36 Three Hours Earlier

"Do you know what this is about?" Louis whispered under his breath, leaning close enough to Hannah to make her feel a distinct level of discomfort. She tilted away under the pretense of resting her chin on her hand.

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"It's probably just another one of Agilo's surprise reviews," Hannah sighed, glancing around the meeting room. None of the large monitors lining the walls were turned on, the usual data charts and infographs conspicuously absent.

The crowded room seemed subdued, many researchers whispering under their breath and looking around nervously. Agilo was famous for his bad temper and surprise reviews were a chance to throw his weight around while humiliating his poor subordinates. No one wanted to be called out to report on their progress.

Everyone turned as one when the door burst open, but it was just a very disheveled Craig arriving late. Opening the door allowed the noise from the halls to infiltrate the soundproofed meeting room, a looping broadcast commanding all research team leaders to report to the D2 Meeting Room.

"Oh, thanks to every god that ever spat upon this great planet!" Craig exhaled a shaky breath, dropping into a chair like a lead weight.

Duncan passed him a cup of water from the cooler in the corner, a cheeky grin on his bearded face. "Agilo would have flayed you alive if you showed up late again, eh?"

"Flayed me, salted me, roasted me over a spit, and eaten me whole!" Craig drained the drink in one shot, crumpling the paper cup in his fist. "I sent in my transfer request to Sector 5, here's hoping it goes through fast. It won't have as many resources or as high a salary, but..."

"But you'd rather be cleaning toilets than dealing with Agilo, I know."

"Do I say that a lot?"

"Every day."

"It's still true."

"He's only cruel to people who don't live up to their potential," Louis sniffed, aiming a derisive glare at Craig. "Team leaders who are always late and never shower, for instance?"

"Unlike some people who only know how to hide behind their magitech and impractical theories, my particular area of research requires actual expertise and skillful handling of specimens. I have better things to do with my time than-"

"Bathe?"

"What is with your fascination with my personal hygiene?"

"You're inflicting your personal hygiene on all of us. Or lack thereof, rather..."

The door opened again, and even the bickering researchers fell silent. Adalrich Agilo staggered his way into the room, forcing a few people to hurry out of his way before he half-collapsed against the long table dominating much of the space.

He looked in even worse a state than Craig, torn clothes splattered with mud and flecks of gore, nursing a left arm that twisted at a strange angle. Dark bloodshot eyes scanned each and every panicked face before he spoke. "Who was it?"

Their superior was always punctual, composed, aloof. He was like a monolith towering above them, casting a long dark shadow with his keen intellect and levels of talent and wealth they could only dream of. Seeing Adalrich Agilo in such a state threw the researchers into confusion.

"Who... What, sir?" Louis stammered, breaking the unbearable silence that had fallen over the room.

Agilo slammed his bloody right hand against the table, activating controls built into the table to turn on all the monitors and display surveillance of the entire estate. Soldiers marched across farm fields, houses burned to ash, and countless bodies littered the landscape.

Smoke choked the stars, billowing black clouds flickering with the remnants of ominous blood red flames. In the evacuation tunnels leading to and from the facility, a large unit of soldiers marched forward with determined purpose and powerful magitech weapons in hand. Security officers stationed in the tunnels were gunned down without mercy and left where they fell.

"I am asking which of you filthy scheming bastards caused the attack burning my estate to the ground!" Agilo yelled so hard their eardrums ached. Spit slapped Craig in the face, making him wince in disgust. But when Agilo's words sank in all the researchers felt cold sweat drip down their necks while they stared at the monitors in horror. Adalrich Agilo snarled, clenching his bloody hand into a fist. "Who's responsible for the sword over our necks? Who killed us all!?"

They were in a clandestine organization in a hidden location doing secret experiments not officially sanctioned by any country or world power. Only the team leaders even knew the location of the estate, much less how to breach the defensive arrays around the property. Being under attack could only mean they were sold out by a peer!

