Author's Note:

Both Ethan's and Eveline's fragments of this chapter start roughly at the same time, though Ethan's advances further upon the timeline... it was very hard for me to decide their order :/

"Shit! Ethan, I think we've got some problems here!"

Shaking off the shook of seeing a fucking tentacle of mold launching from his own hand and piercing that freak's forehead, Ethan had no choice but to save the ruminations about his monstrous nature for the future… were he to survive today, that is.

Good luck, Evie.

One more glance towards the bald man was the only thing he could spare before exiting the sphere and seeing the commotion that troubled Dion for himself - the metal shutters that had previously fully enclosed the command center were slowly but surely being pulled down, revealing ordinary glass panels behind them.

Ethan tensed his muscles in anticipation, hoping that he was prepared to face the most likely foe that was about to challenge them. Due to the prior intelligence gathered about the Empire State Building's defenses, the gang was informed in advance of possible deterrents they could face on their mission.

While these newest threats to his well-being would be a far-cry from Bio-Organic monstrosities Ethan had prevailed against in the past, they would, most definitely, be just as deadly, if not more so.

And there it was, that unmistakable hum - one made by numerous small rotors - coming from down below, confirming Ethan's suspicions.

Attack drones, capable of flight and rapid movement; very likely armed and - whether controlled by human operators or governed by murderous and illegal AI - indubiously lethal. They might not be some biological abominations, but they were designed for a purpose similar enough - to slay humans. One could argue that the only real difference was the fact that it was mechanics and engineers who came up with these murderbots, instead of virologists or geneticists.

At least these don't smell like rotting corpses... small mercies, right?

Letting out a mirthless chuckle at his private thoughts, Ethan gripped his looted pistol tight while taking aim at the direction of the closest noise.

And not too soon, as the instant later a large black quad-rotor drone ascended from below while presenting its profile to the hardened survivor with a quick trigger-finger. Somewhere in the back of his mind Ethan registered the glinting barrel of a small machine gun underneath the drone rotating to place him in its crosshairs.

A man versus a machine - a truly timeless struggle, with a seemingly foregone conclusion. Yet it was Ethan who let loose a round first, if only by an instant of time. And while the pistol round failed to penetrate the drone's armored carcass, the kinetic energy of the bullet was enough to nudge its own gun off-course - sparing Ethan from suffering a barrage of rounds it unleashed.

Undaunted by seemingly tiny bullets pinging off the metal sphere next to him; or the fact that the drone had just shrugged off a trio of rounds from his pistol, Ethan did not waste a second in adjusting his aim a bit - now eying the rotors that kept the accursed machine aloft.

With pinpoint precision and remarkable swiftness, Ethan unleashed the wrath of his humble firearm - scoring several hits right into the machine's front right rotor - with the reward for his efforts becoming apparent as the drone craned in the opposite direction, while trailing black smoke from the damaged device. Not allowing his mechanical nemesis to recover, Ethan repeated the procedure on its left rotor and that was enough for the machine to start its calamitous descent to the ground - with undoubtedly perilous conclusion. Ethan could only hope that nobody would get hurt once the drone crashed.

Not that the much-suffering father had much time for such musings, as the hum of many more rotors soon became deafening, once again putting that familiar mortal fear into his moldy heart. While H&K VP9 pistols were some quality sidearms, the simple 9mm rounds were insufficient to defeat even light armor, such as the one equipped by these drones. The notion of taking more than one at a time with this weapon painted grim odds for the Dulvey survivor and his Hound Wolf partner.

Should've upgraded to P90s these guards had… damn!

Uncaring for his regretful reverie, a drone appeared to his left and before Ethan could even swerve his aim, the machine crashed right through the flimsy glass with its barrel immediately spewing hot lead at the man. Ethan's only move in such a situation was to leap back into the metal orb that dominated the middle of the room - the only real source of cover in this command center. He managed to find refuge behind its metal walls soon enough, but he was just not quick enough to avoid the damage entirely, as searing hot agony radiated through his body - originating in the lower left quarter of his abdomen.

