Beep. Beep. Beep.

Magic-powered machinery generates a gentle hum, filling the chamber with an unusually calm atmosphere. A woman dressed in a blue gown lies on the central table; attached to her form resembles medical accessories used on hospital patients. There's a needle in her right arm for an IV drip, with a pulse oximeter placed on her left index finger. The team of technicians go about tidying up, where one is reviewing notes for the post-operation report.

The head of this operation – a man with silver hair which normally covers his eyes, though here it's been secured back – begins speaking after his earpiece starts an audio recording. "The time is now 5:26 pm. We have finished the implementation procedure. Subject is female, a fellow researcher here at the Next Generation Medical Research Institute, age falls in the range of early to mid-twenties." He momentarily pauses to consider his next words. Five seconds pass before he exhales and continues with, "an additional note: she has become the host of a rare disease. From the limited information we know, infection of the temporoparietal junction (TPI) has an extremely long incubation period where the contractor can live asymptomatically. This was to buy us time while we continue searching for a cure."

"Doctor," the tech who was transcribing begins. "I don't mean to doubt you, but when will we know if it was a success?"

"She's still showing signs of life," he answers. "We'll hopefully know soon that she hasn't fallen into a vegetative state."

Her senses gradually return as the anesthesia is wearing off. The first is her hearing; she subconsciously moves her ears as if to tune in.

[Me…?]

"Remind me what this was for again."

[That voice… Is it…?]

"Whether you believe it or not, I gave her something to help her live a little longer."

[What's this inside me? My chest hurts….]

"Without prior knowledge on how this would result? What the hell is wrong with you?"

[Huh? Ugh… It's like my internal temperature is wildly fluctuating….]

"Have we not been researching what could, as you've said, 'turn the healthcare system on its head?'"

[Burning hot!]

"...right. Guess I'll retract some part of my statement." The second man lets out a halfhearted laugh. "This theory is yours, so you should be the expert."

"We're finally done."

"Yes."

"Stabilized Gear cells infused with magic... This means no more human illness."

"I never could have done this without you and Aria."

"Don't try to be modest. You're about to win every achievement award they've got and get your name in the history books."

"I'm… not really interested in that."

"Have a little pride, man. Although… this could flip the healthcare system on its head. You're going to face some resistance."

"I'm not concerned about that, actually…."

"You're afraid someone's going to weaponize them."

"Yes. I have decided I will turn over all of my research on Gear cells, and the theory behind them, to the state."

"You've gotta be kidding me."

"Only if they can meet four conditions."

"Which are?"

"One... Any benefits derived from this research may only be used to further peace in the world. Two... Everyone involved in further research must have their physical and financial well-being guaranteed. Three... The current staff will retain their jobs, and with a significant budget increase to keep this facility intact. And lastly... These conditions must be publicly announced, to prevent the state from going back on them once they have been agreed."

"What if they don't go for it? I hate to say it, but you should probably be prepared for the worst."

"If and when that happens, I'll have to put a contingency plan in place to destroy all of our research material."

"Well, that would be a huge waste of our best years."

"Not necessarily. Even if our research never sees the light of day, I believe it can…."

[Arguing again… What are they going on about now?]

"Even if it could prolong her life, she'd still internally decay. She'll become a walking corpse, Asuka."

[Like a zombie, if that counts? Say I do survive thanks to the cells. I can only hope I don't end up brain dead.]

"Frederick, look," he points out. "Fully conscious or not, she's making faces at our bantering." Gently tapping her right shoulder twice, he refrains from saying her name. "Can you hear us?"

The corners of Aria's mouth quirk before muttering out, "...yeah." She slowly opens her eyes, shutting them and turning her head to the left after seeing the bright lights placed above. "Can you turn that down?"

"Ah, our apologies." Asuka motions for the person closest to the switch to dim by a level. "How are you feeling?"

"I don't feel that different." She reopens her eyes and sits upright, stretching her arms and legs while taking a deep breath. "It doesn't hurt to breathe now."

"Odd. I don't recall you having respiratory problems."