Everyone tensed. The compatriots sitting at their sides all became potential enemies, and even the finest minds in the sector were having difficulty adjusting to the sudden change.

"Craig, weren't you putting in for a transfer to Sector 5?" Hannah said softly, an accusatory tinge to her voice. Section 5 did experiments along a similar vein as their Sector 9 so they often competed for funding, projects, researchers, and more.

"A transfer, not a sell out! They would have sealed my memories of this sector's location, it's protocol!" Craig stood up from his chair, pointing a trembling finger toward Louis. "Louis is the one who's using project funding for-"

"Personal salary is not project funding, what I do with my salary is none of your business!" Louis slammed his hands against the table and gestured toward Duncan. "What about your friend there? How does his team always capture the best subjects to test on?! There's something shady going on with that hunting squad and I've been requesting an inquest-"

"Just because I have excellent subordinates you would try to pin this on me! You're so blinded by jealousy that you-"

Everyone started pointing fingers at everyone else, leveling accusations both frightening and mundane. No one saw who threw the first punch, but all it took was one. Their argument was the spark that set the meeting room tinderbox aflame. Chairs flew as researchers surged across the table to attack each other.

Louis picked up a shattered table leg and smashed it over Craig's head, only to stagger as Hannah hit him in the back. Even Agilo got mixed up in the fracas, his mangled arm flapping as he struggled against a researcher whose hands were wreathed in flame. He screamed in pain and went down, trampled underfoot by brawlers. He didn't move again.

Someone threw a sphere of lightning that shorted out the lights overhead, but by then so many spells were flying around that no one even noticed. No one noticed the tendrils of violet mana stabbing into the walls, causing over a dozen hidden microphones and cameras to burst in an erratic pattern.

Silver flashed.

A short blade caught the light of various spells as gore splattered the walls, creating a hypnotic flashing rhythm. Selfish arguments were interrupted by pained screamed and cries for mercy that went ignored. Adalrich Agilo stood alone in a pile of bodies, blood dripping from the edge of an intricate dagger.

The door opened behind him and Sofie edged her way into the room, picking her way between puddles of blood. "Yuck. Boss, what the heck? This is so inelegant. Not your style at all."

"I had to make a scene for the cameras. Your task?" Faust peeled chunks of a special putty from his face, revealing an attractive scholarly visage that Oriole was completely unfamiliar with. He wiped the blade on the coat of a researcher before putting it away in his storage artifact.

"All done! Security records regarding the kid have been wiped, including from the estate's staff records. There's no evidence the forest was equipped with surveillance in the first place, much less any remaining video of her. Aside from all the nasty hungry beasties living in the woods, she'll be nice and safe here until we come back with Neil to retrieve the Forest Heart. By the way, she learns fast! Just the other day she-"

"Focus, Sofie. The others?"

Sofie sighed, a pout on her cute little face. "We initiated lockdown and made sure several Class-A Keycards were on security personnel in the evac tunnels. The enemy unit will be able to get in if they aren't total idiots - no promises there. Hans's virus opened all the holding cells in the entire facility as of... Five minutes ago? Including Labs 3 and 7. So uh. We should actually probably leave soon, Boss. I don't like those things. You're sure we can't just use Plan Kurt?"

"The child is heading this way and she'd be caught in the blast. That's not the kind of challenge I want her facing just yet." Thinking of his clever, inquisitive disciple made Faust's thin lips twitch into the closest thing resembling a smile Sofie had ever seen. He wanted to stay and see what Li Mei would do in the stage he set for her, but unfortunately time was of the essence.

"You're just going to... Let her wander in here? With the labs open?" Sofie asked cautiously, scrunching her little button nose.

Faust raised an eyebrow and turned away, casually shoving his hands in his pockets. "If she dies from something like this, it just proves she wasn't worthy of being my disciple."

Sofie said a silent prayer for little 44 and followed her boss into the hall.