began making various faces in the mirror to test her artificial facial muscles. Her face was animated perfectly in relation to a human's. The older model of bio-robots have a less smooth movement in the facial areas. Then she removed a hairbrush from the cabinet next to the bed and was soon in the process of brushing her black hair, in order to make it wavy like in the photograph. The bio-robot prototype had thin, soft hair that was very light like a human's, unlike the heavy hair that the older models (including Kyra's body) had. For a moment, she wondered what NEROC and Kyra would think of her now. Especially Kyra, whose outdated model could potentially make her jealous and/or envious of the bleeding-edge features of Lucya's body. Lucya chuckled a little.

And then she thought about NEROC. If Tornovich was her father, then would that make NEROC her brother? Her older brother, even? Would it be right to address him as her brother? How would he react? How would Tornovich react?

Then she wondered about Desmond, and if he would be happy to see her now that she had a body. It did not take her long to deduce that he would. Then Lucya wondered about her interest in Desmond, and why she was so concerned about him. Did her creator, her father as she would know him from now on, program her to feel romantic love? Perhaps she was thinking too hastily, but that was to be expected when you have the mind of a supercomputer.

She sat down at Tornovich's desk, and placed her hand on the EROS laptop. While she did not need to open it to see what was on it since both the laptop and the laboratory computer shared the same data via cloud computing, she still wanted to try using a computer just as a human would. But then she decided against it, since her father might not approve of her meddling with his personal belongings. Instead, she got up and turned around to face the plasma screen television. Turning it on, she began to skim through channels. While there were thousands of options and Lucya had no problem with potentially skimming through all of them, most of them played nothing but static since the flooding began and the wars which followed. But a handful of news channels were still on the air. She stopped at one in particular covering the border conflict in Scandinavia.

"I'm afraid these are grim times for our neighbors to the North, the countries of Norway and Sweden." said a middle-aged British news reporter standing on a street in a Norwegian town. "The plague that originated from somewhere in the Arctic circle continues to spread South, wiping out entire settlements on the northern end of either country. Our sources estimate anywhere from two hundred to three hundred men, women, and children are reported infected or dead every week. Instead of pooling their resources to counteract this disease, the two countries continue to feud over resources and territory.

"The town of Narvik, which is fifteen kilometers to the North of where I'm standing, continues to be besieged by the Swedish Armed Forces. Swedish ground troops and their artillery support continue to pour out of military installations from the inland city of Kiruna to the half-flooded port of Luleå, and advance northwest into Narvik. It is believed that they are planning on splitting Norway in two, using the old 'divide and conquer' strategy, cutting off the sparsely populated northern territories from aid to the South. It is here that the majority of the fighting is taking place. But even here in Kurgenstadt, the citizens are hearing unconfirmed rumors of specially trained squads of Swedish commandos being deployed into other areas along the disputed Norwegian-Swedish border. Meanwhile, six thousand enlisted men and women are being sent to reinforce those borders. However, government officials state that not even they will be enough to win. Prime Minister Olaf Mendensen has also approved the employment of mercenaries and even aid from law enforcement and civilians with experience in the usage of small arms to supplement the numbers of his nation's military. While the number of local volunteers has yet to be estimated, approximately seven hundred men and women from not only other parts of Europe but from as far as Africa, Asia, the Middle East, and North America have answered Norway's cry for help. However, no official word of support from neighboring countries has been confirmed."

Then there were scattered clips of Norwegian and Swedish soldiers engaged in firefights in a ruined city, which Lucya assumed was Narvik. The Swedish were furiously pushing forward, sending the Norwegian defenders scattering in a hasty retreat. But on either side, casualties were very heavy. The sight reminded Lucya of images she had seen of World War II, such as the Battle of Stalingrad. The dark and depressing environment, with its iron gray skies and soldiers wearing gas masks, also made her think of Tornovich's account of Chernobyl.

"God help these poor people, if anyone will." said the reporter. "This is Tom Hunt, with BBC News."

Lucya tilted her head forward, placing a hand on her cheek.