The pain was horrible, momentarily dizzying the man with its intensity, even as he half-heartedly brushed a pair of fingers across the affected areas - only to dumbly gape at the dark red liquid that now soaked his digits. For a second, it seemed that the only sound he could hear was the deafening ringing in his own ears.

Even his molded physiology would not let Ethan simply shrug off a penetrating gunshot injury such as this one, yet the man was nothing if not enduring, as his namesake demanded no less of him. Fighting off the pain and shock, through clenched teeth, Ethan was able to focus on the world, once more.

Dion must have also come to the conclusion that the metal orb was the safest place to be in the room, as the redheaded man now shared the sphere with Ethan and the seated bald freak.

Now standing on the opposite sides of a door-like opening that separated the inner part of the gigantic sphere from the outside world, the two men could only exchange panicked glances as the humming of rotors increased in intensity.

For whatever reason, the drones did not rush to finish off the two human intruders immediately, but remained outside the orb, allowing the men a moment to catch their breath. While Ethan took a second to reaffirm the fact that his newest injury was of a non-crippling kind, even if it was agonizingly painful and very likely lethal, if left untreated, Dion took a glance at his watch.

Struggling to be heard over the deafening hum of rotors, Dion roared out, "Our chopper is in four minutes! But how the hell are we going to last that long!?"

Now that was a good question, since the moment the drones decided to swarm inside the orb, both of them would be turned into mincemeat within seconds. For now murderbots held back, however, merely crashing through the glass panels and proceeding to flutter around the command center. Perhaps the intelligence behind the killing machines did not want to risk harming the hibernating freak in the middle of it? Whatever the reasoning, it was unlikely to last for long, not to mention the simple fact that to get their extraction chopper, the two men would have to brave the rest of this floor, anyway.

Armed with their simple sidearms, like it or not, Ethan and Dion were trapped in the enigmatic sphere that was their refuge… and perhaps their tomb, as well.

Good thing there were two more members of their team nearby – Ethan just hoped that they would learn of their predicament soon enough. Not that he was particularly eager to owe yet another favor to the bloodthirsty Dimitrescu sibling or the scruffy Lord, but he was understandably even less eager to be turned into swiss cheese by these flying murderbots. Life is one big trade-off, after all.

Suddenly, every existential issue faded to nothing as an all-powerful sense rippled throughout his body and soul. With unexplainable dread grasping his very heart, Ethan momentarily forgot all about the impending mortal threat the drones presented, much less his petty concerns about owing a favor or two to Cassandra.

It was hard to explain this ethereal feeling he experienced. But the most important aspect of it he could comprehend on an unconscious level. It was loss – plain and simple.

He couldn't tell exactly what, but Ethan was sure that he had just lost something very important to him – like a part of his very essence was sheared off… Somehow it felt like this unexplainable trauma he had just suffered was both intangible… yet also vital to his well-being, nevertheless.

Unfortunately, Ethan wasn't exactly given a chance to dwell upon the newfound hole in his heart, as the drone mastermind had finally decided that exterminating the invaders was more important than preserving the Replica Commander in whose sanctuary they happened to be.

Like one, every single drone in the command center – around a dozen by now, with more fluttering in periodically – started peppering the sphere entrance with small-caliber gunfire while swiftly advancing towards it. Ethan and Dion had mere seconds to figure out a game plan before they would be mercilessly cut down.

There was no plan.

The first drone to fly in did not waste a second in rotating its gun right towards the redheaded Hound Wolf, eager to put a definite end to his career in combating bioterrorism. Dion's and Ethan's combined firearms appeared to be enough of a dissuasion for the machine's chosen course, however, as numerous rounds struck past its armor plates and into its vulnerable innards, putting an end to the mechanized menace that soon cluttered to the floor - disabled for good.

The second drone met a similar fate, yet the third was more fortunate, as both men had run out of ammo and simply lacked the precious time to reload before its own deadly weapon would find its mark in their fragile flesh.

As Ethan stared right into the polished barrel of the drone's machine gun, a single instinct to survive screamed right from the center of his being. There was no opportunity for flight, so fight it has to be.

