Starving

Fawzia-11 pushed through the compounding grief. As she Watched, Lamia howled in frustration and loss, ejecting Duri's corpse, returning to full size, and lunging toward the man who had robbed it. The Captain made no attempt to retreat, instead leaping away perpendicular to the shredding chairs while continuing to fire. Fawzia knew he was done running. Having just broken his highest oath to protect all Watchers, and with his Security Chief dead, he clearly intended to make a final stand.

Either the Captain would push this otherworldly nightmare past its limits… or he'd die trying.

As the Captain repeated his earlier order for all personnel to move away from Lamia's current position, Fawzia opened a channel to the other Watchers. Just a week ago, there would have been six other Watchers on that list. Now, there were only Peng, Anya, and Niko. "We've lost another member of our team, and our champion has committed to a final attack. Let's end this. You are authorized to assist the Captain. Just don't let Lamia take you alive."

With that, Fawzia ended her Trance. She'd thought through the theories presented by Doctor Khalil's team, particularly the idea that Lamia's presence prevented Elsa Yarr from projecting her mind like other Watchers. With the Lamia entity growing weaker by the second, there might be a way for Fawzia to contribute directly.

"Soldier, I'm going to hide on my own." The young man stopped, confused, and Fawzia got off the gurney. "Take this to the doctors assembled on level 99. You can help them move wounded."

"I shouldn't leave you."

"I know what I'm doing."

She turned to leave, using the motion to hide the moment when she pulled out an injector pen. As expected, the soldier grabbed her shoulder. He was loyal, and brave, and unwilling to leave her side. But she needed the freedom to take a major personal risk. Whirling, she injected the Corporal with a very heavy dose of the sedative she used to stay comfortable. His expression of confusion deepened into betrayal, which hurt to see, but at least he'd be safe. "Thank you for protecting me this whole time," Fawzia said as the soldier slumped to his knees. "Now sleep soundly, knowing you did all you could for me."

Hitting herself with a stimulant to counter her own sedatives, Fawzia pushed her aching body into a slow jog, heading toward the closest elevator.

Fighting to maintain his Trance despite a building migraine, Peng-24 hit Martins with another telekinetic push, breaking Lamia's weak hold. Anyone else would surely have gotten wrecked from being hurled across the room, but not the Captain. Riding the hit flawlessly, Benicio spun, pushed off two chairs, and fired off shots with astounding accuracy. Even with Lamia's movements obvious from the scattering of chairs in the crowded auditorium, it was still awe-inspiring to see what the Captain could do while tumbling through the air. Another spray of needle teeth sought the Captain, and three made contact. Gashes appeared on the dappled white armor as two of the teeth glanced off, but one punched through his right arm.

The Captain showed zero sign of having taken a hit. His extreme mobility and vicious aggression didn't let up in the slightest.

Even while fighting to assist the Captain, Peng reeled from adrenaline, pain, rage, and disbelief at the loss of Duri. The steady, friendly scientist had been so easy to work with, and his gateways had saved many lives in the last hour. As long as Duri lived, Peng had figured he had two safety nets. If Peng faced direct danger, either Niko or Duri might be able to step in and save him. But now, Duri was gone. After sixty-five years without a single Watcher suffering violence, their team on Earth had been cut from seven to four in a single week. Those who had once been considered untouchable were in deadly peril. With the genius Hasina gone, and with Lamia clearly improving in its ability to locate Watchers, they were on the brink of total disaster. Their last best chance was the whirling storm of destruction, humanity's deadliest warrior.

Without the Captain, Peng's odds of survival would plummet… along with Anya's.

On a deeper level, that he didn't really acknowledge to himself, he also wanted "Benny" to survive… for Niko's sake.

Shots punched into Lamia, which pursued the Captain with desperate fury. But the beast had slowed and weakened since its arrival on earth, and the Captain was unlike anyone else it had faced. In constant motion, leaping, sprinting, diving, and rebounding off chairs, ladders, or walls, he stayed one step ahead.

