Chapter 15. Mortal New Year

At this moment all hybrids were gone from Ceres. Puff – and they disappeared, leaving simple humans behind, normal, full of dreams and believing in fairytales.

That was the only way Arriz could explain the situation, because the things he saw on the base didn't fit his idea of the Second Breed. He had some doubts before, but today was special. Because the things he saw were the total opposite of what he had been taught.

For the holiday students were allowed to wear the clothes that were passed to them from home or kept in the base's wardrobes. That's how Arriz ended up among kids who had nothing strange about them. All their monstrous strength that One Breed was afraid of became lost in pink lace and spangles, drowning in laughter and no longer appearing real.

Somewhere far away Earth was meeting its New Year. Ceres didn't have anything like that, but the teachers still decided to celebrate it. That was another contradiction to what he'd been told – about young hybrids being raised in strictness and cruelty, filling their heart with hatred.

Lady Laura assigned the conference hall as the center of celebration. It was adorned with sparkling lights, glass garlands, toy figures and paper balls. Holographic candles were shining on the walls, with two huge crystal chandeliers hanging beneath the ceiling; they made this place look like an ancient castle lost in snowy mountains.

One corner was occupied by a big table covered in numerous dishes. Half of them were new to Arriz – he hadn't even seen them before, let alone tasted them. The cook really wanted to impress everyone and now he was complaining that his gastronomic masterpieces weren't eaten in half an hour. But he shouldn't have worried: hybrids were too excited at the moment, they'd get back to the food once the initial pleasant shock faded.

By another wall stood the presents from parents – hybrids could take theirs any moment they wanted. Some did it once they first saw the boxes, while others were waiting. Arriz was among the later. And while hybrids just wished to postpone the greatest part of the holiday, he didn't want to touch anything that was connected to his life on Earth.

Because he was a terrorist back there, he couldn't deny it. And he didn't want to be that today. He knew it was a crime against the Organization, but he couldn't do anything about it. He decided to make it a New Year's present to himself: to believe that he was surrounded by friends and be what he wanted to be, not had to be.

Iutah had no desire to join the fun. The image of happy hybrids was so revolting to him that he didn't come to the holiday at all. And no-one was going to make him.

Karajo chose not to attend either. That was also predictable. She'd never spent her free time with other hybrids and didn't have any friends. That warrior, hidden in bandages, serious, powerful, was out of place in today's carnival of jokes and tinsel.

But all the other hybrids came to the party. It was another discovery for Arriz: their emotions at such moments weren't any different from human ones.

"Damn, I'll look like a complete idiot if I do it!" Alex was complaining. "I already feel sorry that I told you!"

"Just relax!" Norman smirked. "You confessed you liked a girl, but that's natural!"

The hybrids were separated into small groups now, depending on who they were friends with. Arriz easily accepted the fact that he was standing beside Norman and Alex. They considered him a friend, and deep inside he knew it was true. He decided to allow himself to stop pretending for this day after all!

Plus, for once he didn't have to tolerate Iutah's reproach-filled gaze.

"I had no idea you like her so much," Arriz admitted.

"Great, even the telepath didn't know… Maybe I should keep hiding it?"

Arriz told them about his gift on the following day after his little adventure with the twins. He figured that if Light and Dark knew about that, his friends should too.

"Temporary friends," he was thinking to himself. "When the time comes for action, this so-called friendship won't stop me!"

But "the time" wouldn't be today.

"Why should you hide it?" Arriz was puzzled. "I agree with Norm: there's nothing wrong with your sympathy! Well, apart from that fact that the girl of your dreams was probably an unshaved sergeant in some country at war in her past life."

"Oh come on! She's so beautiful…"

That fact was hard to argue: Rita Samara could easily draw attention with her big gray eyes and wavy hair the color of coffee with milk. And her body was slowly stopping to be childish, becoming more lithe and agile with every day. But those were the only attractive things about her from the telepath's perspective. While other girls, such as Clara, were cute and flirty, Rita was a daredevil. She wasn't even half as shy and naïve as Olivia! The older sister was a champion at sarcasm and dark humor.

