Chapter 8: Wolf in Wolf's Clothing

Within pure darkness, the sound of shuffling and incoherent words chaotically intermingled, waking Jin up from his death-induced slumber.

The first thing he glimpsed was a small golden panel weakly assaulting his eyes with its soft glow.

[Language Synchronization: Complete!]

The small window disappeared quickly, revealing the soft hazel-hued floorboards behind it alongside two sets of thick dark boots belonging to a pair of arguing men in heavily furred jackets.

Jin rapidly and silently glanced around, taking in the surroundings as quickly as he could.

The place he was in looked like the inside of some wooden structure, presumably a hunter's cabin because of the extinguished fireplace made of cobblestone and the wolf's head stuck to a beige frame on the wall - a hunting trophy.

A glass window resisted the faint howl of the biting winds outside, which hurled snow around violently.

A few modern lanterns with clear plastic covers illuminated the room while other worn and torn furniture were strewn about, like an old table with an array of weapons and firearms on it next to a crooked chair, but nothing else seemed noteworthy.

"I told you a million times to check!" a man in a maroon fur coat with a bulky frame and a black wool hat shouted angrily, with a sky-blue armband visibly attached to him.

"What do you think I was doing!? They're smart, they must've disguised it some other way!" a smaller male, visibly shorter than even Jin, rebutted. He had a deep green fur coat with a hood hiding most of his head and a similar armband.

'They didn't notice me…? I need to lay low and get my bearings before-'

The bulky man's eyes drifted towards Jin.

"But that's not- Huh!? Who are you!?" the man quickly grabbed a black riot shotgun from the table and slid its barrel towards Jin.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Easy, now!" Jin raised his hands up with a panicked look.

The smaller man gasped and quickly stumbled for something on the table until he ended up grabbing a grenade launcher and holding its barrel towards Jin.

"D-Don't move or we'll shoot!"

"What are you doing, you muppet!?" the bulky man glanced at the shorter man but kept his eyes mostly focused on Jin.

"Th-Threatening him!"

"That thing's going to blow us all up!"

"Y-Yeah, so he won't try to do anything!"

"No, he'll know you won't shoot because it can kill you too! Do you ever think things through!?"

"Maybe he didn't think it through and you gave my bluff away, huh?!"

The two argued while holding their weapons towards Jin.

'What even is this situation? Doesn't matter, if he looks away again I think I can disarm him… The grenade launcher is going to hurt but it won't kill me until the round explodes, so I can kick it away in time…'

"You! Show me your tongue!" the bulky man ordered Jin angrily.

"My ton–"

The man shot right next to Jin, the pallets peppering the wall as a warning but a piece still managed to spread close and cut a hole right through the edge of Jin's ear.

Jin winced then grimaced painfully.

"Right now! Do it now!"

"Show us your tongue or we'll make you explode!"

"Last warning!" 

They kept barking loudly, getting more and more anxious and agitated.

"Aaah!" Jin complied since he had no other choice, opening his mouth wide.

"Does it look okay?!" the smaller man trembled.

"I don't know! Open wider!"

"Aaaaagh!"

"I-I still can't tell!"

"I don't know either! I'll just shoot him!"

"What!? Why!? I didn't do anything!" Jin scowled but then tensed, ready to lunge at the man.

But then a wooden door suddenly flew off its rusted hinges as someone kicked it open. 

The loud thud of its fall spooked the bulky man into flinching and pulling the trigger, but his body jolting altered the trajectory so he shot above Jin as the shotgun flew backward from his grasp.

The other man let out a shrill scream and threw the grenade launcher away, hastily jumping behind the table to hide.

A woman with sharp and fearless features, and deep sapphire eyes, walked in wearing a thick black parka over what looked like a bulletproof vest and a military uniform with a gray camo, the same armband wrapped around her too. Her neck-length blonde hair was almost a shade of white, with her bangs trimmed at an angle to give it a sharp look.

"What's with you screaming like children? Are you trying to get us killed?" she spoke with an accent which Jin couldn't pinpoint, but it made her sound more masculine and intimidating… in a pleasant way.

The bulky man pointed at Jin.

"Th-There's a stranger here, Dia. We were checking his tongue a-and…"

She walked closer to Jin, pulling out and aiming a small black handgun at Jin's head with a cold gaze.

"And?" she asked with a dangerous glint in her eyes, not breaking eye contact even for a second.

The smaller man peaked from behind the table.

"I-I think it's red…"

"You think?" her glare deepened.

Jin stuck his tongue out at her, despite his situation he still couldn't help but stick it out mockingly.

