He did not want to assume ill will of another person, or even rescind their humanity of his own speculation, not a person he knew, and especially not in the predicament they were in, but Bob retreated alongside Cali.

He couldn't help but exercise his gut feeling, he wasn't the same, Jack, and he couldn't bring himself to trust his sensors, especially not after they had broken once before, and who's to say they were fixed.

It took no time for them to realize the situation that they were in still, even as tired and bewildered as they were.

And so, from behind his person, Bob heard a quick and smooth mechanical click, open and eject, the stone floor seeming to break behind him.

He knew what it was, and he wouldn't hesitate to help her. They had May, and while they were fine with dying, and to some degree had made peace with it, if she died, August would traverse hell to find them.

So, knowing this fact, perhaps they only lived that long because of their altruistic motivations, and so, maybe they'd live a little longer.

The man stopped his approach, lifting his hands in compliance, maybe they were a bit too brash, but they had the right spirit.

"Woah…!" He backed away, feigning cowardice. "I only wanted to get closer seeing as it's so dark…" He lowered his hands, awaiting a response.

"Oh… haha… w-we might be a little on edge… it's been quite t-the interesting day after all…ha…" Bob sought a resolution, one without violence.

"Right… so tell me what happened…?" He'd begin moving around the place as if he had been continuing his work.

"W-well… from what I observed, a s-surge of energy passed over the i-island when a set of strange m-masses caused explosions e-everywhere… ever s-since then—…" Bob hesitated to finish the absurd sentence he was about to say, but there was more than just his anxiety at play.

The Jack he was talking to— then in motion— unchained one of the half corpses form one of the tables, and hauling it across the floor he opened one of the 'empty' cells.

He would toss the thing inside, and whistling, the sound of a pack of hounds spawned from the room's uneasy silence.

The corpse would then slowly shrink as the sound of clashing teeth echoed, the areas of concern having bite marks the size of heads.

It would disappear in seconds, most of it anyway, the only things being left, hands, a pair of hands, bones and organs.

The things didn't seem to like the boney masses, or spongy innards. Thus, the three survivors had seen the events play out before their eyes, so what were they supposed to do.

Jack didn't close the cell either, he left it open as he went for another body, stopping as Bob had stopped speaking.

"Ever since then— what…?" Jack looked at him, or rather, that's what the direction of the helmet implied.

"What are you doing…?" Cali spoke, her voice stern and her face barely looking in the thing's direction, gut bubbling, mind aflutter.

She had also spoken for the other two that had forgotten language all together. They struggled to even breathe.

"What do you mean…?" He looked at the corpse as he slowly lowered it, and then back at her. "Oh, this… don't mind me… this is just… ahhh-" The creature's experienced knowledge of human 'normalcy' had failed it, and it realized that, everyone did.

It would free the body from its grasp, moist, slimy movements reverberating from within its suit, alongside mumbles, plural.

Cali rested a hand on Bob's shoulder as she resumed her retreat, moving to one of the corners of the room, bringing him along with her.

She'd push him behind her, dropping May's full might on top of him, the both of them collapsing on to each other, hidden in her shadow.

She'd posture herself, standing atop the apex of her toes as if to imitate a ballerina. Then, as the mechanical sounds shot out from her impure legs, a spike did not eject, or rather, there was more than just that.

Her shins would split open with the entirety of the front of her legs, blades the size of her arms emerging. The soles of her feet would follow, from her heel a barbed spike and form the base of her toes, spikes, her nails becoming spikes. A blade lined the center of her sole.

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She had more weapons still, as from the back of her legs, blades like semi concentric circles emerged, curling up towards her hips. Then finally, the blades at her soles fell out, connected to her by chains, the color of her legs shifted to a glossy silver to match her weapons.

To be clear, all of what she had done took place in less than a minute, less than ten seconds even. Thus, even the two with front row seats to her legs missed most of it, especially in the dark, the dark she could no longer see.

She was impure, that much was obvious, but she was careful with her enhancements. As for the reason; the closer they got to the brain, and the more one used them, the higher the likelihood of death by information overload, complications between machine and flesh, and finally, insanity.

Yet, even knowing she had no other choice, she hesitated to use the implants in her eyes, but ultimately, the fear of failure instantaneously triumphed her inaction, and her eyes glowed that beautiful fiery yellow.

Then they streaked off further into the dark, disappearing, and thus, the two frail humans were sat in that dark wet corner, crammed together with the unknown to their faces and silence to their ears.

