There were...seven vaccines. Seven. Each one was labeled with a 'B'.

Adult vaccines. Child vaccines.

"'Both'?" Violet guessed aloud.

Teddy grabbed one immediately and injected it into Violet. Realizing B didn't necessarily mean both, he grabbed another vaccine and injected her with it too.

"How do you feel?"

Violet shivered. "A lot better. Woooow...." She sighed, and collapsed heavily on the wall.

Teddy immediately grabbed one and injected it. The relief he felt was almost immediate. He coughed up one last bit of blood and then he felt nearly...normal. Still a bit under the weather, but way better than the misery he just felt.

Most importantly, Violet was ok. She was going to live...

"Well?" Adriana asked. "Are you going to keep your word?"

"Sure." Teddy said, grabbing his gun. He had already started to point it to himself, but then looked at Violet. He decided to step over to talk to her, but turned to Adriana one last time.

Adriana looked at Violet, then back down on the floor. "...forget it."

"You sure? Fair's fair. You held up your end. After Helios..."

"I said forget it. Don't make me change my mind."

Teddy raised an eyebrow at her, then checked his watch. It was already zeroed out. They had just barely made it...

"I'm guessing you're ok then?" Teddy asked Adriana.

"Huh?"

"You didn't inject a vaccine."

"...that's right." Violet nodded.

"I guess I didn't need it. God...I don't understand anything." She sighed.

She then started walked off, heading back up the stairs. "Good to see you made it, Violet."

"Where are you going?!" Teddy shouted.

"To the garden."

"You're not coming with?"

She didn't respond. Just kept moving.

"Alright." Teddy looked at Violet, hugging her close. The events of the day were like a fucked up trip from beginning to end. But it was over now. "Let's go."

"Wait." Violet said. "What about Bradley?"

"Sweetheart...he's dead. He didn't make it here by the deadline."

Violet pushed Teddy away and then started walking up the stairs. "Well you don't know that."

Teddy sighed and went after her.

***

"Bradley?"

They saw him as soon as they entered the library. He was standing in the doorway between the dining room and library, trying to drag Ghost's body through.

"What are you doing?" Violet asked.

"This was Ghost's favorite room too..." Bradley whispered. "I wanted him to be left somewhere he liked."

"This was Ghost's favorite? He told you that?" Teddy asked, grabbing the rubber body and dragging it through the doorway.

Bradley nodded.

"How are you alive, Bradley? You seem...fine actually." Violet said.

"After Mister Teddy's trial, Miss Adriana gave me a vaccine." He began to tear up. "I-I'm sorry I didn't tell you, M-Mister Teddy. She told me to keep it secret a-and and..."

"It's fine, Bradley. We opened the safe. We found vaccines."

"So the others are...?"

"Yeah."

"..."

"Come with us, Bradley." Violet assured. "There are more vaccines in the safe. We can all get out of here."

As soon as they got back to the safe, Teddy injected Bradley with a vaccine. Bradley’s eyes immediately lit up, and his skin seemed to soften to a warmer tone.

“Hey, there’s something else in here.” Bradley reached into the safe and pulled something out. It was a key with a ‘4’ on it.

“Well, not like we even need it.” Teddy sighed, walking over to the 9 door. As he did, he heard Adriana’s footsteps coming down the stairs.

“Change your mind?”

“I don’t know what I’m doing yet.” She said. “But I’m not going to stay here trapped forever.”

Teddy just nodded at that, and aggressively slapped the button to open the door with his hand.

“Sorry for your loss.” The statement was followed by a quick, almost uncomfortable hug.

“Sorry for your loss.” This time a kiss on the forehead.

“Sorry for your loss.”

“You’re in our prayers.”

“She’s in a better place now.”

“Sorry for your loss.”

Violet stood next to her brothers, receiving each patron’s condolences. Her Dad wasn’t far off, calmly speaking a short conversation with each person who came up to him. It seemed every other person would hand him an envelope, which he’d promptly tuck in his jacket.

“You ok, Vi?” Her brother asked.

She didn’t respond. She didn’t even really hear him. She felt so far off from the room, like she was floating elsewhere.

