StrikerS: Pursuit of Perfection 19

DON DON DON. It was something that raised the young man out of his reverie, reading a book in the evening. It was raining heavily outside, but not so much as to bring about thunder and lightning, and that relaxing noise plus a good book is what Yuuno liked the best. One can imagine his irritation at being disturbed from that.

He pulled the door open, and in fell a completely drenched Nanoha. Trying to catch her was futile, as she had grown taller faster, sending them both to the floor. "Yuuno-kun! Yuuno-kun!" She sobbed. Looking into her face, he couldn't tell if it was rain or tears dropping onto his glasses.

"N-Nanoha…" He gently slid her off and sat her up, quickly going to the door and shutting it before any more rain came in. As she tried desperately to wipe her eyes, he finally got a good look at her. Her skirt was in tatters, cuts in her jacket arms as well as across her cheeks. There were twigs in her hair, and her shoes were coated in mud. "Nanoha, what happened?!" He knelt down next to her. "Who did this to you?!"

"No… no one…."

"Don't lie to me. Who did this?! Hang on, let me get a towel and some bandages." He rushed out of the room.

"It wasn't anyone…" She whispered to herself. "It was me… it's all me… it's always me." She stared at her soiled hands, clenching them and turning away in disgust. "IT WAS ME!" She pounded her fists hard into the tile.

Yuuno had just rounded the corner as she did so, and he dropped everything he was holding. "Nanoha-chan, calm down!" He held her tight, but she fought against him.

"No, keep away from me, Yuuno-kun! I could hurt you! I'm not that girl you knew, I'm a monster!" With a burst of strength he was pushed back hard, and he tumbled backwards. "Just look at me… I even did this to myself, and I just hurt you too. I'm a horrible person."

"That's something I'll never believe." The boy sat up and dusted himself off. "Someone that can cry that much can never be horrible." He grabbed a towel and draped it over her before taking another and drying off her hair. She made no move to stop him, her will to fight gone. "Now do you want to tell me what happened?"

"Unh." She pursed her lips. "I've gone AWOL." Yuuno paused. "I ran away. I can't face that place. All this was from me wandering through the forest, trying to run away from it all. I… I think I realized somewhere that I couldn't fight it alone. My feet brought me here."

Yuuno sighed, pulling the medkit closer. "Take off your jacket. I can't patch you up under long sleeves."

"Unh." She sloughed off the rain soaked brown TSAB jacket.

"Deh…." He sweatdropped. "Didn't they switch you to the summer uniform yet? Why are you wearing a long sleeve shirt too?"

"The changeover doesn't hit until two weeks from now." Nanoha paused and put two and two together. "Oh… I'm going to have to take this off too?"

Yuuno bit his lip. "Yeah… sorry."

"It's ok. My spirit is stained red already. If you want to ravage my body too, that's fine." She started to unbutton it, but Yuuno shoved a large towel in front of her.

"Well it's NOT fine to me." He said with his eyes wedged shut. "At least put this on! I'm not about to be the one to damage your dignity!" He turned around quickly, making sure his eyes were extra tightly shut.

"Yuuno-kun…" She smiled sadly before turning around as well. "Okay, Yuuno-kun." They both turned around. "I removed the skirt too. My legs are kind of cut up, aren't they?"

Seeing the girl gave him a burning sensation in his nose that he fought very hard to stave off. "Y-yeah… now just hold still while I try to patch you up." Concentrating on her wounds helped, and the pain went away. "S-so you went AWOL and wound up here?"

"Unh."

He sat down in front of her for a second and looked straight into her eyes. "What are you running from, Nanoha?"

"Operation Bushfire…." She gripped her heart as she said it. "I was ordered into what was supposed to be a hostile area, but it was…." She relived the moment again and the bile started coming up. She clamped her hand over her mouth and searched frantically as spray was beginning to leak through her fingers. She snatched a nearby trash can and began to vomit. "There… there wasn't any… BLUGH… enemies…. They were… all civBLUUUUEAAHH! I… I killed them… I murdered… KUAGH!"

"Nanoha-chan." Yuuno pulled her hair back and rubbed her back carefully.

"There… was a boy…." She panted, wiping her mouth off with the smaller towel. "He was… so driven by revenge that… he destroyed himself… because I killed his parents. I couldn't save him. I couldn't save anyone!"

