|| Cracked Barriers ||

[ A bit of a long chapter by the way. I hope you guys are enjoying it so far :) ]

|| Chapter 11: Cracked Barriers ||

The very moment his feet hit the snow, he could feel the freezing cold air flutter past his face, swaying his messy hair along with it. "Ah, God," He faintly cursed under his breath, gritting his teeth in frustration. Slowly, his fingers reached into his pockets and pulled out a box of cigarettes, along with a lighter. With a deep sigh, he lit a cigarette and took an inhale before exhaling, releasing a large puff of sweet-scented smoke into the air. 

His brows furrowed, showing that he was deep in his thoughts as he continued to smoke, leaning against the broken pod for a few minutes. "Ellipse," He finally called out her name, calmly closing his eyes with a clenched jaw. Once he heard a small beep in his earpiece, his shoulders tensed up. "You weren't going to tell me anything about this, were you?" He asked with a dry chuckle, feeling his anger spike inside his body, "Is that why you and Ezekiel kept surveillancing me for the last few days?" 

There was no reply from her. He waited and waited. With each passing second, he could feel his entire body ignite with pure anger and betrayal. What did he expect when he decided to trust an AI? "Your lack of answer shows that I'm correct," He mentioned with a slight sneer in disbelief and he ruffled his hair as he added in a demanding tone, "List me all the mutations and the levels of mutations of my body. That is an order." 

"...Both Scapulas have reached level 5 mutations, and the 3rd and 4th lumbar vertebra have reached level 4 mutation," Ellipse's robotic voice started gradually listing the mutations, finally answering him, "...Both hands' metacarpal bones and phalanges of fingers have reached level 3 mutations. Both irises, pupils, and corneas have reached level 4 mutations." 

"So, in other words..." His voice was strained as his bangs draped over his glaring eyes, "...More than 25% of my upper and lower back, as well as my hands, have mutated." Slowly, he pushed his backside off the pod and tossed the burnt-out cigarette to the ground before stomping on it. Without another word, he started walking, sauntering out of the corpse tower with a dark expression on his face. 

When he stepped out of the tower's entrance, he could see three blurry figures a few yards away from him. He squinted his eyes to see them, however, he was caught off guard when his vision suddenly turned extremely clear as if he was looking through a rifle's scope. The three figures were N, Uzi and a blonde-haired drone that was dressed up like a high school jock. 

He tensed up when his body automatically positioned itself in a lunging position before pushing the back of his boots deep into the snow, flexing his feet to push him forward. It was as if his body had turned light as a feather when he leapt in the trio's direction with inhumane speed. From what he could see through his blurry vision, he was zipping and leaping through and over destroyed cars. 

Before he knew it, he came to a stop behind them, sliding slightly. The trio was startled when a powerful gust of snowy wind suddenly pushed past them, almost shoving them to the ground from its force. Quickly, they turned around to face the source of the sudden wind. They were astonished to see the ravenette behind them, staring at them with a deadpanned expression. 

An awkward silence surrounded them as they stared at each other. "...Isn't that the kid's railgun?" The ravenette broke the silence when his cold gaze landed on the rifle in the blonde's hands. The young drone tensed up when his gaze was pinned on him, causing goosebumps to appear on his silicone skin. "Why do you have it, hm?" The ravenette asked with a raised brow, crossing his arms over his chest as he narrowed his eyes at the drone. 

"I-I came to give it back to U-Uzi because..." The blonde stuttered out with wide eyes, gulping loudly, "...She left it at the colony, s-sir!" The ravenette raised a brow at him when he called him 'sir' but he paid no mind to it. "Oh," He hummed with a scoff, rubbing his nape as he tore his gaze away from him, "I see." Completely embarrassed, Uzi stomped her way towards Thad and stopped in front of him. Silently, she held her hand out to him and he awkwardly handed the weapon to her with a friendly yet sheepish smile. 

"...Thank you," She bashfully thanked Thad without looking at him as she sent N a thumbs up, and he returned the gesture with a goofy smile. "Of course, Zi!" He reassured her with a chuckle, taking a step to the side as he sent the ravenette and N finger-gun gestures, "You guys saved my life, Fixer and N!" The ravenette stared at him before asking him with a cold expression, "Khan never told you guys my real name, did he?" 