“Hey, how about we sit?” He suggested, pulling at her arm. “Come on.”

Violet didn’t protest. She let him pull her towards the side room and sit down on a chair. He got her a bottle of water and sat next to her, trying to throw in whatever small talk he could.

Eventually, her father came into the room.

“You alright?”

She slowly nodded.

“It’s getting late. Christopher will drive you home.”

“Can you drive me home?” Violet asked her father.

“I’m not going to be back until late.” He frowned. “We’ll talk first thing tomorrow, ok? Thank you for being so brave today.” He looked at his sons as well when he said that.

She hadn’t cried since the body went in the ground, but couldn’t help but burst into tears again. The thought of going home, how much quieter the house would be…

“It’s alright.” Christopher assured. “Do you need to be carried?”

Violet shook her head and stood up off the chair. She walked to the car with Christopher, heavily trying to hold in her tears as best she could.

“She wouldn’t want you to cry, Vi.” He said, getting misty-eyed himself. “Don’t worry. Everything will be ok.”

“You ready?”

Violet hadn’t heard Teddy. She had finished showering before everyone else and sat on the bench by the exit hallway, waiting for everyone. All the conversations just happened in the peripheral of her mind, and she found herself unable to pay attention.

“Yeah.”

The sunlight was intense as they cracked the hatch door open. Teddy went out first, looking at the wide desert around him.

Vilet looked around, mouth widened in shock. Bradley looked around with his mouth widened in amazement.

Teddy let out a huge sigh as he stared at the great expanse. “Goddamnit.”

“What’s that?” Bradley pointed nearby.

“Oh shit, it’s a jeep!” Teddy ran towards it like a child running to the tree on Christmas. He ripped the tarp off like he was impatiently wrapping a present.

“Alright, get in kids.” Teddy motioned his hand as he opened a door.

“Where do I sit?” Bradley asked.

“Where do you want to?”

“What’s better?”

“The front.” Teddy smiled.

“Oh, I’ve never done that.” Bradley smiled at the prospect.

“It’s a blast. Hey Princess,” Teddy called out. “Is it alright if Bradley sits shotgun?”

Violet had barely been paying attention, caught up in the desert around her. “Uhhh...yeah. I don’t care.”

“You coming, Ade?” Teddy asked as she stood a few feet from the car.

She had been standing in one place, thinking for some time. “I’m going to walk.”

“Walk?!” Bradley shouted in surprise.

“I’ll be fine. Trust me, I have a lot I need to think about first.”

Teddy shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

“What the-?” Violet turned to Teddy as he sat in the driver's’ seat, turning the keys in the ignition. Bradley excitedly looked at the console in front of him, playing with the radio buttons. “Dad, she’s going to die!”

Teddy shook his head and put the car in drive. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“God, this sucks.” Albert whined. “Anything on your end?”

“No.” Emma wiped some sweat off of her forehead. “I’ve tried digging a bit to figure out the ‘SIX FEET UNDER’ clue, but it’s seeming less and less practical. Did you try digging through the mud patch?”

“Ugh...can’t you dig through the mud patch?”

She blinked. “We’re not exactly in a position to be choosy here.”

“Alright, alright. Whatever.” Albert kneeled down and began sifting through the mud.

“Oh, Mr. Bianchi!” Emma shouted in surprise. “Did you come to help search for vaccines?”

“H-Hey! Teddy!” Albert jumped in place.

Teddy didn’t say anything. He just picked up a pair of hedge shears and began to approach Albert.

Albert stepped back, a little nervous. “I gotta say, you’re looking pretty good! Have you lost weight?”

Emma walked up to Teddy and put a hand on his shoulder. “Mr. Bianchi, are you-AGHHHHHH!!” She shouted loudly and stepped backwards as he stabbing the weapon into her sternum, throwing her body to the ground.

“B-Bastard!” Albert shouted. He ran for the door, but Teddy grabbed him and dragged him back towards the creek.

“T-Teddy, you don’t have to do this!” Albert screamed.

Teddy jumped into the knee-high water and dragged Albert in, holding his head underwater. Albert kept writhing, desperately coming up in short breaths.