"Nanoha…" He held her tightly, her body wracked in shivers and sobs. And then he noticed something. "Nanoha… you're really warm." He placed a hand on her forehead. "You're completely burned up! How long were you out in that rain?!"

"Hours… maybe… four?" She slumped over on him as he chastised her. But his words fell on deaf ears as she fell asleep, hoping it would be the last time, so she would appease the ones she killed.

Nanoha's eyes snapped open. She looked to the other side of the bed, seeing the back of Fate's head. She bit her lip and reached for her nightgown as she silently slid out of bed. Tying it tight around her, she slid open the door to the balcony and closed it behind her. She looked up to the stars and shivered slightly. "The dreams are becoming more frequent. Why is it this keeps happening?" She gripped the rail. "It was right here that Soran forgave me… so why do I keep drudging up those memories in the form of nightmares?" She put her hand against her heart. "I guess I really can never forgive myself for that day, unless I hear it from one of them… but they're all dead… by my hands." She paused there for a while, looking into the stars. Then her chest tensed up so much she almost couldn't breathe. "I have a bad feeling!"

Scaglietti certainly wasn't lost for entertainment in his cell on the penal colony. He got a window seat in his isolation room to watch space dust fly by as they floated in dimensional limbo. He sat there and sipped his water like it was a fine glass of wine. After he put it down, he closed his eyes and listened to the dust hit the shield outside, if such a thing were possible. Then his cup started to rattle ever so slightly on the table. He opened his eyes and quickly clamped his hand over it. A small pitch-black portal opened above his table, and something came through, landing on his tray. Saying nothing, he quickly picked it up and shoved it in his mouth.

The guard tapped the door with his club. "Mealtime's over. Hands on the wall strip." He placed his hands on the glowing panel on the wall and a power energy clamp activated, holding him there. The guard quickly went to the tray. "You didn't finish your drink. You'd better do that next time. The lunch ladies don't take kindly to unfinished meals."

"My apologies, sir. I thought I had longer than I did. Would you allow me to finish it?"

"Nice try." He scoffed as he headed out the door, locking the security field and releasing the clamp. "Remember, it's ballet night. Your fellow inmates should be putting on quite a show."

Jail sat back down and stared out the window until he was sure the guard was gone. "Though I love a little culture, I don't think an all-male performance of the Sound of Music is what I would call culture." He pulled out the package under his tongue. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to cancel that." He opened up the small bag and pulled out a golden cartridge marked 6, and a note. He smiled and lowered his brow. Placing the shell at the windowsill, he stood and raised his arms. "Pagua sunfa. Pagua sunfa. Pagua sunfa." He continued chanting ever so quietly as the cartridge began to glow.

"Commander, we've got an odd fluctuation on the scopes." One of the observers in the colony's command center reported.

"What kind of fluctuation?"

"It's the interdimensional wall. Something is weakening it, and it's bending towards us."

"That's impossible. Check your instruments."

"I've done that twice sir."

"Sir, patrols in that area just reported a visual change to the interdimensional wall. It's bowing in!"

The lighting changed to red as alarms blared throughout the colony. "Sir, I've got a high energy mass emanating from the distortion. It's breaking through the wall! My God… it's gigantic!"

A sonic boom coursed over the colony's shield as a dark mass with golden specks slowly tore through space. "What's the source dimension? Track it!"

"The readings from the tear are off the scale! Sir, I think it's coming out of Slipstream!"

"It's that damn Slipstream-blocking asteroid!"

"Sir, something of that size will completely obliterate us!"

"I know. Begin the evacuation order. Secure the prisoners!"

"But with a secure evacuation, we won't have enough time!"

"The shield will protect us for as long as we need. Nothing's getting through that without one hell of a fight."

"Attention. Attention. This is not a drill. Secure all prisoners for immediate evacuation. Secure all prisoners for immediate evacuation." The advisory blared throughout the halls.

"I think not." Jail smirked, chanting louder and faster. "Pagua sunfa. Pagua sunfa. Pagua sunfa. Pagua sunfa. Pagua sunfa."

The asteroid emerged from the wall completely and headed towards the station at an ever increasing speed. When its tip hit the shield, it acted like a battering ram. The shockwave rippled over it and it exploded into billions of crystals. "Sir, the shield!"

"No! All hands abandon ship! Repeat! All hands abandon…!"

