| C2's Opal | 22:29 | xx49.07.30 | [LUS]

Charlotte, they know you are here in this building. Please do whatever you can to escape. I believe that they will not harm me or the others.

The rest of this entry contains information that may be useful but which is non-vital. Do not read further than this line unless you are sure that you are safe.

I don't think that I will be able to check this entry before I send it to you. There may be inaccuracies, but I feel this is better than nothing.

Some time after Harmony took you upstairs, the elevator doors opened. Despite the lack of indication before this happened, Mr Donovan was able to create an aura field in front of the now-open elevator doors before anyone could enter the room.

They did not need to enter.

Inside the elevator was a woman. Her hands were glowing. There was a bright light that filled the room. For several seconds I could not see anything. When the light faded, the room was full of men and women wearing black armour. They came from the elevator.

Charlotte, I am so sorry to tell you this. Mr Donovan is dead. They used light to kill him. Without him, the aura field blocking the elevator disappeared. They were able to enter the room, though Mr Johnston did his best to stop them. When he realised that Mr Donovan was dead ... perhaps you can imagine his anger.

Perhaps 'anger' is not a strong enough word.

He fought alone against dozens of men and women. It was terrible to watch. He made cuts in his arms and from these came blades of his own blood. When those who opposed him were cut, Mr Johnston's blood entered the wounds. They could not control their own bodies. I saw a woman watch her own hand as she brought her gun up. She watched her finger squeeze the trigger. She watched the head of a man nearby explode. She watched his blood surge towards her. I saw a man scream as the cuts on his body exploded outwards in dark red spikes, impaling those around him.

This was not enough.

Mr Johnston killed nine of those who came for us. He wounded a further eleven.

But there were dozens of them. More came from the stairs. I saw Mr Johnston's arm jerk; he had been shot. I saw blood burst from the wound to pierce a woman through her eye. I saw Mr Johnston fall back after being shot again. I saw two men impaled by spikes from the wounds.

I saw a woman walk forward. She did not wear armour. She wore a business suit. She did not carry a weapon. She carried a slim black case. She later identified herself as Netta. She has short black hair and could be considered attractive. Her eyes are brown. She has dark skin and a scar on her left cheek, it is small but noticeable in the right light. Charlotte, this woman is looking for you. I do not know why she wants you. I do not know if she is scientifically promoted. I know that she is dangerous. I know that I do not want her to capture you.

With Netta was a young man wearing a grey hooded sweatshirt and black sweatpants and dirty white sneakers. His face was covered by a featureless white mask and by the hood of his sweatshirt. He was later identified as Cage. Charlotte, if you see him, run. Do not try to fight him. Do not try to talk to him. Do not engage with him in any way. Just run. I am putting my strongest emphasis upon this point.

Mr Johnston was trying to rise, but I could see that he was weak. I could see that he was dying. The woman Netta looked at him. I could not see her face. She said, "Take him." She said, "We don't want any sneaky metabolic tricks." The boy Cage walked forward. He kept his hands in his pockets. I do not know what his scientific promotion might be called, but perhaps you will know, and so I will attempt to describe it in as much detail as I can.

For a short period of time, perhaps a second, I could see what I assume to be either his aura or energy from his aura. It was black and reflected the light in a way that reminded me of oil. From his chest and his right arm and his left hip thick extensions of energy erupted. They could perhaps be called 'tentacles'. They moved swiftly and with great weight. Mr Johnston could not do anything before he was picked up by these extensions. He did not have time to make any kind of noise before he was raised into the air and then smashed down against the floor.

Then he was gone.

I do not know what happened to him. I must assume that he is dead. Although the theory horrifies me, I think that perhaps Cage somehow absorbed Mr Johnston's body into his aura. I believe that he did the same to Mr Donovan's body while Netta spoke. I will attempt to reproduce her words as accurately as possible, but my memory is not perfect. There may be mistakes.

If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen. Please report the violation.

"'Not a major threat', I'm going to bruise that little twerp once we get back. How many down are we already? A dozen? More? And we've barely begun."

She said this as the men and women with her forced me and the others to move to the centre of one of the circular dips in the floor. They surrounded us. They all had guns. This situation continues even now.

When we had been moved to the circular area, Netta continued speaking:

"Now, then. Little Alice, so nice to see you again. You won't remember me, but I certainly remember you. Agitprop is so looking forward to having you back."

Alice did not seem to understand what Netta was talking about. I cannot be certain, but I suspect that she was (and remains) confused and fearful.