“P-Please, Teddy!” He pleaded. “I have a family!”

Teddy pushed his head under further. Harder.

Albert thrived and came up again, clawing at the edge. “D-Don’t *cough* do this.” He cried weakly. “I’ll get you your money! I promise! Every penny!”

Teddy didn’t listen to a word. None of it meant anything to him. He grabbed Albert’s head again and pushed it under the water. He desperately squirmed again, but was unable to get his head above water this time. Slowly, the last bubbles of air rose to the top of the water.

Teddy let go, and walked over to Emma. She had ripped out the shears and was crawling towards the door, trying to find an exit as best she could. Teddy grabbed the gardening shears again and stepped towards her slowly.

Emma tried to force some words out. A plea. Anything. But Teddy just stabbed her with the shears above her stomach...and slowly tore the weapon down. It completely eviscerated her, and was easy as cutting a cake.

Emma let out a wail of agony that was quickly cut short as her body immediately entered shock. Teddy mechanically did the whole process with dead eyes. No guilt. No pleasure. Just the savage instincts of an animal. Just an obsessive will and determination to survive.

The car sped down the desert road, dust blowing up behind it. Tunes were jamming on the radio, and Teddy and Bradley were stuck in a heated conversation.

Violet was in the back with Einstein, just looking out the window. There was that feeling again...like she was alone.

“That’s fucking stupid, Bradley.” Teddy said, slapping his hand on the steering wheel.

“You’re stupid! You just don’t want to admit you’re wrong!”

“Batman can stop the entire Justice League if he wants to! One on one? Superman doesn’t stand a chance.”

“Superman isn’t even human! If he actually wanted to kill Batman, he could do it in a second!”

“Not if Batman had prep-time!” Teddy retorted. “Plus, he has that kryptonite in his belt!”

“If Superman had prep-time he could just fly around the sun and became immune to kryptonite!”

Teddy chuckled and tousled Bradley’s hair. “Oh, Bradley. That’s not canon.”

It seemed Teddy was satisfied with that as the argument-clincher and continued tapping his fingers to the beat of the music.

“So Bradley, where do you live? How do we get you home?”

“Uhh….” Bradley looked out the window. “I don’t really have a home.”

“What about your parents?”

“...I don’t have any either.”

“You’re kidding.” Teddy shook his head. “Are you in foster home or…?”

“Uh...it’s like Midge said! Homeless.”

Teddy whistled. “Well, you can stay with us. We’ll contact social services and...well, who knows what’ll happen. We got a pretty big house.”

“Crime pays.” Violet muttered.

Teddy glanced his eyes at the rearview. “Did you say something?”

She didn’t respond.

“Uhh, so how does Bradley staying at our home for a little sound? You okay with that?” He asked, trying to change the topic.

“It’s… fine.”

Teddy frowned and kept looking ahead at the desert road.

“Mr. Teddy… do you think you’re evil?”

Teddy looked back at Violet in the car. He then looked at Bradley.

“Listen, Bradley. The world… it’s a sick, fucked-up place. I’m sure you must see it too, being homeless and all.”

Bradley slowly nodded, and then shivered as if remembering something.

“Corporations… they use slave labor to make their products! Fucking shoe companies… t-they have children making them in sweatshops! Younger than both of ya!” Teddy white-knuckled the steering wheel as he continued ranting. “Banks, hospitals, education… they all try to fuck you over. Even the system can’t help, and well…” He tried to find his point to make.

“You gotta do what you can. To protect the people you care about. There are no rules to this game. And there can be consequences… but I’m willing to face them.” He then looked at Bradley and Violet. “You two are kind. You’re sweet. Those are good qualities. Hold onto that.”

Teddy kept driving. Everytime he would try to initiate a conversation with Violet, she’d give some laconic response or none at all. Eventually, he decided this shouldn’t wait so he stopped the car.

“Bradley, can you step out for a second?”

Bradley eyed Teddy suspiciously. “You’re not gonna leave me behind, right?”

Teddy pulled the keys out of the ignition and put them in Bradley’s palm. Bradley stared at Teddy like it meant nothing to him.

“The car can’t drive without those.” Teddy elucidated.