Uzi and Thad flinched while N tilted his head in confusion. "Kim Siwoo," He told them with a displeased frown, rubbing his shoulder when it started pulsing with a burning sensation, "Just call me Siwoo or something. 'Fixer' is getting annoying now..." Uzi and Thad were speechless, staring at him. N, however, seemed excited to learn something new about the ravenette. "Anyhow," He cleared his throat and asked, "How's the colony reacting to Uzi's self-banishment?" Thad flinched for a moment, regaining his composure and revealed with a crooked grin, "I don't think the colony is even serious about the whole banishment stuff." 

Immediately, Uzi frowned and tightened her grip around her railgun. "More like confused, especially-" Thad tried to explain, however, Uzi interrupted him as she raised her fist into the air, "The fact that I'm too rogue to re-enter society, now I can never return!" The ravenette facepalmed at her words before tensing up when Thad awkwardly finished his explanation, "-The recent disappearances..." 

A tense atmosphere surrounded them when Thad added with an unnerved yet horrified expression, rubbing his nape as he nervously chuckled, "And your murder friends' corpse? When I went to grab Zi's gun, it kinda looked like it... crawled away?" The ravenette noticed how N's eyes grew wide as saucers, hinting that he knew something. N quickly got to his feet with a pale face, his gaze darting to the sides as the ravenette cracked his neck, relieving its pain. "...We can return a little, haha..." Uzi anxiously suggested when she saw their actions. 

Hurriedly, a pair of blade-like wings sprouted from N's shoulder blades and gestured that he could carry them to the facility. However, the ravenette turned down his wordless suggestion. "Hey, blondie," He called out to Thad when N picked Uzi up in a princess-carry style, catching Thad's attention. All three of them flinched in surprise when a pair of gigantic black oily-blade-like wings sprouted from his shoulder blades, ripping through his flesh and jacket - yet there was no sign of pain on his face. "You're coming with me," He sneered at Thad, who shrunk back with a pale expression and yelped when the ravenette picked him like a sack of potatoes. 

Without another word, the ravenette lept into the air, leaving a crater that left N and Uzi speechless. With a shake of his head, N quickly followed the ravenette's actions. As he flew behind the ravenette, he couldn't help but steal uneasy glances towards the sight of his unpolished, rough, and oil-dripping blade-like wings. His jacket was starting to get soaked in the thick crimson liquid that seeped out his shredded shoulder blades. 

It wasn't long before they landed in front of Door 3. N tried to land as gently as possible while the ravenette created a small crater when he tried to land in a normal manner. "Shit..." He mumbled under his breath when he saw the crater below him. Carefully, he placed Thad on the ground, earning a look of bewilderment from the young drone. The sound of their arrival alerted the drones that were behind the gigantic security door, causing them to crack it open by a few centimetres. 

One of the male worker drones glanced around before spotting Thad, who got up from the ground. "Welcome back, Thad," He greeted Thad with a wave before freezing up when he noticed the three familiar figures behind the blonde. The ravenette was struggling to retract his wings while Uzi awkwardly stood next to N, who was watching the ravenette's every movement. "Hey, wait a minute..." The drone dragged out with a frown and pointed toward Uzi, raising a brow, "Isn't she grounded or something?"

"Banished!" She corrected him with a loud groan, holding her fists in the air as she yelled, "Has my dad been saying that I'm grounded?!" The male worker drone paid no attention to her words and stared at the tall male figures behind her, he frowned with caution, "Two Genocide robots?" At the mention of two murder drones, the four of them grew confused. When they realized what the drone meant, the ravenette tried his best not to murder the worker drone for mistaking him for a Murder Drone. 

"This son of a..." He growled out, taking a step forward. However, Uzi held her arm in front of him, stopping him. When he glared at her for an explanation, she gestured towards N with a tilt of her head. His gaze drifted toward N, who walked toward the male worker drone with his index fingers nervously fiddling in front of his chest, showing that he was shy. He came to a stop in front of the door and handed the male worker drone a piece of folded paper with a sad puppy expression. 

For a second, the male worker drone hesitated before taking the folded paper from him and opening it. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw that it was a drawing. From what the ravenette could see, it resembled what a human toddler would draw with crayons. Above the drawing was 'I'm sorry - N' written in terrible handwriting. The male worker drone stared at the drawing for a few seconds before looking up at N again. "Oh, alright," He sighed with a smile, shrugging his shoulders before waving his finger at him, warning him, "Just don't do it again!"

"Get in here, ya goons!" The male drone added as he made a gesture that they could enter and the ravenette bit back a snort when he saw N hold his hands in front of his chest with a wide childish smile, almost sparkling. A short laugh escaped the ravenette when the drone attached the apology drawing to the door, causing N to blush at the 'sweet' gesture. He covered up his laugh by clearing his throat when Uzi sent him a glare, silently telling him to shut it. 