" I shouldn't have said that, but the burning sensation is gone. Not exactly the poster girl for a clean bill of health. Besides," a tech's quick to remove the needle and oximeter, cleaning up the insertion site and placing a bandage on it. "Thank you. Last time I checked, you're not the one with the infection."

"Well, now that she's awake and alive," Frederick cuts in. "What happens next?"

"Can I go now?"

"Seems as if you're fine, so yes." Asuka hands her a small blank notebook. "For the sake of further research, please keep how you feel in this."

Aria spryly gets up from the operating table as if she's been a healthy human. Benefits of the Gear cells have begun taking effect; simply put, her frame is reworking itself. "Can do. How long did the higher ups allow me to take off?"

"As long as you need."

"Perfect." She takes the book, flipping through the clean pages before deciding to take her leave. "I'll go get changed. Are you still up for tonight?"

"Yeah," Frederick replies. "I'll double check the showtime, and we'll go from there."

Asuka stood there while his friends left and went about the rest of the evening. Although there were other members in the observation room, he couldn't help but wonder if Frederick caught something – something aside from the Gear cells being placed inside Aria's body. "Juno." A memory of his former teacher – the man only known as The Original – reared its way into his train of thought. "I can only hope the Scales of Juno don't take her life upon activation, no matter how it sprouts. As for the other seed," there's only one (unwilling) candidate. "I know exactly who to plant it in."

—

In the time since the operation, Asuka hadn't disclosed what was to come of their collective work. As a kind gesture for data on how the cells have positively affected her body, he treated Aria to an early breakfast at an on-campus café. While he read over her journal, taking note of the neat handwriting in various colors of ink and the cute doodles in the margins, something else occupied his mind. Far from returning to what one may consider a healthy weight, she isn't as morbidly slender as before. She contacted him this past weekend, saying she changed her mind about the cold sleep; she wanted to see how long she could last in her "powered-up" state.

He wished she told him sooner. The next few hours' events were all in place.

"How do I tell her about today…?" The search for a TP infection cure hadn't made any progress – she ideally would be the first to receive it – racing against the possibility of a severe outbreak. That, along with the breach and leak of the project information thanks to the last person she'd suspect. "If she ever found out…."

"Thankfully, my condition hasn't worsened," her idle chatter snapped him back into reality; she's already finished her order. "I have to say I do feel a little different, like I could punch an eighteen-wheeler – no, a tank into scrap metal!"

"Good to know." He pretended to be concerned with the time, pushing up the cuff of his sleeve to uncover his wristwatch. "You should consider yourself lucky. You're the first person who's ever undergone the implants." Placing his wallet inside of his coat after covering the bill, he stands up and signals it's time to leave. "At least we know how they work on a human woman."

"I wouldn't say I've provided much," she follows him to the exit. "But it's like I was given superpowers." Once they were outside, Aria sipped from her to-go coffee cup, keeping the liquid in her mouth for a few seconds before swallowing. "Hey, before you go."

"Hm?"

She finishes her drink before continuing with, "how does the media know about the project?" She's referring to last week's newspaper article headlined the Dangers of Gear Cells . "Am I now considered a threat because I'm your assistant and you made me a host?"

He stops where he is, tensing up before turning around to quietly stare at her, stringing together an excuse. "I'll explain later."

"You're explaining everything to me now."

His voice defensively rose. "I will in due time!"

"The hell you are!" She effortlessly crushes the cup, pointing her index finger at him. "I'd assume Vince knows what you've done since you answer to him, but does Frederick know what's been happening? About the weaponization of our work!?"

"…If all goes well," his façade nearly crumbles, evidenced by his uneven breathing. He hadn't anticipated ever hearing her angered. "The three of us can escape and leave all of this behind."

"As in abandon the project?"

"In layman's terms, yes." It pained him to see her expression — wide-eyed with disbelief yet seething with an ever-increasing rage. "I ask that you wait up here until then. If we're not back within a couple of hours –…."

"Don't you dare try to change the subject."

"…Do not hesitate to search for us." He's calm on the exterior yet mentally he's slapping himself for being an easy read. " I have a hunch they'll have soldiers disguised as scientists, so keep your lab clothes on and keep your face hidden."

