It was a good thing that Light Field's character inclined him towards calm, reflective confidence and an unwavering poise. The sudden rush of attackers was enough to test even his nerves. He held his own as the melee began, but by the time he was rotated out of the front lines by the more experienced SOIS agents his muscles were aching. The attackers showed no signs of relenting.

In the centre of the defensive ring, Light joined Akane and Aoi; he could keep track of Clover as well through the flashes of her heightened emotions that he was receiving. It looked like they were all still safe so far. Except, of course for Junpei.

"We ain't gonna last long," grunted the detective, even as he held onto one side of the formation practically single-handedly. "They're just gonna keep coming, until we're exhausted." The rumbling sounds of the fight interrupted just then, and when they subsided the detective was panting. "There's gotta be somewhere with some cover, where we can make a choke point. Right?"

For a moment Light had expected Akane to answer. Her information on the facility had been better than SOIS' own, and coming down here had been her plan. But her shallow, laboured breathing conveyed her current mental state as clearly as spoken words. Light decided to answer on his own initiative.

"There is still construction in progress on the south-west side of the building. Perhaps we can use that?"

"Sounds good," the detective replied.

Light kept pace as the group pushed that way, forcing their way through the attacking crowd and across the foyer. When they reached the edge, they ducked their way, one by one, through a hole in an unfinished wall that demarcated the start of the construction. Once they'd all escaped the deafening fury of the foyer and into the sheltering quiet of the construction site the detective turned. He gave one solid kick to the supports of some nearby scaffolding, bringing the web of metal bars crashing down on top of the entrance. The pursuit was blocked off, a moment of peace bought.

o-0-o

Light's earpiece – Clover's too, and presumably the other agents' as well – pinged at that moment. "It'll be twenty minutes before regular law enforcement is ready to move in," Alice's voice came through it, the hint of worry not detracting from the clarity of her tone. "Hold out until then and we'll see you home safe."

As the veteran SOIS agents who had come with Light and Clover fanned out, surveying the lay of the land, Light tested out the sounds of the new environs. The first impressions seemed promising: the clear tones of metal laid out the positions of the rest of the scaffolding, the dull crumbling of shifting footsteps acted as a polite warning from piles of rubble. This was a stage on which Light could pull his full weight.

Meanwhile most of the Crash Keys members were also exploring the construction site, following SOIS' lead. A couple had stayed behind with Aoi near the blockade of scaffolding, tending to Akane. Light and Clover approached them.

"Perhaps an explanation is in order," Light said to Akane. "The people who just attacked us seemed very much convinced that you are to blame for their condition. They were quite aggrieved, in fact."

Akane shrunk away under the glare of his closed eyes. Then she steadied herself, taking in a deep breath. "I included a certain item in the Nonary Game," she stated, "in order to establish certain ideas about the morphogenetic field. It was necessary at the time, for the game to conclude as it did, and I won't apologise for using it. But… I regret the side-effects of that choice."

"Hah!" Clover spat. "It's not so easy, is it? When it's your boyfriend's life on the line."

"Junpei's life has always been on the line. I accepted that a long time ago."

Aoi grunted to himself. "I can't believe Junpei went off like that, back when we were going through the second class cabins. Even as a joke… I should have knocked some sense into him before he could get that far."

Light would have desired to press that further for more details. But now wasn't the time. The sounds of the mind-virus victims on the other side of the barrier were getting louder, bit by bit, and they worked away at the pile of tangled metal. One wiry young man, working his way through a gap at the top by a desperate, manic effort, burst through into the construction site. He pulled himself to his feet, ducked under one last metal bar hanging in his way, and then ran down the side of the barrier towards them.

The clang of feet on metal told Light exactly where this man was at all times. As the attacker leapt wildly Light caught him out of the air and flipped him onto the floor.

Clover was immediately by Light's side, pinning one of the attacker's arms with her knee. "Hey! What are you doing? The hell's up with you, anyway?"

Not the most precise of interrogations, but the man responded. "I just saw it, one day…" he mumbled. "I saw it, and knew that it was the Funyarinpa. That it was important."

"How the fuck does that add up to you attacking us? Like crazies?!" Aoi said.

"Yeah," the detective added. "You and loads of other guys left your homes, your lives, behind. What's it all for?"

"I can't get it out of my head. The Funyarinpa, it's… it's all I can think about!" The young man groaned, as though exhausted from an entire marathon's worth of effort. "If we can make this work then it'll make sense. I just want it all to make sense."

By then the agents who had set off to explore the area were coming back. And they weren't just returning in order to rejoin the group; they were backing up, slowly and carefully, attention fixed cautiously outward. Beyond them, hooded figures circled with heavy, uncertain footsteps. Just as the cultists that had attacked them in the entrance lobby were working on widening the hole that first man had used, others must have been finding their way in through other parts of the construction site. They'd settled for just watching, for now, and the crowd was diffuse. But more and more were arriving over time. They drew closer.

