Both Raon and Mari were being stared at in disbelief by the staff present; When the director looked back at them, they turned back to their work, with the fear, always evident to them, of receiving a reprimand or at the very least a salary deduction for getting in the way of their superior without her explicit permission.
- Seeing two identical people…it must be unexpected for them – the actress said.
- Correct. Even though we could just be twins. Ordinary people…most are very blind…
- You underestimate people. They should know by now you only have one sister.
- That's classified. Tsk…you should speak softer before I rip your vocal cords out of your throat.
- It's always like that - she uttered - no matter how secret something is, word always ends up spreading.
- You think this is a recording set or the tabloids? The Division always guards its secrets.
- Yes. - Mari said, and returned to her previous point - And... your sister... Sacred Beast, isn't it?... she...
- Never pronounce that name in front of her, doesn't take it well. If she heard you...neither I nor anyone else could stop her.
Immediately they were two rows from the back and ten meters from the opposite door, which led to the surgery area; two beds were to the right, and the nurses were there, checking the monitors and the serums. The person they came to look for was lying down, looking at the ceiling without any expression on her face, wearing a white t-shirt and oatmeal-colored pants. Those who attended her were surprised when they didn't hear Raon arrive, and first they greeted the director, blinking hard a couple of times when they saw there were two identical ones, the chief being the one who gathered courage to talk;
- Welcome - and she added - As ordered, we prepared the patient for...
- Leave us.
- Ah... of course, yes... as you wish -
She whispered to the other, with a gesture of his hand
- Come with me now...
The nurses bowed and hurried off to the reception area by the back door. Raon took the girl's chin with her other hand to check her eyes. The patient did not even seem to notice her superior was next to her, not moving a single muscle as if sleeping with both eyes open.
- This here is S-0667, but she named herseld Soo Young.
The director released her grip, and the actress, saddened by the girl's condition, said to her:
- I don't think...she can help us. With nothing.
- The technique she created is quite valuable to me. I won't let her end up like a vegetable.
- And now what will you do?
- Well, I'll try and fix this. That, or have Dr. Weisenschaft and Ah Ra dissect your brain.
The actress shuddered; she didn't knew Ah Ra by name, but remembered the frigid doctor who checked her after waking up. As soon as her nerves tensed the first muscle fibers in her legs to impulsively retreat, the director used her mind to paralyze her from the waist down:
- Ah, ah, ah...you're not going anywhere, I still have to check on you.
- Raon, please let go of me…
- If you don't want me to do something worse, you better do as I say.
Raon looked again at Soo Young, who was still completely still, breathing very slowly, as if really sleeping, cheeks pale and showing no sign of whatever she was going through. The director closed her eyes to perceive her vital signs and her aura, realizing the subaltern had some kind of blockage, and thus just emitting a very weak field around her body. She placed her hand on her subordinate's chest, finding her chakras closed and misaligned; Raon moved her hand down and then up to her neck, touching it at a midpoint with her index and middle finger.
- Soo Young? - she asked
She brought the other hand closer to the woman's sternum while keeping the fingers of the first hand on the neck, applying a gentle pressure, after which she got back, hands crossed in front of her navel. It was there that, as if it were some kind of miracle, the convalescent girl blinked, the brightness of her consciousness returned to her eyes, immediately looking scared everywhere and then sitting down and remaining almost paralyzed after being face to face with Raon and Mari, who now shared the same expectation. The actress was still quite surprised by that prodigy, for as she knew, from their lore, these superhumans were powerful, she never imagined "her character" capable of doing that:
- Director? Is it…is it you? – Soo Young asked, not really knowing who to turn to.
- You finally wake up. I'm disappointed, you couldn't do it alone.
- Oh, yes, uhuh, yes, yes...director, of course, of course...
Mari knew with that stammer there was something wrong in the young woman; she assumed that Raon would have already noticed it, and indeed she had, but nevertheless continued talking, to the actress's perplexity:
- Anyway, I need you to do something for me. You must employ that technique again; use it with this one here.
