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"I've got to hand it to you lab rats- this experiment has been quite unpredictable." Lumine greeted them once they had settled in their usual spots. "We are all enjoying the results as we speak."
"We." Zero repeated with a snort. "That's the first time you've mentioned a 'we'."
Lumine placed a hand under their chin.
"Is it?" they mused. "Was it not apparent that there was more than just I when the experiment was first mentioned? Well, there goes that admiration I had for your creative unpredictability. Turns out it counteracts the lack of understanding context clues."
"What are you talking about?" Alia asked.
"On the floor I last unlocked for you, there were two locked doors." they said- playing with a strand of their hair before tossing it back. "One was the security room- for obvious reasons. The other had a name placard on it. Did any of you happen to read it?"
"It said 'The Professor'." Iris spoke up.
" Good girl." Lumine congratulated. Iris shrunk a little- it hadn't been a real compliment in any shape or form, and that made her uncomfortable.
"The Professor," Lumine went on, "Is the one who is conducting this experiment. Many details are on a 'need to know' basis, as it were. Unless someone has learned something new between our talks?"
No one thought they had.
"Good. All is going according to plan then. Now, let's continue with our Maverick probing. Yes?"
And so it did. Once more, all the lights were dimmed for a breath-taking moment. When they came back on, they cast light down on the Maverick: Marino.
She didn't seem to react. If anything, she looked just as prepared to find out who the Maverick was like everyone else. She soon found that everyone was looking at her. There was a blink, then another.
"Did you want me to apologize or something?" she questioned in a crass tone. "That bastard had it coming."
"But now you're a Maverick." Alia informed her. "Have some remorse for that at least?"
Marino refused to budge.
" Is Marino truly a Maverick in this situation?" Zero instead offered.
"What do you mean?" X wondered- almost hating whatever implication Zero could be getting at.
Zero stood a bit taller before saying, "As we all know, Marino has not been taking the death of Cinnamon well. Dynamo, much like his late comrade, was not making the situation any better.
Marino's hands clenched into a fist.
"The only way to have peace was to kill him. The only way to grieve was to kill him for her." she told them all. Her voice was low and dark. It was nothing like what they have heard from her so far.
It was Axl who snorted, "You didn't need to kill him. What you really needed was a therapist."
"Isn't that… what Aero was trying to do?" Layer carefully questioned.
Not a second was wasted as everyone turned their attention to Aero now. Her arms were tightly folded in front of her chest -guarded- as she refused to look at anyone.
"Come now Aero," Lumine teased, "Don't be such a petulant child for wanting to be the good fairy. We win and lose some all the time, after all."
Lumine laughed as Aero gave them a dark glare.
"If there is one person I feel sorry for," Marino then said, "It's you, Aero."
Aero suddenly moved back a little, as if someone had punched her, before looking to Marino. Her puzzled face spoke for her. Marino took it as a sign to continue.
"You spent all that time trying to put a bandaid on an open fracture. Some of us are just broken people, you know. Some of us just can't help making terrible choices because of fear, and love, and hate."
Aero continued to stare at Marino.
"But you're capable of more than that." she pointed out.
Marino simply shook her head.
"Just let us be broken, Aero. You are too. Stop trying to hide it."
Aero was immediately taken aback. No countering words could manage to come out of her mouth.
"In any case," Marino then said to everyone, "I don't feel like a Maverick. A Maverick feels some regret for what they've done. Massimo was obvious. Spider didn't have to kill Cinnamon. I feel nothing for Dynamo. Only relief."
Lumine gave a small click of their tongue. A small sound, but one that caught the attention of everyone in the room.
"Something you'd like to add?" Zero asked.
A wicked grin crossed Lumine's features.
"I'm just… fascinated." Lumine admitted. "Never once did I imply that Mavericks felt regret upon fulfilling their destiny. Nor did I include it within the classical definition. This… image you've conjured, Marino, was it of your own doing, or is that what you truly believe a Maverick is? Just a sad, regretful little vessel that doesn't want to die. Sounds very opposite of your position right now, doesn't it?"
Marino refused to budge. Lumine's grin only grew wider.
"For the sake of our experiment," Lumine went on, steepling their fingers together, "We are sticking strictly to the classical definition of what makes a Maverick. Someone, or something, that goes against its purpose of peace and disrupts it. May that be death, anarchy, or even a casual coup de grâce. From that definition, this means you, Marino. And Massimo. And Spider. Even Dynamo could have counted as one if you consider all he did and how it helped no one- not even himself." Lumine grinned. "And that means punishment."
Marino's body started to tense. The sense of what was going to happen -what she had done- was starting to fully ring for her. Her eyes never betrayed this. They continued to stare at Lumine with the same conviction as before.
"If I am Maverick by your standards," Marino then told them, "Then just kill me, you son of a bitch, and get this charade over with."
Lumine gave a nod.
"As you wish." they permitted.
They gestured their hand to the base of Marino's podium, and down came a long tube, similar to the cylinder that had enclosed Spider not long ago. It crept up from the ground to surround Marino. Marino visibly braced herself for a similar punishment. And yet, she was still at peace. What surprised everyone was that a sort of lid came from the ceiling, and was placed on top of the cylinder. The lid hissed as it touched the cylinder while steel clamps secured it in place, trapping Marino perfectly inside like a bug in a jar.