Dozens of needle spines rose to the surface of Lamia's translucent flesh, slower than during any of its previous attacks, and Peng concentrated fiercely. When the teeth shot forth at mach 2, they shattered against an invisible wall of force. Peng's Trance nearly broke from the strain, but he surged with elation at this new breakthrough.

Lamia lurched to a stop, and for just a moment, Peng hoped it had given up, faced by humanity's deadliest soldier and a Watcher that could match its telekinetic power.

Then every ladder hanging from the ceiling bent, and twisted.

Dozens of wide rungs tore free, all of them converging on the Captain's location faster than Peng could clearly see.

Diving and twisting, Benicio Martins avoided all but two.

Punching through armor with ease, one twisted length of metal tore off the Captain's left arm at the elbow.

The other punched through his right lung.

Peng's thoughts froze. His elation and pride evaporated.

Silent, showing no sign of pain or even distress, the Captain adjusted his grip on his rifle as he ran and just kept shooting.

Then help arrived.

Two figures manifested at the far end of the room. Niko screamed for Benny to keep moving. The battered kid could barely stand, but he hugged Anya close. 28 opened fire with a pair of pistols, while Captain Martins kept firing his rifle one-handed. Lamia broke off its pursuit of the Captain to charge toward the two Watchers. Mind throbbing from overexertion, Peng's attempt to hurl Lamia off course failed, but Niko was ready. As the hideous thing lunged, Niko and Anya projected to the opposite end of the room.

Shots from both Anya and the Captain tore into the weakening monstrosity, and chunks of flesh blasted free. However exactly Lamia enhanced its tissues' durability, that power must be nearing a breaking point. The beast lunged, and yet again Niko projected himself and Anya away. Now on the stage at the front of the vast room, Anya reloaded and resumed firing.

Then Niko collapsed.

The kid hit the stage, shaking, having pushed too hard for too long. Captain Martins immediately changed course, charging directly toward Lamia, shouting a challenge and pouring fire into it.

It completely ignored him.

Anya stepped forward, standing her ground between the fallen boy and the oncoming horror. In that moment, Peng knew she would forever be out of his league. Knowing exactly what Lamia would do to any Watcher it captured, 28 still made herself the easier target. Needle teeth punched into Anya's shins, and she dropped to her knees, but she kept shooting. The enemy coiled, compressed, and hurled itself toward Anya.

It never reached her.

Shame, hatred, and vengeance erupted from Peng as a single, brutal mental scream. The shockwave visibly rippled the air as it blasted across the wide chamber in a tight cone of rending force. Chairs wrenched free, ladders bent, and Lamia smashed through the far wall. Captain Martins ground to a stop, clearly stunned, and Anya stared in disbelief.

That felt good…

A wave of dizziness washed over him, and his Trance began to falter. His vision of the room blurred, and his migraine sharpened. He vaguely sensed his real body starting to shake, and he feared his Watch might end…

Then a dark force seized his mind.

Dragging itself back into the room, Lamia poured its will into Peng, who no longer had any strength to resist. His worst fear ever since they'd learned how Klaus died… it crushed in on Peng in that moment. His mind was gripped in a mental vice, and Lamia pulled.

He fell.

No. No more Watchers will die today. Not with me here.

Even as his right lung filled with blood, Captain Martins maintained total self-control as he dashed forward. Having appeared high in the air, Peng landed hard, smashing his face into a chair and pitching to the side.

Benicio reached him. Dropping the rifle he could no longer reload, Benicio yanked Peng back to his feet and shoved him toward the nearest exit. His implants relayed his subvocalized order to the wounded Watcher, who mercifully obeyed. Peng ran for all he was worth, and the Captain turned…

And he saw Lamia.