“Ah, ok!” Bradley opened the door and stepped out, closing it behind him. He ran a bit from the car in the desert, but not too far away.

Teddy sat in his seat, gripping the steering wheel. A new song had started to play on the radio, but his mind was too busy thinking of what to say.

“Violet… I know today’s been a long day.” Teddy sighed. “I’m sorry about everything. I can’t even imagine what’s going through your head right now.”

“I can’t stop thinking about Midge. And Emma. And… even Helios.”

Teddy looked down. “You have to know Violet… there was no way I was going to let you die there.”

Violet stared at her feet. “I… feel like I don’t know you.”

The words stabbed Teddy right in the heart. “What?”

“T-They said you were… a criminal. I-I had a feeling… Matt and Chris would always shut up when I entered the room, and people at school always-”

“Violet, I-”

“And you’re hurting people. And you kill them like it’s nothing. And, y-you-” Violet didn't seem to know how to properly phrase her words. "Y-You just...I don't...I just don't understand. Why would you want to do stuff like that for a living? Why couldn't you just get a normal job like everyone else? Why are you okay with killing people? Why?!"

"I'm not 'okay' with killing people," Teddy immediately snapped back. He continued, more gently, "Just because it has to happen sometimes doesn't mean I like it. ...The world is fucked up, Vi, with crime and darkness everywhere. Sometimes you wander in... and it's too dark to find your way back out."

"If you don't like it, then why the hell do you do it?!" Violet suddenly shouted. "You're not making any sense! I already know that the world is messed up! So why...why...ARGH!" She stamped her foot angrily.

Teddy stared at the steering wheel. As long as he was looking there, he wouldn't have to face Violet.

"...Once you're in, it's not that simple getting out," he said finally. “I made a choice on how I’d make my living a long time ago--and it’s a choice that I can’t take back. You, your brothers… I work everyday to make sure you have as many choices available to you as you need.”

Violet clenched her hands into fists. "Why...why didn't you tell me?! I'm not stupid y'know?! I would've figured it out anyways, so why did you think you could hide it from me?! Matt and Chris know, right? Why'd you tell them and not me?!!"

“Of course I knew you’d figure it out!” Teddy said. “I knew I’d have to tell you... I was just trying to figure out the right time... And Matt and Chris didn’t find out until they were older either.”

"The right time?! There's never a right time to say something like that!" Violet snapped back. "A-And what if...what if you got caught?! What if when we get back home you get arrested for killing Emma and Albert and all the others?" She hugged herself tightly. "I already lost mom...I don't...I don't wanna lose you too..."

“That was always my biggest fear... That something would happen to you and your brothers... Directly, or cuz something happened to me,” Teddy said quietly.

He let go of the wheel and laid back in the driver’s seat, staring at the ceiling of the car contemplatively. “I’m not gonna get arrested for stuff that happened in a secret bunker in the middle of the desert after being kidnapped and put through... that. But.”

Teddy paused. He really wished he could say something to Violet to reassure her, she’d probably be able to tell he was sugarcoating things, and that’d just make things worse.

“Whoever set up that game knew all about me. With Helios and Albert there, it couldn’t have been a coincidence.” There was also ‘Adriana’s’ corpse, but Violet hadn’t seen it and that part could wait until later. “So who knows? Maybe Null told the cops about me, so that even if I escaped I’d just get thrown in jail. We... aren’t gonna know until we make it back to civilization.”

Violet sat in silent shock for several minutes, processing her dad's words. After a while, she spoke up again, her voice barely more than a whisper. "D-Dad? Th-The night before we got kidnapped...you remember what happened, right?"

“...Yeah. What about it?”

"I'm...I'm sorry. Sorry for being such a disobedient brat. I shouldn't have gone to the party. I should've just gone home with you." Her voice cracked, and even though she tried to hide it, she was starting to cry. "I'm really, really sorry."

Teddy sat in silence for a moment. Then, his belly started to shake. A low rumble emanated from his throat, and finally full-blown laughter escaped his mouth.