But not like she was part of a pageant queen competition… Rita was one of the top ten warriors of her generation and the unofficial leader of her team. Today she changed her uniform for an elegant pant suit. She wanted to be attractive, which meant things weren't too hopeless for Alex…

"Ask her to dance with you," Norman instructed.

"What?! That'll give me away!"

"Not like you're guarding a national secret! You'll give yourself away sooner or later anyway. And doing it through dance is better than drooling at her for hours! Both of you should take music as your call for action."

"Leave me out of this," Arriz demanded. "I'm not going to hit on anyone!"

"Nope, but you've been the object of someone's affection for a while, so stop playing hard to get! Listen to daddy – daddy wishes you well!" Norman mocked.

"Damn me with such a daddy!" Alex laughed. "But for once, I agree with you. Besides, Arriz's number one fan is looking better than ever today."

While he told his friends about telepathy, he'd never mentioned Olivia's interest in him. But they didn't need it: they just guessed it, which wasn't too hard, because she was rather evident in her feelings.

He wouldn't mind asking her out… In her student uniform, she was a quiet little mouse, barely noticeable behind her classmates' backs. But today she simply changed – an emerald princess gown was highlighting the color of her eyes, the waves of her hair were shimmering in the candlelight, and her blushing cheeks made her look so helpless and vulnerable that Arriz could feel his heart speeding up just a bit.

But that was why he had to ignore her. He could forget his mission for one day, tomorrow things would go according to plan. He couldn't fuel her feelings and give that hope to her… or himself. Nothing could happen between them, because he was still a member of One Breed, and she was a hybrid. He wasn't romantic enough to play Romeo and Juliet here.

But Alex was free of such deep thoughts, he just kept teasing Norman.

"So if you're the daddy here, I'm afraid to ask about your preferences!"

"I like roasted turkey."

"Freakin' pervert!" the hybrid doubled over in laughter.

"Not in that sense! I just think that food is better than all your chicks combined. So while you're dancing there, I'll be eating."

"And Clara is worse than roasted turkey too?"

Clara Vangerberg was unmistakably the star of this evening. She generally had a soft, gentle appearance, and Arriz could sense many of the students had a crush on her. But for this holiday she decided to improve that effect. She left her amazing golden hair falling freely on her shoulders, applied light make up on her blue eyes, making them seem even bigger, and looked like a queen in a royal white dress.

Ever since she came into the hall, Clara was surrounded by a ring of admirers. But Norman clearly wasn't one of them.

"Clara is worse than a turkey… Worse than a piece of bread if you ask me. She's all rotten inside and can't be trusted. Falling for this type is suicidal."

"Since when are you a romance specialist?"

"Since always," he replied matter-of-factly. "Enjoy my free consultations!"

Their talk was interrupted by Lady Laura, who tapped on the mic lightly, drawing everyone's attention.

"Dear friends!" she said. "And I truly consider all of you my friends: we've been together for more than half a year and shared a lot of memories. You generation is not the first in my practice, and I can see that many of you have great future ahead."

Her speech had all signs of being long and boring, that's why Arriz didn't plan on listening to it. He was studying the humans who also showed up on this holiday. The teachers felt at ease beside their students, and even though Damian was trying to act serious, it was clear that he was proud of the younger hybrids' achievements. And the cook was still running around the table.

The only one who didn't join the celebration was the medic. She'd been acting weird lately, and she appeared very pale and tired. Arriz was hoping that their visit to her office had nothing to do with it.

All those humans were also the enemies of One Breed…

"Why can't I stop thinking about this?!" Arriz silently fumed. "Just for a day…"

"So it's an honor for me to congratulate you!" Laura concluded. "Have fun today, because tomorrow will always be the time of great deeds!"

The hybrids who became bored during her address were acting lively again. The music was finally on, announcing the dance time. Furthermore, the computer chose a slow tune for the beginning, as if knowing about the hidden sympathies that were flying through the air.

