"He left…"
I replied to the cube.
It didn't say anything after that, but it didn't seem to doubt my answer either.
BEEEP!
Suddenly, a light coming from the cube covered every part of my body.
[Your body has recovered 100% from all injuries.]
"Uh... yeah, I feel much better than before."
I said, with a hint of nervousness in my voice caused by the cube's sudden scan.
[Answer me, Exterminator Robert. What happened here?]
The cube asked, once again using that terrifying voice.
"That person healed me."
[Why?]
I was about to tell the cube everything that had happened, but I couldn't. Not because I didn't want to, but because...
" "
When I opened my mouth, nothing came out. No sound, no air, nothing.
[Well?]
The cube insisted.
Then, realizing I couldn't say a single word, I tried to communicate with it through my thoughts.
-We made a pact. We both agreed that, in exchange for saving my life, I would have to do the same for him. On top of that, I wouldn't be able to tell anyone anything about him or about what we talked about here... or at least that's what I understood.
I projected a clear and concise thought so the cube would understand everything that had happened, including the consequences I was facing.
[…..]
There was no response from it, which led me to believe it was silently analyzing the situation. But as the seconds passed, I grew nervous, so I asked it.
-Can you hear me?
I asked through my thoughts.
[Answer the question, Robert…]
The cube spoke with a much more threatening voice.
"Damn…"
I was screwed, completely screwed... I never thought the pact would affect my thoughts. That would make asking the cube for help much more difficult.
"Well... listen, I can't tell you. Not because I don't want to, but because I can't, seriously…"
I tried to explain it as best I could, but even so, I wouldn't be surprised if the cube still doubted me.
[You... agh!]
Suddenly, the cube's voice was abruptly cut off.
BEEEEEEEP!
It began making erratic movements in the air while emitting a loud beep.
"Wait, this is just like…"
Indeed, this had happened before. Just a short while ago, the cube had made these exact same movements right before Nathan threw it.
The cube stopped. It remained motionless in the air, floating just a few centimeters away from my face.
"Cube...?"
I called out to the cube. My voice revealed just how worried I was at that moment, not only because of its strange behavior, but also because I was afraid it might suddenly explode.
Beep.
A new hologram appeared before my eyes.
"...!"
Written on it was:
[Exterminator Robert K. Demigurus, for the time being, we will ignore the recent events that took place on this floor. We will discuss your recent encounter with that person later. We can already imagine what happened there.
You are still under evaluation. Complete the mission, and you will live.]
"Uh..."
The message was... far from reassuring. On one hand, it lifted a weight off my shoulders by overlooking the issue with Nathan, but on the other, it reminded me that failing this mission would result in my death.
I ran a hand across my face while thinking to myself about how troublesome the pact, and everything related to it, would be from now on.
-I had no other choice...
I thought.
If I hadn't accepted Nathan's help, I wouldn't have been able to stand up. But apparently, just for talking to him, I'm already being judged by those who decide whether I live or die.
-That damn bastard...?
If I could make one wish, right now I'd wish to never cross paths with that guy again for the rest of my life.
-The farther away I stay from him, the better.
The moment I thought that, I realized the cube had stopped moving.
"Cube?"
I called out to the cube, which remained completely still as it floated in front of me.
Beep.
[How may I assist you, sir?]
The cube asked, this time using its old friendly voice.
-Can you hear me?
[Of course I can.]
The cube replied.
[Why wouldn't I be able to?]
"I... uhh..."
"...!"
I was thinking about what to say when, all of a sudden, I remembered that I was still in the middle of a mission.
"Let's forget about that for now. Yeah, that's for the best. There'll be time for that later if I survive... yeah..."
-Damn it, I'm already starting to ramble.
[Forget what?]
I ignored the cube's questions and went back to talking about the mission.
"How much time is left?"
The cube remained silent for a couple of seconds, which worried me, because in these circumstances, seconds were as precious as years of life.
Beep.
[1 minute and 6 seconds.]
I'm not exaggerating when I say I almost had a heart attack the moment I read the hologram. But then I noticed that the second counter was moving slightly slower than normal. More specifically, it took 3 seconds for the counter to go from 6 to 5.
"So that would be around 3 minutes…"
That's plenty of time. Enough time to defeat a parasite.
"Okay."
"Where is the Ka'li?"
I asked the cube.
It wasted no time and quickly answered me.
[Follow the hallway on your left for 100 meters. There you will find the Ka'li, but I must warn you, it is already waiting for you.]
"Alright, then... wait. What did you say?"
One of the cube's sentences echoed in my mind.