Fully visible, covered in ragged wounds that weren't properly closing, the vile thing dragged itself toward Anya and Niko, slow enough that Anya could have outrun it if not for the trauma to her legs. The Captain hurled one of his two remaining grenades, and Lamia tore through the floor rather than attempting to knock it away with telekinesis. The grenade detonated, and Niko's head jerked toward the sound. Good… he's still awake.

"Get Anya to safety," Benicio subvocalized, knowing there was no other way to convince Niko to leave him. "She can't even stand. She needs you."

The boy hesitated, but then Lamia heaved itself back up through the hole in the floor. Anya fired three more shots, but that was the last of her ammo. Niko reached out with his left hand, getting a grip on Anya's ankle. Benicio knew the kid would return if he could… but he wouldn't allow it. Drawing his tranquilizer pistol, he waited for the moment when Niko's face grimaced with heightened pain, the sign that he'd upped the intensity of his CPN-Ω simulation.

The dart hit Niko's neck an instant before he and Anya vanished, and Benicio remotely overrode and disabled the boy's torturous simulation.

A single, pained word came over the Captain's comm. "Benny…"

"Thanks for being such an inspiration, 29," Benicio said. "I'll take it from here."

Half a second later, his HUD reported that Niko had lost consciousness, and the boy's implants administered the antidote to prevent the tranquilizer from killing him.

Groaning in frustration and pain, Lamia turned yet again, moving to pursue Peng.

Benicio sprang into the monster's path, pulled out his taser baton, and upped it to the maximum setting.

The vile, rippling, flowing mass of flesh and gore and bladed bone paused, hesitating. Knowing that every second brought the extradimensional horror closer to starvation, the Captain stood his ground, patient, while his suit and implants frantically administered inadequate medical aid.

It spoke.

"Who… who are you?"

"I am the will of humanity. You won't kill anyone else."

A pause, as wounds laboriously closed all over the bloated, pulsing form. "Klaus… considered himself… a symbol of humanity… I killed him with ease."

"He was the Heart of the Watchers. His vision inspired us all. But I… I am their sword. You will not harm any more of my colleagues."

"I… am alone… I just want to go home…"

"Even if you could… you're unworthy. You've ended eleven million lives, and ruined the lives of millions more."

"Meaningless. Other than Watchers… humans are nothing."

"Wrong. Humans matter more than you could ever comprehend… and their avenger stands before you. I may fall here… but that will be your last kill. My Chief's maneuvers brought you to the brink… and I'm mankind's most capable destroyer. If you leave this room at all, you'll be too weak to kill anyone else."

It stirred. Needle teeth rose to the surface, but none yet pointed toward the Captain. His suit had stopped the external bleeding, and it flooded his system with medications, stimulants, and fluids to maintain blood circulation. He and his foe were both dying. But unlike Lamia, he had felt this anguish and weakness countless times before.

It slowly constricted, gathering itself for the fight of its life. "I need… only to finish you… then I'll overtake that fleeing Watcher."

"You can't catch him. I will not allow it."

It slid forward, slowly. At first, Benicio didn't respond. His damaged body prepared to spring, but he made no outward sign. His armor was covered in countless shallow gashes from glancing gauss rounds and needle teeth, the steel rung lodged in his right lung forced his suit to shut down that lung entirely, and his left arm ended at the elbow. Nevertheless, he knew Lamia wouldn't hurt any more of his colleagues. It was so damaged, and so hungry… and he was Benicio Martins.

Teeth swiveled forward and launched with terrible force, while Lamia heaved its mangled body forward. The Captain had already moved.

Two of the teeth pierced his left leg, but he flipped past the monster with a meter to spare. His right arm stabbed out, striking with the taser, which packed enough punch to fry a human heart.

That's for Klaus-21.

The vile thing thrashed and twisted, trying to turn and pursue, but with awkward uncertainty. The Captain rebounded off a chair, hurling himself backward and over his foe, slashing out to land another hit.

And that's for the Eighth Maximus Angelos.

