Ulysses got tired of standing around. The Institute made a mess outside his solitude, with the random bodies of Marked Men outside. He bided his time by shoving them into a pile along with the junk scattered about. Tin cans, trolleys and bottles were the smallest scraps. He left the plain couch to sit on afterwards.

It was ten o'clock sharp; General Wesker was a no-show. Then Ulysses saw him walking from his temple's entrance. Naturally, he took this as someone else and drew his 12.7 SMG into his sights, but that aim faltered when he took a better look.

"How did you get here without me knowing, General?" Ulysses asked. Would sound soft but his tone was so deep.

"I told you, I had a shortcut," Zaac sneered.

Ulysses grumbled. "You should show me sometime. Could come in handy the next time the Institute invades."

"That's why we're here, to ensure they don't."

"The very least they can do is tell me what they want." Ulysses slung his large SMG over his shoulders and walked to the temple's entrance. "The Divide is not a place for them to wander without suffering its wrath."

Zaac sighed. "Let's go see what this guy has to say about his colleagues." Ulysses brushed past Zaac's shoulder, walking up to his side. "Shouldn't be too hard for the both of us."

"You're overly zealous."

"All the best generals were zealous, to some extent."

"We can interrogate one man. People of the Institute aren't known for their offensive abilities."

Zaac and Ulysses never met each other's eyes; not a single glare was exchanged. They walked and talked automatically side-by-side. "Don't need to be when they have sentient humanoids doing everything for them. Can't compete with slave labour."

The two passed through two metal doors, and the leftover scraps of some robots were scattered all over the ground. All the doors were open, and anything mechanical was scrapped not long ago. Controls terminals, vendors and Eyebots were the very few.

"You see the destruction Courier Six brought on his arrival, General?"

Zaac stopped at what used to be a Sentry Bot - heavily armed and fierce battle robot. Nothing but a hull left of it. "Yeah…"

"You best watch yourself around him; he's not entirely sane. There's dark in him."

Zaac brushed his chest. "Believe me, I know about what makes him dark. He used to be a raider back in the Capital."

"That explains things…"

Zaac quickly met up with Ulysses' pace and stopped with him at another main entrance where the camera's footage started. "Here we go."

The man in black was unaware of the door opening; he was too focused on a computer terminal that wasn't cooperating with him. A massive missile that touched the ceiling was thicker and longer than anything Ulysses seen or even used before.

Zaac noticed the extra parts on the missile; it was outfitted for travelling purposes. A glass dome that exposed a cockpit of sorts with some extra boosters on the side - looked more of a dull rocket ship, or even a makeshift shuttle.

The closer the two got, the more added features they noticed. A small catwalk that led to an open compartment, resembling less of a rocket and more of an Old World space shuttle. It wasn't a cheap knock off as it looked operational, tacky but with all the important modifications to make it space worthy.

Zaac could tell from the shape of the figure that it was all true. Lanius. Institute. It was making some sense of a bigger story. "Damn it. It's fuckin' Lanius."

Ulysses grumbled behind Zaac. "Impossible, the N.C.R. cremated his body."

"I made sure of it."

"Lanius does live. Just as those writings say."

"Never would have thought the retarded scribblings of dying Marked Men could be so... genuine…"

"We can take him." Ulysses stepped forward, but Zaac stopped him.

"We find out what's going on first; then we kill him-"

"You always were the spying type, Zaac," the man said in a strangely familiar voice. One Zaac used to know from his youth. Like honey on sandpaper. "Prowling around where you're clearly not wanted."

"That's a voice I love and hate at the same time. It's been a while, Dorian," Zaac called, "You know, since you last killed me."

Dorian scoffed; he still looked away from Zaac and Ulysses. The problem with the terminal was more significant than the arrival of his foes. "Unfortunately, it didn't last long." He straightened his back and turned around to Zaac and Ulysses; they walked closer with their weapons in hand. "Can't I go one lifetime without you getting in my way?"

"Like my father and Chris, we are forever intertwined."

"Unlike Wesker, I intend to kill my nemesis; if you weren't so persistent, I would've succeeded too. Though your meddling begs for immediate destruction, you can wait. Nothing will change our plans."

"You always have plans, but how many of them actually work out?"

Dorian snickered. "Only enough to kill you and your son."

Zaac fought an intense urge to gun Dorian down, but that's what he wanted. Dorian walked into the middle of the room; it was a higher platform that split the entire silo in half, much like a strip.

Dorian raised his chin. "You look different. Did you do something with your hair?"

"I expected a better joke but whatever… "

Dorian shrugged. "Like I care for your expectations, Zaac."

"Sarkis was ripped away from me shortly after you killed me two years ago. Out of pity, I was sent back as I was before he came into my life. Young and normal..."

"Normality's overrated."

"Everyone's entitled to their own opinion, even if it's completely stupid."

"Don't match wits with me, Zaac, you don't have the chops."

"Why are you here, Dorian?"

Dorian folded his arms. "You think I'm surprised to see you two? Well, I'm not. I anticipated that lapdog dragging you here."

"You're referring to me, are you not?" Ulysses grumbled.