"It's...?"
The fear those words filled me with kept me from even repeating them out loud.
[It is watching you.]
"…"
Glup.
I swallowed.
It seems I lost the element of surprise... or rather, I probably never had it to begin with.
"...Well, whatever."
I moved forward following the cube's directions, fully aware that this would all be over very soon, either with the Ka'li's defeat... or with my death.
***
During the time Robert was passing through the floor of the seventeenth floor, a group of nine survivors from the refugee camp massacre ventured outside the park, hoping to find the help of those who were supposed to guard its borders. However, much to the survivors' misfortune, there was one small and seemingly insignificant complication.
"No way…"
When the survivors reached the edge of the park, they looked into the distance, as far as the eye could see, and found that the city was still a wasteland inhabited by the ruins of what it had once been. In other words, it looked exactly the same as it had a couple of hours ago.
This raised countless questions in their minds, because in times of crisis like this, refugee camps were supposed to be surrounded by dozens of soldiers and a few heroes ready to protect the civilians. This was common knowledge; children were even taught this during school evacuation drills. That was why seeing a refugee camp without the presence of soldiers and heroes could only lead to one horrifying conclusion.
"Did they abandon us?"
One of the civilians, stunned by what he was seeing, voiced aloud what many others were thinking in silence.
"This can't be…"
Said one of those present, who, despite being covered in wounds and showing several signs that he was on the verge of passing out, stepped forward.
Tap... Tap...
No one knew what he was thinking, because they themselves didn't know how to react to this situation.
Everyone here had gone through the same hell. Every single one of them was here because they had survived the chaos the serpent had unleashed, then the mutant's attack, and finally the sudden assault by those people with terrifying eyes. But now, despite everything they had endured, the mere thought that they had been left alone awakened a deep fear within them, one that superhumans were not accustomed to feeling.
Tap... Tap...
Until, suddenly—
Tuk.
The sound of something colliding echoed throughout the area at the exact moment the only person who had continued walking came to a stop.
"Ouch…"
He said, his eyes wide open in shock.
For a brief moment, no one present dared to say a single word. Then, suddenly, the same man who had just let out that groan stretched his hand out in front of him.
"…"
Tuk.
Another sound echoed.
"Uh... there's... there's something here..."
That man's words left every single witness staring at him in shock.
Tuk.
Tuk.
Tuk.
While everyone else continued trying to process what they were seeing, the man kept striking what should have been nothing but empty air.
".....Aaah."
TUK!
It wasn't until after throwing a punch powerful enough to shatter a steel wall that the man realized what was happening.
"A barrier... This is a barrier!"
The man shouted, and immediately after doing so, the rest of the witnesses began running toward where he was and, consequently, toward the barrier.
TUK!
In utter desperation, the entire group of superhumans began striking the barrier with all their strength.
Their situation was far worse than it seemed. If the heroes had been the ones who locked them in here to protect them, then the soldiers wouldn't have abandoned them, nor would they have been attacked by that group of people while under their protection. Therefore, the most likely conclusion the survivors reached was that the ones keeping them trapped were not heroes.
"Someone go back and bring the others! We have to get out of here!"
***
A couple hundred meters away, at the center of what remained of the refugee camp, approximately fifty-two superhumans chose to stay behind while their companions went to seek the help they believed awaited them outside the park. They used that time to rest, tend to their wounds, or drag the lifeless bodies of those who had once been their friends or family members to one of the many piles of corpses they had assembled.
"Did you hear that?"
A burly man asked his companion, a red-haired boy.
"No, and I don't care."
The redhead's answer was blunt and curt. Clearly, he wasn't interested in what his burly companion was saying. Right now, there was only one thing on his mind, and that was a girl.
"Excuse me, have you seen a girl about this tall, with silver hair?"
The redhead asked while using his hands to indicate the girl's height.
"Don't bother me."
An elderly man with a weary appearance replied.
"Sir, please, she's... she's..."
The redhead didn't know how to finish his sentence, and while he was thinking, the old man walked away from him with an annoyed expression.
"She... sh... Wait!"
By the time the redhead realized it, he ran after the old man and grabbed him firmly by the arm, hoping to stop him. But what he didn't expect was the old man's reaction.
Smack!
Before the redhead could react, the old man drove a powerful punch straight into his nose. Dazed and injured, the boy fell to the ground as blood began pouring from his nose.
"Agh... Damn it..."
The redhead groaned, completely ignoring the old man who had just punched him, as he now approached him in a furious rage.
"You little piece of shit..."
The old man said.