What turned out to be a meek, last-ditch effort at self-defense turned into something more, as Ethan hurled his emptied sidearm into the drone, momentarily stunning it from that impact alone... yet to the father's own shock a tentacle of inky black mold followed the pistol's trajectory soon after – violently ejected from the palm of his own hand - the same one that had infected the Replica Commander with Eveline, before. And while the thrown pistol merely deflected from its armored shell, the tentacle firmly attached itself to the smooth surface of the aerial machine – providing Ethan with unexpected leverage…

…which he - ignoring his natural discomfort - promptly put to use, by gripping the tentacle on his end with both the fingers of the hand it protruded from, as well as his left one. Using it akin to a rope, with a single fierce tug, Ethan was able to toss the drone right back from whence it came – creating a deadly mid-air collision with its compatriot, which turned out to be right behind it. A small explosion occurred immediately after, causing the moldy tendril to shrivel and swiftly die – with its parts crystallizing and crumbling until nothing but an oozing hole in Ethan palm remained as proof of its past existence.

Gasping for breath from sudden onset of exhaustion, Ethan knew that this was a trick he would not be able to repeat any time soon, as his body was already reaching its limit. Whatever that overwhelming feeling of loss he had just experienced was, one thing he could easily tell that it had weakened him greatly.

They had bested five drones with cunning, dexterity and supernatural powers, yet now they were completely at the mercy of around a dozen more.

Panting hard, Ethan connected his gaze with Dion's, even as he hoped that Cassandra or Karl would ride in to save the day, once more.

They did not disappoint.

A ferocious yet undeniably feminine and very familiar yell – that easily pierced through the hum of rotors – was followed by a barrage of deafening gunfire.

Peeking out from their cover, Ethan was immediately able to spot the culprit – Cassandra Dimitrescu, covered from head to toe in blood and sporting two P-90 submachine guns. With her expression twisted into a grimace of hatred, the fierce middle sibling appeared akin to a warrior deity of old to Ethan's tired eyes – beautiful, but so very deadly.

Fortunately for the battered Bravo Team, 5.7-28mm armor-piercing rounds of P-90s turned out to be a step above simple 9mm cartridges and the drones were blasted apart in a shower of furious sparks.

One, two, three, four seconds passed – and just as many drones had been critically damaged and disabled by her seemingly raging, yet precise bursts. Clearly, the perils of dual-wielding Chris warned about did not quite apply to a vampiric bug-women… Yet the remaining drones were hardly out of commission just yet and they did not waste time in turning around to address the newest threat to their mechanical existence.

To Ethan's shock and no small amount of fear, the return fire from the aerial machines actually found its mark right in Cassandra's flesh instead of harmlessly passing through – tearing chunks right out of it while making blackish blood spurt all over her frame.

The cold is her weakness!

The realization was quick to arrive – the command center was still quite chill – not enough to cause a regular human in a midst of a life-or-death struggle any real discomfort, but clearly sufficient to disable Cassandra's shapeshifting ability.

With her intangibility stripped off, she was barely above a normal person in terms of durability or resilience right now, yet she still leapt to his defense, heedless of any harm that could come to her person – even against such overwhelming odds.

Ethan knew well how devout Cassandra was to her family, how fiercely protective she was of her sisters and mother, but to think that she would act so selflessly for his sake…

No fucking way I'll let you die for my sake, Cass!

Seeing the drones distracted by Cassandra, Ethan knew that he had to make his move now. Ignoring his pain and exhaustion, with a guttural war cry that would've made even Gunnery Sergeant Hartman proud, Ethan leapt right from his cover and jumped onto the nearest drone – careful to avoid the rotors, naturally. Amazingly, Dion – perhaps emboldened by Ethan's determination or possibly out of his own sense of blooming comradery with the vampire siblings – replicated Ethan's feat and latched himself onto another drone.

Now, the aerial murder-bots were large and sturdy, yet the weight of an adult male was clearly enough to put them out of balance and soon enough both drones collapsed. Downed but not yet disabled, they could still not protect themselves anymore - allowing the foolhardy men to start beating on them with whatever heavy object was nearby – a fire extinguisher in Ethan's case; a hefty med kit in Dion's.