Jail raised his arms towards the black demon that approached his window and he laughed. "My gratitude to you young Starwind! PAGUA SUNFA!"

"Okay, here's the last of it!" The server placed the last plate of food on the table. "Congratulations on your four month anniversary." She bowed, as the girls and young women in prison smocks drooled, looking at the table. "Make sure to say grace before you eat."

"GRACE!" All of the cyborgs said, as the feast at the rehabilitation center began in madhouse styling.

"Eep!" The server gasped as she jumped back, heading towards the security guards. "You could lose an arm in there! It's like a school of piranha!"

"They just like your cooking is all."

"I really hope so. Major Nakajima didn't give me a menu since she was called away, so I hope I made the right choices."

"I'm sure you did just…."

"PUEALGH!" A random sound erupted from the cyborgs simultaneously.

"What the?" They both rushed the table to find them all either on the floor or leaning on the table, covered in puke, moaning and gripping their stomachs.

The only one that was basically clean was Otto, watching them all in confusion. "I don't really understand. But if this is what the celebration entails…." He stuck his finger down his throat and retched.

Ginga dried her hands and came out of the bathroom at the library, only to see everyone crowding the news monitors. "What's going on?" She asked, but no one answered as the newscaster returned.

"We now return to our breaking news story. The unknown asteroid that has been blocking Slipstream travel for weeks broke through its wall less than an hour ago, penetrating the interim limbo where Penal Colony 15236 is located. The asteroid impacted the station, completely destroying it. It appears there are no survivors. Though there has been no explanation as to why this occurred, foul play is suspected, and investigators…."

"Penal Colony 15236?! That's where Scaglietti is…." Her esophagus got short and she raced back to the bathroom. "PLUUUEEEAAAHHH!" Her watch beeped as she wiped off her face. "Nakajima."

"Major, the Cyborgs started their anniversary dinner and then started giving it back all over themselves! I didn't cook it badly, I swear! I don't know what to do!"

"They're vomiting?" She gasped hard. "Masaka!" She hung up, and her hands went to her stomach, staring into the mirror in horror. "Damn you, Scaglietti! When did you have time to… MPPH!"

"Aaahhh…" Fate gasped as she stared at the screen.

Nanoha gulped. "No survivors… that's over 400 staffers and inmates…"

"Even though they were all criminals, this is still a dark day." Hayate shook her head. The forwards and the subcommanders nodded in agreement as they watched the coverage.

Soran spread his hands and accessed the terminal that appeared. "WHAT?!"

"Uh?" Tea said as everyone turned towards him.

"What's wrong, Soran?" Subaru walked up and looked over his shoulder. "The inmate list… why are you… EEH?! Scaglietti was on that colony?!"

"He was?" Tea rushed over and confirmed it. "Well that's it for him then. Bye bye bastard. Fate-daichou, you must really be happy right now about that news."

"You idiot!" Soran grunted at her. "How can she be?! Don't you know what that means?!"

"You did NOT just call me an idiot, Soran!" She whirled around, shaking her fist. "What could possibly be so bad not to be happy about him passing on?!"

Fate sighed. "Scaglietti revealed his master plan when I was about to kill him. All of the female Cyborgs were pregnant with his clone, which, upon his death, would be removed from stasis and would be born within a week, and be full grown within a month after. If he had died, 11 Scagliettis would have been born."

"And now that he's dead, that means they'll all…." Subaru looked away. "I feel so sorry for them."

"The ones that repented and are going through rehabilitation are going to have to go through that, knowing that their child is the man they hate…." Tea put her arms at her sides. "And to think I was happy he was dead…."

Hayate stood up from her chair. "Rein, contact the other Penal Colonies that are holding the unrepentant cyborgs. We need to increase their observation, and have medical and security teams stand by."

"Are we going to kill them or arrest them?" Vita looked up from the lower level. "The Scaglietti clones I mean."

"That's something Command will have to decide."

"I'll advise them to call an emergency meeting ~desu." Rein typed away like mad.

Shamal got out of her seat. "I'm going to have to bone up on my labor and delivery scenarios. If there's one thing I've learned, no pregnancy is identical, and if we're going to have 11 simultaneous deliveries anything could happen. Shari, we're dealing with biotech wombs. I could use your input."

"Uah… this is going to be unpleasant." Shari gulped as she got up too.