Redirecting her sight to the nearby trash can, she tosses the cup. Focused on the receptacle, she remains silent for a few seconds before sighing heavily. "…Fine." There's a mask stashed in her backpack along with her usual belongings — wallet, keys, music player, et cetera. Hearing his footsteps heading away, she watches him depart without another word, presumably heading for his office as the shift's about to start. "What business would soldiers have here…?" She knows how he's insisted their work will be used for practical purposes and how he's anti-military. "He's definitely hiding something."

—

"I should not be doing this… Where are you two…?"

Hiding in plain sight since this morning's near-argument, Aria became curious as to why Asuka nor Frederick regrouped with her by now. Deciding against waiting any longer, she began navigating through the Institute, following the growing scent of decay. With each sector she passed, the environmental damage worsened. From the overhanging stench of death — she's thankful the mask she's wearing has military-grade air filters — to finding shut doors that wouldn't budge with blood seeping through the cracks. Final agonized screams of the deceased faintly echo alongside the animalistic roars from the creatures likely remaining wandering, traceable by the average ear. Despite walking through the setting of a science fiction meets horror story, her heartbeat remains steady and her survival instincts kick in.

"And here I thought I'd get to learn something." Remembering the sound of sloshing water and strong jaws clamping down when she passed Beta, her grip on the makeshift sling for a sledgehammer she found tightened. "What on Earth happened?" There weren't any other employee vehicles in the garage when she placed her backpack in her car. "Where is everyone?" Pushing the mask up to rest on the crown of her head, she rubs one of her temples to offset a headache.

There's a trio of soldiers patrolling the next floor down. She trails them from a safe distance, starting in the stairwell and eavesdropping on their conversation with acute hearing.

The furthest signals there's no additional presences in the room he checked. Scattered papers litter the floor, mixed with shards of broken glass from photo frames and monitors, and file cabinets frame where two deceased employees lie. "This one's clear."

"Check the last three offices down the hall. We can't leave any survivors."

"Even if there are, they wouldn't be able to put up a fight." They laugh at the thought. "The gym we passed from earlier looks like no one's even been inside."

"How many more until we can leave? This underground lab is huge, and we've barely made it any further than our starting point."

"…Stop."

"Why? We're about to he—…."

"No survivors, huh?" Aria's leaning against the wall, focused more on her nails than them. "Can you three muscleheads tell me what your little plan is?"

"You're outnumbered, lady. We'll give you a head start."

She stands upright and places her hands in her coat's pockets. "I'm not running anywhere."

"This should be easy." They form a human wall, standing close together and blocking off any gap in case she tries to slip through. "Get her!"

"Dumbasses." She doesn't flinch when the foe on her left starts charging at her. This newfound confidence and aggression would've shocked her colleagues. Her instincts tell her to use her small stature as an advantage. By no means was she an expert martial artist — if anything, she was a fan of action-packed movies with seamless fight choreography and stunts she thought about practicing in her spare time.

She felt her body shift into the offensive, showcasing her vastly improved reflexes. Ducking under the incoming punch, she jabs the first offender's stomach hard enough to stun. Dodging whatever he managed to dish out – overexerted punches, a heavy kick, and an attempt at grabbing her – she counters with a low sweep to his ankles. Stealing the rifle and following up with a knee to the jaw, she kicks the body away, firing two warning shots at the others' feet before pointing it upward.

Reverse somersaulting and regaining his footing, the man regroups with his teammates and shakes off the pain. "She's convincing, but ain't one of ours!" The other two point their firearms at her, about to shoot before she beat them to the draw. Bullets pierce through their hands, causing them to undo their holds and drop.

"Agh!"

Seizing the opportunity to finish this quickly, Aria empties the large ammunition clip into their legs. Laughing at how they fell one by one into a growing puddle of their own blood, she tosses it aside, walking up while readying her other weapon. "Now then," she stops mere steps away from kicking range. "I'll give you three a choice." She makes a mental note to watch for any attempts at a cheap shot; the three are focused more on applying pressure on and bearing through their injuries. "Tell me what the hell is going on, or I use this hammer to stop your hearts."

