not again

The cold began to seep in as the evening sun made its final descent. Although there was no sun to be seen and I couldn't physically feel the chilling wind, imagining these observations was preferable to facing the reality of the situation.

We had been walking for some time now, the sound of our footsteps nonexistent, but the tension between us was palpable. I stole a quick glance at Purple's face. Her expression remained blank, her glasses reflecting everything around us. I quickly shifted my focus back to the asphalt, not wanting to risk initiating a conversation.

We came to a halt in front of a building. Confusion washed over me, and I gave Purple a questioning look. Her lips curled into what could almost be called a smile. I noticed a metal plate beside the door that read "Universal Hospital." A sense of unease washed over me, and I had a bad feeling about this.

"What are we doing here?" I asked, my voice trembling with fear, hoping against hope for a different answer.

"We need power," Purple replied calmly before walking into the building.

She walked straight through the glass doors, ignoring the receptionist, and headed straight for the stairs. "Hey!" I called out, but she ignored me and continued up the stairs. A sense of unease crept over me, growing stronger with each step we ascended.

On the second floor, Purple made a beeline for a seemingly random door. Without hesitation, she passed through it, and I followed closely behind. Inside, we found ourselves facing a bed occupied by a man with antlers and a face wrinkled with age. Purple turned to me and commanded, "Close your eyes." I didn't protest, my instincts telling me to comply.

The next command followed, "Now, picture your right arm detaching from your body, but still responding to your commands." I shot her an odd look but did as she instructed. In an instant, a cleaver materialized in front of me. "Now," Purple picked me up from the floor and pushed me toward the bed, "kill."

With my worst suspicions now confirmed, I sent an elbow strike toward her face, just as I had been taught in self-defense class. But Purple easily dodged my attack. I quickly jumped backward and unleashed a flurry of wild blows in her direction. When I landed, I realized that none of my strikes had landed, but Purple wore a nasty glare. "Still resistant, I see," she hissed, taking a half-step forward. I raised the cleaver defensively. "You psycho!"

Purple's glare softened for a moment. "Wrong, I'm a survivor," she retorted, taking another step toward me. In response, I readied the cleaver, my anger boiling over. Purple's glasses reflected my expression of horror, but that quickly turned to anger as I lunged forward, arm poised for a strike.

Purple didn't even flinch as she effortlessly deflected my attack and swiftly jabbed me in the abdomen. I collapsed to the ground, coughing and struggling to catch my breath. "I told you to get lost," she coldly remarked.

---

"Do you have it?" Captain Cate asked the officer she had sent to retrieve "it."

"Yes, Captain," the officer replied, handing her a metal square with a screen in the middle and a cage-like structure on top. "Excellent," she purred with satisfaction, swiftly taking the device from the officer's hands.

"Now, how does this thing work?" Captain Cate pondered to herself. "It was made by the scientist, so perhaps I have to feed it liquid nitrogen?" Lost in her own thoughts, she failed to register the soldier's question.

Suddenly, the machine emitted a blue glow that extended like an arm, wrapping around a seemingly random spot on the ground. The area began to turn green before the glow retreated back into the device, which started beeping.

Cate turned around, scanning her surroundings before the beeping increased in frequency. "Ah, I've got you now!" she exclaimed, her purring growing more intense. "Follow me!" she commanded the nearby guards, who dutifully trailed behind her. They made their way down the hall, out through the door in the alley, and down a few streets until they reached a particular door.

"Captain, what are we doing here?" the officer who had handed her the device asked. "Yes, I should probably fill you all in," Captain Cate said, turning around to address her troops. "There was a murder yesterday, as you're all probably aware, and this device, crafted by the doctor," she pointed to the device in her hand, "is going to lead us straight to the murderer."