"I hope someone will be able to help them." said Lucya.

"Making matters worse, towards the northern end of Scandinavia, humans and animals infected by the plague are continuing to multiply and have been reduced into feral monstrosities that have been classified, very crudely, by some as 'plague beasts'. Those that have been infected by the Arctic plague and have not received sufficient medical attention have begun swarming into sites of conflict and attacking soldiers on either side. Yesterday, In retaliation to these attacks, the Swedish government has given their military full permission to immediately execute anyone or anything displaying the more advanced symptoms of the plague. This is Gordon Rivers of CNN Radio, signing out. Over to you, Ernst."

"Damn it." said Dr. Foxcourt, overhearing a radio transmission. "It's barbaric what's happening there."

"And that's where we're going next, ain't it?" asked Trey.

"I'm afraid so, chum." said Foxcourt. "It's where the closest Blue Fleet base for many, many kilometers is."

"So you think we're gonna get entangled in that mess?"

"I bloody hope not!" said Foxcourt. "I know Blue Fleet has a naval base in that area, but hopefully it won't be Blue-6's mission to intervene unless we're given orders from higher up."

"That's a relief." said Trey. "I didn't sign on to fight in any stupid war. Hell, I didn't even sign on at all. I just want to find Verg, maybe whoop his ass if he gives us trouble, and then settle down somewhere with my brother. We've had enough trouble the past few years."

"So what do you plan to do for a living, if it isn't with Blue Fleet?" asked Foxcourt.

Trey looked around at Cyrus and all the crewmen in the sickbay that were wounded.

"I dunno." said Trey. "I was training to be a paramedic before Miami got flooded. Maybe I'll train to be a doctor, just like you."

"Well, you've done a fine job helping me tend to all these people." said Foxcourt. "I don't think I could've done it by myself?"

"So how come you don't have any nurses with you?" asked Trey.

"A lot of the non-essential crew are still in the Caribbean, dealing with that uprising in Jamaica and helping those in need." said Foxcourt. "We were sent out here to search for Musucas because we were the only ones that could be spared. At least that's what the captain told us. I don't think any of us were expecting this kind of situation."

As they talked, Cyrus began to stir again. He let out a yawn that was abruptly cut short. He seized his chest, remembering the stitches where the shrapnel wounds were removed.

"Cy, how's it going?" asked Trey, noticing he was awake from the yelp he produced. "How'd you sleep?"

"Like an old dog on the living room sofa." Cyrus grumbled. "That's what I feel like, an old dog."

The sickbay door opened, and Hayami and Mutio came inside.

"Well, old dog." said Trey. "It looks like your puppy came to say 'Hi'."

"Hey, Mutio." said Cyrus, waving his hand weakly to greet her.

Mutio made no response. She look depressed, as if she had been crying her eyes out recently.

"What's the matter?" asked Cyrus, trying to sit up to look down at her.

"Long story." said Hayami. "But Mutio decided that she's going to be staying with me, with us, from now on."

"How's everything been going?" asked Cyrus.

"We're due East, for Blue Fleet's Scandinavian naval base. First we're going to get restocked on everything, and then we're going to look for Verg in that war-torn mess."

"God-damnit!" shouted Trey, accidentally putting his fist down on a resting Deidson's arm cast.

"Ow, what the hell?!" yelled Deidson as he woke up.

"Sorry, sorry." said Trey, sheepishly.

The sailor rolled his eyes, and went back to bed.

Trey went over to them.

"You can count me outta that shit." said Trey. "The doc and I were just listenin' on the radio about that fighting. They say they've got virus-infected monsters runnin' 'round too!"

"I know how you feel, Trey." said Hayami. "I felt the same as you before I rejoined Blue Fleet. I thought that the whole world was doomed no matter what they did."

"Well, I ain't gonna turn into some miracle worker like you did." said Trey. "I got a little brother to look after and make sure he doesn't get hurt or killed."

After Trey went away to help with Dr. Foxcourt with the other patients and Hayami went outside for a smoke, Mutio climbed onto the bed with Cyrus, and gave him a hug. Resting her head on his shoulder, she quietly sobbed.