Once they entered the facility, Uzi kept glancing at Siwoo with a small frown. "You're going to burn holes in my head if you keep glancing at me like that, kid," He mentioned with a deadpanned expression without looking at her. His words made her flinch and grow embarrassed that she got caught. "What do you want to say to me, kid?" He asked her with a sigh, rubbing his sore nape as the heavy wings folded against each other to create some space. "...Your eyes aren't yellow anymore," She stated in a slow yet cautious manner. 

"Yeah, it's because I got control over Ellipse again," He explained, unaware of how N tensed behind him when he heard 'Ellipse', "She's the reason why I got mutated but I'll deal with it." He raised a brow when his wings suddenly retracted back into his upper back before an extremely long sword-whip-like tail sprouted from his tailbone, causing a disgustingly wet crack of flesh to be heard. "Ow," He monotonely uttered with a small wince, feeling the heavy weight of the tail hanging from his lower back. 

It wasn't long before they arrived at the accommodating area of the facility. They could hear the faint voices of other worker drones investigating a taped-off area. Quietly, they scurried toward that direction and peeked around the corner. They could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation. However, when he noticed how Uzi was gripping the edge of the wall with white knuckles, he figured that they were badmouthing her. "You good?" N whispered to her when he saw her angry expression, furrowing his brows in concern. 

"I'm good," She quietly snapped at him and pushed his face away from her, "So stop asking!" With a determined look in her eyes, she started making hand signals to the three of them before quietly jogging past the room, alas, the two male drones couldn't understand the signs. Siwoo sighed at their perplexed expressions before wrapping his arms around their waists, silently startling them. "Don't make a sound," He whispered to them as he picked them up by their waists and sprinted past the taped-off area, stealing a glance at the crime scene. 

A frown immediately appeared on his face when he spotted the large pool of oil in front of the vending machine. 'Something is off,' He noted as the tiny hairs on the back of his neck stood on end, 'I don't like it at all.' Once they were caught up with Uzi at the evacuation area, he carefully let go of the male drones. She was busy inspecting the massive pools of oil with a flashlight that she found in one of the crates. "Do you guys do that often?" She asked N when the light of her flashlight followed the trail of oil dragged across the floor, walls, and toward the top of the crates. 

"Haha, no!" N answered her with a crooked yet unnerved smile, trying to keep his composure as his gaze was pinned on the oil, "I'm very concerned but also pretty frightened... a little bit." Meanwhile, Siwoo and Thad were inspecting the walls and crates. The ravenette noticed something strange yet familiar on the walls. "Hey, Zi!" Thad called out to Uzi, catching her and N's attention as he held his flashlight towards the strange writing on the walls, "What's this thing?" Quickly, the two of them scurried towards where they were. They were all oblivious to the chilling look on the ravenette's face when he recognized the prognosis.

|| SYS//:ERROR. ABSOLUTE SOLVER.

HOST REBOOT FAILED. 675.

'INSUFFICIENT MATERIAL' ||

"Hey," N's voice caught Uzi's attention as he pointed toward the sigil burnt into the wall, glancing at her with a smile, "Isn't that your special eye?" A deadly glare appeared on her face at his question. "Don't call it that!" She scolded him, smacking him against the back with her flashlight. Her gaze drifted toward the ravenette, who motionlessly stood in front of the wall, staring at the sigil with a dark expression. Slowly, she walked towards him and stood next to him. Her eyes widened when she saw the sickly pale yet terrified look on his face as cold sweat dripped down his forehead. 

"Absolute Solver?" She pronounced the name with her fingertips running across the writing on the wall, "Reboot?" Unnerved by the strange words, she took a few steps back and asked N in concern, "Does this have something to do with how you grew your head back?" Awkwardly, N scratched his cheek with his index finger. "I actively avoid unpacking how that works, haha," He told them as he rubbed his head, avoiding their stares. However, he tensed up when the ravenette sent him the most bloodthirsty glare. 

"New material can't be pulled from thin air," She reminded them in a sour tone as she stepped towards the wall, tracing the words again with her finger, adding as she turned around, "If the wound is severe enough, this 'solver' might be some sort of auto-run program to collect more material-" However, before she could continue rambling, Siwoo covered her mouth with his hand, causing her to grab his wrist as a reflex. She sent him a deadly glare when she lowered her hand, but, she raised a brow when she saw him glaring at something with a frightening gaze.