Eleven more teeth launched, most of them skimming past the leaping, diving Captain, but two burst inside his suit, tearing tiny shrapnel pathways through his liver. He planted his feet, performed a backflip Anya would have applauded, and landed another hit.

For Charlotte-17.

A wave of teeth dislodged and clattered to the floor as the writhing mass bucked and twisted, howling from the repeated shocks. Benicio managed to kick off the disgusting thing before it could react, and a jagged mouth snapped shut a centimeter from his foot. It coiled and launched itself after him, but he threw his taser with flawless accuracy, grabbed a bent ladder, and avoided the thrashing thing in midair.

For Wilma Taibei.

He wrenched the length of metal from his chest, landed in a controlled roll, reversed direction, and ran straight at Lamia. He hurled the steel bar, and his shaken, weakening enemy overreacted. Mistaking the rung for a taser, Lamia dashed aside, allowing the Captain to retrieve his real weapon. A salvo of needle teeth punched into his back, and his suit warned of numerous lethal hits, but he'd fought through worse in a hundred simulations. He jumped, hooking the stump of his left arm through a hanging ladder, shot past Lamia to the right, and dragged his taser down its full length, tearing a long shriek of pain from the beast.

For Eléa Blanchet.

An invisible grip seized the Captain, but with nothing like the strength this thing had earlier displayed. It slowed his movements enough for a launched fang to tear open his trachea, but not enough for the panicking thing to physically catch him. He held his taser baton under what remained of his left arm, pulled out his last magazine of incendiary gauss rounds, and synched them to his implants. Sprinting, flipping off a buckled plate of flooring, he flung the magazine at Lamia and remotely activated the ammunition. Liquid fire sprayed from the magazine in pressurized streams, coating the disgusting thing, which howled and shed a broad patch of blackened flesh.

For the Chief!

Stretching itself into a far longer and narrower shape, Lamia whipped and thrashed, its many mouths gaping, internal fangs churning. The dying Captain lost his right foot to an extending length of bladed bone, but he plunged his taser into a bloody mouth, wrenched it free, and sprang away.

For Toshiko Yasuragi.

A salvo of teeth gouged deep trenches in his helmet, tearing off an ear and causing his HUD to fail. Setting his taser's micro fusion reactor to overload, he hurled it toward the sound of his howling, wailing enemy and pulled off his helmet. With his own eyes, he saw the energy discharge as the weapon burned itself out, charring Lamia's flesh along multiple jagged lines.

For Tácito Nelson.

Body failing, suit starting to shut down, Benicio nevertheless caught sight of the fallen tranquilizer pistol he'd used to stop Niko from returning. He dived for it, taking six more needle teeth to the torso, but snatching up the weapon in a quivering hand. Setting the darts to burst on contact rather than inject the target, he turned, firing off shots as quickly as he could. Blue chemical sprayed across Lamia, absorbed into its low-density form, and its movements slowed still further.

For… Duri-22…

Blood loss brought darkness to the edges of his vision, organ trauma sickened him to his core, every muscle convulsed so badly they threatened to tear themselves apart… and still he wasn't done. With his override authority as acting Security Chief, he had his suit administer a lethal dose of stimulants to buy just a few more seconds.

Captain Benicio Martins, Sword of the Watchers, looked upon the mutilated, shrunken, starving thing, thinking of all the millions it had killed. He couldn't evade any longer, but that didn't matter. In all of HQ, only he was authorized to carry a single, merculite grenade, which could easily breach bulkheads within the facility. He turned slightly to the side, disguising his right hand as he armed the device.

And this… is for me.

Howling in triumph, disgorging blackened tissues, and tearing its largest mouth still wider, the shrieking thing engulfed the Captain in churning fangs and sawing bone.

The merculite charge detonated.

