They reached a door and went down another hallway and into a smaller room that contained a separate glass chamber big enough to fit 15 people. There were air vents leading into it from the ceiling and the door could only be opened from the outside.

"What are you doing?" Julie cried when they shoved her in first.

Soon all six were inside, rifles aimed at their chests.

"I would love to stay and watch, but I'm afraid I have to meet with the prime minister in a few hours."

"The prime minister?" Mayumi muttered, "Why would he want to do that?"

"I'll explain it later," Hiiro murmured to her, more focused on getting out at the moment.

"And," Sethin continued, "I have taken extra precautions just in case you do manage to escape from this sealed room. In exactly 15 minutes this whole base is going to explode."

"What?" Duo shouted.

"Yes, I'm afraid we need to destroy any evidence of the toxin. And you all know where the base is, so we need to get rid of it. You understand. But, don't worry, you won't be around to be blown to pieces if the toxin does it work. In five minutes you should be burned to a crisp."

"Burned to a crisp?" Shiris cried angrily, her eyes glaring into his.

He nodded. "I'm afraid so. But you all can explain to each what you have found out in the next," he looked at his watch, "five minutes and 9 seconds. After that, I don't think you'll be up for talking."

"You bastard!" Julie shouted and rushed forward as Sethin pressed a button on the side of the chamber and the door slid shut. She pounded on it and Damian could see her mouth opening and closing, but no sound came out.

"Sound proof to, otherwise it would be very annoying for others," Sethin explained, turning and leaving the room.

"Damian, I am going to leave now. Will you check the lab and make sure all the vials are there and accounted for? I would hate for one to be missing. The fire should take care of everything."

Damian nodded. "Is it destroyed by fire?" he asked, following him out the door.

"Yes, the fire causes it to literally explode on the inside. Odd, how it is killed by the very thing that it makes."

"Oh and sir?" Damian asked, "Can you tell me who was stationed on the second floor at the same time we were in the explosives room? I would really like to know…"

Hiiro watched as Damian walked out the door, his coat billowing behind him, and the rest of the guards hurried out.

Then he turned to the bedraggled and weary looking group and tried to think of a way out.

"T minus 15 minutes until base destruction, T minus five minutes until T-59 is released into chamber," a male voice blared into the airtight compartment, startling all the inhabitants.

"Great, thanks for telling us! We really wanted to know how long until we're burned to death!" Duo shouted and punched his fist angrily against the shatterproof glass. Then he turned around and slid down to the floor, cradling his shot leg.

Julie saw the bloodstain on his pants for the first time and knelt down next to him, her face frowning.

"You got shot?" she said when she carefully moved his pants up and gently touched the red wound.

"Yes," he hissed when she poked around more, "and it really hurts when you do that!" she rolled her eyes and tore off his right sleeve. He stared at her. "What did you do that for?"

"Because, silly, you need to bind this wound. Didn't you three learn first aid and all that?"

She wrapped the blue cloth around three times and then tied it off, pulling it tight with her teeth while Duo grimaced.

"There." She stood and helped him up.

"I don't think you really needed to do that," Hiiro commented, "If we're going to die in—"

"T minus 14 minutes until destruction of base, T minus four minutes until T-59 is released into chamber," the voice supplied helpfully.

"We know!" Shiris shouted, throwing her flashlight at the wall and stamping across the room to the other side.

"So, I guess no one has any bright ideas," Trowa muttered as he looked over the room.

Mayumi shrugged. "Nope. There are no windows to climb out of, no vents that are safe to climb through, and no doors to break down. All there is is the unbreakable door, the shatterproof walls, the toxin infected vents, and the cameras watching us to see what happens when the agent touches us. Nothing useful."

Duo glanced up. "Can we do anything with the cameras?"

No one spoke up. "I don't think so," Julie said and rubbed her face with her hand. "I think we actually are at the end."