"I'm going to call Gin-nee." Subaru turned towards the door.

"Su, don't!" Soran called after her. "Think about it, Su. The Rehab Center must be going nuts right now. Your call will just get in the way. Let her handle it, and call her when things have cleared up, okay? Or maybe head out there and see if you can help?"

"That's a great idea, Soran!"

"No you don't, Subaru." Nanoha chastised. "Section 6 personnel are still under lockdown and watch. You're not going anywhere until we can assure your safety."

"But…."

"We'll send some people to secure the Rehab Center. Is that fair enough?"

Subaru paused, pouting slightly. "Hai."

"We've got less than a week to prep for every scenario. I want contingency plans on my desk by the end of the day!" Hayate ordered.

"Yes, ma'am!"

"Dismissed."

"I'm really sorry you couldn't go, Su." Soran matched pace with her as she headed to her barracks. "But Nanoha-daichou is right. With Erio and Caro still missing and that bastard on the loose, the safest place to be is here. I know I for one don't want to lose you."

"Thanks Soran. I can say the same of you." Subaru sighed as she stopped in front of her door. "It's just I bet it's tearing up Gin-nee as much as them. I mean, she took it upon herself to train them all again. I'm sure she's feeling horrible that they have to go through it, and she can't even help. Maybe I should call her after all…."

"How about you send an e-mail instead? That way it will get to her, and she can take it whenever she has time?"

"Yeah. I think that's smart." She kissed him tenderly. "Good night, Soran."

"Good night, Su."

The door shut between them and she turned to the terminal on the table, which was already lit up. "Huh?" She sat down. "An e-mail from Gin-nee?"

'Subaru, I didn't think it was possible, but my worst fear is true. The demon's seed is growing so fast. I need to stop it before it's too late, before I lose control. Forgive me, dear sister. To protect you, I have to say this final goodbye. I love you. Be happy with Soran.'

"Forgive her? Final goodbye?!" Subaru sat up and started writing a reply. 'Gin-nee, what are you talking about? I have nothing to forgive you for, and what's this whole final goodbye stuff? It's like you're about to die or something. Knock it off. It's creepy. I just want you to know I heard about what's happening at the Rehab Center, and I'm here, offering my support to you and your trainees. Let me know if there's anything you need. Love you, Gin-nee. Talk to you soon.'

The next morning, Fate switched from her workout clothes to her uniform and sat down in her office to do some paperwork. No sooner had she picked up her pen did the terminal ring. "Harlown."

"Commander Harlown, this is Lieutenant Legretta down at the Cyborg Rehab Facility."

"Ah yes, what can I do for you, Legretta?"

"Have you been in recent contact with Major Nakajima? She's been out of contact for a full 24 hours and hasn't returned to the facility."

"No, not recently." Fate paused, dropping her pen. "Are you saying she's gone missing?!"

"Considering what's been going on, that's my only assumption."

"Kgh! Could it be he got her too?" She bit her thumb. "I'll call you back when I know anything." She disconnected. "Subaru." The video screen popped up to reveal the girl, tears running down her face. "Subaru, what's wrong?" The girl held up a pendant for her to see. "That's Blitz Caliber!"

"She sent me a weird e-mail yesterday. I thought it was just a joke, but this came in the mail this morning. Fate-daichou, I'm scared. What if something happened to her? What if it's really her final goodbye?"

Fate bit her lip. "Subaru, go spend some time with Soran, and talk it out with him for a bit. I'll do some sniffing around. Hang in there." She hung up the phone. "Damn it… this isn't what we needed."

"Commander, Teana Lanster reporting as ordered." She saluted Hayate.

It was returned. "Have a seat." Fate and Reinforce Zwei were on either side of the Section 6 commander. "Well, Tea-san, it looks like you're getting your wish after all."

"Eh? You mean I'm being put on the kidnapping case?" She smiled in hope.

"No. This is a different case, but it might not be unrelated." Fate plopped a file in front of her, with Ginga's picture clipped to the cover. "Ginga Nakajima has gone missing. We either predict that she's gone AWOL or was taken and forced to send this note to Subaru. Find her, and quickly."

"Ginga-san…." Tea bit her lip. "Do you think it has to do with the death of Scaglietti or Caro and Erio's kidnappings?"