Julio Karlsson, Governor of the Elpis Colony, stared down his opponent with an expression of purest rage. Four police officers flanked him, and two more stood watch protectively near his exhausted son. Young Gabriel still shivered, despite having been helped into a dry change of clothes. For his part, Governor Karlsson hadn't bothered to change, and his suit dripped dirty water onto the floor of the Capitol building.

"Senator Fitzgerald: I formally accuse you of attempted assassination." Gasps of outrage and confusion rippled through the gathered members of parliament, but Mrs. Fitzgerald kept her expression schooled and unreadable. "Against my express wishes, you summoned Lamia to take away my son!" He gestured to Gabriel, who had retreated within himself. "You knew that I would defend him, despite the very high chance that Lamia would kill me too. By calling to Lamia, you intended–"

"Your 'son' isn't a real person," Fitzgerald interrupted, her tone condescending. "If a photograph were dumped into a trash compactor, would you risk your life to pull it out? I may have committed a social faux pas, but it was you who–"

"Silence!" Julio roared, causing several of the gathered observers to cry out in alarm. "You know full well that I've tried for years to repeal that law! Thousands have used it as an excuse to murder those with disabilities or mental illness, and it has eroded our society! Unlike you, I love my son, I would die for him… and you counted on it!"

Two of the police moved toward Senator Fitzgerald, but she shouted, "Parliament deserves to vote on this! I'm on the ballot for the next election, and early polls suggest I may win the Governorship! My constituents deserve to have Parliament vote on whether my actions are worthy of arrest!"

Fierce argument broke out among the forty Senators, filling the room with a chaotic clamor, and rage seethed within the Governor. He still had no theories as to why the invisible Lamia had abandoned her efforts to drown Gabriel, nor why she had allowed Julio to administer CPR and carry his son to safety. By rights, they should both be dead, and this loathsome woman would have been responsible. Thinking back, much of what Lamia had said didn't even seem meant for his ears. He wouldn't be surprised to learn Lamia was fully insane…

He forced his mind back to the situation at hand, trying to remember the details of all emergency provisions of the Colony Charter. Could he deny this request for a vote? Could he force the arrest despite–

"Dad?"

Governor Karlsson's thoughts stopped dead. That voice…

"Dad… what's going on? Why's everyone yelling?"

Julio turned, along with his security detail. Young Gabriel now stood, his eyes clear, taking in his surroundings. "Dad… I… I think I'm finally alright…"

Slowly, the shouting and accusations gave way to stunned silence. All eyes fixed on the Unwanted teenager… who suddenly seemed as alert and present as everyone else.

Julio raced toward his son, and he was surprised when Senator Fitzgerald did the same. He waved away the suspicious police, knowing the despicable woman didn't have it in her to try something directly. While the Governor hugged Gabriel with fierce protectiveness, and the boy laughed with the purest relief, Fitzgerald examined them both from just out of reach. "How… how is this possible?"

Gabriel ignored her. "Dad… did you save me? I think I was drowning… and you were with me…"

"I would never abandon you."

Senator Fitzgerald started to quiver, and she took a step back, growing pale. She activated her personal comm, and said, "Quinn? Do you read?"

Though his thoughts focused on the miracle of his restored son, Julio still recognized the name. That's the Senator's daughter… She works for the Khalil Institute. I thought Fitzgerald disowned her…

Though no one but Senator Fitzgerald could hear Quinn's response, the look of growing disbelief on the woman's face was plain to see. "How… you mean… all of them?"

An upsurge of hope made the Governor dizzy, and he hugged his son so tight it probably hurt, but Gabriel didn't complain. When Senator Fitzgerald ended the call, Julio made himself speak. "What did you learn? What happened at the Khalil Institute?"

Gabriel pulled away, and Julio allowed it. Father and son stood side-by-side, facing the Senator who had tried to get them both killed. The woman looked utterly crestfallen, almost ill. "The Unwanted… they… they're all behaving… normally… They can speak, and reason, and understand… Quinn has seen it with her own eyes at a small refugee camp… and the Institute has informed her that the same holds true with the thousands of Unwanted they shelter…"

The Governor took a step toward her. "Do you mean… the people for whose rights I have fought ever since my election… have been cured?"