Beads of cold sweat dripped down his forehead as his jaw clenched and his irises were trembling. She noticed that both N and Thad had terrified expressions on their faces as they looked in the same direction the ravenette was looking at. Slowly, she looked in that direction and her eyes widened when she saw a human hand crawling towards the flashlight's light. The hand stopped when it was in the middle of the light, revealing that it was attached to a thick yet long metal pipe-like wire. No one spoke or moved an inch; their gazes never left the hand. 

Suddenly, the hand scurried toward Thad and grabbed him by his ankle, causing all four of them to look at it with petrified expressions. Cautiously, Uzi used her flashlight to follow where the metal arm came from and soon stopped above the shipping containers where the light couldn't illuminate the area anymore. N slowly transformed his hand into a rocket launcher and glanced at Uzi for permission to shoot. Siwoo removed his hand from her mouth when she sent him a thumbs-up, permitting him to shoot a missile towards the dark area beyond the shipping containers. 

Instantly, he pulled the trigger and winced slightly when the missile zoomed through the air towards the dark area. Not even a few seconds later, it exploded when it made direct contact with the wall at the dar back. The light of the explosion allowed them to see the several - possibly hundreds - of centipede-like objects crawling all over the place in the darkness with a 'clicking' sound. As the light slowly disappeared, the clunking noises of the centipede's body stopped. Immediately, Uzi and N innocently covered their mouths as N hid his missile launcher while looking terrified. 

When the human hand suddenly tugged back, Thad shrieked frantically as the hand pulled him into the darkness where the centipede's body was. Out of nowhere, a ninja star zipped through the air, separating the arm off Thad's ankle. All three of them turned to look at N, who stood in a ninja position with a panicked expression. "I want a frickin' ninja star!" Uzi complained, jumping up to snatch it from N. However, before any of them could react, a gigantic crab-like arm slammed into them, sending them toward the wall. 

Siwoo groaned, pushing himself up from the floor and witnessed how the crab arm grabbed Thad by the waist, pulling him up toward the darkness as he shrieked. As the ravenette stumbled to his feet, N turned toward Uzi. "You good?" He asked with one squinted eye and a deep yet concerned frown. "Stop asking!" She harshly snapped at him, slamming his head downward to the ground again. "Chainsaw hand time?" She asked with a raised brow when she glanced at Siwoo, who was already jogging toward the darkness. "Yea!" N excitedly answered from the floor, raising his arms - which were chainsaws - in the air. 

Meanwhile, the ravenette was sprinting through corridors of empty hallways before reaching the 'Cryosleep' department. His body unconsciously froze when he could smell the familiar odour of the cryonics behind the plastic curtain strips. He could only hear his heartbeat thundering inside his chest. With a deep yet shaky breath, he entered the cryonics department. Immediately, all he could see were frozen skeletons hanging out of half-open cryonics. "Hu-urgh!" He gagged, covering his mouth as he recalled how he was forced to remove the corpses from the cryonics when his father was still alive. 

Slowly, he sunk to his knees, clutching his head when he started remembering all those agonizing screams of human experiments. He didn't even notice that N and Uzi entered the department, ready for battle. He snapped out of his state when he heard Thad's screams, causing him to look up. A few meters in front of him was a hologram of Thad lying on the floor, reaching out to something. They watched how the hologram suddenly glitched and stood up, staring at them. 

"Yes, and hello, it's me, Thad," The hologram monotonously greeted them, trying to trick them as it awkwardly rubbed its head, "Can I get a location?" Uzi and N glanced at each other with deadpanned expressions while the ravenette got back on his feed, taking a breath to calm himself down. "I heard the dentist's office!" The hologram answered, making wide arm gestures as it continued to lie, "I'm sat at the dentist's office! Come over here for your... teeth." The hologram smiled as it gestured to its teeth, tilting its head at them. 

Unamused, Uzi turned her railgun on and aimed it at the hologram. "Predictably terrible work, J," Uzi mockingly sneered at the hologram, raising a brow at it, "Why do you look so-" N interrupted her with a panicked tone, raising his arms in the air, "Great! You look great, J..." Siwoo and Uzi stared at him in disbelief. However, Uzi aimed her railgun again at the hologram, which had fully materialized to look exactly like Thad in real life. 

"W-Wait, guys!" The hologram begged, taking a step back as it held its arms out in surrender, "I-It's really me! I-Is that-" The hologram started glitching when it noticed something and pointed towards N, holding a ninja star, asking in a computer voice, "N-Ninj-ja s-star?" With a proud smile, N held the ninja star up, causing it to glimmer in the light. Not even a second later, he flung the ninja star toward the hologram while Uzi jump-kicked it, giving it more speed and momentum. 