"Oh, to hell with it…" Alex made a deep inhale. "I'd rather try it and hear her denial than keep acting like a chicken!"

He marched towards Rita confidently, who was talking to her sister. She didn't expect to see him, and looked at his hand stretched to her with complete bewilderment. But… she accepted his offer, walking with him to the center of the hall.

"Strike," Norman commented.

He was true to his word, heading to the table. With his every gesture Norman demonstrated that he was more interested in salmon rolls and baked rabbit than the girls, who reminded of bright butterflies today.

A line of boys formed beside Clara when the music started – all to be ignored. The girl walked to the corner where the White Team was keeping traditionally to themselves. She smiled charmingly at a tall blond guy who looked like a living ice statue. He raised his eyebrow at her in surprise, but didn't deny.

Arriz was interested in what was going through her head – was she looking for convenience, just like Norman had said? On the one hand, those two were a harmonious couple. On the other, the proud Clara Vangerberg was suddenly running after no other than the student who was considered the second in power in this generation, right after Karajo. Immanuel Cuyo was still a mystery to many, and she was probably hoping to win him over.

Even for the holiday many of them couldn't drop the intrigues and the rates fight. Not the Silver twins though. Those two were having the time of their life: they pretended to be a couple, announced they were going to dance something called "Moon Pasodoble", and started chasing hybrids away from the dance floor with clumsy moves that had nothing to do with the slow music.

The telepath wasn't going to join the dancers or walk to the table. He liked simply observing them without any thoughts of his spy mission – it brought peace into his soul. But his solitude didn't last long.

"H-hi…"

He got distracted while studying other students and didn't notice her coming closer. And to her it was the result of inner struggle – judging by the embarrassment that was filling her aura. He didn't need his telepathy to understand why she was here. He decided to help her:

"It's great that you're here! I've been searching for you… Want to dance with me?"

Olivia, who hadn't expected any of this, looked like she was about to faint, overwhelmed with happiness. She didn't have the energy to answer, and he simply hugged her by the shoulders taking her to the center of the hall.

"I hope you don't mind," he whispered.

"No… I don't mind! I want it, really…"

"Then we want the same thing."

He didn't plan this, but he liked how things were going. Arriz was slightly surprised by his own reaction – being among those couples felt better than watching them from aside. Because now that he joined them, he got rid of the "agent on a mission" feeling completely.

This evening had a special feel to it, a true holiday filled with cheer. Even the twins' clownery wasn't irritating, it just eased the pompous atmosphere of the decorations, reminding that anyone here could be themselves.

"Do you like being here?" Olivia asked quietly. "Among us?"

"Sure. Why are you asking?"

"I heard many things about curators… Not bad things, nobody's comparing you to terrorists! But I've been told that some curators view us as wild animals, while they are our tamers. I think the others expected something like that from you when you came here… But it's different now. They accepted you! I'm so glad… I understood you're a good person at once, and I'm happy that they saw it too."

She meant it as a compliment, but every phrase she pronounced made his heart tremble in pain. He didn't want to hear they had accepted him! They had no idea who he really was. Even though he should've had no concern about their opinion, it still bothered him.

And Olivia continued talking, hugging him gently.

"Almost everyone here likes you. It's funny that they are afraid of other hybrids while they trust you so much! For instance, they're scared of Karajo. But not you. It would be great if your presence here could change our work with curators altogether!"

Something was aching inside his chest, and he desperately wanted to make her stop talking, but couldn't. Because he sensed the warm feeling she had for him so clearly… He was afraid to name that feeling and felt embarrassed to know her secret.

But Olivia was very calm about it. Her nervousness was slowly replaced by tranquility and some weird resignation to her destiny.

"You know I love you, don't you?" she asked without looking at him.

"Olivia…"

"What, you're surprised that I can say it so bluntly? I just thought… what's the use of hiding it? You're a telepath, you already know that. Why should I be ashamed? I didn't do anything wrong."

