The corridors lay deserted, with only the blare of the alarms and the pulsating red light illuminating the scene as Jin stood amidst a heap of corpses.
Thirteen watched from a distance, holding the datapad in his possession—the very item they had come for finally secured, now in his pocket.
Meanwhile, though unable to take them, Jin destroyed the remaining datapads, potentially causing damage to Genesis.
"At least this will make them even more vulnerable to the other organizations,"
Thirteen chuckled with malice.
With the datapad in his possession and his sensitive ears shielded by his hands, he followed after Jin, who glanced back in his direction.
"Sorry…"
It was the only thing Jin managed to mutter, his expression hidden under a thick layer of drying blood on his face.
His hands still shook from the irritation of the filth on his body…
Still…
He tried his best to remain composed.
"Let's just get out of here."
"Yeah, let's leave. You need to take a shower."
"Yeah… I need that more than anything right now."
With that, the two of them began to walk out of the building, only to see the destruction Jin had caused.
His vision was faltering, yet he could not stop. He was too close to the edge.
The alarms continued to roar in their ears, something that equally bothered them both.
Leaving behind the destruction they had caused, Jin began to reach for the electric currents he felt from the building.
The same ones he had left behind to destroy the data centers.
He was in deep concentration, his back covered in cold sweat, and even the most basic use of his power proved problematic.
'We need more Med X.'
Thirteen was sure that Jin was getting dangerously close to the Edge; another one of his breakdowns wasn't far off.
Finally, they left the building behind, just like the mountains of corpses piled inside.
"Jin… I'll go to Doc Parker. I talked to him and he can get us some Med X for cheaper. Just go home and take a shower."
Jin didn't say anything, only nodding in response.
He wanted nothing more than to get rid of the filth from his skin.
"I'll keep the datapad with me. Once I'm home, we're finally going to break it and find the others," said Jin. His hands were clenched, but his determination outmatched Thirteen's.
Without looking at Thirteen, he started heading home for his shower, steeling his heart.
'No matter what… I'm going to find you all.'
Thirteen and Jin waved at each other before taking different routes—Jin heading home, and Thirteen to Doc Parker.
The two of them were ready to advance to the next part of their plan.
The five Corporations had a ranking between each other, and the weakest of them was obviously Genesis.
And now that the two of them were taking them on day by day and the appearance of the Liberation Front and the attention of Jin and Thirteen…
The five Corporations had a ranking among themselves, and the weakest was obviously Genesis.
Now, with Jin and Thirteen taking them on day by day and the appearance of the Liberation Front drawing attention...
Their days were numbered.
Walking through the streets, Jin had to take the dark alleyways, using his watch to navigate.
The filth on his body was becoming unbearable.
'I'm going to puke.'
His stomach churned, and his head felt like it was splitting apart.
The blood on his body and clothes was overwhelming.
It was beyond irritating; it felt like spiders crawling on his skin as the blood dried.
His stomach churned all the way.
He continued walking towards his home through the alleyways.
The sky was growing darker and darker with rain clouds.
Jin stared into the sky while continuing to walk.
The rain began to slowly trickle down on him and everything in the tenth district.
For the first time, Jin stopped walking and gazed into the sky as the rain began to pour down heavily.
It started washing the blood off of him.
()
Looking down at the ground, he saw the blood washing away from his skin, staining the ground a deep red, only to be washed away by the rain.
Everything around him turned blood red once again.
Even when he did not kill...
The blood...
The filth...
It was always around him, never letting go of Jin.
He took a deep breath before gazing into the sky, the cold rain washing his face, the dried blood continuing to leave his body.
The cold sensation of the rain was pleasant.
Then, he glanced at the bloody ground, but what he saw wasn't the alleyway.
It was a green hill with a beautiful, tall oak tree in the middle. He could hear laughter in his ears...
But that laughter did not remain for long.
It was replaced with screams of fear and terror.
Blood...
He could see the green hill, the tranquil place, transform into a bloody scene of horror.
Looking down at his hands, they had long ago been washed clean by the rain.
Jin had been standing under the rain for almost a quarter of an hour now, yet time seemed to go by slowly for him.
To him, his hands still seemed to be covered in blood.
'Disgusting.'
'Disgusting.'
'Disgusting.'
Jin was disgusted by the blood on his hands, but the filth wasn't the only thing that made him revolt.
The one who caused that was none other than himself.
Jin couldn't shake off the feeling of loathing every time he took a life.
'The worst thing is… I can't stop, not yet.'
He still felt terrible, but he couldn't push away the guilt with each life he took.
'After this is over, I'm going to leave this place.'
He looked at the sky again, feeling the cold rain against his skin.
'The outside world, away from Dust City…'
He reached toward the sky with his hands to feel the rain on them as well.
'There has to be a peaceful place out there, somewhere in nature. I want to live there with the others, like in the good old times.'
Just the thought made him chuckle fondly before he started to head back home.
In the rain, most of the blood was washed away, but the filth remained, something he still needed to clean off.
After a few minutes—since the base was only ten minutes from home—Jin arrived at their apartment building.
But he felt strange.
'There's no one else here. What happened to our neighbors?'
He began to draw his blade from its sheath. It was chipped but still deadly.
Walking up to the building, he saw no one.
Not inside the building, nor could he hear any sounds. The whole place seemed abandoned.
No one was near.
He wanted to open the door, but his watch was broken from his electricity, no longer working.
'God damn it.'
He cursed under his breath before reaching out to the panel and emitting a bit of electricity from his fingers, zapping the panel.
With the electricity in it, the door opened slowly.
Walking in, Jin wanted nothing more than to take a shower. Even with the blade in his hand, he just wanted to get rid of the filth.
"Fuck."
But he couldn't go for his shower as his worst fears became true.
Five soldiers were aiming their weapons straight at him, laser sights all pointing at his face.