(The Tower's Headquarters, Floor 19 - 8:22am...)

H-K

"You maniac! You've just doomed thousands of innocent people! That's what you get with your f*cking chaos!"

"You don't know what was in that file, do you, Crane?" Suleiman asked me calmly, not giving me any time to answer. "You only prove my point for me. The GRE plans to weaponize the virus, not cure it,"

"What?!" I cried out with horror, unaware that tears were now streaming down my face and that my breathing had painfully glitched.

"They're only interested in profit, not saving lives," Rais got right in my face, secretly brandishing a knife. "And by following their rules, you have become their trained monkey. Pathetic!"

Suddenly, out shot his right arm and throbbing agony surged through me, ripping a yell of agony out of my throat. Screams from my loved ones thundered against my ears as he repeatedly plunged his knife into my side, relishing in our cries ... until my body gave way and I collapsed to the ground in a pool of blood. To my sheer terror, Zere of all people came tumbling after with a knife punctured deep in his chest! NO!

"Doc...!" I gasped, blood spilling out of my mouth.

"Crane!" Imran breathed heavily. "S-Save these people..." Life fading slowly. "They don't deserve this..."

...

Hello again. Long time, no speak. I imagine you must be surprised that karma didn't kick me to the curb?

Well... to be honest, I feel like it did - because of what had happened to Zere. The poor guy deserved to be surrounded by his loved ones and die peacefully in his sleep, instead of the fate Suleiman handed over to him. In a way, I...! I felt like I was the one responsible for his death because of my affiliation with the GRE, and it didn't help that visions came to torture me whilst I was out. They've done so to the point where I'm just... I'm just amazed that I didn't find myself fighting Satan.

Though if he wanted to fight me, I wouldn't have blamed him.

In any case, I'll admit that I was...! I was very surprised to discover that I was still alive and kicking back at the Tower and if Brecken felt the same way, he was damn good at hiding it - because he was behaving like his usual rational self when he accompanied me to HQ. I suppose he, Jade and Lena could tell how uneasy I felt when I took notice of the residents' cold stares and judging by those alone, I didn't need any catching up whatsoever.

Greetings to Square One, it is.

"Can I get you anything?" Brecken's concerned voice snapped me out of my thoughts, as he assisted me with sitting down at the table. "Water?"

"Ah, no," I answered, holding back a grimace due to the pain in my left side. Oooww! "I'll be - I'll be fine, thanks,"

Cue my friend's brows to furrow. "Are you sure?"

"Yep,"

"Alright," He responded, before taking a seat in front of me. "I imagine you must be wondering what's happened since Libby's birthday?"

"I've got some notion," I said solemnly. "How's she doing, by the way? Are Jade and Rahim okay, too?"

Hearing this, Brecken gave a small sigh. "Jade - she, uh, she hasn't been doing great these past few days. Chances are, it's probably just an illness more than anything else - so, she'll pull through," Oof! Here's hoping she has a speedy recovery. "And Libby - I can tell that she's trying to hold it together for us, but you don't have to worry about her or Jade,"

"Of course, I'm gonna worry," I fired back. "Libby's the closest thing I have to a kid. Plus, you already know that I'm in love with Jade - so..."

"I know, I know," He reassured me, despite visible shock painting his face. Probably because that's the first time I've said it out loud with no hesitation. Now that I think about it, how come I'm not feeling the same way? "It's... That was quite surprising to hear,"

"Yeah, I figured," I agreed kindly. Even though, I did imply it before. "Anyway, what did you want to talk to me about?"

"Well, we've been processing a lot of information recently - and Jade's told me that you're a GRE operative," Brecken began to explain. F*ck. Of course she would. "I know that would explain how you showed up two months ago - which leads us to my first question. Why are you really here, Crane?"

If he sensed that my heart was sinking, I had no idea. "I'm...!" A sigh. You brought this on yourself, man. Just get it over and done with. "The GRE hired me to find a file that Rais had in his possession and I believed that it was supposed to help find a cure for the virus,"

"So, you were unaware that they were planning to weaponize the virus and sell it to the highest bidder?"

