《The Romander Case》 The Detective, Flint ¡°All it takes is one word for everything to crumble down.¡± The harsh ticking of the clock echoes throughout the dimly lit room. File cabinets aligned by the walls clutter the room. Each of their compartments is stuffed with folders containing mounds of paper from old case files. Some of the documents from the cabinets are scattered on the floor, covered in dirty footprints. In the middle of the room is a large mahogany desk, with paper scattered around its top in messy piles. The dim lighting of the lamp shines upon the sleeping detective, Flint Darvey, with his head burrowed in his arms. He squirms around in his slumber, ruffling his medium-brown hair. The ticks of the clock ring louder and louder in his ears. He is awakened by the last loud clock tick, raising his head from his slumber. He has a stern, but tired look on his face. He rubs his black eyes and yawns. He slowly stands up, adjusting his usual clothing: a striped long-sleeve polo with his brown patterned vest over it. He stretches in his office, patting his wrinkled black dress pants and brushing his ruffled hair with his hands. ¡°Tch slept again.¡± He mutters to himself. He looks down at his desk, noticing his drool stain a report he¡¯s been working on. He groans before putting aside the report for the next day. As the report is pushed aside, he finds his silver wedding ring underneath. His hand shakes as he tries to get it. He puts his wedding ring on his ring finger, gripping it tightly to stop his hand from shaking. Flint sighs a breath of relief as his hand stops. He turns off the lamp in his office and exits. He enters into the larger reception area outside his small office. The darkness covers the plain wallpaper and the carpeted floor, both of which are slightly stained. The chairs are scattered around the room with no clear order or placement. In the center of the room is a large round reception desk. A lit lamp shines upon the neat piles of paperwork in manila folders, the nice office phone, and office supplies neatly placed in a tray. There is a coat rack beside it, which hangs Flint¡¯s brown hat and trench coat. Serena, his secretary, is in the middle area, expectantly waiting for him. She is younger than Flint and her glowing visage and bright purple eyes are something that cheer up many people¡¯s days. Her mostly purple attire complements her fair skin: long magenta hair and her purple striped polo shirt, similar to Flint¡¯s, with a simple maroon vest and a long magenta dress skirt on her lower half. ¡°Why are you still here Serena?¡± Flint asks as he approaches the coat rack. ¡°It¡¯s late.¡± ¡°I couldn¡¯t just leave while you were sleeping in your office. Again.¡± She replies. Flint ignores her comment while retrieving his belongings from the coat rack. ¡°Flint, please get more rest. Your work is clearly taking a toll on you.¡± Serena tells him. Flint yawns and stretches as he puts on his hat and coat. He walks to the front door of the office and exits the building. Serena sighs, knowing that again, Flint will not listen to her advice. ¡°You weren¡¯t always like this Flint.¡± She mutters to herself. Serena begins packing her things away in her bag. The phone on the desk rings loudly. Serena immediately stops and picks up the phone. ¡°Hello, this is Dark Eye PI, Serena Miles speaking.¡± She speaks into the phone. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t worry it¡¯s not too late. I¡¯ll write it down.¡± Serena sits down on her chair. She grabs a blank sheet of paper and a pen. She writes down an appointment dated for tomorrow afternoon with the name, Pres. ¡°Is that all the information?¡± she asks. She expectantly wiggles her pen in her hand, waiting for more information. ¡°All right then, I¡¯ll notify Flint tomorrow morning. Have a great evening.¡± The phone hangs up. Serena sighs and puts the phone back to its holder. ¡°Another case for Flint¡­¡± She mutters. Serena goes back to packing up her things. She takes her bag and locks up the office for the night. Flint is standing in his home''s entrance hall, putting his coat and hat away in the closet nearby. The only light comes from his kitchen, while the rest of his home is shrouded in darkness. He rubs his head and stretches as he walks into his home. ¡°You¡¯re late¡­again.¡± A voice tells him, coming from the kitchen. Flint sighs and looks over to the source of the noise. He finds his husband, Ronlo, standing by the sink with a small window over it and stone countertops on either side, brushing up his medium brown hair and long ponytail. He has a similar fair complexion to his husband. He takes the kettle from the left side of the sink and pours freshly brewed milk tea into his mug. He puts both of his soft hands around the mug and sips from it, showing off the same silver wedding ring that Flint has. He wears a plain white t-shirt under his warm light brown cardigan. His navy blue jeans are hidden underneath the brown apron he wears. Flint walks up to him silently, passing by his refrigerator with many magnets holding up his family photos. Ronlo takes out another mug from the cupboard above the sink and pours Flint some milk tea. Flint quietly drinks from the mug, avoiding eye contact with his husband. Ronlo looks over to Flint and notices this. He sighs and drinks his milk tea, tapping his fingers along the counter. Ronlo puts his mug in the sink and walks away from him to their room down the hall. Flint stands there in silence as he finishes his tea. He washes the mugs in the sink and puts them in the cupboard. Flint walks down the hall to the door opposite his and Ronlo¡¯s bedroom. He quietly opens the door and peers in. On the other side of the door is his daughter¡¯s bedroom. A small lamp light on the nightstand beside her bed shines upon a small portion of her bed and room. She is fast asleep on her bed, curled up under her fluffy covers hugging her Seedling plush, a giant light blue round plush with a cute derpy smile and a stem on its head. Flint slowly walks up to her sleeping in her bed. He kneels to the level of her bed and leans to her ear. ¡°Daddy¡¯s home Lily.¡± He whispers into her ear. Flint is surprised to see her slowly waking up from her sleep. ¡°Daddy?¡± she says slowly waking up. ¡°Yes, I¡¯m home.¡± He says, regaining his composure. She hurriedly pushes off her covers, revealing her wearing pink polka dot pajamas. ¡°Daddy!¡± she exclaims. She jumps over to hug him. He is slightly taken aback, but he hugs her in return. ¡°Daddy so much happened today! I wanna tell you everything!¡± she says, wriggling around in excitement. Flint lets her go from his hug, where she is still energetic. ¡°Today in school I got an A on my math test, and then later today I hung out with my friends, and then¡­¡± ¡°Easy there Lily, it¡¯s pretty late,¡± Flint tells her. ¡°You have school tomorrow, so go back to sleep, okay?¡± Lily¡¯s energetic mood dies down a bit. ¡°Aww¡­but daddy¡­you¡¯re never around when I want to talk to you¡­¡± She whimpers. Flint closes his eyes and grunts quietly after hearing what she has said. ¡°Lily¡­¡± he mutters. ¡°I know daddy, you¡¯re busy.¡± She says before he can finish. ¡°But it must be so cool being a detective!¡± Flint sighs in relief before patting her head. ¡°Sweetie, go back to bed alright? It¡¯s late.¡± He tells her. ¡°Okay, daddy.¡± She replies. Lily lies down again on her bed. Flint kisses her forehead and tucks her back in bed. He quietly exits the room not to disrupt her slumber. He stands in the hallway lost in thought. He stares at his bedroom door and then he stares over to the couch, his usual sleeping area as of late. He slowly walks down the hall, but then he pauses his movements. He turns around and returns to his and Ronlo¡¯s bedroom door. He opens the door slightly and peers in. The room is dark, but one can tell it is significantly bigger than Lily¡¯s room. Ronlo is tucked in and sitting up, reading a book on his side of the bed, which is the side farthest away from the door. Flint slowly enters the room, which catches the attention of Ronlo, who forms a slightly surprised expression. Flint takes off his clothes and tosses them into the hamper nearby. He then changes into his comfortable sleepwear, a white t-shirt and thin silk pants. Flint gets into bed with Ronlo as he puts his book on his nightstand, both of them lying down and tucking themselves in. ¡°Flint,¡± Ronlo says out loud while looking up at the ceiling. Flint turns his gaze over to him. Ronlo continues, ¡°I¡­I¡¯m sorry for being so cold lately¡­¡± Ronlo takes a deep breath, trying to hold back his tears. ¡°I¡¯d never imagined how lonely it would be having a family. You¡¯re always at work and Lily¡¯s at school with her friends. But, I know how selfish of me if I kept you here to be with me.¡± He mutters. Flint grips the comforter tighter but still keeps his gaze on Ronlo. ¡°But Flint¡­I can bear being¡­being lonely.,¡± Ronlo says, turning his head to Flint. ¡°You and I both know what pains me.¡± Flint manages to keep his composure. Ronlo inches towards him and caresses his face. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. ¡°Ronlo¡­I¡­¡± Flint continues stuttering. No matter how hard he tries, he cannot finish his sentence. Ronlo inches closer and hugs him. ¡°Dear, just know I still love you.¡± Ronlo kisses Flint, which throws him off guard. Ronlo lets go of their kiss and he falls asleep, still hugging Flint. ¡°Ronlo¡­I¡­¡± Flint doesn¡¯t finish his sentence. He tightly hugs Ronlo and slowly falls asleep. Flint jolts awake, finding himself standing with his usual clothes on. He looks around, only to see a vast dark void surrounding him. He walks forward, still looking around for something else to be there with him in this void. He keeps walking ahead but almost trips. It takes him a few steps forward to regain his balance. He looks around on the ground trying to find what caused him to stumble. He stops abruptly when he finds out what caused him to stumble. He sees a shin protruding out from the darkness. His eyes slowly follow the shin up to the rest of the body. His eyes widen when he sees the rest of the mangled shadowy body. His eyes notice another shadowy corpse appear behind it. Then another, then another. He turns around and sees these same shadowy corpses appear. Then the corpses begin to stack up, one after the other, after the other. The vast shadowy void has become filled with mounds of shadowy corpses that stretch out infinitely and surround the path Flint is on. Flint does his best to keep calm, taking deep and slow breaths. Flint coughs as his nostrils are bombarded with the rotting stench emanating from the shadowy corpses. He keels over and hacks more violently. The mounds of corpses close in on Flint. They fall on him one, by one. Their collective weight slowly crushes him once he is fully buried underneath. He is unable to scream, for their stench bombards his lungs and nostrils, suffocating him. Flint¡¯s eyes jolt open. He breathes heavily, covered in a cold sweat. He looks around and realizes it is still dead of night. He eventually calms down and goes back to sleep. His beloved hugs him tighter when Flint lies back down. Flint walks into the office early in the morning in his usual attire. He notices Serena and another man both drinking coffee and having a conversation at her desk. That other man is Sercas, the owner of a private security company. He has an office space next to Flint¡¯s. Sercas is a well-built man, who is taller than both Flint and Serena. He has a security hat over his medium black hair. He has a young and fair complexion and bright blue eyes. He wore a thick blue long-sleeve shirt, with two badge emblems of a chimera on each sleeve and heavy-duty pants. His shirt has a heavy vest made of a mix of Kevlar and metals over it, with his pants being covered with leg armor made with the same material. Along his waist is his holster for his gun and a specialized combat baton. They turn their direction towards Flint as he approaches them. ¡°Well look what we have here. Seems like old Flinty is wide awake.¡± Sercas jests. ¡°Hey, can it¡­I ain¡¯t that old Sercas.¡± Flint replies. ¡°Well, you don¡¯t act like you are.¡± He says, chuckling. Flint waves Sercas off, as he puts his coat and hat on the coat rack. Serena finishes her coffee and notices Flint walking away. ¡°Well, how¡¯s Ronlo, Flint? How about Lily as well?¡± Serena inquires. These sudden questions stop Flint from walking away any further. He stands there in silence. ¡°C¡¯mon, you don¡¯t have anything else to say?¡± Sercas eggs on. ¡°Sercas, I have work to do. I don¡¯t want to be wasting time alright?¡± Flint bluntly replies. Flint enters his office, leaving both of them in the reception area. Serena and Sercas look at each other and then at Flint¡¯s office. ¡°He¡¯s always working so hard¡­¡± Serena comments, breaking the silence. It takes a moment for Sercas to react, but he responds, ¡°Yeah, he has, hasn¡¯t he?¡± ¡°Doesn¡¯t that worry you though?¡± Serena asks Sercas. ¡°He¡¯s holed up in that office from dawn to dusk. I always see him leaving there tired and distressed. It pains me to see him like this.¡± ¡°Of course it does Serena.¡± He replies, ¡°But unfortunately, there isn¡¯t much we could do. If he ain¡¯t letting out anything, then we can¡¯t do anything.¡± He tells her. She sighs, silently agreeing with Sercas. ¡°Anyways Serena, I got to go now. I have paperwork to fill out.¡± Sercas slowly walks away from Serena and approaches his office. ¡°Oh, but if you are that concerned about Flint, his office is always right there.¡± He tells her, pointing to Flint¡¯s office door. He walks away and enters his office. Serena sits down in her large reception desk area. She sits there thinking about how to enter Flint¡¯s office because he always tells people to leave while he is working. As she keeps pondering, her eyes look over to her desk. They focus on the sheet of paper with the appointment details she had written for this afternoon. ¡°Bingo.¡± She says out loud. She walks over to Flint¡¯s office door. She knocks on it. ¡°Flint, may I come in?¡± she asks. Flint is silent on the other side. Before he can even respond, Serena enters his office anyway. He looks up, slightly taken aback by her sudden entrance. ¡°Serena what are you¡­¡± ¡°Sorry for barging in Flint, but I forgot to inform you about an appointment this afternoon.¡± ¡°An appointment you say?¡± ¡°Yes, the client called last night.¡± ¡°I see.¡± Flint looks down at his desk and returns to working on his paperwork. Serena still stands there by the door. ¡°Serena, if you don¡¯t mind, may you leave my office? I¡¯m working.¡± Flint tells her while he still focuses on his paperwork. Flint glances up from his paperwork and finds Serena still standing there. ¡°Is there something you need to say?¡± He asks her. ¡°Flint¡­I¡¯m worried about you.¡± Flint stops moving his pen. His body subtly shivers when he looks up at her. ¡°Look, if you don¡¯t want to say anything, I understand. I just worry a lot, I know. You know, even after all these years working together, I¡¯d never thought I¡¯d be working with a detective like you. You always seemed so passionate back then, but you always seem so worn out nowadays. Flint, we¡¯ve been working together for so long now. Never once during those years have I considered you a coworker. You¡¯re my closest friend Flint.¡± Flint remains silent. Serena sighs and slowly approaches the door. ¡°Flint, when you finally want to talk about it, I will¡­no, everyone will be here for you. I promise.¡± Flint remains silent, but his breathing gets noticeably heavier. Serena sighs, but she is at least satisfied with telling Flint this. Serena exits his office, closing the door behind him. A tear falls from Flint¡¯s eye onto his paperwork. He takes deep breaths to ease his shivering. After some deep breaths, he finally regains his composure. ¡°If only¡­if only they understood¡­no. They don¡¯t need to understand. They shouldn¡¯t.¡± He mutters to himself. He looks down at his desk and engrosses himself in his work, distracting him from his rushing thoughts about the situation that has occurred. Someone knocks on Flint¡¯s door. Flint keeps his head down as he goes through his paperwork. The knocking on the door gets louder. Flint sighs and looks up at the door. ¡°Come in.¡± He says in a low tone. Serena enters his office, slightly shivering out of nervousness. ¡°Something wrong Serena?¡± ¡°Flint¡­your afternoon appointment is here¡­¡± She manages to tell him. Flint nods and motions her to let them in. Flint is confused about Serena¡¯s sudden shyness, but after seeing the man who enters, he understands. The man who enters his office is none other than the president, Roger R. Rogers. He has a relaxed visage, tanned complexion, and spiky brown hair. He wore a simple black suit. He casually strolls into the room, closing the door behind him as he approaches Flint. ¡°Hello there, Flint.¡± Roger greets Flint. Roger approaches Flint with his hand reaching out to him. Flint stands up from his desk and they exchange a firm handshake. Roger looks around the room to find a seat, but can¡¯t find one. ¡°Isn¡¯t there a place for a man to sit down?¡± He asks. It takes a moment for Flint to compose himself before being able to respond to him. ¡°It¡¯ll take up too much room to have another seat in here, Mr. President. I still have to work in here.¡± Flint replies. ¡°Oh, don¡¯t be so formal around me. How would you like it if I called you Mr. Detective? Just call me Roger.¡± He asks Flint. Flint silently nods, conceding. ¡°This is where you work, eh? It¡¯s a pretty cramped place no?¡± ¡°Well, I learned to make do with what I have.¡± He bluntly replies. Roger chortles when he hears Flint¡¯s comment. He replies, ¡°I feel you. I had to work in a crummy office just like this to get where I am.¡± After his comments, Roger takes out a manila folder, with stacks of papers protruding out of it. He hands it to Flint. Flint takes the folder out of his hands. On the manila folder, ¡°The Romander Case,¡± is stamped on the front in big bold black ink. ¡°I¡¯ve seen your work, Flint. This case is something that I know I could trust you with.¡± Roger tells him, forming a serious expression. Flint looks up to Roger with a quizzical, but also a knowing expression. ¡°Trust me?¡± Roger¡¯s expression becomes even more serious. He looks around his office, making sure the windows and door are all shut and covered with the blinds. He goes back to where he has stood and looks Flint in his eyes. He finally speaks, ¡°To tell you the truth, the government has hidden secrets that I cannot allow to be hidden for any longer. I am well aware of the consequences of my request, but I simply cannot hold my country¡¯s people in the dark for any longer. These files contain all the information you need.¡± Roger looks up to Flint. He notices that he has gone quiet and is staring at the case file. Flint¡¯s shivering hands betray his stoic expression. ¡°Flint,¡± Roger speaks to him. Flint snaps out of his state and he looks up to Roger. Flint senses an understanding aura from Roger. Roger walks over and takes the case out of his hands. ¡°Look, I can¡¯t trust any old detective to undergo this task but you. Flint, I know you can reveal the truth to the public. But, it is not right for me to force my dirty work onto you. It is my duty to fix all this mess, not yours.¡± Roger tells him. Roger puts away the case file in his jacket. Roger looks up again to Flint, a man he knows who has seen more death and brutality than anyone he has ever known. He slowly approaches the door. ¡°Wait.¡± Roger stops after hearing Flint¡¯s voice and turns to meet him. ¡°Leave the case here,¡± Flint tells him. ¡°I¡¯ll tell you my decision later.¡± Roger nods and gives him the case file. He also gives Flint a number on a card to call him, should he accept the case. Roger exits his room. Flint is still standing up, looking at the case file. He places the case file down on his desk. He paces back and forth in his office. As he keeps pacing back and forth in his room, his eyes cannot help but draw their attention to the case file on his desk. Flint goes back to his desk and sits down. After taking a deep breath, he opens the case file. The first thing he sees is a printed statement by Roger. Michael Romander was a head scientist in charge of operations in CNBR-98, an independent research facility heavily funded by the government. It researched human mortality and spirits. They were researching ways to bring humans back to life and how to make them immortal. Over the years, however, Michael Romander wasn¡¯t satisfied enough with the lab research and experiments. Due to the nature of the subject, he needed to find ways to experiment and test his ideas. At first, he used some of his fellow scientists, but they weren¡¯t producing the results he needed. This led to him kidnapping many people, killing them in morbid ways to see how their souls react. People threatened to spread the word of his heinous deeds, but they all ended up being victims of his morbid research. The department was eventually cast aside, but I know he continues his research there. More information is provided. The following papers contain basic information such as the location of the facility and more background on the facility¡¯s creation. He skims past this information and comes across a paper separating the next section. It is titled: ¡°Photos.¡± Flint flips past this page and his eyes widen. The photos contain mangled corpses with many odd objects that are punctured in their bodies. These photos come one after the other, each more twisted and morbid than the previous. Flint desperately tries to maintain his composure, but he is unable to. He opens a drawer underneath his desk and pulls out a bottle of whiskey and a glass. He pours the whiskey into his glass and drinks from it. It manages to calm him down, but it isn¡¯t enough. After five glasses of whiskey, he manages to regain his composure. His breath has the strong scent of alcohol. Flint puts away the glass and bottle of whiskey as Sercas enters his office. Sercas¡¯s nose immediately gets overwhelmed by the scent of alcohol from Flint¡¯s breath. ¡°Drinking again Flint?¡± Sercas asks Flint. Flint ashamedly nods his head. ¡°I don¡¯t think I drank enough¡­¡± Flint mutters. Sercas closes the door and approaches Flint¡¯s desk. He sits on the edge, which annoys Flint. ¡°It¡¯s been a while since we last had a drink together. Oh, I remember those days.¡± Sercas said reminiscing. Sercas looks at Flint, who is now appearing sleepier after drinking all that whiskey. It doesn¡¯t take long for Flint to fall asleep on his desk, with his head now resting on the case file he has read. Sercas still smells Flint¡¯s overbearing alcohol-scented breath. Sercas sighs and looks around Flint¡¯s office. Even though he has been in here several times before, it still stuns him how full many of the filing cabinets are. Sercas looks down and reminisces about the good old days. The days when Flint was a small-time go-getter detective, the days when after work, he, Serena, and Flint, who would sometimes bring his beloved husband Ronlo with him, would go to a bar to have a good time with good drinks and good friends. ¡°But those good old days are long gone,¡± Sercas mutters to himself. He looks over to the drawer where Flint stores his whiskey. He opens it and sees the bottle half full. Sercas can only wish to return to those days when it was Flint and his buddies and not now when it is Flint and his trusted whiskey. Sercas stands up from his desk and walks away. ¡°Don¡¯t be a stranger,¡± Sercas says to Flint, while he is still asleep on his desk. Sercas exits the room, leaving Flint there to sleep. Flint walks out of his office at an unusually early hour. He has already looked through the case in its entirety, as the file only contains President Roger¡¯s initial findings which include the morbid corpses and basic background information after he had woken up from his alcohol-induced slumber. There is one key detail he wishes that President Roger could provide, and that¡¯s a photo of Romander. But there isn¡¯t much he can do about it. He overhears Sercas and Serena discussing the case file as Serena had received another copy from Roger after he exited Flint¡¯s office. They stop talking when Flint is beside them. ¡°Tell Roger that I¡¯ll the case,¡± Flint tells them. His sudden words have surprised them. ¡°You¡¯re serious Flint?¡± Serena asks him. ¡°I know the other types of cases you¡¯ve taken before but¡­¡± Before Serena could finish, Flint interjects, ¡°It is my duty.¡± Flint then exits the office with his belongings, before Sercas and Serena could interject any further. ¡°A duty?¡± Serena says out loud. Sercas silently nods in agreement. He looks up at the door where Flint has exited. ¡°So that¡¯s what keeps him going huh?¡± Sercas says out loud. Sercas and Serena look at each other. Though Flint has been distant, they wish to aid him in fulfilling his duty. Nightmare Flint is driving through the dark highway at night. His hands are gripped tightly on the wheel. The roads are silent apart from his car¡¯s motor rumbling as he drives. ¡°My duty huh?¡± he mutters. ¡°When haven¡¯t I used those words?¡± Flint keeps driving along the highway, tapping his fingers on the wheel. He fails to keep his attention on the road as his mind brings him back to a special moment. A younger Flint stands up proud in front of his peers. His new detective badge shines brightly as it is pinned on his coat by his mentor. His mentor, an older man, steps back as he lets Flint recite his oath. ¡°I vow to pursue and reveal the truth to all. I mustn¡¯t waver, no matter how bitter the consequences may be. No one should live in the darkness of falsehoods nor should those who harm others hide have their sins be hidden away.¡± ¡°Can you still hold to that oath, Flint?¡± he asks himself as he keeps driving down the road. *click click* Flint snaps out of his memories and breaks out in a cold sweat. He can hear it coming from the back seat. ¡°No¡­¡± Flint mutters. *click click* His hands begin to shiver on the wheel. ¡°Why must you ignore me, Flint?¡± the familiar distorted voice murmurs behind him. Flint turns on the radio and cranks up the volume to drown out the voice behind him. ¡°Flint¡­oh, Flint¡­¡± the voice says, trying to coax him in. Despite the high volume of the radio, he could still hear the voice from behind. He cranks it up even louder, to the point where any outside noise is blocked out. It didn¡¯t matter how painfully loud the radio was. He didn¡¯t need to hear that voice. ¡°Flint¡­¡± His hand shivers even more. Not even the radio can fizzle out the voice. He steps on the gas. The motor roars and the car speeds up immensely. ¡°Flint¡­do you really think you can drown out my voice?¡± the voice murmurs. He presses on the gas even harder. He drove dangerously through the highway at the car¡¯s max speed. ¡°Flint¡­do not ignore me, Flint¡­¡± the voice murmured. Flint slams onto the brakes, hoping that the screeching of the wheels on the road would block the noise and slow down his car. ¡°FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT. FLINT.¡± ¡°Stop¡­STOP IT!¡± Flint cried out. As his car finally slows to a normal speed, he pulls over onto the side of the road. Flint turns on his lights and turns to the back of the seat. Nobody is there. The voice is no longer there. He wipes the sweat off of his head but still breathes heavily. The voice¡­It is a voice he is familiar with, something he wishes he had never been familiar with. He keeps hyperventilating as he starts up his car again and speeds down the road. Flint pulls up to Shotkies, a small bar that he frequents, after several minutes of driving on the highway. He gets out of his car and enters the bar. The interior of the bar is small. There are several tables in the extra space the tavern has. The bar itself has ten clean barstools and a polished wooden and marble bar. Many bottles of alcohol are displayed on a glowing shelf. Flint hurriedly sits down on one of the barstools. The bartender approaches him, cleaning a glass. ¡°Good evening. Would you like anything to drink?¡± she asks him. ¡°Just¡­just a glass of whiskey. Whatever kind of whiskey you got.¡± Flint tells her. She nods and goes over to get a glass. She grabs one of the higher-quality whiskey bottles and pours him a glass. She approaches him and places the glass near him. ¡°Anything else?¡± she asks. ¡°No¡­¡± Flint muttered. He takes out his wallet from his pocket and grabs several bills. He places them on the bar top. The bartender takes the bills and leaves him there. Flint stares at the whiskey. He takes the glass and then a deep breath. He begins drinking. *click* *click* Flint shudders as he continues to drink from his glass. From the corner of his eyes, he spots a shadowy figure. When he turns his head towards the area, the figure was no longer there. His heart begins beating fast again. ¡°Um¡­excuse me,¡± Flint mutters. The bartender approaches him, ready to serve. ¡°I¡¯ll just have one more glass.¡± Flint requested. He takes his wallet out again and slams more bills. The bartender goes over and pours him another glass of the same whiskey. He takes a deep breath and downs the entire drink in one go. He slams the glass down on the bar. He stands up and leaves the tavern. He walks over to his car and starts it. He rushes back home, hoping not to hear the noise. Flint walks into his home. He notices the living room lights are on. He turns over to see Lily kneeling on the carpet. Her t-shirt and shorts are stained with paint and ink, while her Seedling plush sits on the couch. ¡°Daddy!¡± she exclaims. She runs over to Flint, who bends down to her level and they both embrace each other. Some of the ink and paint residue gets on his clothes, but Flint pays no mind to it. ¡°Yep, daddy¡¯s back home. Early this time.¡± He mutters. They both let go. ¡°How¡¯s school going for you, Lily?¡± Flint asks her. ¡°It¡¯s going great! I like all my teachers and they like the work I¡¯m doing!¡± She joyfully tells him. Flint forms a small smile. While he never can be around her a lot, he is still proud of her achievements. A few seconds later, he feels Lily tug on his pants. ¡°C¡¯mon! I wanna show you something!¡± Lily exclaims. Lily runs over to the table with Flint following behind. As he approaches the table, he can¡¯t help but feel utterly astounded. On the table is this magnificent portrait of her, Flint, and Ronlo. Every line is clean and gracefully drawn on. The colors of paint she uses give a burst of life to the portrait. All of these elements create the loving picture of Ronlo, Flint, and Lily on the couch expressing heartwarming affection towards each other. ¡°I made this just for us Daddy.¡± She says, looking up to Flint. ¡°Sweetie¡­¡± Flint muttered. ¡°It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s beautiful.¡± Lily smiles. She motions Flint to bend down to her level, which he does. Lily gets closer to his ear. ¡°Don¡¯t tell Dad though. I want it to be a surprise to him.¡± Lily whispers. He nods but then stops in confusion. ¡°Sweetie, why are you telling me this?¡± he asks. ¡°Oh¡­you¡¯re always working. I don¡¯t think you¡¯ll have the time to see what I want to show you.¡± He didn¡¯t know what to say to her. All he knows what to tell her is the same old repeated phrase of, ¡°I¡¯m busy at work.¡± ¡°But being a detective must be so cool for you Daddy! If you hated your job, then you wouldn¡¯t be a detective, right?¡± It takes a moment for Flint to process her statement. ¡°It¡¯s my duty¡­¡± He mutters to himself, with a hint of uncertainty. Even if his voice is quiet, Lily still hears what he says. She smiles upon hearing that. ¡°You sound so cool, Daddy.¡± She says out loud. Flint snaps out of his silent state when he hears her say that. A light blush forms on his face upon hearing her compliment. He coughs a bit to compose himself. ¡°Lily, I¡¯ll just let you work on that,¡± Flint says. He pats her head before going to his bedroom. He approaches his bedroom door and puts his hand on the doorknob, tightly gripping it. He takes a moment, still contemplating what he should tell him. He takes a deep breath and turns the knob, entering his bedroom. He slowly and silently walks into his bedroom. Ronlo is sitting at the desk on the other side. He is currently writing a draft of his manuscript on his laptop. Flint slowly approaches him. Ronlo stops typing and stands up from his seat. He turns around and is shocked to see Flint home early. ¡°You¡¯re home early dear,¡± Ronlo says to Flint, still with a somewhat shocked expression. Flint stops and shivers in place. He faces down. ¡°Dear, is something the matter?¡± Ronlo asked him. ¡°¡­¡± Enjoying this book? Seek out the original to ensure the author gets credit. Ronlo sighs. Ronlo approaches Flint and embraces him. Flint tries to back away, but he can¡¯t find it in himself to walk away from him. From this close range, Ronlo smells the scent of alcohol in Flint¡¯s breath. He hugs him tighter. ¡°Flint. I can¡¯t just let this continue.¡± Ronlo says to him. ¡°We need to talk Flint. No more running away.¡± Flint tries to break free from Ronlo¡¯s hug to explain his new case, but Ronlo doesn¡¯t let him. ¡°Please¡­stop pushing me away,¡± Ronlo begs Flint. Flint sighs heavily and stops. He lets Ronlo speak. ¡°I¡¯m not stupid. I can smell the alcohol. I¡¯ve always been able to smell the alcohol.¡± Ronlo says, looking at him while still embracing him. Flint struggles to say anything. ¡°Dear¡­I¡­¡± Ronlo stutters. Ronlo takes and deep breath and sniffles before finally telling Flint, ¡°I¡¯m tired of staying quiet about this Flint. I just can¡¯t bear to see you like this anymore. You¡¯ve changed, you¡¯ve been so distant and detached, not only just from me, but from everyone.¡± Ronlo breaks into tears and buries himself into Flint¡¯s chest as he hugs him tighter. Flint tries his very best not to cry, but yet he does nothing to console Ronlo. ¡°Flint¡­¡± Ronlo manages to tell him despite his tears, ¡°We¡¯ve been married for so long. You can rely on me. You don¡¯t have to rely on your damned alcohol.¡± Flint holds back his tears and breath. He wishes not to break the news to Ronlo, but he has to. Flint can¡¯t lie to him. Flint forcefully pushes Ronlo off of him. ¡°What¡¯s wrong dear?¡± Ronlo asks him, still tears in his eyes. Flint¡¯s breaths become heavier and heavier. Ronlo becomes increasingly worried about him. ¡°Please tell me what¡¯s wrong!¡± Ronlo pleads to him. ¡°Dear¡­I know these are the last words you want to hear. But¡­I have another case.¡± Ronlo falls silent, but tears still run down his eyes. Flint is still breathing heavily and his heart rate is still pumping fast. ¡°Look dear I know that¡­¡± ¡°Do you really know?¡± Ronlo asks, interrupting him. ¡°What..?¡± ¡°Do you really know?¡± Ronlo asks again. ¡°Do you really know how these cases are affecting you?¡± ¡°Dear, please just let me¡­¡± ¡°No Flint! Just stop!¡± Ronlo shouts at him, with more tears streaming down his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m tired of you justifying your actions! How could you be so blind about what¡¯s happening?¡± ¡°I know what I¡¯m getting into Dear. I know.¡± ¡°You always keep saying I know, I know! I don¡¯t think you know at all. You¡¯re always trying to say that just to reassure me!¡± Flint, takes a deep breath, before he shouts at Ronlo in frustration, ¡°Damn it I do know Ronlo! I fucking know what I¡¯m doing! It¡¯s my damn duty!¡± Ronlo is taken aback by his sudden behavior. ¡°Your duty is it?¡± Ronlo asks, wiping the tears from his eyes. ¡°Can¡¯t you see how much your duty has ruined us, you damn idiot?¡± Flint tries to calm himself down with deep breaths, but he is unable to. His right hand tightens into a fist. ¡°You¡¯re destroying all the friendships you have made, you¡¯re destroying Lily¡¯s entire childhood, and now¡­now you¡¯re destroying our five-year-long marriage! Has our marriage ever meant anything to you? If it did, then you wouldn¡¯t continue with your damn job! You¡¯re just a selfish bastard!¡± After Ronlo finishes shouting, Flint punches him in the face. Ronlo is sent back but retaliates by punching Flint back. Flint regains his balance and shoves Ronlo away. Ronlo stumbles back and crashes into their bed. It is only after this that the realization hits Flint. He has never thought that he could hurt his beloved Ronlo, but yet he did out of sheer anger. The feelings of regret hit him immediately. ¡°I¡­I¡­I¡­¡± Flint mutters. As tears fall down his eyes. Flint runs out of the bedroom and shuts the door behind him. He hears Ronlo shambling over to the door and locking it. ¡°Fine then! Go ahead and take that damn case, you selfish bastard! Go ahead and take it!¡± Ronlo shouts from the other side of the door. Flint hears Ronlo crying from behind the door. He couldn¡¯t find it in himself to go back in. Flint approaches the living room, wiping his tears. He notices Lily still working on her project. As he gets closer, he notices some tear stains on her work. ¡°Sweetie, what¡¯s the matter?¡± Flint asks her. ¡°Daddy¡­were you fighting again?¡± she asks. Flint becomes silent. ¡°Sweetie¡­it¡¯s not like that¡­¡± ¡°But, I heard you shouting and yelling¡­¡± Lily says in a low tone, still crying. ¡°Daddy¡­you promised you wouldn¡¯t fight anymore¡­¡± ¡°Sweetie¡­ Look, I know what I promised¡­¡± ¡°Daddy¡­I don¡¯t want you two fighting¡­¡± Flint struggles to come up with something to say to Lily to console her. He takes a deep breath. ¡°Sweetie¡­why¡­why don¡¯t you just head to bed? It¡¯s late.¡± Flint tells her. Lily stands up, grabs her Seedling plush hugging tightly, and runs to her room, closing the door. He can hear her faintly crying in her room. He takes a look at the portrait on the table. She has completed it. Flint sighs heavily as the tears flow from his eyes while he looks at the portrait. It contains such great beauty with all three of them. Something he has destroyed all in one night. He takes the portrait and hides it underneath the table. He tries to calm himself down, but he is unable to. He still cannot fathom that he has hurt his beloved not only physically, but emotionally. He knows about the duty he must fulfill, but he cannot ignore the strain on his relationships it has caused. All of these thoughts continue to bombard him. He goes over to the kitchen and opens one of the top cabinets. He pulls out an entire glass bottle of whiskey, his old reliable to help him cope. He grabs a glass, fills it with ice, and pours some whiskey into it. He holds the glass in his hand and observes it. He grips the glass tightly in his hand. He knows he shouldn¡¯t be doing this. He knows he should be going back to amend things with his dear Ronlo and precious daughter Lily. But instead, he downed the glass of whiskey. Then he had another. Then another. Then another, until the bottle was empty. He becomes woozy after finishing the bottle. Even though the alcohol has already set in to numb himself, we could still feel the harsh emotional pain from earlier. He stumbles his way to the living room. He sloppily turns off the lights in the kitchen and living room. Once that is done, he stumbles through the dark room and crashes right onto the couch. He immediately falls asleep. *click* *click* Flint is still fast asleep. *click* *click* It is louder this time, but he is still asleep. *click* *click* Flint shudders, finally hearing the noise. It is very close to him. He feels something sliding across his face. His eyes immediately open. He looks around in the dark room, breaking out into a cold sweat. Nothing is there, but he still hears the noise. *click* *click* It is coming from the kitchen. Flint slowly stands up and approaches the kitchen. He shivers when he sees a shadowy human figure in the kitchen. Its shadowy hand is on the empty bottle of whiskey he has drunk from. It is now filled with a black liquid. ¡°Flint¡­¡± the shadowy figure mutters. It pours out the liquid into a glass, filling it up. It raises the glass and offers it to Flint. The scent of the liquid is intoxicating to him. ¡°It¡¯s just one drink.¡± The figure tells him. He began to shiver even more. He tried to resist drinking the liquid, but it became so difficult for him to resist. ¡°No¡­I¡­I¡­I won¡¯t¡­¡± he mutters. ¡°Why resist? It¡¯s only one drink.¡± The figure again mutters. ¡°I won¡¯t. I won¡¯t drink it.¡± Flint mutters again. He then heard the cacophony of voices reciting the same line, ¡°It¡¯s only one drink.¡± ¡°Stop! Stop! I won¡¯t drink it!¡± he screams. The voices increase and become even louder, still reciting the same line. ¡°Stop!¡± he again pleaded. The voices reach their maximum volume. He couldn¡¯t hear anything except for the voices reciting the same damn line. His heart begins to beat faster and faster. He looks down at the drink. Flint begins to drink the liquid. Its thick consistency runs down Flint¡¯s throat. It tastes like old mud bathing in bacteria-infested water. No matter how repulsive the drink is, he can¡¯t stop drinking it. It has intoxicated him. He continued to drink it, all until the very last drop. He breathes heavily after finishing the repulsive liquid. He hears the voice no more. He is finally calm. However, all his calmness was soon taken back. He begins shivering and sweating again. He sees the room slowly engulfed in darkness. He tries to move away from it, but the darkness slowly surrounds him. There is nothing he can do. He stands in the center of the room, waiting for the inevitable. Like the room, he too becomes engulfed in the darkness. He is the only one standing there in the dark void. He begins to fall into the darkness. He did not know where he''d end up, but he did not panic. All he can do is to accept his fate. He eventually stops falling and lands on his back. The area he has landed in feels like a concrete road. He stands up from the ground. He saw the darkness gradually retreating. It reveals a dark road in between many damaged and ruined buildings. The road itself has many potholes and cracks scattered throughout. Damaged street poles are aligned parallel on both sides, some off, some with flickering bulbs. Flint looks around to find anything else. There is nothing else. He has no idea where it would lead him, but the only thing he can do is walk down this ruined street. He takes a deep breath and starts his walk. Flint¡¯s steps echo throughout the quiet street. He can barely tell if he is making any progress. The darkness unveils the same buildings, the same street, and the same street poles. He just keeps on moving on, ignoring the monotony¡¯s attempts to delude him. He keeps on walking and walking. His same steps continue echoing throughout the street. All of this is slowly getting to him. *click* *click* He looks behind him to find the source of the noise. His eyes widen at the sight of a shadowy figure standing there. Its clothing is that of Flint¡¯s, but physically it is a distorted shadowy being, who is hunched over. Its distorted hanging jaw and large unaligned purple eyes stare at Flint. This is not the first time Flint has encountered this being, but he knows it won¡¯t be the last. He tries so desperately to back away, but he can¡¯t. He is placed in a frozen state. The figure takes crooked and odd steps as it shambles towards Flint, still keeping its hunched posture. ¡°No¡­stay back! Back!¡± Flint shouts at the being. The shadowy being keeps on getting closer to Flint. Radio static comes out from its gaping mouth. ¡°I¡­will¡­take them¡­¡± it mutters. Flint knows what it is talking about. He keeps on struggling to break free. The shadowy figure is now standing in front of Flint. It leans its face closer. Flint hears the harsh radio static. ¡°I¡­will show them¡­the darkness¡­they will drown in it¡­¡± It tells Flint. ¡°Stop! Don¡¯t you dare lay a damn finger on any of them!¡± Flint shouts at the being. The being turns Flint to behind him. The bodies of Sercas and Serena, his workmates whom he cares for, and Lily and Ronlo, his beloved family, are lying on the ground. All of them lay there unconscious and greatly wounded. ¡°Stop! STOP!¡± Flint shouts at the being. The being slowly shambles to their bodies, ignoring Flint¡¯s constant pleas for it to stop. The being lifts Sercas¡¯s body. A pool of darkness forms beneath his body. ¡°The man¡­who will take a mortal blow¡­¡± the being mutters. Sercas regains consciousness and opens his eyes. The shadowy being drowns Sercas in the darkness below. Sercas screams and struggles as he is drowned in the darkness, but he still manages to give the being a hard time. Sercas hacks and coughs up shadowy sludge as the being slowly overpowers him. The shadowy being shoves Sercas down into the pool of darkness. The last that is heard of Sercas is his blood-curdling screams full of pain and agony. The being shambles over to Serena next. He lifts her body, with the same pool of darkness forming from beneath her. ¡°The secretary¡­who is your guiding light¡­¡± the being mutters. Serena¡¯s eyes open and she regains consciousness. The shadowy being forcefully throws her into the darkness. She tries hard to escape from the darkness trying to engulf her, but she is unable to. She sees Flint and reaches out her arm to him. It is all for naught. She is dragged into the darkness, screaming in agony just like Sercas. ¡°Damn it¡­damn it!¡± Flint curses. Flint tries to break free from his frozen state, but he is unable to. He is helpless as he sees the being lift up his beloved Ronlo. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­you¡­damn dare!¡± Flint shouts at the shadowy being, still unable to break free from his frozen state. The being turns to face Flint as it carries Ronlo in his hands. ¡°Your beloved husband¡­who you have hurt¡­¡± it mutters. Flint stops struggling to break free. He stares at the being with a regretful look. ¡°Please¡­don¡¯t hurt him¡­don¡¯t hurt him!¡± Flint pleads. The being throws Ronlo into the darkness below, as he regains consciousness. The darkness latches onto him as he struggles to get free. As the darkness slowly drags him down, it forms sharp spikes that penetrate throughout his entire upper body. Ronlo stops struggling and coughs up the dark sludge. He, like the rest, is slowly drowned in the darkness. The being slowly approaches Lily. ¡°Don¡¯t¡­don¡¯t lay a single hand on my daughter!¡± Flint shouts at him. The being lifts up Lily¡¯s small body. She regains consciousness and looks around. ¡°What¡¯s going on?¡± She asks. She sees her father in the distance and sees the shadowy figure carrying her. She looks below and sees the pool of darkness beneath her. The shadowy being slowly raises her up. ¡°Daddy! Daddy help me!¡± she screams as the being prepares to throw her into the darkness. Her cries for help give Flint a burst of determination. He uses all his might and power to break free from his frozen state. Just before the being throws Lily into the shadowy pool, Flint manages to break out of his frozen state and rushes over to them. He pushes the shadowy being, causing it to release Lily. He pins the being to the ground. ¡°I won¡¯t let you do that to her! I won¡¯t let her end up like the rest!¡± he shouts at the being. Flint punches the shadowy being repeatedly. No matter how much he punches the being, it does nothing to harm it. The being pushes him off of it, throwing him a distance away. The being shambles over to Lily, who is nearby and too frightened to run away. Flint recovers and looks over to the shadowy being. He sees the shadowy being about to throw Lily into the darkness. He hears her screams for help. ¡°No¡­¡± Flint mutters. He quickly stands up and runs over to them. The shadowy being throws Lily into the darkness as Flint is mere inches away from them. He hears her screams of pain and agony as the pool of darkness consumes her. ¡°No¡­¡± he mutters. ¡°Damn it! No!¡± He turns to where the shadowy being stands but is no longer there. Flint¡¯s visage of anger and hatred slowly turns into one of sadness and defeat. He falls to the floor, with a defeated look. The streets and roads around him slowly become engulfed in darkness. The darkness eventually engulfs him, along with his surroundings. Onto Work Flint jolts awake from his slumber, causing him to fall off his couch. He looks around in the room in a panic, but he eventually calms down when he realizes he is still in his living room. He slowly stands up, this time more calm. ¡°Daddy?¡± a familiar feminine voice asks him. Flint turns over in the direction of the noise. It is Lily. ¡°Oh, sweetie¡­¡± he mutters. He looks over to the clock in the living room. He squints in darkness trying to make out the time, 5 a.m. ¡°What are you doing up so early?¡± he asks her. ¡°I heard you screaming and shouting.¡± She replied. ¡°Are you okay?¡± He nods his head while he sits himself down on the couch. ¡°You should go back to bed Lily, it¡¯s still very early.¡± He tells her. Flint stretches for a moment before standing up slowly from the couch. ¡°Where are you going, Daddy?¡± she asks. Flint stops himself and slowly sits back down. ¡°Sweetie¡­I¡­I have another case to work on.¡± He tells her. ¡°Oh¡­¡± She whimpers. ¡°So you¡¯ll be gone again for a long time right?¡± Flint sees the look on her face and he knows it all too well. He takes a deep breath to compose himself. ¡°Look, sweetie, I know how hard it will be for you and Dad, but¡­but¡­¡± Flint struggles to finish what he will say. ¡°But it¡¯s your duty, right?¡± she asks. Flint jolts slightly when he hears her say that word. ¡°Duty¡­¡± he mutters. Before he can speak further, Lily goes up to him and gives him a tight hug. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you Daddy, but you told me before you have a duty. Even if it takes a while, I know you¡¯ll be back Daddy. I know you¡¯ll make this world a better place when you¡¯re done!¡± She tells him. ¡°Sweetie...¡± He mutters. He couldn¡¯t find it in himself to hug her back, because of the events from last night, but he doesn¡¯t force her off until she is finished. After some more moments, she let go of her hug. Before standing up, he at least shows some affection by brushing her hair up and kissing her forehead. Flint stands up and makes his way to the door. ¡°Go back to sleep, sweetie. You got a day of school ahead of you.¡± He tells her while he is at the door. ¡°Aren¡¯t you going to say bye to dad?¡± Lily asks. Flint¡¯s hand is gripped tightly on the doorknob. She is right. Not only does he need to say bye to him, but he also needs to do something else, apologize to him. He is still regretful of the events of last night and still shivers at the fact that he hit his dear. He still loves Ronlo dearly, but he just can¡¯t find it in himself to say anything to him. He hates what he is about to do. ¡°Just go back to bed sweetie¡­¡± he mutters to her. He opens the door and locks it. Lily is left there in the room all by herself. ¡°Daddy¡­¡± she mutters. She walks over to the table in the living room, trying to find her project. She finds it underneath the table and pulls it out. Although her tears stain her portrait, it did not do any major damage. The tears make the image of her and her fathers¡¯ happiness stand out even more. She can only wish the happy image portrayed in the portrait would come true. She takes it with her back into her room and hides it away. She tries going back to sleep, but she shivers and squirms around in her bed. Even her stuffed toy that she sleeps with doesn¡¯t soothe her. Even though she tries her best to fall asleep, she can¡¯t. She leaves her bed and goes to her dad¡¯s bedroom door. *knock* *knock* She hears the shambling footsteps from the other side of the door. It opens, revealing an awake, but somewhat tired Ronlo. ¡°Lily, it¡¯s still early. You still have time, now go back to bed please.¡± Ronlo tells her in his tired voice. ¡°I woke up because Daddy was making noise in the living room.¡± ¡°He was?¡± He asks her. ¡°Yeah, but then he left to go to work. He told me he¡¯s taking on a new case.¡± Ronlo becomes silent. Lily can see tears roll down his eyes. ¡°Dad? Are you alright?¡± she asks her father. ¡°¡­Yes¡­yes, I¡¯m fine¡­¡± he says, wiping away the tears. ¡°I¡¯m just tired Lily. Now please, go back to bed.¡± As Ronlo is about to close the door, Lily asks him, ¡°Can I sleep with you, Dad?¡± Ronlo stops. ¡°Lily, you¡¯re a big girl. You can sleep by yourself.¡± Ronlo tells her. ¡°I¡­I¡­I had a nightmare. It¡¯s so scary that I can¡¯t sleep.