The Senator completely broke down. Dropping to her knees, she wept uncontrollably. The room fell silent, watching the outpouring of unrestrained emotion. "My… my son… seven younger versions… and nine younger versions of my daughter… I… I handed them all over to Lamia… I thought… I knew it was a mercy…" Her grief intensified, and her sobs grew so harsh she was almost screaming.

Governor Karlsson didn't know how to feel. While indescribable elation flowed through him at the news of the Unwanted miracle, he couldn't decide what to make of this woman. Should he pity her? Hate her? Was she disgusting, pathetic, or tragic? Years of struggle, fighting for the Unwanted without success, culminating in the recent murder attempt, had him totally unable to settle on a single conclusion.

But there was one person who acted out of pure compassion.

Young Gabriel, whose mind had been out of sync for eighteen years, rushed toward the Senator and dropped to his knees at her side. While the woman wailed and screamed, torn by confusion, guilt, and terrible loss, the boy held her close, not uttering a word.

Agony, profound weariness, morbid hunger, and sickening dread beat upon the ancient one humans called Lamia. It slid down the flickering corridor, no faster than most humans could walk. With a terrible, wide gash that it couldn't spare the energy to heal, it had to carefully orient its body just to prevent a heap of broken teeth from spilling onto the floor. It barely had enough energy to keep its body from tearing apart as it moved. Soon, it would be forced to reconstitute Elsa Yarr, and it would need every bone cell it had left. Too late… I learned the truth too late…

To think… it had dominated Elsa for twenty-four years without ever really knowing what made her so special. It drew on her powers, enhanced them, exploited them, all while lacking the most basic grasp of their core function. Ever since being dragged to this terrible place, it had sensed Watchers, and gradually it grew more capable of detecting their approximate location. But if it had only known… if it had guessed sooner. The flying phantoms… that was only their minds… They can send their minds beyond their bodies. With that knowledge, it could have connected the dots far faster, and it would have gained the ability to sense their exact locations long ago. Now… it might be too late.

It reached a barred door, and it heard many voices on the other side. It sensed the athletic female Watcher… and the blind boy Watcher… but in its current state…

No! I cannot hesitate! This might be my last chance…

The voices in the room fell silent, hopefully frozen in terror, and Lamia extruded its most intact serrated bones and tore the door open.

Hundreds of humans in lab coats poured fire into the breach.

Screaming, reeling, Lamia recoiled from the overwhelming firepower and took cover off to the left. It had caught a glimpse of the two Watchers lying prone at the far side of the sprawling lab. Earlier, it would have blocked every shot with a telekinetic shield, launched itself across the room, and massacred every human in a veritable tornado of blood and bone. But now… with its powers all but spent, with its shrunken form torn and oozing… it knew it wouldn't survive long enough to reach the Watchers.

Perhaps… I shouldn't try to escape… If there's no hope of survival, I should charge into that room, launch every bone I have left, and avenge myself upon as many humans as possible…

But no… it sensed one more chance. Inexplicably, another Watcher was drawing close. Moving to the left, Lamia sensed the change in position and calculated the Watcher's course. The oldest Watcher… is heading straight toward me… Why?

It didn't matter. It had no choice but to take this chance. It began to drag itself toward the approaching Watcher… but then the flesh of its underside tore open. It no longer had the strength to enhance this entire body's durability. It had no choice but to rebuild Elsa…

At least, to the extent possible. It had lost so much flesh and bone, it would have to cut corners.

Many corners.

It had kept Elsa's brain cells clustered deep inside itself, so Elsa's mind would be mostly rebuilt, but a great deal of her body would have to be omitted. The body of a maimed and emaciated little girl would possess far less potential for torture and killing… but perhaps the oldest Watcher would be easy to break…

Taking its final gamble, Lamia began to compress and restructure its form for the last time.