"..." her gaze was colder than the howling winds outside.

"It is red," Jin scowled.

"Okay... Now take off your pants," she spoke with complete seriousness, not stuttering or smiling despite her words.

"D-Dia?" the bulky man's eyes widened as he looked at her.

"What?" Jin furrowed his brow.

"Take off your pants or I will give you a third eye on your forehead," she wiggled her gun as if to prove she could.

"Wh...What…?" but her command was still too strange.

"I won't repeat myself," her eyes did not lie, her desire to kill him was growing with every second.

"Master Jin, is someone else with you? It has been seven hours since last contact. Tell me when you're ready for details," Walter's calm voice echoed in Jin's mind.

"R-Relax! I'll do it… I'm ready…" Jin reached down to unbuckle his belt with a scowl.

"Very well. Skouter has found several batteries in the area, around four in close proximity, isn't that fortunate for your objective? One is somewhere to the east, the other two are south of you, next to each other, and then the last one is up north."

Jin grimaced as he unbuttoned and unzipped his pants, putting all of himself on display. His body shivered from the chilly sensation.

'What even is the point of this? So uncomfortable...'

Dia's eyes peered through Jin's vulnerability like a hawk, carefully inspecting every detail.

Jin had no problems standing around others naked yet her sharp attentive gaze started to feel uncomfortable and he slowly found his cheeks heating up.

A third man in a black parka walked into the room holding an ivory mug.

"Dia, you forgot your- What the hell!?" the man tensed up with a surprised look.

"Heh, you're safe. Fix your clothes," Dia walked to the man with a faint smile.

***

Jin adjusted his pants and belt with gritted teeth then glared at the woman who sat on a wooden chair with a sharp glower while sipping a steaming mug full of a rich hazel-hued drink; it had an alluring smell to it, so it must've been something sweet.

"Can you explain why I went through that?" Jin's eyes softened, knowing that he was not in a position to show aggression or anything that would make him a threat despite how much he hated his treatment. He had to stack favorable cards early.

"Oh? Can you explain why you showed up to our little temporary FOB without any active footprints outside? Or how you somehow avoided our watchmen and the men on the first floor?" she took another sip, her eyes carefully analyzing Jin.

"Forward Operating Base? You're military?"

"You seem to misunderstand your position, little rabbit. Or do I need to make sure only one of your heads work so you can focus better?"

Jin's expression darkened.

'I just magically appeared out of thin air like a time traveling robot searching for four people… Tsk… What am I supposed to tell her?'

Jin's eyes shifted to the other two.

'They were panicking earlier... and their intense checks… They're filtering people for something… They're also dangerously armed but inexperienced, and they have those unified armbands, so… are they a resistance or something? Hmm... Based on the woman's lingo and outfit, she could be ex-military leading the charge for revolution or…'

"Cat got your tongue? Then it is fine if I take the rest of your organs, yes?" the woman stood up, placing the ceramic mug on the table.

'Dammit! It's too much of a leap but ugh! It doesn't matter! They're clearly a group of something, so let's try…'

"I came here because I wanted to join you," Jin raised his brow and frowned with parted lips - showing a pained expression to make himself appear desperate.

"Join us?" Dia raised an eyebrow inquisitively.

"Yes… They took everything from me and I heard that you guys were our last hope… I don't want to sit idly and regret it for the rest of my life... I'm sure someone with my skills should be pretty useful, and I've already proved it by sneaking through your guards, right? I want to help out too."

"Heh. Help out? More like you're looking to save your own skin, little rabbit… But you say they took everything from you?"

'Dammit, is she going to ask me who "they" are? I don't know who they're fighting! Tsk... Family always works well in these scenarios…'

"Y-Yes, my family… They coldly butchered my family… And I just can't sleep at night without feeling like making things right. Please... I need this…" Jin gritted his teeth and looked at the ground while on the verge of breaking down into tears - a carefully fabricated expression of anger and sorrow.

He was no actor, but he had an edge over other people when it came to controlling his emotions and displaying false ones. Jin had to reshape his very essence and master self-brainwashing to survive the two-faced cruelty of human interactions in his past life.

"Those damned monsters…" the meek man in green clenched his fist in the back.

Dia looked at Jin somberly, appearing to fall for the loose story. But then her eyes drifted down to Jin's ashen suit, then out the window where a freezing blizzard howled viciously.

"Hmm... Say, little rabbit… Where is your own coat? Did you run through the snow all the way like that?"

"Ah… N-No, I lost it on the way here… I was… They were on me so I had to improvise…"

Dia sipped the warm drink while looking at him sympathetically.