Arriz had no idea how to answer that. Yes, he knew everything, but he felt much calmer when it remained a secret. Because he could pretend that nothing was happening! And now the closeness they shared in this dance suddenly got new meaning…

"You became so tense," she continued. Olivia was keeping her head low, but by her voice he could tell she was smiling. "Don't worry, I get it. I love you, but that doesn't mean you have to share that love. There's no "have to" at all, I don't expect anything from you. I'm just happy to know you exist in this world. I've never expected to feel that! Funny, huh? Someone else just lives out there – and it makes you happy. I'm sorry to make you feel awkward. But I wanted to tell you that today…"

"You don't have to apologize," Arriz replied. "I'm thankful…"

Actually, he wasn't thankful at all. The knowledge he'd just received was even more forbidden than his friendship with Alex and Norman. A hybrid who could love was like a slap in the Organization's face. Arriz would become a traitor if he believed her words.

But how could he not believe if he knew she was telling the truth? Arriz wasn't mad at her ��� he couldn't be, she was too inexperienced in that unwanted love of hers. Still, there was a wave of wrath rising in his soul, and he directed it at himself. At this damn telepathy that made his life so hard all of a sudden! What kind of advantage was it if it brought this pain?

"I hope I don't annoy you when I follow you around sometimes… But I feel so warm when I'm beside you!" she finally met his gaze, and her green eyes were shining with such joy that Arriz could almost feel it physically. "You make me want to become better. I hope that someday I'll be good enough for you to like me."

"You don't owe me anything…"

"I know. But I want to do it! I need to be better for you. You don't understand that, right?"

"Not as much as I'd want to," he confessed.

"It's okay. I can wait."

Slow music was ending, replaced by a techno beat. Olivia moved away from him, disappeared in the crowd like a scared bird. She needed time to recover after such revelations.

Arriz went to the table. His friends were waiting for him there: Norman had the expression of a man who'd just proven small kids he was right. And Alex was nearly bursting with excitement. Seeing Arriz made him want to share it at once:

"She's so cool! Better than I imagined! She's a great person and it's more important than her beauty!"

"I can see you two got yourself some pretty sisters," Norman winked at them. "There's your chance to become related…"

"Stop with the nonsense," Arriz scolded.

"Why? The sisters are really cute, and if there was a third one, I'd be glad to join!"

"Are you even sane?"

"I'm the voice of irony in this kingdom of romance!"

"You're just jealous," Alex grinned.

"Me? Nah, I feel sorry for those girls."

They kept throwing jokes at each other, but Arriz was no longer listening. In the general mood of holiday joy there was now something that made him alert. Like a nasty screech disturbs you in a classic symphony…

It was a life, but a very strange one. Not someone Arriz knew, not a human at all. Still… they were on Ceres, no-one but them inhabited this planet! Even if someone managed to get here from Earth and slip through the security system, surely he wouldn't go straight to the gathering of young hybrids when the rest of the base was empty.

No logic was working here, because that strange life form was approaching them.

"It's behind the wall…" Arriz said, barely above a whisper.

The hybrids, who boasted very sharp hearing, managed to hear him.

"What are you talking about?" Alex asked in surprise.

"Someone is hiding behind that wall!"

"You can't be serious! Everyone's here except for Karajo, Iutah and Dr. Deshanti!"

"It's not them. It's someone… alien."

Alex continued smiling in disbelief, but Norman, who was very cautious by nature, already became serious.

"What do you mean by alien? What exactly do you feel?

"I don't know! If I knew what it was, I'd tell you!"

"Are you sure it's even there?"

"If it was my imagination, the feeling would've disappeared by now. But I can sense it all the time!"

"Then let it stay behind the wall," Alex shrugged. "The door is on the other side of the hall and Teacher Damian is watching it! If someone tries to break in – it's their funeral."

But the creature wasn't moving to the door. It stayed on the same spot – but managed to get closer all at once. It took Arriz a couple of minutes to realize it was gnawing its way through the wall.

He didn't have to say anything about it, because a second later this thing climbed onto the table in front of them.