¡± She replies. Ronlo tiredly sighs and lets her into his and Flint¡¯s bedroom. He helps her up to get into their bed, tucking her in first before getting into bed as well. ¡°So, what was your nightmare about?¡± Ronlo asks her. ¡°It¡¯s scary Dad¡­¡± she mutters. Ronlo sees her shivering. He gets closer to her and lifts her head to face his. With the same hand, he softly caresses her face. ¡°Lily¡­If you don¡¯t want to talk about it, that¡¯s fine. But, I can¡¯t help you if you don¡¯t tell me.¡± He tells her in a caring tone. ¡°Alright then¡­¡± Lily mutters. ¡°So¡­I was in my room in the dream. And¡­and¡­I heard you and Daddy shouting at each other. You were saying so many mean things to each other. You were hurting each other¡­¡± Ronlo sees Lily almost break down into tears. Quickly, Ronlo brings her in for a hug. Lilly burrowed herself into his chest, eventually succumbing and crying in his embrace. The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings. ¡°Lily¡­is¡­is that truly what you dreamt of?¡± he asks her. She nods, while she is burrowed in his chest. She eventually looks up at him with her red watery eyes. ¡°It¡¯s just only a nightmare I have right?¡± she asks him. Ronlo can¡¯t even speak. He holds back his tears to keep his composure, despite how difficult it is for him. His silence is enough of an answer for her. Her eyes water even more. ¡°Dad¡­why do you fight with Daddy?¡± she asks him. Ronlo takes a deep breath and speaks to her, ¡°Lily¡­I¡­I don¡¯t want to fight with him. I love him so much.¡± ¡°Then why do you fight with him?¡± He twitches when he hears her say that. He closes his eyes and takes another deep breath. ¡°Lily¡­it¡¯s his job.¡± ¡°His job? But he has such a cool job¡­won¡¯t he make the world a better place?¡± she asks him. Ronlo goes silent. He knows that she¡¯s a smart girl, but she¡¯s too young to comprehend why. ¡°Lily, just go to sleep. Dad¡¯s here for you.¡± Ronlo tells her. Lily burrows into him even further, hugging him tightly. Her eyes waver and she falls asleep. Ronlo caresses her back when he still sees her crying in her slumber. When Ronlo knows she is fully asleep, he lets his tears fall from his eyes. He can¡¯t fathom Flint hurting himself all to fulfill his duty. He can¡¯t remember how long it has been since that fateful day Flint changed; the day when he has been sentenced to a prison of solitude. Ronlo tries so, so hard to convince himself that he can make their relationship work, that he still loves Flint. But he can no longer bear holding this facade. He quietly stands up from his bed and opens his laptop. He searches for a divorce lawyer on the internet. He finds one and writes down their number on a sticky note. He stares at it for a long time. He then looks back at Lily. ¡°I¡¯m sorry Flint¡­¡± he mutters. ¡°This has to be done.¡± He sticks it on his laptop screen. He closes his laptop and tucks himself back into bed. He looks down at Lily and hugs her tightly. He contemplates how he will deliver the news to her. Flint arrives at his office early. He finds a note on his desk which details a location for him and President Rogers to meet. Flint recognizes the location from local rumors and hearsay, somewhere hidden in the forest. A fitting place for the facility. He rummages through his desk and file cabinets, looking for the case file. He groans in frustration after he fails to find it. He exits his offices to see Sercas and Serena enter the reception area. His eyes widen when he sees Serena holding the case file in her arms. Flint approaches Serena with his hand extended to take the case file, but she reactively leans away. ¡°Serena, give me the case file. Now.¡± Flint demands. She shakes her head, continuing to back away from him. Flint groans in frustration while continuing to reach for the case file. Sercas stands in front of Serena, blocking Flint¡¯s advance. ¡°Sercas, move out of the way,¡± Flint demands. Flint tries to swerve around Sercas, but Sercas keeps following his movements, preventing him from getting to Serena. Serena keeps backing away during this. ¡°No can do Flint.¡± He replies. ¡°Why are you doing this? I need that case file!¡± Flint shouts. Serena¡¯s eyes widen when she sees Flint finally get past Sercas by pushing him away. Flint runs up to Serena and latches his hands on the case files. Serena grips her hands tighter as Flint tries to pull the case files out of her hands. Flint manages to overpower Serena¡¯s grip and pulls the case files out of her hands, which makes her stumble around for some moments. ¡°What the hell was that for?¡± Flint asks, still frustrated by the incident. ¡°We¡¯re going with you Flint,¡± Serena responds, stumbling around. ¡°What?¡± He responds utterly flabbergasted. Serena regains her balance and fixes her appearance. ¡°We¡¯re going with you, Flint. It¡¯s final.¡± She responds with a more confident tone, now standing up properly. Flint rubs his head, sighing in frustration. ¡°Is it hard to understand that this case was assigned to me?¡± Flint asks them. ¡°I don¡¯t need you two getting involved with my matters.¡± Flint makes his way to the door, holding the files in his arms. But before he can walk further, Sercas plants his hand on his shoulder, stopping him. ¡°Flint, we¡¯re not leaving you to take this case alone,¡± Sercas tells him. ¡°Since when have you ever worked on a case without us?¡± Flint ignores his comment and pushes aside Sercas¡¯s hand off his shoulder. ¡°Sercas is right Flint. We¡¯ve always been there for you in all your cases.¡± Serena tells her. ¡°Besides, we¡¯re not uninformed Flint. We read the case file. We won¡¯t let you do this-¡± ¡°Both of you stop it!¡± he shouts at them. ¡°I don¡¯t want any of you to be involved with this damn case! It¡¯s final!¡± Sercas¡¯s and Serena¡¯s eyes widen at Flint¡¯s sudden outburst. Flint storms out of the office. Sercas and Serena run after him but they are too late. They see Flint quickly drive off. Flint¡¯s car drives through the bumpy and forgotten roads of the forest. Flint gazes at the trees, which are brimming with life. The bag containing the case file and supplies bumps around on the passenger¡¯s side. His attention snaps back onto the road when he sees a large imposing wire fence blocking the road. The sign on it states: ¡°DO NOT TRESPASS, PRIVATE PROPERTY.¡± Flint slows his car to a stop, mere feet away from the fence. He exits his vehicle, taking a closer inspection of the fence. The wiring is covered in a black residue. Flint recoils after getting a whiff of the residue¡¯s foul odor bombarding his olfactory senses. Flint grabs a glove from his pocket and puts it on his free hand. He covers his mouth and nose with the other as he approaches the fence again. He shakes the fence back and forth, feeling that it can be moved horizontally. It takes Flint a bit of effort, but he slides the gate open. Flint uncovers his mouth, finally being able to breathe clearly. He takes off his glove and waves it around to remove the residue. After he stops shaking it, upon closer inspection, he realizes the residue is still on the glove. The residue itself seems to have molded itself into a series of veins one will find in their hand. Flint, though unnerved by the sight, brings the glove with him to the car. He places the glove in a compartment in his bag. He gets on the driver¡¯s side of the car and starts driving down the road. Driving down the worn roads, Flint notices fewer lively trees. Their colors are duller and the leaves and bark are rotting. He notices in the distance a large facility, towering over everything. He looks back at the road and notices virtually no trees as he gets closer. The worn forgotten roads lead to the entrance to the large abandoned parking lot of the facility, which is surrounded by the same wire fences. There are several worn concrete platforms and sidewalks scattered about and the road itself is just as worn out as the roads in the forest. Flint drives deeper into the parking lot, getting a closer view of the facility. The large dome exterior of the facility, like everything around it, has been a victim of the passage of time. Like the fences Flint has seen earlier, it is covered in the same black residue. It has seeped into the cracks and coated the vines growing in between the cracks, making it appear like large black pulsating veins. The several large windows around the facility are surprisingly not damaged but are covered in splotches of black and reddish-brown stains. Flint parks near the entrance and exits his vehicle. He notices the entrance of the facility: two large steel doors, barred with a plethora of locks. He looks around the area looking for President Rogers. His search is halted when he hears the loud whirring of the helicopter blades approaching the vicinity. He looks up and sees President Rogers leaning out one of the doors of the helicopter. He jumps off the helicopter when it is several feet off the ground. The helicopter lands and the blades slow to a stop. President Rogers approaches Flint, who is slightly taken aback by his bold entrance. Flint snaps out of his shocked state when he sees President Rogers extend his hand for a firm handshake, which he returns. ¡°I do appreciate you Mr. Detective for taking up this case. You can expect a handsome paycheck once this is all over.¡± Roger tells him. Flint silently nods in response. President Rogers steps back and pulls out a revolver from his inner suit pocket. The revolver has wisps engraved on the handle and the nose of the gun is shaped like a ghostly flame. He hands the revolver to Flint, along with a box of ammunition he has pulled out from his pocket. ¡°Hopefully you know how to use this. You¡¯re gonna need it.¡± President Rogers tells Flint. President Rogers runs up to the helicopter and boards it. ¡°I wish you luck Flint!¡± he exclaims. The blades of the helicopter spin fast and whir loudly. The helicopter takes off, leaving Flint there alone. Flint takes a closer inspection of the revolver, still confused and intrigued by its design. He finds the text ¡°Libera Animam¡± etched along the spectral flame nose of the revolver. He opens the box of ammunition and notices that all the bullets are splattered with blotches of white and black. He takes six bullets from the box and loads them into the chamber. He puts the gun away in his inner coat pocket. He heads back to this car and opens the door to the passenger side. He takes out several items from the bag, his lock-picking set, a headlamp, and a small camera. He takes off his hat to put on the headlamp, which compresses portions of his hair. He puts his hat back on as he approaches the entrance, putting away the camera in his pockets. Flint sees the chains around the handles of the door, being held in place by many smaller locks and one bulkier one. While they are high-quality locks, it isn¡¯t something he can¡¯t pick. It takes him several minutes, but he manages to pick the lock. He puts away the lock-picking set in his pockets. The doors creak loudly as he slowly opens them. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. ¡°Come on Flint. You have a duty to fulfill.¡± He mutters. He turns on his headlamp and slowly enters the facility, closing the doors behind him. The Facility The light from Flint¡¯s headlamp shines upon the deteriorated interior of the Facility¡¯s large reception area. The chairs and benches lie about the floor reduced to pure scraps and the reception desk is covered in dried reddish brown stains. As he approaches the reception desk, the light reveals two large mechanical doors parallel to each other. He first approaches the door on the left. The door does not budge, no matter how hard he pulls. He kneels and finds that the lock is in far disrepair to even be picked. He takes his losses and walks to the door on the other side. Flint pulls on the door. While it is jammed, the door moves a little. Flint keeps on tugging, making the door inch forward bit by bit. After one final tug, Flint stumbles back as the door swings wide open, crashing onto the nearby wall. Bits of small rubble fall on the ground where the door crashed into the wall. Flint notices countless paper talismans plastered behind and around the door¡¯s opening. The talismans have crosses, a series of lines, and circles on them, all in red ink. They continue down into the dark abyss of the hallway. Flint takes out his camera from his pocket and takes a photo of them. He ventures deeper into the hall, putting his camera back into his pocket. Flint finds several open doors in the distance, two on the left and one on the right, spaced far apart each with talismans being nailed onto them. He peers into the rooms, finding small decrepit office spaces with scraps of furniture and rubble scattered about. Flint wanders aimlessly in the halls. He passes by the same monotonous sight, wide open doors with talismans nailed onto them, leading into ruined and destroyed rooms. The light from his headlamp wanes as the darkness around him intensifies as he gets deeper into the hallway. Flint¡¯s eyes squint while he traverses through the hall, taking slower steps so he doesn¡¯t trip or step on anything. Flint looks at the left side of the hallway and finds something that catches his interest. There is a broken sign hanging on top of a broken door. Its text is smudged over with a black residue. However, he can still read it, which reads: File Room. This room in particular also has many talismans on the door, more so than the previous doors he has passed by. The inside of the room has appeared to be ransacked. Many of the filing cabinets are either opened wide or damaged. Papers are scattered across the floor either being crumpled, ripped, or covered with dirt and debris. There is a desk in the center of the room, with only a few chips and scratches. Even though the room is an utter mess, it doesn¡¯t hinder Flint at all. The room¡¯s disarray is quite familiar to him as his office is in a sadly similar state. He first focuses on the papers on the floor and picks them up. He places them on the desk and reads through them. Most of the documentation, while interesting, doesn¡¯t catch his eye. They contain graphs and extensive reports about specific equipment. Even though they contain related information, it isn¡¯t the information he is looking for in particular. However, a couple of papers do stand out to him. Flint finds the floor layout for the entire building. The facility descends to the 5th basement floor. The second and third floors catch his interest in particular. These floors house many experimentation rooms, the heart of the facility. While it is dated from many years ago, it is Flint¡¯s best shot at navigating through the facility. On the floor plan, there are two stairways leading further down into the facility. They are not far from his current location, requiring only a simple walk and a few turns down the hall. He exits the room, the floor layout in his hand, and makes his trip toward the stairwell. Flint stands in front of the stairwell. His lamp light illuminates very little of the stairwell. Flint stretches and takes a deep breath. He slowly goes down the stairs. Flint looks around the large stairwell with limited vision being provided by the light. He finds talismans plastered on the wall, which are heavily concentrated throughout the stairwell. Flint notices that, unlike the talismans on the first floor, the symbols are drawn on with black ink. Underneath them, he can make out portions of an odd mural with the same black ink. He approaches the talismans and pushes some of them aside. While he is unable to push all of them aside, most of the mural is revealed. It is a large shadowy silhouette of a humanoid figure, wearing a suit, holding a bag on his left and a large rod with a trapezoidal bladed end on his right. Flint shivers the longer he looks at the mural. He takes a photo of it and leaves the area immediately. It takes him some time to go down the stairwell. He takes the opportunity for a short moment to rest. He takes a closer look at the floor plan, trying to determine the best place to look first. A majority of the rooms on the next floor are laboratories along with some storage rooms. He has difficulty determining where to start and continues to look through the floor plans for something to work with. thump Flint looks up from the floor plans. What was that? thump thump Flint hears it coming from the second floor. He cautiously walks down the stairs. thump thump thump It is louder this time. He sees the second-floor door close by. thump thump thump thump He approaches the door of the second floor. As he puts his hand on the handle, the noise stops. Before he enters the second floor, he looks behind him. He notices a large chunk of rubble blocking the way further down into the facility. However, he knows from the floor plan that there is another floor plan leading downstairs. He enters the second floor without any more delay. Unlike the first floor, this floor has dim lighting throughout the entire floor. The lighting is just bright enough for him to turn off his headlamp. He notices a lack of talismans as he walks into the hallway. Furthermore, he notices that it is in much better condition than the first floor. However, it is only marginally better as Flint still notices stains and cracks along the way. He takes out his camera and takes various photos of the hallway. He passes by several closed doors, signs on them indicating the specific laboratory it is. As he walks around he keeps looking at the floor plans for reference. The floor plans are reliable until he checks them again. He notices he already passed the end of the hall on the floor plans. He sighs at the revelation, but he isn¡¯t frustrated over it. It is an old document after all. He continues down the unfamiliar hallway. He notices that the hallway becomes progressively dirtier. Black stains are smeared all over the floor and wall, their stench still pungent. He walks down the hall with his left hand covering his mouth, passing by more stains, this time in large splotches, on the walls and floor. Flint notices a particular stain on the ground he couldn¡¯t ignore. It is a large black stain covering a good chunk of the floor and wall. He lowers to the floor for further inspection. Realizing he has forgotten to bring along gloves, he visually examines the stain not wanting to touch it. He notices the stain has a more intense color compared to the stains on the wall and floor. Upon a close look, he finds what seems to be ash mixed within the stain and has a more intense pungent smell. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. Whirrrrrrrrr He hears the peculiar noise coming at the end of the hallway. Flint takes out the loaded revolver and walks slowly toward the source of the noise. Flint finds the source of the noise coming behind two large doors. They have images of specters and spirits painted on using the same black stains that are found throughout the hall. The two handles of the door are in the shape of flames. The noise continues to intensify from behind the door. Flint puts his revolver away in his inner pocket and takes a quick picture of it before pulling on the handle. The doors do not budge. He kneels and takes out his lock-picking kit, pulling out some picks. As Flint puts them into the lock, he feels the picks shake in his hands as if the gates and pins inside the lock are moving. By pushing down one pin, he sees his picks rotate and move in and out of the lock as if it is actively preventing him from picking it. Flint removes his picks from the lock and puts them in his kit. He takes out the floor plans, hoping to find a specific room where he can find a key for these doors. Alas, he can¡¯t find that room on the floor plans. He puts them away and continues down looking around the hall. He knows that there is somewhere in this forsaken facility that will house the keys to unlock those doors. After walking deeper into the hall, he finds a set of two large push doors on the right of the hall. He opens the door and is greeted with utter darkness within the room. He turns on his headlamp. Flint shivers uncontrollably and almost keels over at the grisly sight that the light reveals. Dried blood is smeared all over the large room, from the ceiling to the floor. The lights shine upon some cabinets and desks along the sides of the room are ruined and left wide open, also smeared with blood. But that is not what unnerved him. There are four large operating tables, two on the right and two on the left. They all have mutilated corpses of rotting humans, some with medicinal tools that are stabbed into them. Flint hesitantly takes out his camera, against the wishes of his trembling body. His finger keeps shivering as he presses down on the button, taking a picture of the gruesome sight. Flint steps out of the room, breathing heavily. ¡°You¡¯ve seen this before, Flint. You¡¯ve seen worse. Shake it off, Flint.¡± He says to himself, attempting to calm himself down. After calming himself down for a moment, he steps back into the room. As he enters the room, he finds another set of large doors at the end of the room. He makes his way towards the door, trying to ignore the ghastly sights on the tables. He tugs on the door, but it does not budge. The door has a window, but the shades on the other side block his view of the room. He bends down and picks the lock. After hearing the locks click, he slowly opens the door. Flint has thought it couldn¡¯t be worse. But he is dead, dead wrong. Behind the door is a singular operating table stained with the same black goo in the hall. On top of the stained operating table was a human, well at least what he think is a human. Its shadowy and inky black body is strapped down on the table. Its mouth appears to have been forcibly stretched open, revealing its charred teeth and decaying insides. Fresh black sludge drips from the several holes that are riddled on its arms and legs. ¡°What¡­what the hell?¡± Flint mutters. As he looks around the room, he finds a cabinet with a table underneath it. There are several documents on the table along with a peculiar key, that is shaped like an arrow, on top. He goes over and takes the key and documents. He puts away the key in his pocket and begins reading through the writing on the documents. Subject 1302: He¡­he was so close to being perfect. His body¡­it was so very close, but it succumbed. His soul¡­it¡¯s always their soul. It seemed so passionate, but it was just like the others. Another failed experiment. The rest of the documents are crossed out, making the text illegible. *crik* *crik* Flint looks up from the documents and at the operating table. The thing is still there. He looks back down and continues to read through them. I will never replicate those four¡­but I mustn¡¯t give up. There is still hope. There is still a chance. There is always a chance. I must perfect the serum. I will see her again. *SNAP* Flint looks up again and his eyes widen. It was the thing slowly rising on the table. It freely moves about in jerky, stiff motion. Its body cracks and squishes as it turns to Flint. It bellows a sound akin to the grating of bones from its stretched mouth. The thing lunges at him. Flint drops the documents and slides underneath the thing. The thing crashes into the table below the cabinets, spraying its black sludge on the surface and the documents on the floor. Flint runs out of the room taking out his revolver. He turns around and sees the thing shambling after him with its crooked and stiff steps. Flint rests his finger on the trigger and pulls it. *BANG* Flint¡¯s eyes widen when he sees the bullet surrounded by bluish-green spectral flame as it speeds at the thing. The bullet pierces the thing¡¯s body, spraying out black sludge from the wound. The thing halts its movement and screeches loudly. Flint pulls the trigger again. *BANG* Another bullet, being surrounded by the same spectral flame, pierces its body again, causing it to halt its movements, spray out more black sludge, and screech louder. Flint sees a golden opportunity and aims the revolver at the thing¡¯s head. Flint pulls the trigger again. *BANG* A huge chunk of the creature¡¯s head is blown off. The creature arches its back and violently shakes in place. A concentrated stream of light erupts from its head. More streams of light erupt from holes around the thing¡¯s body. Flint closes his eyes as the entire room is engulfed in a great light. As the light fades, the thing is no longer there. The black sludge it leaves behind has vanished, just like its body. Flint rushes out of the room and leans against the non-stained portion of the hallway. He takes some deep breaths to calm his racing heart. Never in his life, has he expected to fight against a horrid abomination of nature. ¡°Come on Flint¡­you¡¯ve faced worse¡­you know you have¡­¡± Flint keeps muttering to himself. He takes a closer examination of the revolver to distract his mind. As he touches the nose of the gun, he feels a soothing warmth calming himself down. His breaths become less and less heavy. He takes the key out of his pocket. He deduces that it is the key for the door with the changing locks. Flint takes another deep breath and slowly walks back to the doors. As he arrives at the door, he takes out the key and puts it into the lock. He hears the lock clicking and rotating while the key is inside it. As the door unlocks, he hears a buzzing sound intensifying from inside the room. He hears the clicking and rotating stop. He pulls out the key and opens the door, with his revolver pointing inside the room. Flint looks around and finds himself in an operating room. The room is surrounded by sigils and summoning circles drawn in blood. He finds large tubes along the walls with translucent fluids flowing within them. Each of them has a certain symbol on top and it exerts a clear mist as they are on. There is an operating table, with another humanoid thing on the table. It is strapped down and immobilized. Its entire chest is ripped open, revealing its hollow insides. ¡°YOU HAVE FINALLY COME.¡± A robotic voice announces from the side. Flint turns his direction to the source of the voice. The voice comes from a large hexagonal body of metal, which becomes thinner as it nears the top. It has black sludge smeared all over its dark red metallic body. It has a large grotesque metal arm, moving its thick and sharp fingers, which screeches as the fingers rub against each other. The most grotesque thing about it, however, is its head. It is a glass dome, with the rotting, paralyzed head of an old man with medium red hair. The rest of the man¡¯s body is hidden within the metallic body. The man¡¯s body is submerged in a dark translucent liquid. ¡°What¡­who are you..?¡± Flint asks with the revolver pointed at him. ¡°IT IS OF NO CONCERN TO YOU.¡± The voice says with its stained voice box near its head. The machine wheels over, reaching out its hand to Flint. Flint backs away. ¡°AFTER ALL THESE YEARS. AFTER SO LONG. I HAVE FOUND ANOTHER.¡± ¡°Another?¡± Flint asks. The machine¡¯s arm reaches out to Flint clamping its hands as it rolls closer and closer to Flint. As the clamping speed increases, the fingers jerk around more unevenly. Flint covers his ears because of the screeching noise the hand created. Then, it stops. ¡°YOUR SOUL...YOUR SOUL¡­THE FEELING¡­IT¡¯S SO FAMILIAR.¡± The machine announces. The machine wheels over towards Flint, who continues to back away from it. It swipes its grotesque metal arm at him. ¡°YOUR SOUL¡­IT IS WHAT I NEED. I NEED IT. I NEED IT!¡± the machine announces. Flint runs out of the room with the machine chasing him. Flint aims the revolver at the machine. *BANG* The bullet surrounded by the green flame is blocked with its large arm. ¡°DO NOT FLEE LOST SOUL.¡± the machine says to Flint with its robotic voice as it continues to chase him. Flint runs through the halls, taking many twists and turns. The machine manages to keep up with Flint, despite its mechanical body and the turns of the hallway. Flint¡¯s breathing becomes heavier, and his legs feel like they are about to give up on him, but he keeps running. The machine is close to catching him. Without any other options left for Flint, he runs over to one of the doors within the hall and opens it. He enters the dark room fumbling around trying to escape the machine. He bumps into several tables and cabinets during his struggle. However, the machine enters the room as well. There is no place for him to hide. ¡°DO NOT BE AFRAID LOST SOUL. I WILL GUIDE YOU THROUGH THIS HELL. I WILL FREE YOU FROM THIS NEVER ENDING LABYRINTH OF PAIN AND SORROW.¡± the machine announces to him. The machine slowly approaches Flint. Flint backs away, pointing the revolver at it. As Flint backs away, he slips on a wet stain on the floor. The impact of his fall breaks the flooring where he falls. The flooring on the floor below breaks as his body crashes into that as well. He screams as he continues falling. ¡°LOST SOUL¡­I WILL FIND YOU AGAIN. I SHALL SET YOU FREE. I SHALL SEE HER AGAIN.¡± the machine says to itself. The machine wheels out of the room, with the faint sounds of Flint¡¯s grunts of pain coming from the hole. The Child A gray van drives along the forgotten roads of the forest around the late morning. Inside, Sercas is driving the car, while Serena is sitting at the passenger¡¯s side, looking down at copies of the case file she has printed. Bobbleheads and other assorted knick-knacks are glued onto the dashboard. The vibrant saxophones and trumpets and the groovy piano from the jazz music playing on the radio fill the silence in the van. ¡°Hey, Sercas,¡± Serena says, breaking the silence. ¡°Do you think Flint will be alright?¡± ¡°Flint is a tough bastard. I think he¡¯ll be able to handle himself.¡± Sercas responds, focusing on the road. ¡°I know, reading this over again¡­what has he gotten himself into?¡± She asks herself. Sercas lowers the jazz music¡¯s volume playing on the radio. ¡°Look, we just have to stick to the plan. I¡¯ll go in and bring him back out of there. Then we¡¯ll have the actual difficult part of reasoning him out of it.¡± Sercas tells Serena, trying to reassure her. ¡°You¡¯re right. We¡¯ll get him out of there.¡± Serena says in agreement. The van continues driving off down the forgotten road. Flint pushes himself up from the rubble that he has created from his fall. He pats himself, surprised that he hasn¡¯t sustained any serious injuries aside from some cuts and bruises. As he tries to sit himself up, he groans in pain feeling the pain from his injuries. After some moments of struggling and groaning, he stands up, using the rubble as support. He turns on his headlight, which flickers before lighting up properly. He finds the revolver and camera on the ground, both not sustaining any serious damage. He bends down to pick them up. He reloads his revolver with the four black and white splotched bullets. He looks up at the hole his fall created, realizing he has fallen down two floors. He takes out the floor plans in his pocket. He finds no notable details about the current floor other than two stairwells. He deduces that they are far from his current location, but it doesn¡¯t matter. He needs to escape. He puts the floor plans away, exiting the rubble-filled room. The hallway has more rubble scattered around than the room. He wanders around the halls, finding the floor plans unreliable whenever he refers to them. The placement of the rubble in the halls blocks off several paths, creating a disorienting labyrinth for Flint to traverse. He notices that doors in these halls are either jammed or blocked off by the large rubble. After what feels like hours to Flint, he finds the stairwell leading up to the third floor. Wasting not even a second, Flint runs up the stairs. The adrenaline pushes him to run up the long flights of stairs, despite the injuries he has sustained. He just needs to keep pushing himself through these flights of stairs to escape this damn facility, passing by the many talismans on the walls. He will be free from all these hellish abominations of nature and the morbid experiments of that machine. Then, he will return to his broken home, finding himself in another argument with his dear Ronlo. Where his dearest daughter, Lily, will fall victim again to their deteriorating relationship. He will never escape hell. But he doesn¡¯t slow down, he keeps running up the stairs. However, he comes to a dead halt, almost tripping on the steps. A barrier of energy, glowing a dark red light, blocks the door of the third floor and a flight of stairs leading upward. It pulsates and sparks in Flint¡¯s presence. Flint notices a more intense glow coming from a symbol of a large circle with four blotched petals being placed diagonally at the barrier¡¯s center. The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation. As he approaches the barrier, he winces at the surge of malevolent energy entering him from the barrier. He gets forcibly pushed back, landing on his back and groaning in agony. He stops himself before attempting to push through again. He realizes that it would be impossible for him to break through and even if he can, the machine will likely be roaming around and looking for him. Reluctantly, he steps back and makes a slow descent down the stairwell. His mind wanders back to that very day, he has made his oath. ¡°I vow to pursue and reveal the truth to all. I mustn¡¯t waver, no matter how bitter the consequences may be. No one should live in the darkness of falsehoods nor should those who harm others hide have their sins be hidden away.¡± ¡°How would younger me react to seeing me?¡± He asks himself, still descending the stairs. ¡°He¡¯d think of me as a no-good coward. You¡¯re running away after barely making a dent in this case Flint. Not because you¡¯re in danger, but because you¡¯re just a plain and simple coward.¡± Flint stops at the end of the stairwell and leans against the wall. ¡°But, why am I still here? Am I just here to fulfill my duty or am I too stuck up in my own pride to admit defeat?¡± He mutters to himself. Regardless of the matter, he continues his descent, still lost in thought. He enters the fourth floor, grimacing at the sight of the rubble-filled hallways. Since he is stuck, however, he decides to look around one more time. He hears a thumping sound coming from the right side of the hall. After traversing the halls to the location of the noise, he finds a large piece of rubble blocking the way with a big enough gap for him to squeeze through. After awkwardly fitting himself through the gap, he manages to pass through. He notices a door at the end of the small corridor that is behind the rubble. He approaches it with intrigue. Unlike the other doors, its sign is still up and has legible text. The sign reads Spectre Equipment. He turns the doorknob and opens the door. Flint¡¯s lamplight shines upon the large interior of the room. There are two large workbenches on either side, with tools and parts scattered about on top. There are also shelves surrounding the room, which are empty and shelve broken parts. As he looks about the room, an item on a table on the other side of the room catches his attention. He approaches it to get a better examination of it. The item is a radio. It is quite bulky and admittedly plain-looking though it has straps one will find on a back pack. Flint fiddles around with all the dials on the radio and examines the screen displays which record sound waves and frequencies. He sees two thick antennas vibrating at low frequencies. Flint inspects the rod microphone wired to the radio after taking it out from its notch. He speaks into it, seeing that the readings on the screen are unaffected. The radio is creating crackling noises. Flint assumes it is the source of the noise. While it is peculiar, he finds it too bulky and finds little reason for him to use it. Flint walks away from the radio, and approaches the room¡¯s exit. As he does, he hears the radio crackle again. However, it is louder this time. While it crackles, he faintly hears something hidden behind the crackling, like a child¡¯s voice. He goes to the radio and adjusts the dials. The crackling becomes quieter and the voice becomes clearer. ¡°Who are you?¡± the young voice asks. ¡°What?¡± he mutters in disbelief. ¡°Who are you mister?¡± the young voice again asks. ¡°Where¡­where is that coming from?¡± He turns around. He notices something standing in front of the door, jumping back in fear from the sight. At the door is a pale transparent figure of a young boy. He has all these dark scars, burn marks, and dark bruises scattered about his pale body, down from his feet to his head. He has these empty eye sockets full of darkness staring right at Flint, with black tear trails running down from them down to his upper chest. ¡°Who are you, mister?¡± The young voice again asks. ¡°What¡­what the hell? What the hell is going on?¡± Flint mutters again in disbelief. He turns back to the radio and fiddles with it. ¡°Where is this damn voice coming from? Where?¡± He asks himself again. He then turns around, only to find the figure no longer there at the door. He also no longer hears the voice from the radio and crackles again. ¡°What the hell just happened?¡± Flint asks himself. Flint is still bewildered by the whole incident. Who and what was that thing? He can only hope to find out more about the figure. However, one thing was sure in his mind. He needs to bring the radio with him. He grabs the radio and wears it on his back. As he exits the room, his eyes widen to find the piece of rubble blocking the room suddenly vanished. He walks deeper into the halls and finds that the rest of the rubble has moved away, seemingly forming a path leading him to somewhere. After traversing through the path, he finds himself at the staircase leading deeper into the facility with many talismans all over the wall. Argus Madison, The Casino Man Flint enters the fifth floor after descending the lengthy stairwell. The floor greets him with a small reception area. There is a security desk on the right and two large doors in front of him. He approaches the doors and pushes them, but they do not budge. He kneels to find a lock anywhere on the doors but cannot find one. He looks to the security desk, suspecting he will find something to unlock these doors. After looking around the desk, he finds a red button locked behind a plastic cover, only being held up by a worn lock under the desk. He doesn¡¯t waste time by taking out his lock-picking kit and instead tugs forcibly on the lock. The lock breaks under the force and the case falls to the floor. Flint grunts as he presses down on the stiff button. After using enough force, the button is pressed. The door¡¯s lock opening echoes throughout the room. Flint leaves the desk and opens the door. Instead of the rubble-filled laboratory hallways, Flint is greeted with a large casino. There are countless aisles of a mix of vintage and modern slot machines, with some turned on and a vast majority of them off. In the distance, he finds card tables at the end of the room. Flint walks down one of the aisles of slot machines. He notices some of the machines being more damaged than others. The machines that are damaged have many large dents and holes and their screens are covered in black residue or have major cracks. Some of the machine¡¯s mechanisms and levers are either ripped off or damaged to the point of being scrap. Just from these sights and what he has seen before, he deduces one clear thing. Whatever is down here, it isn¡¯t human. He keeps on passing by the machines, which become noticeably more damaged as he reaches the end of the aisle. The radio on his back crackles louder by the time he is at the end of the aisle. He arrives at another large, where there are many gambling tables spaced out. They all surround an elevated stage platform. There is, what Flint comprehends to be, a male tall figure standing on the platform, towering over Flint with his distorted head and open mouth, showing off all kinds of sharp teeth. He peers out into the distance lifelessly with his two die eyes. His long limbs are made of a thick black sludge, which slowly drips off of him as he stands there. Many playing cards are either embedded or stabbed into his limbs. A cigar is stuck in the man¡¯s right hand due to the black sludge. But Flint can¡¯t ignore the man¡¯s most bizarre feature embedded into his chest, a grand slot machine with three symbols on it: a dice, an ace of spades, and a horse. The black sludge deeply stains all of these things. The scent that bombards Flint¡¯s nose is choking, yet numbing. He doesn¡¯t falter and continues staring at the man with curiosity. The radio crackles at its loudest when Flint is near the man. He tries listening closely, but all he can hear is the intense static. Flint looks around the room, trying to find something. He notices that there are a pair of two large doors on both the left and right sides of the room. He approaches the door on the left side of the room, passing by the numerous aisles of slot machines at the casino. He enters a plain, and surprisingly clean, hallway, akin to the ones on the previous floors. He finds a closed door near his location and an open door at the end of the hallway. He approaches the door closest to him and opens the room. His nostrils are bombarded with the horrid stench coming from the black sludge covering the furniture, walls, and floor of the room. Flint immediately shuts the door, breathing in the fresher air outside and walking away from the door. As he walks deeper into the hallway, the radio crackles loudly. However, Flint can faintly hear a voice being muffled by the static. Flint enters the room and finds himself to be in a surveillance room. There are about a dozen monitors aligned on the wall and on the table. Each monitor is connected to a camera feed focusing on a certain area all over the floor. The monitor in the middle, in particular, focuses on the tall figure in the large casino room. He examines the paperwork on the table by the monitors but finds useless ramblings or illegible text on the notes. He throws up all the paperwork, finding them useless. However, he finds one that catches his attention buried underneath them, a blank documentation form. He examines the form further. He notices a picture of a man¡¯s face in the top left corner of the document. He has a blank expression, with a scruffy beard and hair and an unkempt visage. Underneath the photo is centered text labeled: SUBJECT AMG. The rest of the paper is left blank for notes to be taken. ¡°Who is that?¡± Flint asks himself. He hurriedly stuffs the paper into his pocket. He hears the radio crackle loudly, but this time, he can faintly hear a voice. He takes the radio off his back and on the desk. He rotates the knobs seeing it he can hear the voice clearer while looking at the monitors. ¡°1¡­2¡­3¡­¡± the coarse masculine voice murmurs through the radio. ¡°What?¡± Flint asks himself. He looks through the monitors again. His attention is focused on the monitor focused on the figure. He twitches slightly. ¡°Just one more roll¡­¡± The coarse masculine voice again murmurs. The figure begins moving and twitching his limbs slowly in place. The figure looks at the camera facing him, with his mouth opened widely. ¡°Just one more pull¡­¡± The coarse masculine voice again murmurs. The camera feed fizzles out once the figure moves away from its spot. When the feed returns to normal, the figure is no longer there. Flint can hear his footsteps wandering the floor. He looks through the monitors. He sees the figure walking up and down the aisles of the slot machines. It stops at one of them and violently slams down on it. The slot machine spins the fruit symbols on its slots. The results of the machine do not satisfy the figure. He slams down on the machine, further damaging the machine, which Flint hears all the way from the room he is in. Flint backs away from the monitors and exits into the hallway, carrying the radio. He can still hear the loud banging coming from the casino. However, it stops. Everything becomes quiet. Too quiet. Flint hears the rushing of steps coming from one of the doors. He hears the doors from the side he entered swing open. He hears loud sounds of painful screeching coming from that area. He quietly backs away from that area as the screeching soon turns into harsh banging. ¡°Just one more pull! Just one more damn roll! Just let me win!¡± the coarse masculine voice shouts from the radio. Flint fumbles around trying to turn the radio off. The banging stops and the sounds of steps approaches him. He sees the figure at the end of the hall, standing there. He stand there quiet and completely still. The figure looks around, with the machinery and other items within the slot machine clanking. The smoke from the cigar forms a thick smog of smoke within the surrounding area. Flint¡¯s sense of smell is bombarded by the strong pungent smoke of the cigar. The figure slowly steps around trying to look for the source of the noise. Flint covers his mouth, trying to stay still despite the smoke from the figure¡¯s cigar. The figure does not sense anything else. He slowly walks away from the area. Taking this chance, Flint too slowly steps away from the area. ¡°F¡­E¡­I¡­M¡± a young voice crackles from the radio. The figure violently turns around. He charges toward Flint. Flint turns around and bolts away. The figure chases Flint through the halls, where it groans and roars. ¡°You are the rigger! You made it impossible to win! There are no odds in my favor! YOU RIGGED EVERYTHING!¡± the coarse masculine voice shouted from the radio. ¡°I¡¯m not who you think I am!¡± Flint shouts back, running away. ¡°Lies! All Lies! You change your damn voice every time! I know it is you! I know it!¡± Flint doesn¡¯t attempt to further convince the figure chasing him down the halls while passing by a major branch leading to another hall on his left and many doors. Running with all his might, Flint out paces the figure, though the figure is still chasing after him. He runs toward the door that is on the other side of the casino. After bursting through the doors, he runs down one of the aisles of slot machines. He sits down, with his back being pressed against one of the powered-on machines. He hears the doors barge right open, with the figure standing in front of them. He groans as it shambles around looking for Flint. Flint, trying to calm himself as much as he can, rotates a dial which lowers the radio¡¯s volume so only he can hear it. Flint does his best to remain composed and still. He hears the steps of the figure shambling around trying to look for him. Flint slowly stands up, using the machine as a support. Though, he realizes too late that he uses the handle of the slot machine to support himself. The handle is pushed down and the machine flashes brightly and produces energetic sounds. He rushes out of the aisle as he hears the steps of the figure rushing towards him. He hides behind one of the machines at the end of the aisle. The figure runs down the aisle toward the source of the noise from the other end. Flint stands there silent as he hears the steps getting closer and closer to him. But then, they stop. Flint tilts his head over to the aisle. He notices the figure standing in front of the machine, watching the slots rotating up and down. Taking this golden opportunity, Flint quietly sneaks out of the room. He goes over to the door on the other side which he has used to run away from the figure. He quietly opens the door and finds himself in the hallway on the other side. He ignores the doors along the hallway as he makes his way towards an area of the hallway he has passed by during the chase. It is a long corridor leading down to another part of the floor. There are many doors aligned in the hallway. Flint takes a deep breath and descends deeper into the hall. None of the doors intrigue him as he passes along. As he nears the end of the corridor, he sees from the corner of his eyes a door with the sign: ¡°File Room¡± on it. He goes over to the door and opens it. It is a small room with shelves containing many manila folders and documentation on it to his left. There is a small table on his right where there are many documents scattered about, reminding him of his desk at his office. Due to the familiarity of the sight, he approaches the desk and scrounges through the documents, putting the radio down on it as well. The documents he skims through contain more information about the figure. One document in particular catches his attention: Subject Name: Casino Man (AMG) Notes: I¡­I finally did it. It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s so beautiful. After years¡­many damn painful years¡­I¡­I just can¡¯t believe it. Finally, a successful experiment. I¡­I only need to repeat this more times. I need to make sure that it consistently works¡­I need to make it better than it is now. Just¡­just you wait, my dear. I¡¯ll¡­I¡¯ll see you again soon¡­I promise. Flint continues looking through the documentation. Most of them have data tables and charts from the experiments about the Casino Man¡¯s reactions toward the aisles of slot machines. Flint finds a key detail that the machines themselves are rigged to be impossible to win besides the slot machine on the Casino Man. While looking through the documents, he finds another document. The first document was a man¡¯s personal information on a missing poster: Name: Argus Madison Age: 35 Status: Missing Last Seen: ??? The photo of the man and physical description are mostly blacked out, with some scruffy features visible through some of the uncovered spots. Flint takes out the crumpled notepaper with the picture of a man with similar features. Flint knows he must be the man. He also has some suspicions about who wrote the report but for now, he keeps it in the back of his mind. Before he scrounges further through the documents he takes out his camera stashed away in his coat. He places the documents on the table and takes a picture of them. As the camera¡¯s light flashes onto the documents, his camera screen starts flickering as a new photo is being formed on the screen. It has Argus chained down to a gambling table as translucent purple chains tug on him. Argus has a pained expression as he rolls a pair of die on the table. ¡°Free him¡­¡± a young voice whispers from the radio. Flint looks around the room, putting away the camera. He sees the same figure of the young boy he had seen earlier waiting by the door. Flint rotates the dial, increasing the volume of the radio. ¡°Free him¡­¡± the young voice repeats. ¡°Free who?¡± Flint asks. ¡°Free him¡­¡± the young voice repeats. Flint turns back to the papers and picks up the photo of Argus Madison. He looks at the photo and back at the figure of the young boy. ¡°Free him¡­¡± Flint mutters. ¡°How¡­how am I going to do that?¡± ¡°I know you can free him, mister¡­¡± the voice tells him. ¡°I saw you do it before¡­I know you can do it again¡­¡± Before Flint can ask him a question, the voice from the radio slowly fades away and is replaced by the crackling again. He turns around and notices the figure of the kid has disappeared. ¡°What did he mean?¡± Flint asks himself. ¡°I did this before?¡± Flint ponders in the room, leaning against the shelves. His mind cannot help but wander back to his very oath. ¡°I vow to pursue and reveal the truth to all. I mustn¡¯t waver, no matter how bitter the consequences may be. No one should live in the darkness of falsehoods nor should those who harm others hide have their sins be hidden away.¡± ¡°You can¡¯t just seem to let it go, huh Flint?¡± he mutters to himself. ¡°You hold this oath as a facade Flint. You¡¯re a coward. A big, filthy coward. Just run away Flint. Escape. Because you know that you¡¯ll never hold this oath.¡± Flint hears footsteps coming down the hallways. The radio crackles loudly again. ¡°I know you are still here rigger¡­I know you are here¡­¡± the coarse masculine voice from the radio mutters. Flint lowers the volume of the radio and puts it on his back. He takes out his revolver. He exits the room and enters the hallway, carrying the revolver and radio on him. He sees the Casino Man at the end of the hall shambling towards him. Flint aims the revolver at his head. Flint holds it still as the figure shambles closer to him. *BANG* The bullet flies toward the Casino Man¡¯s head and is surrounded by a bright green flame. The impact from the bullet cracks the Casino Man¡¯s head back. However, despite the powerful shot, the Casino Man brings his head back up. There was no bullet hole on the figure¡¯s head at all. ¡°You vile rigger! You not only wish to see me suffer with my great losses, but you also want to take away the very chance of me playing at all! You are a vile man, you rigger!