A long pause then followed. Nothing seemed to be happening. Inside the cylinder, Marino was taking deep, calm breaths knowing that something was going to happen to her. Her breathing slowly started to become more shallow while she remained patient. Then, like a switch, Marino brought her hands to her throat and started to gasp for air.
She struggled. She tried as hard as she could for air that was being taken away from her with each passing second. Her eyes rolled to the top of her head, her body slumped against the cylinder. Marino even tried for a moment to claw her way out to little prevail.
In her last moments, something in Marino's eyes shimmered. A tear ran down her cheek as a small smile found its way onto her gasping lips. Her body pressed further against the glass. Her eyes became unfocused. And soon, Marino didn't move at all.
"My, I do hope we'll be able to keep up these silent Maverick deaths." Lumine mused as the cylinder came down and Marino's body ragdolled to accommodate. "Then again, we're at our lucky last seven. What could possibly go wrong?"
Their laugh was nothing sort of mocking.
"Aero."
Hearing X's voice, Aero started to move faster.
"Aero, please." X tried to beg. "I know you tried to help Marino -more than any of us did- but please, I need to know. Are you okay?"
Hearing the question was what got Aero to stop in her tracks. She didn't turn around to face him, however.
"The trees are on fire, but there were never any matches in the campground."
"Huh?"
Aero shook her head.
"Nothing. It's nothing. I'm just waxing poetic to myself."
X didn't know what to say. He didn't even know if it was okay to move. It wasn't like Aero was walking away either. X took a brave step forward. One became two. Soon he had stepped forward enough to place a hand on her shoulder. She didn't shrug him off, so he supposed that was a good sign.
"Aero," he said once more- the tone carrying more weight than just saying her name.
Closing her eyes, Aero moved her body to face X. She opened them again to be met with his genuinely concerned green ones.
The two stared at each other.
"You were there for Marino, Aero, I want to make sure someone is there for you too."
The corner of Aero's mouth trembled. Without a thought, she pulled X into a tight hug. The warmth of her body was faint- more like a projection than being physically close. It only caused him to hold her tighter. Anything, anything for that warmth.
Aero was the one who peeled them out of the embrace. Her face was devoid of emotion.
"X," she then said, "I have a favor to ask you."
X blinked. "What is it?"
"Tomorrow, Lumine is likely going to open another floor for us. I won't be at breakfast, and I wouldn't want to explore either. Just tell everyone that… I'm resting. Yes, tell them that I'm getting some rest."
"But is that-"
"It's not lying. Axl will try to check on me anyway." A pause, then- "Spend some time with him tomorrow so he isn't with me as much. I don't think you two have had time to really know each other yet."
Something about this didn't feel right. A nagging feeling itched at the back of X's head, but he wasn't able to scratch it.
Aero studied him for a moment. In deciding that he wasn't going to question her, she turned around to leave again. X let her two four steps before giving in to his nagging mind.
"Aero?"
She stopped again, and even gave a small glance behind.
"Yeah?"
X couldn't help but fidget as he asked, "Are you sure that you'll just be resting? You're not… You're not going Maverick?"
For a moment, Aero just looked at him. Then, realizing he was serious, let out an unintentional snort.
"If I went Maverick, the whole world is going down with me." she told him. As she walked away, X wondered if it was meant to actually assure him or not.
He decided on 'not.'
"Here are the completed transcripts of the debate, Professor." Lumine said as they presented the documents. "It wasn't much of a fight this time around. I'm concerned the lab rats just don't have the spirit to fight."
The response at first was a gruff scoff. Then the only sound in the room were papers flipping as the Professor looked over the data.
"No, everything is going according to plan." the Professor decided. "Not knowing what constitutes a Maverick or not is perfectly within the realm of this experiment. Changing their worldview, justifying it to the circumstance. That is evolution. That is the real step toward being a Maverick."
"Whatever you say, sir."
The Professor gave Lumine a dark glare.
"Out." he then demanded. "Your presence is no longer needed."
"Of course." Lumine agreed with a bow.
After Lumine had left, the Professor looked over the debate transcript one more time.
"Zero," he hissed, "Always a problem. It's no wonder he hasn't found a way into this room yet. Ha!"
Thinking on it more, the Professor pulled out the transcripts from the previous debates. He also reached over to a control panel and pressed the a button that activated the televisions in front of him. On it, the previous days played in front of him at various speeds and at various times of day. The Professor tilted his head at footage of X.
"How has he not pieced more of the mystery together? He has been capable of much clearer mysteries in a previous life."
The footage started to show a moment with X and Aero together. It had been moments before during X's concern for her wellbeing.
"Ah. That must be it. There is interference. Perhaps we are under enriching our test subjects. Too much comfort and not enough motivation."
The Professor had the cameras track Aero. He moved his hand under his chin as a wicked grin crossed his lips.
"What a strange little girl. So different from the rest and none of them know it. Strange, strange girl."
The Professor then let out a laugh -cruel in nature- as Aero looked up at the security camera with a deadly glare in her eye.