Incident

The garage reeked of disuse; it was stale and rotten to its core. The SUV alone seemed to strain the building. It wasn't the most modern of places for a planned meeting, but the secrecy of it was top-notch, making this the perfect hideout.

"How much of Shilo has been taken over?" Hino poses an obvious question.

Lucy turns towards him; with a sombre expression, she explains calmly, "The agents have all been corrupted; any civilian shelter that has been opened is already corrupted. I say at least sixty per cent of Shilo is gone."

Hino looks down in reconciliation, "So over half of Shilo... This indeed makes it harder for us." His mind instantly thinks of an answer to their problems. "What about K4?"

With a slight chuckle, Lucy answers back. "Didn't I tell you? This will take at least a couple of months to get her back; then we can consider that solution."

Hino immediately cuts her off. "But there isn't enough time..."

"exactly"

They exit the vehicle, both stuck in their minds, closing the SUV doors as Hino follows Lucy towards the garage door. She opens it in front of them and enters an office setting room; the stale air definitely didn't disappear, but the white walls definitely gave a sense of modernity in some sense.

'Hino, you are a genius. Just think about all the various things you can try.' His mind wanders towards solutions; he wasn't the type to just sit around; his leading skills were definitely evident of that.

Lucy walks over to the scientists that seem to be behind a one-way wall; they work on K4 or what's even left of her; they managed to pick up most of the parts before the worms annihilated everything for themselves.

K4 lay motionless; her body so far seemed to be just outlined. Most importantly, her head seemed fully intact, meaning there shouldn't be mental issues with her repairs, but other than a healthy head, it was dire.

'Ox, that time when he fried K4's system with a power surge – that could work pretty well against such small creatures that obviously aren't the most energy-efficient with their small added capacitors.'

Hino instantly walks over towards the one-way window where Lucy waits; his eyes catch a glimpse of his destroyed companion. 'This isn't the time,' he brushes off the nuisance which started trying to get a hold of him just now.

"I have an idea, but it might sound a bit crazy at first." His movements start to become erratic; it's almost like the idea itself was going to be an exciting, revolting idea.

Lucy gives a sigh, prepared to dismiss the plan. "Just say it already."

"Me and K4 both went to this train station before arriving in Shilo; K4 got fried internally by a power surge. That's why she most likely fell off as well. We just need a way to do that for all of Shilo!" He was quite a smart kid for figuring this out, but it was unviable.

Lucy sighs, "K4 took all of our excess power and extra; we don't have a way to also spread the current due to her surging the systems overload. I have a task for you, and it's dangerous." Shifting the conversation instantly towards him, it was a shocking move, but it was intriguing.

"What is it?"

Lucy gives a rather bashful face towards the request, "We need you to find us a corrupted and lead them into a trap we planned out for testing." Her request was definitely a big ask for someone as young as Hino, especially.

"I will do." His confidence was commendable, but that won't be enough to manage this.

Lucy gives a smile back towards him, almost happy at him being sent to his death, basically. "That's the spirit! Young boys like yourself need the most experience out there, after all."

'didn't expect a minister to be so childish, I suppose.' His attention comes back around to the minister after complimenting the task.

"So where is the trap? I need to get it in."

The minister immediately shifts to the other side of the room. There was an empty room with what seemed to be a huge open shaft leading towards the surface; it was kind of obvious how they would get a corrupted person in here.

"Right, I understand. Is the area above somewhat suitable to land this person in here?

Lucy sighs. "The area above us is flat indeed, but getting there is the bigger issue. There is a tunnel back around the entrance; it's pretty dark." With the information needed, Hino determines there is no point in wasting time and gets his flashlight. He goes out of the new HQ towards the garage once more, his eyes darting around for any sign of a hidden passage.

Towards the left, there was a sort of vent that could definitely fit a person of his size into it. 'I will fit, but is this really the best idea?' Despite his reluctance, he started ducking down towards the vent; his body was a tight fit, and his trench coat folded into the darkness ahead.

He takes out the flashlight from his trench coat and immediately turns it on, revealing the dusty air and the large amount of time that will take to travel.

His journey taking a couple of minutes finally starts getting brighter, the air freshens for once, and his eyes adjust to the brightness; his body was a bit cramped due to the tight space of the tunnel.

The vent pops open with ease as Hino finally emerges, taking in the new surroundings. The vent led to a new building that was broken down completely; the shattered glass around the place was definitely a sign of the skyscraper, but the broken-down builders gave it a bit of firmness. He starts kneeling and crouching underneath the pillars blocking his way until he finds sight of the street.

Corrupted people were scattered around the place; there weren't many currently in this area, around five from his view, but there was definitely a threat nonetheless. What his eyes scanned was also a pothole in the street; judging the distance he travelled and the pothole's location in the street, this was the trap.

'She even wants me to open the damn trap... This sure will take a while, and judging by the couple of corrupted people, it might be a quick job to not cause alarm.

Hino dashes out into the street trying to uncover the pothole; the corrupted people didn't catch sight of him yet. As he kneels down towards the pothole, it seems to be unlocked as he mutters all the strength he has left.

It rocks and shakes but doesn't open. He takes out an arrow and starts to hit the jointwork, which was obviously degraded due to miscare, and he slashes and slams down upon the metal pothole, causing a clanging sound to vibrate, drawing the attention of a corrupted person.

He notices the slowly approaching corrupted but, at the same time, gets the pothole open, holding the metallic covering in his hand. Now with the person being in view, it was a normal man, a citizen, with his torn clothes trying to run towards Hino at an increasing pace.

Hino stands firm above the trap, instantly preparing for a strike. The corrupted man lunges at Hino, trying to slash down at him. The pothole takes the impact, only making Hino stumble down a couple of feet before recovering, while the lunged man grabs the edge of the trap. Hino slams down on his hand, causing him to plummet.

'That was rough; they sure are dangerous. I doubt I could beat even three or more with my bow.'

Hino, having caught the corrupted man in the pitfall, sends him rapidly falling down an endless pit towards the empty room below. With no further purpose here anymore, he starts to rush back towards the secret tunnel in hopes of returning safely once more. The destroyed skyscraper greets him again.

Weaving past the ruins, he enters the already opened tunnel, ducking down to match the slightly smaller size. He uses his flashlight, which he had in his pocket, and immediately flashes the pitch-dark tunnel ahead. He quickly sees the light at the end, narrowly making it in.

Lucy was already awaiting him at the entrance of the tunnel in a rather ecstatic mood; her minister persona seemingly started to wither quite rapidly in the face of death. "We started immediately in containing the worm; currently there were around five in that one body."

Hino nods slightly, walking over to the empty room now filled with the body of a corrupted man. The body, however, seemed to struggle moving due to the worms being separated mostly; a few remained inside, however.

"Shall we begin the test?"