It was disgusting by all standards. The creature was a bit smaller than a cat, with its prolonged body and a bald skinny tail. It had six thin legs that looked like needles, and each of them ended with a claw. The freak's head was triangular in shape, with no visible ears and shining red eyes. Its wide mouth was filled with something that looked more like crooked yellow teeth than fangs. Its body and head were covered with uneven black skin and bundles of rough fur – as if that little predator had been burnt with boiling water in the past.

It was hissing all the time. In spite of their size difference, it wasn't afraid of Arriz or the hybrids at all. It came here to the smell of food and it was showing with its bared teeth that it was ready to strike.

"What the hell?" Norman gasped, taking a step back instinctively.

The creature couldn't understand his words, but it reacted to movement. It pushed itself with all of it legs, jumping off the table. It attacked not the one who moved, but the one who was closer at the moment – and that was Arriz.

He had no idea what to do. He wasn't ready to face something like that, even though he was the first to sense its arrival. He had all the chances to feel the power of those crooked teeth… if it weren't for Alex.

He could fool around all he wanted, but he still remained the strongest warrior of his team, and he demonstrated the reason for it. He caught the creature in the air and broke its neck in one fast confident movement.

"I don't like to kill," he said guiltily. "But there was no choice…"

"Consider this your warm-up," Arriz advised. "Because it brought company!"

The feeling of an alien life form didn't disappear with the creature's death. On the contrary, it was becoming stronger, gathering behind the wall. The creatures were coming there and lining up to the breach the killed monster made.

The situation was getting dangerous, they didn't have any time to stand there and discuss where these freaks came from.

"Warn the others about what's coming!" Arriz told Norman. "Alex, stay with me, I don't feel like becoming their holiday dinner!"

The creatures were attracted by the smell of food, which was especially strong by the table. They were so eager to get to their goal that they were creating new passages in the wall. That meant more of them would get into the hall soon enough… and that their teeth were pretty sharp! Arriz had to admit that these two factors combined were enough to gnaw a human up to the bones in five minutes.

"What's going on here?" Mikkolo, the chef, jumped up to them. He pointed at the dead creature on the floor. "What's that?!"

"That's what we want to know too."

"Is that some kind of joke? I demand this piece of trash to be taken away from food!"

"This food is about to be surrounded by worse trash…"

"Are you insulting me? Insulting?!"

They didn't have to answer that since a couple of creatures climbed onto the table. Three of them got busy with the meat on porcelain plates, while the others were slowly crawling towards the humans.

Mikkolo swore in Italian, closed his eyes, then opened them, as if hoping that it'd make the monsters go away. It didn't help, naturally. The number of predators on the table was growing steadily.

Arriz was afraid to move, he even tried to slow down his breathing. He knew that Alex couldn't intercept all of them, even if he wanted to. The telepath had no idea if his strength was enough to deal with them. If he had a weapon, things would've been different! And fighting them with his bare hands… Who knew if those freaks were poisonous or not?!

He got a chance to test his power sooner than he expected. About ten little predators jumped forward simultaneously, hissing at their potential victims. Alex caught five of them, smashing them in one strong blow. But the others attacked Arriz and the chef.

They had to protect themselves. The telepath managed to throw two of them away, another one tried biting through his hand, but didn't have enough time for that. He could barely save himself, helping Mikkolo was impossible so far.

Fortunately, he didn't have to do that. At first he felt someone's presence behind his back, and in the next instant a couple of professional attacks freed him from the creatures.

"Quite a company you've got here!" whistled Dark.

"Where did you get your new pets?" laughed Light.

The hybrids stood as a wall between the humans and the predators. And the creatures were no longer interested in the remains of the food on the table. They found a new source of meat – and they were going to get it.

This was no longer a small accident that could go unnoticed. The music stopped, and almost all hybrids hurried to help them, but the flow of creatures seemed never-ending.

"We need to evacuate!" Lady Laura announced.

"Where to? They'll find us anywhere!" Damian objected. Then he turned to the hybrids: "Keep your current positions! We can't let them get to humans!"