"There, there." whispered Cyrus, patting her gently on the back. "You'll be okay. I don't know what happened between you and the other hybrids, but you're among friends here...and family."

Mutio continued sobbing.

"Hush now." said Cyrus. "I hate to see you sad. Is there anything I can do to help you?"

Mutio removed her head from his shoulder, and whispered:

"Hayami..."

"Yes, what about him?"

"Stay...with...him."

"You're staying with him now?" asked Cyrus.

Mutio nodded.

"Do you plan on becoming an...an item with him? You know what I mean, right?"

Mutio looked at him, tilting her head.

"Do you plan to date him? Marry him? Have kids with him?" asked Cyrus.

Mutio thought about it for a moment. She nodded, but still looked worried.

"You think he might not be too keen on that?"

Mutio shook her head with a frown.

"Well, it wouldn't hurt to confront him about it." suggested Cyrus. "Let him know exactly how you feel about him. Let him know that you want him to be the man in your life. Can you do that?"

Mutio smiled a little. Then after a long pause, her smile widened and she nodded her head quickly.

"That's the spirit, Mutio." said Cyrus. "I know that it'll be tough since you can't talk as much as we can, but I'm sure you'll think of something. And don't forget you've got that wrist device too. Now go on."

He added the last part with the best smile he could make in spite of his stitch-induced pain.

Mutio hugged him again, and happily left the sickbay. Cyrus noticed out of the corner of his eye that Trey was staring.

"And what are you looking at?" Cyrus asked casually.

Verg sat in a holding cell on the aircraft, pacing like a caged beast. Sometimes he would try to punch the walls, but they wouldn't even dent in spite of his ferocious strength. He tried to kick the door, but all it achieved was a sore foot.

"I need to get the hell out of here, damn it!" growled Verg. "As soon as I do, I'm going to rip that oversized tin can a new one! And then I'm going to yank his head off and shove it up the old man's ass! Then that blue woman will get it! Then the rest of you damn machines!"

The robots standing guard outside paid no attention to him. It was as if he didn't even exist to him.

"What? Nothing?" asked Verg. "Well, who needs you scrapheaps anyway?"

Still, the robots made no attempt to acknowledge him.

"Then that annoying squeaking girl voice that I kept hearing." said Verg. "I'm going to find where that voice is coming from, and then I'm going to stick my-"

BOOM!

The aircraft started to rattle, and an alarm rang.

"Alert!" said a robotic voice. "Under attack!"

Two jet fighters circled around the aircraft. They both fired missiles, but the aircraft deployed chaffs that neutralized them before they came close, prematurely detonating them at a relatively safe distance of seventeen yards. But when the missiles failed, the jets began firing their machine guns instead.

"What's going on out there?!" demanded Verg.

The aircraft kicked in the afterburner and accelerated to an even faster speed than before, but the fighters remained in hot pursuit.

"Good news!" said Matt, coming into the room where Amonyushuu was waiting. "I just heard from some crewmen. It looks like we're going to Norway soon, so we won't be stuck out here anymore."

"That's good." said Amonyushuu.

"Yeah, thank the lord, because it feels like we've been out here forever."

"But it's only been a couple of days." said Amonyushuu.

"I know, it's crazy." said Matt. "It's been a long day. The Sun only just started setting too, and it's winter."

"Hmm...but what about Verg?"

"I dunno, they didn't say." said Matt. "But they've gotta have a good reason to be going there, right?"

"Perhaps."

"So I guess we...you." Matt stammered.

"Yes?"

"I guess you'll be going back with the other hybrids." said Matt.

"It would seem so, Matt." said Amonyushuu, with a slightly regretful tone in her voice. "I feel like it's my responsibility to be there for my people, for as long as my brother is absent. It's a pity, because I really like you."

"I like you too." nodded Matt.

Then Matt coughed a little.

"Matt, are you feeling well?" asked Amonyushuu.

"Yeah, I'm fine." said Matt. "Just something in my throat, no big deal."