I took a breath to remain calm. "Yes, I was. Honestly - I had no idea about that, until that f*cker ratted me out in front of everyone,"

"I see," Brecken replied. "Who's your handler at the GRE?"

"Grace Anderson," Otherwise known as the Academy Award Winner for Best Queen B*tch.

"Tell me about the conversations you've had with her,"

My heart sank even further. Why? Because I knew that once I explained my Boss' orders to secure Zere's research, burn the Antizin drops and kidnap Libby for Rais' benefit, my fate had the potential to be something other than Square One. I mean, the two worst-case scenarios I thought of involved getting thrown out to be torn apart by biters ... or getting captured by my Boss and taken who knows where. The latter honestly sounded more scary - but there was no way in hell I was gonna let that happen. I'd gladly take her down with me if I had to.

"Brecken," I braced myself for what I was about to confess. "You're not gonna like any of this, but...!" An annoyed scowl. "F*ck, I have no idea where to start!"

"Start from the beginning,"

So, three days after I show up. Argh! This is gonna be fun. Here goes nothing, then...

"Okay," I sighed, forcing myself to hold a wave of nausea back. "You remember when I set up those traps for your night mission?"

"I do, yes,"

"Well...!" A pained grimace. "I was communicating with Grace about Zere's research and she ordered me to secure it for the GRE. I have no idea why, but I have no intention to see that through - knowing what I know, now,"

"Good," Brecken commented in a pleased manner. "I appreciate that," His brows shortly furrowed. "What happened next?" Oh god.

"I told her about the airdrops I was going after. She ordered me to contact her if and when I found the Antizin," I begun to explain, forcing another wave of nausea back. Goddamnit! "At that point, we both had a feeling that Rais was the guy they hired me to find and...!" A nervous gulp. "I was ordered to burn all the Antizin crates, since that would have forced interaction with him,"

My friend's eyes widened with horror. "What?!"

"Look - I didn't have a f*cking choice, Brecken!" I shouted angrily, my anxiety suddenly giving way. "I had to burn one crate!"

"Crane, you did have a choice," Brecken placed a hand on my shoulder to calm me down. "You should have told us you were working for the GRE, right there and then,"

"I see that, now!" I fired back. "But...! But what would you guys have done if I did?!"

"We would have helped you get away from them," He answered honestly. What the f*ck?! "I don't know how, but one way or another - we would have helped you," Before I could get a chance to yell at him, he changed the subject. "What happened afterwards?"

"I radioed her after Rais tried to get Libby to fight in his pit," I told him, clenching my fist with anger. "I...! I don't know why, but she wanted me to hand her over to him - no questions asked,

"But you didn't,"

"Exactly," I responded. "I also tried to convince her to start the airdrops by the Tower again, but you can probably guess how well that turned out. I haven't spoken to her, since,"

Hearing this, Brecken sighed worriedly. "Okay. I, ah, let me start off by saying that I appreciate your honesty and your attempts to help us,"

"If you want me to leave, just say the word and I'll go,"

"No, no," He quickly fired back. "I'm going to convince everyone to let you stay - because as far as I'm concerned, you're innocent," No, I'm not. "Do I have your permission to tell them what you've told me?"

"Granted,"

Static from my friend's radio suddenly interrupted our conversation, much to his indifference. "Sh*t, sorry, hold on," He then switched it on. "Hello?"

"Brecken, it's Rahim," A familiar voice came through the other end. "I wanted to let you know that I'm heading out to blow up that nest. Sa'id, Mel and Libby are helping me,"

A surprised glower painted Brecken's face. "Do you guys think you can pull it off?"

"Course, we'll be fine!" Huh, nice to hear him sounding optimistic again.

"Alright," He chuckled. "If you run into anything you can't handle, you get back here. Be smart about it, okay? Good luck, kids,"

Yeah, hopefully your mission will be great.