Reunion

Daybreaks, yet it doesn't shine anything down into the HQ. The harsh reality of their situation wasn't the most ideal, but it was favourable to some degree. Hino, waking up from his sleep, stands up from the cushioned greeny pastel array of seats onto his feet.

He embraces the cold surface, which sends a shiver down his spine. On the other hand, he spots a familiar face walking towards him, that blonde hair swaying gently towards the approaching figure, her movements being purposeful and determined.

"Welcome back to your favourite place. Now we're leaving it." Her mouth curled up; the mere thought of leaving this place was something worth excitement.

"Where to?" His suspicion was warranted after knowing the dangers outside of this HQ.

"You have a friend at the underground city of Shilo, if you remember?" The suggestive tone instantly made it hard to reject the claims; he got concerned with the extensive knowledge.

Hino scoffs, "Suppose so. Is that your next errand for me?" He shrugs off the disappointment of not getting the chance to go worm hunting.

"This errand is a duo effort; we have some unfavourable relationships, after all, which need fixing."

With her words being said and done with, Lucy starts to walk out of the room towards the SUV. Hino, without having much time to prepare, immediately gets his arrows and bow, making sure he also has his flashlight ready in his trench coat; the garage staleness greets him like the morning sun.

'The atmosphere here is just as bad as the laboratory from before. I can't handle this stupid staleness drying up everything.' His body freezes from the sudden noise of the exhaust from the SUV.

"Get in already, damn you. You sure have a lot to stand around for!" She swerves the car instantly towards the secret entrance, which opens on her command. Hino, rushing over, opens the door to the car and hops in instantly, closing the door.

engines roar, and the beast reawakens. The SUV lunges towards the ceiling until it opens up in almost an instant, letting in a surge of sunlight into the SUV, giving a subtle warm embrace. The fresh air enters the SUV, finally relieving Hino from his misery.

The metropolis remains destroyed; the corruption of people and the ruins of what is left haunt the both of them to this day. The city they used to remember as a sign of humanity's hope became a playground for a rampant mechanical monstrosity to devour humans into its army.

Lucy drives the car out of the city into the great metal sheet. The area was stagnant without any corrupted or humans alike; nobody would dare to stay out here to waste their time after all; there's nothing worth staying for.

Despite the SUV's well-endowed parts, it was also getting sick of the metal sheet, the immense reflecting heat causing the engine to heat up rapidly, and the wheels would be melting at any time soon. Luckily, they started to drive to the industrial estate where they originally met, despite not seeing each other.

"We're close, the tunnel is." His voice cuts short.

"Yes, the tunnel where your train crashed – well aware of where you broke in from." The SUV turns past the industrial estate, noticing the small amounts of the corrupt in there; despite how far the estate was, it seemed to prove no use in the face of a devourer.

The SUV makes a jump down the ledge where the tunnel lies; the train tracks cause the SUV to spiral out of control slightly and hit a concrete wall, causing a slight amount of smoke to come out.

"You are a reckless driver." Hino gives a slight glare towards Lucy; he wasn't, to say the least, impressed with the crazy driving skills she displayed.

Both of them step out of the SUV, letting the metal tracks touch them, giving a slight coldness in the overwhelming heat; the huge metal tunnel leading deep into the sewage system stares them down. After promising himself to not come back, he has returned.

'Jumper should be able to help me somewhat despite his trash reputation.' Hino walks into the tunnel, taking out the flashlight due to the fast darkening of the sewage pipe. He shines it forwards, instantly seeing a dead body further ahead with a truck nearby full of supplies.

"It's the town's supply system; it seems rather... inflated." The condescending comment sparked a tiny flame within Lucy, but knowing her maturity level and also her position and duty, she decides not to comment.

Further ahead they travel towards the underground city of Shilo, Hino leading Lucy as he knew the way from before; there was definitely no way to be lost. The only other occasion they encounter is the sight of blood randomly scattered on a wall or the floor.

"Should be right here." He finds a huge pipe leading to a bigger chamber with its usual bars preventing any vehicles from entering at all. He looks out, seeing that city lights were indeed from afar.

Lucy, on the other hand, looks up, noticing the camera she installed with the defence agency was here indeed, confirming her suspicion.

"There should be an old man coming to us soon." Hino starts to walk down the wooden platform, waiting near the edge, hoping for anyone to come see him. The difference was that even after a couple of minutes of standing around, it seemed no one was coming at all.

Lucy gives a slight confused look towards Hino, who also gives one back to her, both of them rather unsatisfied. "There is nothing happening; this isn't like before. Do you think they got taken, hm?" Hino looks back towards the city, confirming once again

"Maybe the worms took over them before we got in time, hence all the corruption over there and no one coming."

Lucy, pulling out a gun, decides to fire towards the city, signalling their arrival.

"You shot at our only hope; you have no negotiation skills, it seems," Hino sighs.

A sudden footstep is heard behind them as they look back towards the sewage tunnel, seeing that the dead corpse from before has risen from the dead, its body limping over just like a corrupted person would be.

"Wow, what a stray." Lucy immediately gets her gun towards the corrupted before Hino decides to get his bow out and prepare an arrow to support her; they weren't sure if this would kill it; the best idea was that it was

The corrupted started sprinting towards them, ready to let them join them for eternal corruption once more, like the rest of them.

. . .

Her lens widens instantly, the mechanics jolting from the sudden reawakening of K4. Her body was clearly being worked at at this stage with the various wires sticking out and machinery that was attached to her; the scientists try to calm themselves down while K4 looks at each one of them, taking in their form.

'Two males and a female engineer, it seems; they are quite young and basically masters already. Their skills are definitely what I need currently.' She tries to move, but the mechanics move in to hold her gently down; their touch was warm from the amount of hot machinery around the room.

"Don't move yet," the male mechanic speaks out, trying to ease her back down. Despite feeling no pain, it must be a fragile situation from their reactions.

K4 turns to him instantly without even thanking him, "Where are they?" The implication was too obvious even for a mechanic stuck in the room the whole day.

"They left for the underground to gather some sort of resistance against the worms which took over."

"Worms?"

The mechanic forgot that K4 was already gone before the incident. "These new creatures that took over dead people, they use them as sources of energy, we assume, and to spread more. Only the people in this base remain."

"Are we somewhere new?"

"Yes, the hidden HQ where around seven people remain. Now let us continue our work." The mechanics get back to fixing her. The titanium alloy was weaker than her old body but definitely a worthwhile piece of metal for her.

'This got dire after all; I will figure this out anyway. At this point, Pandium is more useful.' She relaxes and enters back into her mindspace, seeking the comfort of peace.

[Welcome back, K4.]