"That's indeterminate." Hayate shook her head. "Fate-chan will be your senior handler and partner. She has more connections than you think. We need to find her quickly, or else the entire Rehab project might all be for naught, and the girls will be sent to prison indefinitely. Understand?"

"Yes, ma'am. I'll gather up my materials and depart straight away."

Soran tossed some of the cafeteria food into a plastic bowl and sealed it up before getting a plate of his own and going through the line a second time. He sighed, not realizing he had company in the line. "Is that for Subaru?" The tall woman with short blonde hair asked, motioning to the bowl.

"Yeah, she's still confining herself to her room. She's really scared for Gin right now." The two went to an empty table. "It's been five days and still not a word. How are things on your end, Shamal-sensei?"

"Well I've memorized every possible scenario I can think of, and I've got books of the extremely rare complications at the ready just in case. We'll be bringing the rehab cyborgs here for the birth. We're the best equipped to handle it all, security and medical has a heavy presence after all." She sighed. "Before the day is done, we're going to have a few records on our hands, let alone criminal babies."

"Nothing!" Tea slammed her back into the passenger seat of Fate's convertible and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I've gone to every possible place she could have gone to. We've checked hospitals, we've checked morgues. Her account record doesn't list her as getting any tickets or anything. So where did she go?"

"So the trail's gone cold, and we're out of time." Fate sighed. "We tried our best, Teana, but we should report back."

Tea looked at the Investigative Bureau logo on Fate's clutch purse. "Not just yet…. Fate-daichou, did Ginga ever use a codename during investigations? Maybe she went under an alias!"

"Of course!" Fate snapped her fingers. "Bardiche, network logon."

"Connected."

"Cross reference the alias Ingit Refil with all area hospitals and medical centers from the position of disappearance."

"Working. Match Found. Ingit Refil checked into the Caspar Center six days ago, and left within three hours."

"Call them." Fate ordered, and the number dialed.

"Caspar Center of Vaginal Medicine."

"This is Commander Fate T. Harlown of TSAB Section 6, currently conducting an urgent missing-person's investigation. Six days ago, an Ingit Refil signed in. I need to know who she saw and why."

"One moment please." She put her on hold, soft music playing across the screen. Tea polished her gun while they waited. "Commander Harlown, Ingit Refil was here to see Doctor Balthazar about a pre-abortion examination."

"A pre-abortion exam? Why would she need…" Tea clapped her hand over her mouth. "Oh no, not her too!"

"Get me a hold of this doctor, right away!" Fate grunted as she shifted to high gear. "We're heading to meet him in person."

Soran got out of the car and looked up at his apartment complex. "Nanoha-san, Subaru is getting hard to manage in her crisis. I want to help her, but really there's nothing more I can do here. Please grant us a little time off base, at least."

"I can't do that, Soran. You know that. As long as the person that kidnapped Caro and Erio is out there, we can't take any unnecessary risks! I won't lose another teammate."

"I understand that, but she and I are both going stir crazy in here!"

"I still can't do it, Soran-kun. I'm sorry."

Soran took a deep breath and sighed. "Can you at least meet me halfway? Let me get some stuff from my apartment that might entertain her. That green-haired prick wasn't after me, he was after Erio and Caro. It wouldn't make sense to come after me now when he could have grabbed me then as well."

Nanoha pouted, raking her teeth against her lower lip. "You've got ten minutes. In and out. The rest, you're in a secure transit."

"Ten minutes." He rushed up the stairs and got to his door, only to find it ajar, the frame bent from the lock being popped open. He took a step back and surveyed the area. "Barrage." He whispered, and instantly it was in his hand. "Garyu. WAS Mode, surveillance." Garyu's key rushed into the room as the visor washed over Soran's eyes. It showed the layout for his apartment, indicating it detected something in the kitchen. Pushing the door open slowly, he stepped into the room as silently as possible. The place was a mess, and reeked of rotten food and unwashed clothes.

"Aom. Chom chom chom. Glup. Ngh?! PWEAAAHH!" A variety of strange sounds came from the kitchen.

He pressed his back against the wall, prepping Barrage to fire. Then he rushed around the corner. "Hold it right...!" He saw the person there, sitting on the floor in front of the open fridge, long purple hair tied with a black bow going across the tile floor. "Ginga?!" She whipped her head around quickly, her eyes an enraged yellow, and she kicked off, trying to throw a punch. He blocked her fist quickly, which was clutching a carrot. "Gin, it's me!"