Amonyushuu placed a hand on Matt's cheek. The white fur felt very smooth and velvety against Matt's skin.

"You do feel very warm, Matt." she commented, moving the hand to his brow. "Are you sure you are feeling all right? I could tell the doctor."

She sounded genuinely concerned.

"Girl, I'm fine!"

Amonyushuu took her hand off of him, and studied his eyes like a textbook.

"Hey, Matt!" said Rockefeller, who came in.

Matt turned away from Amonyushuu, and faced Rockefeller.

"What?!" he said a little louder than necessary.

"Hey, I'm just about to tell Pete that I think I just got myself a girlfriend before he or anyone else in our group did."

"Well, that's good." said Matt, awkwardly tilting his head back at Amonyushuu. "Who is it?"

"I fixed up one of those drones, and I ended up talking to a gorgeous female AI." said Rockefeller. "We didn't get to talk too much to her, but I think we might be...well, compatible. I'm still going to rub it in his face anyway. He was talking to me about wanting to get a robot girlfriend, so I'm going to tell him I beat him to the punch. Anyway, gotta go!"

Rockefeller hurried off, and Matt and Amonyushuu looked at each other.

"Now if you'll excuse me, I'm gettin' a change of clothes." said Matt, who started to sniffle.

"When you're done with that, meet me in the galley." said Amonyushuu. "We can sit there together, just the two of us. And I could make something for you."

"Sweet, I've never been on a date before." said Matt, half-joking.

"Just meet me there in five minutes."

Kino and Katsuma sat on either side of Giorgia, whose mind was being probed by Huang.

"Can you tell us anything about her?" asked Kino.

"I'm sure about it, Kino." said Katsuma. "Remember, she was in my head too. When they had me placed inside that machine during the Antarctic War, I could hear Huang's voice in my head, asking me for directions. It'll be the same with her."

"Hmmm..." Huang winced, her eyes closed. "I see tiny baby nereids growing inside metal tubes. Awww, they look so adorable."

"The culture tanks." said Katsuma.

"Their eyes are shut except for Giorgia's. All of them have blue eyelids, except once that has red. No, wait. I also see two others. One orange with blonde hair, and one with gray colors where the yellow should be. I think they're twins, since they're sharing the same tank."

"They sound like those twins that died in Antarctica." said Kino. "I remember Hayami got so mad at me when I killed the gray one."

"Shh..." hissed Katsuma.

"And now I see her with her other sisters." said Huang. "They're all listening to computerized voices, giving them orders, and teaching them words. They're all moving and behaving in unison, as if they were robots."

"Must be a part of Zorndyke's breeding regime." said Katsuma.

"The red-eyed nereid is having trouble syncing with the rest, so Giorgia goes to shake her and threaten her."

"So Giorgia has been treating Mutio badly even that far back." said Katsuma.

"Now I see all of the nereids, fully grown, crowded in front of a large shark-man. Verg, I think it is. He seems to be inspecting them all. He chooses Giorgia as his favorite, I think. And he does this by...oh, no. This looks really disgusting."

"Huang, you don't need to probe that part."

"But he's doing things to her with his tongue and his-"

"Huang, stop." said Katsuma. "You're a good kid, but you're much too young to see that."

"Okay, okay." said Huang, straining herself to block the disgusting imagery out of her mind. "Now I'm seeing a battle. Giorgia's inside a Kumo, attacking a warship. Chinese, I think. She angrily scoffs as another Kumo collides with the warship. Then her own Kumo is hit by a deck gun's bursting shell. Her Kumo sinks into the water. But as she escapes, the on-board machinery malfunctions and pieces of scrap metal and sparks shoot into her...her poor eye."

"Well, that's explains the bad eye." said Kino.

"Now I'm seeing her with Verg. Verg looks disgusted, even angry, to see Giorgia. He flicked her in the face, and pushed her into a moon pool. Then he pulls Mutio towards him, and he seizes her while Giorgia floats in the water looking on. I could feel a lot of anger and hostility radiating from her."

