"That was a close one." Graham said to himself, huffing and panting. He checked his pockets for more ammo only to be disappointed. He banged his fists on the floor.
"Graham do you copy."
It was Jeff's voice. Graham ignored it for a while, looking out into the far distance.
"Graham, do you copy."
"Yeah yeah. What is it." Graham said, picking up the radio.
"What happened?"
"As expected, the inquisitors did not play nice. We had to leave before we got our asses kicked."
"Are you ok? What about Grace? Is she fine?"
"Grace is fine. She was taken by Surprise."
"Wait, what?!"
"Surprise! Surprise! Ted Daveson!"
"Oh, right. Should have said so."
"How's the situation there?"
"Well, all three new half-breeds are dead. Killed by the Shield. All that remains are the other two. The ones that are already out there."
"Do you know where they are?"
"We know where one is. The Shield doesn't even know about it. Its the other one that we don't know. From what I heard, it brought some of friends for the ride. Its also entering its white phase."
"Not our problem."
"We did not think this through,"
"Boss hasn't complained yet, has he."
"But still..."
"Look, if you want to bail out, its a little too late for that. Make sure that the Shield kill that one before the inquisitors. From the boss, that one is the shining jewel of this whole parade."
Captain Reynolds stopped as the car came to a halt in front of them. The inquisitors alighted and Kyler approached him.
"See you've been busy."
"Yeah, so have you."
"Are the half-breeds dead?" Blake asked him. Reynolds turned to him. It was the first time meeting a child of one of the great families and one this young, but he was powerful. His aura was like an ocean.
"Yes. Yes they are."
Blake clenched his fist. Looking down the road, he could see the body of one of the half-breeds being packed into a cargo truck.
"You shouldn't have. They were alive."
"Yes. I'm aware." Reynolds said.
Blake turned to him shocked.
"Wait." Martha said in disbelief, "You knew that the minds of the humans were alive all this time and still gave them the order to kill them."
"Correction, I killed that one personally. And also I've been given orders. I cannot disobey."
"Doesn't mean you should become a heartless killer." Blake said.
"Yes." Reynolds said, almost inaudible. "I know. But right now all three of them are dead, all that remains is the one that killed Barry O'Neil."
"Actually, there are five." Kyler said.
"Huh?" Reynolds turned sharply. "That's impossible. That wasn't in the intel. There were four half-breeds that were stolen. One escaped."
"We heard this from Graham. Graham won't lie." Kyler said, "He's not been ordered to."
Reynolds shook his head. That couldn't be possible. The intel that Colonel Lionharte provided was of four criminals that had been used for the half-breed project. Was there a fifth? If there was, why hadn't he been informed. It could be a ruse, but then again, if he took Kyler by his word, then this must have been much deeper than he thought.
Bree arrived with the rest of his unit and Spen, the latter who seemed bored. Bree saluted Reynolds but he was too lost in thought to notice him.
"Is there a way to find this fifth one?"
"Yes!" Zhao Fan exclaimed.
"The kid can find it." Kyler said, "But if it was purposely hidden, then its going to be heavily guarded. We'd need your help."
"We have bigger issues as well. Apparently the other half-breed has some daemon with it."
"Easy then. We'd split our forces. Three on the fourth one, three on the fifth."
"Yay!" Kyler said, rubbing Blake's head, "We get to go on a mission together."
"Good let's go then..."
"Um...you can't go." Spen said, nonchalantly. All eyes turned to him.
"Why is that?" Blake said. "We need to find this half-breed."
"Even if you can't save it?"
The voice belonged to Dr. Vott, who appeared out of nowhere. The young scientist bowed as a form of greeting.
"Great, more time to sleep." Jacquez said to Ricardo.
"Forgive my manners. But I have to ask, what are you going to do, if you can't bring back the human consciousness?"
"I can." Blake said, "I'll use my technique."
"Which is."
"Blake can manipulate the soul." Kyler said in response. Dr. Vott stared in surprise.
"Fascinating. But it won't work."
"It can."
"Look if you have something to say, get on with it." Martha said, "Lives are at stake."
"Dr. Vott," Reynolds said, "What is it?"
Dr. Vott sighed. "The reason why I was hired by Colonel Lionharte was because I am the apprentice of the scientist who brought up the theory in the first place. Professor Gerald Tason."
"Kyler's dad?" Zhao Fan asked.
"Hell nah!" Kyler exclaimed, "I only met him once."
"Well, though he brought that theory, he didn't bring it to fruition because of the risks. However, Shield scientist decided to work on the project and...succeeded, hence all this chaos today."
"Yes, how is this relevant?" Blake asked.
Dr. Vott turned to Captain Reynolds. "Captain Reynolds, remember the first day we met, what did I say?"
"How the hell am I supposed to know?"
"I said that inquisitors always go off radar."
There was silence in the air as soon as Dr. Vott said that line. Jacquez was the first to react, sitting up straight. Kyler too. Then Martha, who covered her face with her palms. Zhao Fan and Ricardo stared at each other, but said nothing.
Blake took a deep breath, looking at Dr. Vott. "The fifith one is an inquisitor."
"You've encountered it before. Aaron Cage was taken out by her."
Kyler clenched his fist, pulling Martha close to him. Blake closed his eyes before asking the question on everyone's mind.
"What was her name?"
Dr. Vott took a deep breath. "Rebecca Stone."
Martha felt her whole world crashing down. Rebecca, It couldn't be. Zhao, on the other hand almost fell backwards, with Ricardo supporting her. Jacquez said nothing. As did Blake. But Kyler did the unexpected, grabbing Dr. Vott by the collar...
Or at least he tried to as his hand bounced right back.
"Ah, sorry. My hollow activated on its own."
"You knew!" Kyler yelled at him "You knew that it was her sister. That's why you took her when she was coming with us. It wasn't to make sure she wasn't a hindrance. It was to tell her..."
"The truth." Dr. Vott finished. "Yes. I told her."
"And you told her where to find her sister." Blake realized. With hisfist clenched, he walked away, heading north.
"As I asked before, boy. What are you going to do, if you can't save her?" Dr. Vott asked. "Will you cage her again? Or will you end her life."
"Dr. Vott, that's enough!" Reynolds said.
"The question must be asked, no matter how painful it is. Will he be able to do it or not."
Kyler nodded at Martha, patting her on the head before following Blake.
"We'll figure it out when we get there." Kyler said, as the two entered a vehicle. Dr. Vott sighed, scratching his head. Martha looked up, wiping her face.
"Jacquez, did you pinpoint the location of the daemon."
"Long time ago." He said.
"Good." She said, "Zhao Fan, go with Blake and Kyler."
Zhao Fan obeyed without a word, getting into the car with Kyler and Blake.
"Okay people! Move out, Bree you go with Martha. I'll go with Kyler. I want six men on me, Lets GOO!"
The Shield agents moved swiftly into position.
"Spen," Dr. Vott said, "Go with Blake."
"There's more fun with the other team." Spen said.
"I'm not asking." Dr. Vott said. "We all know how this is going to end. Even Blake knows this, deep down. But the question is, who is going to give him that push?"
Spen grunted, standing up straight. "Will I get to fight the guy?"
"That isn't the point."
"But it will go down that path, right."
Dr. Vott looked, "Be gentle, Spen."
Spen grinned madly, "I'll try."