"Mmm... Believable tale," then she suddenly splashed the beverage on his face.

Jin flinched but closed his eyes in time, the liquid itself was only warm so it didn't sting his face too much but the feeling of her palm smashing his head against the wall was irritatingly painful.

"What!?" the meek man quickly ducked down.

Dia's gun kissed Jin's lower jaw as she patted his pockets then his jacket.

"I don't like the way you talk… I especially don't like things I don't understand."

Jin gritted his teeth as she inspected and pulled his jacket aside, revealing his holstered guns.

"Ah... What is this little mystery? You are armed, wearing a suit in the cold, and you walked past my men like a ghost…" Dia's gaze grew colder than the chocolate drink on Jin's face.

"I'm… I'm ex-military! I have experience and training, so it is a force of habit more than anything! I didn't mean to sneak up on you all, I just desperately wanted to escape the cold!"

"Is that so? What regiment?"

Jin grimaced.

'What the hell is a regiment!? I don't know a thing about that! My knowledge of war and soldiers comes from the games I played when I was young! And even then I never paid attention to them!'

"S-Special operator in the second black ops division! Fox-alpha!" Jin strung a collection of words desperately, hoping it sounded convincing. 

"What…?" her gaze grew even sharper somehow.

"I-It was a secret project that was abandoned, it was about creating specially modified soldiers capable of an all-rounded single unit assault for special missions, s-so of course you wouldn't know about it, but the documents are there! Just… heavily redacted without their file numbers!" Jin's mouth desperately threw whatever amalgamation of words seemed to make sense to him, hoping they would click.

"Specially modified soldiers… for a secretive operation? Hmm... So that's the shuffling and the hush hush the old men were trying to keep under wraps? And here I thought it was more nuclear warheads and crazy biological weapons… Heh... Poor super rabbit, I guess even people like you are thrown in the same busted boat as the rest of us once the war ends, huh?"

Dia let go of Jin and walked back to her seat.

Jin's shoulders relaxed as he exhaled deeply in relief.

"But you understand the need for caution, yes? You never know who is who out here," Dia smiled at him and shrugged.

"I... understand... I'd do the same…" Jin nodded with a faint smile contrasting his actual feelings.

"Reasonable man. Look, the blizzard is dying down. After our men confirm it, we will move out together to the east to see how much help you can actually be since you want to join us, until then let's get to know each other, ex-black ops rabbit."

'Dammit… I should've said I was a janitor or something… But east... that's perfect...'

"I am Dia, this big man here is Gunter. The small rat behind him is Bien."

"Rat? That's kind of…" the short man's voice trailed off sorrowfully.

"My name is Jin."

"Well, Jin… This Blacks Ops division you speak of…"

The man in black from earlier barged in the room again.

"Dia, visibility is clear, the winds are settling down so we should leave before it picks up again."

"Yes. We'll continue this on the way, little rabbit. There's an extra coat for you too," Dia gestured towards the door with a smile.

***

Jin walked outside on the snow with a satisfying crunch tickling his healed ears with every step. He looked down at the white parka he wore, which had incredibly soft fur lined up on the wrists and around the neck, keeping him comfortably warm. 

Jin gazed up at the vast empty landscape - where mounds of ivory snow as soft as cotton conquered all that existed - with a veil of mist concealing everything after some distance. And in the far horizon, the shadowy spectral forms of a few skyscrapers announced the presence of a city.

'It's been a while since I've seen a standing skyscraper… These tall buildings used to make my world feel even smaller… Walking around them felt like I was a mouse within a bigger box, going to get my daily cheese by pleasing the bigger rats… I hated that life, but… what I'm doing right now is even worse… At least filing reports and juggling jobs for the company didn't leave me with a bitter lingering regret…'

"So, Mister secret military operator…" Dia glanced at Jin with a smirk.

'This incessant wench! Let me brood in peace!' Jin sighed.

"Right... You see… I wanted to enlist in the army but uhh… for some reason they asked me if I was interested in a special training program. I didn't know what it meant but they told me it was going to help the nation tremendously."

"Ah, the hero speech. A classic tale to make men die over pitiful scraps."

"Mhm… I believed it and joined but then I realized I wasn't in a normal… uhh… regiment. And they kept withholding information from everyone else. Eventually I was told that it was a secret project to... use shadow operations... for diversifying the military intelligence... and controlling rival networks by using specialized operators in tandem with… regular military missions," Jin tugged and adjusted his coat with every pause as if pretending he was too bothered by his clothes to speak.

'It sounds so obviously fake... I overdid it!' 