¡± the coarse masculine voice mutters simultaneously as the figure crackles and roars. The Casino Man rushes towards Flint while letting the smoke from his cigar engulf the room. Flint runs away from the figure as it chases him. He manages to out pace the figure like last time. During his run, Flint notices the cigar¡¯s smoke slowly engulf the halls. He runs past several doors and takes a right turn. He notices two large doors, similar to the ones on the side of the casino. He rushes through the doors and into the room. The room is an exact mirror of the casino he first entered. He runs through the aisles and over to the other end of the casino. As he arrives there, he finds a set of doors that are locked shut with a complex lock. He hears a loud crashing noise coming from the other end of the room. Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road. ¡°You vile rigger this ends here right now!¡± the coarse masculine voice mutters through the radio. He hears the Casino Man¡¯s loud steps stomp around the room as he looks for Flint. Taking this perfect opportunity, he kneels on the floor and pulls out his locking picking set. He takes out his locks and begins picking through the lock quickly. Flint knows nothing else, but fear for his life. He will rather escape than solve this case, just like the coward he claims to be. Flint picks the lock at a faster pace, knowing the lock is almost picked. ¡°Do not succumb, detective.¡± An odd distorted voice whispers to him. ¡°Do not succumb to your fears. Let your oath show you the way.¡± Flint stops picking the lock. ¡°Who¡­what said that?¡± Flint mutters. He lets go of his picks on the lock and looks back at the Casino Man. The Casino Man rages and destroys many of the machines around the casino in utter rage. Yet under all that rage, Flint can see¡­no, feel his suffering. Flint feels the poor soul¡¯s damnation being forever bound to that abomination of a vessel. No matter how many times he calls himself a coward, his oath is always there reminding him of his goal. ¡°Don¡¯t waver¡­Flint¡­¡± he mutters to himself. Flint puts away his lock-picking set and stands up, holding his revolver. ¡°I don¡¯t know how. But I will free you. No matter what.¡± Flint says to himself with uneasy determination. He goes down one of the aisles, looking for the Casino Man. He sees that the cigar¡¯s smoke slowly engulfs the side the Casino Man lingers on. He peers into the smog trying to find the figure. He finds a bright orange light hidden amongst the smog. He points his revolver at it. *BANG* The cigar creates a small explosion. The figure groans in agony. ¡°You vile rigger!¡± the coarse male voice mutters from the radio. ¡°How dare you further shame me! How dare you destroy such a marvel!¡± The Casino Man charges to where he has heard the shot. Flint barely dodges out of the way as the figure bashes into the slot machines. Flint backs away, still pointing his revolver at him. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Each of the three bullets barely leaves any dents on the Casino Man¡¯s body. The revolver is empty after shooting those three rounds. He runs away as the figure gets off of the slot machines. The Casino Man shouts, starting a violent rampage, slamming and destroying the slot machines while going after Flint. Flint finds a spot to hide several aisles away. He sits down and reloads his revolver. ¡°These bullets aren¡¯t doing anything!¡± Flint mutters to himself. ¡°How the hell am I going to free him?¡± ¡°You vile rigger! Don¡¯t hide from me any longer!¡± the coarse masculine voice exclaimed. ¡°You always let me suffer! You feed off of it, you rigger. Let the odds be in my favor! Let me win!¡± Flint¡¯s head perks up in realization ¡°I need him to win,¡± Flint mutters. He stands up from his position and approaches the site of the rampage. He sees the figure crashing and destroying many slot machines as it nears the end of the aisle. ¡°Hey!¡± Flint shouts over to the figure. The figure turns around and faces Flint. ¡°You vile rigger¡­you finally show yourself to me¡­¡± the coarse male voice mutters from the radio. ¡°I am not who you think I am. I am not the rigger who has damned you.¡± Flint tells him. ¡°Lies! All lies!¡± the coarse masculine voice shouts from the radio while the Casino Man groans and cackles. ¡°This shall finally end. I shall finally win!¡± The Casino Man rushes over to Flint, crashing through all the rigged machines. Flint aims his revolver toward the handle of the slot machine on the figure. *BANG* The handle pushes back and then violently slams down. The slot machine activates and plays a soothing tune from a music box. The images on the wheels whir loudly, causing the figure to shake and preventing it from moving forward. *DINK* *DINK* *DINK* The results: two die and one horse. No match. The figure roars as he continues to approach Flint. It still crashes through the machines. Flint keeps his aim steady. *BANG* The handle pushes back and then violently slams down again. The slot machine activates again and plays a soothing tune from a music box. The images on the wheels whir loudly, causing the figure to shake and preventing it from moving forward. *DINK* *DINK* *DINK* The results: one dice, one horse, and an ace of spades. The figure roars again, this time very close to Flint. ¡°You vile rigger. You dare taunt me by playing these damned slots on me? I shall finally win, you shall perish!¡± the coarse masculine voice rages from the radio. The figure charges towards Flint, destroying the rigged machines in the aisles along the way. Flint keeps his composure and the revolver still being aimed at the Casino Man¡¯s slot machine handle. ¡°I will free you.¡± Flint tells the Casino Man. *BANG* The handle pushes back and then violently slams down again. . The slot machine activates again and plays a soothing tune from a music box. The images on the wheels whir loudly, causing the figure to shake and preventing it from moving forward. *DINK* *DINK* *DINK* The results: three aces of spades. The Casino Man stops. The slot machine plays a celebratory tune on the music box, spewing cigars and poker chips out of the machine and onto its tray. However, the item that catches The Casino Man¡¯s attention is a photo flying out of the machine. The Casino Man catches the photo in the air. He finds a photo of his beautiful wife wearing a simple dress and his son wearing a t-shirt and shorts. Flint aims at the figure¡¯s head. *BANG* ¡°Did¡­did I just win..?¡± the coarse masculine voice mutters on the radio. The bullet pierces straight through the Casino Man¡¯s head. A great burst of light erupts from the bullet hole. The Casino Man¡¯s body slowly cracks open. More light erupts from the cracks. ¡°Against all the rigged odds¡­I finally won¡­¡± the coarse male voice mutters. The room is enveloped with the same bright light as the Casino Man¡¯s body fades away. Flint covers his eyes from the blinding light as his surroundings slowly change. Flint¡¯s eyes slowly open after noticing the light dissipating. Instead of finding the forgotten ravaged casino, he is surrounded by the hustle and bustle of a lively lavish casino. His ears are bombarded by the sounds of the loud slot machines and flashy sights. Many people in fine suits and dresses are playing at the slots, all hoping to land those impossible same three images. Flint walks around, not knowing where to go. As he walks by the aisle of slot machines, he notices a familiar figure sitting down at one of the slot machines. It is a man wearing worn clothes and bearing a scruffy visage. He recognizes him as Argus Madison, the poor victim who has become the Casino Man. Argus has a small pile of coins and chips lying by the base of the machine. He approaches the man from behind. Argus sits there with his dirty and ripped clothing, excitedly pulling down the handle with his dirty hands. ¡°C¡¯mon¡­c¡¯mon¡­¡± Argus mutters. *DING* *DING* *DING* The result: no matches. ¡°Damn it!¡± Argus curses. He pulls again, hoping to land a winning match. Even though Flint is right behind him, no one in the casino, especially Argus, pays no mind to him. In fact, he is treated like he isn¡¯t there at all. The result: Two matches. Two coins drop onto the tray. ¡°Alright¡­it¡¯s at least something,¡± Argus mutters. ¡°C¡¯mon. I gotta win something big now!¡± He inserts the last of his cash into the machine. He pulls down the handle. *DING* *DING* *DING* The result: no matches. ¡°What the hell?¡± he outbursts. ¡°How could I lose this time? HOW?¡± His outburst causes many of the other patrons to look at him. It doesn¡¯t matter to him. He steps away from the machine and walks past the other slot machines in the aisle. Flint follows him. Flint notices Argus at a roulette table already with four men dressed in fancy suits sitting there. The four men puff their cigars, filling the area with a thick smog. The thick smog invades Argus¡¯s lungs, making him cough violently. Yet, the same suffocating smog soothes his body. The men do not care about Argus¡¯s discomfort as they continue to puff and flaunt their cigars at this hobo. Despite the suffocation, Argus¡¯s eyes focus on the cigar, hoping one day he will finally be able to smoke a pair. Argus places his bets on arbitrary spots. After everyone has made their bets, the dealer puts the ball on the roulette wheel and spins it. After several seconds of the ball bouncing and rolling about, the ball lands on a number. It is a black nineteen. One of the men collected the pile of chips on the table. Argus keeps his composure and bets the last of his money. His bets are on arbitrary numbers, betting on a red four and black nine. The other men placed their bets more strategically. The smoke around the table continues to grow, making Argus hack even more. The dealer again spins the wheel. It lands on a number that isn¡¯t his. Argus steps away from the table, and shambles to the exit of the casino. Flint follows closely behind. Flint is now outside the building after following Argus. Argus leans against one of the pillars outside of the glamorous casino. He pulls out a cigarette and smokes it. The scent of the smoke appalls him. It is nothing like the cigars in the casino. Argus doesn¡¯t attempt to finish it. He throws it on the ground and stamps it out. Argus walks away. As Flint follows him, he notices the surrounding area change. The area around him becomes the exterior of a low-end apartment complex. He finds himself by a door, where Argus stands in front of. Argus is outside rubbing his face and stretching in front of the door. He puts his hand on the door and opens it. Flint follows him inside. As Flint enters, the door is shut behind him by Argus. Argus¡¯s apartment is an utter mess cramped into a small area. Heaps of newspapers and dirty clothing were scattered about the apartment. His son is asleep on a pile of newspapers fashioned into a bed, while his wife, Melia, stops cooking in the kitchen and runs up to him as she hears him enter. ¡°Argus, where the hell were you?¡± Melia asks him. Flint gulps. He knows where this is going. ¡°What do you mean where I was at? I was at work.¡± Argus lies. ¡°Don¡¯t you lie to me, Argus! You were at that damn casino again weren¡¯t you?¡± Argus wipes off the sweat forming on his head and looks over to his son still asleep. ¡°What are you talking about? I was at work dear, they just called me in for a late shift-¡± Argus stops talking when he sees Melia clearly frustrated and on the verge of tears. ¡°Argus, stop lying to me. I just checked our bank account, and a large sum of our money was withdrawn just this evening. Do you really think you can keep lying to me?¡± She asks him, trying to hold back her tears. Argus sighs, and his fists tighten. ¡°So what?¡± Argus asks her. ¡°Do we just continue living like this?¡± She looks up at Argus, tears streaming down her eyes with a shocked look. ¡°Honey, you¡¯re wasting all of our money just for the slim chance you¡¯ll win big!¡± She shouts at him. ¡°I can¡¯t let you keep wasting our money!¡± ¡°Then how do you expect us to get out of this dump we¡¯re living in?¡± He shouts back. ¡°Our jobs ain¡¯t even giving us enough to keep in this dump. Hell, they ain¡¯t even letting us live!¡± ¡°But do you think wasting more money is going to help us at all? You see one person win big and think that will happen? That¡¯s how they get you!¡± ¡°At least there¡¯s a damn chance that something good for us can happen! I¡¯m tired of us living in this shit! We barely have anything nice for us no matter how many jobs we work! Our son barely has a damn childhood!¡± Flint stands there, shivering himself. He tries to maintain his composure, but he just can¡¯t. ¡°Ronlo¡­Ronlo I¡­¡± Flint mutters to himself. He sees the messy argument intensify, seeing Argus and Melia¡¯s relationship crumble before his very eyes. He walks past them over to their son. Flint sees that he is awake this whole time. Flint sees the poor kid crying in his bed, feigning to them that he¡¯s asleep. Flint hears Argus storming out of the apartment. ¡°Fine then! Get the hell out of here you selfish bastard! Gamble everything away!¡± Melia shouts at him. Melia locks the door behind him. She breaks down and cries. ¡°Why do you gamble? Why can¡¯t you just listen to me? I¡¯m trying to help you¡­We can both be in a better place if you just listened to me.¡± Argus¡¯s wife says to herself while bawling. ¡°I still love you damn it¡­¡± He sees her approach her son. Her son still feigns being asleep. She knows this all too well, but she convinces herself that he is truly asleep. She hugs him tightly. Flint takes heavy breaths. ¡°Oh, Ronlo dear¡­.¡± Flint mutters. Flint walks outside of the apartment and looks around for Argus. He notices him standing on the sidewalk by the road to him and approaches him. Argus stands by a light pole, clenching his fist. ¡°I¡­I just want to be in a better place Melia and my dear son.¡± He mutters. ¡°One of these days we¡¯ll make it big. We can finally live in a nicer place. We can finally afford to eat good every day. We can finally live our lives.¡± Flint stands there shivering. He knows that underneath all their arguments is a fragile love they wish to repair, something he knows all too well. Argus and Flint hear the footsteps of a person approaching them. They both turn their heads over to the source of the noise. Beside them is a man with medium red hair and a young and jovial visage. He wears a simple red polo and khakis as he stands next to Argus, giving a genuine smile. ¡°Good evening sir.¡± The man greets him. ¡°Um¡­evenin¡¯¡± Argus replies. ¡°You know, I saw you with those men at the casino. They¡¯re quite affluent.¡± The man tells him. ¡°Why, they really know how to gamble.¡± ¡°You don¡¯t have to remind me,¡± Argus mutters. ¡°Ah yes of course. I wouldn¡¯t want you to remember your losses.¡± The Man tells him. ¡°In fact, you lose a lot.¡± ¡°Sir, if you would please stop talking¡­¡± ¡°Ah, but I¡¯m here to propose an offer to you.¡± The man interrupts him. ¡°An offer?¡± ¡°Yes, quite a great offer.¡± The man tells him. He pulls out a Corona Cigar from the pockets of his khakis. ¡°Is that a cigar?¡± Argus asks. ¡°Yes, and it¡¯s just for you.¡± The man tells him. ¡°My, after a day of losses, it¡¯ll be something to help ease you a bit.¡± Argus takes the cigar off of the man. At least for even a small moment, he will feel like one of the richest men in the world. He lights the cigar and takes a long puff of smoke. He exhales a thick smog of smoke from his mouth, which leaves a satisfactory feeling. However, after his first smoke, he feels woozy. He feels his legs shivering and lacking the strength to hold him up. He drops to the floor, passed out. Flint looks up at the man. The man¡¯s jovial visage turns into a grim one. ¡°Let¡¯s get this over with.¡± The man mutters, feeling regret for what he is about to do. He lifts Argus¡¯s body and carries him away. As Flint is about to follow him, his surroundings around him slowly change. ¡°Argus honey, where are you? Where are you?¡± Melia asks outside. Flint sees Melia walking out. She sees the man carrying Argus¡¯s unconscious body into a van. ¡°Wait stop! STOP!¡± she exclaims. Melia runs after the van. Flint¡¯s surroundings form into a room, where the darkness engulfs him. A large bright light suddenly illuminates a part of the room. Argus is strapped down on a chair by a gambling table still unconscious. There is a single dice on the table. Hidden among the darkness are the plain white walls of a testing room. Argus slowly wakes up and finds himself tied down. ¡°Where the hell am I?¡± Argus asks himself. Both Flint and Argus hears the crackling from a loudspeaker. ¡°Argus Madison.¡± A male voice announces. ¡°Wait, you¡¯re that guy who gave me that cigar!¡± Argus exclaims in realization. ¡°How the hell do you know my name?¡± ¡°How I know is of no concern.¡± the man tells him. ¡°But, I am here to give you the opportunity of a lifetime.¡± A light shines on the dice. ¡°I will give you $100,000 and let you free if you roll a one. However, for any time you have not rolled a one, the value will drop by $10,000. If you let it run out, well¡­¡± After he says this, Argus feels a sharp pain in his back. He shouts in agony. He looks around for the source of the pain. Argus finds these translucent purple chains coming out of his arms, back, and legs. ¡°What did you do to me?¡± Argus asks him, still in agony. ¡°It is only a part of the deal.¡± the man tells him. ¡°Experiment #102, The Gamble.¡± Flint shivers in place. The photo he has seen in that room shows him what would happen. And worst of all, he cannot stop it. All he can do is watch this horrific sight unfold. Argus takes the dice and rolls it. He lands a five. He felt the chains tugging on something. He grunts in pain. When he checks his body, he doesn¡¯t notice any bulges or deformities due to the chains. He rolls it again. He lands a two. He feels the chains tugging on him harder. This time, he can¡¯t hide his pain. He screams in agony. He reaches for the dice again and rolls it. He lands a six. The chains tug on him even harder. The pain is getting worse. He continues to scream, this time louder. Flint can¡¯t bear watching, but he forces himself to. He needs to see the truth of how the man-made this poor soul turn into that horrific figure. He reaches for the dice again and rolls it. He lands a three. The chains tug on him even more. The pain is getting worse. His scream is louder than last time. He looked at his body to see what the chains were tugging at, but couldn¡¯t find it. However, as he looks around, he notices a horrifying sight. He notices his arms convulsing as the blood in his veins is replaced with a black sludge. He sees his veins pop and bleed out the black sludge. Flint shivers at the horrific sight but still tries to maintain his composure. It is at this point Argus realizes that he is gambling with his life. In a panic, he takes the dice and rolls it again. He lands a five again. He screams in more agony. He notices the black sludge spreading to the rest of his body while the chains continue tugging on him. He screams louder in agony, feeling his entire body being mauled into deformity. He rolls it again and lands a three. The shadowy black sludge continues to spread, this time to his body and legs. But this time it starts to corrode his skin away and the chains tug on him harder. He screams in agony. He rolls it again and lands a four. The shadowy sludge corrodes the flesh on his body and legs away. He feels his legs and body being stretched as they are pulled on by the chains while the black sludge corrodes the rest of the structure and foundation of his body and legs away. He rolls it again and lands a two. The shadowy sludge begins corroding his head and neck. All he can do is scream in utter agony while the chains stretch his body. Parts of his face fall off and the overall structure of his head is stretched due to the black sludge weighing it down and corroding it away. He rolls it again and lands a four. His entire body is corroded. Flint can¡¯t even tell it is him. Argus is now this lanky rotting figure, trying to still stay alive. Flint feels sick at this point. He has seen some horrific things, but this has trumped any of the previous things he¡¯d seen. He rolls it again, hoping this will free him of this agony. He lands a two. The chains pull out Argus¡¯s soul. The chains rip apart Argus¡¯s soul. The figure screams in agony as his soul is being ripped apart. Then the figure stops screaming and falls on the table in deathly silence. Argus¡¯s mauled soul is forcefully stuffed into the figure. He stays there, still limp. ¡°It seems this is another failed experiment.¡± the man comments over the loudspeaker. Flint sees the man rubbing his head in the observation room. ¡°How much blood will be on my hands until I get to bring her back?¡± the man mutters. ¡°Is this even worth it?¡± As the lights are about to dim, the figure¡¯s limbs twitch. He groans with inhuman voices in utter agony. He rises from the table and stands up. ¡°Experiment #102, The Gamble: Success.¡± the man mutters. The entire room becomes surrounded by darkness, which engulfs Flint. In the darkness, he sees a white transparent distorted cloud. He sees the cloud slowly refigure itself into a humanoid shape. Flint¡¯s eyes widen when he sees a cloud form into Argus Madison¡¯s figure. Flint sees black spots around the areas where the chains have tugged him on Argus¡¯s Body. ¡°You freed me,¡± Argus tells Flint. ¡°You let me win.¡± Flint looks up at Argus in shock, seeing that he is speaking to him. ¡°All I ever wanted, was to win it big. It was never about the money. I never cared for it one bit. I just wanted to see my dear Melia and my beloved son have a life they can live. A life where I can see my young boy have a place to be a kid and enjoy his childhood. A life where me and my wife don¡¯t have to break it out working several jobs just to barely make ends meet living in a dump. I saved up what little I had from work and took it to the casino. I know my wife is right. You won¡¯t win jack shit at a casino. But you know what? I didn¡¯t care. Even if it was the slimmest chance of us winning, I¡¯d take that over me and my family suffer any longer. Day and night, my losses accumulated and every night was just another argument with my dearest Melia. It all led up to that fateful day when I lost everything. The money, my wife and son, and my life. This stupid fool gave up everything just for the slim chance to win it big for a better life. Don¡¯t be like me, whoever you are. Don¡¯t gamble away your most valuable possessions for anything. You¡¯ll never know when you¡¯ll lose it all one day. Melia¡­my son¡­please forgive this old fool. I never wanted your lives to crumble after I disappeared. I want nothing more than just to be with you and spend the rest of our days together. Please¡­forgive me.¡± Flint looks down, processing everything Argus has said. Throwing it all away? Flint scoffs at the idea. He knows that his family and friends deserve someone better than him. Flint sees Argus Madison slowly walk away. A humanoid figure places its shadowy hand on Argus¡¯s shoulder. Flint¡¯s eyes widen when he recognizes the figure from the mural on the stairwell beside Argus Madison. ¡°You have gambled away your life, but I shall be here to aid in recollecting your most precious valuables. But, I cannot guide you to your family just yet, Argus.¡± The figure whispers into his ear. ¡°Trust in this detective. He will free you from this hell.¡± Argus Madison looks back to Flint. ¡°Please, detective. I know I have harmed you in my rage, but please forgive my past actions. Please, let me see them again!¡± Argus pleads. Flint looks at him, his body still shivering. He looks down as his fists tighten. ¡°I¡­I¡­¡± Flint takes a deep breath and looks up at him. ¡°I swear on it¡­¡± Flint says, with uneasy determination. The humanoid figure guides Argus away into the darkness. ¡°Do not falter, detective.¡± The figure whispers into Flint¡¯s ear. ¡°Many souls must be saved.¡± Flint stumbles around, feeling his body and eyelids become heavier. He falls to the ground, passing out. Toby Matthews, The Self-Building Man The machine stands in front of one of the monitors in the operating room. The monitor shows the symbol on the glowing barrier blocking the floor below. He sees one of the petals slowly dim. The machine uses its large grotesque metal arm to bring the monitor closer. ¡°IT SEEMS THE LOST SOUL IS A POSSIBLE VESSEL. I SHALL MAKE THE PROPER PREPARATIONS.¡± It screeches from its old robotic voice box. The machine wheels out of the room, descending to the fourth floor. The gray van is parked outside of the facility entrance around the early afternoon. Sercas is outside the van, loading his pistol and checking the condition of his baton. Serena is sitting on the passenger¡¯s side of the van, again looking through the case files to find any information she has missed. Sercas walks up to the passenger¡¯s side of the van and knocks on the door. She lowers the window. ¡°Here, take this,¡± Sercas tells her, handing her a radio. ¡°Make sure you keep that close to you.¡± ¡°Are you sure you don¡¯t need any help Sercas?¡± she asks, taking the radio from him. ¡°Serena, you have no combat experience. It would be safer for you in here and relay any important information for me.¡± Sercas walks away, taking out his metal baton from its holster. He swings it in the air, letting it expand. ¡°But when this is all over, we can have a one-on-one training session, just like old times!¡± Sercas shouts over. Sercas approaches the facility¡¯s entrance, tightening his grip on the baton. ¡°Be safe Sercas.¡± She mutters. Flint regains consciousness. He rises from the casino floor within the facility, stretching once he is standing up. The radio crackles loudly. ¡°You freed him, mister.¡± The young voice murmurs from the radio. Flint looks around and finds the figure of crying the boy standing in front of the two doors with his lock picks in the lock. ¡°I knew you could do it mister.¡± The young voice murmurs from the radio. ¡°But, he isn¡¯t the only one. You must free the others.¡± ¡°There¡¯s more?¡± Flint asks. ¡°Free them mister¡­¡± the young voice tells him. The figure of the child slowly disappears right in front of him. The radio crackles again. Flint reloads his revolver, picks up the radio, and makes his way toward the two doors. He continues picking the lock with the picks in there. It doesn¡¯t take him long to pick the locks. He pushes the two doors open. He enters a small security room, akin to the one he has entered before the casino area, with a dark hallway leading deeper into the facility. He passes through the room, noticing black sludge all over the floors and walls. Flint walks through the sludge-covered halls with slow, solemn steps. The black sludge all over the hallways fills his mind with sickening and morbid visions of what he has seen. With what the child has told him, he knows that this hell is far from over. ¡°Deep breaths Flint, deep breaths,¡± Flint mutters to himself. ¡°You¡¯re not a damn coward. You made a promise to Argus. You will free him. Just take some deep breaths, all right?¡± The morbid images keep invading his mind, no matter how many times he tries to reassure himself. His body cannot stop shivering. Flint rushes down the halls, desperately trying to find his old numbing friend, alcohol. The morbid images flashing in his mind intensify in gruesome detail as he runs down the halls, finding the floors and walls being drenched in black sludge. The black sludge floors become slipperier and wetter, but it doesn¡¯t stop Flint¡¯s desperate chase for his alcohol. Flint rams through one of the doors, and through sheer luck, finds himself in a kitchen area. He rummages through cabinets in the kitchen, trying to find his precious numbing nectar. He finds a nearby fridge and opens it. He finds several bottles of beer inside. Flint uses the lip of a nearby table and pulls on the lip of the beer bottle. The bottle cap pops out onto the table. Flint downs the beer without giving it a second thought. The amber liquid travels throughout Flint¡¯s body. His body slowly relaxes from the alcohol numbing his senses, but he doesn¡¯t find one bottle enough. He opens the other bottle and slowly drinks from it. Flint puts the radio in front of him and slumps on the floor, resting his back on the table. He keeps drinking from the bottle of beer as the radio rests on his lap, crackling. ¡°Mister, what are you drinking?¡± a young voice asks through the radio. Flint stops drinking his beer and looks around. He notices the figure of the crying boy from the door he has entered through. Flint doesn¡¯t answer him and drinks the beer from the bottle. He finishes the bottle and lets it roll out of his hands. He grabs another beer bottle and tries to open it with his hands, being too inebriated to think clearly to use the lip of the table again. Flint opens the bottle, but the bottle cap slashes his hand. Flint ignores the newly formed scarlet bleeding scar and drinks his beer. Flint turns his head again and notices the figure of the crying boy next to him. ¡°Mister, what are you drinking?¡± the young voice asks again. ¡°Sh¡­shut up! I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m drinking here¡­¡± Flint says with a slurred voice. Flint keeps drinking, feeling fully numb at this point. No matter how many times those morbid images flash through his head, he won¡¯t feel the pain one bit. He relishes in the numbness brought by the alcohol streaming through his veins. He finally gets to feel some peace in his life. He keeps drinking the numbing amber liquid. ¡°That bottle looks familiar.¡± The young voice comments through the radio. ¡°I saw my mommy drink that a lot.¡± ¡°I¡­I bet she did¡­-hic- you damn brat¡­¡± Flint again says to him with a slurred voice. ¡°You...you¡¯re the damn brat¡­stupid, stupid brat¡­who made me stay here¡­and save these peoples. Why couldn¡¯t you just leave me alone!¡± Flint drinks from his beer, with the radio crackling filling the silence in the room. ¡°My mommy always acted like that after drinking from that bottle.¡± The young voice mutters through the radio. Flint''s eyes widen. He takes a look at the bottle and at himself. He stops drinking from the beer bottle. He places it down to the side. ¡°She always yelled and got angry at daddy. They always fought a lot.¡± The young voice keeps muttering. ¡°I hated nighttime. I always heard them fighting and hurting each other when I sleep.¡± Flint listens on, with a somber look forming on his face while he looks down on the ground. He knows the feeling all too well. His dearest daughter, Lily, has to hear him and Ronlo fight every night. Flint can¡¯t image all the pain she must feel seeing her fathers fighting. ¡°Kid¡­I¡­I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m not like this normally, I swear¡­¡± Flint mutters with a slurred voice. ¡°It¡¯s the drink making me act so¡­angry.¡± ¡°Mister, why do you drink it then?¡± the voice asks. Flint finds his hands shivering when he hears him ask the question. He looks at the half-full bottle of beer and then at the kid. Flint exhales, smelling the strong alcoholic scent from his breath. ¡°Have you ever had a stuffed toy or something you use whenever you¡¯re sad kid?¡± Flint asks him. Flint sees the figure of the crying boy nodding his head. ¡°Beer¡­no¡­alcohol is like that for me,¡± Flint admits. ¡°But why do you drink it if it makes you act so angry, mister?¡± the young voice asks through the radio. Flint takes another deep breath and exhales. Flint is struggling to hold back his tears. ¡°Everyone sees me as the righteous and stoic detective who solves all these cases and swiftly brings justice,¡± Flint mutters. He awkwardly laughs to himself, unable to hold back his tears. ¡°At least, that¡¯s what everyone sees. I¡­I¡¯ve seen some horrible things during all my cases. So much blood¡­so many dead bodies. All those cases I¡¯ve taken, they still haunt me to this day kid. I would never wish anyone, not even my enemies to bear this burden.¡± Flint mutters. Flint wipes his tears and tries to compose himself. ¡°Grow a spine. Don¡¯t be a damn coward. Hold those damn emotions. Solve the damn case. That¡¯s what I¡¯ve always been told. I never admitted to them how I felt. It¡¯s always been like that since I first started, up until now. They don¡¯t want some damn coward handling their case. Someone had to do the dirty work.¡± Flint reaches for the hall full bottle of alcohol. His hands tremble when it is in his grip. ¡°I had to act strong, to show them I can take it. But it wasn¡¯t only just that. I never want anyone to have the burden of being exposed to this¡­darkness. They do not have to be scarred just like me.¡± Flint¡¯s grip loosens, and he lets the bottle fall out of his hands. ¡°Alcohol makes all the pain go away. Nobody else is hurt. Nobody else is cursed with the dark images I have seen. I feel peace when I drink it.¡± Flint looks at the crying child with his own tears streaming down his visage. ¡°I don¡¯t know why you trust me to save them, kid¡­I¡¯m just a coward, through and through. A dumb idiot detective who knows that he isn¡¯t cut out for this work that has been and still needs to be done.¡± Flint mutters. The radio crackles, filling the silence in the room. Flint keeps crying, taking occasional sips from the beer bottle. Flint¡¯s eyes grow heavier and his motion becomes slower. ¡°Mister¡­¡± the young voice murmurs from the radio. Flint¡¯s eyes slowly close. ¡°I still trust you, mister.¡± The young voice murmurs, finishing his sentence. Flint has passed out from his alcohol intake. His snores and the radio cackling fill the silent air in the kitchen. The sounds of stomping feet grow louder and louder. ¡°Mister, wake up!¡± the young voice shouts from the radio. Flint cannot hear him as the steps grow louder and louder as they approach the kitchen. ¡°Mister! WAKE UP!¡± the young voice again shouts from the radio. Flint¡¯s unconscious body is dragged away before the figure of the crying child can shout again to wake Flint up. Sercas navigates through the rubble maze on the fourth level. He finds himself getting lost in the rubble maze. Every turn he makes, he ends up at a dead end. He grumbles in frustration while wandering around aimlessly, knowing Flint is on a lower level of this facility. However, Sercas is at least somewhat grateful for a moment to breathe after running through the halls of the floors of the upper levels trying to reach him. ¡°Damn, how did Flint find his way through this?¡± he asks out loud. He looks around, trying to retrace his steps and mark where he has been. ¡°Mister, Wake up!¡± a young voice faintly echoes through the hall. Sercas stops after being able to hear the faint voice. While he does not know what he has said, he senses the panic in the kid¡¯s voice. His grip tightens on his deployed baton. ¡°The hell? There¡¯s a kid down here as well?¡± he asks in disbelief. Not wasting another moment, Sercas down the rubble maze. He whips his baton at any rubble blocking his way, destroying them and clearing the way. After destroying all the rubble in his path, he reaches the stairwell to the fifth level. He does not hesitate and runs down the steps. He runs past the security room, which greets him into the fifth level, and into the two wide open doors. Sercas takes a moment to catch his breath and look around the casino floor. ¡°Kid, where are you? You alright?¡± He asks, his voice echoing through the hall. ¡°Mister! WAKE UP!¡± the young voice echoes again, this time louder. Sercas hears the kid¡¯s voice, clearer this time. He knows that he is somewhere on this level. Sercas runs from his resting state looking for the kid. He runs past the aisles of destroyed slot machines and bashes through the two doors at the end of the casino room. He navigates through the halls, running deeper into the facility. He bashes through the doors of the other casino and runs past the aisles of destroyed slot machines to the open doors at the end of the hall. He runs past the security room and into the hallway. Sercas stops running and transitions into walking down the halls, breathing heavily. He opens every door along the hallway, only to find dark rooms with household furniture covered in black sludge. ¡°What the hell is up with this place? One room I was in a casino and now it looks like I¡¯m in someone¡¯s home.¡± Sercas mutters. ¡°This must be where all my damn tax dollars went¡­¡± As he walks deeper into the halls, he notices one door open, one that he hasn¡¯t opened himself. He looks into the room, finding a kitchen. He notices bottles of beer lying on the floor near the fridge. He approaches the refrigerator and picks up one of the beer bottles. It is empty. Sercas now knows Flint is nearby. He lets the bottle drop to the floor and exits the kitchen. Flint slowly awakes from his alcohol-induced slumber. He cannot make out anything in his surroundings due to his blurry vision and intense migraine. He slowly stands up and stumbles around due to the lack of stability in his legs. Flint leans against a nearby wall, which he feels is akin to iron rods for a cage. His vision becomes less blurry after he rubs his head some more. His eyes widen when he finds himself locked in a large cage in a small dark room. He scrounges through his pockets and finds his possessions no longer on him. ¡°Finally awake.¡± The voice of a young man notes coming from the radio. The singular light bulb in the room flashes on, disorientating Flint due to the sudden brightness. After regaining his vision again, he sees many tools hanging on the walls of the room. Flint hears the door of the room burst wide open. What Flint comprehends to be a lanky male figure, oozing the same black sludge all over his body just like the Casino Man, bending down to enter the room, revealing screws bolted on his head. He slowly shambles inside the room, with the sounds of metal and squishy flesh echoing through the room. His eyes, one akin to a camera lens, while the other appears more organic, stare at Flint with intense concentration. Flint immediately notices the figure¡¯s lower jaw entirely torn off, revealing a robotic endoskeleton hiding underneath the flesh. Flint gazes upon the figure¡¯s arms as he latches on the iron bars of the cage. Pieces of metal cover up gaping wounds, while axles are built into these joints for any movement to be possible. He finds the same sight on his legs. Flint stares at the figure¡¯s chest, finding a rigid humanoid robotic body protruding under the squishy black sludge-covered flesh. All of these parts create an unnatural and horrid abomination made of both organic and artificial parts. The figure¡¯s mouth slowly creaks open as his entire body experiences violent spasms. His screeches echo throughout the halls, with the noise containing the uncomfortable combination of metal and black sludge sloshing around. ¡°After all this time¡­I finally have parts to fix me¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice mutters from the radio. The figure latches on the door of the cage. Flint backs away as the figure rips open the cage door. The figure slowly shambles into the cage, with his body still experiencing violent spasms. Flint becomes cornered as the figure closes the distance. ¡°With you, I shall finally be built again.¡± The young man¡¯s voice mutters again through the radio. The figure latches onto Flint¡¯s body. Flint struggles to escape from the figure¡¯s tight grasp. Flint screams in pain as the figure¡¯s grip clamps him into place. The figure slowly shambles out of the cage. Flint tries to push away the figure¡¯s arms, but they overpower Flint¡¯s resistance. Flint groans as his arms are pinned against his body and struggles to breathe as the arms are clamped tight on Flint¡¯s upper body. The figure shambles out of the room, with Flint tightly in his grasp. Flint¡¯s coat is stained with the black sludge from the figure, with some of it trying to enter his mouth. He shakes it off his head as the figure continues carrying Flint away. The figure¡¯s squishy and grinding screeches echo down the hall. Flint desperately squirms in the figure¡¯s grasp, flailing his body and legs at the figure¡¯s shambling body. The figure struggles to maintain balance as Flint¡¯s flailing body and legs bombard his spasming body. Flint feels the figure¡¯s grip loosening. Taking this opportunity, he pushes away the figure¡¯s arms and escapes his grip. Flint quickly runs around the spasming figure and back into the room. He grabs the revolver from off the table and runs back to the door. He aims it at the figure. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* The streams the bright green flames surrounding the three bullets illuminate the halls as the bullets fly at the figure. The figure stumbles back as two of the bullets become lodged in the figure¡¯s body. The third bullet becomes lodged in the figure¡¯s camera lens eye. He screeches loudly in agony, fleeing from the scene and clutching his damaged camera lens eye. Flint runs back into the room and locks the door. He leans against the bars of the cage, taking a moment of respite. ¡°You¡¯re lucky that you recover quickly from your hangover Flint.¡± He mutters to himself. ¡°But is it really luck when you¡¯ve been drowning in that damned numbing liquid for so long?¡± Flint shakes his body to calm his nerves. He approaches and grabs the ammunition box on the table. He reloads the revolver with the three bullets. He finds that he still has a decent supply of ammunition left, but he knows he must be careful with how he uses the rest. He does not attempt to wipe off the black sludge on his coat, knowing he would not be able to. He puts the ammunition and lock-picking set in his coat pockets. He then takes off his hat and puts on the headlamp again, which compresses portions of his messy brown hair. He looks around the table again to make sure he has all of his smaller items and he finds his camera lying on the table. He realizes that he hasn¡¯t taken many photos of the facility. He sighs at the realization, but he knows nothing else can be done about it. He takes another look through the floor plans but finds nothing of value to him. He puts them away in his inner coat pocket. He takes out his camera and takes pictures of the room. As he looks through the camera¡¯s photo storage, his eyes widen with intrigue. He finds photos of Argus Madison and his corrupted version of himself, The Casino Man. He knows that he never has taken these photos. He puts the camera away in his inner coat pockets and carries the radio on his back. He exits the room, noticing two pathways he can take. The first option is walking down the hall before him or taking a left turn. Knowing the figure is most likely down the hall in front of him, he takes a sharp left turn. He finds the walls stained with the same black sludge, a grossly familiar sight he still cannot stomach. They have an aesthetic akin to a work shed with wooden shingles aligning the walls. His light flashes on an open door on the side of the hall. He enters the dark room, with the light shining upon aisles of tall shelves within. Flint finds screws, gears, motors, motherboards, and other internal components sloppily put away in compartments on these shelves. Most of them are covered with black sludge or damaged beyond repair. He exits the room, finding nothing else of interest in there. He hears a loud banging noise coming down the hallway. Flint takes out his revolver, aiming it down the hall as he approaches the noise. The noise intensifies as he gets closer, passing by a left turn he can make. He rests his finger on the trigger, expecting the worst. At the end of the hall is a large metal door. The door wobbles back and forth in place. Something or someone is banging the door on the other side with considerable force. Flint backs away from the large metal door with his revolver still pointed at the door. He takes the left turn he could have made earlier. He passes by many more open doors down this hallway, with their rooms containing parts and components of increasing size and value. He finds no interest in them, knowing that he would waste more time. He keeps walking down the hall, hoping to find something. ¡°Fix, fix. I must fix myself.¡± The young male voice murmurs from the radio. Flint stops dead in his tracks as the radio crackles loudly. ¡°I hear that blasted radio¡­my batch of parts is nearby¡­¡± the young voice again mutters. Flint hears the figure¡¯s metallic and fleshy screeches from the other side of the wall to his left. He runs down the hall, hearing the figure loudly stomp towards him. He enters a random room in the hallway and shuts the door behind him. He dives onto the floor, rotating the dials on the radio to lower its volume. He hears the figure storming down the halls, looking for him. Flint covers his mouth with his hand, hoping that the figure doesn¡¯t even hear his breathing. He hears the figure¡¯s stomping steps pass by the door of the room. Flint breathes a quiet sigh of relief. Flint stands up from his spot to take a better look around the room, putting the radio on his back. He finds himself in a quaint, cozy office room. There are many academic journals and math, coding, and robotic design books neatly placed on the shelves of the walls. Under the shelves is a large work desk with a pile of blueprints covered in black sludge. With the few parts of the blueprints that aren¡¯t covered, Flint deduces these contain design schematics for robots that are designed for some use in entertainment facilities and industry. He pushes aside the pile of blueprints, which fall on the floor. Behind them, he finds a photo frame. Inside the frame is a photo of a young man with a tanned complexion and medium black hair. He has a smile on his visage, wearing black framed glasses and a checkered polo shirt. The photo of the young man has the left and right sides of the photo torn off, where his arms extend out. Flint feels a special, familiar feeling from the photo, yet he cannot determine what that is. He grabs the photo in the frame and pockets it. The frame falls and reveals a piece of folded-up paper behind it. He reaches for it and unfolds it. It is a blank one-page report with a photo of the same man in the top left corner. A piece of text catches his eye. Subject Name: The Self-Building Man (TMG) Notes: I did it again¡­I, I actually did it again! But, just two trials aren¡¯t enough. This has to be repeated more times! Oh, but this gives me so much hope. My dear, sweet Alaya. I promise I will see you again soon. From the flashback he has seen and now this report, he has stronger evidence in his mind of who the creator of these notes is and who the man may be. Flint looks through the pile of blueprints he pushed aside. He finds a missing poster of the man, whose photo isn¡¯t blacked out. Name: Toby Matthews Age: 31 Status: Missing The story has been taken without consent; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident. Last Seen: ??? He brings out his camera from his inner pocket. As the camera¡¯s light flashes onto the documents, his camera screen starts flickering as a new photo is being formed on the screen. It shows Toby lying on the ground. His body is half flesh, have machine. Toby has many tools lying around him as he tries to repair himself with translucent purple chains tugging onto him. ¡°I know that pile of parts is in here somewhere¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice murmurs from the radio. Flint jolts up, hearing the radio crackle loudly. He hears something banging on the door loudly. Having no time to examine the photo, he puts the camera away in his inner pocket. ¡°It seems that pile of parts is snooping around in my office¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice murmurs and the banging becomes louder. ¡°No matter. I will get the parts I need!¡± the young voice shouts from the radio. The Self-Building Man bashes the door wide open. He stands there, staring at Flint with his newly repaired camera lens eye. ¡°Don¡¯t squirm. It will only make my repairs messier.¡± The young man¡¯s voice mutters at him. The Self-Building Man slowly approaches Flint reaching out to him with his lanky black sludge arms. Flint backs away, paralyzed in fear. He feels the cold metal and warm sticky flesh graze his face. He reaches for his revolver, but The Self-Building Man¡¯s hands latch onto him with a firm and sticky grip. Flint tries to pull away, but The Self-Building Man does not let go of his grip. The Self-Building Man stabs his fingers through Flint¡¯s clothes and into his arms. Flint screams in agony, feeling The Self-Building Man¡¯s fingers impale deeper into his flesh. He feels the black sludge from The Self-Building Man¡¯s body slowly entering his veins, flowing through his body. ¡°Finally¡­I shall have new parts¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice murmurs. Flint squirms as The Self-Building Man brings him closer. Flint¡¯s arms start swelling and feel itchy as the black sludge flows through his veins. ¡°No¡­please¡­stop¡­¡± Flint weakly mutters. Flint feels The Self-Building Man¡¯s arms bringing him closer to him. Flint closes his eyes, accepting his fate. Then, Flint hears the cracking of a baton on metal and sticky flesh. His eyes open wide when he sees The Self-Building Man let go of him and screech loudly. Flint falls to the ground. He hears the baton cracking again as The Self-Building Man slams against the wall. Flint¡¯s eyes widen when he sees Sercas coming from behind The Self-Building Man. ¡°Flint, come on! We got to get the hell out of here!¡± Sercas exclaims, extending a hand out to him. Flint takes his hand and stands up. They both run out of the room. Sercas grabs a random piece of metal and bars the door with it. The Self-Building Man bangs against the door trying to break free. ¡°That should buy us some time,¡± Sercas mutters. He looks over to Flint, seeing him breathing heavily and bending down, using his hands to cover where The Self-Building Man has wounded him. ¡°Why are you here?¡± Flint mutters weakly. ¡°What do you mean why am I here? Isn¡¯t it obvious after seeing that thing?¡± Sercas asks in disbelief. ¡°I¡­I already told you and Serena¡­not to get involved with this damn case!¡± Sercas backs away after Flint¡¯s sudden outburst. Sercas looks back at the door, hearing the banging get louder and the door becoming more dented. ¡°Look, Flint, we¡¯ll talk about this later. For now, we need to go now!¡± Sercas exclaims. Sercas grabs Flint by the hand and bolts down the hall, dragging Flint around in his sick and weakened state. The Self-Building Man breaks down the door and chases after Flint and Sercas. Sercas, seeing The Self-Building Man closing distance, shoves Flint ahead. Flint weakly falls to the floor, feeling more ill as the black sludge flows through his veins. The Self-Building Man lashes his arms at Sercas. Sercas reacts quickly and lifts his metal baton to block the strike. The Self-Building Man bombards Sercas with a flurry of blows, but he remains there, blocking the blows with his baton. Flint coughs up black sludge from his mouth. He wipes it off, trying to hide his condition from Sercas. He looks at Sercas, defending him against The Self-Building Man¡¯s assault like a valiant officer of justice. Sercas finds an opening and swipes the baton at The Self-Building Man¡¯s body. The Self-Building Man¡¯s screeches echo throughout the hall as he stumbles back from the hit, trying to regain balance. Sercas looks at Flint, seeing him slowly stand up. ¡°Flint? Don¡¯t force yourself for Pete¡¯s sake!¡± Sercas exclaims. As Sercas is distracted, The Self-Building Man violently lashes his arms at Sercas. Sercas is unable to block the hit and is sent flying back. Sercas crashes onto the ground, damaging his radio and upper body. Flint¡¯s eyes widen seeing Sercas in a defeated state. ¡°Interesting¡­I shall have more parts to use¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice mutters from the radio. The Self-Building Man shambles toward Flint and Sercas. ¡°No¡­¡± Flint mutters. Images of Sercas drowning in the darkness from his nightmare bombard Flint¡¯s mind. Flint cannot stop trembling and coughing out the black sludge as The Self-Building Man closes the distance. ¡°No¡­No¡­it¡¯s¡­it¡¯s all happening¡­just like my nightmare¡­¡± Flint mutters, unable to stop himself from trembling. Flint looks back at Sercas lying down on the floor heavily injured and back at The Self-Building Man slowly approaching them. Flint slowly backs away still shivering. ¡°Just run away Flint, leave your friend to die. After all, you¡¯re just a damn coward.