- With who? What, what? – And she shook her head – No, no, no… no, no… she… she, no…
Without any apparent cause, Soo Young began to show increasing nervousness. The director felt her heart beating faster, and immediately the subordinate began to look around her erratically, as if seeing something implausible, or as if something vital got lost from reality. The young woman began to stir, gasping as if she were out of breath, gripping the edge of the bed with her hands tightly; from the back of her throat came guttural growls that, for different reasons, made both the actress and her counterpart take a couple of steps back, at which point her eyes fixed on the latter. For Mari, the underlying fear of being attacked was what made her anxious, while in Raon's case, her reaction was the result of boredom, seeing how an "incident" would blow up in her face again; it had already happened a few times, an Awoken One suffering a psychotic break inside HQ and causing problems.
And just as expected, Soo Young trembled with rage, yelling at them:
- You... I won't be yours...you won't take me again!
The girl jumped on Raon in less than an instant, grabbing her by the neck with both hands, choking her with all the power her upper body allowed; Soo Young's momentum caused them both to fall resoundingly onto the bed behind them while the serums came loose and the monitors broke, spilling onto the floors. Mari fell on her buttocks and stepped back with her feet, panicked, but feeling freed from the telekinetic grip of her host; while the director's face was turning pale due to such inhuman pressure, the actress made a decision, and she left as fast as her legs could carry her. She ran without looking back, and no one ventured to stop her or interfere, not even her escorts; in fact, crossing the threshold, she didn't even notice these had left their position, nor that, just before Soo Young assaulted her, Raon had released the chain between her shackles with the mind.
Once well into the hallway, she stopped running; she didn't understand why she had that change of heart, nor why she made the choice she did, but she got ready to act accordingly, hoping she had done the right thing, taken the best path. Herself, as selfish as she could have been in her life, never reached the extremes to which her counterpart had gotten; when the idea of escaping from her came to her mind, she knew that not only could she not do it, but that it would mean abandoning her people to their fate, something unthinkable.
Kang Ma-ri would show Raon she could be different. The actress shouted, to the surprise of the staff, and a couple of guards, one of them wearing a beret, who were patrolling:
- Someone come soon! They're gonna kill the director!
The security personnel immediately went on alert, and after the one with the beret gave a signal to his partner, the latter pulled an emergency lever while the former left the area. The alarm and red emergency lights were turned on everywhere, while a platoon of guards quickly moved towards the place. In the emergency room, the staff had finally come out of their stupor and some wanted to run to help the director, but Soo Young let out a heartbreaking scream, generating a psychic shockwave and leaving the bodies laid around the room.
The actress leaned against the wall upon hearing that spectral screech, and in a couple seconds the troops in tactical armor came charging in closed ranks through the door, passing millimeters past Mari like a tide. All stormed in, taking positions in a closed semicircle:
- Open fire!
The subordinate did not even notice their presence, and immediately after receiving the order, everyone fired their assault rifles. However, a translucent barrier stopped the bullets in their tracks just a couple of centimeters from the attacker, making them fall harmlessly to the ground. The sergeant ordered the fire to stop; he received a communication, and immediately made a gesture to make his men retreat outside; The actress saw other subjects arrive down the hallway, clad in white clunky overalls and filtering masks, carrying some kind of cans in their hands that they immediately threw into the room before closing the doors. These rolled across the floor and spread, expelling a grayish gas from one end which almost immediately filled the place; the troop was reorganized into four ranks, and at the serge's order, who stood in the back corner, they held each other's left shoulders:
- Be prepared. We enter in 5.
Mari watched this happen, and although she was anxious about what was happening, she dared to approach and ask him:
- Excuse me, sir, what...what did you just do?
The latter, still paying attention to the front while waiting, responded without thinking:
- It's the dream gas rookie, the crazy woman in there will soon stiffen.
Inside, the room had been transformed into a chamber of turbid gas that reflected white light, like a mountain mist that preceded a torrential rain; the whole place began to feel cold, and the air became saturated with a bitter chemical taste, which both the attempted murderer and her victim felt burning their tongues and eyes. Soo Young was by this point out of her mind, sliding further and further into an abyss of manic euphoria since she began to squeeze the neck of the director, who saw herself go weaker, and thus a last attempt she used her telekinesis, causing them both to roll. Falling off the bed, however, the subordinate kept grip, giving her a gritted-toothed grin; Raon's arms gave way exhausted after having tried in vain to get her off, and her victim knew that, before she herself fell due to the gas, her enemy's oxygen would run out.
- Very soon this will end for you... you will pay for everything you did to me...