So far the students were holding the attack back, but not without efforts. Some of them already had torn wounds on their hands, and the smell of blood made the rage of the creatures stronger. Despite the amount of corpses covering the floor, their number behind the wall wasn't diminishing.

Something like that couldn't just appear out of thin air! And that huge pack couldn't have gone unnoticed for all these months! Their amount was so enormous that the hybrids were forced to retreat slowly.

The telepath saw only one way out of this mess: they had to find the place where the freaks were coming from and block it, isolate them and then find a way to destroy them for good.

He closed his eyes, concentrating. Arriz forced himself to forget everything that was happening around him. If a creature attacked him at that moment, he wouldn't be able to protect himself, thus he had to rely on the hybrids completely. But he needed that to track the golden line of lives from the wall to the place they were coming from.

And he found it.

"Hey!" Arriz touched Norman by a shoulder, attracting his attention. "I can take you to the place where they're hiding!"

"Then why are you whispering about it? Tell everyone!"

"Bad idea. So far you've created a good defense system, but if I tell about it, everyone will want to become a hero, and it'll be a mess. I won't handle it alone, but you, me and Alex should be enough".

"Understood. I'm with you."

"Then let's go, we should hurry!"

Alex didn't even ask any questions. On moments like that Arriz suspected that the hybrid was viewing telepathy as some sort of magic that can solve any problem.

The growing amount of predators made the hall so messy and noisy that they were able to get out without being noticed. Arriz led them through the way parallel to the flow of energy. If they got too close, they'd attract the unnecessary attention of those creatures, and that was a threat they couldn't handle.

They had to move to the household quarters – the part of the base that hosted stocks, archives, kitchen and technical premises. The hybrids normally didn't go there, and most humans avoided this place, it was fully automated. But that was where the predators came from, and Arriz didn't know what to make of it.

Finally there was a point where avoiding the pack was no longer possible. They had to act fast because there was no way around the creatures.

"They're coming from some place behind these doors," Arriz nodded at the large metal gates. "Once we enter it, we have to be really quick. Because if we don't figure how to stop them, I'll be the first to be eaten alive."

"Less talking, bro," Norman smiled. "Those zombie Mickeys already ruined the holiday. We owe them a payback!"

"True enough."

The doors were locked, but that couldn't stop the hybrids. Norman and Alex just pulled on the metal, twisting it and breaking it. That allowed them to walk inside – but they could no longer block this hallway if something went wrong.

The gates were protecting the way to the kitchen. The amount of equipment here was enough to feed a small army, but the machines were off at the moment. However, the room was still full of movement: the same six-legged predators were running across tables and cookers, looking for food.

There weren't any of it here, so the appearance of humans didn't go unnoticed.

"Let's roll," Norman grumbled.

He and Alex went ahead, covering the telepath. But Arriz wasn't going to act helpless either: he took a large metal knife off the table, sharp enough to cut a predator in two easily. There were generally many things here he could use as a weapon. He was turning on ovens, squishing the creatures with presses, burning them, chopping them. And there were still too many of them! He understood it especially clearly when he felt a sharp pain in his arm: those teeth locked on his wrist.

At this moment something flew above his head, and it took a couple of seconds for Arriz to understand that it was a garland turned into a whip. The ornament that looked so innocent at first was a great weapon that killed four predators at once.

"Watch it, curator!" Rita advised. "And rejoice: the cavalry has arrived!"

She was the one using the improvised whip to clear their way. She wasn't alone, followed by the twins and Olivia. They'd probably noticed Arriz and his friends walking away and followed them. And the telepath was so focused on finding the source of the attack that he didn't detect them.

But it didn't matter since they were friends, not enemies!

"I don't know where you're going, but you won't get there at such rate!" Dark chuckled. "Look how it's done!"

He and his brother worked with their trademark coherency. One was dropping a table, the other was pushing the predators under it. Each one could move forward confidently, knowing that his brother would always cover his back. Their courage mixed with battle impudence was bringing fast results: their progress sped up.