“Vi... It doesn’t fucking matter anymore. Especially after what we just went through,” he finally managed to say through his laughs. “We all do stupid things when we’re kids. I don’t even want to tell you what I was up to at your age--hell, I’ve done plenty of stupid crap as an adult. I know I overreact sometimes, but I also know you’re a smart enough kid to keep yourself out of real trouble.”

Teddy’s expression suddenly sobered as his thought completed itself. “...At least, when I don’t get you dragged you into it.”

Violet nodded. "Yeah...th-thanks..." She looked down. "When we get back home...promise not to lie to me about anything anymore."

“Promise,” Teddy said, without hesitation. He twisted his upper body around to look at his daughter, and grinned. “If nothing else, at least now when I say I’d do anything for you, you know I fucking mean it.”

Teddy rolled down the window and called out to Bradley. “You can get back in, Bradley.

“Everything’s okay now.”

BIANCHI ~ END

“Adriana, are you there?”

Adriana felt herself being shook awake. She flitted her eyelids open seeing Helios standing above her.

She stretched herself out on the sheets briefly, trying to sit up. “What time is it?”

“6 AM. We have a long day ahead of us.”

“Right.”

Helios stared blankly at her. “Uh...usually she would mention the day’s schedule after that.”

“Ah, of course.” Adriana nodded. “We have our breakfast with Bretner today, then the meeting with the Press Corps at two. General Tucker also wanted to discuss strategy at the earliest possible point.”

Helios nodded. “Alright, I think we’re getting somewhere. I’m getting more convinced everyday.”

Adriana smiled at him. “Thank you, Helios. I’m glad I can trust you.”

...It wasn’t over yet. Null put him in this situation, and while Teddy wasn't sure of what the fuck was happening here, he knew he wasn't gonna be someone's puppet. It was Null's game but Teddy didn't have to play by the rules. And as long as Teddy didn’t know that he had lost, he had to bet on any chance he could. If he hadn't already outright lost, then... then he could still get the last laugh on Null.

Teddy seemed like he was gonna cry, but then he smiled and almost laughed. He looked up at the ceiling as if Null was watching and slowly grabbed the gun next to Bradley's corpse, raising it to his temple.

BANG!

…

…

...

After that, the room was eerily silent. It was absent of any fire, breathing, or even the slightest palpitation. It was as if with that single gunshot, an eternal tomb was created.

Then suddenly, the sound of a firecracker went off. The south door leading to the library blew open, knocking the door far inwards.

Warily, Violet peeked her head inside. She had just thrown the grenade and ran as far as she could screaming in the other direction. As she peeked her head around in the room, her heart dropped.

She continued looking. Her eyes stopped on each individual body. She counted each one in her head. Adriana. Six.

Her eyes went to Bradley. She collapsed to her knees. Seven.

Finally, her eyes landed on Teddy. Gun held tight in his hands, with a large bullet wound in his skull. Eight.

She couldn’t even cry. She couldn’t even scream. It was like the air had been taken out of the room. Her heart beat rapidly, and she began to feel like she was suffocating.

“Ugh…”

Violet stopped. She flicked her eyes over to the area by the fireplace. Adriana was lying down next to Emma with a bullet wound in her head except...she was now breathing slightly.

Violet’s eyes widened. She had seen Adriana die...right?

Slowly, Adriana leaned herself up. She touched her head as if in pain, and was surprised to see how stained her hand was when she lowered it. Her eyes fell on Teddy and the gun in his hands, and she began to remember.

“W-What…?”

“V-Violet…? What happened?”

“Congrutalions. Adriana.” Null announced. “The amount of living opponents is now ONE. This fulfills your requirement for this trial.”

Suddenly, a panel in the ceiling opened up. A box dropped right onto Adriana’s lap. She shakily opened it to find a child vaccine.

“You…” Violet trailed off, seemingly unable to continue. “....you killed them?”

“N-No!” Adriana screamed. She was terribly confused. She had just remembered getting shot, and the gift Null just gave seemed to suggest…

Violet backed towards the door and fell down. Adriana began to approach her in reassurance, but Violet scrambled as fast as she could. She was completely terrified of the undead woman.

“Violet, wait!” Adriana shouted after her.

Adriana was unable to find Violet, so she just returned to the dining room. She looked at all the corpses around her, trying to make any sense of them.