Outside, a second guard to the sergeant's right then jumped into the conversation:
- That's if everything goes well - he said.
- It's not your job to doubt orders, cadet.
- Sir, but...
- Don't make me repeat it again.
The rookie decided not to reply, and Mari felt a little uncomfortable about the situation, more than she already was.
Meanwhile, Soo Young had squeezed the director's windpipe until, finally, Raon closed her eyes with heavy calm and went limp, stopping breathing; she released her, and tried to extrasensorily perceive her victim's aura, her chakras, nerves, palpitations, but her body no longer had any signs, and was beginning to cool down. Her unhinged smile twisted into a rictus of lunatic victory, and faced with the prospect of having done the impossible, she looked at the ceiling and closed her eyes through tears; she immediately began to laugh softly, whispering into nothingness, taking her shoulders with both hands, looking down at her work, crimson irises, black sclerae:
- Yes. Yes, yes, yes yes – she said in many voices – I finally defeated you…I destroyed the imposter…
The subaltern lost all her strength at that moment, and fell completely heavy to one side, sinking into a deep lethargy. That emptiness, however, would not last, being replaced by red scenes in rapid succession that made her body shake, and the parts of a necrotic face, pointed cheekbones, three horns.
Outside, the cadet once again dared to intervene:
- The attacker has no chance to escape, right sir?
- Of course not, with the vent sealed and electrified, no one will use that trick again.
Soo Young sank in panic, trapped, unable to scream, unable to see, just overwhelmed…by the sight of her.
Suddenly, she found herself back where he had fallen; there was no fog, so she stood up with enormous effort, immediately realizing that there were absolutely no other objects surrounding her, only the walls, the ceiling and the floor covered with worn tile that had once been white. She tried to understand what was happening, but was alarmed at being unable to hear anything; not a buzzing fly, not a buzzing light, not a distant murmur in the hall, not a single shape that she could distinguish with remote viewing or ESP, as if there was nothing but a void outside the room.
Outside, everyone was ever more anxious:
- I heard stories - said the cadet - Intervention team did not have the same luck as us.
- Captain Hwan was quite trusting back then. You just have to see how it ended...
Soo Young was disoriented. She tried to open the door, but it wouldn't budge, not even with all her strength. She punched the floor, kicked the walls, tried to tear off the the ducts, but none of them gave in, not even a single millimeter, and despite her blows, they seemed to remain intact, and that made her desperate:
- Director… director! Where are you? Tell me! – she exclaimed.
Soon, the sergeant, hearing no response from Mari, said:
- By the way rookie, your voice seems familiar to me - and he finally turned to see her - How long have you been here...?
Inside, the subordinate continued searching unsuccessfully for someone to answer her, until she tripped over something; she looked down, and found that cyanotic body, with black veins, open glassy eyes and purple lips, which made her smile sickly while she pointed deliriously, amidst idiotic laughter:
– Look…the fake is dead…she won't be able to hurt us anymore – she stated distraught – Director?
Without warning, the silence disappeared, when a familiar voice answered:
- Here I am, Soo Young…
The sergeant, upon seeing the actress's face, was scared to death, tripping over a couple of his subordinates. They regained their balance and cursed him before looking at the same place, remaining equally silent. His superior motioned for everyone to resume their position, while he and now two more guards approached the actress:
- Di...director? But how…? – the cadet stammered.
Soo Young turned around, but fear gripped her when she found absolutely nothing in that room but echoes repeating the same thing, bouncing everywhere. Instead, the entire place where she was began to blur in front of her vision while a violent tremor shook everything, splitting the walls and cracking the floor.
The sergeant, gaping behind his helmet, pointed inside and then at Mari before lowering his finger:
- But you were... you were in there, how come now... - he replied.
- No sir - said a third guard - It's not her. Look, she's wearing a robe and is handcuffed, besides, she's thinnier
- It's true - added a fourth - It's probably the other one, the double that was found in Shanghai.
- Huh? – Her superior responded – Oh, you're right.
- True - said the cadet - Overseer Han reported this recently, how could we forget it?
- What are your orders, sergeant? Should we stop her? – asked the third, ignoring the rookie.
- I think we should, they ordered us to do it if we saw her walking around on her own - replied the fourth.
Mari remained silent, and was uncomfortable until the serge said:
- No, wait Hyun Min... - and then looked at the actress - hey, young lady, you were the one who alerted us, weren't you?