¡± His inner voice echoes through his mind. ¡°No¡­No¡­I¡­I¡­¡± ¡°Remember your oath, detective. Do not succumb to your fears. Let your oath show you the way.¡± A voice whispers in her ear. ¡°I vow to pursue and reveal the truth to all. I mustn¡¯t waver, no matter how bitter the consequences may be. No one should live in the darkness of falsehoods nor should those who harm others hide have their sins be hidden away.¡± Flint, takes a deep breath, and calmly takes out his revolver. He points it at The Self-Building Man, with his hand shivering and struggling to focus aim. ¡°No¡­I¡­I won¡¯t leave anyone here to die¡­I¡­¡± Flint mutters. ¡°You¡¯ll save them mister¡­¡± the young voice mutters from the radio. Flint sees the figure of the crying boy at the other end of the hall. Flint closes his eyes and presses the trigger. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* The streams the bright green flames surrounding the three bullets illuminate the halls as the bullets fly at The Self-Building Man. Each of the bullets is lodged into The Self-Building Man¡¯s robotic body, damaging it. The Self-Building Man screeches as he feels a loss of control in his limbs. ¡°No¡­I am broken¡­I must fix this! I must fix this!¡± the young man¡¯s panicking voice comes from the radio. The Self-Building Man runs down the halls to fix himself. Flint limps over to Sercas, lying down on the ground. He finds Sercas is coughing up blood and major bruises and cuts all over his body. As Flint tries to help him up, he finds the black sludge flowing through his veins in his hands. He also finds the black sludge and blood bleeding from his puncture wounds. Flint turns around and carries him on his back after moving the radio to his front side, limping along the way. Despite his sick and weakened state, he still powers through, not wanting to appear weak or hurt around Sercas. ¡°Flint¡­I¡­I can walk just fine¡­¡± Sercas mutters. Sercas groans in pain and coughs up some more blood. ¡°No¡­no you can¡¯t¡­¡± Flint weakly mutters. ¡°Let me find you somewhere safe¡­¡± Flint limps back to the metal door he has heard the banging. He finds it wide open, assuming that Sercas has come through there. He limps through the door, trying to find somewhere safe for Sercas to place. After the many twists and turns down the hall, Flint limps back into the kitchen where he has drank his sorrows away. He gently lies Sercas on the floor. ¡°Heh¡­who would¡¯ve thought that I¡¯d face my worst injury at a government facility? Even when I least expect it, the government is still trying to find a way to screw with me¡­¡± Sercas jests, despite being in pain. Sercas looks up at Flint. He sees that Flint is trying to stand strong, despite his ill state. He also sees Flint¡¯s visage turn from his usual serious demeanor to a somber and guilty one. ¡°Sercas¡­this is why I don¡¯t want any of you to be here¡­¡± Flint mutters to him, trying to hold back his tears. ¡°Look at yourself¡­you had to see such horrors¡­and worst of all¡­you¡¯re hurt.¡± ¡°Flint¡­¡± Sercas mutters. ¡°I never wanted any of this to befall you and Serena, but you two were so insistent on helping me¡­and look where your help led you¡­This hasn¡¯t been the first damn time too. Why must you two risk your sanity and lives for my sake? Can¡¯t you see that I must be the only one to bear of all this!¡± Tears stream down Flint¡¯s eyes. Flint sees Sercas coughing up blood as his arm rests on his chest. ¡°Flint¡­I¡¯m not going to die. I¡¯m not some flimsy person. I can handle this.¡± Sercas mutters. He looks up at Flint. ¡°I could have let you be, but I didn¡¯t. I would be a vile person if I did, and I ain¡¯t that. We¡¯re not strangers Flint, you don¡¯t need to hide anything from us. I know full well of the danger I¡¯ve gotten into Flint. But if it meant saving you, even if it risked my own life, I would¡¯ve done it in a heartbeat. I know you will do the same. I saw you do it. People need you Flint, no matter what you think.¡± ¡°Sercas¡­no¡­no I¡­I¡­¡± Flint wipes his tears and turns away from Sercas. He tries to stop crying, but he cannot. Sercas forms a reflective smile on his face, still coughing up more blood. ¡°Flint, my good friend. If I die here¡­make sure you finish this damn case. I heard what that kid said. I know you¡¯ll be able to save everyone who needs it.¡± Flint wipes the tears off his face. ¡°I will, Sercas.¡± Flint slowly walks out of the kitchen, despite his weakened state. ¡°But I won¡¯t die here, Flint. It will take more than these damn injuries to kill me¡­And after all this is over, we¡¯ll all have a good drink with everyone.¡± Sercas mutters. Sercas finds a beer bottle lying beside him. He slowly opens it, due to his injuries. ¡°To Flint.¡± He toasts. Sercas drinks the bottle of beer, still lying there. Flint leans on the walls outside of the kitchen, breathing heavily as he continues to bleed black sludge and blood from his puncture wounds. Flint takes off his coat, letting it fall to the ground, and pulls his sleeves. His arms and hands tremble as his once bluish veins are now shadowy black as the black sludge flows through them. Flint, still breathing heavily, rips half of his sleeves off and bandages his wounds with the scraps from his clothes. They become stained with the black sludge, but it stops the bleeding. The trembling in his hands and arms becomes less intense. Flint slowly bends down and picks up his coat from the ground. As he puts the coat on, he finds the photo fragment of the young man slowly falling to the ground. He stares at the photo, knowing the man is suffering as that corrupted Self Building Man. ¡°Will you run away Flint?¡± He mutters to himself. ¡°No¡­I can¡¯t. Not after what Sercas has done for me. Not after what I¡¯ve seen that man has become. I¡­I have to¡­I must free him.¡± He again bends down and picks up the photo. Images of two rooms flash in his mind as the photo is in his hands. The first is a dark living room. The other is a room housing various kinds of robots. Flint lets go of the photo and looks around the hall due to the abrupt occurrence. The photo lies on the ground, lying backside up. Splotches of black sludge are on the back of the photo. Flint picks up the photo again and puts it in his pocket. Knowing that those images must mean something, Flint wanders around the halls, trying to find the room. He passes through the halls that are covered in black sludge. Flint feels a feeling of comfort and calms as if he were back in his own home. He looks around, noticing the walls of the halls are painted with lavender. He passes by many doors down this hallway, peering into each of them. Behind each door are rooms one would find in their own home, such as bathrooms, bedrooms, and the pantry, all of which are covered in black sludge. After tirelessly looking through the doors, he finds the very living room that has flashed in his mind. The living room is in pristine condition. A simple couch is in front of a television on a stand. Plants and other greenery in pots are scattered around the room. Flint approaches the couch and takes a seat to rest his weary body. He feels the black sludge flowing through his veins, but he ignores the discomfort as he ponders the importance of the photo. The television abruptly turns on, which makes Flint jolt back. There is text on the television. ¡°Find the true missing piece.¡± There is an arrow underneath the text which points down to the stand. Flint gets off the couch and approaches the stand. He kneels to the ground and finds the fragment of a photo underneath the table. He takes it out and examines it. The fragment of the photo contains a part of Toby Matthews¡¯ left arm. It is resting on the shoulders of his oldest daughter who has a tanned complexion like her father and medium dyed blond hair, wearing a red short-sleeve checkered polo, and his young son, who has short black hair and fair complexion while wearing a t-shirt with a rocket on it. His oldest daughter poses for the camera with a peace sign with rings on her fingers and bracelets on her arms while his son raises his arms, hooting and hollering. Flint smiles at the sight of the photo. It reminds him of those times when his daughter was happy. He wishes he could bring back those days. Flint stands up putting away the photo in his pockets. He takes a photo of the room. He exits the room, with his smile fading. The television powers off as he walks deeper into the halls. He approaches the metal door which blocks off The Self-Building Man¡¯s domain. He pulls out his revolver as he enters the area. He faintly hears the sounds of welding equipment and drills coming from deeper into the halls. He takes a deep breath and walks deeper into the hall. Flint finds himself in the hallway where he and Sercas fought against the Self-Building Man. He hears the welding at its loudest in this area. He wastes no time investigating the open doors along the halls, knowing that they only contain parts and other components for robots. He takes a left turn at the end of the hallway, finding open doors on the right-hand side. He passes by them, with his headlamp light shining upon the rooms with shelves that are stocked with many parts. At the end of the hallway, he finds two wide push doors. He slowly approaches the area, daring not to make any loud noises for the Self-Building Man to hear. He pushes the doors at the end of the hallway. He finds himself in a large room with various robots of varying shapes and sizes. Some are made with sturdier metals while others are made of more flexible and compressible rubbers and plastics. He takes a quick photo of all the robots. However, his interest is in the large robot at the end of the room. He approaches it, passing by the many other robots there. The robot at the end of the hallway has the figure of a scorpion made of soft, flexible rubber. There are many handles and climbable areas along it. Flint reads the plaque in front of it. ¡°Meet the Sam, the Robotic Scorpion. This robot is designed as a mobile playground for children. With its soft and flexible materials and safety features, rest assured your children will be safe having a grand old time.¡± ¡°I bet Lily would kill to play with something like this.¡± Flint jests to himself. He notices the backside of the photo fragment on the ¡®stinger¡¯ of Sam. It has the text written: ¡°Let him fix it.¡± Flint reaches out and pulls it out. He flips over the photo fragment, which shows Toby¡¯s right arm resting on the shoulders of his wife. She smiles at the camera, despite her frail appearance. She has fair skin with her hands caressing her long black hair as she wears a simple white dress. Flint¡¯s eyes begin to water, seeing how happy Toby¡¯s wife is in the photo. If only he and Ronlo could smile together again. He puts it into his pockets. The image of a workshop flashes in his head. It highlights a table where he must put all three photo fragments. Flint again looks around, disorientated by the sight. He hears the radio crackle loudly. ¡°Snooping around, are we?¡± the young man¡¯s voice murmurs through the radio. Flint turns around and sees the Self-Building Man bash through the doors, with now a newly repaired body. ¡°I will not let you escape. I will finally be repaired.¡± The young man¡¯s voice murmurs. The Self-Building Man slowly shambles toward Flint. Flint¡¯s body begins to tremble again as he reaches for the revolver. He takes it out and aims it at The Self-Building Man, but his trembling body makes it impossible to aim. The discomfort of the black sludge flowing through his body overwhelms him. ¡°Damn it¡­¡± Flint mutters. ¡°Not¡­now!¡± Flint pulls the trigger. *BANG* A stream of a bright green flame surrounding the bullet flies at The Self-Building Man. The bullet strikes one of his knees. The Self-Building Man falls to the floor. Taking this chance, Flint runs out of the room, avoiding The Self-Building Man¡¯s attempts at swiping at him with his arms. Flint looks to his left and right. On his left is a hallway that leads to another stairway, while his right leads to another hallway. Flint instinctively for his survival, tries to go left. Yet, he cannot find it in himself to do so. He takes a deep breath and reluctantly goes right as he hears The Self-Building Man slowly rise. He finds a large metal door open in the hall to his left. He runs inside the room. Inside is a large workshop with many workbenches and two large tables. The two tables have tools sloppily placed around and early construction of robots and robotic limbs lie on top. ¡°I have you now.¡± The young voice murmurs from the radio. Flint turns around and finds The Self-Building Man shut the metal door close behind him. He slams his lanky arm on the light switch, engulfing the room in darkness. The Self-Building Man swipes his arms at Flint. Flint dodges out of the way and backs away. He struggles to find the table he must place the photos in the dark. The light does not help him as he is frantically running out of reach from the Self-Building Man¡¯s attacks. ¡°Stop trying to attack me! I¡¯m here for you!¡± Flint shouts at him. The Self-Building Man whips his lanky arms at Flint. Flint side steps out of the way as they crash onto a workbench. ¡°Of course, you are here for me. You will be the parts I need to repair myself!¡± the young man¡¯s voice proclaims. Flint finally finds the table where he must place the photo fragments. He runs over as he narrowly dodges another whip attack from The Self-Building Man¡¯s arms. He takes them out of his pocket and places them on the table. Flint is knocked down to the ground after The Self-Building man successfully whips him with his lanky arms. He groans in pain and looks up at the Self-Building Man approaching him. He continues whipping his arms at Flint and his general area, landing every single hit. He screams in agony as he gets closer. Flint jerks his head as he groans, causing the light to point away from him. He notices the Self-Building Man lashing his arms at the area of the light. Taking this chance, Flint takes off his headlamp and throws it away from him. The Self-Building Man approaches the light and starts whipping at the light. Flint slowly rises from the ground, wincing due to his injuries. He finds that the photo fragments have been scattered. He quickly piles them on top of each other while The Self-Building Man is distracted. ¡°I¡¯m not the parts you are looking for!¡± Flint shouts. Flint turns on the lamp by the desk and moves out of the way. The Self-Building Man turns in the direction of the light and slowly shambles towards it. The Self-Building Man finds the three photo fragments on his main work table. ¡°This¡­these parts¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice from the radio mutters. The Self-Building Man gently positions the photo pieces together so they match and fit. The Self-Building Man takes great care to glue and tape the pieces together. The fragments create Toby¡¯s family photo. ¡°This¡­this was the part I truly needed¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice murmurs. The Self-Building Man takes the photo in his hands. He opens the chest of his robotic body and places the photo in there. The Self-Building Man turns around and sees Flint pointing the revolver at his head. ¡°I¡­I will save you.¡± Flint mutters. *BANG* A stream of a bright green flame surrounding the bullet flies at The Self-Building Man¡¯s head. The bullet pierces through his head. A great burst of light erupts from the bullet hole. The Self-Building Man¡¯s body slowly cracks open. More light erupts from the cracks. ¡°After all this time¡­I¡¯m finally fixed¡­¡± the young man¡¯s voice murmurs from the radio. The room is enveloped with the same bright light as the Self Building Man¡¯s body fades away. Flint covers his eyes from the blinding light as his surroundings slowly change. Flint¡¯s eyes slowly open after noticing the light dissipating. He finds himself in the same large workshop. The tools on the table are placed in labeled bins hanging from the table¡¯s sides. A robotic arm that is made of sleek metallic parts and modeled as a replacement human arm moves around with graceful and smooth movements. Another table has a larger robot that has a rhombus-shaped apparatus with retractable tubes and rubber springs as its main legs which move around with less grace. The sounds of their motors and moving parts fill up the silence in the room. Flint notices Toby Matthew sitting by the desk where he had placed the photo fragments. Toby is wearing the same checkered polo and khakis as is is seated. Flint approaches him from behind. Toby reads through an academic journal that contains articles on all the newest design methods for mobile robotics. Toby Matthews is vigorously taking notes and sketching newer designs. Flint looks up and notices many accolades and articles featuring Toby¡¯s designs in a cabinet above the table. Many articles denote him as: ¡°The Robotics Prodigy.¡± Flint notices that Toby Matthews hasn¡¯t noticed him yet, despite being right behind him. He pokes Toby¡¯s back and again gets no reaction. Flint hears one of Toby¡¯s robots start sparking and twitching loudly. He turns around and finds the robotic arm spasming and producing smoke. Toby gets up from his seat and runs up to the robotic arm, immediately powering it off. Toby gets out his notepad and tools from the side of the table. ¡°Alright, let¡¯s see what¡¯s wrong with it,¡± Toby says to himself. Toby cracks his knuckles and grabs a screwdriver. He disassembles the robotic arm, placing the outer metallic shell on one area of the table, and places the screws in a neat pile away from the shell. The scent of something burning wafts into Toby¡¯s and Flint¡¯s noses. Toby carefully removes the motherboard of the robot and places it in front of him. He grabs a magnifying glass to inspect that one of the wires overheated, damaging the motherboard. Toby looks at the wire that is connected to the motherboard and finds it to be worn down. Flint notices Toby Matthews throw away the damaged parts and stand up. After searching around, Toby brings back a new motherboard and wire. He plugs the motherboard into his computer and starts importing and adjusting all the necessary code so that the arm works properly and avoids further malfunctions. Toby Matthews repairs the robotic arm back to its original state. He continues to monitor it and puts it under many diagnostic tests. After he is satisfied with the results. Toby Matthews turns off everything and prepares to leave his workshop. Flint sees his surroundings slowly fade away as Toby exits. He sees them transform into the interior of Toby¡¯s home. He looks around the quaint living room, noticing Toby¡¯s son sitting on the couch watching a cartoon on the television. Flint hears the front door open. Toby walks into his home, tired after a long day of work. His son, Mikey does not even bat an eye while he continues watching the cartoon. Toby sighs and slowly walks down the hall while Mikey goes back to watching the television. Flint follows Toby to his bedroom down the hall narrow hallway. He sees Toby knocking on the door of his oldest daughter¡¯s bedroom. ¡°Hey, I¡¯m home.¡± Toby weakly mutters. ¡°Go away, Dad.¡± He hears from the other side of the door. Toby sighs before opening the door. Flint waits outside as Toby enters his oldest daughter¡¯s small bedroom. His oldest daughter, Mona, is lying on her bed listening to her music with her earbuds on. He slowly walks up to her and nudges her shoulder. She looks up at him, taking off her earbuds. ¡°Dad, I told you to go away,¡± Mona tells him. Toby sits down on his daughter¡¯s bed. He hands her a small toy robot he has designed himself. ¡°Happy birthday.¡± He mutters. Mona gets off her bed and takes the robot from her father¡¯s hands. ¡°Is this a joke dad?¡± Mona asks him. ¡°My birthday was a week ago.¡± Toby sits there in silence, twiddling his fingers. Mona sits on her bed, staring at the robot. ¡°Me and Mikey visited Mom at the hospital today. She keeps asking where you are.¡± Mona tells him. Toby sits in silence, staring at the floor. Flint notices Mona¡¯s gaze upon the robot turning into one of hatred. ¡°Mom¡¯s in the damn hospital in severe condition, missing you so much. And where are you? Oh right, building your damn robots!¡± Mona shouts at him. She throws the toy robot at the wall, breaking it into many pieces. ¡°Hey, I¡­I built that for you¡­¡± Toby mutters. ¡°Really Dad? That¡¯s all you have to say? Even after all of this, you still only care about your damn robots than your actual family! I¡¯m done with this shit Dad! Go and take care of your damn robots! Just leave me, Mom, and Mikey alone!¡± Mona shouts at him. Flint trembles at Mona¡¯s outburst. He is reminded of how distant of a father he is to his dearest daughter Lily. Flint sees the pain in Toby¡¯s eyes, knowing the feeling all too well. ¡°F¡­Fine then¡­if that¡¯s how you want it to be.¡± Toby mumbles. Toby stands up and leaves the room, hearing her slam the door behind him. Toby walks away from Mona¡¯s bedroom and rushes to the front door. He exits his home, quietly, closing the door behind him. Flint sees Mikey stand up from the couch and walk over to Mona¡¯s bedroom. Flint follows Mikey, seeing him open the door ajar. ¡°Sis, are you alright?¡± he asks. Mikey and Flint see Mona pressing her face against her pillows as she cries loudly. Mikey approaches her and hugs her from behind. ¡°Mikey¡­it will just be us and Mom from now on¡­Dad won¡¯t be with us anymore¡­¡± Mona says to him as she cries. ¡°Dad won¡¯t be here?¡± Mikey asks. ¡°What does that mean?¡± ¡°It¡­it means that he¡¯ll leave us¡­all for his robots¡­¡± Mona replies, still crying. Flint can¡¯t stop himself from crying after hearing her words. ¡°Ronlo¡­Lily¡­I hope you won¡¯t end up like them¡­¡± Flint mutters. Flint notices his surroundings change around him again. They change back to Toby¡¯s workshop. He sees Toby sitting at his work desk, sobbing loudly. Flint slowly approaches him from behind. He finds Toby staring at his family photo as tears stream from his eyes. ¡°I¡­I¡¯ve broken something so precious¡­my family¡¯s happiness¡­if only I could fix it¡­¡± Toby mutters. Toby and Flint turn around after hearing someone¡¯s steps approach them. Flint¡¯s eyes widen when he recognizes the same man with medium red hair, now this time older and wearing a lab coat over his clothes. The man does not bear ¡°Who¡­who are you and how the hell did you get in here?¡± Toby asks. ¡°Names are irrelevant at this moment Toby and how I got in here is of no concern to you.¡± The man tells him. ¡°Listen, if you don¡¯t get out here I will call the police!¡± Toby says to him. The man looks around, admiring the robots in the workshop. ¡°For a man who is so highly regarded for his robots, you wish to bring back the happiness in your family, is this correct?¡± Toby gulps but nods. ¡°Yes¡­anything,¡± Toby says determinedly. ¡°Perhaps, I can assist you. All I would need from you is a simple handshake.¡± The man extends his hand out to Toby. Despite the man¡¯s strange appearance and demeanor, Toby will not let this opportunity go by. Toby extends his hand out to the man and gives him a firm handshake. Toby feels a powerful current of electricity flow through his body. He falls to the ground, unconscious. Flint sees the man rub his temples and take a deep breath. ¡°Let these results repeat¡­¡± the man mutters to himself. ¡°For your sake, Alaya.¡± Flint¡¯s is engulfed in darkness. A large bright light suddenly illuminates a part of the workshop. He finds Toby strapped to a gurney in the standing position. Flint¡¯s eyes widen when he sees portions of Toby¡¯s body replaced with robotic parts. The notable area is his chest is the upper body of a robot. Toby slowly awakes, feeling groggy and a sharp pain as he moves around his limbs. Toby looks down and screams in horror seeing his new half robotic and half flesh body. Both Flint and Toby hear the crackling of a loudspeaker. ¡°What the hell is going on here?¡± Toby stammers as he looks around. ¡°Toby Matthews.¡± The man¡¯s voice crackles from the loudspeaker. ¡°To grant your family¡¯s happiness back, you must fix the broken piece. That piece is you.¡± Toby shouts in agony as he feels a sharp shock, seeing translucent purple chains stab into his body. Flint braces himself, expecting a horrid fate to fall upon Toby. ¡°Failure to fix yourself will leave your family forever broken. Experiment #150 The Repair.¡± Toby is released from the gurney, but the translucent purple chains remain locked onto him. Toby shambles around, groaning in agony as he feels something other than blood flow through his veins. He shambles to the nearest table and grabs whatever tools he can hold. Toby unscrews his upper robotic body, making the front plate fall onto the floor. He finds the inside of the body connected to an endoskeleton surrounded by a hollow interior. He notices black sludge oozing within. As Toby shambles to the hardware and internal wiring components, he feels the purple chains forcibly stretching his legs. He falls to the floor as his legs undergo the deformation. He crawls to the internal components shelf of his workshop and pulls out the bin containing all the hardware. The bin falls to the ground, spilling the hardware all over. As he crawls over to the hardware, he screams as he feels his legs corroding away. He grabs the components and sits against the base of the table. He finds that the flesh on his legs has corroded into fleshy black sludge. More black sludge oozes out of his robotic upper body. Toby shoves the components inside and hastily tries to wire them together. As he does this, he screams in more pain as the translucent purple chains tug on his arms. He sees his arms slowly corrode into a fleshy black sludge, just like his legs. He struggles to wire everything properly as his arms continue to be stretched. Despite the pain, he manages to wire everything just as his arms have now fully corroded. He crawls over to where he has dropped the front plate of the robotic upper body. He can no longer scream as he feels his face melting off. His lower jaw falls, revealing the metal endoskeleton underneath that is covered in black sludge. Toby grabs onto the front plate and screws it back on as the rest of his face corrodes into the fleshy black sludge that is found on the rest of his body. Toby slowly stands up, his entire body now turned into a horrid abomination made of both organic and robotic parts, motionless. The translucent purple chains pull out Toby¡¯s soul. The chains rip apart Toby''s soul. The figure screams in agony as his soul is being ripped apart. The figure stops screaming, standing there deathly silent. Toby''s mauled soul is forcefully stuffed into the figure. He stays there, still standing. ¡°Please¡­let this be another success.¡± the man hopes over the loudspeaker. ¡°Please, for the sake of all those who have died in my experiments. Please let their deaths not be in vain!¡± Flint looks at Toby, stricken in utter fear. A man who is desperate to fix his family¡¯s happiness has been turned into an abomination. As the lights are about to dim, the figure¡¯s limbs twitch to life, his body creating electrical sparks. He groans with inhuman voices in utter agony. ¡°Experiment #150¡­The Repair: Success!¡± the man exclaims. The entire room becomes surrounded by darkness, which engulfs Flint. In the darkness, he sees a white transparent distorted cloud. He sees the cloud slowly refigure itself into a humanoid shape. Flint¡¯s eyes widen when he sees a cloud form into Toby Matthews'' figure. Flint sees dark holes in Toby¡¯s body where the robotic and metal parts have covered. ¡°I know you,¡± Toby tells Flint. ¡°You¡¯re that detective I chased around. You fixed me.¡± Flint stares at Toby, trying to hold back his tears. He understands Toby¡¯s pain all too well. ¡°Everyone called me the Robotics Prodigy. They praised me for my brilliant designs for robotics in entertainment and health rehabilitation. My accomplishments and my fame were all just a mere byproduct of my neglect. I never wanted to be so distant from my dear wife and children. I¡¯ve always wanted to give them the happy life I¡¯ve never had. A life where their mom and dad would be there and not only just be there, but be someone they could run back to. But¡­I never provided that. I found myself being there, but not around, just like my parents. Mona¡­she was so lonely, just like me. And Mikey¡­he doesn¡¯t acknowledge me. Their mother, the love of my life, Lia has been hospitalized for so long because of her Ataxia. I never knew how difficult it would be to raise them alone. I tried so hard, but my words and actions always seemed to hurt them. I could never visit Lia again after the failure of a father I¡¯ve become. And so¡­like the true coward I am, I ran back to my robots. They may malfunction, and break down, but I know that I can eventually fix them. I wish, I so desperately wish I could fix the happiness I have broken. But that day will never come. On that day my life was taken from I realized the harsh truth. I am broken and cannot be fixed. Don¡¯t be like me, detective. Be there for your family, even if you ruin it. Don¡¯t be like this coward standing here, who didn¡¯t even try to fix the happiness he had broken. Mona, Lia, Mikey, I hope you have the heart to forgive this coward and live a happier life without me.¡± Flint looks at the shadowy ground, letting his tears fall. He cannot help but worry about Ronlo and Lily. He feels shame and guilt over his outburst and argument with his beloved. He doesn¡¯t want them to end up like Toby¡¯s family, but he fears that his outburst is the final straw. Flint sees Toby Matthews slowly walk away. Flint sees a humanoid figure walking beside Toby, placing its shadowy hand on Toby¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Toby, no longer shall you be in anguish. I shall give you the chance to mend your broken bonds yourself, unlike the man who has deceived you. But I cannot guide you just yet.¡± The figure whispers into his ear. ¡°Trust in this detective. He will free you from this hell.¡± Toby Matthews¡¯ eyes widen. He turns back to Flint, getting on his knees. ¡°Detective¡­please save me. I won¡¯t be a coward anymore. Please detective, let me fix what I have broken!¡± Toby pleads. Flint looks at him, wiping off the tears from his face. ¡°I¡­I will.¡± Flint promises him. The humanoid figure slowly approaches Toby. It helps him up from his knees and guides him away. ¡°Do not falter, detective.¡± The figure whispers into Flint¡¯s ear. ¡°There are still more you must save.¡± Flint stumbles around, feeling his body and eyelids become heavier. He falls to the ground, passing out. At Home Despite the incident, Lily has gone to school. Lily, who is dressed in her school uniform (a simple white polo and a dress skirt), swings on the park¡¯s swing set separate from the playground after her eventful day at school. Lily¡¯s Seedling Plush rests on her lap as she swings to and fro on the swing set. She takes out the pendant she had made in her art class. Inside the pendant is a photo of her two fathers, Ronlo and Flint, from their days in college. She finds this photo while looking through the album storage on Ronlo¡¯s laptop. She looks up at the afternoon sky, feeling at ease as the clouds pass by. She sees the clouds form into her, Flint, and Ronlo all happy together as a family. Lily smiles at the sight, hoping that one day her dream will come true. She snaps out of her imagination, realizing that she will be late home if she swings for any longer. She jumps off the swing and runs off. She doesn¡¯t notice that she has dropped the pendant she has made. A man with a cold demeanor, sitting on a bench under the shade of the trees, notices that Lily has dropped her pendant by the swing set. He stands up from the bench, finishing his sweet and creamy coffee from his metal mug, carrying it along with him. He adjusts his suspenders and black tie. The light shines upon his handsome visage, long wavy black hair, light blue button-up polo, and black dress pants, as he walks to the swing set. He bends to the ground and picks up Lily¡¯s pendant. He takes a moment to inspect it, not recognizing the photo of Lily¡¯s fathers. Regardless, he holds in his free hand and looks for Lily. He sees her running down the sidewalk, with her Seedling Plush in her arms and backpack moving up and down. Yoko runs after Lily. Lily breathes heavily, feeling herself slow down. While slowing down, she hears the fast footsteps of someone behind her. She turns around and recognizes the man running up to her as her math tutor at school, Yoko. Yoko slows down as he approaches Lily. ¡°Oh, Mr. Yoko! What are you doing here?¡± She asks. Yoko kneels to her level and extends out his hand. He opens it up, revealing the pendant Lily has dropped. Her eyes widen at the sight. ¡°Pendant.¡± He tells her in a monotone voice. Lily notices him fall silent as if he¡¯s thinking carefully about what he must say next. She lets him take his time, knowing full well about his quirk during their lessons. ¡°You dropped this.¡± He continues. Lily takes it from his hands. ¡°Thank you, Mr. Yoko!¡± Lily exclaims. ¡°I would be so sad if I lost this.¡± Yoko nods at her while standing up. ¡°Day.¡± He tells her again in a monotone voice. Lily giggles at Yoko¡¯s way of saying goodbye. Yoko forms a small smile hearing her laugh. He turns around and leaves, going back to the park. She puts the pendant back into her pocket and runs back home. Lily lies in the small front yard of her home, which is surrounded by low stone walls. Her Seedling plush lies on top of her, while she takes a moment to catch her breath. She watches the clouds passing by in the now late afternoon sky. The clouds bring her back to those sweet dreams and aspirations Lily holds dear to her heart. The clouds form into a grand stage. She stands at the center, now appearing a lot older and being adorned in an elegant, yet simple dress. She sings to her heart¡¯s content following along to the strumming of soothing violins, the triumphant trumpets and tubas, and the elegant piano, filling the theater with their euphony. The theater erupts in applause as the finale finishes. Lily¡¯s fellow cast mates walk up on stage, and they all bow with her. During all of this, a genuine wide smile is on her face. From the stage, she sees the audience applauding and elated from the performance. But the sight that brings her the most joy is her two fathers, Ronlo and Flint, cheering her on, proud of her performance. The clouds slowly dissipate as Lily still has a smile on her face, seeing her perfect dream of touching the hearts of everyone, especially her fathers, with her performance. She slowly rises from the ground and opens the front door of her home. She closes the door behind her after entering and runs straight to her room. She places her bag and Seedling plush on her bed. She walks over to Ronlo¡¯s bedroom. She overhears Ronlo talking to someone over the phone from standing outside the door. Lily silently walks to the living room. She kneels by the table and pulls out the portrait of her family from under the table and the pendant with Ronlo and Flint¡¯s photo from her pocket. She smiles at herself for creating these two pieces, but she wonders when will be the right time to show it to Flint and Ronlo. She hears the door from Ronlo¡¯s room open. She hides the portrait under the table and puts the pendant back in her pocket. Lily stands up from her kneeling position and sees Ronlo exit the room. She notices a somber expression on his face. Ronlo hides his somber look with a smile after seeing Lily. ¡°Oh there you are Lily!¡± he exclaims, trying to hide the sadness in his voice. ¡°Please don¡¯t be home late again, you were worrying me!¡± Ronlo lowers to Lily¡¯s level as she runs at her. Ronlo picks Lily up, both hugging each other. ¡°Oh wow, you¡¯re a growing girl!¡± Ronlo comments while carrying her. Ronlo carefully lowers her to the couch, sitting next to her. ¡°How were your classes today?¡± Ronlo asks her. ¡°They were good dad.¡± She tells her. ¡°I don¡¯t think anything else happened.¡± Ronlo nods, relieved that nothing bad has happened to her. He stands up from the couch and stretches. ¡°I¡¯ll make some milk tea for you, just how you like it,¡± Ronlo tells her. Lily gets excited because he never does this unless it is for a special occasion. He walks over to the kitchen, brushing up his clothes. He boils water in the kettle and looks in the pantry and fridge for more ingredients. ¡°Hey dad, who were you talking to?¡± Lily asks from the living room. ¡°Oh¡­uh, I was talking to the publisher for my upcoming book,¡± Ronlo tells her. Lily hears the shakiness in Ronlo¡¯s voice, despite his poor attempt at masking it. She shrugs it off, thinking he is nervous about their talk. He takes out his tin of black tea and puts some in a small mug. He pours the boiling water into the mug and mixes it in the tea. He takes out a separate, larger mug and fills it up with refrigerated condensed milk. He pours in the black tea and mixes it with the milk. After adding in some shaved ice, boba, and some other sweet beans and chickpeas, he tops the milk tea with a scoop of ube ice cream, a chunk of caramel, and a chocolate wafer straw. He carefully brings the mug to her and places it on the table with a cork pad beneath the mug. ¡°Here you go sweetie, your Halo Halo milk tea.¡± He presents. He bends down and lifts her hair, kissing her on her forehead. ¡°Dad has to go out now. Behave while I¡¯m gone, okay?¡± Ronlo tells her. He stands up and approaches the door, grabbing the keys on the hook. ¡°You¡¯ll be meeting up with your publisher right?¡± Lily asks. ¡°Yes¡­my publisher.¡± He mutters, trying to hide his somber voice. He exits his home, locking the door behind him. Lily sighs in relief, knowing that her father hasn¡¯t seen the portrait. As she sits there on the couch, enjoying her Halo Halo milk tea, she is reminded of the math homework assignment she must do from an online problem set. She sighs, but she knows it has to be done. She quickly finishes her substantial Halo Halo milk tea and places it into the sink for it to soak. She walks over to her father¡¯s bedroom and opens the door. She walks over to her father¡¯s laptop on the desk from the other side of the door. As she opens the laptop, she finds a yellow sticky note on the screen. The ink on the note is smudged, but she makes out the text, divorce lawyer on the note. ¡°What is divorce?¡± she asks herself. She logs into her account on the laptop. She opens the web browser on her laptop¡¯s home screen. The typing of the word¡¯s letters echoes throughout the room. The word¡¯s definition appears on the screen. Divorce (n)-the action of legally dissolving a marriage. Occurs when two people who are married no longer want to be together. Ex: The woman divorced her husband. Lily sits there at the table motionless and confused. Why would her father have that sticky note on his laptop screen? She convinces herself that her father doesn¡¯t mean to call the number, that he has just accidentally left it there and forgotten to throw it out. But then memories of her fathers arguing and fighting bombard her mind. She hears them shouting at each other with harsh and demeaning language. She curls up into a ball as her body trembles uncontrollably and tears flow from her eyes. She covers her ears, hoping that they will block out the noise of her father¡¯s fights. It is futile. She can still hear them shouting at each other. She runs out of her father¡¯s room and into her own, hoping she will no longer hear their arguments. She jumps onto her bed, hugging her Seedling Plush for dear life. She can still hear them shouting and hurting each other with such harsh language and words. Lily¡¯s tears stain her plush as she keeps hugging it tighter. ¡°Daddy¡­Dad¡­please stop fighting! I don¡¯t want you to be angry at each other. I want you two to be happy!¡± Lily shouts in her room, hugging her plush. No matter how hard she begs, she still hears the memories of their arguments echoing in her mind. She runs out of her room with the plush still in her grasp and tears streaming down her face. She brings the portrait from beneath the table and the pendant from her pocket and places them on the table. ¡°Dad¡­Daddy¡­I made this for you¡­please stop fighting!¡± she begs. The memories of their arguments intensify in her mind. She cannot stop crying. No matter where she is in her home, she cannot escape from their arguments. Lily grabs onto her Seedling Plush and runs to the front door. She runs out of her home, slamming the door shut behind her. She runs as fast and far as she can from her home, hoping to escape the horrid cacophony of her fathers¡¯ shouting and harsh words. The late afternoon sky slowly becomes darker. Ronlo sits on the plush seating of the bus alone. Ronlo looks outside the window as the bus drives through the streets of the nearby town as the later afternoon turns into evening. The bus slows to a stop as it approaches the stoplight. Ronlo notices a nearby local restaurant nearby with many customers seated at metal tables and chairs outside. Out of all the people, Ronlo spots a couple seated together. He sees them chatting with happy expressions plastered on their faces. They share each other¡¯s meals, giggling at their dorky ways of serving each other their food. Ronlo cannot help but envy their happiness and company. He knows that once he reaches his destination, it will be a sight he will never see again. The bus starts driving again, passing by the restaurant. Ronlo looks down at his lap as his hands rest on them. ¡°Is this the only option I have?¡± Ronlo mutters to himself. He has asked himself this very question every single time ever since he wrote down the phone number of the divorce attorney. But after calling them, he damns himself to this route. He knows that it will only end one way. Poor, lonely Ronlo. Poor, sad Lily. He feels his heart sink deeper as the bus approaches closer to his destination. Yet, during the bus ride, he feels something else. He feels a sense of urgency as if someone he loves is in danger. The heaviness in his heart is slowly replaced with worry. He presses the stop button on the bus. The bus drives to the side of the road to the nearest bus stop. Ronlo runs out of the bus, rushing back to his home. Ronlo runs up to the front door of his home. He notices that it is left unlocked. He opens the door wide, finding the house lights still on. ¡°Lily? Lily!¡± Ronlo shouts. He runs over to Lily¡¯s room. He does not find her nor her favorite Seedling Plush there. ¡°Lily, where are you?¡± Ronlo shouts in his panic-stricken tone. This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience. Ronlo notices his room¡¯s lights on and the door open. He approaches the room and finds his laptop on and open. As he approaches his laptop, his heart drops when he sees what is on the screen, the definition of divorce. The realization of what has happened to Lily hits him like a truck. ¡°Lily¡­¡± he mutters. Ronlo grabs the flashlight from his nightstand drawer. He turns off the lights and closes the doors of both his and Lily¡¯s room. Ronlo checks around his home, looking for Lily and hoping she is somewhere here. His search comes to a sudden halt when he finds the portrait and pendant on top of the living room table, two items he has never seen before. As Ronlo gets closer, his eyes widen at the beautiful hand-drawn portrait of his family. He sits down on the couch and brings the portrait closer to him. Ronlo lets his tears roll down his eyes, seeing the happy sight of his family drawn on there. He finds the handwritten note on the bottom corner of the portrait. ¡°This is my dream, being happy with my family.¡± -Lily ¡°Lily¡­¡± he mutters, while still crying. As Ronlo places the portrait on the table, he finds a small pendant next to it. He takes the pendant and opens it. Inside is a photo of Ronlo and Flint when they first met on one side. The other has text written on it. ¡°This is for you Dad and Daddy. Happy anniversary!¡± -Lily Ronlo is overwhelmed by nostalgia and sadness, becoming an utter mess as tears keep flowing down his face. He feels his heart sink to its deepest depths, realizing that he and Flint have broken any hopes for her dreams to come true. Ronlo stands up from the couch, holding the pendant in his palm. Ronlo wears the pendant and runs out of his home. Even if he has broken Lily¡¯s dream, he still cannot help but worry for her. After all, she is his and Flint¡¯s daughter whom they love so, so dearly. Ronlo runs through the streets of his neighborhood, shouting out Lily¡¯s name into the night sky. He visits every dead end and cul-de-sac, hoping that Lily will be there. Yet every single one he finds has left him empty-handed. His panic and worry grow by the minute, not knowing what dangers may befall his precious daughter. Yet, his worry fuels him to keep searching around his neighborhood, hoping that he will find her safe and sound. Then they will go home and¡­ The realization hits him that he hasn¡¯t thought about what to do after he finds her. Yes, she will be home safe and sound, but only at the moment, Ronlo thinks. He will have to confirm that what she has seen isn¡¯t a mere nightmare, but a sad reality, that her dream will never come true. That Ronlo will be forever away from Flint and Lily, damned to be alone for eternity. Ronlo leans against a light pole on the street, slowly slumping down. His panicked expression forms into one of somber. Tears stream down his face, which glistens from the light shining down from the pole. He curls up into a ball, knowing that there is no way for him to escape his doomed fate of permanent isolation. ¡°Please¡­be safe Lily¡­please¡­please be safe¡­¡± He mutters. ¡°Please..have a better life without me¡­¡± Ronlo slowly wipes his tears from his face after hearing the steps of someone approaching him. He looks up and finds a young woman of a tanned complexion standing before him. The gentle breeze blows on her long brown hair, simple black dress, and light cotton coat. The faint glow around her entrances him. She looks at him with a concerned expression. ¡°Are you alright?¡± She asks him. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m fine¡­¡± he mutters, looking away from her. Ronlo notices her hand extended to him. He takes it, allowing her to help him up. He stumbles around as he stands up, though the woman helps him regain his balance. ¡°What are you doing out here so late at night?¡± the woman asks Ronlo. ¡°Oh. It¡¯s¡­it¡¯s no concern to you.¡± Ronlo tells her. ¡°But, thank you.¡± Ronlo walks away, wiping the tears from his eyes. ¡°You¡¯re looking for someone, aren¡¯t you?¡± she asks him. Ronlo stops and turns around, facing her with a surprised expression on his face. ¡°I can tell. I¡¯m looking for someone as well.¡± She tells him. ¡°We can help each other out, you know?¡± Ronlo falls silent, unable to answer. He sighs and motions her over as he walks away. She nods and follows him. They walk side by side in the neighborhood street. ¡°Oh, I apologize for not introducing myself. I¡¯m Althea.¡± She says, smiling. ¡°I¡¯m Ronlo.¡± He greets back, trying to form a smile. They walk down the neighborhood road, with the humming of cicadas filling the silence in the air. He feels a sense of comfort walking beside Althea, despite the current circumstances. ¡°So, who are you looking for?¡± she asks. ¡°My¡­daughter. She ran away from home.¡± He answers with a somber expression on his face. ¡°Oh no!¡± she exclaims. ¡°Will she be okay?¡± Ronlo falls silent. He is reminded of his damned fate after hearing her. Althea notices Ronlo¡¯s somber expression worsen. He walks ahead of her, not answering her question. Althea slowly approaches him, with her concern growing for him. As Althea gets closer, she sees tears streaming down Ronlo¡¯s face. He suddenly feels someone¡¯s soft touch caressing his face. He looks, seeing Flint¡¯s figure flashing in and out where Althea stands as they wipe away his tears. He sees them giving him a comforting smile. ¡°Ronlo, we¡¯ll find her. I promise.¡± They tell him. Ronlo rubs his eyes and blinks, only seeing Althea¡¯s glowing figure there. She motions him to follow her. Ronlo nods and lets her guide him through the roads of the neighborhood. Ronlo feels that same sense of comfort, yet this time it is more familiar to him. It feels like the comfort when he is around his dearest husband, Flint, and daughter, Lily. ¡°Hey¡­Althea¡­¡± he mutters. She turns around, still giving him that same comforting smile. ¡°Yes?¡± she asks him. ¡°Is¡­is it selfish of me to want other¡¯s company?¡± he asks her. ¡°The¡­the reason she ran away¡­is because I and my husband fight so much. She becomes so distraught and tired seeing our arguments. He¡¯s always at his job, solving all these cases. I¡¯m worried for him and what he does¡­but without him around, I¡­I felt so unloved¡­empty inside.¡± Ronlo wipes his tears before continuing, ¡°But¡­I never asked for it. I felt so selfish to ask, ¡®Hey, do you want to spend some time with me Flint?¡¯ or ¡®Hey, Lily, do you want to spend some time with your dad?¡¯ They all have great, fulfilling lives. But me? I¡¯m just a writer. I have all the time in the world, alone. I never knew marriage would be this lonely. I¡­I wanted to escape that feeling that¡¯s haunted me since I was young. I wanted to feel the warmth of love by being around him and my dearest daughter¡­¡± Ronlo feels her soft hand grip tightly on his, knowing that she senses his sorrow. ¡°Ronlo¡­you¡¯re not selfish. You deserve love¡± She tells him. ¡°When we find your daughter, which we will, she deserves to know this. She needs to know that her dad loves her, despite his struggles.¡± Ronlo lets Althea¡¯s words sink deep, while she walks ahead. He feels the same comfort around his dearest Lily and Flint. He looks up, and for brief moments he sees flashes of his dear Flint guiding him. ¡°Flint¡­¡± he whispers. ¡°You¡¯re still here¡­¡± Ronlo blinks and sees the flashes of Flint disappear. A small smile forms on Ronlo¡¯s face as he catches up to Althea. They walk through the streets of the neighborhood, side by side, looking for Lily. Lily swings back and forth on the park¡¯s swing set, hugging her Seedling plush tightly. The clear night sky shines upon her tears streaming down her face. The swing set and her Seedling plush, things that have helped her cope and comfort her during the rough times of her fathers¡¯ arguments, fail to distract her from the plain truth. She¡¯s a smart girl, she knows that this result would happen given her circumstances. But it does not lessen the pain of the truth for her. No, it makes it hurt her so much more. Yet she still tries to live in her world of imagination, a place where she can escape from all her pains and sadness. She imagines herself acting on stage in a fantastical musical. She could hear the vibrant music and see the upbeat acting and choreography on stage. But, then she sees one of her actors fall dead on the floor. She looks around in shock and horror, finding all the actors drop dead. The once vibrant music shifts into a somber melody. Her once vibrant musical is now a tragedy. But she doesn¡¯t have to imagine being in one, she¡¯s already experiencing one right at this very moment. She snaps out of her imagination, looking around the empty park playground. She burrows her face into her Seedling Plush, her tears staining the plush¡¯s blue fabric. She hears slow steps approaching her location. She is slowly covered by a tall figure¡¯s shadow. She trembles in fear as she slowly looks up. She relaxes once she realizes who it is. ¡°Mr. Yoko?¡± she asks, with a shakiness in her voice. Yoko stands there in the same attire, drinking his sweet creamy coffee from his metal mug. He stands there, noticing her depressed state. He stands there in silence, processing the right words to say to her. ¡°Night.