The person lying in the middle raises his head to look directly at her. "There's no fuckin' way! You must be one of that project's bioweapons, but you're human!"

"Bioweapons?" It's as if she's heard this for the first time. "What do you mean by, 'but I'm human?'"

"You don't know squat, do ya? It's thanks to that shaggy-haired punk Asuka they're taking downstairs to SL-6 that any of this was planned."

"Boss," another enters the conversation. "I think she's the Doc's assistant! The one s'pposedly in the cold pod!"

"She must also be the girlfriend of the other one we were told to look out for! What was his name again? Frederick?"

She keeps her cool upon these sudden revelations. There's a growing fire nearing the point of overriding her judgment. "Tell me where he is."

"Hah! Ain't you cute, worrying about your boyfriend? He's as good as dead last time I checked!" He watches her step closer to his head, raising the hammer above her while she looks down at him. "Hey, wait, what're you do–...!"

Splat.

She lost all control of her rationality. Swinging it again and again, she tunes out horrified cries before moving on to the others. Her cold expression — like that of a predatory animal going in for the kill — was the last thing they saw. Skulls cracked through the broken headgear, skin tore, and a mixture of blood, bone, and brain matter spewed onto the flooring. Meat chunks clung to the metal, with a portion slowly sliding off and landing near the mess. Blood droplets fell in time to the flickering of a fluorescent lightbulb about to burn out.

Aria stood there blank-eyed, staring at the mess she created. Aware of what she's done, she looks at the dirtied weapon in her still-human hands. Phantom noise rang through her ears as her vision glitched out. They trembled and flashed from her normal fleshy appearance to a mechanical reptile's; sharp nails edged out the black armored claws at the end of white bracers.

A pain more intense than a simple headache ran through. She shut her eyes, applying pressure to the left temple, turning her head downward and to the right. A strange vision of a blank dimension where she's the only inhabitant flashes by. She can only hear herself scream in agony from an unknown entity attempting to enter her body; it is and isn't her own. Additional voices from the other side's control center clamor at her unwillingly vaporizing a country from existence as a desperate save tactic.

"!yrros m'I ,airA .yar ammag gniriF .ti od ll'I .uoy deksa evah reven dluohs I"

Several scenes from the distant future flashed in sequence. Grotesque creatures, under the orders of a single commander, fight what remains of the human population. Three distinct swordsmen engage in combat against the same foe; one's oddly familiar face is obscured by his hair. Momentary defeat leads to imprisonment inside a pocket dimension; the sole being was held in place by massive chains. An orchestrated tournament for revival leads to bloodshed between eleven individuals, resulting in a final fated confrontation, ultimately ending in a tragic death.

It all played in reverse before fading away.

The discomfort suddenly subsided.

"Wh… what was that…? Was that… me? Or…." Aria regulates her breathing, then looks at her reflection in a nearby window. It changes from a human to what looked like a sentient suit of armor with long flowing hair – the same color as hers no less. The monster made direct eye contact, glaring at her with its slit-pupiled gold eyes. It slowly vanishes, leaving the eyes and a strange emblem above as if it's watching her. "Who or what I would've become?"

Shaking her head to clear her mind, she loots the corpses for anything useful. "A combat knife?" Inspecting the leather cover's quality, she unsheathes it to see it's still clean and sharp. "This could be handy. A gun would be too loud and obvious. Oh." In addition to the dirty hammer, she remembers the blood on her shoes and ends of her pant legs. "I should clean up first."

Stopping at the janitor's closet a few meters down, she opens the door, finding light blue latex gloves, citrus-scented disinfecting wipes, and a roll of paper towels. Placing the gloves on her hands, she takes a few wipes out of the canister to clean the hammer. The wet thwap sound of remaining viscera hitting the floor doesn't faze her.

"Great, you now have a kill count," she says to herself while blotting and wiping the surface; it didn't take long before she dried it off. After balling up and disposing of the material, she takes more to clean her shoes, repeating the process. "I should've pressed them for answers instead of bashing their heads in." Leaving the men to succumb to their wounds wouldn't have sufficed in her eyes.