"So, that's what it is." said Katsuma. "Giorgia is jealous that her sister became Verg's new favorite after she got that scar."

Then Giorgia broke free of her trance, and started hissing angrily at all three that were in her presence. Katsuma grabbed her by the shoulders.

"Listen, Giorgia." said Katsuma. "We know what happened to you. But being mad at Mutio won't make Verg like you again."

But Giorgia growled at him.

"Just don't worry about it anymore." said Katsuma. "It's in the past. You can move on and find someone else."

She took offense to this. She seized Katsuma's arms, and dug her fingernails into his green skin. Then she looked up at his scarred face, and growled angry words that were incomprehensible to humans, if they were even words at all. Then she let go, burst out of the room, and hurried through the opening to the submarine, presumably to get back to her Kumo.

"Well, that was interesting." said Kino.

Matt, having changed into a new outfit, entered the mostly empty galley. He was coughing harder due to the amount of congestion building up in his throat. Amonyushuu was already in the room, seated at a table. Matt over at her.

"Hey." he said to her. "How are ya?"

"I'm quite fine, Matt." said Amonyushuu. "Thank you for asking me."

She sat across from Matt at the table.

"It seems you've caught a cold." said Amonyushuu. "Probably from when we were hit by all that seawater. You should have changed out of your wet clothes sooner."

"Well, I didn't want anyone finding my gun." said Matt.

"A gun is nothing compared to your own well-being." said Amonyushuu. "Just stay there. I'll be back soon."

"Okay."

After a while in the kitchen, Amonyushuu returned to the table.

"I made this especially for you. I'm sure that it'll warm you up. Besides, it's the least I could do to show my thanks. For saving me, that is."

She produced a coffee mug filled with a steaming, gooey black substance.

"So…what is that?" asked Matt.

"Hot chocolate."

"Are you sure?" asked Matt. "I don't wanna sound rude, but are ya sure that'cha made it right? 'Cuz It looks more like burnt black Jell-O to me."

"No, I assure you that it's hot chocolate." said Amonyushuu, calmly. "It's an Albanian recipe. Papa taught me how to make it a couple of years ago. He told me that it's very good."

She gave him a plastic spork.

"You might need this, since it's very thick."

Matt nodded, scooped up some of the hot chocolate, and slowly took a bite. It was so hot that it nearly scorched his tongue. However, it had a pleasing taste that made him shudder with delight. Then when he swallowed it, a warm tingling sensation immediately flooded his body.

"Wow, that's some good stuff." he commented. "Thanks. I feel a lot better already."

"You're welcome, Matt." said Amonyushuu. "I was hoping you would enjoy it. I never made it for anyone other than papa. I don't think I could ever eat it, though. I have feline DNA, and chocolate can be dangerous for cats. Maybe the human side of my DNA might protect me from the harmful effects, but I would still rather not take any chances."

"Well, that's too bad." said Matt. "It's really good. Probably the best thing with chocolate I had in years. You did a great job makin' it."

"Thank you." said Amonyushuu. "I always appreciate compliments. Especially from those that I lo..."

She paused. Matt gave her a perplexed look.

"Oh." Amonyushuu's eyes widened. "I probably shouldn't have said that. Sorry…"

She frowned, and nervously looked away.

"I think I'll leave now."

She was about to get out of the chair, but Matt stopped her.

"Why?" asked Matt. "You don't have to go. I like you, too."

Amonyushuu looked at him and smiled.

"Oh, good." she said, softly. "By the way, you should probably finish that hot chocolate before it gets too cold."

"Oh, right." said Matt.

Hayami walked out to the opening in Blue-6's hull, and peered into the dark ocean beyond. Musuca-26 and the Kumos had all gone underwater, so none of them could be seen. And the Grampuses had all been returned to the sub. Then at the clear twilight skies, with the stars beginning to slowly appear. He felt the cold Arctic air in his hair as it blew past the battered submarine as it advanced eastwards. Mutio crept up next to him, and joined in the view. Both of them knew that out beyond the great Atlantic Ocean, the final leg of their journey to find Verg was coming.