The men's effort left only three drones for Cassandra to handle… unfortunately, that turned out to be two more than she could. Blasting one more drone apart with her firearms, Cassandra let loose a piercing shriek of pain as several more impacts registered across her battered shape. With a huff of disbelief, the Dimitrescu warrior collapsed on her knees, while her weakened fingers lost their grip on her guns, causing them to clutter to the floor.

Declawed and vulnerable like never before, the proud woman had nothing left but a scalding glare for the emotionless machines, even as they lined a perfect kill shot – right into her tattooed forehead.

Before they could execute the downed brunette, however, the final member of their team deigned to make his grand appearance. With but a flick of his wrist, both drones were telekinetically tossed against each other like children's toys – with the resulting impact being powerful enough to immediately cause them to explode into a small yet blinding globe of inferno.

"Thanks, Uncle…" huffed out the vampiric woman, even as she struggled to get back to her feet. Karl, being a surprisingly kind and caring uncle that he turned out to be, rushed to assist his wounded niece.

In turn, bashing the vile machine underneath him one more time, Ethan stood up, while gazing around the command center and the wrecked drones littering it. Somehow, the present state of silence was even more deafening to the hardened father than the previous chaotic hum of multitude of rotors. The agony radiating from his gunshot injury, exasperated by his violent motions was close to unbearable.

"Did… did we win?"

It was Dion who shattered the loaded silence with his straightforward question, which was laced with disbelief.

Heisenberg smirked, but shook his head. Ethan had a moment to take in the Lord's features, before he spoke. Clearly, the struggle took its toll on Karl, as well - if his bruised and disheveled appearance combined with blood freely trickling from his nostrils were any indication. Even the most powerful of Miranda's acolytes had his limits.

"Not for long. I've disabled the elevators, but they've got an army breaking down through the little cave-in I've caused on the stairway. We've got a minute or two, at most. Hope that chopper is gonna be here on time." Gazing into the broken window, Heisenberg – with shocking tenderness – caressed Cassandra's brunette locks, even as he gave the woman a hum of reassurance.

"Is she going to be alright?" asked Ethan with more than a little worry in his tone, while approaching his unlikely savior. Never in his wildest dream would he ever think that it would be Cassandra Dimitrescu that would ever save his life… not after the sadistic treatment he had suffered at her hands in their castle. Yet she did. Multiple times, in fact. First, she had lent him a figurative hand by obliterating that assassin in the safe house, now she leapt to his defense even while knowing how disadvantaged she was, heedless of risks… as if he was her family…

And with a gnawing in his heart, Ethan realized that she was. Even beyond the suffering Bela would have to endure if Cassandra perished, Ethan himself could not bear the thought of the cruel sibling dying… especially from her foolhardy attempt to bail his ass out of the frying pan. Gazing into her fading amber orbs, Ethan gulped as it became apparent that the woman was swiftly becoming delirious and unresponsive. She was tough, true… but hardly invincible. Now, with her own blackish blood smearing her body and her head slumped forward, she didn't look too good…

"She's gonna be just fine." Heisenberg's words were like a balm for Ethan's weary soul. "Good thing our little monster engorged herself on that whitecoated bastard before coming here. If I know one thing – it's the fact that my so-called nieces get off of human blood in more ways than one. A little power nap and she will be up and about - prancing around and causing messes, just like she always does." The sudden noise of dozens of combat boots beating against the marble floor – coming from down below forced the mechanic to visible cringe and amend his thought, "That is… if any of us are getting outta here, in the first place…"

None of them looked to be in a combat-worthy shape at that point, but a sound of a rotor – this one much lower in pitch, compared to the drones' tiny ones – was enough to reignite the hope in the battle-weary team. Perhaps they could all get out of this place in one piece, after all.

Gazing at the source of the noise, Ethan let out a deep sigh of relief as his tired eyes spotted that unmistakable shape of a small helicopter – rising up to be on their level and hovering right next to a broken segment of glass wall. Their salvation was just on the other end of this battlefield of a command center and its side door was open in a clear invitation to hop in and escape this blood-soaked nightmare - to finally lead a life of peace and happiness, perhaps.

Not wasting a moment, the four unlikely, yet undeniably effective comrades made a straight line towards the waiting helicopter, with Cassandra's barely responsive frame being supported by Karl.