Light, Clover, and all the others that had stayed at the opening stepped forward. Now that their respite had come to an end, every hand would be needed to stave off an attack and keep themselves going long enough for rescue to arrive. While the detective kept an eye on the widening hole in the barricade Light, Clover and Aoi joined the defensive line of SOIS agents facing the gathering crowd of robed figures. With the sheer number of people in front of them, however unskilled, they needed to avoid being flanked: staying in formation, and using the clutter of half-finished construction work to anchor the ends of the line.

"We just need to take them out," Clover muttered. "We can manage that." Light felt her heightened emotions drift her thoughts towards the gun at her hip.

Light placed his hand on her arm. "They are victims in this. Just as we were," he said.

"Yeah, sure," Clover replied. Trusting warmth came through in her voice despite the sarcasm. She settled into a fighting stance and raised her fists.

The cultists had worked up the will, egging each other on, to encroach forward towards the territory held by the agents. Bit by bit, the momentum built up: not quite the mad rush of the foyer, but before Light knew it he was in hand-to-hand combat. Someone tried to push him back in an unskilled bull-rush. Light redirected the flailing strikes and sent the attacker stumbling back; there was a gratifying thud as they collided with more cultists coming up behind. Clover was doing just as well, fending of blows from three men at once and then delivering a swift kick to the groin of the one who faltered first.

And then one of the robed women pulled out a crowbar. She raised it high above her head and sung it down with a primal yell.

Clover screamed as she caught the metal on her right forearm; the breaking of bones was audible to even those without Light's exceptional hearing. The crowbar wielding woman made to swing again, and Light was just able to get his left arm in the way before the rod of metal came down once more on Clover's head.

It didn't hurt. That arm didn't feel any pain. Something else, coursing through his entire body… it felt much worse than mere pain.

Beside Light, Clover struggled to stay upright. "I can still…" she said through gritted teeth, "…fight. I can still do this!" She waved her left arm, as much to convince herself as to convince him. "See? I'm not –" An involuntary gasp cut off her words.

"No, Clover," Light said. "Stay back here. Stay back, and keep your eyes open."

"What are you going to do?"

"What I have to." Then Light turned and stepped forward into the onrushing crowd.

Did the people in front of Light know what was allowed to him by Clover's open eyes? Did they know what it meant for them that his own eyes were open, too?

The attackers moved to take advantage of Light stepping out of the line, hurrying to surround him. This was why the SOIS agents had been so concerned about being flanked, after all. Once one of the hooded figures was behind him they moved in, aiming a low strike at the small of his back. The woman who'd swung at Clover, who had been backing away with unsteady, stumbling footsteps, raised her arms again as she saw Light coming for her. She lashed out with the crowbar at the exact same moment.

Light dodged both strikes with an effortless lean to the side.

Even as more of the Funyarinpa cultists surrounded Light, attempting to interfere with his approach on the woman who had hurt his sister, none of it concerned him. A knowledge better than mere vision guided his actions. As long as Clover, watching over him from where he'd left her, knew where his opponents stood and what they did she could send him that information. They couldn't lay a finger on someone with that perfect knowledge. And while such a number of attackers were trying and failing to deal with Light, the rest of the SOIS agents gained a moment of relief.

After knocking the wind out of one man and efficiently sending another off-balance and careening away, Light closed with the crowbar-wielding woman. In her panic she didn't even attempt anything before Light grasped her wrist and disarmed her. Then he threw here over his shoulder onto the hard concrete floor.

For a moment Light was torn about what to do with her. His duty called on him to continue using his 'advantage' in this melee for the benefit of everyone else fighting; a bitter poison inside him reminded him of the shattering crack of Clover's bones. Indecision held Light motionless, just for a second.

And then, all at once, all across the construction site, something changed in the voices and breaths of the Funyarinpa cultists. Light could hear every last subtlety of it.

As one, the robed figures began to retreat away from the line of agents, all the tension gone from their movements. One of them stepped cautiously forward to get between Light and the woman on the ground, kneeling to shelter her with his body, hands held in surrender. "It's happened. It all makes sense now," the man said to Light. The hopeful hint in his voice only grew as he continued speaking. "A truce? We don't need to fight you anymore."

Light's decision was made for him. He nodded.

The man whispered his thanks and helped the woman to her feet. Then the crowd of Funyarinpa cultists melted away from the construction site as gradually and unobtrusively as they'd entered, leaving SOIS, Crash Keys, and the detective in the quiet, empty expanse.