"Who else? Guess it doesn't take much to drag you out of retirement, does it?"

Ulysses had no anger behind his voice. "You evicted me, Lanius, you can't expect me to take it lightly."

"Lightly? I figured a dog like you to die right at my feet, but letting you go, well, I had to assume you'd run away with your tail between your legs."

"I retreated," Ulysses clarified.

"Just like every time we worked together. Much like you to have someone bail you out."

"I do not remember you, nor that I want to. Frankly, you irritate me."

Dorian pointed at Ulysses with no bite in his bark. "The fault of human nature holds you back, Ulysses."

"How are you still alive, Dorian? Last I checked, your corpse is nothing but bones. Then you defy death once again and go crawling back to the Institute. Is the Legion not good enough for you?"

"My old employers may have disagreed with my actions, but that doesn't mean I am so quick to forget their utilities."

"Didn't figure the Institute was the type to take back strays."

"I'm not a stray!" Dorian snarled with his eye's flaring in intense colour. "I didn't come back to the Institute; I broke out."

Zaac narrowed his eyes. "Why were you there in the first place?"

"Before my employment was terminated," Dorian said while he walked side by side with heavy steps, "I was working on a secret project. Gen-4 Synths. Those models were to surpass their current Gen-3 Coursers and infiltration units. Their increased CPU storage would allow them to adapt, conquer and even impersonate emotions. So efficient, in fact, they were almost entirely identical to humans. Not even the Institute could tell them apart."

"Sounds like an abomination of technology. What went wrong?"

Dorian stopped midway in his pacing. "The damned Institute discovered my plans and thoroughly escorted me out." He resumed his pacing. "The project was put on hold until someone with less malicious intentions come by to finish them."

Zaac rested his R91 over his left shoulder. Ulysses didn't move. "What good is that to them? Their Gen-3 Synths are enough trouble as it is."

"Yet they are only limited to their design. Gen-4 models would usher in a stronger humanity, able to surpass Synth, Supermutant and humans alike." Dorian stopped again and looked away. "The human mind can process so much information regarding emotions, memories and adaptive countermeasures, and I found a way to replicate an artificial brain to do just that. The new Gen-4 Synths would be a perfect upgrade to their predecessor, no?

Zaac felt breathless, feeling overwhelmed that Dorian's done the impossible - he created artificial life... "You didn't-"

"Life after death, with all the memories and emotions intact. It's a tricky process, so it is almost impossible to do without backing up the mind of the said person on a flash drive of sorts. Perhaps even a cloud." He smiled and faced Zaac and Ulysses; neither of them shared his humour and irony. "Wanna know the best part? I replicated two minds already. One for me and another for an old enemy of ours."

"You're a Synth?"

Dorian's shoulders sagged. "That. Is. True... I promised I would be back, just not as a pureblood protohuman."

"Somehow, you're less of an abomination than you were."

"I call it a necessary back-up protocol. You destroyed my organic body; what did you expect? Sure, I can't blink, and my killing potential isn't what it used to be, but I can still look forward to the fact I no longer have my weaknesses."

"You share the Synths' weakness now. I killed plenty of Coursers to know how to kill them, and you are no different."

"That's Gen-3 you're talking about, not Gen-4. I can shudder and shake when bullets riddle through my body just like them, but I am still Dorian Savage." Dorian folded his arms. "I have the will and experience to survive, and I'm more than happy to kill those who test my knowledge. You know the drill by now, don't you, Zaac?"

"That we try to kill each other? Yeah." Zaac pulled his weapon down and put Dorian in his sights. "Looking forward to it actually. When you killed me two years ago, I still saw what happened to David, and I got to say…" He paused to breathe and then he growled, pumping himself up." I'm not going to waste this chance to make you pay!"

Dorian raised his arms in mock surrender. "Ooooh, someone's a bit salty. Why don't everyone calm the fuck down? How many times did your son get in over his head? Seriously?" Zaac said nothing; he stared at Dorian like he was drilling a hole through his forehead. "Messing with things one doesn't understand always leads to unforeseen consequences. Natural selection. Nothing more. Nothing less."

Zaac brought his weapon to his eyesight and Ulysses did the same. Both of them were ready to fire at will. "You're mocking my son, you asshole! You do realise you can't dodge bullets?"

Dorian suddenly smiled. "Don't need to. My better half just arrived, why don't you two catch up?"

"What?"

"Poor naive Zachariah, so oblivious," a beautiful voice said behind Zaac and Ulysses. Her high heels were loud with every step, and her voice became more and more sinister as she spoke, "Oh, how some people just never change is beyond me."

Zaac turned around to face the woman, and all colour on his face went south. He lowered his weapon, and his eye twitched.

The woman stood with her one arm folded and the other resting under her chin. Her long, medium copper hair went below the shoulders and her white blazer covered as low as her knees. Her eyes matched Dorian's solid gold.

With her red lipstick and gentle smile, she could pass off as a single independent businesswoman, but in reality, she was as evil and unstable as Dorian. She stopped behind Zaac and Ulysses while they almost gawked at her stunning intellect.

The woman smiled. "Long time no see, Zachariah."

"Drusilla?"