"Shriek!" The hologram covered its eyes when the ninja star was inches away from its head. The ninja star flew through it and changed its direction upwards, slicing wires that caused the real Thad to drop down from the ceiling. Immediately, a security camera attached to a claw came into view, causing the Thad hologram to glitch while the real Thad shakily got to his feet, gasping and huffing for air. 

"Lifesavers, again!" He announced as he turned toward the trio, thanking them, "Thanks!" The camera twitched a few times before turning toward Thad, who added with a bright smile, "Super invited to my shindig next weekend!" He took a few steps back, not noticing the crab claw slowly reaching to him from the side. "Cool kids, only," He sneered as he pointed at the camera and looked to the side when the crab claw opened itself to catch it, only for it to flinch back when he threateningly raised his fist. Seeing that it was distracted, Thad quickly escaped the scene. 

Siwoo facepalmed when Uzi and N shrieked excitedly at hearing that Thad had invited them to his shindig. They stopped when multiple claws slammed on the floor from the ceiling as the robotic voice growled, "We're busy then, anyways, so whatever, so lame." The security cameras rolled their eyes to the side in a sour manner. "What's with the voice, J?" Uzi sneered, aiming her rifle at the security cameras. "Oh," The cameras shook themselves as if they were heads, "J's not here."

All the cameras pointed in one spot and showed them a hologram of J's decapitated corpse, explaining, "We are trying to repair that host as our per directive." Unknownst to Siwoo and Uzi, N noticed the human hand on a pipe creep closer to them from behind. "So, you are a program...?" Uzi cautiously asked, narrowing her eyes at the cameras. "More like, you are our cute puppets," The computer voice answered as the hologram of J's decapitated corpse glitched. Suddenly, there were two different holograms. 

One of them was a female drone that looked identical to Uzi; purple neon eyes, pale skin, light violet hair with a long bang parted to the left side of her face and tied up in a ponytail. She was dressed in a short black dress and choker around her throat. On her head was a black construction helmet. This hologram was holding a baby drone - most possibly Uzi. Next to this hologram was an extremely tall yet attractive thirty-something old man. He was dressed in a black buttoned-up shirt with a red tie, black trousers, and loafers. A white lab coat covered his clothes. 

His short pitch black hair was gelled back while a pair of glasses sat proudly on the bridge of his nose, showing off his sharp cat-like charcoal-coloured irises. He was holding a clipboard and files in his hands, scowling. A small child appeared behind him, identical to Siwoo, however, the child had a large collar with the numbers '12-00-89' printed on it. "It hurts our feelings that you don't remember us," The computer's voice was filled with sarcasm and annoyance as both holograms turned to look at them. 

N flinched when the ravenette suddenly crouched down, trembling with pure anger. Uzi slowly lowered her rifle in shock, confusion, and fear as both holograms glitched before disappearing. "N?" She dragged out his name, her attention darted towards her side, only for him to be gone, "What's with the mom hologram?" Slowly, she started walking backwards when she noticed the dozens of claws inching closer to her. 

"Easier to assimilate than to explain," The computer voice stated as its claws inched closer to her. "Not happening," She sneered at the cameras, aiming her rifle at it. The cameras frowned for a second, accepting her answer, "Fair, but poor choice." The cameras moved to the sides when a centipede version of J's decapitated head appeared from the ceiling. "Now we will have to do something shocking," The voice stated as a claw dropped, revealing Khan struggling in its grip. "Woah! Hey!" Uzi screamed in horror and shock before sprinting toward them. 

"Goodbye, Dad," The voice mused as its claw grabbed Khan by the abdomen and ripped him in half, causing him to scream in agony. Horrified, Uzi slid to a stop and watched how the claw carelessly tossed Khan's lower half to the side. She could only watch how J's centipede head started devouring Khan's decapitated head in front of her, spilling every drop of oil to the ground. "Wait... W-What?" She choked out, trembling in terror and shock. Before she could realize what was happening, J's claws were about to pounce her.

Fortunately, a missile flew past her and hit J. "Uzi, shoot!" N yelled at her from behind as Siwoo pulled her back by her hoodie. "Or give it to me!" Siwoo yelled with panic and adrenaline, glaring at the centipede drone in front of them. Hurriedly, N released another missile, but alas, the centipede deflected it with its claw before slithering toward them. "Kid, you good?" Siwoo demanded, shaking her shoulder as he looked at her. "No," She answered him without wasting a second, turning to look at him with fear as she handed him the rifle. 