Once she finished tidying her footwear, she removed and disposed of the gloves, washing and drying her hands in the closet's sink. She re-ties the laces, tucking the bow behind the tongue to ensure they won't come undone at an inopportune time. Continuing on her unbeaten path, she ponders where the free hint was referring to. "SL-6… What and where the hell is that?" There's a map posted by the next stairwell; it doesn't give her any clues aside from displaying the floorplan and red arrows indicating the emergency evacuation route. "And how much longer until I get there?"

She makes a precautionary effort to be light footed on the steel tread plate steps. If there were any more patrolling soldiers on the remaining floors, they'd be alerted to her presence from the canned echo. Descending to the stairs' halfway point, she reached for her necklace, lightly holding what's at the chain's end. It's the physical product of a not-so-clever programming trick. "Probably for the best I'm not wearing this right now…."

—

Losing count of how many dead bodies – human, animal, or an indistinguishable pile of bloody meat and bone – lined the halls, Aria eventually caught up to Asuka and the soldiers escorting him. All but one pass through the entrance to Special Lab 6; she's almost spotted. She's a step ahead and enters the nearest empty office — one of the sector's surveillance stations — choosing to hide out and observe until the right time. Luckily for her, the last observer was still logged in, granting access to the cameras and functions. She sits in one of the newer chairs and places her sledgehammer against the counter, keeping it close by in case of unwanted company. "I could be here for a while, might as well get comfortable."

She's presented with the massive (secret) laboratory's interior on the screen in front of her. There's a hole in the hall's center, surrounded by numerous opaque liquid-filled capsules. What one capsule's housing becomes visible as the suspension liquid's draining. "This can't be something from us." The audio is muted, though her focus shifted to the frontmost soldier pushing a cold sleep pod. Tapping into the closest camera, she zooms in on the uncovered surface to see her own face. "That must be a decoy of me. Guess that guy wasn't kidding."

It fails to keep her interest; she looks over the station's extra workspaces. There's a book about human neuroanatomy left face down; whoever read it last had it open to the section regarding the temporal lobe. She picks it up and flips a few pages further, seeing information about the temporoparietal junction. "'The right half involves information processing, and an individual's ability to orient themselves to external signals.' Huh?" A flashing color caught her eye. "What's that? How long has that been on?"

Somehow.

She was oblivious to the bright red emergency lights remaining powered on during her descent. The automated evacuation voice and alarm haven't worked properly since the initial panic.

"External signals…." She reads on, learning more about the consequences of untreated lesions from injury and/or disease. "…Spatial recognition impairments, fading knowledge, and… no." Rewinding the footage from Alpha to the surface, she watches all of the sector's staffing clear the vicinity. By the time she found herself hours prior, she was far from the chaos, opting to take the scenic route from the garage. "How did I miss all of that!?"

"In the event of [...] the Alp–[...]–ction, the Institute w–[...]–o prevent seco—[...]–age. All employees–[...]–derly fashion–[...]–he prescribed [...]–nual."

She flips through the feeds to the Beta cameras in hopes of finding out what's happened to Frederick. The soldier's quip from earlier was nothing more than a bluff to her. "He was in his lab, but then…."

Bang.

The replay resumed with him rolling on the floor, holding his head with both hands. Switching to holding then seemingly scratching at his throat, his body violently convulsed before blacking out. Before all bodily movement ceased, he was looking up at someone out of frame.

A secondary angle provided the assailant's identity.

Fast-forwarding until right before he seemingly recovered – the timestamp was approximately 0945, an entire grid of Alpha's monitors shook before abruptly cutting to static. Beta's cameras remained powered on, letting her see his successful breakout and the first stretch of his escape. Regretfully moving forward after letting a fellow employee be devoured by a killer animal, he proceeded through the unknown, presumably to find any other survivors.

Seeing it all in order laid out the answer.

She had some hope he's still alive and fighting his way here, despite the hours that have passed.

"Asuka," she crushes the station's wireless mouse in her right hand. "You piece of shit!"