¡± He tells her in his usual monotone voice. He takes another sip of his coffee. He sits on the swing next to hers. He sees her burrowing her face into her Seedling plush. He sits there in silence, pondering. ¡°What are you doing here at night?" he asks. He notices that her face is still burrowed in her Seedling plush, weeping loudly. He grimaces, regretting his poor choice of words. He ponders some more, taking a sip of his coffee. ¡°Lily.¡± Yoko falls in silence, pondering for a moment. ¡°Are you alright?¡± Lily looks up from her Seedling plush, facing Yoko with her messy face covered in tears. Yoko takes out a handkerchief and hands it to her. She wipes the tears off her face with it. He sits on the swing in silence, sipping his coffee and letting her release her sadness. ¡°Mr. Yoko¡­¡± she mutters, finally regaining her composure. ¡°I don¡¯t know what to do anymore¡­¡± Yoko sits there, pondering. ¡°What troubles you?¡± he asks her in a monotone voice. Lily wipes her face clean with his handkerchief. ¡°I want Dad and Daddy to be happy. I don¡¯t want them to fight!¡± she exclaims. ¡°That¡¯s¡­that¡¯s why I made them my portrait¡­and¡­and pendant. I¡­I thought it would be enough. But¡­but¡­¡± Lily starts crying again, burrowing herself again into her Seedling plush. Yoko sits there silently, allowing her to cry and release her emotions. Yoko sees her lift up her face, cleaning her face with his handkerchief. ¡°But¡­ they¡¯re getting a divorce¡­¡± she mutters. ¡°I don¡¯t want them to split up¡­They won¡¯t be happy if they do¡­¡± Yoko looks at her. Despite his cold expression and demeanor, Lily senses compassion emanating from him. She stares at him, noticing him sitting in silence, pondering. ¡°Why did you run away?¡± he asks her. ¡°Why?¡± she asks. Yoko nods. He allows Lily a moment to adjust herself. She hugs her Seedling plush tightly. ¡°I love Dad and Daddy, but¡­¡± she takes a deep breath before continuing, ¡°I can¡¯t dream when I¡¯m at home. I hear them screaming mean things at each other and fighting. Every night at my home is a nightmare. When I¡¯m outside, I feel so much happier. I feel like I can dream and that my dreams can come true. I ran away so I could escape from my nightmare. I don¡¯t want to feel pain anymore. I want to be happy.¡± Lily sees Yoko¡¯s cold expression turn into one of somber. He savors the sips of coffee from his metal mug. Lily lets him sit in silence and ponder, just like how he has allowed her to do. She looks up into the night sky. She sees the bright stars in the night sky. She connects the stars, creating a constellation of her two fathers, Flint and Ronlo. She sees them standing together, happy, holding her as a baby, just like the day of her adoption. She doesn¡¯t want to lose them and be sad. She wants them to be happy, just like her on that special day. ¡°Lily,¡± Yoko speaks up. ¡°I know you are afraid of pain. I know how much your pain hurts you.¡± Yoko takes a deep breath and sips his coffee. ¡°But, I also know how much you love your fathers.¡± Lily looks up at Yoko and is surprised to see him on the verge of tears. ¡°Please, do not run away.¡± He continues, struggling to maintain his monotone voice. ¡°Do not run away from those you love. Tell them how much you are hurting. Tell them how much you love them. Tell them that you still love them.¡± Lily sees tears stream down Yoko¡¯s face as he sips the sweet, creamy, and nostalgic coffee from his mug. ¡°Because one day. They will be gone. You will never have the chance to tell them.¡± Yoko tells her, wiping his tears off his face. ¡°Mr. Yoko¡­¡± Lily mutters. Tears continue to stream down Yoko¡¯s face. Yoko feels a soft handkerchief wipe away his tears. He looks up and finds Lily wiping away his tears while holding her Seedling plush on her free arm. ¡°Mr. Yoko, did you lose somebody?¡± she asks him. Yoko nods. He stands up from the swing set and approaches the bench where he normally sits during the day. The night shines upon the plaque of the bench. ¡°Dedicated to Althea Cruz, an inspiring electrical engineer and beloved member of our school community. May she rest in peace.¡± Yoko kneels to the ground and raises his mug into the air. ¡°For you, Althea. The one who has given me love and a chance.¡± He says in his usual monotone voice. He finishes the last of his coffee in the mug. He turns around and finds Lily standing next to him. ¡°Mr. Yoko, I¡¯ll give it a shot. I don¡¯t want to run away. I want to be a brave girl.¡± She tells him, with confidence in her voice. A small smile forms on Yoko¡¯s face. Yoko perks up after hearing someone shouting in the distance. He stands up, pushing Lily behind him. His right hand rests on his triangular engineer¡¯s scale as the noise of the man¡¯s shouting gets closer. ¡°Lily? Lily, are you here?¡± the man¡¯s voice shouts. Lily perks up after recognizing the man¡¯s voice. ¡°That¡¯s my dad!¡± she exclaims. Yoko lets his hand off his triangular engineer¡¯s scale. Ronlo runs into the playground and sees Lily. ¡°Lily!¡± he exclaims. They run to each other and hug each other tightly. Lily looks at Yoko. Yoko nods at her, understanding that she will hold her promise. Yoko walks away, knowing Lily is safe, and to give her time with her father. ¡°Lily, don¡¯t do that ever again! You worried me!¡± he exclaims. Ronlo hugs Lily as tight as he can so that she can never leave. ¡°Dad¡­¡± she mutters, struggling to say anything in his tight grasp. Ronlo realizes this and lets go. Lily breathes heavily, while her Seedling plush slowly expands to its usual shape in her arms. Lily feels Ronlo¡¯s hands set on her shoulders. She looks at her father¡¯s visage, sensing unease and sorrow. ¡°Lily¡­I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so, so sorry. I never wanted to hurt you with my arguments with Daddy. Please, Lily, forgive me.¡± Ronlo pleads. Ronlo sees that Lily is looking away from him, hugging her Seedling Plush tighter. He grimaces, realizing that Lily most likely doesn¡¯t believe him. ¡°Lily¡­please. You, you have to believe me!¡± He pleads again. ¡°Daddy, I don¡¯t want you fighting with Dad!¡± she shouts with all her might. ¡°All you do is fight and shout mean things at each other! I don¡¯t want that to happen anymore! I¡¯m tired¡­I¡¯m scared¡­I don¡¯t want you to fight¡­I want you to be happy¡­¡± Ronlo pulls her in for a hug. She burrows her face into his shoulders, letting her tears soak his shirt. He slowly caresses the hair on the back of his head, feeling guilty for all the pain he and Flint have inflicted on her with their constant fighting. ¡°Lily¡­¡± he mutters. ¡°The..the reason I fight with your father¡­it¡¯s not really because of his job. It is a part of why, but not the whole reason.¡± Lily looks up, tears still streaming down her face. ¡°Lily. Your¡­you and Dad have brought me so much joy in my life. I¡¯ve¡­I¡¯ve been so lonely ever since I was young. I¡­I never even tried to tell you or Flint, because I felt so selfish asking for your precious time.¡± Ronlo mutters. His tears fall on the back of Lily¡¯s clothes. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m just a damn writer¡­you and Flint have actual lives to live. It would be, so¡­so selfish for me to take that time away from you¡­¡± ¡°Dad! Stop talking mean about yourself!¡± Lily shouts, interrupting Ronlo. Ronlo¡¯s eyes widen from her sudden outburst. ¡°Dad, you don¡¯t have to push me and Daddy away. I¡¯ll be there for you.¡± She tells him. ¡°Lily¡­¡± he mutters. He hugs her tighter, wanting no one to take her away. Yet, despite his confession, he feels somewhat empty. He feels that someone is missing. ¡°Dad¡­please don¡¯t leave Daddy¡­no one will be happy¡­¡± Lily mutters. Ronlo realizes who that someone is. ¡°Flint¡­¡± he mutters. ¡°Flint, I¡¯m sorry for being such a terrible husband. I¡¯ve pushed you away and fought with you when you needed me. Please¡­forgive me. I don¡¯t want to lose you or Lily. Damn it Flint, I still love you!¡± Lily stops crying. Her once somber expression turns into one of happiness. She finally sees glimpses of her dream coming true. Ronlo sees Lily¡¯s happiness and hugs her tighter, wanting to protect it with all his might. ¡°Althea, thank you¡­¡± he mutters. Ronlo and Lily slowly let go of their hug. Ronlo holds Lily¡¯s hand, as they exit the playground. As Yoko walks down the park¡¯s paths, he feels a familiar comforting aura. He looks around, trying to find the source. ¡°Are you trying to find me silly?¡± a feminine voice whispers into his ear. He turns around and his eyes widen. He finds Althea¡¯s spirit standing there. ¡°Even while I¡¯m gone, I see that you¡¯re still the same caring man I know behind that cold face.¡± She tells him. Althea approaches him. Her warm aura melts away the coldness in his demeanor. Yoko envelops her spirit in a tight embrace. Althea smiles, returning the favor with her warm embrace. ¡°I¡¯m so proud of you, Yoko.¡± She whispers lovingly into his ear. They lean in for a kiss. Yoko lets go of Althea, knowing that she cannot stay there for long. He sees a tall shadowy humanoid figure stand next to her. The figure takes her hand and guides her away. ¡°We¡¯ll meet again someday, love.¡± She tells him. Yoko sees the tall figure and his dear Althea slowly disappear into the night. Yoko hears steps coming from behind. He turns around and finds Ronlo and Lily with her Seedling plush approaching him. Ronlo looks around, trying to find Althea. ¡°I could¡¯ve sworn she was here. She was looking for someone.¡± Ronlo mutters. Yoko ponders in silence. ¡°She already found who she was looking for,¡± Yoko tells him in his monotone voice. Yoko ponders in silence. ¡°Night.¡± He tells them. Yoko walks away into the night sky. Ronlo is confused, but he does not let it get to him. Lily and Ronlo walk back home. Ronlo frames Lily¡¯s portrait of their family on the living room wall. He steps back, appreciating his handiwork, gripping the pendant tightly in his hands. He turns around and finds Lily creating another pendant for Flint. He smiles, finally feeling the heaviness in his heart disappearing. While he knows the road ahead will not be smooth, he knows that there is hope. He just hopes that Flint will be alright after his case. Ronlo hears someone knocking on the front door. He approaches the front door and opens it. His eyes widen to find President Rogers at the door. ¡°You are Ronlo, yes?¡± He asks Ronlo. Ronlo nods. ¡°We have some things to discuss.¡± President Rogers tells him. Christie Astas, Madame Broadway ¡°If I die here¡­make sure you finish this damn case¡­¡± The radio crackles loudly as it loses connection. She tries radioing in for Sercas, but nothing happens. Serena¡¯s right hand trembles holding onto the radio. She knows Sercas wants her to stay put, but she cannot hold herself back after hearing his weak voice. She looks through the van for some weapon she can use. After scrounging around she finds another flashlight and¡­a twelve inch frying pan. She sighs at Sercas for forgetting to bring that into their apartment. Nonetheless, she decides to take it since it is the only thing she can use. She also grabs the first-aid kit and stuffs it in her vest. She exits the van, making sure that it is locked. She feels her heart beating faster the closer she approaches the doors of the facility. She knows that she lacks any field experience, let alone any combat experience, but she cannot lie idly by anymore. ¡°Sercas¡­Flint¡­please be safe.¡± She pleads with a shakiness in her voice. She enters the facility, gripping the frying pan tightly in her hands. Flint slowly rises from the floor of the Self-Building Man¡¯s workshop. He struggles to keep himself up, still feeling ill from the black sludge flowing through his veins. He uses a nearby work table as a support as his whole body trembles. He falls to his knees as a tsunami of black sludge exits out of his mouth. A sticky pile forms at the site, bombarding Flint¡¯s nostrils with his abhorrent stench. Despite the stench and his sudden puke, he feels somewhat better. He uses the table to stand up again and gathers all of his belongings from the room. He reloads his revolver, just in case. He slowly walks out of the workshop. Flint limps back to the kitchen, despite his current ill state. He peers in and finds Sercas leaning against the countertop while lying on the ground. He slowly shambles closer to him, leaning down to check his pulse. ¡°Heh¡­you came back¡­¡± Sercas mutters weakly. Flint checks his wounds and finds that Sercas has covered them with a healing ointment. It will take some time given the severity of his wounds, but it will allow him to heal at the very least. ¡°Sercas, I can¡¯t leave just yet. I¡­I have made promises to some people that I plan to fulfill.¡± He tells Sercas. Sercas lies there, nodding in understanding. ¡°Don¡¯t worry¡­I¡¯ll be fine here,¡± Sercas tells Flint. ¡°I still have some fight in me. Admittedly before I would be against you pursuing this case to the end. But after what I¡¯ve seen, I¡¯ll let you do what must be done.¡± ¡°Please Sercas, no more talk. Just rest.¡± Flint tells him. Sercas nods, slowly drifting away for a nap. Flint limps out of the room, feeling his body tremble again as the black sludge flows through his veins. He feels the veins compressing his nerves, making him wince. He leans against the wall outside of the workshop to give him some respite. He takes out the camera from his pocket and looks through the photos in his storage. He finds a new photo added that he hasn¡¯t taken. It is a photo of Toby Matthew¡¯s soul standing next to his corrupted version of himself, The Self-Building Man. Flint grips the camera tightly and puts it away in his inner pocket. He bears the pain of the black sludge flowing through his veins as he limps back to the workshop. He knows that there is more to be done. Flint stands in front of the stairwell at the farthest end corner of the Self-Building Man¡¯s workshop area. He checks the floor plans again and finds only five floors according to them. Regardless, he does not let that sway him from going deeper into the facility. He takes a deep breath and slowly shambles down the stairs. He grips his revolver tightly during his descent down the stairwell. His light illuminates little areas in this dark abyss¡ªnothing abnormal, besides the black sludge on the walls. He feels the black sludge flowing in his veins faster after descending the first two flights of stairs. Like the main stairwells before, they have countless talismans all over the walls. His hands shiver as he feels his veins tightening and constricting his nerves. He groans in agony, trying to massage himself to ease the pain. While being distracted by the pain, he almost slips on something wet. He stumbles down the rest of the stairwell, landing on something that creates an audible fleshy crunch at the bottom of the steps. Thankfully he does not fall to the ground. The light shines upon the countless corrupted corpses lying on the base. Their limbs are torn off and crushed. Their black sludge stains the entire area. Flint slowly looks up at the set of doors in front of him. He finds the light shining upon some stains on the wall above the two doors. His light shines upon a text written in black sludge. ¡°To all ye lost souls, welcome back to your true home.¡± Flint shouts in agony as he feels several of his veins burst. His entire body trembles as he feels the black sludge slowly corroding the inner flesh walls and coating his bones. He is paralyzed by the sensation of the black sludge sloshing and coating his insides. He reaches for the gun and points it at his arm. He pulls the trigger. *BANG* A bright burst of green flame erupts from the gun¡¯s nose. The bullet pierces straight through his right arm. ¡°AGHHHHHHHHH!¡± Flint screams. The bullet-shaped hole on his clothes and wound bleed out a thick mixture of blood and black sludge. He feels a sense of relief as his wound continues to bleed, staining his clothes. He limps toward the two doors, squeezing his wound so more of the mixture bleeds out. He kicks the doors open. Flint shambles into the grandiose lobby of a theater. Flint¡¯s blood and black sludge mixture stains the velvet-patterned carpeting of the lobby. He passes by the box office, which is ordained with ornate statues of birds of all kinds. Two spiral staircases lead to the upper seating floors of the theater. Flint shambles past the spiral staircases, noticing the pristine finishes on the wooden handrails and the marble guard railing. He arrives at sets of large wooden doors. Each of them has a decorated design of a variety of theater plays, some of which Flint knows from his daughter. He places his hands on the handles of the door, which is an ouroboros adorned in precious metals. He slowly opens the hefty doors wide open. The doors greet him to rows, upon rows of velvet seats facing a magnificent theater stage. The theater¡¯s violet velvet curtains are embroidered with elegant images of graceful fantasy creatures in golden silk. Flint¡¯s breaths grow heavier and heavier as he approaches the stage. He stumbles around and his vision causes the sights around him to blur. He stumbles over to one of the seats and sloppily sits down. He at his wound and notices blood with fragments of black sludge is bleeding out. Flint removes his coat and rips off his remaining sleeve on his left arm. He is surprised to find his left arm still shadowy black as the sludge flows through. He groans, realizing he should have shot his left arm as well to drain his body from the black sludge. He wraps the gunshot wound. The once-white sleeve now becomes a dark crimson. Flint feels his eyes growing heavier and heavier. He cannot keep them open for any longer and he slowly falls unconscious. ¡°Ladies and gentlemen, please stay in your seats. The show will resume in 15 minutes.¡± A graceful woman¡¯s voice crackles from the radio. Flint abruptly awakes from his unconscious state to the loud boisterous roars of tubas and trumpets. The stage curtain is slowly pulled aside and the lights in the room dim. The stage light shines upon a tall figure on the stage. The figure stands in the spotlight, adorned in her magenta puffy pants and velvet gloves with lines of golden thread and her suit coat whose sequins and gems dazzle the stage under the stage light. The figure wears a smiling theater mask, whose mouth and eye holes are shaded in with a mixture of red and violet hues. The figure adjusts her wide-brim hat, which has a fresh bouquet of roses pinned on on. They all juxtapose her corrupted and atrophied shadowy black skin, which drips and oozes black sludge all over the stage. Flint hears the radio crackling loudly. Soft orchestral music starts playing from its speakers. He then hears a graceful feminine voice starting to sing. There was once a man on that beach He was the love of my life He never swore, never hurt He was there when no others would Yes, there was once a man on that beach His eyes shined in the moonlight His voice was like the gentle breeze on that night But then came out another woman She stood on the shore, kicking the sand I see his once radiant look turn at her His look became dead like that of a wilted rose The screaming lass crashed on the sand like the waves upon the shore He was lifeless like the scarlet lady on the scarlet-spreading sand He too became one of the scarlet people Nobody would know who that scarlet lady was Nobody would know about the scarlet man lying in front of her Because no man was standing on the beach that night There was only the scarlet serrated knife The music abruptly stops playing on the radio. Flint takes a photo of the performance as it ends. ¡°Damn it¡­my singing wasn¡¯t good enough. I didn¡¯t put my all into it!¡± a graceful female voice shouts from the radio. Flint notices the figure staring intently at him. ¡°It seems that I would need participation from the audience to execute this piece flawlessly.¡± A graceful female voice comments from the radio. ¡°After all, with your help, I will be able to perfect my performance!¡± The figure flips off the stage and lands softly in front of Flint. Still weak from his bleed out, Flint cannot stop the figure from picking him up. Flint struggles in the figure¡¯s grasp, flailing his body against hers. The figure stabs its sharp glossy fingers into Flint¡¯s chest. He screams in agony as his body bleeds out at a fast pace. His vision becomes blurry and he struggles to keep conscious. The figure slowly shambles away, tapping along with an unconscious Flint in her grasp. Flint slowly awakes on a folding chair. He massages his aching head as he stumbles out of the chair. He notices his wounds from the figure have quickly recovered. However the same cannot be said for his clothes. They are just as worn and stained as his surroundings in the small dressing room. He shambles out of the dressing room. His arms and legs tremble as the black sludge rushes through his veins while traversing down the halls behind the stage. He cannot hear his inner thoughts as the feeling of thick black sludge flows through his body, slowly corroding his insides away. ¡°Damn it¡­make it stop! Make it stop!¡± he screams down the hall. He weakly falls to the floor, unable to maintain his balance. He looks over to his trembling left arm. He takes it out of his coat sleeve and finds it corroding away, becoming a scrawny and bony structure oozing out black sludge. Noticing his decaying state, he feels the black sludge and blood flowing through him at a faster rate. He quickly stands up, breathing quick sporadic breaths. He runs through the halls and enters a random room. It is another dressing room full of grandiose costumes hanging on racks. He quickly sits down in the chair and inspects the rest of his body. Thankfully none of them have corroded away, but the black sludge flowing through his veins darkens his fair skin like the color of a shadowy void. He grabs his revolver using his trembling hands. He takes deep breaths to quell his sporadic breath. ¡°AGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHH!¡± he screams. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* After the fourth flash from a bright green flame, Flint sits down on the chair with gunshot wounds on his right shoulder, abdomen, and thighs. They all bleed out a thick mixture of black sludge and blood. Despite the pain he is in, he feels a wave of relief as the black sludge bleeds out from his body. ¡°Mister, why are you hurting yourself?¡± a young voice asks over the radio. Flint finds the figure of the young boy standing by the door. ¡°Kid¡­you would never understand the pain I¡¯m going through right now,¡± Flint tells him, weakly breathing. The figure of the young boy slowly approaches him. His spectral hand pokes the bullet holes in Flint¡¯s body. ¡°Mister. I don¡¯t want you to hurt yourself.¡± The young voice murmurs over the radio. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to die¡­¡± ¡°Why? Because if I die you won¡¯t be saved?¡± he asks. ¡°No. Because then someone won¡¯t have a dad.¡± The young voice murmurs over the radio. Flint¡¯s eyes widen after hearing the young boy¡¯s statement. ¡°How¡­did you know?¡± he asks. ¡°I¡­I didn¡¯t know. But, I have a feeling that you¡¯re a dad. You have that aura.¡± The young voice murmurs over the radio. ¡°Mister, I¡¯ve been dead for a long time. I never got to see my mom and dad ever again. If you¡¯re hurting yourself over saving me and the others¡­please leave mister. I don¡¯t want anyone to feel the loneliness and pain I feel after losing my dad¡­¡± Flint sits in the chair, with an almost lifeless expression on his visage. His eyes gaze upon his wounds. Despite his wounds bleeding out the black sludge, did he really feel relief because it exits his veins? Sure he does, that corrosive sludge is no longer inside him. But as more and more of it bleeds out, he can see the dark void slowly surrounding him, waiting for him to bite the dust. He can see more and more of the dark void form around him the more he bleeds out. He can finally feel the cold and numbing relief his alcohol brings. But this time, it will be permanent. The dark void slowly engulfs him whole. He can see the shadows of all the macabre sights he has witnessed over his cases form around him. Their presence will serve as his company and the constant reminder of his weaknesses and failures as a detective. But he does not succumb to his injuries. Not after all the pain he has suffered. His pain will not be worse than the pain his beloved Ronlo, his sweet daughter Lily, and his dearest friends Sercas and Serena would feel if he were gone. He will not let them be afflicted with that pain, even if it means he has to bear with the black sludge flowing through his veins and the darkness he has experienced. But it isn¡¯t only about living for them. No, he has made a promise to the boy, Argus, and Toby. Even at his lowest moments, he keeps his oath near and dear to him. He knows the shadowy figure is right. His oath will guide him and he will never break his oath. ¡°I¡­will free you¡­¡± he mutters. He stands from the chair and takes several plain costumes off the racks. He tears scraps off from them to bandage his wounds. He groans in agony, feeling the black sludge flowing through his veins and corroding his insides away, but it does not matter to him. His eyes are set on his goal and duty. He shambles out of the room, bearing the pains of the black sludge flowing inside his body. ¡°Mister¡­be safe¡­¡± the young voice murmurs over the radio. Flint wanders around the backstage halls, hearing music and the soft singing of the figure¡¯s voice from the radio. He peers into the doors of each room, finding storage rooms for stage props and various lounge areas. Most of them are stained and ruined with black sludge but are mostly intact. It is not until he reaches the hall furthest away from the stage which catches his interest. He notices a set of two large doors that are locked with thick chains and a giant padlock in the middle of the hallway. At the end of the hall, he finds a door with glamorous light surrounding it. As he approaches the door, he finds a glamorous plaque with the moon on it. There is a name etched on the plaque: Madame Broadway. He takes out the camera from his pockets. He manages to take a clear photo of the camera, despite his trembling hands. He puts the camera away. He slowly opens the door and is greeted with a large mirror with many large round light bulbs illuminating the room. He slowly enters the room, his feet sinking into the soft velvet carpeting. He finds several dress racks with many costumes and clothes hanging and many large plush chairs. He notices a large table beneath the mirror, with various brushes and makeup kits scattered around. He notices a script in the middle of all the clutter. It has the cover page title: ¡°Advent Moon.¡± He reaches out for the script. ¡°Another botched performance¡­This is not good.¡± A graceful female voice mutters from his radio. Flint hears the tapping steps of Madame Broadway approaching the room. Thinking quickly he hides himself in the corner of the room, covering himself with the clothing racks and chairs. He crouches to the ground, lowering the volume of the radio. Madame Broadway slowly enters the room, too preoccupied in her thoughts to realize that her door is wide open. She pulls aside the chair for her makeup table and sits down. Flint sees her rubbing her head and looking down at her script. ¡°My performance needs to be perfect¡­It has to be!¡± her graceful voice mutters over the radio. Flint sees her looking around for the source of the noise. He sees her slowly shambling closer to his area. ¡°It seems there may be an unwanted visitor in my presence¡­¡± the graceful feminine voice mutters from the radio. He feels his fear and adrenaline kicking in. The fast rate the black sludge flows in his body sends a strong stinging sensation. He lowers the volume and holds his breath, bearing the pain. She stops approaching when she no longer hears the noise. ¡°Must be the wind¡­¡± she mutters. She sits back on her chair and reviews the script. ¡°I have to nail this performance¡­no matter what it takes. I will not ruin my chances!¡± the graceful female voice mutters over the radio. She exits the room with the script in her grasp. Flint slowly exits from his hiding place, trembling from the pain of the black sludge flowing through his body. He sits down on a nearby plush chair, taking deep breaths to slow blood flow and black sludge. He can see the dark void slowly forming around him, but he will not succumb to the pain. During his state of pain, he thinks of happier, calmer memories. He envisions himself at the pier at sunset. He can see the sunset being cast upon Ronlo¡¯s beautiful visage. He can see Ronlo¡¯s shocked face when he kneels and proposes to him on that very pier. He sees the joy and love emanating from his beloved husband. Flint smiles at the fond and beautiful memory. He feels relief as the stinging pain eases and his blood flow slows. He takes some more deep breaths, feeling himself calm down. ¡°Ronlo¡­I miss you¡­I still love you¡­I¡¯m sorry¡­¡± he mutters to himself. Flint slowly rises from the plush chair. Before he leaves the room, he notices a photograph on her makeup table. After approaching the table with sloppy steps, he picks up the photo for closer inspection. It is a photo of a man with dark skin, smiling at the camera with a charismatic smile. The image highlights his short black hair and the blue tuxedo he wears. Feeling the importance of the photo, he puts it in his pocket and shambles out of the room. He leans against the wall near Madame Broadway¡¯s dressing room to stabilize himself. He hears the movement of the door knob latch bolt slowly open. He falls as the wall opens wide like a door. He groans in pain as he slowly rises from the floor, using the chair in front of him as support. He finds himself in a small dark room with a lamp illuminating a small portion of the large desk in the room. He pushes the chair aside and notices several documents in a neat pile. He finds a document of a lady with long, flowing auburn hair and fair skin. Most of the text has been redacted with black ink. However, one portion of the uncovered text catches his eye. Subject Name: Madame Broadway (CAG) Notes: ¡°Alaya¡­I will soon be with you again. Just one more trial. But this time, things will be different.¡± Flint finds a newspaper article beneath the documents. The title on the front page, ¡°FAMED ACTRESS CRISTIE ASTAS GOES MISSING!¡± stands out in bold black ink. Flint recognizes the familiar name as it echoes throughout his mind. During his time at the academy, his professors and lecturers have gone on and on about how her disappearance is an impossible mystery. He remembers them lecturing on how the only piece of evidence they can use is security camera footage of her going out on a walk. What complicates the case is that the suspects have verifiable alibis and lack of motivation to cause her disappearance. Standing in the room, he lets the harsh realization kick in. He now knows the truth of this infamous impossible crime. But more importantly, he can finally confirm his suspicions that it is indeed Romander who is behind the fate of all these victims. And he can now confidently know that Romander is indeed the machine up above. Despite the pain he feels as the black sludge rushes through his veins, he reminds himself of his oath. He will not die here. He will save them. He brings out his camera from his inner pocket and takes a clear photo of the documents, despite his shivering hands. As the camera¡¯s light flashes onto the documents, his camera screen starts flickering as a new photo is being formed on the screen. It shows Christie in the same elaborate costume as Madame Broadway. She is on stage performing a technical and flashy move, with translucent purple chains linked to her. Flint can only imagine how horrid this experiment was on her. He puts the camera back into his pocket. He pushes aside the newspaper and digs through the rest of the documents. Most of them have their contents redacted in black ink, rendering them useless. He gains little information from the portions that are not redacted as they are paragraphs full of technical jargon. The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement. After pushing aside the many documents onto the sides of the desk, he finds a copy of the Advent Moon script that has been in Madame Broadway¡¯s dressing room. He quickly skims through the plot, understanding the general concept that the musical is an apocalyptic tragedy. What is most notable to him is the ending of the musical. The finale number is about an intense fight between the female protagonist and her husband. The fight ends in the death of the protagonist at the hands of her husband, lying on the stage riddled with bullet wounds. He knows what he must do, but something deep down tells him that there is more to this finale than meets the eye. He looks through the script again back at the ending. He notices various letters in bold ink throughout that portion of the script. He finds a pen on the desk and writes down the message on a separate paper. ¡°Let her know about the one who she left behind.¡± Flint stands there for a moment to ponder. He takes out the photo of the man from his pocket and looks at the text again. While he does not know the exact significance of the man, he must be the one the text refers to. He puts away the photo back into his pocket and grabs the script. He breathes heavily, noticing his body intensely trembling. He feels the black sludge expanding and constricting his nerves. He sits down on the chair, groaning in agony. His arms and legs feel like an overinflated balloon ready to burst. He reaches for his revolver, his trembling hand struggling to grip the handle. He looks around him and notices the dark void slowly forming around him. This time, he feels its cold presence creeping up his spine. He feels it choking him as he struggles to breathe. Yet, despite his pain, he will not let himself succumb. He takes out his revolver, which he struggles to hold in his trembling hands. He slowly takes out the box of ammunition and reloads each bullet one by one. Each time he does this, he almost drops the bullet to the ground, but he manages to successfully reload his revolver. He puts it away in his coat pockets. His arms tremble violently as he uses them to help himself off the chair. His trembling legs cause him to stumble around as the dark void slowly surrounds him. He takes a few, uneasy steps as he traverses through the increasingly dark void. With each step he takes, he feels its chilling presence intensify. With each step, he feels his entire body tremble even more violently. With each step, he feels the dark void swallow him whole. But with each step, he persists and powers through the pain. He will not let himself succumb and the darkness swallows him whole. Yet, all it takes for him to fall into the void is one small step. His legs give up on him and he begins his slow descent into the deep dark abyss. But, he feels someone catch him before he falls. He looks up and finds the tall humanoid figure slowly lifting him. ¡°It is not your time yet, detective.¡± A voice whispers into his ear. ¡°I will guide you to your destination.¡± Flint slowly balancing himself, despite his trembling legs. He sees the humanoid leading the way. He powers through the pain, following after him. Flint faintly hears the sounds of boisterous trumpets from his radio. The longer he follows the figure, the more instruments join in the music. The music reaches its crescendo as he sees the gradual build-up of the stage lights, which overpower the darkness of the void. ¡°We have arrived detective.¡± The humanoid figure whispers into his ears. Flint stumbles onto the stage, noticing Madame Broadway staring at him from the other side. He tries to stand up straight, trying to hide away his trembling body. The music from the radio reaches its decrescendo. Madame Broadway lets out a low harmonious growl. ¡°You have come just in time, my dear.¡± Her graceful voice mutters from the radio. ¡°I will no longer tolerate any of your control! I will live the life I want to!¡± Flint is initially confused by her sudden proclamation, but the realization hits him. He is on the stage, and she is fulfilling her role. Flint looks through the script in his hands and notices her lines mark the beginning of the musical¡¯s tragic ending. He takes a deep breath. ¡°My control? What I¡¯m doing is for our benefit! After all this time, you think freedom is what you need?¡± Flint reads from the script, trying his best to evoke the emotions. ¡°I do not care if the entire world is crumbling down right before our very lives! Never once in my life have I ever felt so alive than being free from your control!¡± the graceful female voice proclaims as the figure growls with her usual harmonious voice. It takes a moment for Flint to find the right line in the script. As he looks over the line, he feels his heart grow heavy. ¡°So our love is meaningless? You¡¯d pursue this goal and dream and let all our years of love die?¡± he asks her, holding back his tears. Madame Broadway senses the emotions that she has provoked from Flint. She smiles behind her mask, realizing what she can achieve with his performance. She leans forward and shouts at Flint with harmonious, sludgy growls. ¡°I¡¯d throw that all away in a heartbeat if it means I can finally live. I will fight for my freedom. Even if it means killing you.¡± Her graceful voice proclaims from the radio. Madame Broadway changes her stance, ready to attack Flint. Flint reaches for his revolver from his coat pocket. He aims it at Madame Broadway. ¡°You aren¡¯t the one who I fell in love with. Goodbye, stranger.¡± Flint mutters. Flint hears soft piano music juxtaposed with the intense strumming of violins and boisterous trumpets and tubas coming from the radio. Flint is caught off guard when Madame Broadway gracefully skates on the stage like that of a renowned figure skater. Flint is unable to aim his gun properly at her as she skates circles around him. He hears her rhythmically tapping as she glides around the stage. He rests his finger on the trigger, still trying to aim at her while she gracefully glides around the stage. *BANG* A trail of green flame zooms at Madame Broadway. However, she gracefully somersaults into the air, dodging the bullet. Flint stumbles back from the revolver¡¯s recoil, his body trembling violently. Flint feels the sharp pain of a sharp shoe kicking his back. The boisterous trumpets have a sudden spike in volume after the hit. He flies forward and crashes to the ground. His revolver flies out of his hands, landing an arm¡¯s reach away from him. His radio lands on the other side of the stage as it continues to play intense and dramatic music. He can hear the rhythmic tapping from Madame Broadway as she glides and flips on stage. He reaches out for his revolver but he stops as he feels his back cracking loudly as Madame Broadway lands on his back. This is no time to back down! I shall fight until the night! No more running, no more crying! I won¡¯t let you trap me in your grasp! I shall earn my freedom! Now it¡¯s time for you to pay! Flint screams in more agony as Madame Broadway starts tap dancing on his back as the music falls silent. Each tap feels like a concentrated hit by a hammer all over his back. He screams in more agony as his bones breaking serve as a complement to Madame Broadway¡¯s tapping. Flint groans in more agony as he bleeds internally and feels the black sludge corroding all his insides away. Despite all the pain and agony Flint is undergoing, he pushes himself off the ground with all his might. Madame Broadway is shaken off Flint¡¯s back but gracefully regains her balance after performing an ala seconde turn. During her turn, Flint crawls over to his revolver and reaches for it. However just before he grabs onto it, Madame Broadway slides over and kicks it away from him. She stomps on his right hand, making him wince as he feels his bones crack. I feel real joy and relief! You¡¯re no one¡¯s hope and joy! You¡¯re just a useless fragment from a vile pile of trash! So no one will miss you when you¡¯re gone! So rest in peace and let me press on! Let me see my final reward! And finally, I¡¯ll be free! *BANG* A stream of green flame flies at her face. Madame Broadway jerks back as the bullet pierces through her mask, causing several fragments to fall to the ground. The music falls silent. She looks at Flint, who has inched further away during her lyric. He holds the revolver in his left hand as he lies there, breathing heavily. His injured right hand holds the script as he reads through it. Soft piano music plays on the radio. ¡°No! Why don¡¯t you get it through your mind? I only wanted you to be safe!¡± Flint shouts at her, his tone following the music. Flint slowly rises from the ground, despite his injured and trembling body. He throws the script out of his hands and off the stage. He takes out the photo of the man from his pocket. He feels all the heavy emotions and pains coming from the photo. He looks up and stares at Madame Broadway. He takes a deep breath, letting the emotions of the photo guide him into what he has to say. ¡°Now I see the error in my ways. For trusting someone, who never loved you. I¡¯m just a stepping stone, nothing more.¡± Flint tells her in an exhausted tone, following along to the somber music. Madame Broadway¡¯s eyes widen when she hears those lines. They aren¡¯t part of the script, yet they are just perfect for the scene. Perfect, yet so familiar. I hold this facade to hide my own pains. I let so many die, and for what gains? But I cannot turn back any longer. I will fight until you are no more. Flint hears her now genuine somber tone. His words cloud Madame Broadway¡¯s mind as she elegantly performs slow, but graceful ala seconde twirls and leaps on the stage. He throws the photo of the man at her like a throwing star. She catches it in her hands. She takes a closer look at the photo. ¡°I¡­it¡¯s you¡­¡± the graceful female voice mutters over the radio. ¡°I¡¯m so sorry¡­for everything.¡± Despite her somber state, Flint can sense the fight left within her to finish this all. Madame Broadway hides the photo in her costume, positioning it near her heart. He hears the music gradually become more intense and louder. Flint rests his finger on the trigger and aims at her. *BANG* *BANG* *BANG* Three consecutive streams of green flames burst from the revolver. Each bullet pierces her body, but she does not falter. She gracefully twirls and glides closer to Flint despite her injuries. Madame Broadway leaps into the air, performing many graceful flips and twirls in the air. Flint aims his revolver at her. His finger rests on the trigger. ¡°Goodbye,¡± Flint mutters. *BANG* A stream of green flame flies towards Madame Broadway. The bullet pierces through her head as she is posed midair. Her mask shatters, and its fragments fall to the ground. Great light slowly erupts out of her bullet wounds. ¡°Finally¡­I have achieved my greatest performance.¡± Her graceful voice mutters from the radio. The room is enveloped with the same bright light as Madame Broadway¡¯s body fades away. Flint covers his eyes from the blinding light as his surroundings slowly change. Flint¡¯s eyes open as the light slowly dissipates. He is seated in a plush folding chair at a small theater. The stage lights shine upon the stage. The backgrounds appear to have been made by amateur, but passionate stage designers. In the center of the stage is a young lady with fair skin. The stage lights shine on medium, flowing auburn hair and her simple dress suit. She tap dances on the stage with the elegance of a baby first learning how to walk. Despite her initial sloppy first taps, she slowly gains her rhythm. She performs many technical and flashy moves on the stage. He is reminded of his daughter¡¯s passion in acting. He only wishes that after all of this is over, he and Ronlo would see Lily perform on stage, dazzling the audience with her performance. He smiles and cheers along with the audience after her stellar performance. Flint notices his surroundings change, hearing the audience¡¯s applause and cheers gradually become more silent. He finds himself standing outside the door of a dressing room. The plaque on the door has the name: Christie Astas. Flint slowly opens the door and quietly enters the room. He finds Christie cleaning the makeup off her beautiful visage. She doesn¡¯t turn around to face Flint, as if he isn¡¯t even there. ¡°Well, Christie, the audience loved your performance. But, that beginning¡­agh it¡¯s so embarrassing...¡± she mutters. Flint blushes when he sees her slowly undress from her costume. He turns around as she changes into her clothes. ¡°But you¡¯ll nail it down one day. Just keep focused. I know I got this down!¡± she exclaims, now dressed in her casual red dress. Flint and Christie hear someone knocking on her door. Flint moves aside as Christie approaches the door. Christie opens the door and finds a man with white hair wearing a black formal suit. ¡°You are Christie, yes?¡± the man asks her. She nods and lets the man into her room. ¡°I have seen your performance on stage and you have the makings of a wonderful actress.¡± He comments. ¡°Oh thank you, sir.¡± She replies. The man reaches into his inner suit pocket and hands her a business card. Christie reaches her shivering hand out to his and takes the card. ¡°Here, if you are interested in an opportunity to further your career, give us a call.¡± The man tells her. He nods before leaving the room. Christie lets the man walk further down the hallway before bursting out in excitement. She is overwhelmed by her intense feelings of elation and cannot believe that she is given such a grand offer. ¡°I can¡¯t believe it¡­I¡¯m one step closer to my dream¡­¡± Christie imagines herself on the grandest stage of the world. She fulfills her role with such passion and finesse, engaging the audience and cheering her on. And after her performance is completed, she faces the cheering audience. She feels great joy and pride seeing that her performance has given something for her audience to enjoy and evoke the deep emotions within them. Flint notices his surroundings change again as Christie leaves the room. He finds himself standing on the side of a stage, akin to the one where he has fought Madame Broadway, but in pristine condition. He sees Christie Astas practicing her tap dancing and twirls on the stage. She is not satisfied with her current skills as she occasionally trips and stumbles. Despite her frustrations, she still keeps practicing and performing her moves. Flint is again reminded of his dear daughter. Flint is reminded of when Lily showed her simple dances and acting to him back in those days. He cannot wait for her to become a skillful actress and performer like Christie. Flint looks behind him as he hears steps approaching him. He finds the very man coming to the stage. Unlike in the photo, he wears a simple white long-sleeved polo and a plain light blue vest. The man adjusts his appearance as he approaches Christie. ¡°You¡¯re quite talented.¡± He comments. Christie jolts from his sudden appearance and falls to the floor mid-twirl. His eyes widen and he rushes over and helps her up. Christie feels a warmth as her skin brushes along his toned body. ¡°You alright?¡± he asks. Christie shakes out of her current state and uses his support to stand up. ¡°Yep, I¡¯m fine.¡± She tells him, now standing up properly. ¡°I never seen your face around here before. Did you recently get hired?¡± he asks. Christie nods. ¡°Yes, just some days ago.¡± She replies. Christie goes back to practicing her skills. Despite her lack of finesse, the man sees great potential in her abilities. ¡°You know, I think I know some ways to help your performance.¡± The man tells her. Flint sees the man show her some new techniques to help her performance seem more graceful. He sees Christie stumble and fall as she tries to recreate them. Despite her fails and fumbles, the man does not laugh at her mistakes. He helps her up after every fall. Christie and the man sit down at the edge of the stage after practicing for several more moments. The man looks over at Christie, seeing her tired, yet still determined expression on her visage. Flint slowly approaches them. ¡°Damn, I never met anyone just as passionate as you.¡± The man tells her. ¡°But, I do wonder why.¡± Christie looks over to the man, wiping the sweat off her forehead. ¡°You see all these empty seats? These are seats waiting to be filled by people who wish to get themselves immersed and lost in the world of the stage. I would serve an utter disservice if I didn¡¯t put my passion and soul into my performance.¡± She tells the man, looking at all the empty seats. Christie looks over and notices the man smiling as he looks among the rows of empty seats. ¡°A true patron of the arts, eh?¡± he asks, chuckling to himself. ¡°I¡¯ve never really thought about it like that.¡± Christie looks back to the empty rows of seats. She smiles seeing the emotions of the audience watching the performance on stage. Their joys, fears, sadness, and elation drive her to perfect her performance. ¡°One day, I¡¯ll perform on the grand stage. I¡¯ll give them all a performance they will never forget.¡± Christie says to herself. The man cannot help, but smile, seeing the passion emanating from her. ¡°You know, you don¡¯t have to take the road alone. It¡¯s better to have some company along the way.¡± The man tells her. She is caught by surprise after hearing his sudden comment. He reaches out his hand to her. ¡°Thomas.¡± He tells her. Christie reaches out and shakes his hand firmly. ¡°Christie.¡± She tells him. Flint sees his surroundings change around him. He finds himself sitting down on one of the seats in the theater. He looks up at the stage and finds both Thomas and Christie performing on the stage in simple costumes. With each step and movement in their performance, he can see them both aging and their performance becoming more refined and even more passionate. He notices their appearances become like the ones from the photos he has seen of them. He cheers along with the audience at their performance, as if he were watching his dearest daughter grow up. His surroundings change from his seating place to a dressing room behind the stage. He notices Thomas and Christie intimately waltzing together in their casual clothes. He hears a knocking coming from the door. Thomas and Christie stop. Thomas approaches the door and finds a young man in a suit entering the room. He firmly shakes Thomas¡¯s hand. ¡°My you had such a wonderful performance on that stage.¡± The young man tells him. The young man keeps praising Thomas¡¯s performance, making Thomas overwhelmed and blushing at his words. Christie stands in the background in silence with a dejected expression on her visage. After the young man¡¯s long-winded praises, he hands Thomas a business card. ¡°If you want an opportunity to audition for Ardent Dusk, please give me a call. We would love to have you¡± The young man tells him. Thomas takes the card. He looks back at Christie, feeling a depressing aura emanating from her. ¡°May she audition as well?¡± Thomas asks him. ¡°Uh¡­well¡­I only came back here for you sir. I don¡¯t think¡­¡± Christie approaches him. ¡°Give me a chance. Please.¡± She tells him. Thomas rests his hand on Christie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Besides, she and I are a duo. I don¡¯t work without her.