Maia had thought that she in many other ways had outsmarted Leticia and the government but it looked like it was the other way around.
She ran inside, avoiding every possible soldier she might encounter until she finally reached the building where Damian and Maki were being held.
The two were on the second floor of the second prison. Maia was sure that rumors about her being a spy were now circulating within the prison grounds. It will only get harder for her to save the two of them if she waits. And her hunch was proven to be correct when a set of three soldiers blocked her way.
"616, your creator had summoned you"
This was no time for tactics, Maia thought. She thought about her reckless plan, the only one she could come up with. It was now or never, it may be reckless but she was sure that it will guarantee them the escape they needed.
So, when the soldiers pointed their guns at Maia the second she didn't obey her orders, she took the knife out of her belt and slashed the first soldier on her left.
She slashed him right at the throat before ducking low when the other two soldiers tried to shoot her.
A gunshot sound reverberated throughout the entire prison which had woken both Damian and Maki up.
Their whole body was on full alert. Another shot was heard and this time Maki and Damian could only stare at each other. After a while, they could see that the soldiers stationed on their side of the floor were rushing.
Damian tried to stand up but the chain in his feet prevented him from moving.
"Something must have happened"
"You think help arrived?"
Damian looked at Maki and he couldn't help but wish that was the case but he held no hope.
Commander Zeph had already died and he wasn't sure if their comrades did survive what had happened. But even if they did, it hadn't been a week since they had blown up the front house.
Their remaining comrades were short on numbers and they lacked the power to go head to head with the soldiers of this place. And they wouldn't have been able to ask for help from the mutiny in just that short time.
Damian looked at the chain in his feet, it was connected to the wall to prevent them from moving. The chain surrounding his feet can only be undone with a key, other than that, the only thing he can do is to break it along with his feet.
"We need to get out of here Maki"
Damian determinedly stated, and Maki couldn't agree more.
"We need to go home together with Ate"
Damian nodded at Maki's statement, they're not planning on leaving Maia behind, never again.
Maki never voiced it out but he was disappointed that the lullaby he sang wasn't the answer to get his sister back. But, he would try again and again until his sister regains her memories and old self back.
Maia could feel them. She might have reverted to her old self but her enhanced senses were still intact and she could hear them. She could feel Damian and Maki and hear what they were talking about.
The two were also looking for a way to get out of here together with Maia.
She almost felt ashamed that she didn't tell Maki how the lullaby helped her regain her consciousness. But she could always tell him once they get out of this hell hole.
As soon as the earlier set of soldiers fired at her, she broke their necks and faced the reinforcement that was coming their way.
She had a not-so-original plan which she didn't hesitate to execute. She ran past the soldiers in front of her, punching and kicking everyone who was trying to stop her. She put so much force into her punches and landed them straight at their faces to render them unconscious.
She could've killed them, but that feeling when she slashed the first soldier at his throat had left a sour taste in her mouth. If she relied solely on her adrenaline and the instinct that told her to fight then she would've killed all of them.
But then again, she needed to survive. And if survival meant that she have to kill someone then what else was she to do?
She reached the panel, and within the past three days, it was replaced and was created now to be bomb-proof. But, Maia didn't need to explode the panel. She knew the right keys to punch and the right door to open.
But the problem was, how can she be sure that the moment she opens the door to Damian and Maki's cell, it will stay open until she gets there?
The soldiers chasing her would deliberately try to close the doors once Maia runs for the upper floor.
Maia ducked under the panel when the soldiers rained bullets on her. It was then that her attention was caught by something else.
The panel was powered by electricity. It was simple and she was stupid, she thought. She just needs to break the electricity box.
Maia breathed heavily before grabbing the first gun that was aimed at her back when the soldiers closed in on her. She shot the soldier in between his eyes and continued to do so for the other ones.
"That's seven in total"
Maia murmured to herself as her whole body began to shake. She killed someone again. She closed her eyes and shook her head. Now is not the time for weakness Maia, she thought.
She bombarded the electrical box with bullets, she didn't stop until the box exploded in front of her eyes. At that moment the power inside the second prison turned off.
Maki and Damian stared at the now open prison bars. They looked at each other and they both wondered if help had indeed come for them.