Ethan, taking rear, could not resist the desire to glance inside the enigmatic orb and its sole occupant one more time, as he passed by its entrance on his way to salvation. There was that bald freak, still seated in his neural chair, yet his pose had changed dramatically – to Ethan's surprise. Instead of hibernating calmly, the Replica Commander's body appeared to be in throes of seizures, with foam coming out of his mouth and his eyes quite literally bulging out of their sockets. The whole sight was unnerving in the extreme, but it paled in comparison to what happened in the next moment.

As if some unseen pressure proved critically unbearable, the Commander's head burst open like a ripe pumpkin that was struck by a sledgehammer; producing a spectacularly gory rain of viscera and gray matter.

"What the…" mumbled out Ethan, completely flabbergasted by this turn of events, yet the hurried steps of the massive security force now coming up the stairs to the command steps prevented the man from stopping and gawking upon the ghastly scene.

Still, as Ethan made the jump to the safety of the extraction chopper's cabin, he couldn't help but ponder about this grisly turn of events. That indescribable feeling of loss he had experienced earlier came to the forefront of his mind as he took his seat, with the helicopter swiftly speeding away from the Empire State Building; a couple of small-caliber shots chasing the escapees - to no avail.

Surely these two events are connected… somehow… Eveline, are you alright?

…

Even as Dion congratulated everyone on a job well done or Karl questioning whether it all even worked, Ethan had his thoughts only about Eveline, while mindlessly applying some Green Gel to the site of his injury - not even noticing that it was not healing quite as fast, as it usually tended to.

Evie…?

…

It wasn't that unusual for her to ignore him, as even though she was surely done with that deceased Replica Commander, she might have been busy elsewhere, with Rosie or Bela. Or, perhaps she was merely exhausted from her own activity and was now taking a restorative, hibernation-like nap.

That profound sense of loss earlier, combined with Ethan completely unable to sense Eveline anymore, however, pointed the father's train of thoughts towards a more dire direction.

Evie… please be alright.

...

So consumed Ethan was with worry for his adopted daughter, that he completely ignored the helicopter pilot, as the man explained that the overall situation had developed – not in their favor – while the Bravo Team performed the infiltration of the Empire State Building.

Only the shrill noise of the civil defense sirens, coming from the ground below was enough to shake Ethan from his worried trance. The government wouldn't be turning these on for nothing. A nuclear, chemical or biological attack was the most likely culprit behind the sirens – Ethan was swift to realize this much.

"We are not done yet… are we?"

Ethan's resigned question was left unanswered, as a missile – launched from a nearby high-rise building rooftop – streaked right their way. The pilot cursed and swerved the aerial vehicle around in a bid to dodge the deadly projectile, yet all he achieved was that instead of impacting the cockpit, the missile struck at the tail section.

The explosion that followed was enough to daze everyone inside the cabin, while shearing the helicopter's tail clean off. Unbalanced, the vehicle was swift to fall into an uncontrollable descent. Despite the pilot's best efforts, it was obvious that the ground was coming to meet them at a speed that would not leave any survivors from the resulting crash.

Closing his eyes, Ethan merely awaited the inevitable end, fully aware of his helplessness in such a situation. At least Rosie would be safe with Bela - that much father had no doubts about and that thought was the one that had brought solace to what he was sure were his last moments.

Subject RC-Theta - whose name, or rather the designation Eveline glimpsed the instant she had invaded his body and mind - resisted her every attempt to assume control of his frame admirably, yet futilely.

Just like he was made for the singular purpose of overseeing the psionic Relay, so was she designed to infect and subjugate biological matter. No matter how strong his willpower was or how formidable his mental barriers were, it was only a matter of time until she overwhelmed it all.

And overwhelm it all she did, as not even the gene-enhanced clone could resist her mold, not when it was introduced directly into his cranium. She'd really have to make it up to her daddy for spooking him like that, though…

First things first, however and now Eveline's priority lay entirely in taking control of the psionic Relay. Entering the mind of Theta was just the first step. Now that she was firmly entrenched in his body, the acclimation process had begun - as the ghostly girl was adjusting to her newest host and the myriad of senses that were available to him.