Her eyes quivered in recognition as the color returned to normal. "Soran? Oh God, Soran!" She threw herself on him in a hug.

"What are you doing here?" Soran pulled her away. "Do you have any idea how worried Subaru is?!" Ginga bit her lip and backed up, looking away, ashamed. "Ahhh!" She stood there as a woman full term with child, clothes she took from his drawers barely fitting her.

"Soran… you have to kill me." She held her stomach tightly. "I… I can't have my baby. Heh, listen to me, the damn maternal programming again. Mgh!" She rushed over to the trash can and vomited. "Fitting ten months of gestation into seven days is hell."

As she hurled, Soran blindly activated his watch, speed-dialing Teana, and turning the speaker down. "Ginga, why are you in my apartment?"

"Scaglietti managed to knock me up too. I didn't think he had the time before the last battle, but I was wrong. When he died... I already knew. I tried to get rid of it, I really did, but the gestation program has overwritten my common sense with overbearing maternal instinct. I couldn't abort it, and I couldn't take my own life." She grabbed Barrage and pointed it at her womb. "I'm carrying the demon that abused all cyborgs. I can't give birth to that. I'll never be able to forgive myself. Soran, I'm at full term and can go into labor at any moment. You have to kill me before that happens!"

Soran was in shock. "Kill you…. I… I can't do that, Gin! What it would do to Subaru… to everyone… that can't… there has to be another way. Let's go to Section 6, and they'll take him out, okay?" He grabbed her arm and tugged her towards the door.

"NO!" Her eyes flashed yellow and her palm slammed into his chest and flung him to the sofa. "Soran, I'm so sorry! It's the maternal programming. Anything that would lead to me causing my baby's death is stopped. That's why I came here. I knew you'd come eventually. You have to finish me off before I give birth! You're the only one I trust to do it!"

Soran bit his lip, shaking his head slowly. He gripped his scalp and tugged. "This wasn't supposed to happen. It was just to take their eyes off me for a bit. I never thought you would get involved like this!" He looked at her with tears in his eyes.

"Soran… why… why are you crying? This isn't your fault. I'm asking you this because I trust you." She gritted her teeth and gripped her stomach. "That was a contraction. Soran… I…." Her eyes turned yellow as she paused in mid sentence. "No… he's cognizant… I… I can hear him. Stop talking to me! Stop laughing, Jail!"

"Scaglietti is communicating with you… from the inside?!"

"Soran, you have to do it now! I can feel the maternal programming starting to take over. Soran, if you care for me at all, you have to do it while I'm still me!" She looked down, liquid soaking the pants. "My water just broke, hurry!"

He raised Barrage, its tip glowing with a bullet. "Gin-nee… I… I'm sorry. This is all my fault…."

"DO IT!"

"I… CAN'T!" He tossed Barrage away, kicking off the sofa and diving at her. "I'll hold you until help arrives."

"Like hell, you TSAB bastard!" Her eyes changed into a dark yellow and her hand clasped around his throat as they struggled. He felt her stomach tense under him. "GUAH!" She released him and he hopped backwards.

"You can't fight when you're in labor, Ginga. Those contractions will get you before you can defeat me."

"I don't care. My baby is going to come soon, and I'll make sure that you'll never have him!" She paused, her eyes fluctuating between blue and yellow, her face in shock. "Wait…" She stared at him in horror. "It was you?! It was all you?!"

"Kgh! Scaglietti, you bastard! Shut up in there! You're under arrest, so use your first right and remain silent!" Soran roared.

"Soran… Starwind?! You're the Starwind heir?! HUAGH!" She collapsed to the floor.

"Ginga… come on. It's not too late. Subaru still needs her sister. Just trust me."

She backed up, dragging herself along the floor as he approached. "Stay away from me! Now I understand! You're responsible for it all! The computer error, the kidnappings, you… you're the reason I'm having this baby?!" Her face was enraged, her eye color swapping back and forth, cold sweat running down her cheeks. "Well DADDY, get ready to meet your son, cause here he comes!" She leaned back and screamed.

Teana, Shamal, and a bunch of MPs rushed into the room, surrounding her. She thrashed at them, but fighting had already become impossible for her, as they took her and her newborn into custody. Tea looked at her phone. She had lost the connection. And Soran was nowhere to be found.