They hesitated to breathe, as even that seemed too loud for the danger that they had found themselves in.

The cube's light had long yielded to the darkness, concealing them, and so, they were truly blind.

Then, as they sat, grappling for anything, for any sign of Cali, from the veil of darkness, yellow streaks fell and glided through the void, sparks flying as the sound of brandished metal rung.

The miniscule light would help to reveal what she had braved, and the little to be seen was unsettling.

It was big, much bigger than the suit that it had come from, it shed it, like a cocoon. Piles of flesh stitched together by intestines and bones, flaps of flesh and skin donning it like a faux cape. The faces of all who had foolishly become it, scattered about its various slimy flaps and gapping bloody wounds.

All the faces missing their eyes, blood flowing as if infinite, the mouths smiling. It was the stuff nightmares were made of, literally, but thankfully, May was pure, enhanced none more than she needed to be, and so she missed it, Bob didn't.

He'd still cover her eyes though, as he tried his best not to hyperventilate at the sight of the thing, of the people he knew, twisted and mutilated into an enemy.

He was right, and he wished he wasn't, his scales and devices had lied to him, it wasn't Jack, in fact, he didn't know what the thing was. All he knew was that it had Jack, Susan, Elizabeth, Tom, Harris, Harry and Alice, inside of it.

There was more danger than they could see still, well, more danger than May could see. Bob would see it, as the special light his eyes emitted allowed him to see past the shrouded veil of reality.

The 'hounds' that were caged, weren't hounds, to his knowledge anyway, it was one entity, much like its master.

Thus, as the sparks and taps slid across the room at inhuman speeds, a whistle was let out, and Bob would see the birth of a new problem. In a blur, too fast for even his eyes, pants let out as the five headed thing, the height of tall man left the cell, breaking the concrete above the cell's door with its many faces.

It was humanoid, even if falling to scurry on all fours, its color, indistinguishable due to the nature of how it was being seen, but it did have fur, thick fur, and six hands.

It was hard to see, for Bob at least, but Cali had put her enhancements into overdrive. Her eyes charitably spilled her blood as she barely wrapped her pinky around her sanity, the information flowing through her, breaking her mind, and suppressing her consciousness.

She was also breaking her body, her bones creaking and cracking, all of her coming undone at the seams. Yet, she never stopped.

The thing used claws and whips made form spinal cords and sharpened fingers to fight her, all of it turned metallic by some sorcery.

She used the room to its fullest, a swing of the whip missing her as she lunged, shattering a vat of strange liquid in her stead.

She'd perch atop the tables, having to dash back down to the floors once more as a swing of the claws ripped it to bits of scrap.

She'd jump at the thing, bladed leg stretched out. The crack of a whip echoed, they'd clash, the pain reaching her chest. Yet, she used that same force to spin in the air, leaning over the things extended appendage, flipping. And so, using the same cyclical momentum, she brought one of her legs down like an axe, the thing blocking it with its claws.

The chained blade persisted still, and jammed itself into the things blob of a head dotted with eyes, destroying a few in a fountain of rotten blood.

It let out a screech, that of many people, too many people, it stunned Cali for a moment, too loud. She'd fall to the ground, limp. As such, the mutt that had been trying to catch up to Cali would finally get a chance as the blob grabbed hold of her chain and tossed her.

As the dog charged her though, all arms crossed, she detached the chain, and falling to the floor, she spun like a vortex. She kicked it in the legs, no, she was too powerful for that, too sharp, instead, they came flying off as she sliced through them, blood erupting from the severed limbs and getting into one of her eyes, blindness.

She'd continue her spin, her legs going higher, and ending in a handstand, she primed her merciless legs and kicked the thing in the back with both.

It was tough, rock hard really, but she felt something snap under her weight, and even if the kick didn't deal the killing blow, it got worse.

The thing, leg less, was flung by the force, and tossed into the silver coil at break neck speeds. A golden flame erupted as it collided, burning it to its bones, not even a whimper escaping it. All who were present would be pushed further along an iced edge by the occurrence.

The light it caused did brighten the scenery though, for the impure at least, it was even familiar. A shame it didn't last long. It would have been useful, lessening some of the burden on Cali's creaking shoulders and rattling bones.

It was bad enough that she was bleeding from her eyes, but her body didn't seem to think so. Her skin torn and her vessels popped and broken, she'd bleed from everywhere.

She had made it worse too, her hands were pure, and the kick's force was magnitudes more than they could bear, she broke them, and the fight had just begun.