While she was prepared to experience a completely dazzling feedback once his sensory input became her sensory input, the sheer impact of it all momentarily stunned the parasitic mold girl. As the immense stream of data flooded into her consciousness it was Eveline's turn to be overwhelmed.

Nothing could prepare Eveline's mind for the barrage of information she was suddenly exposed to. Sure, once upon a time she commanded nearly a hundred mold hosts and could switch between them in a blink of an eye… yet now?

Now, it's like she had a bird's eye view upon tens of thousands of them - all over the whole goddamn planet. Akin to beholding a geoscape of some kind, the feeling was indescribable - it's like she floated somewhere far above the clouds while watching the tiny dots - which she, nevertheless, was able to perceive with peerless sight. If she focused her attention on one such dot, she could even hear its thoughts… which were not much to listen to, really. Replica were not designed to have a rich mental world, after all.

Glancing around the myriad of Replica, she felt knowledge about their purpose and conditions flooding in - channeled directly from Theta's mind into her own.

Some of the Replica were under Armacham's direct control; some were sold to international organizations or affluent governments. Some were hibernating while others carried guard duty; several platoons were engaged in active combat right in this instant of time. The differences between them were interesting, yet ultimately irrelevant - for from this Relay, controlling this commander, she could influence them all, barring a couple of peculiar exceptions.

Three of such exceptions were right in this very city, as a matter of fact. She could perceive them on these planar maps, yet once she tried to glimpse deeper into their shells, nothing but agonized feedback was sent her way, implying that these three were off-limits even to this Commander she now possessed.

One of them, however, in addition to the aforementioned feedback of pain, also radiated a tinge of that very familiar to Eveline feeling - remorse. It's like this particular Replica Soldier experienced deep regret for his actions, yet performed them with impeccable diligence and obedience, anyway… much like she was programmed to, once upon a time. Somehow, the ghastly girl immediately felt a certain sense of empathy towards this trooper.

While Eveline could not interact with this soldier or even decipher his identity, she could still reach out to him through her own emotions… and so she did, by focusing her mind on that feeling of solace she had found from having a family that had accepted her… that had changed her - her daddy, her sister, and perhaps even her newfound mommy. Through others, she could overcome even her monstrous origins and atrocious deeds. Perhaps, he could, too?

Eveline was not sure if her shenanigans would have any temporary or lasting effects, but she had to try. The feeling of kinship with those that had to endure these monstrous upbringings were strong in her, and therefore she had to at least make an attempt to establish a connection with those who were receptive to it.

Not willing to spend more time dwelling on something she could not reliably affect, however, Eveline turned her attention back to the peculiar geoscape she had found herself in. But before she would proceed to continue with her brazen plan, she wanted to inspect more of these soldiers… perhaps they could be all freed, permanently?

Soon, however, something wrong occurred as Eveline's attention began splitting around, soon drowning the ghostly invader in a cacophony of noise; showering her in their sensations and stimuli. It was all too much, far too much for her unprepared mind.

Taking a metaphorical breather, Eveline proceeded to regain her bearings by loosing her control over the host and was quick to recognize the unfortunate fact of her inability to directly influence so many moving parts. She was far too ambitious with her notion of freeing the cloned soldiers… that was a simple impossibility with her limited resources and time. All she could hope to achieve was giving them all one direction… which she could not even do directly - there were simply too many of them for her mind.

Not that she needed to use her own mind, though. While she could indeed control her hosts directly, most of the time she merely imposed her will upon them while relegating herself to an overseer-like role. Subject Theta will do everything she needed him to do, as he simply had no choice but to obey. The mold in his brain made sure of that. Eveline could merely take the backseat in his mind and let him do the driving, while she provides the directions.

Order them all to prepare for combat.

Her mental command was heeded immediately, and Eveline could sense tens of thousands soldiers instantly standing straight, awaiting further orders. Even those who were already engaged in hostilities focused part of their attention on inbound orders, while still performing their combat tasks.

Satisfied, Eveline proceeded to the next stage of their brazen plan. While her own information-processing capacities were not that superior to that of an average human and she could not hope to remember the exact coordinates of every Connections' facilities, she didn't need to. Not when her beloved sister was there to help her. All she had to do was reach out.