- She did sir - said another further away, the one who had raised the alarm – it was she who warned us.
Everyone was now looking at her attentively, whispering intensely among themselves, and so much attention, whether on a podium, catwalk, stage, or locked up there, was something that made her extremely nervous. It was providential then that, suddenly, her anxiety was abruptly interrupted by a hand resting firmly on her shoulder:
- Hey, it's okay...no problem, okay? Don't worry...ehm...what do you say your name is?
- Kang Ma-ri...sir...
- Thanks for calling us, Mari, you did the right thing, okay? Now…stay there, and leave this to us.
- So... - the rookie replied.
- We wait; when the yard is clear, we enter in 1.
- Roger.
As such an exchange took place, everything was collapsing on Soo Young; she tried to dodge, until a pile of rubble inevitably collapsed on top of her from the roof, burying her and leaving everything in darkness once again. And yet, in a single instant, she found herself lying on her back over the white floor. As soon as she woke up she took a deep breath, and looking over her head she hyperventilated with terror; Raon, fully recovered, looked down at her, smiling with immense malice, while her own eyes had suddenly returned to normal along with her mental clarity and the horrifying notion of what she had just done. She couldn't even react; the director levitated her in the air, clenching a single fist with which she caused unbearable suffering in all the nerves of her subordinate, so much so that her brain was not able to send the signals to her vocal cords to utter the agonizing screams that her lungs raged to scream:
- No…no, no, Raon, listen… – Soo Young complained weakly.
- Did you think you could kill me? You are pitiful...
- For...all...heavens...don't...kill me, she...she...it was she...she controlled me...
- Sure... - she responded - but if she was able to "take you", it's because deep down you hide your anger towards me, isn't it?
- No, of course not... - she shook her head, fearful - but... but... how you...?
- I anticipated your absurd attempt to strangle me. I used my mind to absorb all the oxygen I could from the air into my own blood. Then I just held my breath; I waited, and did my act, inducing a temporary coma...
- That...that is...
- And then I woke you up. It was a little twist to your own meditation techniques, and you completely fell for it.
Raon opened her fist, and grabbed Soo Young after pulling with her mind.
Outside there was a torturous wait, while, inside, the smoke was already dissipating, indicating that the ventilation had been opened once again; The first to pass were the men in white overalls, who rushed in as a sort of spearhead, ready to clean up that mess. They did not advance too far before, first the leader, and then his men, having the same view, were shocked to see the scene before them of something moving; the leader had suddenly extended his arms so that those right behind him would not advance any further, but soon everything became clear to them.
Raon was standing there, wiping the dust off her black coat, shaking her shoulders and sleeves with one hand, while with the other she dragged a trembling Soo Young by the collar of her shirt.
- And what about you? Do you think it's over already? – She said, dazed from breathing in traces of the gas.
- Direc...ma'am, you...
- Pick up these people - she said, gesturing and pointing - and take them outside so they can wake up once and for all.
- Are... are you okay?...
- Make sure no one dies; replacing our civilian workforce would be inconvenient right now.
- How...how – the bewildered guy managed to sputter.
- Will you do what I said, or should I force you? – she asked, annoyed.
Everyone bowed, and after nodding positively, they got to work. The director threw her subordinate in front of her with contempt, suffering a sudden dizziness that made her move back a little, having to sit on the nearest stretcher to avoid falling; fortunately, in a matter of a couple more seconds, all of the sleeping gas had been filtered out, allowing her to regain her balance. And in a matter of the blink of an eye, those in overalls had already begun to slowly remove the semi-conscious medical personnel. They were laid down one by one in the hallway, followed by others in orange-red suits, who were applying nebulizing masks connected to white boxes while they woke up; the sergeant intercepted one of the men in white who was leaving, and roughly taking him by the arm, he questioned him:
-Hey, what do you think you're doing? And where is the director? She's our priority.
- It is no longer so, sergeant - he responded with authority - She's just ordered...
- What? - he exclaimed- What the hell are you talking about? "She just ordered"?
- What happened? – the actress asked.
Without paying any attention to her, the guy in white responded to the guards:
- The director is unharmed...and awake. She neutralized the hostile… single-handedly. If you don't believe me, go and look.
- That...that's impossible – the sergeant said to himself, readying himself to confirm it.