¡± He tells him. The young man sighs and allows her to audition as well. He exits the room, leaving Christie and Thomas there. Christie hugs Thomas tightly, thanking him for backing her up. Thomas hugs her back. Flint watches on, feeling the warmth of the scene. He finds himself seated in a seat, this time in a larger theater than the previous one. He looks up at the stage and notices Christie and Thomas¡¯s masterful performance of the flashy and technical dance moves for the finale, now in more well-made costumes. Their performance creates a fantastical spectacle, making the audience roar in applause. Their applause pushes Christie in her performance, pushing her to her upper limits. Flint finds himself again backstage after the end of their performance. He notices Christie wandering through the halls backstage to her and Thomas¡¯s dressing room. He follows her and notices Thomas talking to another agent offering him a role. Christie hides in the corner of the hallway and overhears their conversation Despite the agent¡¯s offer, Thomas will not accept unless Christie could audition as well. After the agent agrees to his offers, the agent leaves the other way. Christie approaches Thomas in their room. She runs up to Thomas and hugs him tightly. Thomas returns the hug. Flint finds his surroundings change around him again. He finds himself in another grand theater, watching another performance by Thomas and Christie. After their performance, he will find himself again somewhere backstage, where an agent offers Thomas an audition for another musical on an even grander and larger stage. Unlike before, Christie wanders backstage, asking her fellow actors for any people of influence they know. Flint sees her meeting up with these agents Flint finds himself in this cycle, seeing them perform with such finesse and passion on larger stages, in even grander costumes than before, with larger cheering audiences filling all the seats. He then finds himself backstage where Thomas is offered audition roles and again refuses unless Christie can audition as well. Unlike before though, Christie wanders backstage, asking her fellow actors for any people of influence they know. Flint sees her meeting up with these agents in secret and performing in various other plays as a one-time stunt, impressing audiences of various sizes. During all of this, he can see Christie still investing all her best efforts in her performances, to the point of her exhaustion. After each performance, he senses love blooming between Thomas and Christie. Yet he also sees Christie slowly distancing away from him as she abruptly leaves to meet with other agents. It becomes painful for him to watch after each performance seeing their love for each other wilting like a rose. This cycle ends after one of their performances. He finds himself in Christie¡¯s dressing room. As Christie fixes her hair in her plain dress, looking at herself in the mirror. Flint sees the tired and miserable expression on her face. She wishes that the joy from her and Thomas¡¯s performance on stage will carry over, but she knows that will not get her to her destination. Memories flash in her mind of all the sleaze bag agents she had to please with more than just her stage performances to get their ¡®approval¡¯. But she will do anything to secure her dream, even it means she has to force herself to delve to such depravity. She wipes the tears off her face, trying to accept what is done, is done. She hears someone knocking on the door. ¡°Come in!¡± she shouts over, trying to hide the unease in her voice. An older woman, dressed in grandiose formal dress enters the room. Christie turns around and she jolts in surprise. She recognizes the woman as one of the most prestigious theater owners and producers in the industry. The woman closes the door behind her. ¡°You are Christie, yes?¡± she asks her. Christie nods, adjusting herself from her shocked state. ¡°Yes miss.¡± She replies. ¡°Never in my life have I seen such passion and drive in someone¡¯s performance. You have talent, and I wish to use it.¡± She tells Christie. ¡°You¡­you want me?¡± Christie stutters. ¡°Yes, I do. I have one of my greatest works, Advent Moon, currently having a run on the Mangarella-Arcos Theater. The main lead wishes to resign from the role, and I want you to replace her.¡± Christie is star-struck by her offer. She knows how prestigious and grand the Mangarella-Arcos Theater is. She cannot wait to perform on that stage in front of the largest theater in the world and touch the hearts of the thousands of audiences in each performance. ¡°I¡­Yes, I will!¡± she exclaims. The older lady nods and smiles at her enthusiasm. ¡°There is one thing I must mention. I will need you to move to an area near the theater. Will this be acceptable?¡± she asks Christie. Flint suddenly finds himself in an entirely different location. He looks around and finds himself in a dark one-story home. He notices a light emanating from the show on the TV. He approaches the couch and finds Christie sitting on there, with countless eye bags and a frown on her visage. She is drinking from a bottle of whiskey on her table. It has been quite a while since she moved to a house near the Mangarella-Arcos theater. She has never talked to Thomas since then. She never even let him know about her role since that day. She feels so lost and empty without him during her practice sessions. Her practice partners never have the guts to tell her what else she can do better, unlike him. After all he has done for her, she cannot help but wallow in her sorrows. She drowns them away with alcohol. She stands up from her couch and exits her home. Flint follows closely behind. He finds her walking down the side of the road of her isolated home. She basks in nature, gazing upon the trees on the side of the road and basking in the night. Flint notices Romander sitting on the same side of the road that Christie is walking down. Romander notices her and slowly stands up. Christie steps back as the man approaches her. Flint notes that Romander is much older in appearance. His hair still has its red color, but most of his clothes are riddled with holes and black sludge stains. ¡°Don¡¯t run away¡­I am only here to help¡­¡± Romander mutters. ¡°Help? Get away from me!¡± Christie screams at him as she backs away. ¡°Please young lady, listen to this poor old man for a few moments¡­¡± he pleads. Not even wanting to risk her safety, she runs away. ¡°Do you not wish to have a performance of a lifetime?¡± the man asks her. Christie finds herself stopping in place. She turns around with a befuddled expression. ¡°What do you mean?¡± she asks him. The man slowly approaches her with slow steps. ¡°Don¡¯t you wish to perform in front of the very man you have left? Don¡¯t you wish to see him proud of you? Don¡¯t you want to love him again?¡± he asks her. ¡°How¡­how do you know¡­¡± Before Christie can finish, Roomander injects her with a tranquilizer serum. Christie falls limp to the ground. He bends down and drags her away. Flint chases after them, trying to stop him even though he cannot. ¡°Oh, young lady you don¡¯t have to say a word. I know you want to do this. And you will allow me to see her again.¡± Romander mutters in his insane ramblings. Flint is engulfed in darkness. A large bright light suddenly illuminates a portion of a stage. He finds Christie lying down on the stage, now dressed in the same clothing as Madame Broadway. Christie slowly rises from the ground of the stage, feeling an intense migraine. She looks around and notices she is on a stage. ¡°Why am I here? And how did I get here?¡± she asks out loud. Both Flint and Christie hear the crackling of a loudspeaker. ¡°Christie Astas, the famed Broadway star,¡± Romander speaks over the radio. ¡°If you fail to complete your performance, you will never get to see Thomas ever again.¡± Christie¡¯s eyes widen. Despite her tired and miserable state, she composes herself. She will free herself from this deranged man¡¯s game. ¡°Experiment #240 The Performance.¡± The man mutters. Orchestra music plays on the loudspeaker. She finds a script on the ground, detailing some intricate dance moves she must perform. The first of them is performing seven ala seconde turns while tapping rapidly with her pivot foot. She takes a deep breath and starts to twirl around. However as she tries to tap with her pivot foot, she stumbles onto the ground. She grunts in agony as she feels her migraine worsen. She stands back up and starts to twirl again. She again fails to perform the move and falls to the ground. She groans in agony as she can feel her insides slowly corroding away. She screams in more agony as translucent purple chains stab all over her body. Despite the horrors, Flint forces himself to stomach the pain. He has to know what has happened to her. She stands up again and starts to twirl around. With each twirl, she is able to rapidly tap her pivot food, thus completing the move. Despite the successful completion of the move, she feels her arms stretch out and corrode away. She screams in horror and agony as her hands corrode into petrified black sludge. She picks up the script again and turns to the final move. The next move requires her to glide around to the opposite ends of the while tapping along in an ellipse path. After performing this move five times she will perform the same move for the first one at the center of the stage. She bears the pain and rushes to one end of the stage. She immediately stumbles as she attempts to glide with the shoes, unable to maintain her balance. She screams in more agony as her arms continue to corrode and drip black sludge. ¡°Stand up! You can do this!¡± Flint cheers her on, despite knowing it is all for naught. Christie stands up again, despite her trembling corroded arms. She again rushes to the other end of the stage and glides around. After two successful laps of gliding and tapping along, she slips on the black sludge that oozes off her arm. She crashes onto the floor of the stage, wincing due to the impact. She screams in greater agony as she feels her torso slowly corrode away and deform underneath her stained costume. ¡°STAND UP CHRISTIE! DON¡¯T LET YOURSELF DIE HERE!¡± Flint again cheers on at her. Christie pushes herself off the ground and rushes to the other side of the stage. She takes a deep breath and focuses everything on this one move. She glides around the stage, tapping with such finesse and passion as she puts everything into her performance. She screams in agony mid-performance as her legs start to corrode away, but she does not let it stop her. She completes all five laps, despite her now corroded shadowy black body oozing out black sludge. She glides to the middle of the stage and performs the seven ala seconde turns while tapping rapidly. During each spin, her face corrodes away and her body stretches. Her screams are now harmonic high-pitch screeches riddled with the bubbling of black sludge. She finishes the last turn, her entire body now corroded and lifeless. The orchestra music ceases. ¡°No¡­¡± Flint mutters. The translucent purple chains pull out Christie''s soul. The chains rip apart Christie''s soul. The figure screams in agony as her soul is being ripped apart. The figure stops screaming, standing there deathly silent. Christie''s mauled soul is forcefully stuffed into the figure. She stays there, still standing. ¡°Let this be the trial¡­¡± Romander mutters over the loudspeaker. ¡°Please¡­I only wish to see Alaya again!¡± The figure jaggedly jitters in place. The figure stands up, full of life. ¡°Experiment #240¡­The Performance: Success!¡± Romander exclaims. The entire room becomes surrounded by darkness, which engulfs Flint. In the darkness, he sees a white transparent distorted cloud. He sees the cloud slowly refigure itself into a humanoid shape. Flint sees the cloud form into Christie¡¯s figure. Her body is covered in bruises from all her falls from the experiment. ¡°So you¡¯re the man who helped me finish that performance.¡± She notes. Flint nods. He continues staring at Christie, understanding her guilt and loneliness. ¡°I never had anyone near and dear to me in my life. My parents put me up for adoption when I was a baby. I never made any friends because I could never find it in myself to reach out to others. It was only me and my performance. I would spend all the free time I had perfecting and practicing my art. No matter how many times I¡¯ve fallen or how many times I doubted myself, I still got back up and performed throughout the night. I never worked this hard just to gain the fame or fortune. It was never about that at all. All I cared about was leaving a lasting impression on my audience. Through my performances, I can evoke something within my audience. Whether they laugh, cry, are experience great joy, I know I have completed the true goal of my art. I was able to make my audience reflect and explore themselves and leave them with a lasting and impactful memory for the rest of their life. And for me to reach my dream of impacting everyone¡¯s lives, I needed to get myself on the grandest and largest stage in the world. But to do that, I needed to get connections and prove my worth. Some scum of the earth agents wanted more than just my performance. I never enjoyed a single moment of that, but I did what I had to do to reach that stage. Thomas¡­he was my closest connection. He never deserved to be my stepping stone. He shared the exact same passion as me, and I threw him away so I could be at the top. I achieved my dream, but I am not happy without him around. It¡¯s, so, so cold and lonely being at the top. Sir, I hope that you do not fall under the same fate as me. Hold your loved ones closely.¡± Flint knows her story all too well. In his pursuit of becoming a detective, he has forsaken his loved ones. But, he will not let that happen. He firmly nods. Flint sees Christie Astas slowly walk away. Flint sees a humanoid figure walking beside Christie, placing its shadowy hand on Christie¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Christie, your performances have brought lasting memories to those who have seen you. Now it is time for you to create lasting memories for the one who you truly loved. But I cannot guide you just yet.¡± The figure whispers into her ear. ¡°Trust in this detective. He will free you from this hell.¡± Christie turns around, wiping the tears from her eyes. ¡°Detective, I can see you know the very pain I feel. I know this is asking for much, but please save me. Let me see him again!¡± she pleads. ¡°I will. I will save you.¡± Flint promises her. The shadowy figure slowly approaches Flint and places its hands on his shoulders. ¡°You have the same corruption as these poor souls flowing within you. It will worsen by the hour.¡± The figure whispers into Flint¡¯s ear. The shadowy figure notices Flint is barely able to keep his balance, unlike their previous encounters. The figure places its hand on Flint¡¯s shoulder. ¡°Do not falter detective. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. There are still more you must save.¡± The shadowy figure whispers into his ear. The shadowy figure returns to Christie and guides her away. Flint stumbles around, feeling his body and eyelids become heavier. He falls to the ground, passing out. Rayne Pastel, Hells Chef Romander wheels around in the operating room, using his machine¡¯s large grotesque robotic arm to operate on one of his failed experiments. The corpse splashes black sludge all over his hexagonal metal body. He wheels over to the operating table, reaching for an instrument. He stops as he hears the monitors beeping loudly. He wheels over and pulls it closer. He sees that three of the petals on the barrier have become dim. ¡°THE LOST SOUL SHOWS PROMISE. BUT I NEED TO SEE FOR MYSELF.¡± Says in a robotic voice from its old crackling voice box. Flint slowly regains consciousness while lying on the stage floor. His breaths become more raspy and rapid as his body trembles uncontrollably. Using all his remaining strength, he lifts his coat sleeves. He finds his arm has turned from his once fair skin into the same shadowy black from the figures he has freed. Despite his ill condition, he slowly rises from the ground, using his trembling arms as his support. His trembling legs and the black sludge rushing through his veins make it unbearable to stay standing. He reaches for the ammunition box in his inner pockets to reload his revolver. He takes an excruciatingly long time to reload his revolver so he doesn¡¯t drop the bullets. He shambles over to the radio on the side of the stage. He lifts it off the ground despite his trembling hands. As he places the radio on his back, he can feel its weight dragging him down. His legs tremble even more and the speed of the black sludge flowing through his body speeds up. Despite his pains, he still powers through and shambles through the halls. With each step he takes, he feels closer to death¡¯s door. But he keeps shambling down the halls as the dark void encroaches behind him. He reaches the two locked doors at the farthest end of the hallway. He is undergoing such pain and agony that he cannot think clearly. He slams down his arm on the heavy lock chains in his clouded-mind state. His eyes widen when the locks immediately break. Regardless, he pushes the two large sliding doors and shambles into the area. He finds himself in a dimly lit security room. Like the previous ones, it is ruined beyond any possible repair and covered in black sludge. His breaths become heavier, quicker, and raspier. His legs buckle and he crashes onto the ground. He screams in agony feeling his body stretch and corrode away. Serena finds herself in the mirrored casino area. She leans against a machine, gasping for breath after walking for so long. She still has the frying pan in her right hand and the flashlight in her left. During her entire trek around the facility, she still radios in on Sercas, hoping that he¡¯s still alive and well. But not only just Sercas but Flint as well. She can only hope that she can find him in good health. In the area where she is resting, she notices an area of slot machines that are utterly ravaged. She takes a moment to examine the damage and black sludge stains all over the machines, noting that they are recent. She grips the frying pan tighter as she approaches the open set of double doors. She wanders the halls of the new area, which reminds her of her childhood home. Serena radios Sercas one last time, hoping that he will respond. As if by some miracle, she faintly hears her voice coming down the halls. Serena rushes down the halls towards her voice. She stops mere inches before the kitchen, catching her breath. She radios in again and hears her voice coming from the kitchen. She leans towards the door and her eyes widen in shock, finding Sercas lying there on the ground. She immediately rushes over and kneels to the ground. ¡°Sercas? Sercas you alright? Are you there?¡± she asks, on the verge of tears. Sercas lies there, not responding. ¡°Sercas¡­please be okay¡­damn it please¡­¡± she asks, letting the tears fall from his eyes. Her worry immediately breaks when she hears him snore loudly. She feels overwhelming relief and wipes her tears. Sercas slowly wakes up from his nap as he feels the warm embrace from someone near and dear in his heart. As he opens his eyes, he finds Serena on top of him, giving him the tightest hug he has ever received. ¡°Woah there¡­isn¡¯t that too much PDA at work?¡± he jests. ¡°Even when I was worried about you, you¡¯re still joking.¡± Serena tells him. ¡°Please never change.¡± Serena lets go after she hears Sercas wince and groans in pain. Serena takes out the first aid kit from her vest, lifts Sercas¡¯s heavy vest, and unbuttons his shirt. She lifts his undershirt and finds large bruises and small cuts all over his abs. She takes out the first aid kit and lathers his wounded abs with an antibiotic ointment. She takes great care in lathering it gently so Sercas does not feel any discomfort. ¡°How did you get these wounds?¡± Serena asks. ¡°It¡¯s a long damn story¡­¡± Sercas responds, groaning as she lathers the ointment. Serena hears about the horrid abomination Flint and Sercas have encountered and the injuries they have sustained from him. As Sercas finishes his recollection of events, she has already finished wrapping his wounds up with the bandage. ¡°So Flint¡¯s still in here?¡± she asks him. ¡°Yep, and I don¡¯t think he intends on leaving until he finishes this damn case.¡± He replies. ¡°Do you know that fire he once had? I saw it again just as he left me here to recover.¡± His statements surprise Serena. But after all those years of morbid cases, how is this the one that sparked Flint¡¯s flame again? Regardless of that question pondering in her mind, she is at least happy to hear that about Flint. ¡°Sercas, I know what I¡¯m about to say is incredibly stupid, but I can¡¯t just let Flint wander around alone for any longer. Even though I have no combat experience, I can at least tend to his wounds.¡± Serena tells Sercas. While Sercas does not want Serena to follow after Flint, she does have a valid point. He sighs, knowing that he isn¡¯t in the best condition to follow after Flint. ¡°Alright, but if anything dangerous happens, you run straight back up to here,¡± Sercas tells her. She nods and takes the first aid kit and stuffs it in her vest. She stands up from the ground and firmly holds the frying pan in her right hand. Sercas just notices it as she is about to exit the kitchen. ¡°And for the record, you¡¯re cleaning it when you¡¯re done using it!¡± he jests. Serena lets out a giggle before leaving the kitchen. Sercas continues resting there on the ground, now feeling better after having a moment with Serena and having his wounds patched up. ¡°Stay safe, Serena.¡± He mutters. Serena stands in front of two open push doors at the end of the backstage corridor. She finds the broken chains and locks lying on the ground in front of her. She slowly enters the room, with her frying pan at the ready. She flashes the light around the dimly lit security room. She finds the same ruined state she has seen in the previous security rooms. As she enters the room, she almost slips on something wet on the ground. She flashes the ground, only to find a puddle of fresh black sludge reaching up to her soles. She takes slow, careful steps over the sludge with the light still shining down on her shoes, ensuring she does not slip. She flashes the light back to her eye level. The light shines upon another set of wide open doors leading to a dark area. She approaches the doors, holding the frying pan tightly in her hands. She enters a reception area for a restaurant. Several geometric benches and wooden chairs are aligned on the walls with dark oak flooring underneath. There is a reception desk, almost of similar size to the desk Serena uses when she is at work. The light from the flashlight refracts from the dangling glass droplets hanging from the ceiling. Not finding anything else of interest, Serena walks down the walkway to the main dining area. The large main dining area has a simple contemporary design with dark oak walls and several paintings and other simple directions hanging from them. The clean metal tables of varying sizes with a wood top and the simple black metal chairs are aligned in straight rows and columns. The light from her flashlight shines upon the various corpses lying on the floor, whose skin is akin to the shadowy black sludge she has seen throughout the facility. She carefully trudges over them, not wanting to further desecrate those poor souls by accidentally stepping on their brittle and sludgy bodies. As she approaches the back of the dining area, she hears the clanging of pots and pans and the slicing of food gradually becomes louder. She stands in front of two opaque circular glass decorations at the end of the dining hall, hearing the busy noises of the kitchen coming from behind it. She shines the light upon the area of the wall, finding larger grooves forming a rectangular outline around the glass decoration. She approaches closer to the wall and presses her hand against it. The portion of the wall jiggles back and forth like a push door. She applies more force and one side of the wooden wall slowly opens. She enters the large dark room behind the wall. She enters a large kitchen with the area to her left containing aisles of stove tops and ovens while the area to her right has messy countertops with knives, ingredients, and various stains all over them. The kitchen greets her with a strong musty scent, to which she almost pukes in reaction. She walks down the aisles of stoves and ovens, finding various-sized pans and pots in the ovens or on the stoves. She opens the lid of a nearby pot on a lit stove. Her nostrils are bombarded by a rancid and spicy scent emanating from the pot. She stumbles back, knocking over several pots and pans and coughing loudly. She immediately stops as she hears the opening of two doors coming from the other side of the room. She lowers herself to the ground, hoping not to be spotted. See hears the low moist growls echoing through the room. She slowly crawls out from the middle of the aisle of stoves and ovens to their ends. She peers from the corner of the end to find the source of the noise. Standing by one of the countertops is a tall figure adorned in a chef¡¯s garb that is embedded in her shadowy petrified skin, which oozes out black sludge. The figure¡¯s jaw hangs slack on her corroded visage, showing sharp mandolins and peelers aligning the inside of her mouth and throat. Various kitchen utensils such as forks, spoons, and ladles protrude from the figure¡¯s lanky arms and thicker legs. The figure uses her long petrified fingers to adjust her appearance and her chef¡¯s hat on her head. The figure¡¯s lifeless eyes peer around the room as if looking for something particular. Serena turns off her flashlight and grips her frying pan tightly. Serena hears the figure¡¯s crooked feet scrape across the floor like nails on a chalkboard echoing throughout the kitchen. The sharp, screeching low growls get closer and closer to her. Then she hears it stop. The figure lunges over the stoves and countertops into her aisle. The figure crashes into the overs in the aisle, making the pots and pans fall on her. Serena stands up and quickly backs away from the figure. The figure slowly stands up with various food stains and burns all over her clothes and body. The figure lowers her jaw further and screeches loudly at Serena. The mandolins and blades embedded within her throat jiggle and scrape against each other, making the noise even more overbearing. Serena covers her ears from the horrid, cringing noise as the figure keeps shrieking at her. Serena hears the figure stop screeching. As she looks up, she sees the figure lunge at her. Serena immediately dodges out of the way as the figure crashes into a shelf storing pots, pans, and various kitchen utensils. The knives and other sharp utensils stab into the figure¡¯s skin, making her screech loudly. Serena quickly exits from the kitchen where she has entered while the figure is injured. She runs to her right in a panic to create more distance between the figure and herself. Halfway through her sprint, the figure bursts out of the kitchen looking for her. The figure sniffs the air and looks around the dining area for Serena. Serena does not stop and finds herself stop to a halt as she reaches a dead end, a solid oak wall. She hurriedly turns on her flashlight and shines the light on the wall, hoping to find another rectangular outline of grooves. She hurries her search as she hears the figure¡¯s crooked feet scrap against the wooden floor. In just the nick of time, she finds a rectangular outline of thicker grooves compared to the ones on the wall. She bursts through the doors into a dimly lit sterile hallway. She backs away from the doors, hearing the figure rushing after her. The figure bursts through the doors and crashes into the sterile wall, splashing a splotch of black sludge on the area of impact. The figure recovers from her sudden crash and rushes over to Serena. However, instead of running away, Serena grips the frying pan in her right hand tightly. The figure lunges at her again. Serena steps to her side while the figure is in mid-lunge. Dropping the flashlight to the floor, Serena uses all of her strength to bring down the frying pan. The frying pan bashes into the figure¡¯s head. She hears an audible crack from her strike, making her cringe. The figure crashes onto the ground in front of her, staining her clothing and the floor with the thick black sludge. ¡°Aw¡­these are my favorite clothes¡­¡± she pouts. She steps away from the unconscious figure and wanders through the dimly lit sterile hallways. Flint slowly wakes up in a dark void. He finds his wrists and ankles chained down while he is in a sitting-down position. He tries to move and budge, but he struggles to do so. ¡°Help! Someone¡­damnit someone help me!¡± he screams. His voice echoes throughout the dark void. He tries breaking free from the chains, but their grasp tightens the more he struggles. He stops struggling, wincing in pain. He looks up and finds the tall shadowy humanoid figure standing in front of him. ¡°You have fought hard detective, but the ailment has taken control.¡± The figure whispers into his ear. ¡°No¡­I. It can¡¯t be¡­It can¡¯t!¡± he shouts. ¡°Damnit¡­I made a promise to all those people¡­I can¡¯t¡­.I can¡¯t let them suffer.¡± ¡°Detective, I am sorry that I cannot help you in your predicament. But detective, do not falter. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. You are stronger than you think detective. Your job is not done here. You will find a way.¡± The shadowy figure again whispers into his ear. The shadowy figure walks away from him, disappearing into the void. Flint violently shakes on his chains, trying to break himself free. ¡°Help! HELP!¡± he screams. Serena stops in place when she hears the faint screams for help while wandering the sterile hallways. Despite the faint voice, it feels familiar to her. Serena listens closely to the voice, trying to approach its location. As she approaches closer to the destination, she hears loud bangs and inhuman screeches gradually becoming louder and louder. She grips the frying pan in her right hand tightly as she gets closer to the cries for help. Serena stands in front of the door of the room, where she hears the cries for help and those other loud noises. She takes a deep breath and opens the door, getting her frying pan at the ready. Her eyes widen at the figure she finds inside the room. The figure in the room smashes around the laboratory, smashing the shelving full of surgical equipment and operating tables with a spectral revolver in his right hand. Serena notices a radio embedded in the figure¡¯s back, but that is not what stands out to her. What is most notable is the figure wearing Flint¡¯s clothing. The figure stops smashing around and turns over to Serena. It towers over Serena with his long, petrified legs and arms, his skin like the figure she has just seen, oozing the same black sludge. ¡°HELP!¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles through the radio. ¡°Flint?¡± she asks. Serena¡¯s voice echoes throughout Flint¡¯s mind. Flint looks around while his wrists and ankles are chained to the ground. He again struggles more to try to break free. As he does, he feels the chain¡¯s grip become unbearably tight on him. However, they do not loosen. Flint screams as the dark energy from the chains flows into him. He feels an unbearable, aching pain as the chain¡¯s grasp on him tightens. ¡°AGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!¡± he screams. Serena is startled when she hears his voice screaming from the radio. She looks back at the figure, staring at him dead into his eyes. The figure shambles towards her, rattling his arms and legs as he approaches closer. Serena backs away, holding up the frying pan in her hands. The figure screeches loudly and raises his revolver at Serena. *BANG* Flint hears the ringing of the bullet coming out of his revolver. He breaks out in a cold sweat, knowing that Serena is also there in the room. He struggles out of his chains harder, hoping to break them off from him. He struggles to breathe as feels the dark energy filling his lungs. He hacks and coughs loudly within the dark void. He tries screaming out, but the dark energy continues to bombard his lungs. He screams in desperation. Serena has blocked the bullet with her pan as the figure stands there, screeching in place. He rattles his entire body with a heavy violent rhythm. ¡°I will not let anybody get in my way! I will solve this case!¡± Flint¡¯s voice screams from the radio. The figure lashes his limbs at Serena. She ducks and dodges out of the way as the figure¡¯s limb crashes onto the floor. Flint cannot believe those words have left his mouth because he didn¡¯t even intend to say them at all. He feels the dark energy slowly take control of him, but he still keeps on trying to break free from his chains. Serena blocks the barrage of his from the figure¡¯s arms with the frying pan. ¡°Flint! It¡¯s me, Serena! You don¡¯t have to attack me!¡± Serena shouts the figure. The figure does not stop its continuous barrage. However, as he lashes his right arm, Serena finds the perfect moment and strikes it. The back of the pan is stained in a thick black sludge. The figure backs away and screeches loudly after being hit. The figure aims the revolver at her. *BANG* *BANG* Flint¡¯s breathing becomes more erratic and his body falls limp. He tries so hard to break free, but the dark energy from the chains has complete control over him. Tears stream down his eyes. He is unable to free himself. ¡°Do not stop me you wretched person!¡± Flint shouts from the radio. Serena has dodged all of the figure¡¯s shots. When the revolver clicks empty, the figure lashes it at Serena. Serena deflects the strike with the frying pan. ¡°Flint, I know this isn¡¯t you. Something terrible happened to you, but you can¡¯t let it take over you!¡± Serena shouts at the figure. The figure keeps screeching loudly, as it keeps bombarding her with blows from his arms. Serena parries each of his blows, slowly backing away to gain distance. She again strikes the figure¡¯s right arm before it strikes her. ¡°Flint, I know you¡¯ve been pushing us away. But I¡¯m not going to leave you here. I won¡¯t let you give up! I know you can keep fighting! So fight it, Flint!¡± Flint hears Serena¡¯s words echoing through the dark void. The dark energy has almost complete control over his body at this moment. But he does not let her words go in vain. He knows why he is here, and as she has said, he will not let this darkness corrupt him any further. Despite his erratic breathing and limp body, with the last of his strength, he tugs on the chains one last time. ¡°I will free them from this darkness,¡± Flint mutters weakly. He breaks free from the chain¡¯s grasp. He sees the entire void being filled with a bright light. Serena stands there, seeing the figure stopping his assault. She sees the figure writhing in pain as he brings his hands to his face. She sees the figure crash to the ground. Serena, full of worry, rushes up to the figure. ¡°Flint? Flint, please be okay¡­¡± Serena says, panicking. Serena cannot help but let her tears run down from her eyes. Her tears fall on the figure¡¯s body. Serena sees the figure slowly move again. She moves away, gripping her frying pan tightly. Serena hears a low growl coming from the figure. ¡°Serena¡­thank you¡­¡± Flint mutters weakly from the radio. Serena sees Flint slowly rise from the ground. Flint takes a good look at his new corrupted appearance, but he is overall unphased after all he has seen. Before he can say anything else, Serena runs up to him and hugs him tightly. ¡°Flint¡­thank goodness you¡¯re okay¡­¡± she tells him. Flint lets her embrace him for some moments more before she eventually lets go. She sees herself and the pan heavily stained by the black sludge, but she doesn¡¯t mind it for now. Flint sees Serena lower herself on the ground in a sitting position after her brawl with him. Feeling tired as well, he sits next to Serena. The two of them take the moment to finally catch some respite. Serena wipes off some of the black sludge from her clothes and from the pan. The room fills with silence. Flint looks over to Serena, seeing her breathing heavily and letting the frying pan rest in her lap bottom-side up. ¡°I¡¯m surprised you managed to survive, and with a frying pan no less,¡± Flint tells her over the radio. Serena laughs after hearing his comment. ¡°I just happened to be very lucky. I regret not asking Sercas for any combat training before this.¡± She replies. The room fills again with silence. Flint eyes over to Serena, seeing her still resting and trying to relax. Flint tightens his hands into a fist and exhales. His low sludge-filled screeches echo through the room. ¡°Serena. I¡¯m sorry for pushing you and the others away.¡± He tells her as his voice crackles over the radio. Serena is surprised to hear that coming from him. ¡°Flint, I know you never meant to hurt us.¡± She replies. ¡°It¡¯s clear to me and Sercas that you just want to protect us. But, you¡¯ve never worried about yourself. Why?¡± Flint sits there, staring off. He reflects on the earlier comments he made to the young kid. Serena lets him take his time to gather his thoughts. ¡°When I was young, I only had my dad around. We never talked much to each other than the few times he, ¡®lectured¡¯ me.¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters from the radio. Flint, despite his now corrupted body, can still locate those areas on his body that carry the lessons from his father¡¯s lessons. Serena keeps quiet and lets him continue. This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it. ¡°He told me that there are two things in life I could be a winner or a mistake. If I cried, he pulled me aside for a special ¡®lecture¡¯. If I failed he¡¯d constantly remind me of my failures, just waiting for me to cry. I never wanted to be a detective, but I knew that if I became one my father would finally stop hounding me. I¡¯d never have one of his ¡®lectures¡¯ ever again. But when I was in the force, it was all the damn same. They were right to tell me to have a spine and bottle everything up so I could get the case done. But their words kept on bringing me back to those days when my father ¡®lectured¡¯ me.¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. Serena still notices him eying those very areas on his body. She can see him shivering and sitting there emotionless. ¡°I know you¡¯ve always looked up to me Serena. But I¡¯m not the great detective you think I am. I never wanted to be one in the first place. I¡¯m weak. I¡¯ve hurt you all. I¡¯m a monster. And¡­and I¡¯ve failed you all¡­ It¡¯s better if I stay far away from you all.¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles on the radio. Flint notices Serena resting her hand on his. ¡°Flint, you¡¯re no monster. You¡¯ve been shown and told all your life to be a big strong man. You¡¯ve always felt you had to bear it all because you¡¯re weak. I know the horrors of all your cases Flint, I¡¯ve had to file them, you know? You don¡¯t have to bottle your trauma and feelings, Flint. Your father isn¡¯t here anymore, your other colleagues aren¡¯t here. You have me, Sercas, and your family Flint. You don¡¯t have to push us away, we¡¯re here for you.¡± Serena tells him. Flint sees Serena stand up from her place and stand in front of him. ¡°Flint, you and I both know you aren¡¯t a perfect detective. You may think you aren¡¯t a great detective, but your failures only define you if you never try to get back up. I¡¯ve seen you fail and fall so many times, but I have never seen you stay down. And the Flint I know will never let his falls crush him. He will keep standing, no matter how tempting it may be to just keep lying down. And even though you never wanted to be a detective, even after all this time, I don¡¯t think you regret it, Flint. I know you will keep pushing on. You care about the livelihood of those suffering because you know their suffering when they have to hide their pains behind a mask. I know you¡¯ll keep pushing on to find the truth, to free them.¡± Serena tells him with confidence. Serena extends her hands to his. ¡°Then at the end of the day, he can go back to something he never had in his childhood, a home,¡± Serena tells him. Flint takes her hand and slowly rises from the ground. ¡°I. I made a promise to those poor victims in this facility, and I intend on fulfilling it.¡± Flint says from the radio, now filled with determination. Serena cannot help but cry tears of joy, seeing the fire burning deeply within Flint. Flint walks ahead of her and exits the lab room. Serena follows closely behind. Serena sees Flint at work while wandering down these halls, seeing him enter several lab rooms down the hall. She sees him inspecting every tabletop and cabinet with great effort. They are currently in a smaller lab room. An operating table rests in the center of the room while surrounded by cabinets and tables containing scalpels and other experiment instrumentation. ¡°Flint, what are you looking for exactly?¡± she asks him. ¡°A report file.¡± He replies, his voice crackling from the radio. ¡°Why a report file anyway? Wouldn¡¯t you want to find some other evidence for this case?¡± she asks. ¡°It would be a while for me to explain. But the short answer is that I need to know the entity¡¯s identity on this floor.¡± He tells her, his voice crackling over the radio. Serena is confused by his response. The identity of the figure she has seen? ¡°But why would you want to know that thing¡¯s identity?¡± she asks. ¡°Because mister will free her.¡± A young voice mutters from the radio. Serena jumps back at the young boy¡¯s voice coming from the radio. Flint turns to the door and finds the spectral figure of the young boy standing there. Serena turns around and is frightened by the sight. ¡°Who the hell is that?¡± Serena asks in disbelief. Flint places his large corroded hand on her shoulder to ease her fears. ¡°Mister promised he would free us, miss.¡± The young voice explains to Serena. Serena looks at Flint, who nods in confirmation. ¡°Mister, I¡¯m sorry you were hurt by the others. I didn¡¯t know¡­¡± ¡°Don¡¯t worry about my current state, kid,¡± Flints says, cutting him off. ¡°I don¡¯t stay down for long. It won¡¯t stop me from freeing you and everyone else.¡± He tells him. Flint and Serena see the figure of the young boy slowly disappear. ¡°Mister, thank you.¡± The young voice mutters as he has fully disappeared. Flint sees Serena staring at him, knowing she wants a deeper explanation. ¡°That figure is a victim of Romander¡¯s heinous experiments. I have encountered three previous victims and freed them.¡± He explains. Serena is disgusted by Romander¡¯s depth of depravity. She feels the same drive Flint has when he is working on a case. She stands there pondering while Flint continues to search the room. An idea pops into her head. ¡°You know, why don¡¯t we just look for a filing room down here? It wouldn¡¯t hurt to try looking for one before we have to resort to looking through all these labs.¡± Serena suggests. Flint stops his search and turns to Serena. He nods in agreement. They both leave the room, searching for the filing room as they wander down the sterile halls of the laboratory. After wandering the halls and passing by many lab rooms, Flint and Serena stumble across a door made of the same fine dark oak in the dining area. Serena opens the door and they enter the room. The large bookshelves surround the small oak desk in the center. The room is too cramped to fit both Serena and Flint. Serena enters the room while Flint keeps watch outside, reloading his revolver. In a matter of seconds, Serena comes out with a report of interest in her hands. ¡°Damn. With your skills, you should have landed at a prestigious company.¡± Flint notes. ¡°True, but I rather work alongside you and Sercas than work at those boring and laborous companies.¡± She replies. Flint nods and takes the report from her hands. On the top right corner of the document is a female with tanned skin and medium-curled brown hair. Most of the text on the document is unintelligible ramblings. However, a portion of the document stands out to him as the only intelligible thing on there. Subject Name: Hell¡¯s Chef (RPG) Notes: ¡°This new method has finally produced the results I need. With this, I shall finally find the proper vessel for you, Alaya.¡± Behind the report is a missing poster of the same woman, wearing a plain red t-shirt in the photo. Name: Rayne Pastel Age: 24 Status: Missing Last Seen: ??? Flint grips his corroded hands tightly onto the report and missing poster. This woman, Argus, Toby, and Christie¡¯s lives have been taken away by this deranged man, Romander, all for the sake of reviving his dear life. He will not let them suffer anymore. Yet even after all these flashbacks, the question remains in Flint¡¯s mind of how Romander can conduct these experiments for this long. Flint takes a moment to calm down. He gives the documents for Serena to hold. As Flint takes out the camera, he finds a recent photo added to the camera¡¯s storage. It is a photo of Christie Astas standing next to the corrupted version of herself, Madame Broadway. Flint takes a photo, making sure that his large corroded hands do not block the camera lens. As the camera¡¯s light flashes onto the documents, his camera screen starts flickering as a new photo is being formed on the screen. It shows Rayne¡¯s body slowly corroding away as she desperately cooks a meal. Serena is still blinking her eyes after the flash. Flint puts away the camera in his inner pocket. ¡°Serena, was there by any chance a photo attached to these documents?¡± he asks as his voice crackles from the radio. ¡°Oh yes, there was. Here.¡± She replies. Serena hands Flint a photo of a woman from her pocket while holding the other documents. The fair-skinned woman has short black hair and is dressed in a black leather jacket and a white shirt. She has a confident smile in the photo. ¡°Is there a reason why you need it?¡± Serena asks him. Flint looks at her after finishing his inspection of the photo. ¡°These photos are of people close to the victim. This photo is important to freeing the figure.¡± He replies as his voice crackles from the radio. ¡°Now, the tricky part is how to free them. Usually, it has something to do with their hobby or career.¡± Flint stands by the office, pondering as to what he can do. Despite the amount of time he has been on this floor, he has not seen the figure. While Flint is distracted by his own thoughts, Serena enters the office again. She places the documents in her hands on the table and approaches the shelves. Within mere moments she finds the section of the shelf she is interested in, recipes. She takes out the file folder and spreads out the documents on the table. Flint hears Serena¡¯s commotion and enters the room. Flint notices that she has laid out several recipe cards on the table. He looks up at Serena who motions him to go to her side of the table. After awkwardly fitting through the small passage to the seat-side of the table he starts inspecting the recipe cards. ¡°Is there a reason for this?¡± Flint asks as his voice crackles over the radio. ¡°I¡¯ve met the figure that you¡¯re looking for, Flint. I first encountered her in a kitchen where she was cooking all these odd foods in pots and pans. That and she is wearing a chef¡¯s uniform.¡± She tells him. Flint nods as he continues inspecting the recipe cards. After moments of inspecting all of them, he finds one that stands out. He grabs it with his corroded large hands. Unlike the other recipes, the words on the recipe card are handwritten. Breakfast Barbecue: Pork Shoulder Banana Ketchup Soy Sauce Calamansi Garlic Powder Dark Brown Sugar Salt Lemon Soda White Rice Garlic Eggs -For you, Rina. ¡°This is our recipe,¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters from the radio. Flint notices Serena bringing over a map of the floor and lays it out on the table. Serena points toward the location of the kitchen on the map. They both find a VIP dining area, hidden away. Serena mentions she has seen the figure come from the area where she has hidden. Flint and Serena look at each other and nod in understanding. They start devising a plan on how they will free her. Flint and Serena hear the harsh noise of metal scraping echoing throughout the sterile hallway. Serena grabs the recipe card and the photo of the girl. Flint bends his body as he exits the door with the spectral revolver in his corroded large right hand. He encounters Hell¡¯s Chef at the end of the hall. She twitches erratically with a butcher¡¯s knife in her hand. She screeches loudly and charges at Flint. ¡°I will not let these fresh ingredients escape me this time!¡± a loud, but timid feminine voice shouts for the radio. Flint allows Hell¡¯s Chef to lunge at him. They both crash to the ground, both releasing their weapons. Flint flails his arms at her, preventing her from shoving him into his mouth. During his struggle, Serena bolts out of the room. Hell¡¯s Chef sees her running out and gets off of Flint. ¡°You! I won¡¯t let you escape this time!¡± the timid feminine voice shouts from the radio. Hell¡¯s Chef chases Serena down the halls dragging her crooked feet as they scrape the metal loudly on the ground. Flint quickly lifts his corrupted body from the ground and picks up his revolver after stretching his long right arm for it. Flint aims the revolver at Hell¡¯s Chef¡¯s legs. *BANG* A trail of bright green flame erupts from the nose of the gun as the gunshot rings throughout the sterile halls. The bullet pierces through her left arm. Hell¡¯s Chef¡¯s screeches of agony echo throughout the hall. Black sludge and shards of kitchen blades from her gunshot wound are splattered all over the sterile flooring. Flint manages to catch up and pistol-whips her to the ground. Hell¡¯s Chef tumbles around the pool of black sludge and shards of blades. Her metal-scraping screeches ring through Flint¡¯s ears. Serena has not stopped bolting through the halls. After several moments of wandering through the halls, she bursts through the doors she has used to enter the laboratory area. Despite her winded state, she proceeds to the kitchen to fulfill her part of the plan. Flint has been keeping Hell¡¯s Chef pinned to the ground. She continues screeching, struggling to get off the ground. However, her body becomes too slippery for Flint to keep a proper grip on her. His corroded hands slip off her corroded body. Taking this opportunity, Hell¡¯s Chef shoves Flint off of her. Flint slides back as his corrupted body crashes to the ground. She slowly rises from the pool of black sludge and approaches Flint. ¡°I will not let you go anymore. I shall cut you up into fine ground meat!¡± the timid feminine voice exclaims from the radio. Using her right arm, she forces it down the deep bowels of her gaping mouth. Her left arm becomes covered in blades and cut marks. She gags loudly as she pulls out another butcher¡¯s knife out of her mouth. She lifts it and brings it down with substantial force. Flint screeches loudly as the knife is stabbed into his chest. Hell¡¯s Chef dislodges the butcher¡¯s knife and raises it again. Black sludge bleeds out from his chest wound and he starts to breathe erratically. Before she can bring down the blade again, Flint kicks her in the legs. Hell¡¯s Chef falls into the pool of black sludge. The butcher¡¯s knife goes flying off. Flint slowly rises from the ground, covering his chest wound with his free hand. Realizing that he has bought enough time for Serena, he shambles down the sterile halls. Flint hears Hell¡¯s Chef slowly rise from the ground, scraping her feet against the ground. ¡°No! Stop! You are the perfect ingredient! I need you!