Hey, Rosie! You ready to help out your big sis?

She was still connected to the tiny Winters, after all, who was waiting to do her part.

Sitting in their own HQ, with Tom and Alcina nearby, and sipping on a chocolate milkshake, Rose immediately perked up at the voice of her elder sibling, who was there for as long as she could remember.

Evie! I have this thingie right here!

Excellent! I'll just need a peek…

And just like that, Eveline channeled her consciousness towards the mold that made up Rose's body, in a bid to gain access to the tiny girl's eyesight; while not forgetting to keep the reins on Theta's body tight.

Akin to a ghost possessing a body; through Rosie's eyes, she saw an active computer screen with a global map on it - with every known Connections' facility location marked with both the designation and exact coordinates. Fortunately, the geoscape in Theta's mind seemed to support the common coordinate system, so all she had to do was read them to him.

Doing just that, Eveline proceeded to bark at her unwilling host, while not taking her eyes off the map that was so helpfully provided to them by the deceased defector.

Designate all targets at the following coordinates as hostile, to be exterminated with extreme prejudice, with the highest priority. Involve every single available Replica, override every existing command. Set the maximum lethality against everyone inside the facilities at these coordinates. Tear everything to shreds there! Leave none alive!

Having expressed her destructive will in her most emotional way, Eveline started to feed him the coordinates of all of the Connection's two hundred, sixty-eight facilities around the globe.

Soon after starting the data transfer, somewhere in the back of her mind, Eveline became aware of her mommy calling for her, yet she could not interrupt this tender process and had to ruefully ignore her - for now - Evie was determined to answer Bela's call the moment she was done with Theta.

Continuing the data transfer, the process took mere minutes to finalize due to their established mind-link that had transcended the limitation of ordinary human interactions and soon she received a mental confirmation from Theta.

Sending Rose nothing but the mental equivalent of her gratitude, Eveline retreated from the girl's mind, only to behold Theta's geoscape, once again. The feedback of thousands of soldiers receiving their orders followed soon after, and once again Eveline felt almost overwhelmed by their sheer magnitude.

Unfortunately, that was the moment Theta chose to attempt to strike back at his puppet master, suddenly focusing all of his formidable efforts to expel Eveline out of his mind. Moreover, the whole system to which he was connected seemingly assisted the Commander, taking the mold girl by surprise.

The previously calm white geoscape now appeared as an angry yellow to Eveline, even as she did her best to keep her unwilling puppet in check, yet the ferocity of his resistance was simply staggering - like nothing else she had ever experienced. It's like his every synapse had rallied to fight against her and soon the moldy subjugator found herself losing metaphorical ground as she was slowly but surely forced out of his mind. Unless she did something fast, she would be expelled in a matter of seconds and her previous order would be immediately countermanded right after. Everything she had done would be in vain…

NO!

She needed more strength, more power to rein him in. Every part of her essence had to be dedicated to regaining control.

Focusing her willpower in a mental fist, Eveline began to draw on her essence from her other hosts. From her newfound mommy, from her cherished sister and finally - from her beloved father. She needed it all - all of her combined power to reassert dominance and ensure the success of their plan… of her plan.

The mental tug of war continued, yet Eveline started to regain her advantage as fresh energy channeled into her latest host from all the rest. Still, Theta resisted fiercely, demanding Eveline to draw more and more from her family. Eventually, she had no choice but to sap every speck of her essence from mommy and sister - severing the connection she had with them. She could not do the same with daddy…

While she was a mere passenger in Bela and Rose's body, Ethan was a different case, entirely… She had used her mold far too many times to heal his wounded - sometimes mortally so - flesh. The part of his brain and his whole heart were made from her mold and the only thing that could continually animate them was her own essence. Were she to vacate him entirely… that would not be too dissimilar to a critically injured patient being disconnected from his life support…

Ethan would perish if she left him, yet Eveline knew that she needed all of her available power to prevail against Theta. She sensed as if she was close to subduing him… if only she could draw upon the rest of her essence in Ethan.