There was no way she killed any of them. She would remember something like that.

***

The world changed in a blink. Adriana was sitting in a bedroom she had never sat in before, yet somehow it felt familiar.

Suddenly, she felt someone grab her hand. She turned quickly, frightened, but saw Helios.

“Helios….” Quickly, she collapsed and hugged him. She was so frightened. What just happened...it had all seemed so real.

“Helios, I had the most horrible nightmare. I was-”

“Hellooooooo, Adriana!” Helios flashed his famous smile at her. “I’d like to first inform you that I’m just a recording, and this present scene is a simulation in your mind. I’d love to answer your questions, but I’m going to have to do my best on my own.”

“S-Simulation...recording…?” She gripped Helios’ hand. It felt so real. What was any of this?

“What the fuck are you talking about?!”

“So then, this might take a bit but please sit down. Relax. Enjoy yourself.”

Adriana didn’t move from her present seat. The entire situation left her in complete bewilderment...worst of all it reminded her that the reality she had thought was very much a dream was real.

“Bad news. You are a homunculus.” Helios said, resting his hand on her shoulder. “Good news. Being a homunculus isn’t so bad! Ghost Protocol was a complete success!”

When Blight-Y ravaged the world, I knew Ghost Protocol was the only chance. The earlier products had some imperfections, but they were already more than a viable solution. And throughout the years it only got better.

You see, when a homunculus is created you need to have a set of a person’s data available. It’s possible to extract a copy from a recently dead person, but that usually makes most of the data unreadable.

This put us in a tough position with you, Adriana. We knew you were a valuable asset to the future of this country. When you died it broke my heart, but I knew there was a chance to bring you back.

Unfortunately, we couldn’t find your body. So I had to work over a decade to perfect a new solution: creating my own data. I had to leave a lot of it blank, and make you somewhat of a learning algorithm. I knew it’d take work, but I’d teach you day and night if I had to. There were some details I didn’t know, so I had to improvise. I’d recount as many memories as I could with you.

The reason you were so vital is because we needed to send you back in time. I already knew somebody named Clara Stanfield had traveled, and I had to stop any possible repercussions of that.

You wouldn’t be able to fulfill your role until the day the real Adriana died: the day before the Nullification Game. That’s when you’d take her role. You’d have to be able to trick me in the past. You’d have to be able to convince Clara too, she’d be watching out for it.

We weren’t there yet. Creating a homunculus’ data from scratch was nearly impossible. We were close, but we knew the final product wasn’t good enough to trick a very observant eye.

Have you heard of The Placebo Effect? That was our solution. If we made you think you were human, you’d pass as a human. You’d think you’d get sick as one. You’d think you’re capable of death. Though we had to include some overrides in your brain to fulfill...certain tasks. Just consider them gaps in memory.

Adriana blinked again. She was back in the dining room. She was sure there was more to the message but...she couldn’t hear anymore. She wouldn’t.

It was completely absurd. It wasn’t who she was.

Wait. Who am I?

She was Adriana Bennett. It was a stupid question. Of course that’s who you were.

You recalled your family. Your ex-husbands. They were chapters of your life...yet you were now having trouble remembering the finer details. Or any of them. Who were they?

She recalled Helios. His scent. His touch. He would always be so timid...so gentle...wait, he was always strong and confident, even when he didn’t know what he was doing. It was one of his charms… or… was it?

Adriana leaned over, face touching the carpet. She gripped both sides with her hands and began to sob loudly into it, as the crushing reality of her situation began to set in.

She stayed there for a good amount of time. Her heart felt frozen. Her mind was working a mile a minute.

But in the end she managed to stand. She wiped her tears away and walked out of the library area, going to find Violet.

***

Adriana made her presence known, but she didn’t say anything. She approached Violet slowly and deliberately. It was clear she had been crying.

Slowly, Adriana put down the child vaccine she had found. Violet just watched Adriana warily as she dropped it and then stepped away.

“You knew Teddy, am I correct?”

“...he was my Dad.”

“I think I know a bit of what you’re going through-- I just lost someone I loved too. Your father… I don’t know what he was really like. But I know that, in the end, he loved you too.”