Netta looked at all of us. Her gaze stopped on Harmony.

"You're a 'new power', aren't you. Not second generation. And with young Glen and Malon firmly in hand..."

Netta nodded at one of the men guarding us. He shot Harmony three times in the chest. Two others dragged her body away. I do not know where they took her. It is possible that Cage absorbed her as he absorbed Mr Donovan and Mr Johnston.

I had wanted to avoid telling you this, but I am scared, Charlotte. I am so scared—but I do not want you to attempt to rescue me or the others. As I said, I do not believe that our lives are in danger. Please try to escape. Please.

I will continue recounting what has happened. It may be of use to you or to others.

After Harmony's body had been removed, Netta walked among us. None of us moved. I believe that we were all too scared to do anything.

"Next we have clever young Morgan ... who is associated with Envy Death. You'll keep, my love. Here we have Glen and Malon Tresfoil, both looking so scared ... and rightly so. You're Carmen Belnyet, the long-lost daughter of Lightning White, and you're Sonny Lute, the only son of ShyFire ... but you I don't know."

Netta had stopped at Shade. She stroked his cheek. She wears black gloves.

"Who brought YOU?" she asked. Shade replied quickly:

"Tsunami. I'm with her."

"Oh? She always did have a habit of picking up waifs and strays. I suppose we should keep you around, then, in case Brine doesn't do his job."

Then Netta looked at me. She smiled at me.

"You, on the other hand..."

Netta stopped, and looked around, and then she held up both hands.

"Wait. Stop everything. Nobody move. Where is the Powers girl?"

Netta looked at me again.

"You. You're supposed to be close to her, where is she? Tell me now."

"She went with her parents to Galaxy Tower," I said. "She insisted on accompanying them."

"Hm. That would seem to fit her profile. Well, I'm sure the others won't have any trouble dealing with her, and it removes an awkward problem from my hands. Good, good." Netta smiled at me again. "Of course, that means you die."

It was Shade who spoke. I was too stunned and confused to say anything. All he said was 'What?' but at that moment it was enough.

"I have no use for her," Netta said, as she walked away from me. "Her ability lacks flavour and she has little connection to anyone of importance—"

"No, she was lying, Powers is here!"

Netta stopped. She looked back at Shade.

"Oh?" she said. "Is that true? Were you lying?"

I couldn't say anything. I wanted to but I couldn't. Shade spoke for me.

"Yeah, she was! Say you were, Ceet! Say you were lying! Look, yeah, she's still here, in this building. She went down a few floors—Ceet, you just went down with her before these guys showed up, right? That's what happened, say it! Come on, this ain't no time to mess around!"

"I lied, I'm sorry," I said. "I wanted her to escape but it's true. She was down eight floors when I left her."

"She might try to go down further—she'll be torn to pieces by the robots, Wedge, take your squad down and GET Powers."

I'm not sure how many went down. Perhaps a dozen. While they left, Netta walked back towards me.

"Eight floors is awfully specific," she said. "Why so many?"

"She was ... she..."

Netta grabbed my arm and pulled me away from the others. She is stronger than her appearance would suggest. I saw that she was dragging me towards Cage.

"Torment her a little," Netta said, as she pushed me down in front of him. I saw black tentacles come towards me.

"No, you don't gotta do that!" I heard Shade shout. "Powers had some kind of reaction, when Carmen went nuts, tell her, Ceet!"

"Charlotte was feeling sick. I wanted to take her far away from Carmen."

"Yeah, she was REAL sick, like almost puking! Ceet took her down to get her to feel better, right Ceet?"

"Yes, that's correct."

The tentacles were still there, but they were no longer moving towards me. Netta was looking down at me. "And did she? Feel better?"

"I don't know. I ... I left her—"

"Why?"

"We had an argument—"

"Enough, get her back with the others. Don't kill her."

I saw the woman who killed Mr Donovan as two men pulled me up. She was sitting on the other side of the room. I think that she may have been referred to as Lumia. She is wearing a white leather coat over a black top and white leather trousers. Her hair is white and very long. She wears large black sunglasses over her eyes. Her mouth is small. She appears to be exhausted and recovering.

Netta has left us now. I am sending this to you. I sincerely hope that you receive it. I sincerely hope that you have already escaped.

Charlotte, please stay safe. Please don't do anything 'brave'. This is not a time for bravery. We all have to be careful, or we could be killed. Please do whatever you can to escape.

Your well-being is of great importance to me.

Charlotte Crescent (C2)