"This is Fawzia-11. With the Captain and Chief dead, I'm assuming emergency authority over HQ. The enemy is all but powerless. I have a plan for putting an end to the threat." And possibly sparing the life of Lamia's greatest victim… "You are ordered not to intervene. If my plan fails, I will not let it take me alive. In that event, all soldiers are authorized to move in for the kill."

Security footage played on Fawzia's neural implants. Lamia was shrinking, compressing, and assuming a vaguely human form. This was the endgame. Peng appeared to be en route too, against her orders, but she'd arrive first.

If Lamia has grown so weak that it has difficulty controlling Elsa, I might just be able to finish this with a single trick. The simple technique used to train newly-inducted Watchers. If this ends as I hope, there might be some poetry in that…

Elsa Yarr stood shivering in an unfamiliar hallway. Elpis didn't have any facilities this advanced, though she had numerous impressions and disjointed images that suggested she'd been here for some time. Lamia's hunger was desperate and raw, but It also felt pitifully weak. Testing to see how much freedom she might have, Elsa took a step…

And everything hurt.

Blinking, she discovered she had only one eye, and no hair or even teeth. She looked down at her emaciated body, every rib standing out gruesomely, and there didn't seem to be enough of them. Her pale skin was thin to the point of translucence, and in some patches she had no skin at all. Her left arm simply didn't exist, her right hand had no pinky finger, and what fingers she did have lacked nails. Breathing with difficulty, she realized she had only one lung. Her stomach caved in hideously, and she guessed her organs were shrunken. She wouldn't be surprised if she had only one kidney.

Part of her wanted to weep. Her small body was barely functional, with so much missing.

But the greater part of her… rejoiced. The Watchers had been too much for Lamia. Perhaps it had killed some of them, but it was on the brink. Maybe they would starve to death soon, or perhaps the next time Elsa was shot, Lamia would be unable to heal her. Only by pouring Its entire will into Elsa could It force her to walk forward. She felt an unusual awareness that seemed quite new. Somehow, she was certain a Watcher approached from around the next corner. Every step hurt, and she noticed that her essentially skeletal feet were each missing two toes.

An old woman stepped into view. Her age-spotted brown skin and gray hair underscored the pain and weariness she couldn't hide. But when the woman looked upon Elsa, tears welled up.

"Poor child… we did what we had to do… but this has cost you so much."

Lamia seized control of Elsa's voice. "Send… me back… I swear to you, I will never again take more Unwanted than I need to survive."

"Foolish thing. No conscious Watcher has the strength to send you back. You've killed or exhausted the few that could have saved you."

While Elsa nearly wept with relief at this confirmation that the suffering would soon end, Lamia forced her voice to remain cold and hateful. "If… If I have no hope… all that's left… is vengeance."

But the old woman showed no fear. "You pathetic, disgusting murderer… After our Captain's last stand, you don't have the strength for vengeance. Perhaps you could hurt me… but I doubt it."

It forced Elsa to advance menacingly. Her right hand clenched into a fist, and pulled back, but Elsa sensed just how little strength remained. Her arm, scrawny to a sickening extreme, was empowered barely more than the natural strength her body possessed back on Elpis. She felt her bony fist hardening, but not by much. She doubted a punch would do more than bruise this woman and knock her down.

"You've killed millions on Elpis," the Watcher said. "And you've killed eight members of our Organization, including two Watchers. You even forced our champion to kill a Watcher, breaking his highest oath for the sake of a cause even greater. But this… is your end. You unleashed merciless slaughter to prolong your life… and now it's over."

Lamia struck out with her fist, but Elsa resisted with all she had. Incredibly, it was enough to allow the old woman to catch her wrist in both hands and hold it fast. Lamia tried to strike out telekinetically, but it did no more than make Elsa's head throb.