The creatures were coming from a door at the other end of the kitchen. Arriz was the first to get there, with Rita and Olivia following. Their presence was life-saving: once the predators sniffled the blood from his wound, they attacked without a moment's hesitation. Rita's whip was the only thing that could slow them down.

"Stop luring them out with that ketchup of yours!" Rita shouted. "They're a pain in the ass even without it!"

"It's not his fault!" Olivia defended him.

She tore a piece of her dress's hem off easily and used it to bandage the telepath's wrist.

"Thank you," he smiled. "And now we need to figure what that is!"

The room they ended up in looked like a stock – nearly terminated now. It was filled with remains of fruit and vegetables, and the few surviving birds and rabbits were hiding in their cages in shock, surrounded by the predators from all sides.

And the freaks kept coming. They were being multiplied by a large metal machine, so hot that it was steaming. New monsters were jumping out of an open gate: one would appear, then there'd be a flash of light inside and some noise, followed by another creature.

Arriz had no idea what it was. But Olivia demonstrated unexpected awareness.

"That's a CCL!"

"A what?" Arriz and Rita asked in one voice.

"Culinary copy lot. It's used to create food! It was designed for people who spend a lot of time in space."

"Does that look like food to you?" Rita pointed at the attacking creatures.

"I don't know what they are! Only insects can be copied this way, not animals!"

"Tell that to them!"

The telepath wasn't sure that the predators weren't insects, at least partly, but he didn't have enough time to dwell on that.

"How do we turn it off?"

"We break it, duh!"

That seemed easy at first – but the optimism didn't last. The creatures seemed to understand where the dread was coming from. There weren't running to the conference hall anymore, staying inside the kitchen instead, guarding their "parent".

Olivia and Rita didn't have enough power to get to the machine, and Arriz didn't even try it. While he was figuring what to do next, other hybrids grew tired of waiting.

Light and Dark pushed themselves off the floor simultaneously – as always. They held onto the pipes by the ceiling and used them to climb over the pack of predators. The creatures were jumping up to get them, but it was futile at such height.

Their next attack was so well-synchronized that it looked like one hit. Under their power the CCL was breaking and losing shape, turning into a useless pile of metal. The source of the freaks no longer existed.

But the ones who were still in the kitchen attacked the twins from all sides. Light and Dark, however, weren't scared. They didn't care about small scratches, and the predators weren't strong enough to really harm them. What mattered more was that they got what they wanted.

Dealing with other monsters was easy. Soon Arriz and the hybrids were alone in the kitchen, looking at the chaos that surrounded them.

"Can someone please explain me what it was?" Norman asked darkly. "One hell of a holiday, dammit… Why did this thing had to break today of all days?"

"I don't think it broke down," Olivia noted, studying the destroyed machine. "To make it work, one had to put the object for copying into the lot… And someone deliberately put a rat and a spider there."

The rat, in spite of the twins' crushing attack, was still alive and well. And the spider looked like it'd been dead long ago. The machine that wasn't designed to work with two samples simply united their DNA, creating a totally new creature as the result.

"In addition to that, someone put enough raw material into the block," Olivia added. "Otherwise there wouldn't be so many of them! It's not an accident."

"How do you know so much about this CCL thing?"

"It's an interesting device! I like cooking… But I've never imagined that a CCL can be used for such purposes! I have no idea who could've done this…"

The most likely suspect was the chef – and most illogical one. Why would he organize a diversion that could harm him? He'd just poison the hybrids if he wanted to kill them!

The culprit had to be someone else.

"Attacking the base like that is a serious thing," Alex frowned.

"Hardly was it an attack," Rita shook her head, studying one of the dead mutants. "They're all messed up inside… they wouldn't live long anyway!"

"That's because a culinary machine wasn't designed to create monsters! But they could live long enough to kill someone!"

"The one who did this knew the base was full of hybrids – thus, well-protected, so I think it was a stupid prank…"

They continued arguing about it, trying to guess who the prankster was and how he'd get punished by the teachers. But Arriz no longer listened.

He knew it wasn't a prank. Someone just didn't want that holiday to happen…