I am sorry, Daddy…

She would not leave her daddy for dead, so instead of sapping everything from him, Eveline left behind a single speck of her essence - not enough to host her consciousness, yet enough to animate his moldy heart and brain.

With the influx of power, Eveline finally managed to decisively strike against Theta's struggles - completely dominating his will, once again… yet… the price was high, indeed, as there was no way back for her.

Subject Theta was her only host now and she was not sure whether she could even awaken him to let daddy know about her predicament. Yet she was fully committed to her course, no matter what. Eveline was determined to create a new legacy, one that made that dark world of theirs a little bit brighter.

Nobody will ever have to go through what I went through. I have to make sure of it - no matter what.

RELAY THE FINAL CONFIRMATION TO THEM!

It was impossible to resist Eveline's mental command now, and so Theta had no choice but to obey. Three hundred 'order acknowledged - proceeding to exterminate designated target.' - from three hundred local Replica Commanders - were Eveline's reward and she could keenly sense the clones all over Earth preparing to march out and strike against every target she had marked. A single local commander controlled a hundred Replica Troopers - more than enough for every single target she had marked.

Within hours, 258 of the Connections' facilities would be reduced to rubble, with everyone inside slain - of that, she had little doubt. Thirty thousand cloned super-soldiers were now determined to wipe them all out as they commandeered any available vehicles to reach their destinations in a manner as swift as possible, while utterly ignoring the bedazzled humans around them.

Against all odds, Eveline had succeeded. Even an organization as insidious and omnipresent as the Connections would not be able to recover from the blow she was about to inflict on it. She had no time to celebrate her imminent victory, however…

Apparently, Theta had one last surprise up his sleeve.

Whole geoscape suddenly flashed red as the psionic system detected an unauthorized presence inside. Seems like the possessed Commander somehow managed to warn the system without letting Eveline know about it and now his mocking voice resonated in their shared mindscape.

See you in hell, bitch.

Before she could contemplate on the meaning of his words, this whole mental world of theirs started to violently shudder.

The geoscape flashed black and shattered into a billion pieces that fell into the seemingly infinite void below.

Beyond the visual representation of their psyche, however, Eveline could feel Theta's physical body convulsing in its dying throes. The heart started to beat at a rate never meant for the fragile organ. The pressure in his cranium was rising to levels far beyond the norm. The end was coming for his flesh, that much she knew with certainty… and far too fast for her to be able to do anything about it.

With no escape route available, Eveline could only stare as the whole mindscape collapsed around her; with only enough time for one last line of thoughts.

I am sorry, Sister… you will have to master your body without me from now on…

I am sorry, Mommy… I wanted us to have more time together… but it is not meant to be, it seems…

I am sorry, Daddy, for everything I have put you through. I wanted so badly to make up for the sins of my past… if only there was more time… I hope that this will be enough for you to remember me fondly. I wish I told you that I love you and I trust that you will take care of Mommy and Rosie for me…

Farewell, my family…

Theta's body experienced one last violent convulsion and the pressure that gathered in his head had reached its limit - with a particularly gruesome outcome. With no brain supporting it, the mindscape faded to nothing and the two sparks that were imprisoned there were extinguished in an instant.

Infinite darkness claimed Eveline and she existed no more.

Author's Note:

Sorry for the lengthy delay, I suppose I did need a small break from writing, after all :D This is my first year of writing - I've started somewhere in May 2021, and now with the coming of 2022 I am proud to announce that I've written over 400k words in this period - not bad for a blooming writer :) Though, of course, one should chase quality, not quantity.

Anyway, this chapter was a long time in the making, and it was several hard decisions I had to make here, which I am actually happy about. Eveline's question was something I've been considering for a long time and now I am finally set on course with how her story ends...

As for the rest of this story, I plan to update my other story (Hello Neighbor) next, but after that I will commit to finishing Bound by Sins of the Past. We are pretty close to the end now, so I would like to draw this large work to a well-deserved conclusion in good time.

Finally, I'd like to congratulate you all, my dear readers, with the New, 2022 Year and I truly hope that you've enjoyed your winter holidays and that this new year will prove to be a better one for everyone! Thank you all for your continued support and if you have any questions, suggestions, critique or comments, I always welcome them!