Just as the ravenette was about to take it, a devious smirk appeared on his face as a chuckle escaped his lips. N's figure and he started glitching, showing that it was only a hologram. "Pranked, idiot," The computer's voice spat out as a claw pushed her towards the broken cryonics, grabbing her rifle from her in the process, "Great, idiot, you wasted it." As she slid down one of the cryonics, one of the claws stabbed the railgun, causing it to flicker with green electricity. Another claw pushed her against the cryonics and she gasped in pain.

"Lucky for you, it's snack time," The voice mentioned as the claw pulled her out of the cryonics and brought her closer to its mouth, "Time to go into my mouth now." However, the sound of a chainsaw was heard before Uzi dropped to the floor. She landed in a pair of arms, startling her. She looked up and saw Siwoo's bloody face. In front of her was N, holding out his chainsaw arms to the sides. When the buzzing sound of the railgun malfunctioning was heard, the three of them looked at it, noticing that its light was turning bright red. As N quickly sliced and cut any claws or cameras getting close to him, Siwoo dodged the claws with cat-like agility. 

"And also, I was using those," The voice mentioned as Siwoo snatched N by the waist and pulled him towards him before attempting to flee the cryonics department with inhumane speed. The centipede tried to follow them but got distracted by the high-pitched sound and bright red light of the malfunctioning railgun. Siwoo's wings appeared just as the railgun exploded, blocking most of the heat from reaching N and Uzi. All he could hear was an extremely high-pitched ringing in his ears when the explosion disintegrated. 

With a loud groan, he tucked his wings back and stepped to the side, revealing the cryonics department destroyed and on fire. Khan's half-ripped corpse glitched away as the remaining camera transformed into a miniature black hole orb and fluttered away. "W-What was... Which parts of that were r-real?" She stuttered out in confusion and horror. They tensed up when they heard something rustling amongst the ruckus and watched how a fleshy triangular creature popped out, singing, "Sneaky, sneaky." 

It kept jumping and trying to sneak away while loudly narrating, "Sneaking away. Get snuck upon." However, before it could escape, Siwoo and N's tail stabbed it, causing it to monotonely exclaim, "Ow." Both tail tips removed themselves from the creature, only for it to attempt sneaking away again. Disgusted, N and Siwoo grimaced at it and repeatedly stabbed it with the tip of their tails. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, o-" It exclaimed repeatedly with each stab until it started malfunctioning and turning into a mini black hole. 

N and Siwoo turned towards the cryonic department's entrance when panicked muffled voices got closer. Quickly yet carefully, N held his hand out to Uzi with a smile, hoping that she would take it. When he saw that she was distracted, he reached out to touch her shoulder, only for her to pull away with a frightened gasp and wide-eyed expression. He flinched at her reaction and watched how she backed away from them. "What... are you things?" She asked in a hostile and cautious manner, her gaze trembling slightly as it flickered between N and Siwoo. 

N felt a sharp sting inside his chest at her question and clutched it, frowning with teary eyes. Gently as possible, Siwoo grabbed the hem of N's jacket and slowly tugged him away from Uzi, who watched them like a hawk. He didn't even mind that N pushed him away before escaping, leaving him there. Once she realized what she said, it was too late. "He'll be fine," He told her in a cold yet sour tone, refusing to look at her, "Just give him time. I'll keep an eye on him." Without another word, he followed him. 

It was maybe fifteen minutes later when he arrived at the broken pod in the corpse tower, discovering N and V. "Tch, I hate your personality normally but this is somehow worse," She told him in an annoyed tone, folding her right leg over her left leg as she watched N sit in the corner with his back facing her. "What am I being punished for?" She asked, glaring at Siwoo, who leaned against the wall with a tired yet feverish expression. When she noticed that both of them were acting strange, she frowned in confusion and... maybe worry?

She glanced down at the broken chain on the floor and pushed it to look like it was still attached. Seeing how neither of the two noticed her actions, she seemed relieved before acting annoyed, crossing her arms over her chest as she turned to the side with a huff. Suddenly, a loud thud was heard behind her, causing her and N to turn in that direction. "S-Siwoo!" N shrieked when blood started pooling around his unconscious body, seeping out from his shredded and burnt shoulder blades. V could only stare at the red liquid creeping closer towards her with one sentence in her mind, ignoring how N tried to help him.

'It smells so sweet...'