¡± the timid voice exclaims, desperately pleading for him to stop. Flint rushes down the halls as Hell¡¯s Chef chases after him with the knife in her hand. Despite the pains in his chest and his erratic breathing, he bolts down the hall. Flint bursts through the doors and into the dining area. He peers around and finds the area of the kitchen doors. Flint bolts over there as Hell¡¯s Chef tails behind him. Flint bolts through the kitchen doors and rushes to the opposite end of the room. Flint passes by limbs of other corrupted victims and vegetables on the aisle of countertops. Flint finds the countertop where Serena has put the ingredients, the recipe card, and the photo of the woman. Flint lowers himself to the ground and lowers the volume of the radio. He hears the kitchen doors burst open from the other side. He hears the low growl of scraping metal blades echo through the kitchen. ¡°Please¡­please still be here¡­¡± the timid feminine voice whimpers from the radio, only at a volume that Flint can hear. Hell¡¯s Chef scrapes her feet across the room¡¯s flooring. Hell¡¯s Chef looks around trying to find Flint, but the scent of cooking pots and fresh ingredients bombards her olfactory senses. Flint covers his ears as the grating noise strains his ears. ¡°Please¡­please be here¡­I only want to impress her¡­¡± the timid feminine voice whimpers from the radio. Flint taps the supports of the countertop where he is located. Hell¡¯s Chef hears the noise and approaches the area. Flint, as quietly as possible, crawls away. Hell¡¯s Chef gets a whiff of fresh and familiar ingredients nearby. She shambles toward the countertop with the ingredients on the recipe card, and the photo of the woman. Hell¡¯s Chef senses a familiar aura emanating from the card and photo. She brings both of them close to her face. Despite the blurred sight from her eyes, she recognizes the figure of the woman in the photo. ¡°Rina¡­¡± the timid feminine voice mutters over the radio. Hell¡¯s Chef pins the photo on her jacket. Flint peers over and sees Hell¡¯s Chef busy at work preparing the meal. He hears the flames on the stove tops behind him crackle and spark loudly. The air is filled with an appetizing aroma as she fries the rice and garlic in a large wok, frying the eggs on a small pan, and grilling the marinated pork shoulder on the grill. Hell¡¯s Chef plates the food on a simple platter, creating a mound of garlic fried rice, two over-easy eggs, and two skewers of pork barbecue stacked on each other. Flint peers over, impressed and salivating from the meal. Hell¡¯s Chef takes the plate of food and brings it out to the doors leading to the VIP area. Flint slowly stands up and follows closely behind her. Serena is seated at one of the lavish booths of the VIP area. She has been waiting there for what seems to be hours for herself. Hell¡¯s Chef exits the kitchen with the meal in her hands. Serena takes a deep breath, easing her nerves. Flint enters moments after Hell¡¯s Chef does, raising the volume of the She approaches Serena as her feet scrap against the velvet carpeting of the room. She places the plate of food on Serena¡¯s table. ¡°I¡­I made this for you, Rina¡­I hope you like it¡­¡± the timid feminine voice mutters over the radio. Serena sees Hell¡¯s Chef anxiously waiting for her to take a bite. Serena uses the spoon and fork on the table and pulls off a piece of pork barbecue from the skewer. She cuts one of the over-easy eggs, bursting its rich dark yellow yolk on the plate. She shovels some garlic fried rice on her spoon and consumes all three pieces together. She tastes a rich combination of flavors as she swallows the food. ¡°So Rina¡­do you like my food?¡± a timid feminine voice mutters from the radio. ¡°I¡­I do.¡± Serena replies. Serena shovels in more food, enjoying its wonderful taste. Serena looks up and sees genuine joy emanating from Hell¡¯s Chef¡¯s corroded visage. Despite her hanging jaw, Hell¡¯s Chef does her best to form a smile. ¡°I¡­I finally did it¡­¡± the timid feminine voice mutters from the radio. Flint approaches Hell¡¯s Chef from behind, resting the nose of his gun behind her head. She does nothing as she is filled with happiness from this occasion. He pulls the trigger. *BANG* A bullet that is surrounded by a bright green flame pierces through Hell¡¯s Chef¡¯s head. A great bright light erupts from her bullet wound. Serena covers her eyes as she takes cover under the table. ¡°Finally¡­I had the courage to make her this dish¡­¡± the timid feminine voice mutters from the radio. The room is enveloped with the same bright light as Hell¡¯s Chef¡¯s body fades away. Flint covers his eyes from the blinding light as his surroundings slowly change. Flint¡¯s eyes open as the light slowly dissipates. Instead of the lavish VIP dining area, he is now in the kitchen of a small restaurant. The aroma of freshly grilled meats and spices enters his nostrils and the frying of some food in the deep fryers causes him to salivate. He finds Rayne in the kitchen, dressed in a gray chef¡¯s garb and a simple baker boy cap over her medium-curled brown hair. She is busy walking back and forth making sure all the foods are being cooked and keeping high quality control. She ignores Flint like he isn¡¯t even there at all. As he is in the kitchen, he doesn¡¯t feel as tall as before, nor does he feel that his limbs are lanky and sticky. He looks at himself and notices he has returned to his original human form. Flint turns around and finds the owner entering the kitchen The owner is a large man with a smile always on his face that is surrounded by his fluffy white beard. He wears a simple polo shirt and khakis. ¡°It¡¯s good to see you working hard Rayne!¡± the man jovially exclaims. ¡°Might you need any help?¡± Rayne does not answer him and keeps focusing on the work at hand. ¡°Well¡­I suppose you don¡¯t need my help then. I¡¯ll be in the front of the house if you need me.¡± He tells her. The man walks out of the kitchen and lets Rayne continue working. Flint sees the time pass by quickly, seeing Rayne performing her job with all her effort and best capabilities. At the end of the day, Rayne checks everything in the kitchen, making sure all the equipment is cleaned and turned off. She peers out of the window on the door from the kitchen, seeing some of the waiters and the owner relaxing and talking to each other after their work. Rayne quietly leaves, clocking out. Flint notices his surroundings slowly change around him. Flint is now standing in a small apartment bedroom. There is barely enough room for him to walk around as the shelves full of various plush toys, the twin-sized bed with many pillows, and the work table occupy most of the space in the room. Rayne Pastel enters her room wearing a plain red t-shirt and black shorts. She crashes into her bed and surrounds herself with the many pillows on her bed. He hears her loud sighs as Rayne sinks into her comfy bed. Flint notices her turning herself up and facing the ceiling. She lies down on her bed, reflecting on her colleague¡¯s gathering after her shift. ¡°Should I have joined them?¡± she asks herself. ¡°No¡­I shouldn¡¯t. It would be a waste of time if I did.¡± Rayne looks over to her culinary arts degree hanging on her wall. Suddenly memories of her past flood her mind. She remembers how everyone disregarded her, and ignored her very existence. They told her she wouldn¡¯t make it, that she wasn¡¯t good enough. They never have given her a chance, and she doesn¡¯t give them one. She sighs heavily and looks back to the ceiling. ¡°It would waste my time from my cooking. You have to show them, Rayne, show them what you¡¯re capable of. I have to show them that I exist, that I have actual skills!¡± Flint looks at her with a face of concern. He sits down by the side of her bed, trying to comfort her. He knows her pains all too well. He sees his surroundings fade away. They slowly transform into a medium-sized dining area, which has neat rows of metal chairs and tables, of the restaurant that Rayne works in. The restaurant is fairly empty. The owner is standing by the small reception stand by the entrance, He hears the front door of the restaurant open. He finds a fair-skinned woman casually strolling into the restaurant, flaunting her short black hair, sleek black leather jacket, ripped jeans, and a clean white t-shirt. Flint recognizes her as the woman from the photo. The owner approaches her and greets her with a firm handshake and a large smile. ¡°Good to see you again Rina!¡± he greets her. The man leads Rina to her usual seat. She sits casually down on the chair. ¡°I¡¯ll have the usual boss,¡± Rina tells him. The owner writes down her usual order, barbecue skewers and coleslaw. ¡°Anything else?¡± the owner asks. Rina boldly takes the order ticket from the owner and writes something down on it. She gives it back to the owner. ¡°Let her read what¡¯s on it,¡± Rina tells him. The owner catches her drift and brings the ticket to the kitchen. Flint follows closely behind. In the kitchen, Rayne, in her usual chef¡¯s attire, makes sure the grills and fryers are heated for any possible orders. The owner and Flint enter the kitchen. The owner places the ticket on the countertop for her to read. Rayne takes the ticket as the owner leaves the kitchen. She takes a look at the ticket, and her face turns red when she reads on the ticket. Table 4 Barbecue Skewers Coleslaw You and me tomorrow after your work, cutie~ Rayne immediately puts aside the ticket and feels her heart ready to burst out of her chest. She walks back and forth in the kitchen, trying to get the meats and other ingredients ready to prepare the food. Flint observes her struggling to prepare the meal as she cannot stop thinking about Rina¡¯s bold approach. Even though she has only seen Rina from a distance, she cannot help but feel an attraction towards her. ¡°No¡­just stop it, Rayne. Do you know what these feelings are? They¡¯re distractions. They won¡¯t help you at all. Just focus on your work, and get it done. Show them that you are capable. That you deserve to be a chef.¡± She mutters to herself. Flint stands there as Rayne shakes her body and tries to focus on making her food. ¡°Please, Rayne. Don¡¯t end up like me.¡± Flint mutters. After several minutes, Rayne has prepared Rina¡¯s meal. She puts the plate on the pass and calls for the owner. The owner walks in, with his usual genuine smile on his face as he gets the plate. ¡°You know, if you need to get off work early tomorrow, just let me know, alright?¡± he tells her. Rayne focuses on cleaning her station, acting as if she doesn¡¯t hear him. The owner leaves with the plate. After hearing him exit Rayne secretly sneaks up to the door, with Flint following her. They both peek out the round windows on the doors. Rayne cannot stop blushing as she observes Rina eating the dish she has prepared in the dining room. They both see Rina¡¯s satisfied expression as she consumes her meal. Rina notices Rayne looking out from the kitchen door. She winks at her, before going back to her meal. Rayne backs away from the kitchen door with her visage now as red as a tomato and feeling as hot as the flames heating the grills. Flint again notices her trying to suppress these feelings by distracting herself with her usual duties in the kitchen. Flint feels his heart sink as she sees her do this. ¡°Please Rayne, if you can even hear me, don¡¯t do this to yourself. Once you enter that dark road, it will be so damn long for you to find the light. Please¡­don¡¯t end up like me.¡± He says out loud. Flint sees his surroundings slowly change. His surroundings form into Rayne¡¯s apartment bedroom. He sees her sitting down in her chair on her desk. He approaches her and peers over her shoulder. He sees her with a blank recipe card, tapping her pen on her table. Even though Rina and all the other customers are always happy to eat her cooking, that isn¡¯t her food. Rayne will never prove to them that she is an amazing chef if she can¡¯t even serve her own food. Yet despite this motivation, she struggles to write down anything on the card. Because it isn¡¯t about that motivation for her. Rayne becomes frustrated as her affection for Rina clouds her judgment and thinking. Rayne has always found her attractive in both her looks and personality, but as she keeps telling herself, love will get in the way of her pursuit of showing everyone she isn¡¯t one to ignore. Rayne sighs as she finds herself writing down the ingredients for her special dish, even writing a cute message for Rina at the end. She gets into bed, hoping that her slumber will make her forget about her actions. Flint¡¯s surroundings change again, this time to the kitchen at night. He sees Rayne standing there by the pass. Flint notices that all the ingredients for her special meal have been prepared on the countertop. He can see the uncertainty in Rayne¡¯s expression as she looks at Rina¡¯s usual order and recipe card. ¡°Damnit¡­why is this such a difficult decision?¡± Rayne mutters to herself. ¡°Just cook the order¡­stop looking at your dish¡­this isn¡¯t what she wants. My dish isn¡¯t something anyone wants. It¡¯s not good enough, and you¡¯ll get fired! You¡­just cook what¡¯s on the order. Throw away all the crap you have on here.¡± Flint sees tears stream down Rayne¡¯s eyes as she throws away all the fresh ingredients she has prepared. She wipes her eyes and focuses on cooking what Rina has ordered. But every time she tries to cook the meal, she ends up burning the meat or screwing up in making the coleslaw. Flint tries to stop her, despite knowing his efforts will be in vain. Each mistake she makes her feel worse and worse. Instead of proving them wrong, she¡¯s proving them right. She cannot handle the pressure in the kitchen. Flint follows her as she rushes outside of the kitchen. Flint sees Rayne leaning against the restaurant, wiping her tears. ¡°They¡¯re right¡­I¡¯m not good enough. I¡¯m letting my affection for Rina cloud my mind. Damn it¡­I don¡¯t need love! Love has no place in my life! Because what will love do for me if I want to succeed? Nothing! That¡¯s why¡­that why¡¯s I¡¯m a failure¡­they¡¯re right¡­¡± Rayne mutters. Flint cannot hold back his tears any longer as they stream down his face. He is reminded of his time in college. But unlike Rayne, he is lucky to have Ronlo break down those walls so he can feel the true warmth of love. Oh, how Flint misses him so. How after all of this, he cannot wait to return and mend his bonds with his family and closest friends. Flint hears the soft steps of someone approaching. Flint turns over and his eyes widen to see Romander, now old and decrepit, still in his filthy clothing. Rayne is too distraught to notice him approaching her. ¡°Look at this poor soul suffering. I do not wish to hear your cries, young one.¡± Romander tells her. Rayne looks up and notices Romander standing in front of her. Not recognizing the old man, she immediately backs away. ¡°What do you want?¡± she asks. ¡°Oh lost soul, do not run away from me. For I am here to guide you to redemption.¡± Romander mutters to her. ¡°Get away from me!¡± Rayne screams. Before she can run any further, Romander suddenly teleports in front of her. She ends up tripping as she is halted in her escape attempt. Romander teleports behind her and puts her in a chokehold. She falls unconscious. Flint tries to stop Romander from dragging her away to his van. Romander throws her unconscious body into his van and it drives off. Flint hears someone else running to the back, he turns around and finds Rina looking around. ¡°Rayne? Are you here? I heard you crying, are you alright?¡± she asks out loud into the night. No one responds. ¡°RAYNE!¡± Rina screams. Flint is engulfed in darkness. A large bright light suddenly illuminates the large kitchen in the facility, where Rayne is strapped down in a chair in the middle. Instead of her barker boy cap, she wears the stereotypical tall chef¡¯s hat. The straps on her legs and arms have needles that are connected to a large container of a shadowy malevolent thick fluid. Rayne slowly wakes up and panics seeing herself strapped down in the chair. Flint and Serena hear the crackling of a loudspeaker. Flint stands there, knowing he has to witness one of Romander¡¯s horrid experiments again. ¡°This experiment shall test the final iteration of the FMNL-X serum. I pray that this subject will react positively to this iteration.¡± Romander announces over the loudspeaker. ¡°Let me out-¡± Rayne is interrupted as the needles are forcibly injected into her body. She winces as the shadowy liquid flows into her body. She tries breaking free, but she cannot. After all the liquid has been injected into her body, the straps loosen. She immediately gets off the chair. Her breaths become heavier and her steps become sloppier. ¡°If you so wish to earn your freedom, follow the instructions on the card. Experiment #590: The Meal.¡± Romander announces. Rayne finds the card on the countertop and her eyes widen when she finds her recipe for breakfast barbecue. She looks around the kitchen and gathers woks, knives, and fresh ingredients. She places them on the counter and starts prepping them. However, before she can turn on the heat, she starts screaming in pain. She feels the shadowy fluid in her body constricting her nerves. As she looks at her body, her once tan skin has now slowly become dark and shadowy, like fluid flowing inside of her. Despite the pain, she turns the heat on for the grill and wok. She prepares the marinade as the pain worsens throughout her body. ¡°Make it stop! Make it stop!¡± she screams as she continues preparing the food. She struggles to slice the pork shoulder as her hands continuously shiver, causing the knife to be lodged in the meat. She is not satisfied with her cuts and discards the pork shoulder for another fresh one. She feels a sharp pain coming from her right arm as she is doing her best to cut the meat cleanly. She notices her right arm slowly corroding away, and stretching. She screams in agony as she feels the bones breaking in her body as they too corrode and melt away. She manages to cut the meat properly and put the slices in the marinade. As she puts the rice in the wok, she collapses to the ground as both of her legs undergo the same transformation as her arms. She slowly rises from the ground, despite her shaky legs and the sharp pains she feels from them. She sloppily chops the garlic and places it in the wok as the rice is fried. At this point, her left arm corrodes and stretches just like her right. She still powers through the pain as she puts the marinated pork onto the grill. Rayne feels her chest corrode and stretch away, the pain becomes too unbearable for Rayne and she collapses to the ground. The food starts to burn, and there is nothing she can do about it. She¡¯s a failure. Rayne lies there and screams in agony as her jaw falls slack and stretches downward. Then it all stops. Her now corrupted body stays there, motionless. Then, she slowly moves. She slowly stands up and despite her new form, she retains her timid and unsure nature as she gazes upon the burned food. She cries and whimpers, failing to create something great. ¡°Experiment #590: The Meal. Success. The perfect vessel shall be found for you, Alaya.¡± The entire room becomes surrounded by darkness, which engulfs Flint. In the darkness, he sees a white transparent distorted cloud. He sees the cloud slowly refigure itself into a humanoid shape. Flint sees the cloud form into Rayne¡¯s figure. There are injection marks on her arms and legs. Flint grips his fist tightly, seeing that Rayne has befallen the same fate as him. All because of that bastard Romander. ¡°You freed me¡­you freed this failure¡­¡± Rayne mutters. Flint looks up at her and shakes his head, disagreeing with her notion. ¡°But I am, mister. Throughout my life, I was always told I wasn¡¯t good enough, that I was worthless. In grade school and high school, I got average grades, and in college, my classmates questioned why I was even there at all. I needed to show them that I was better than they thought. I needed to show them that I deserved respect and deserved to be there. And so, I spent day and night honing my cooking skills and creativity. Nothing else mattered because it won¡¯t let me get better. That is, until when I got my job at that restaurant. My boss was so kind and caring, yet I kept my head down and only talked to him when necessary. As I kept working there, I saw a beautiful woman there, Rina, and my mind couldn¡¯t get off of her. I couldn¡¯t let my affection and love cloud my mind. Love won¡¯t help me get better and love wastes my time. But it was so hard to bottle it up. And when I finally forsaken her love, I felt so lost and defeated. Out of everyone in this world, Rina and my boss were the ones who gave me a chance, and I ignored them. I just wish one day I could apologize to my boss and Rina. And one day¡­I hope I can go on that date with Rina. But¡­even though I haven¡¯t met you, I feel you understand my pains, like you have gone through something similar. Mister, don¡¯t waste your opportunity to be with the ones you care for. Don¡¯t end up like me.¡± ¡°I won¡¯t Rayne,¡± Flint replies. ¡°And I promise you, that you will finally be with Rina again. You will be from your pains.¡± Flint sees a humanoid figure beside Rayne, placing its shadowy hand on her shoulder. ¡°Rayne, you have spent all your life honing your craft to show that you matter. Now it is time for you to use your honed craft to bring those who care about you closer to you. But I cannot guide you just yet.¡± The figure whispers into his ear. ¡°Trust in this detective¡¯s words. He will free you from this hell.¡± Rayne looks at Flint and nods. ¡°Thank you¡­¡± Rayne mutters. The humanoid figure guides Rayne away. ¡°Detective, your job is far from over. There are still so many you must save. But rage, rage against the dying of the light. You will free them.¡± The humanoid figure whispers into Flint¡¯s ears. ¡°I will.¡± He determinedly says. Flint stumbles around, feeling his body and eyelids become heavier. He falls to the ground, passing out. LN Flint slowly opens his eyes. His vision is blurry, unable to make out his current surroundings. He grumbles and lets out a low groan. He pats around his body, finding that his belongings are not there. He feels his corrupted body being dragged along the ground. He looks up and sees a large grotesque metal hand gripping tightly onto his right leg. ¡°YOU ARE NOT THE ONE.¡± A robotic voice crackles from an old voice box. Flint looks up and sees Romander rolling on a cold rugged stone floor as he drags Flint away. The creaking from the wheels and his large grotesque metal arm¡¯s tight grip on Flint echo throughout this impossibly large dark room, seemingly almost of infinite size to Flint. ¡°IT IS A SHAME YOU ARE NOT HER VESSEL. YOU SHALL JOIN THE OTHER FAILURES SOON.¡± He tells Flint in his crackling robotic voice. Flint struggles to break free, but he is unable to. Romander tightens his grip on Flint¡¯s leg. Flint groans loudly, feeling his corroded bones crack. Flint looks up and notices that he and Romander are approaching a large metal dome, which is as tall as the room¡¯s height and only large enough to occupy most of the walking space in the room. Flint¡¯s body trembles violently as Romander drags him closer and closer. Flint flails his long corroded arms at Romander, but Romander does not let go of his grip. Romander stops as he stands in front of the large dome. A giant metal door imposingly stands in front of them. Flint¡¯s body trembles more violently. He screams in agony, as his mind is bombarded with the echoes and blood-curdling screams of hundreds, no thousands of people¡¯s suffering. He feels sharp, indescribable pains all over his body. They have fallen a horrid, agonizing fate under Romander. Now, Flint too must suffer all of their pains, at once. Then, he will finally be home. ¡°DO NOT BE AFRAID LOST SOUL. DO NOT LET THE PAINS CLOUD YOUR JUDGMENT. I HAVE RETURNED YOU TO YOUR TRUE HOME.¡± The robotic voice crackles from the voice box. The door¡¯s lock chunk loudly, echoing throughout the impossibly large room. The door opens ajar. The screams of anguish and agony become the only thing he can hear. ¡°GOODBYE.¡± The robotic voice crackles from the voice box. Romander throws Flint into the dark void hidden within the dome. The closes shut. The room is dead silent. Romander wheels away. Flint is falling. He can only see darkness and countless victims hiding within its void. He only hears silence. He has a mouth, but he will not scream. For if he screams, then those hiding in the shadows will rip him limb from limb. He reaches out his lanky corroded arms into the air, hoping someone will pick him up from his fall. Hoping someone will free him. But even he knows the futility of his action. He crashes into a deep pool of black sludge. The impact from his dive erupts countless corpses and limbs like a powerful bellowing geyser. He drowns in the sludge, but he does not scream. For if he screams, they will drag him down deeper. The black sludge fills his corroded lungs like a water balloon. The suffocating weight of the black sludge and all the corpses slowly crush him alive. But it does not matter if he screams or not, those hiding within the shadows sense the life coming from within Flint. Countless arms of many sizes from many ages drag him deeper into the abyss. The silence becomes no more. The choir of agonizing and anguished screams gradually become louder and louder. Flint joins into the choir¡¯s bellowing performance. For he has a mouth and he must scream. Flint is brought to the bottom of what seems to be an infinite abyss. The arms do not let go, they never will. Because now, he will become a new member of their home. Flint¡¯s screams of anguish become dead silent. No matter how hard he tries, there is no escaping this hell. With the little energy he has left, he lets his tears roll down his eyes. He is a failure and he let the darkness win. Those victims will never be freed from Romander¡¯s horrid crimes. He will never return to his home. ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m so, so sorry¡­I never wanted everything to fall apart right before my eyes. I never wanted to be the reason why our family has fallen apart. Ronlo¡­please forgive your stupid husband. He never wanted to hurt you and leave you so alone. Lily, please forgive your father for not being there for you. You deserve someone better. And Sercas and Serena¡­you deserve a better colleague¡­no better friend than me.¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters from the radio. ¡°And to you Argus, Toby, Christie, Rayne, and you kid. I¡¯m sorry that I can¡¯t free you. I¡¯m sorry my failure will not allow you to rekindle and fix your broken bonds. But it isn¡¯t only you five. That figure¡­I know what he means now. I¡¯m trying to free you all! I¡¯m trying¡­so, so hard. But even I know that my efforts are futile. But damn it, I¡¯d rather keep trying than give up! Even though you have suffered long enough, please, let me free you from this hell! Let me finally bring you peace! I shall carry your pains, just please¡­please let me keep fighting.¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters from the radio. Despite his plea, the arms keep their tight grip on him. Flint has a mouth, and he must scream. He screams his pleas loudly, trying to overpower the choir of anguished screams bombarding his mind. But, the choir becomes louder and louder. ¡°Everyone! Please listen to the mister!¡± a young voice shouts from the radio. The choir¡¯s anguished and agonizing screams cease. ¡°Mister has done everything he can to free us! He¡¯s been hurt in so many ways, but he is still here. I¡¯ve seen him free the four who have been suffering the most. And if he can free them, he will free you! Please¡­let him go!¡± the young voice pleads. ¡°Kid¡­¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters. Flint closes his eyes and grips his hands tightly. ¡°I vow to pursue and reveal the truth to all. I mustn¡¯t waver, no matter how bitter the consequences may be. No one should live in the darkness of falsehoods nor should those who harm others hide have their sins be hidden away!¡± Flint¡¯s voice exclaims from the radio. He does not hear the choir begin again but is still at the bottom. He hears the radio crackling loudly as if capturing the voices of everyone trapped in this damned hell. ¡°F¡­R¡­E¡­E¡­U¡­S.¡± The voices chant from the radio. The arms let go of their grasp on Flint. Flint sees a cloudy white hand reach out to him. Flint takes the hand. He can hear their chant become louder and louder as the cloudy arm raises him out of the hell. The chunking of the metal door¡¯s lock echoes throughout the impossible large dark room. Flint is thrown out of the dome, and the metal door shuts tightly behind him. Flint pukes out all the black sludge within his body, spilling it all over the rugged stone floor. Flint looks up and finds the figure of the young boy standing in front of him. As if by fatherly instinct, he hugs the young boy tightly. While unfamiliar with this warmth, the young boy hugs him back even tighter. ¡°Thank you, kid¡­¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters from the radio. He and the figure of the young boy let go. ¡°No Mister. Thank you.¡± The young voice tells him from the radio. Flint slowly rises from the ground, his corroded and corrupted form towering over the figure of the young boy. Flint sees a bright light emanating from the young boy. ¡°Mister¡­thank you for keeping my promise. Thank you for making me feel wanted¡­¡± the young voice from the radio tells him. The impossibly large room is enveloped with the same bright light coming from the figure of the young boy. Flint covers his eyes from the blinding light as his surroundings slowly change. Flint slowly opens his eyes. He stands in front of a hospital baby room with the glass reflecting his human form. Out of all the cribs and babies that are swaddled in warm white blankets, one stands out. The name tag on the crib has the name: LN. The dark-tanned-skinned baby sleeps soundly in the crib. Flint hears the steps of three people approaching the area. ¡°Well, that¡¯s the unfortunate thing, isn¡¯t it? The parents just left after giving birth to the kid.¡± A doctor says out loud. ¡°But, if you¡¯re willing to adopt him, I¡¯d certainly encourage you to do so.¡± Flint turns around and finds an older doctor speaking to a married couple. The fair-skinned husband, Alex, has a jovial visage and wears a simple plaid button-up and jeans. His tanned-skinned wife, Anabel, on the other hand, has a more tired visage and wears a simple white dress top and jeans. Flint notices her staring at the many babies in the room. Faint tears fall from her eyes. She feels the warmth of her husband as he puts his arm over her shoulders. ¡°We would be happy to adopt him doctor, no matter how long it takes,¡± Alex tells the doctor. ¡°Fantastic to hear! You two stay here, I will get the proper authorities here, alright?¡± the doctor tells them. The doctor walks away, leaving Flint and the married couple there. Alex looks over and notices his wife¡¯s somber expression as she gazes upon the babies in the room. He wipes the tears from her face. ¡°Hey, look at me. It will be okay. Deep breaths for me, okay?¡± he tells her. Anabel listens to his advice and tries to calm herself down. But she cannot stop her eyes from wandering towards the room of babies. More tears stream down her face. ¡°Hey, just look at me, alright?¡± he again tells her. ¡°Right¡­right¡­¡± she mutters. She hugs him tightly as the doctor enters the room again. Flint sees his surroundings slowly change around him. They change into a small bedroom. The walls of the room are painted light blue with large yellow stars. He notices a small wooden crib in the center of the room. Soothing piano music plays from the radio attached to the crib. Flint quietly approaches the crib. He finds LN sleeping soundly, under several soft blankets. The sight of LN in the crib reminds him of memories of when he and Ronlo first adopted Lily. She has slept so soundly in the crib, just like LN. Flint lovingly caresses LN¡¯s face, just like he would do with Lily when she was a baby. LN though, does not react to his touch. He overhears a violent commotion coming from outside the room. Flint sees LN crying and whining in his bed as the commotion becomes louder. Flint lowers to the ground and tries his best to ease LN¡¯s crying by gently rocking the crib back and forth, but it is ineffective. Flint stands up and exits the room. He walks down the dark hallway, hearing the noise becoming louder. He enters the large living room and sees Alex and Anabel berating and shouting at each other. ¡°Damn it, why don¡¯t you spend more time with our son?¡± the husband shouts at her. ¡°Me? You¡¯re the one who¡¯s at work every damn day! It shouldn¡¯t only be me here!¡± she rebuts. ¡°You know I¡¯m busting my ass off at work so I can provide for you guys here!¡± he argues back. ¡°Well you¡¯re the one who wanted to adopt him, so he¡¯s your responsibility!¡± ¡°Me? You also wanted him as well, don¡¯t tell me that bullshit now!¡± ¡°I never wanted him! He¡¯s not my child!¡± she shouts at him. The author''s narrative has been misappropriated; report any instances of this story on Amazon. The husband grimaces at her response. ¡°Damn it, he is our child! Why won¡¯t you let it get through that thick skull of yours? Oh wait, it¡¯s because all you do is drink, drink, drink!¡± he shouts. Flint can only watch as he sees this argument devolve into a bloodbath of insults and horrid language. His body shivers at this brutal and painful sight. He walks away to LN¡¯s bedroom, hearing the fight becoming worse and worse. He stands by LN¡¯s crib, seeing him cry and whine. But Flint knows they are too busy fighting to notice. ¡°This has to be what Lily feels¡­¡± Flint mutters. Flint tightly grips the handles of the crib. Tears stream down Flint¡¯s face. ¡°Damn it¡­I never wanted to hurt you Lily¡­I¡­I just wanted to be a good father for you. I swear¡­after all of this is over, I¡¯ll be the best dad for you. No more fighting, no more running.¡± Flint mutters again. Flint wipes his tears from his face. He lowers himself to LN¡¯s level, rocking back and for the crib, in hopes that it soothes him. Flint sees the room slowly change around him, with the argument omnipresent in the background during the change. The room once for the baby LN, transforms into a simple boy¡¯s bedroom. The light blue paint and stars on the walls have become faded and are covered with posters of space and planets. The shelves are full of books about astronomy and various plush animals. Flint sees a now five-year-old LN reading a book about complex astrophysics concepts on his bed, letting himself get lost in the literature as he hears his parent¡¯s arguments in the background. Flint sits next to LN, impressed that LN is reading such an advanced topic at this age. Though LN cannot understand all of the theories and equations, he finds solace in how these theories and equations describe the boundless and mysterious beauty of space. After LN has finished reading the book, he puts it away on his shelf and goes to sleep, facing away from Flint. Flint leans over and sees LN hiding under his pillow and covers, hoping the noise from his parent¡¯s argument is muffled. Flint sees LN drifting off to sleep, seeing tears stream from his eyes. Flint hears the argument die down after some painstakingly long moments after LN has fallen asleep. Flint sees the door open and finds Alex peeking through the small opening. He sighs in relief, seeing LN asleep. He quietly enters the room and kneels. He kisses LN on the cheek before leaving. Several moments later, Anabel enters the room. Flint smells the familiar scent of alcohol coming from her breath. Anabel kneels to the ground. Her shivering hand caresses LN¡¯s face. She focuses on the clear difference in their skin tone, making her hand shiver more. She stands up and walks away to the kitchen. More time passes by for both Flint and LN. Flint sees LN age right before his eyes, though his bedroom is relatively the same. During this passage of time, Flint does not hear their arguments in the background. It is late at night and Flint sees LN putting on a sweater in his room. LN grabs his telescope in his room. LN quietly opens his bedroom door with the telescope in his grasp. Flint follows LN down the hall. They pass by Anabel sitting by the dining table. Several empty beer bottles lay on the table. Anabel opens another beer bottle and drinks its numbing amber liquid. Flint and LN are standing in the front yard. They gaze at the beautiful and clear starry night up above. LN sets up his telescope and peers into the lens. Looking through the telescope, he finds a large cluster of stars. He takes out a small notebook and multi-ink pen from the pockets of his sweater. As Flint looks over, he sees LN flipping past pages of colored sketches of star clusters LN has seen. LN lands on the last empty page of the notebook. Flint is impressed with the amount of detail and effort in LN¡¯s sketch of the cluster of stars. From what little Flint has seen, this particular star cluster seems to be the largest out of the ones in the notebook. Flint looks up at the starry night sky, admiring the bright shining stars existing within the vast, limitless cosmos. ¡°Maybe¡­there¡¯s a home somewhere out there for me¡­¡± LN mutters. Flint turns to LN, who is still sketching the large star cluster. Flint sees tears stream down LN¡¯s eyes and land on the sketch. Despite the downpour of tears, LN continues sketching the rest of the star cluster. Flint kneels to LN¡¯s level and does his best to comfort him, even though he knows his efforts are in vain. After comforting LN for some more moments, Flint sees LN finishing the sketch of the large star cluster. The sketch captures the countless bright stars in the sky, surrounded by vibrant splashes of magenta, orange, indigo, and black to represent the vast cosmos. With the little space left on the page, LN writes the name of the cluster: Home. LN puts his notebook away and looks through the telescope again. LN gazes again at the cluster of stars, letting himself get lost in the vast cosmos of space. The cricking sounds from the grasshoppers and cicadas during the night are overpowered by the blaring of loud sirens. LN sees flashes of blue and red passing through the telescope lens. Flint looks over and sees a police car parked in front of the yard. As LN takes his eye off the telescope, a police officer approaches him. Flint sees an immediate distraught expression form on her visage. As the officer is near LN, she kneels at his height. ¡°How are you doing bud?¡± she asks. ¡°Good¡­¡± he weakly mutters. Flint sees the officer¡¯s distraught expression worsen. ¡°Look, I have terrible news for you¡­¡± Flint sees his surroundings change before his very eyes before their conversation ends. He is now standing on the sidewalk of a dark street, earlier the same night. He sees Alex with a backpack getting off the bus and resting at the bus shelter on the other side. From this distance, Flint notices Alex pulling something out from his bag. It is a box wrapped in simple striped wrapping paper. ¡°Sorry I can¡¯t be there for you on your birthday, sport. Hopefully, you¡¯ll at least love the gift I have for you.¡± Alex mutters. Alex puts the gift back into his backpack and exits the bus shelter. He takes in the cool night, trying to relax himself from the stress of work. ¡°Damn it¡­if only I had a less demanding job.¡± Alex mutters. ¡°Then¡­then old sport would have someone in his life¡­¡± Alex takes a deep breath while walking. ¡°Anabel, please be there for him. I know we have been suffering and I know we¡¯ve fought so many times, but at least try to be there for him when I can¡¯t. I¡¯m trying on my end to find a better job, so please try as well. Don¡¯t give up¡­¡± Alex mutters. Alex looks both ways before crossing the road. Flint hears the roaring of a motor grow louder and louder as Alex is in the middle of the road. A sudden bright erupts from the darkness. Alex is blinded by the light, stumbling around. By the time he regains his vision, he is met with a terrible fate. A van collides with Alex. Alex flies back on the rough concrete road, splattering blood all over it. The van does not stop and speeds away, crushing the rest of his body. Alex is left unrecognizable lying on the ground. Flint keeps staring at the familiar van driving away. A look of utter hatred forms on his face. ¡°Romander¡­you bastard!¡± he shouts. Flint sees his surroundings change around him. They form into the dining area of LN¡¯s home. Weeks have passed since Alex¡¯s death. LN sits at the table, holding the notebook of his star cluster sketches underneath. His mother sits across from him, drinking her fourth bottle of beer. ¡°Hey¡­mom?¡± LN softly asks her. Anabel¡¯s face twitches after hearing him say that to her. ¡°What did you just call me you ingrate?¡± she asks back. ¡°I told you never to call me that you damn piece of human filth!¡± LN sits there quietly as she downs the rest of the beer. LN looks down at his notebook and lets his mother unleash all her anger at him. Flint is horrified by all the degrading and harsh language she tells him. ¡°I don¡¯t want you to ever talk to me! You¡¯re not my son, no you¡¯ll never be my son! NOW LEAVE!¡± She shouts at LN. LN quietly stands up from the table and walks away. His notebook drops to the ground as he exits his home. ¡°Hey! COME BACK HERE!¡± she shouts at him. She drunkenly chases after him, but she immediately gives up after hearing the front door close shut. She approaches the table with shaky steps. Her once angry expression turns into one of remorse. She sits down on her chair, gazing upon the four empty bottles of beer. She can no longer hold her tears back and they stream down her face. ¡°How¡­how could I say that to him?¡± she asks herself. ¡°I¡¯m¡­I¡¯m such a horrible mother¡­¡± In her emotional state, she knocks over all the empty beer bottles on the table. ¡°Damn you! Damn you alcohol! Damn your addicting¡­numbing sensation¡­¡± she mumbles. She lowers herself back on the chair, slouching. Though Flint is appalled by her previous outrage, he knows the feeling all too well. ¡°Why? Why are you so addicting? Why can¡¯t I stop?¡± she asks herself. ¡°I¡­I just wanted to be a mother¡­a good mother. But¡­I let this bastard cloud my judgment. It¡­felt so relieving to drink it¡­but at what cost? There¡¯s no going back¡­there¡¯s no fixing what¡¯s broken¡­¡± She somberly stands up from the table and shambles to the fridge. As she walks to the fridge, she feels something other than the hardwood floor on the ground. Anabel looks to the ground and finds LN¡¯s notebook. She bends down and picks it up. Anabel sits back down and opens the notebook. The first page of the notebook has ¡°TO YOU MOM AND DAD¡± in basic and somewhat crude handwriting. She flips through the pages finding stunning colored sketches of star clusters. Each page connects some of the stars in the sketches, forming constellations of famous scientists and places. With each page, more tears stream down her face. Then, she finally reaches the final page. It is the large star cluster Flint has observed LN drawing. Unlike before, he and Anabel see a constellation of LN, Alex, and Anabel on the cluster. She breaks down when she reads the title on the bottom: Home. Though Flint cannot excuse her earlier outburst, he will not let her wallow in her self-pity. ¡°Damn it, woman! Don¡¯t give up now and let your son run away! Even after all you did to him, he still loves you! You are his mother! You are his home!¡± Flint shouts at her. Anabel stops crying as if she has heard his words. She stands from the table, immediately sobering up. ¡°LN! LN! I¡¯m sorry!¡± she screams, running out of her home. Flint¡¯s surroundings change once more. He sits on a swing on a swing set in a local park on a clear starry night. LN is sitting on the swing next to him. He sees LN again looking up at the starry night sky. Looking at the night sky, he is reminded of his current state. He is like a lone, insignificant star among the sea of billions. No matter how bright he glows, no one will pay him any mind. Yet he still holds onto the hope that just one day, if that day ever comes, he will have a place to call home. A home where it isn¡¯t just a place for him to sleep, but also a place where he will have good friends and family to be with him, no matter what. Flint hears the steps of someone approaching them. He looks up and grimaces at the person approaching him. It is Romander, yet he appears like his younger self. ¡°Hey there,¡± he greets LN. ¡°What are you doing out here so late?¡± LN looks at him, though remains silent. ¡°Hey now, don¡¯t be sad. You can talk to me.¡± Romander tells him. LN remains silent. Flint nudges LN, hoping that he will not talk to this depraved man. Yet, he knows his actions are in vain. Romander looks to the sky. ¡°Ain¡¯t this a beautiful starry night?¡± Romander comments. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t be amazing if you could take an amazing look at all these stars?¡± LN perks up at him mentioning that. ¡°Really?¡± he asks. ¡°Oh yes,¡± Romander replies. ¡°You¡¯ll be in a nice warm place where you can gaze at the stars all you want. And I¡¯ll be there with you, no matter what!¡± Romander sees LN¡¯s hesitancy and sighs. ¡°A shame that you will not take this opportunity. Alas, I cannot force you to come with me.¡± Romander comments. Romander slowly walks off. LN sits on the swing, still contemplating his decision. Flint keeps urging LN not to go with him, even though his efforts will be in vain. LN gets off the swing and runs up to Romander. Romander turns around, hearing LN run after him. Flint sees a devilish smile on Romander¡¯s face as LN approaches him. ¡°Come on, let¡¯s gaze at the stars, together,¡± Romander tells LN. Romander takes LN¡¯s hand and they walk to Romander¡¯s van. Flint rushes after them. ¡°NO DON¡¯T TAKE HIS HAND! DON¡¯T GO WITH THAT BASTARD!¡± Flint screams. But it is all in vain. Romander places him in the back of the van and he drives off. ¡°LN? LN, are you here?¡± Anabel asks. Flint turns around and finds Anabel looking around for LN. ¡°LN! LN! I¡¯m sorry! I shouldn¡¯t treated you like trash! I¡¯ve been a terrible mother, but please come back! You¡¯re my son!¡± Flint is suddenly surrounded by darkness. Flint sees a young Romander stand in front as they are surrounded by the dark void. ¡°Oh young LN you were not clever,¡± Romander mutters. Flint hears LN¡¯s cries for help. The grinding of metal tools to a fine sharp point and roaring, crackling flames ring through Flint¡¯s ears. LN¡¯s cries for help become replaced with the screams of pain and agony. He hears the slicing and scorching of flesh. LN¡¯s screams gradually become louder, making Flint collapse to the ground and cover his ears. Flint sees Romander¡¯s face slowly droop and rapidly age right before his very eyes. Romander¡¯s skin becomes shriveled and wrinkled. The makeup falls off showing Romander¡¯s lifeless, gray skin. ¡°Now your mother shall know the true suffering forever.¡± Romander again mutters. Then, the screams cease. Flint uncovers his ears and stands up. He is still in the same dark void. He sees a white cloud form in front of him. The cloud shapes itself into LN, like how Flint has seen him through the entire facility. ¡°Thank you mister¡­¡± LN tells him. Flint notices LN looking up at the dark void. ¡°I looked up into the sky so I could see space. Space is so, so large that maybe I could find a nice proper home one day. But instead, I found the sea of bright, shining stars in the sky. So maybe, if the day never comes, I could become one of those bright shining stars. I¡¯ll shine so bright for those who observe me. That way¡­that way they will have something that knows they exist. Even if it is just a star, they can see something so far away cares for them, even if others don¡¯t. And¡­I won¡¯t ever be alone. I¡¯ll have people who really care for me.¡± Flint lets his tears stream down his face as he sees LN walk away from him deeper into the void. ¡°Hey, kid!¡± Flint shouts out. LN stops moving away. ¡°Kid, there are people who care about you. Even though they weren¡¯t around, your parents still love you. I have a daughter, a sweet, beautiful daughter. I have brought so much pain and sadness into her life by arguing with my dear husband. But, we argued because we wanted to care for you better. But we were blind to see how our fights hurt you. That¡¯s what your parents have gone through. Your dad was determined to find another job that allows him to be with you and your mom, despite her anger and denial, still saw you as her son. As parents, we cannot excuse our actions, but we will do our best to better, all just for you. So please¡­forgive them, be with them, and trust them to do the right thing for you, just like you trusted me!¡± Flint sees LN standing there, silent. ¡°Mister¡­I have a home?¡± LN asks him. ¡°Yes, yes you do kid,¡± Flint tells him. ¡°And I have a home waiting for me after I fulfill my promise.¡± LN runs up to him. Flint kneels and they embrace each other tightly. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you, mister,¡± LN mutters. ¡°I¡¯ll miss you as well, LN,¡± Flint tells him. ¡°Now, go, you have a family.¡± Flint sees a shadowy hand resting on LN¡¯s shoulder. Flint looks up and sees the tall shadowy humanoid figure standing there. ¡°It is time for you to return home, LN. Trust in this detective that he will free you.¡± The shadowy figure whispers into LN¡¯s ear. LN and Flint let go of their embrace. The tall shadowy humanoid figure guides LN away. ¡°Detective, you have seen all these souls, but there are still more. Now go forth, complete your task, and free these lost souls. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. I know you free them all.¡± The shadowy voice whispers into his ears. ¡°I will,¡± Flint says with pure determination. Flint stumbles around, feeling his body and eyelids become heavier. He falls to the ground, passing out. Romander Flint slowly rises from the cold, stone ground of the impossibly large room. His low groans and cracking of corroded bones weakly echo throughout the room. Flint¡¯s breaths become more erratic and his body shivers due to the injuries he has sustained. Despite the pain, Flint keeps standing. Flint shambles through the dark void of the room, distancing himself away from the large metal dome. He shambles through the dark void, in hopes that there is something to bring him out of this horrid and hidden place. He is accompanied by the sounds of his stiff steps and a crackling radio echoing through the room. It doesn¡¯t take long for him to see an old, rusted lift in the distance, despite the darkness. He immediately bolts to the lift, leaving a trail of black sludge footprints on the stone floor. Flint stops mere inches away from the lift, breathing heavily. He presses the call button on the lift. The rusty lift squeaks and scrapes loudly as it lowers down. Flint leans against the rusty grill gate as he waits for the lift. The lift finally reaches the stop after what felt like hours to Flint. He opens the gate and finds a large lift accommodating his corrupted body¡¯s size. He closes the gate and presses the up button on the lift. He lies down as the lift¡¯s loud creaks and scraps echo throughout the room. He patches his wounds with whatever is left of his stained, destroyed button-up polo. Flint takes out his revolver and only finds enough ammunition to replenish his used bullets. He loads the bullets into the empty spots of the revolver barrel. He keeps the revolver close to him, knowing that those are his only shots left. Flint looks up at the seemingly infinite height the lift has to travel. He takes a deep breath, and savors this little moment of respite. Romander stands in front of a large device. The giant ridged cylinder-shaped machine whirs and rumbles loudly. There is a circular window showing the dark inside of the room. The dim blue light glowing from its pulsing various tubes prevents Romander from being enveloped in the darkness within the large room. Romander holds a monitor in his large grotesque hand. The monitor shows the symbols on the glowing barrier. All the petals have been dimmed. He crushes the monitor in his hand. Romander throws the monitor aside and keeps staring at the window on the door of the large machine. ¡°IT MATTERS NOT IF THE SEAL HAS BEEN BROKEN.¡± The robotic voice crackles from the voice box. ¡°I MUST BEGIN THE PROCEDURE.¡± Romander wheels over to a control panel beside the machine. He flips several switches and presses buttons on the panel. The pipes on the machine pulse intensely and glow brightly while the machine rumbles violently. His large grotesque robotic hand slams down on the power button. A progress bar shows on the monitor screen. ¡°NOW, IT IS A MATTER OF WAITING. IF MY GAMBIT WITH THE LOST SOUL RESULTS IN SUCCESS, EVERYTHING SHALL GO ACCORDING TO PROCEDURE.¡± The robotic voice crackles from the voice box. ¡°ALAYA, THIS SHALL WORK. I PROMISE YOU.