After a pause, Adriana continued, with some urgency to her voice. “This is hard--I can’t comprehend how hard, but time is running out. Please take this now. It won’t help what’s hurting you-- not really, but it’ll give you time. That’s… really a strange thing to have, isn’t it? It’s weird to have less of it than you thought you had. You were right, by the way. Compared to me, you’re no kid.”

“...you’re wrong.”

“Huh?”

“I couldn’t do anything. He needed me and...all I did was run. Run away while you killed all of them.”

“I don’t expect you to believe me, Violet. But...I’m not human. I’m...I don’t know what I am. I’m someone who doesn’t exist.” She looked in the direction of the library. “I didn’t know I killed them. I promise you.”

Violet didn’t say anything. It was hard to believe her, yet looking at the still fresh bullet wound square in Adriana’s forehead as she spoke to her, it was almost difficult not to.

Adriana began to cry. “Yeah, like I said I didn’t expect anything. But don’t let how you feel about me,” She pushed the vaccine closer to Violet. “Get in the way of what’s right. It’d be pointless to die here. Think of what Teddy would want.”

Slowly and shivering, Violet eventually acquiesced and picked up the vaccine. She injected it into herself calmly, her breaths calming down a little as she did.

Adriana slowly approached Violet again, sitting next to her. “...the pain you’re going through. As tough as it may seem now, be happy you can feel it. Be happy that you have those feelings...feelings that are real. That are your own…”

Violet didn’t respond again. She seemed to be considering something, and just sat in deep thought.

“THE NUMBER NINE DOOR HAS BEEN OPENED. IT WILL REMAIN OPEN FOR NINE SECONDS.”

“... do you wanna come with?”

Adriana looked at Violet quizzically, not knowing how to respond.

“I don’t know whether to believe you.. .but I don’t wanna be wrong. Are you coming?”

Warily, Adriana stood by the door. She looked at the nearly endless hallway beyond, wondering what was even out there for her anymore. If there was any purpose in going.

She stepped forward, Violet following shortly behind.

As the door closed behind her, Adriana felt her mind drifting. It was going back to that bedroom…

“One more thing.” Helios instructed. “While not ideal, it’s alright if I die on your mission. I included a copy of my memories in your data, find a suitable homunculus to upload them into.”

Adriana looked away. Should she listen? This was the only thing she was after all.

“I want you to know that I love you, Adriana. I’m sorry I lost you. I’m sorry I couldn’t be there for you.” Helios sniffled. Then suddenly his face turned serious, like a switch inside of him had been flipped. “As for our other problem...did you find out who Zero is?”

…

…

…

ADRIANA ~ END

Seeing the futility in his attempts to cut the suit with the fire poker, a dark anger was stirred in Bradley. Tears came to his eyes as he began to scream in rage. Tearing the poker out of the suit he began to repeatedly stab into Ghost's body. Piercing further holes and coating himself in Ghost's blood. Then in a moment of madness, Bradley began to stab furiously at the visor.

"Listen, man... You know I didn't do this, right? Y-You can trust me...right?" Helios pleaded to Teddy.

"...are you planning to go along with what Null said? Finding the killer, and...killing them?" Emma asked uneasily.

Teddy wasn't responding to anyone. His eyes were in a far away place.

BANG!

Without any warning or provocation, Teddy had raised the gun at Adriana’s face and fired. Her head snapped backwards and her body fell on the ground like a puppet with its strings cut.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!?!” Helios screamed. It was completely random, senseless, and shocking.

“W-What-?!” VIolet screamed. “W-Why did you-?”

“Midge,” Teddy said, ignoring everyone. “Help me put the body in the fire.”

Midge nodded. “Smart thinking. If she’s a homunculus we want to make sure to burn it. So she doesn’t come back.”

“Homunculus? Burn it? What the hell are you guys talking about?!” Helios kept screaming questions and expletives at them as they threw Adriana in the fire, doing whatever they could to stoke the flames.

