The main group makes it to Zone 9 with a bonus person. They chat for a lot of this chapter.

Quick note, I updated the typing to have brackets instead of quotation marks.

Jin knew he was living in a police state with a good change of veering straight into blatant evil dystopia any old day now. Any officer with a functional brain knew it. Max had once confided in Jin that he had a plan in case the job ever became less about saving people and more about oppressing them, or in case the Union turned on the people important to him. The way he talked about the cut off of Zone 9 made it pretty clear why Max had zero faith in the government.

Jin contemplated his personal "get out of dodge" plan more frequently of late. He flicked on the news. He saw Alicia on the screen with the headline, "Officer Wanted for Assault on Captain Howard."

That was the writing on the wall. Jin immediately put back on his coat and buckled on his X-baton under it. He quietly removed the trackers from his police gear without disabling them. These he hooked up to simulate a man watching TV at home while drinking alcohol to cope. Jin did not look at the image of Alicia attacking Akira.

Jin did a once over of what he had in his backpack and pockets before leaving. He had a little space in there, so he shoved his empty Legatus in the bag. Jin glanced back at the TV screen one last time to see Akira standing by Commander Yoseph's side while he deflected reporter questions.

Jin shuddered. That was... Akira looked empty. "Sorry, Max, I failed you. I'll find out what is going on. If it's brainwashing or what..."

Akira didn't necessarily want his sister sticking to him constantly, but there was something reassuring about knowing Akane was right there and not mad at him. Everyone flat out refused to show her the video of her going berserk but she still felt the need to apologize. Akira moped right next to Akane and vice versa. Alicia found it darkly humorous that the two had the same body language when depressed.

"Anyways, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but... turns out you're a wanted fugitive now, Olive. Alicia, you too." Hal said.

Olive sighed. "Yeah, that was the last thing I saw before I had to leave."

"I'm not surprised." Alicia said. She had already swapped out her police gear for civvies and dodged Akane trying to fuss over her nasty bruises.

"After what happened two and a half days ago. the commander told everyone Akane had betrayed us. I just couldn't believe it... Well, I did at first. I couldn't think of a single reason why you'd betray Neuron."

Akira's tone was bitter. "I wanted to investigate who framed you but there were these gates all over and since I was in charge of the Raven squad I didn't have time. I trusted the Commander to investigate but he said he was convinced you'd fused with your Legion on purpose... Ugh, I'm such an idiot. I was nothing more than his pawn."

Olive sighed again, " Of course, now I can think of a few reasons to betray Neuron myself. We all trusted Yoseph, and he lied to us."

Kyle said, "See, you all know first hand why we should topple the oppressive regime. I'm taking job applications and you are already fired sooooooo..."

Akira didn't bother turning his head to look. "Why are you still here?"

Kyle shrugged, projected grin never faltering. "I want in on whatever you're doing to expose this insane clone army thing."

Hal elected to ignore Kyle being a bit insensitive at the moment. "So, now, Yoseph's hell-bent on finding you. Or your Legions. Or your corpses. Either way, it's best if you crash here and lay low for a while. I took the liberty of rewiring your Legatus' navigation system a bit, can't have the cops following it right to you. They can't track you now so go take a walk around. Stretch your legs, get to know the neighborhood. I've programmed a small drone to follow you, Akane, if you want to have a radio! It's got a holo-keyboard too if you need to communicate with anyone who can't normally see you. It's, uh, not much since I didn't have a lot of time here. There's a follow mode, a stay hidden mode..." Hal was gratified to see Akane checking out the assist drone. Sure her facial expressions didn't change, but body language looked happy.

"Sounds great." said Alicia. "You know, more than a few fugitives I've caught in the past slipped up because they were afraid to slow down and think. If you run yourselves down, it will play right into Dr. Calvert's hands. You two should take a walk, get some fresh air! They'll call you if something comes up or we figure something out. Want me to come with?"

Akira grabbed a change of clothing for himself. "I... I wanted to talk with you alone if that's all right, Akane. Please?"

Akane nodded back. She had a few things to say herself but wasn't sure how to say them either. Akira put on a face mask. No point in freaking out the uppers by having Raven Captain Howard casually strolling past.

Hal smiled. "We'll just be here gathering intel, so let me know if you need anything."

[Hal, you are the best! You too Alicia, Olive.] Akane said on the way out with her twin.

After they left, Kyle asked, "You sure those two should just be off like that? I mean, sure the Fusion is under control for now but they both need therapy? Is it a good idea to set them loose on Zone 9 while we plan a raid on Yoseph's labs?"

Alicia settled in front of a computer screen to look at ARI maps. (It was going to be super awkward if Yoseph was in Neuron HQ instead of his labs when they raided the place. Or in another lab.) "They need to talk to each other and they'll probably do more good than harm, knowing Max's kids. If I'm right, they'll probably end up cleaning red matter, helping at least two people with some weird problem, and find a cat."

"You sound awfully certain about that." Kyle remarked.

The twins found a spot without anyone around. Akira said, "I'm so sorry."

Akane finished hitting enter to say [I'm sorry] at the exact same time. She kept typing at her twin.

"I... I can't imagine what you're going through and if I'd been faster at the overpass maybe you wouldn't be stuck like this and-"

[I nearly killed you! If Jena hadn't distracted me, you'd be dead! I promised Dad to protect you.]

"-And I trusted the Commander. But he-I should have known he was up to something. I wish I'd been fast enough to follow you to the Astral Plane you could have been lost there like Dad and-"

[I don't deserve to call myself your sister anymore]

Akira finally processed the words she was writing. "Why would you say that?!"

Akane's hands hovered over the letters. [Besides nearly killing you? What even am I anymore? What if I'm like this forever or lose it? What if I'm just a chimera that absorbed your dead sister and thinks I'm her?]

Akira went silent and hugged his sister. "I'm scared I'm not really me either. I... I've been afraid to even think about it... what if I'm a clone of Akira and don't realize it? What if I'm just one made as a prototype before Yoseph figured out how to be selective with what he copied? I have scars and stuff but..."

Both twins looked at the existential dread of the other. It was oddly reassuring knowing you weren't the only one standing on the precipice of mental breakdown. The obvious downside of this was that there were two people with horrible existential dread at the moment. [If you're a clone, then we'll be triplets. If we find that the Ravens are more than just shells, we'll adopt them and be like weird whatever the eight person version of twins is. Maybe we should change subjects for a while?]

"Before we do, I want to ask you something. As your twin." Akane waited for him to finish. "What happened with you... If I fuse with my Legions like you did, I'll probably lose it for a while too. If that happens, can you stop me from hurting anyone? Including you? Please?"

[Sure. If you fall, I'll catch you. You'll stop me if I lose control?]

"It won't come to that."

There was a very long awkward pause. Akane was careful with her hugs, worry about injuring the recipient in every movement "Thank you. You are the best twin ever."

[That's you. You are the best twin.]

Notes: Okay so I had a few ideas for the next part and the direction it could go. The easy route if I forget to finish this story? Things play out for the rest of chapter 11's big fight between the Fusions in the same way. Turns out the way to turn off super mode was to wear yourself out.

I got other ideas though.