The weary old woman released Elsa and stepped back. Lamia hesitated, not certain what, if anything, should be done.

"Welcome to Earth, Elsa Yarr," the Watcher said, stunning the girl speechless. She hadn't been called by her own name in twenty-four years.

"You… know me?" Elsa asked, before Lamia could half-heartedly clamp down on her voice.

The woman smiled. "Yes. And I know that you're not only Unwanted… you're a Watcher… like me."

In a rush, so much made sense. Despite the weariness and discomfort of her pitiful, incomplete body, she managed to smile. Lamia tried to twist that smile into a sneer.

It failed.

"My name is Fawzia-11. If you join us, you'll be Elsa-30. Let's play a little game."

With a surge of rage, Lamia managed to make Elsa lunge forward, reaching toward Fawzia's throat… but Elsa stopped just short of making contact.

Taking a cautious step back, Fawzia nevertheless stayed calm. "How many fingers am I holding up?"

Elsa blinked. True, she had only one eye, but she couldn't possibly get this wrong. "Four."

Fawzia nodded, then she held her hand behind her back. "How many am I holding up now?"

A surge of fear pressed upon Elsa from her tormentor, but she beat It back. It was no longer her master. She squinted, wondering if she should guess…

Then, so suddenly it felt like an impossible trick… she saw Fawzia… from behind. Her mind looked upon Fawzia's back, and beyond, Elsa saw herself.

And in that instant, Lamia screamed.

The wail of anguish and abandonment filled Elsa's entire world, along with an agonizing sensation of being torn apart. She expected to see her ruined body rip to shreds, but no… this pain was Lamia's. Whatever Elsa had just done, however she was looking upon herself from a distance, it was the last blow to her ancient tormenter.

Ripped away from Elsa's body, the starved, beaten, hopeless murderer warped, and split… and faded away.

Elsa's mind snapped back into her body, and for the first time in decades… there was no one else there with her.

"It's… gone…"

Dropping painfully to her knees, exhausted in every sense of the word, Elsa felt the release of tears flowing down her cheeks. She toppled over, but the old woman caught her before she hit the cold floor. "Lamia…" Elsa whispered, "Lamia… is dead…"

Weary, ill, head pounding, and with blood flowing from his broken nose, Peng-24 staggered round the corner. He could barely see, barely think… but this was his chance.

Fawzia knelt, eyes closed, clearly exhausted, clutching the emaciated girl close, not even aware of Peng.

Limping, but determined to finish this, Peng drew closer. His quivering hand held his gauss pistol, and his mind filled with images of Klaus. His killer was right there, helpless, pitiful, beaten. The ruined thing couldn't be more than fifteen kilos in her current condition.

Drawing close, Peng raised his pistol, stepping to the side so his shot wouldn't hit Fawzia. He'd pictured this so many times, and the moment had arrived. She tore Klaus apart. She tortured Charlotte, and Duri. She killed millions… He took aim at the little murderer's forehead…

Fawzia didn't open her eyes, but she whispered, "The monster is dead."

Peng hesitated. So Fawzia was Watching him. But he also saw the girl was breathing, in a lopsided way that suggested only one lung.

"The girl lives, but Lamia is no more. Elsa passed the test, projecting her mind for the first time. Lamia wasn't strong enough to prevent it… and the projection killed it."

Peng's hand shook harder. His aim wavered.

"I know you wanted to avenge Klaus directly. You hoped to be the one to fire the shot. But you did enough. You helped save many Unwanted. You fought well in a great battle. And then… you pitted your strength against Lamia's many times. You were a vital part of the team that avenged Klaus."

For the first time since his childhood, Peng felt tears flowing.

He holstered his pistol, took off his jacket, and helped Fawzia wrap it around the tiny, shivering, sleeping little girl.

Activating his comm, Peng spoke to the entire facility. "All available doctors to my current location. Lamia… is dead… and… a Watcher… needs immediate medical attention."