"Maki we need to get out"
Damian and Maki both scrambled to their feet and stood up. They needed to find something strong enough that could break the chains off their feet.
As they were looking, Maki heard a loud thud outside. He immediately stopped and so did Damian. They heard footsteps and they both knew that it was coming this way.
In a matter of seconds the footsteps that became louder, halted, and in front of them, stood Maia.
Maki and Damian stared at her, she was panting, her white hair was now all over the place and her white shirt had blood all over it.
"Maia?"
Damian broke the silence, they weren't sure but something was different. She was different now, she wasn't as robotic and lifeless as how they first saw her again.
"YOU STOP THERE! 616!"
Maia looked to her left and saw that the soldiers were still on her tail. She cursed loudly before dodging another bullet that was sent her way. Maki and Damian heard her, but they were still too stunned to speak.
Had she regained herself and her memories? They wanted to know. If this was a dream, then it was a nice one.
Maia looked at the two men and saw that neither one of them had budged yet. Now, they were gawking while she tries to not get killed.
She almost laughed out of annoyance but chose to just throw the keys she got from their guards their way. Damian caught it and that was when he finally snapped out of his reverie.
"Maia…"
"Talk later, we need to get out of here now"
As if on cue, a soldier hurled himself towards Maia, throwing a punch which Maia expertly dodge before landing her direct hit to his face.
Damian and Maki got the message and whatever happened, they knew that they finally got Maia back and that they were now in danger.
The two men uncuffed themselves and quickly ran outside their cell to help Maia who was busy fending off herself from the soldiers.
Maki grabbed a gun that was lying down and positioned himself. He shot the incoming soldiers at their feet. The loud gunshots were mixed with cries of agony and the sounds of Maia and Damian's fists landing on the soldier's face.
An alarm blared throughout the prison cells, it was loud enough that Leticia who was in her lab heard it. The camp had different alarms for different situations.
And this one was the one that never rang before. It was the one that she had been avoiding to occur.
"Now we really need to get out of here"
Maki and Damian looked at Maia who was now on edge and seemed to panic.
"Why? What's happening? Maia?"
"Ate? What's that alarm for?"
Maia silently blamed herself. She should've known that the two prisons share the same electrical box. And if she had cut the power off the second prison then the first prison would also automatically get their power cut off.
And what was more alarming than prison guards and soldiers chasing you?
Maia urged Maki and Damian to run, and so they did. Along the way, they meet a few soldiers who were also now too busy fleeing.
Maki and Damian saw that none had been minding them anymore. It almost seemed like they were fleeing to get to safety.
"We'll run through the forest, on the south side about 12 km from here, we'll reach the seven city"
"The seven city? But Maia, aren't the people who live in the seven city are savage and uneducated ones?"
"Theyre not"
The way Maia had answered Damian's question made the impression that she had been there before.
The sudden quietness of the two men behind her made Maia stop running. They were now on the back door on the ground floor. She faced the two of them and couldn't help but tear up.
Maki and Damian both flinched when they saw tears welling up in Maia's eyes. Before they could even say anything, Maia walked up to them and hugged both of them.
"I'm sorry"
That was all she could say, no, she had so much to say but that was the only thing that she could utter at that moment.
It was stupid, they were running for their lives and yet Maki couldn't help the urge to hug her sister back. Her sister had died and somehow managed to still be alive.
Damian buried his face in Maia's shoulders and placed his hand on the back of her head. Damn, how he missed holding her like this. He couldn't remember what it was like before but it didn't matter now. Not now that he was holding her like this again.
Maia pulled herself back and wiped the tear off her eyes. She looked at the two men and noticed that they were also wiping their tears. She felt relieved. Up to this extent, she somehow knew that they don't hate her.
A loud cry for help broke through the warm silence that the three of them were sharing.
"Ate?"
Maia could only look at Maki. They were in so much danger now.
"We need to go quickly"
"Why? What's happening out there?"
"I cut the power source."
Damian stared at Maia eager to hear the rest of her answer. But when Maia gave him a straight face, he knew that it was something he never should've asked.
"Cutting the power source meant that all the prison cells are now unlocked. And so are the ones where the monsters are locked up"
"Mo…monsters?"
Maia nodded at her brother.
"Leticia's imperfect experimentations. I let them run loose. Now…
They're out to kill everybody"