"Ahh… Using a sub-unit below the radar to sabotage our enemies and break international law without the risk of retaliation while our main army distract everyone with a standstill? Not only that but spying on their intelligence networks also opens up a pathway to assassinating key figures to cripple their military might early on… and the less we know, the easier it is to deflect and handle leaks of information… Heh, insidious bastards… And still they failed to use your kind effectively and lost the war."

'It worked... She made sense of all that nonsense,' Jin nodded at her with amazement.

"But that means you are pretty lucky, hm?" Dia grinned at Jin.

"Lucky?"

"If our government didn't fall, you would've been killed to bury the operation's existence."

"A-Ah… Yeah… Yeah, I didn't think about it that way before…"

"Heh. Foolish little rabbit. Your sneaking skills are beyond my men, yet your mind is still too young."

Jin scratched his head, unsure how to take her words or react to them.

'At least she's satisfied with the answer…'

***

The group, now consisting of twelve people in mostly black parkas and furred jackets, stood with their guns and rifles drawn. The only ones who were visibly unarmed were Dia and Jin, who had their guns sheathed.

They stood in front of a snow-covered street that somehow sunk down into the snow the more it moved away from the city.

Skyscrapers either stood proudly or careened onto one another, with some fallen into rubble while others broke through the ground. Familiar vehicles, signs and food stalls were scattered throughout the streets and buildings in various states gathering hoarfrost.

This was what Jin envisioned the shattered world Nexus resided in to look like if it ever merged back together.

"Men, don't suckle on your thumbs for too long. We go in, scour the area for survivors and supplies, then move out. Everyone, set your timers to zero one hundred and split up in your groups!" Dia shouted and pulled back her sleeve, exposing a simple black band around her wrist - a digital watch which she tinkered with.

Jin walked into the city as everyone adjusted their watches.

However, Dia quickly grabbed his shoulder to stop him.

"No. You're coming with me, rabbit. Don't stray too far or else I might get spooked and shoot you in the leg."

"Tsk… A bit of an overreaction, don't you think? It's better if we split up and–"

"No. Stay. You must know that I do whatever to keep new friends close, little rabbit."

"I'll keep that in mind… Big rabbit," Jin smirked at her playfully, trying to mimic Skouter.

Dia raised her eyebrows then shook her head with a faint smile.

"A playful spirit in these times? Your kind doesn't live long, you know. Now, let's go."

***

Jin stared around at the rubble while walking next to Dia until Walter's coffee-flavored voice resonated within his head.

"Master Jin, Master Skouter says the battery is close, to the north of where you currently are."

Jin turned his head north towards the remains of a skyscraper which busted through the streets and into a sewer system underneath, the building possibly fell down after something blew its foundation up. 

Jin moved towards the hole in the ground while his head scanned the area around him. The more he looked around, the more the place seemed like the remnant of a battlefield, with scorched vehicles and craters all around, blanketed by a layer of pure snow.

"It hurts seeing civilization erased down to broken concrete and shattered glass," Jin sighed, more so referencing his own experiences with the Shattered Lands and all the ruined worlds he visited with Skouter and Sadie.

"Yes. And all it took was our leader's greed to spark the flames of war… I wonder if some people take solace in the fact our government is no more," Dia still resonated with his words and spoke as she moved to his side, looking at the hole in front of them with a sorrowful look.

Jin glanced at her somber face then looked at the caved-in part of the street. The inside looked like a strange cave thanks to the cold weather freezing most of it over, it didn't resemble any sewer system he was familiar with.

The sudden sound of distant gunshots alerted Jin, who quickly pulled out his handgun with masterful speed and looked back at the tall buildings, trying to pinpoint the source of the shot.

But Dia kept her pose relaxed and neutral as she watched him.

"Good reflexes. Focused eyes. Lowered center of gravity… Ready to move, huh? You weren't lying about being ex-military then?"

Jin looked back at Dia with a perplexed look.

"You're not worried about your men?"

A static click rang from the transmitter on Dia's hips.

"Found a Zurian. Target handled."

She pointed at it with a proud grin.

"Little rabbit, you are around wolves. Only you should be worried. If push comes to shove, we will devour our own to survive."

Jin grimaced then looked back down at the hole.

"Do you think there's a survivor down there? A place like this would be perfect shelter from the blizzard."

Dia nodded then jumped down.

"Perhaps there is or perhaps not. We have less than an hour to figure that out. Now come," she motioned for him to follow.

"Alright," Jin sighed and braced himself for battery retrieval, while he had already steeled himself for killing batteries, he didn't want to drag innocents into it so Dia escorting him made him anxious.