¡± Flint is still on the lift, lying down. He takes a good look through the camera feed, noticing the new photos in the storage. The first five new photos consist of various photos of the damned trapped within the dome. Each photo captures their suffering and the horrid conditions they are kept under. The last of the new photos is of LN¡¯s spectral figure standing next to Argus, Toby, Christie, and Rayne. Flint grips the camera tightly at the sight of the photo, reminded of their horrid pasts and his duty. But it isn¡¯t only about freeing them. Those poor victims that are trapped in the dome too had their precious life taken away from them by that bastard thief, Romander. Though he knows nothing of their pasts, he cannot ignore their suffering. Flint snaps out of his reflective state when he sees the screen scroll past many photos, each containing the same grim sights as the photos he has taken through his journey. He loosens his grip on the camera, which stops on a special photo. It is the first-ever photo he has taken with the camera. The photo shows Flint in his college days with much shorter hair and a younger, livelier expression sitting next to Ronlo, who too appears younger and has shorter hair. Flint, despite his corrupted body, forms a smile as he gazes at the photo. Never in a million years did Flint think he would fall in love with Ronlo on that fateful day. But the smile on Flint¡¯s face disappears. He has caused such destruction towards his love for Ronlo, not because he wanted to, but because he was afraid. He can still remember his father¡¯s lectures every time he cries and he cannot bear making Ronlo suffer more by revealing the morbid crimes he deals in his cases. But no more will he feel this. After all of this is over, Flint wants to return home, where he will find his dear Ronlo waiting for him at the door. He wants nothing more than to give him the tightest hug. Flint snaps out of his reflective state again after hearing the lift come to a sudden halt. Flint puts away the camera in his pocket and opens the grill gate behind him. He slowly shambles out of the lift. Serena rises from the ground feeling disorientated sometime after the large, powerful flash. She takes a moment to fix her hair and shake her body out of her current state. She looks around and her eyes widen, unable to find Flint in the dining area. ¡°Crap¡­¡± she mutters. She sits down on the velvet seat of the booth to ponder about the situation. Though Flint can be anywhere throughout the facility, she limits her next course of action to searching for him on this floor. It doesn¡¯t take Serena long to determine an obvious location where he can be. She stands up and bolts toward the laboratory area of this floor, gripping the frying pan tightly in her right hand. Serena leans against the door of the filing room, breathing heavily. She has spent so much time looking through every room for Flint. Alas, she has come empty-handed. She continues her respite, hoping to have regained enough energy for another look around. The sounds of creaking bones and the crackling of a radio travel down the hall. Serena immediately jolts, recognizing the sounds. As she takes a turn on a nearby corner of the hallway, she finds Flint slowly shambling down the hallway. ¡°Flint!¡± she exclaims. Flint notices Serena and sees her running toward him. Serena hugs Flint, despite the black sludge all over his body, grateful that he is okay. Though Flint wants to hug her back, he does not want more of the black sludge on his body to stain her. Serena releases her hug, realizing how much of a mess she is in. ¡°Geez¡­I should have thought this through¡­¡± she mutters. ¡°Oh well, I suppose it¡¯ll take a while to clean off.¡± Serena looks behind Flint, seeing the hallway becoming gradually darker behind him. ¡°I will explain to you later. Right now it is vital we regroup with Sercas. There is¡­a lot I must discuss with you.¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. Serena understands the situation, despite her many questions. Flint and Serena take a long trek back to Sercas¡¯s location. Sercas is lying on the floor of the kitchen, slowly breathing in and out. Though his wounds have not recovered yet after all this time, he feels well enough that the pain is not too distracting. He takes his pistol from his holster and inspects its condition. Though there are a few dents and scratches on the body of the gun from his altercation against the Self-Building Man, the mechanisms have been untouched. He takes out a loaded magazine and loads it into his pistol. Sercas hears crooked steps slowly approaching the room. Sercas is reminded of that damn Self-Building Man as the steps approach closer. Sercas aims his pistol at the door, resting his finger on the trigger. Sercas finds a towering figure slowly entering the room. The figure¡¯s skin is akin to that of the Self-Building Man, though unlike him, the figure adorns Flint¡¯s usual attire. ¡°NOT TODAY BASTARD!¡± Sercas shouts. *BANG* The gunshot rings throughout the halls. The bullet is lodged into Flint¡¯s flesh. Flint winces, though he is not seriously injured. Sercas rises from the floor, wincing due to his wounds. Sercas has his pistol still aimed at Flint, willing to die fighting. The realization hits Flint that Sercas does not know of his new appearance. Hearing the shot, Serena rushes into the room before Sercas can fire another shot. She stands in front of Flint with her arms spread out. ¡°Wait! Sercas!¡± she exclaims. ¡°Don¡¯t shoot!¡± ¡°Serena?¡± he asks, confused. ¡°Just lower your gun, alright? We¡¯ll explain.¡± Serena tells him. Though Sercas is relieved that Serena has not been hurt, he does not lower his pistol. ¡°Who the hell is that?¡± Sercas asks. ¡°Isn¡¯t that a rude question to ask someone you just shot?¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles from the radio. Sercas jumps back, almost dropping his gun. ¡°Flint? That¡¯s you?¡± he asks in disbelief. ¡°It¡¯s a long story¡­¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. Serena, Sercas, and Flint get comfortable in the kitchen. Flint recounts all the events that have happened to him in the facility thus far. Though the events are quite supernatural and macabre for Serena and Sercas to comprehend at first, the photos on Flint¡¯s camera reassure them that those events did happen to Flint. ¡°Damn Flint, you went through all this shite?¡± Sercas asks. ¡°Yes, yes I have,¡± Flint replies over the radio. Flint senses Serena¡¯s unusual silence. He looks over and sees her pondering. ¡°Flint, I believe everything that you have said is true but there are so many questions left unanswered,¡± Serena mentions. ¡°Are you sure you should off Romander without at least answering them?¡± Flint nods, knowing she is right. ¡°You are correct in your assessment Serena. But I have not forgotten about that I assure you.¡± Flint replies over the radio. ¡°For my goal to be successful, I require your aid.¡± Serena and Sercas look at each other with a surprised expression. They then look back at Flint. ¡°You need us, Flint?¡± Serena asks. ¡°It is a contingency plan. If I cannot escape here, I need you two to carry whatever evidence we find.¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. ¡°Oh, yeah that¡¯s very smart.¡± Serena notes. ¡°Come on Flint, don¡¯t be such a damn downer. We will get out of here alive, you old fart.¡± Sercas tells him. Flint glares at Sercas while Serena tries her best to hold back her laughter. Even during such a serious moment, Sercas manages to make cheeky jabs at Flint. But, Flint doesn¡¯t mind, he does miss Sercas messing with him. ¡°Okay, mister weaponsexual.¡± Flint jests over the radio. Flint¡¯s jest over the radio is met with silence. Flint supposes Sercas¡¯s old man comment is correct. Before Flint can speak, he hears both Serena and Sercas burst into laughter at how bad his comeback is. Flint eventually joins along with them, unable to hold back his laughter at his poor jest. Though they all know that they should all be more serious in an environment such as this, it has been so long since they have been able to have fun around each other. They savor the moment as it slowly forms into a more serious one as the laughter dies down. Serena helps Sercas up from the ground. He winces, though manages to stay standing. ¡°Sercas, are you better now?¡± Flint inquires over the radio. Sercas looks at Flint, nodding. ¡°It will take a lot more to keep me down,¡± Sercas replies. Sercas moves some steps forward, wincing slightly. Serena stays close to him, making sure he does not fall. ¡°If we get into any scuffles, I¡¯ll have to stick with my trusty pistol,¡± Sercas tells him. ¡°It sucks I can¡¯t use my baton though¡­¡± ¡°You know, I can use your baton,¡± Serena suggests. ¡°I can handle weapons just fine. And¡­¡± Serena shows Sercas the rough state of the pan. The pan has many dents and is deeply stained with black sludge. She discards the pan on the side. Though Sercas is surprised by her suggestion, given her lack of experience, he trusts Serena. He lends her his baton ¡°Here, make sure you use it well,¡± Sercas tells her. Serena nods and takes his baton, holding it with great care. After Flint sees their weapon situation has been sorted out, he shambles out of the room. Serena and Sercas follow closely behind. After an uneventful trek through the casino and the maze-like halls on the floor above, the group finds themselves at the entrance to the stairwell leading to the upper floors. The talismans glow intensely as Flint enters the stairwell. As Flint leads the way, he feels an overwhelming presence slowly crushing him as he climbs the stairs. Serena and Sercas are quick to notice Flint¡¯s slower motions and shaky body due to the presence. Sercas and Serena both go up to Flint and support him with their shoulders. They hear Flint¡¯s breathing becoming heavier and his body shaking even more. As they reach the top of the stairs, Flint sees the symbols on the barrier no longer there. The barrier slowly dissipates into thin air, no longer blocking the entrance to the third floor. Serena supports Flint as Sercas goes ahead and opens the door. Sercas moves out of the way as Serena rushes into the hallway, dragging Flint along as his shakiness and breathing intensifies. Despite Serena¡¯s best efforts to keep him standing, Flint collapses onto the cold ground. Serena hears his groans crackle over the radio. ¡°Flint, are you alright?¡± Serena asks. Flint nods as he lies on the ground. The pain from the fall is nothing compared to the crushing force of the overwhelming presence in the stairwell. Flint does not stay down for long. He rises from the ground, noticing that Sercas has entered the hall. In his hands is one of the talismans on the wall. It glows intensely in Flint¡¯s presence. ¡°Flint, I think you may want to take a look at this,¡± Sercas tells him. Flint clenches his head as he feels a severe migraine. Sercas notices his reaction and its intense glow around Flint. Sercas discards the talisman back into the hall. Flint¡¯s migraine ceases as the talisman is no longer there. Though this confirms that talismans are the cause of their presence, he does not know why they do so. ¡°I wonder if it has to do with my current state?¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters over the radio. ¡°We¡¯ll just have to find out I suppose.¡± Serena chimes in. Flint nods. Flint leads the way, with Serena following behind. Sercas stays behind, making sure no one ambushes them. The hallways are well-maintained, despite the current condition of the rest of the facility. The group passes by closed and locked metal doors and large windows, which show various-sized rooms on the other side. Most of the rooms are occupied with various wires of many sizes connected to complex machinery or power systems. They hear a faint whirring sound in the distance, which does not come from the machines in the locked rooms. They encounter the same monotonous sights of these rooms down the long hallways, but the group persists and ventures deeper into 3rd level. They hear the whirring gradually become louder and louder. After traversing the long hallways and making various turns at splitting pathways, the group¡¯s venture is put to a sudden halt at the sight of a large, thick metal door. It is in the middle of two branching paths. They hear the whirring at its loudest and coming from behind the door. As Sercas approaches from behind, he feels he has seen this kind of door before, despite its mundane appearance. Sercas moves past Serena and Flint and approaches the door. Upon closer inspection, he finds a hidden panel embedded into the door. He pries it open, revealing a keypad inside. ¡°Just as I thought. This isn¡¯t your ordinary door.¡± Sercas mutters. ¡°I mean, isn¡¯t that obvious? It¡¯s a large metal door.¡± Serena replies. Sercas shakes his head and motions the other two to approach closer. As the two of them get closer, Sercas directs their attention to the screen where the numbers are displayed. The screen is clear like glass, showing another complex mechanism to unlock the door. ¡°I¡¯ve seen this at a recent security convention. This is an older model, but functionally it works the same as the newer one.¡± Sercas tells them. ¡°The number pad is self-explanatory, but the mechanism behind this makes this unique. See, a specific item will be able to unlock it. They designed this damn thing to unlock if the mechanism recognizes the item in particular or if you have the master key. No copies or replicas of the item will work. So if you want to get in, you have to find the item or the master key. And if you don¡¯t want to deal with that crap, I dare you to try to break down the door.¡± ¡°Damn¡­¡± Serena mutters. They look to Flint, who stands there, pondering and weighing the options. Though it will take a while, it is clear what option they must take. ¡°We have to find the code and item. But¡­it may not be as difficult as you may think.¡± Flint mutters over the radio. ¡°Really?¡± Serena asks. ¡°Can you elaborate?¡± ¡°Every area I have been in, there has been some room of significance holding all the important information regarding the entity wandering there.¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. ¡°In theory, this should apply here as well.¡± ¡°I hope you¡¯re bloody right, Flint. I¡¯d rather not spend more time in this damn place. It reeks of death here. Hell, it smells worse around you. No offense.¡± Sercas replies. Flint shakes his head, telling Sercas not to worry. Sercas further inspects the door trying to find any design quirks in the mechanism, with Serena beside him. Flint shambles down the hall to his left, leaving them behind. As he passes the monotonous doors of the floor, he finds one that stands out. The door is constructed from fine mahogany and the doorknob has a faint luster. The door has the plaque with the name: Michael Romander. Flint shambles to the door and wiggles the knob, finding it unlocked. He opens the door and finds a nice office space. There is a large, finely crafted wooden desk on the other side. He sees large wooden shelves behind the desk housing manila folders. As he enters the office, he finds a velvet couch with a large coffee table in front of it. What is most interesting to Flint is the old CRT TV at the furthest end of the room. It sits upon a wooden stand with four VHS tapes shelved. Flint shambles back to the door and leans into the hallway. ¡°Hey guys! I found something!¡± Flint¡¯s voice shouts over the radio. Serena nudges Sercas to stop inspecting the mechanism. Sercas looks at her, who motions him to follow her. Sercas follows Serena down the hall, where they approach Flint¡¯s location. The two of them enter the office and are surprised by the nice condition and appearance of the room compared to the rest of the facility. Serena immediately rushes to the shelves and skims through the documents. Sercas approaches Flint from behind, who is standing in front of the CRT TV with four VHS tapes in his corroded hands. ¡°Well is there something here?¡± Sercas asks. Flint shows him the VHS tapes, most of them unlabeled. ¡°It would be best for us to watch these tapes. This would at least be a starting place for what we are trying to achieve. Worst case scenario, we waste time.¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. Before Flint can put one of the VHS tapes into the player in the CRT TV, Serena approaches behind them with several documents in her hands. ¡°I think I found something you may want to read,¡± Serena tells them. She hands them a lab report of FMNL-X serum, which Flint recognizes from the comments on Rayne¡¯s report. Flint takes the document and gives it a good read. Skimming past the technical jargon, Flint finds a passage in the discussion section of the report that stands out. The FMNL-X serum allows the preservation of the human body through a sublimation process called Shadow-Carbonization. The human body will change from organic material into a gaseous state, one that we would describe as a shadow, that retains all its current features and shape. What is most intriguing is that the gas itself behaves like a solid. Furthermore, exposure to severe elements does no damage to the structure and physical appearance of the subjects who have taken the serum. This book is hosted on another platform. Read the official version and support the author''s work. After that portion, the rest of the discussion portion delves into the same technical jargon he cannot understand. He gives it back to Serena, telling her to keep it safe. ¡°Well, we have to start somewhere. Put in those tapes.¡± Sercas tells Flint. Flint nods. Flint shambles over to the CRT TV and inserts one of the VHS tapes into the player. The CRT TV screen flickers as he turns on the TV. FMNL-X SERUM EXPERIMENT The title screen transitions to a young Romander adjusting the camera. Romander steps away from the camera, showing an older man in a medical gown sitting on a chair behind him. The man is strapped down on the chair. The straps have needles with tubing connected to a large machine behind him that administers the serum. ¡°Experiment 5 of the FMNL-X Serum. This experiment aims to test the serum¡¯s transformative effects.¡± Romander announces. Romander walks off-camera to check the status of the machine. ¡°Now Sonny, will I be okay?¡± he asks. ¡°Yes, you should be alright sir,¡± Romander tells him off-camera. Romander walks back on camera and straps him down. The old man winces after feeling the needles prick his body. ¡°Now Sonny, I¡¯ve read the contract and all that hoopla, but you can see why I have my reservations¡­¡± the older man comments again. ¡°Sir, I assure you we have the proper procedures in place,¡± Romander assures him. ¡°Besides, you need the money, right?¡± The old man nods. ¡°Yes, but it¡¯s not for me, but for my grandson. He¡¯s been in a rough spot in college and I know he needs the money.¡± The old man tells Romander. ¡°Then do it for him. It¡¯s a precious thing to have someone you care for.¡± Romander mutters. Romander walks off-camera and a door shuts in the background. There is a loud chunk sound from button presses. The machine behind the old man rumbles loudly. The old man takes a deep breath as he is strapped down to the chair. The FMNL-X Serum, a shadowy viscous liquid, flows through the tubes from the machine. The old man feels vast discomfort as the fluid enters his veins. His bluish veins change into the same shadowy color as the serum. The old man¡¯s body shakes profusely. ¡°Sonny¡­what have you done to me?¡± the old man asks with a quivering voice. His flesh and skin slowly corrode into the same shadowy color as the serum. Black sludge starts dripping from the old man¡¯s body. ¡°MAKE IT STOP! MAKE IT STOP!¡± The old man shouts. Loud chunking button presses are heard behind the camera. The machine shuts down, though the old man continues to deform. Romander rushes into the room and unstraps him from the chair. He calls for emergency services. Romander props him up to the chair and punctures a hole in the old man¡¯s flesh, making the serum mixed with his blood bleed out. He hears the old man¡¯s frantic breaths ease as he bleeds. ¡°Help will be on the way. Stay with me, alright?¡± Romander tells him. Emergency personnel rush into the room with a gurney. They place the old man on it and rush him out of the room. Only Romander remains on screen. He slams his arm onto the machine out of frustration. ¡°Another failed trial¡­¡± he mutters. ¡°Damn it¡­I need this to work.¡± The screen on the CRT TV shows static as the video ends. Flint looks over to Sercas and Serena. Serena has a clear distraught and frightened expression on her visage. Sercas fairs better, but Flint can sense his unease after viewing the tape. ¡°You can leave the room if you wish,¡± Flint tells them over the radio. ¡°After all, this is not your burden.¡± ¡°I¡¯ll be fine Flint¡­¡± she replies. She moves closer to Sercas, who places his arm on her shoulders. Flint shambles to the CRT TV. Flint presses the button, which ejects the VHS tape from the player. He places the VHS tape on top of the CRT TV. ¡°Is that what happened to you, Flint?¡± Serena asks. Flint nods. Though not the same, his transformation is due to a similar process. ¡°Damn¡­¡± Sercas mutters. ¡°Poor man wanted to help his grandson, and for thanks, he suffers.¡± Flint inserts the next VHS tape into the player in the CRT TV. The CRT TV screen flickers brightly as the next tape is being played. BLESSED MEMORIES The title screen fades away. The camera records Romander sitting on his chair, browsing through various documents and academic journals on his desk. The only sounds in the room are from the flipping of pages from the documents he reads. He is too absorbed in his work to realize that the camera is still recording. He sighs loudly as he pushes the documents aside on his desk. The camera captures him looking around his large, empty room. He pulls out a clock from his drawer. His tired expression worsens when he checks the time. ¡°I have to stay four more hours in this damn place?¡± he asks himself. He sighs in frustration and stands up from his desk, stretching his body. ¡°Four more hours, trying to find a way to make this serum work as intended. Hooray. How fun.¡± He mutters sarcastically. He sits back down and drowns himself in the contents of the documents. After all, they are his only company in this large, lonely office of his. The footage speeds up as Romander takes notes and absorbs the content from these sources. The footage returns to normal speed, still showing Romander reading through several documents. Romander hears someone knocking on the door. ¡°Come in.¡± He shouts. The captures the steps of someone entering the room. Romander does not look up from reading through his documents. ¡°Dr. Romander, someone is looking for you.¡± The man off-camera tells him. Romander groans while still reading through his documents. ¡°I am not available at this moment. I am performing vital research.¡± Romander tells the messenger. ¡°Send them away.¡± ¡°You¡¯d say that to me?¡± a feminine voice asks. Romander recognizes the voice. He stops reading through the documents and looks up at the door. His eyes widen with surprise. ¡°Alaya?¡± he asks in disbelief. He immediately stands up, knocking off the camera from his desk. The camera captures the legs of Romander and Alaya¡¯s tanned legs as the other man exits the room, closing the door. It appears that Romander and Ayala are hugging each other tightly. ¡°There, there. I¡¯m here.¡± Alaya whispers into his ear. They eventually release from their hug. Romander notices the camera on the ground and places it back on the table. The camera faces away from the desk and captures a better view of them in the room. Romander admires Alaya¡¯s beautiful tanned visage and her medium coral hair. He is surprised to see her wearing a patterned red dress in his presence. Alaya walks and looks around Romander¡¯s office, taking note of its fine quality and large space. She sits on the velvet couch of his room. Romander coughs a bit and fixes his appearance as he approaches her. ¡°Well¡­um, love. What are you doing here?¡± Romander asks. ¡°I thought one of these days I would visit you while you¡¯re working.¡± She replies. ¡°I hope I¡¯m not intruding or anything.¡± ¡°Oh, uh, not at all!¡± He responds. Alaya looks at him with a quizzical expression. Romander sighs, knowing he cannot lie to her. ¡°Listen, I did mean what I said earlier. The serum is not working as intended and I¡¯ve been hounded by my higher-ups to do more research. I really don¡¯t have much time to relax.¡± Romander tells her. Alaya nods in understanding. She stands up from her couch and leans into Romander, who blushes at her sudden approach. ¡°Then when you are free, why don¡¯t we head out?¡± Alaya asks, stroking her finger down his chest. ¡°Just the two of us.¡± Romander gulps at her forward suggestion, but he nods. He lets Alaya lean closer to him. A small smile forms on his face as he gently hugs and caresses her. ¡°I can¡¯t wait for it,¡± Romander mutters. Alaya and Romander sway back and forth in their embrace for some more moments. They release from their hug. Alaya kisses Romander on the cheek before exiting. Romander smiles fondly at her as she leaves. Though he savors the moment, he sighs, knowing those moments cannot last forever. He walks back to his desk, noticing that he has accidentally left the camera on record. He presses the off button on the camera. The screen flickers again. Romander¡¯s face is up close to the camera lens. ¡°Ah, it¡¯s on. Darn thing.¡± He mutters to himself. The camera is turned around, facing his point of view. The camera captures the beautiful, starry night sky. The humming of grasshoppers and the gentle breeze are heard in the background. ¡°Isn¡¯t this nice honey?¡± Alaya asks him. ¡°Yeah¡­yeah it is¡­¡± Romander replies. ¡°I¡¯ll be honest, I was expecting us to eat at a fancy restaurant, not here.¡± Alaya giggles at his comment. ¡°I think this would be a nice change of pace. Besides, you¡¯ve been held up in your office for so long. Fresh air would be nice.¡± Alaya replies. ¡°Heh, I guess you¡¯re right,¡± Romander replies. The camera continues facing the night sky. Though far away, the bright stars and even nebulae can be seen. Romander takes a deep breath behind the camera. ¡°Hey¡­Alaya?¡± Romander asks her. ¡°Yes honey?¡± she asks. ¡°Wouldn¡¯t it be nice if this happiness lasted forever?¡± Romander asks her. Romander turns the camera away from the starry night sky to Alaya, who is dressed in a white blouse and jeans. Alaya has a reflective look on her face. Her hand shivers slightly and she appears somewhat pale. ¡°It would be nice, wouldn¡¯t it?¡± she asks. ¡°Yeah, it would,¡± Romander replies. ¡°It would be nice.¡± Romander turns the camera back to the starry night sky. ¡°It would be nice to just, live in pure bliss. I wouldn¡¯t have my higher-ups breathing down my neck, asking if I found a damn solution. I wouldn¡¯t have countless hours in my office in the dark, frustrated that I cannot find a solution¡­and¡­and I wouldn¡¯t be alone.¡± Romander mutters. ¡°It would be nice to have happiness last forever, but we all know it won¡¯t. It will fade away, and I¡¯ll be here, alone.¡± The camera rustles in Romander¡¯s hand. ¡°Honey, as long as I¡¯m around I¡¯ll make every day of your life the happiest it can be,¡± Alaya tells him. ¡°You promise?¡± he asks. ¡°I promise,¡± Alaya tells her. The camera flickers again. A montage of previous happy moments in Romander¡¯s and Alaya¡¯s life is shown in quick succession. Some of them show them strolling in a park, others show them at a restaurant eating together. In all the videos, Alaya gradually becomes paler. The camera flickers again. The camera is on a stand, recording Romander, who is dressed in a simple gray tuxedo, and Alaya, in her patterned red dress, slow dancing to soothing orchestra music in their living room. Alaya appears paler than before and holds onto Romander for support. Romander holds her tight, as they sway back and forth, to and fro. The faint breaths from Alaya and Romander¡¯s erratic breaths can be heard in the background. Despite her condition, Alaya keeps dancing with Romander, desperately trying to keep standing. The music ends. Alaya¡¯s feet buckle. She collapses to the ground. The camera flickers again. Alaya lays in a hospital bed, unconscious. She is connected to several IVs and a heart rate monitor. The occasional beeps from the heart rate monitor overpower Romander¡¯s faint crying behind the camera. ¡°Nothing lasts forever¡­¡± Romander mutters. ¡°I feel so cold¡­so alone¡­¡± The heart rate monitor flattens, and a loud beep fills the room. The CRT TV crackles. The screen on the CRT TV shows static as the video ends. Flint, Sercas, and Serena stand in the room in solemn silence. Flint ejects the VHS tape from the player and places it on top of the CRT TV. He inserts the next VHS tape into the player. The CRT TV screen flickers brightly as the next tape is being played. DEVELOPMENTS The title screen fades away. The camera records Romander in his office. He has a blank, thousand-yard stare on his face. Messy piles of documents and academic articles are scattered all over his desk. He slams his arms on his desk, scattering the documents everywhere. ¡°Damn it Alaya! Why did you have to die? Why did you break our promise?¡± he shouts in pure anger. ¡°You promised me! You promised me¡­that¡­that you¡¯d be there for me¡­You promised that I wouldn¡¯t be alone¡­¡± Romander further slumps in his seat. His eyes wander towards the documents on his desk. Romander stands up and gathers a large book from his shelf. The cover of the book is petrified and rotten. He drops the book on the desk and gets to work. The footage speeds up as Romander takes more diligent notes and reads through the documents and journals. The footage returns to its original speed as Romander now bears a disheveled appearance. ¡°What if¡­what if I don¡¯t need to use a serum?¡± Romander asks himself. ¡°What if¡­I use the soul manipulation methods in this book. Yes¡­but I need to test it myself.¡± The camera flickers. A blindfolded person is in a dark room. There are purple translucent chains linked to her body. She moves around, confused and panicking about where she is. ¡°Experiment 1: Commence.¡± The woman begins panicking as the chains tug on her forcefully. They stretch her limbs, corroding them away. Her screams of pure agony become more and more corrupted. Her entire body has now become bony and corroded away. Her soul is forcefully pulled out of her body. It is ripped and torn into pieces before being shoved back inside. She lies there dead, in her corrupted form. The camera flickers. Romander is in his office looking at his shivering hands, crying and muttering indiscernible noises. ¡°I¡­¡­I just¡­what did I do?¡± Romander mutters. ¡°It was so horrid¡­even worse than all the injections. It never got this bad during the experiments before¡­I¡­I killed someone¡­¡± Romander looks at the report on his table. He holds it in his shivering hands. ¡°But¡­the results show me one thing¡­it¡¯s an alternative method,¡± he mutters to himself. ¡°This¡­this calls for further testing. Maybe¡­I¡¯m missing something. Some personal connection or something to evoke some emotions within them¡­¡± The camera flickers. Romander is in his office with a more disheveled and older appearance. There are many documents on his desk. ¡°Do they know? Do they know about my experiments?¡± he asks himself. ¡°No. They won¡¯t know. They WON¡¯T know. I already made too much progress to let this aside. All those test subjects have been worthless! They all become those same mindless monsters, except for those three! Why can¡¯t I replicate my results? But, there has to be something about these experiments I can use! I just need to find it! This needs more testing.¡± The camera flickers. Romander is now an old man, his clothes are stained and disheveled. He is reading through the book and various documents. ¡°There has to be something I¡¯m missing! That damned process is worthless for me! I¡¯ve wasted so much time and damn resource on this shit!¡± Romander shouts out loud. Romander throws the book aside and shouts in frustration. Underneath the book, he notices documentation about the serum he had abandoned research on many years ago. He picks it up. ¡°Of course¡­of course that¡¯s it! I see the light!¡± Romander exclaims. ¡°I just need to perfect the serum!¡± The camera flickers. Romander, still old, frail, and disheveled, is in his office, injecting himself with the developing serum. He winces as the shadowy fluid flows through his veins. He takes a flask from his desk full of a dark translucent liquid. He chugs it. The liquid stops the serum from corroding his body and neutralizes the serum¡¯s color. He appears rejuvenated, though appears more delirious. ¡°I need to refine the serum and Altephine more,¡± Romander mutters to himself. ¡°But I need to do so soon. I¡¯m running low on Altephine¡­¡± Romander walks back and forth in his room erratically. ¡°Lost souls¡­don¡¯t worry, my dear lost souls. I shall bring you peace. I shall bring you to paradise.¡± Romander mutters. The camera flickers. Romander, now frail and pale, stands in an experimental room. He is inside his robotic body submerged in the Altephine. He injects himself with the new iteration of the serum. Before the negative effects of the serum activate, he sticks the wiring pads on his body and closes the glass dome of the body. His body falls into paralysis, though the Altephine stops his body from corroding and rotting away any further. He is able to control the grotesque arm and wheel around the room. ¡°DO NOT WORRY LOST SOULS. MY BODY MAY BE WEAK, BUT MY SOUL IS STRONG. I SHALL BE HERE TO GUIDE YOU TO YOUR TRUE HOME.¡± The robotic voice crackles from the voice box. ¡°YOU LOST SOULS HAVE SERVED THE GREATEST PURPOSE. YOU SHALL BRING JOY BACK INTO MY LIFE. ALAYA, YOU WILL NOT BE GONE FOR ANY LONGER. I SHALL SET YOU FREE.¡± The screen on the CRT TV shows static as the video ends. Flint unloads the VHS tape from the player. ¡°That bastard¡­¡± Sercas mutters in pure anger. Serena looks at Sercas, frightened to see him this angry. She holds his hand tightly, trying to calm him down. Sercas notices Serena¡¯s fear. He takes a deep breath and calms down. Serena relaxes a bit after he has done so. ¡°I know he¡¯s done horrid things¡­but I can¡¯t help but feel sorry for him.¡± Serena says out loud. Flint stares at the CRT TV, trying to process everything he has seen. ¡°Romander¡­you never had to go through this route, but I will not let your misdeeds be hidden for any longer. I will free them.¡± Flint¡¯s voice mutters over the radio. Flint inserts the last VHS tape into the CRT TV. The CRT TV screen flickers brightly as the next tape is being played. LOCATION The title screen fades away and shows a map of Romander¡¯s office. His desk is circled in red. The VHS tape is ejected from the player. Flint grabs the VHS tapes and heads to the desk. Serena and Sercas follow behind and gather around the desk. He pulls the drawer and finds a passcode written on a piece of paper and next to it is a photo of Romander with Alaya on the day of their wedding. Flint places the passcode, photo, VHS tapes, and his camera on the desk. Flint stands there, pondering as he gazes upon the items. ¡°So what¡¯s the plan, Flint?¡± Serena asks. Flint stands there in silence, still pondering. He looks at them. ¡°I need you to gather everything you can. Documents, books, whatever. Take my camera and the VHS tapes as well.¡± Flint tells them over the radio. ¡°Flint¡­are you implying..?¡± ¡°Yes, Serena. I need you two to leave this facility.¡± Flint tells them. Silence fills the air. Flint takes a deep breath and faces them. ¡°There¡¯s no way I¡¯ll be able to escape. Those talismans keep whoever has been corrupted from leaving. Someone has to show them all his sins.¡± Flint tells them over the radio. ¡°And¡­it would be far too dangerous for you to encounter Romander. I know not of his plans, but I cannot risk your safety any further.¡± ¡°Then what will happen to you, Flint?¡± Serena asks. ¡°Will you be able to escape?¡± They are met with silence, a deafening answer. ¡°So that¡¯s it, huh? You¡¯ll be on a bloody suicide mission?¡± Sercas asks. They hear Flint¡¯s low breaths. Serena and Sercas stare at each other with looks of understanding. They slowly gather whatever they can in the room. They return to the desk with several documents in their hands. Sercas puts the VHS tapes and Flint¡¯s camera in whatever free space he can find. They look back at Flint before they approach the door. ¡°Serena¡­Sercas¡­¡± Flint lowly mutters from the radio. ¡°Thank you, for everything. I¡­I would be so lost without you.¡± Serena and Sercas stop at the door. ¡°Please Flint¡­come back alive,¡± Serena mutters, holding back her tears. ¡°If you don¡¯t come back, I¡¯ll kill your ghost!¡± Sercas exclaims. They exit the office. Flint hears their steps grow fainter in the distance. Flint gazes upon the photo of Alaya and Romander on the desk. His breaths become heavier and his body shivers. ¡°Damn it¡­if there were only another way¡­¡± Flint¡¯s mutters over the radio. ¡°Ronlo¡­I¡¯m sorry for everything. If only I had the opportunity to mend things with you¡­¡± Flint pulls out his revolver, holding it tightly in his right hand. He grabs the photo and passcode note in his other hand. Flint shambles out of the office. It feels like many painstaking hours to Flint as he shambles down the hallway. He now stands in front of the large hulking door. The whirring is unbearably loud behind the door. No matter what horrors await him, he will free them, he will fulfill his oath. He inserts the code on the number pad. The number pad slides away, activating the mechanism behind it. Flint takes one last look at the photo of Romander and Alaya. The man once human, is now a monster. He inserts the photo in the mechanism. The chunking of locks echoes down the hall. Flint steps away as the hulking metal door opens slowly. The whirring is at its loudest, no longer muffled by the door. Flint shambles around the door and into the room. Flint enters a small observation room, with durable glass showing the inside of the large dark room. Flint is astounded to see the large machine at the end of the room, pulsating like a human heart. He finds Romander standing in front of the machine, staring at Flint. Flint shambles out of the room and approaches Romander. He glares at Romander, pointing his revolver at him. Romander jerks his grotesque metal fingers more violently as Flint approaches closer. ¡°YOU ARE HERE, LOST SOUL.¡± The robotic voice crackles from Romander¡¯s voice box. ¡°IT SEEMS THE PROCEDURE WILL GO ACCORDINGLY.¡± Flint a good distance away from Romander, still pointing the revolver at him. ¡°It¡¯s over Romander. I will not let you continue your horrid crimes any further!¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. ¡°FOOLISH, NAIVE LOST SOUL. EVERYTHING HAS FALLEN IN PLACE FOR ME.¡± The robotic voice crackles over Romander¡¯s voice box. Flint¡¯s poker face does not let Romander see his confusion. Flint sees a progress bar on a monitor near the large machine. It is around 80 percent completed. Flint looks back at Romander, still somewhat confused. ¡°LOST SOUL, I KNOW YOU HAVE SEEN THOSE VIDEO TAPES. HOW ELSE WOULD YOU BE HERE?¡± The robotic voice crackles over Romander¡¯s voice box. Flint flinches hearing Romander¡¯s statement. Thinking quickly, he realizes what the machine is doing. ¡°Wait¡­is that the serum?¡± Flint asks over the radio. ¡°INDEED. I HAVE FINALLY REFINED THE SOLUTION.¡± The robotic voice crackles over Romander¡¯s voice box. ¡°I HAVE GUIDED ALL THESE LOST SOULS TO THEIR TRUE HOME, THEIR TRUE PURPOSE. BRINGING BACK MY LOVELY ALAYA.¡± Romander wheels to the control panel and slams his grotesque metal arm on the machinery, creating a large hole. The machine pulsates more violently. Romander wheels away from the control panel and stands in front of the large, pulsating machine. ¡°YOUR FRIENDS WILL CREATE ISSUES FOR ME. BUT THESE LOST SOULS ARE INDEBTED TO ME. THEY SHALL AID ME IN STOPPING THEM.¡± The robotic voice crackles over Romander¡¯s voice box. Serena and Sercas traverse through the second level, carrying all the evidence. Though Sercas lags due to his injuries, he keeps powering through. Their advance is interrupted as they hear low groans coming from the distance. Two figures lanky figures with corroded, bony shadowy skin burst out of the doors in the distance. They growl loudly and shamble toward them. Serena readies Sercas¡¯s baton while Sercas aims his pistol at the approaching figures. Flint does not flinch from his comment. He knows they are capable of defeating them and breaking free from this hell hole. ¡°NO MORE DELAYS. NO MORE SUFFERING. I SHALL FINALLY RECEIVE THE RESULTS I HAVE TOILED OVER!¡± The robotic voice crackles over Romander¡¯s voice box. Romander charges at Flint readying his large grotesque metal arm. Flint dodges out of the way. Romander¡¯s arm becomes lodged into the ground. The wheels grind against the ground as Romander tries to free his arm. Flint aims the revolver at Romander¡¯s glass dome. *BANG* A stream of bright green flame darts towards Romander¡¯s glass dome head. The bullet shatters the glass dome and pierces through Romander¡¯s head. The glass shards lie on the ground. ¡°NO¡­WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?¡± The robotic voice crackles over Romander¡¯s voice box. His wheels generate enough force for him to dislodge his arm from the ground. However, the force is too great, which causes his metallic body to tip over. The Altephine inside the metallic body spills all over the ground. Romander¡¯s old, rotting body convulses violently. Flint covers his ears from Romander¡¯s agonizing screams as his body slowly corrupts. Romander¡¯s old, wrinkly skin corrodes into the same color as the shadowy FMNL-X serum. Bones crack and stretch as Romander screams in utter agony. The hexagonal metal body starts expanding and becomes embedded into Romander. The grotesque metal arm becomes a part of Romander¡¯s body and corrodes away like his flesh. Romander¡¯s face stretches and expands like the rest of his body. Flint backs away as Romander becomes larger, and more corrupted. The man once known as Romander is no more. Flint stands in front of a raging behemoth. The behemoth roars, causing the entire room to shake. Flint aims his revolver at the behemoth and pulls the trigger. *BANG* A stream of bright green flame darts towards the behemoth. Despite the sheer body mass, the bullet cleanly pierces the behemoth¡¯s body. The behemoth roars and slams its large arms down at Flint. Reacting quickly, Flint dodges out of the way. A large crater is formed at the sight of the crash. The behemoth¡¯s free grotesque metal hand swipes at Flint while it dislodges his arms from the ground. Flint barely dodges the hands swipes as they graze his skin. Flint gains a better position and aims the revolver at the behemoth. The behemoth turns to him after dislodging its arms. He pulls the trigger twice. *BANG* *BANG* Two streams of bright green flame erupt from the revolver. The streams of flame dart toward the behemoth. One of the bullets pierces the behemoth¡¯s body again while the other bullet pierces the joint of the grotesque metal arm. The grotesque metal arm becomes loose on the behemoth¡¯s body. The behemoth roars in agony, but it does not give up. The behemoth swipes one of its large hands at Flint, trying to grab him. Flint dodges out of the way and aims his revolver at the loose joint of the grotesque metal arm. He pulls the trigger. *BANG* A stream of bright green flame darts to the joint. The bullet pierces through the skin and destroys the joint of the grotesque metal arm. The behemoth roars in agony as the arm snaps off its body. Though Flint has done major damage to the behemoth, he does not notice the behemoth¡¯s other large hand swipe at him. Flint is too late to realize as the behemoth grabs onto Flint with a tight grip. Flint screams in agony as the grip crushes his corroded, corrupted body. The behemoth repeatedly slams Flint onto the ground, crushing him into a pulp. Countless amounts of black sludge splatter all over the ground. As the behemoth is about to slam Flint one more time, it notices the progress bar has reached one hundred percent. The behemoth throws Flint out of its hands. Flint crashes onto the ground, with his revolver thrown far away from him. Flint lies there, his entire body crushed and severely injured. The behemoth rushes to the large, pulsating machine. The machine pulsates more intensely as the collective screams of all Romander¡¯s victims intensify. The behemoth opens the door and shoves its entire body into the machine. The door slam shuts behind it. Flint sees the machine whir loudly, overpowering the collective screams. Then, the room is covered in a bright light. Flint¡¯s vision becomes blurred as the light dissipates. He hears and can see the blurry vision of the machine door opening. As his vision clears, he finds Romander exit, bearing his young appearance in the photo with him and Alaya. ¡°See lost souls? Your souls have fully recovered me!¡± Romander exclaims. He slowly approaches Flint, with a growing grin on his face. ¡°Love, we have finally reunited!¡± Romander exclaims. ¡°Love?¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. Romander picks up a sharp fragment from the large grotesque metal arm, wielding it like a knife. ¡°Oh love, it looks like there¡¯s a parasite infecting your body. A soul of a man who no longer shall exist. No matter, I shall get rid of it!¡± Romander exclaims. Romander slashes Flint¡¯s legs. Flint screams in agony. Romander keeps slashing Flint, who is unable to fight back due to his severe condition. Romander climbs onto Flint and continuously stabs him. Black sludge sprays all over Romander¡¯s body. ¡°Get out! Get out! GET OUT OF MY LOVE¡¯S VESSEL!¡± Romander shouts repeatedly as he stabs into Flint¡¯s chest. Flint is helpless as Romander stabs into his body. Romander has enough fun and stands off of Flint, throwing aside the shard. He slowly drags him into the machine. Those poor souls, Romander¡¯s poor wife, have to see the horrid corruption and downfall of a suffering man. Flint has promised to free them. Argus, Toby, Christie, Rayne, LN, and all those victims. But they aren¡¯t the only ones who need to be freed. He will free Romander from his own corruption. As Romander drags Flint away, Flint throws his art at his revolver. Flint manages to barely reach the handle of his revolver. Romander hears the noise and turns to see Flint aiming the revolver at him. ¡°Romander, you have suffered for far too long. You have caused the suffering of all these victims by trapping them in this hell only to use them for your own selfish gain. But you know who else you¡¯ve hurt? You¡¯ve hurt Alaya. You are no longer the man she had fallen in love with all those years ago. She never wanted to be revived, she never wanted you to kill, she wanted you to live.¡± Flint¡¯s voice crackles over the radio. ¡°Now¡­I shall free everyone from this damn prison. I shall free you.¡± *BANG* A bright green flame darts from the gun. It pierces Romander¡¯s head. For a brief moment, Flint can see a look of remorse and sorrow on Romander¡¯s face. A powerful bright light erupts from the bullet hole. Romander steps back in agony, entering the machine. The door slams shut. The entire machine rumbles violently as it too glows the same bright light. Flint closes his eyes. ¡°I¡¯m sorry everyone. It looks like I won¡¯t make it out of here alive¡­¡± Flint mutters over the radio. ¡°Sercas, Serena, I wish I had been a better friend. Ronlo, I wish I had been a better husband for you. And Lily, I wish I had been a better father. Everyone¡­you¡¯ve been with me all the way. Please¡­forgive this fool for not realizing the blessings he had in front of his eyes. I¡¯m sorry. I love you all.¡± The machine explodes. A great beam of light erupts from the explosion. The beam bursts through the upper floors of the facility. Serena and Sercas stand outside of the facility, seeing the large beacon of light that has erupted from there. All the souls are now free. ¡°Flint¡­¡± they both mutter. Reunion At Last Flint lies lifeless on the ground in his corrupted form. He is surrounded by the dark, empty void. Solemn steps echo through the void. The tall, shadowy humanoid figure approaches Flint, no longer bearing its bag and weapon. It picks up Flint with its arms and carries him through the void. ¡°Detective, I have placed a great amount of trust in you. I trusted that you would free all those trapped within the facility with the revolver you bear. You have done a phenomenal job.¡± The figure whispers into his ears. ¡°But, your job is not finished.¡± Flint¡¯s body rustles. ¡°Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light, detective.¡± The figure whispers into his ear. ¡°Your job is not finished. The world needs a brave detective such as yourself.¡± Flint¡¯s body again rustles. ¡°Detective, you mustn¡¯t leave the world yet. There are people waiting for you to come back home¡­¡± the voice whispers. ¡°Detective, rage, rage against the dying of the light. Do not let your life end like this¡­¡± Tears fall from the figure¡¯s eyes and splash onto Flint, like a rain fall. Flint¡¯s body slowly reverts into his, human form. ¡°Detective¡­.Ronlo, Lily, Sercas, and Serena long for your return. So rage, rage against the dying of the light. It is not your time yet. Return home.¡± The outside of the facility is filled with the red and blue glare of multiple police officers. Sercas and Serena are lying down in Sercas¡¯s gray van, tired of the constant interrogations from officers. Sercas spoons Serena, easing her worries. ¡°Sercas¡­will¡­will Flint really be alright?¡± she asks. Sercas continues spooning Serena, caressing her face and wiping her tears. ¡°Serena, it will be okay. Flint is a tough bastard, I assure you.¡± Sercas reassures her. Stolen content alert: this content belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences. They hear someone knocking on their van. Sercas decides to check who it is, leaving Serena there. His eyes widen when he finds President Rogers there. ¡°Mr. President, what are you doing here?¡± Sercas asks in disbelief. ¡°Isn¡¯t a large beacon of light from a government facility worry enough?¡± he asks back. ¡°I suppose,¡± Sercas responds. ¡°But also, I need to see if Flint has all the information I need.¡± President Rogers tells him. Sercas nods and gives him the bag of the evidence he and Serena have collected. ¡°Good, good.¡± President Rogers mutters to himself. ¡°Though I do not know how negatively the public will react, this has to be done. Changes have to be made.¡± Sercas smiles at President Rogers¡¯s genuine ambitions, despite his usual cynicism towards the government. Sercas and President Rogers¡¯s conversation is interrupted as officers rush towards the entrance. Sercas nudges Serena, who gets up. Sercas takes her by the hand and brings her to the location. The group of officers point their firearms at the shaking door. The door slowly opens. Flint limps out of the door, in a disheveled state. Sercas and Serena rush up to the officers. They cannot believe who they see. ¡°FLINT!¡± they both exclaim. Sercas and Serena rush up to Flint and hug him tightly. Though caught off guard and overwhelmed by their affection, he returns the favor and hugs them back tightly. President Rogers approaches from behind, motioning the officers to lower their weapons. They eventually release from their hug as the President approaches them. ¡°He¡¯s gone, Mr. President.¡± Flint tells him. President Rogers nods. ¡°Well Mr. Detective, I thank you for your service.¡± President Rogers tells him. President Rogers reaches his hand to him, and Flint gives a firm handshake. ¡°Your payment will be wired to your account. We will handle the rest here.¡± President Rogers tells him. ¡°Besides, I assume you would like to go home after all of this.¡± Flint¡¯s eyes perk up at the mention of his home. ¡°Sercas, I need you to take me to my house. Now.¡± Flint tells him. Sercas nods and motions to Serena. The three of them rush to the gray van. Flint gets into the driver¡¯s seat and starts the van. The three of them drive out of the facility, leaving President Rogers and the officers to handle the rest. Ronlo stands in front of the door of his home, tightly holding the pendant Lily had made for them in his hands. Lily is in her room, sleeping soundly. ¡°Your husband has taken on a case of great magnitude. I cannot guarantee that he will return home alive. If this happens, I will compensate you in any way necessary.¡± Those words from President Rogers echo through his head. ¡°Please Flint¡­please be okay¡­¡± Ronlo mutters. Ronlo jitters as he stands there. Tears stream down his face, unable to think of more hopeful thoughts. Then, he hears the door unlock. He looks up as the door opens. Flint limps into his home, finding his beloved husband, Ronlo, waiting for him. They slowly approach each other, their eyes full of worry and love. They hug each other tightly.