“You animal.” Albert growled. “Killing her out of nowhere like that…”

Teddy kept his gun pointed at the others so they wouldn’t make any moves. He just waited for the canister of gas to arrive. For them to be lulled into sleep…

***

Teddy woke up. Nobody else was dead. Everything seemed...fine. Next to him lay a child vaccine.

“Oh, thank god!” Teddy shouted. He examined it, realizing it was ready to use.

“What?!” Helios was looking around at everyone. “That was the answer?!”

“It was Adriana…” Emma muttered, confused.

“Can somebody please explain what’s going on?!” Helios pleaded.

Teddy just rushed to Violet and injected her. Then, as if remembering something else, he immediately rushed to Adriana’s purse.

“Aha!” He pulled out another vaccine. An adult. Quickly, he injected himself with it then rushed back to Violet, embracing her.

“Sorry if I scared you. It’s ok.” He whispered reassurances in her ear. “It’s ok. It’s ok.”

…

PERCEPTIVE ~ END

Bradley groans as the formation of a memory appeared at the back of his skull. An idea...to save so many of them.

"Stop Mr Helios...don't do the trial...but come with me."

***

"WHAT THE HELL IS THIS?! PUT ME DOWN!" Albert cried as everyone carried him to the hospital room.

It hadn't taken too much to convince the others of his idea. Midge, Emma and Teddy all seemed to share an understanding of his plan as it triggered odd latent memories in them as well. Albert had shown himself to be a dangerous individual anyway.

"This is INSANE! YOU WON'T GET AWAY WITH THIS!" Albert wriggled.

“I don’t know about this.” Violet grumbled as she opened the freezer door.

“I don’t like this either.” Ghost sighed, troubled. “But Albert may die anyway and he is dangerous...if this can get everyone a vaccine then we may not have a choice.”

"A leg and a wing! To see the King! A one...a two...AND A THREE!" Bradley chanted as they collectively heaved Albert into the freezer.

"DAMN!" Albert swore as he landed painfully in the freezer. Holding his gunshot wound he struggled to his feet "YOU BASTARRRRRR-" the shout was silenced as Midge shut the freezer door and locked it.

Everybody seemed a bit uneasy but they were altogether fairly confident in the plan. Sure enough roughly 30 minutes later, the freezer gave a small "bing" indicating that Albert was done and 8 boxes containing vaccines suitable for all of them popped from the ceiling.

Ghost looked at the spare vaccine he had been given. “I’m afraid this won’t be useful.”

“I’m not sure.” Emma said. "It could be valuable for research and developing cures to other strains of the Blight on the outside.”

And that was that. Everyone found a vaccine. There was no more reason for any infighting. Besides having to kill Albert, the game seemed to have ended fairly easily...

“Oh, Adriana.” Helios began. “Uh...I saw something kind of weird on the computer in the Oval Office…”

PERCEPTIVE ~ END 2

“So...what’s so special about this Blight-X anyway?” The researcher asked as he carefully bottled some samples. They were inside a large rectangular container that allowed you to slip your hands into gloves to touch the contents.

“Well, Blight is kind of a weird virus. Long and short of it, it can kind of cancel other Blights out. This Blight-X,” he turned the canister of it in the box to show the researcher, “it stops the effects of Blight-W.”

“Not super helpful then.” The other researcher laughed. “Just getting stuck with an even worse virus.”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

“Who is it?!”

KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK

One of the researchers sighed and opened the door. Behind the door were two men. The first seemed a bit older, more seasoned. The other seemed barely thirty, but he was a towering man with a massively muscular build.

“O-Oh, Teddy.” The researcher laughed nervously.

“You’ve been ignoring Bruno’s calls.”

“I-I’ve just been busy.”

“Hey!” The researcher with his hands in the box shouted at them. “How did you get back here? David, call security!”

“You fucked up, Davey.” Teddy admonished. “You disrespected the boss, and he told us that he’s done giving you second chances.”

“T-Teddy, I-”

Leo fired first. He fired straight at David’s head and blew goopy grey matter against the wall. Teddy turned and fired at the researcher, hitting him with several rapid fire bullets that shattered the box behind him.

“Let’s go.” Leo nodded.

They headed for the door. “Hey!” A security guard shouted, pulling his gun.

Teddy pulled his out faster.