"I told you to leave me alone!"
The old man was about to beat the redhead senseless, but before he could take a single step toward him, the burly man stepped into his path.
"Take it easy, old man..."
The burly man said in a calm voice, though the way he clenched his fists made it clear he was ready to fight if the old man came any closer.
"You... move..."
The old man said.
"We're not trying to bother you. The kid is just looking for his friend."
The burly man replied.
"Tsk..."
The old man clicked his tongue as he looked away from the burly man, but when he did, he noticed that their small argument had drawn the attention of the other survivors.
"No... I don't know anything..."
The old man said before walking as far away as possible from the redhead and his burly companion.
"Agh..."
After the old man left, the burly man walked over to his red-haired companion, who was still lying on the ground clutching his nose.
"Let me help you, Dran."
The burly man said as he extended a hand toward the redhead.
"Thanks... James... Agh...! That damn old bastard..."
With his companion's help, the redhead managed to get back on his feet. However, even after standing up, he still struggled to keep his balance, so he once again had to lean on James to avoid falling.
"Why did he hit me? I didn't do anything to him."
The redhead said, but his companion didn't answer. He remained silent for a few seconds before speaking again.
"I've seen that old man before."
Those words caught the redhead's attention.
"Really?"
The redhead asked.
"Yeah..."
His companion replied, struggling to maintain his usual calm expression as he spoke.
"Before those guys showed up, I saw that old man carrying a little girl..."
When the redhead heard that, he didn't know what to say. He understood perfectly what his companion was trying to tell him, and because of that, he felt like complete shit for not realizing the pain the old man had been carrying.
"I... I didn't know..."
"Easy, Dran. Don't blame yourself for that..."
The burly man said, trying to keep his red-haired companion from feeling guilty.
"We still have to find your friend, right?"
They had searched almost the entire refugee camp looking for her. They had also asked most of the survivors in the area if they had seen her, and they had even searched through the many piles of corpses to see if her body was among them, but it had all been in vain. There wasn't a single trail to follow, no one who had seen her, and certainly no body to mourn.
"...Yeah."
The redhead replied, internally beginning to believe that his friend had simply vanished into thin air.
"Mmm... You know, if your friend isn't here, she probably left the park."
The burly man said.
"...!"
The redhead lit up with excitement, as that possibility hadn't even crossed his mind.
"Of course! I hadn't thought about that, but now that you mention it..."
The burly man pointed toward the horizon before saying to his red-haired companion,
"A group of survivors left a little while ago. They went to look for help outside the park. With a little luck, they'll be back soon with some soldiers."
"Hah, that's a relief."
The redhead said with a sigh of relief.
"Thanks a lot, James."
"No prob—"
"Heeeey!"
A shout echoed from the distance. It came from a man sprinting toward them at full speed.
"What's going on?"
One of the survivors asked.
"Hey, wasn't he with the group that left the park...?"
"Yeah... I remember him. He was with them..."
"Why does he look so scared?"
The man's shout drew the attention of many of the survivors. When he finally reached them, he immediately began blurting out everything at once.
"We're trapped! Locked up! Caged like animals! There's an invisible barrier surrounding the entire park! Someone doesn't want us escaping this hell! We have to break that damn barrier, or who knows what'll happen to us!"
His words terrified everyone present, but even so, more than one person questioned what he had said.
"A barrier? Don't be ridiculous..."
One of the survivors scoffed.
"I'm not lying. It's the truth."
Said the man acting as the messenger.
"But if there's really a barrier here, wouldn't it have been the heroes who put it up?"
"Right. Maybe this is something the heroes did to protect us..."
"Yeah, sure. The same heroes who let the heirs, the mutant, and that bunch of lunatics get inside... That says a lot about the kind of heroes protecting us."
"He's got a point, but... what if whoever did this isn't a hero?"
The discussion continued for a couple more minutes until, suddenly...
"What if the one who created the barrier is inside?"
Someone said the worst thing that could possibly be said in a situation like this.
"..."
"What do you mean?"
"Well... we've been talking about whether whoever did this is a hero or not, but... what if it's one of us?"
The redhead froze completely when he heard those words, and he wasn't the only one. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several other people react the exact same way.
"One of us..."
One of the survivors repeated as he looked around at the others.
"In other words... one of us could be a sundrel..."
Glup.
The redhead swallowed almost instinctively as he watched every single survivor begin looking at one another with suspicion in their eyes.
For his part, the redhead turned his gaze toward his burly companion, whose terrified expression practically had the words this isn't going to end well... written all over it.
He's probably right.