Marcus looked up at the woman. He had been nearly asleep when Akatsuya had barged into the room and brought him out to meet their new guest. He wasn't exactly keen on meeting the mysterious stranger face to face on their home turf, but he had little choice.

The datapad she had handed over backed up everything she was saying. He glossed down over the details once again.

Her name was indeed Lyria. Lyria Westmire, as a matter of fact. The datapad showed she had once been an employee of Helix, a network engineer for their communication infrastructure. Her reason for leaving? When she had discovered Helix's intentions, she had begun making a record of every questionable aspect of the company. 

In turn, this soon attracted attention from the officials overseeing all the work being done. Fearing the worst would befall her, she packed her bags and ran. After reviewing the files, she had discovered a file with the subject of "Omega Evolution Specimen." In the file, details about a young girl who had been born from two Alphas had greatly caught the attention of Helix. It showed there had been attempts to capture her, but she had eluded them with the assistance of her parents, one whom had fallen to provide an escape.

While there were many other dark secrets stored within, this had grabbed Lyria's attention the most. It became clear to Marcus how she had known Maple's name, but it still didn't explain how she had been able to track them down.

"Granted that what you're showing me is the truth, it still doesn't explain how you were able to find us." Marcus still held a defensive tone with the woman. How did he know that she wasn't just using a coverup?

"Oh, I'm sorry but a girl can't reveal all her secrets now can she?" She was obviously teasing them, unclear if she was truly willing to reveal more. "If you'd like a hint, I'll say you have a bit of a rodent problem around here."

A mouse came scattering down her leg and out from under her cloak at this statement. It paused in place just in front of her foot, and she reached down clasping it in her hand. She pressed down on the back of it's head, and the top half suddenly clicked, opening up to reveal a wide range of circuitry underneath. It was definitely the mouse Maple had seen crawling out of the darkness before.

"So what you're trying to show us is that you're a sort of spy? That's going to make us believe you alot easier." The sarcasm was evident in Marcus' words. Despite what she said, there was no way for her to clear the suspicion behind her actions.

"Oh dear, I wouldn't necessarily say I'm a spy. I'm just handy in the stealth field. Besides, I didn't come here to make you believe me. I came here to seek your assistance." Marcus raised an eyebrow at her proposal.

"You? What would you want our help for?"

"If I recall, aren't you a group of Alphas looking to revolt against Helix? Seems like that would be pretty difficult to do with a ragtag group like yours."

"If you're trying to mock us, I'd suggest you refrain. We've accomplished enough on our own." Marcus felt his temper flare a little, scrunching his face in the process.

"Oh, so being a small inconvenience to a global organization is accomplishing something? Then by all means, I apologize."

Marcus had had enough of her condescendence. He slammed his hands down on the table and rose in frustration, "Now listen here damnit. We have made a change that matters. If we weren't here then these people would starve and die."

Lyria returned the aggression in full, "Because that's going to matter in the end? That's going to make some great change that the world will notice? Why do you want to waste your time here?"

Marcus tossed the datapad back to her, giving a slight hmph as it landed in her arms, "Say what you've got to say and then leave. If you're not with them, you'll stay away. If you are with them, we'll make sure you'll be one of the first we cut down when the time arrives."

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

"Fine, you don't have to believe me. What I'm here to offer is an opportunity. You're not the only organization out there you know. I work for one as well. What I'm here for is to ask you to join us. With our combined strength, we may be able to amass a large enough force to actually be a threat to Helix."

Marcus thought about her statement. He knew they couldn't protect these people forever, but he hoped that when the attack came, they would be able to escape and let Generation be a martyr to the call to arms. He had hoped it would unite Alphas and humans, bringing them together to fight Helix. 

"You say you work for an organization? Why aren't they here with you then?"

The doubts Marcus had were only fair. She had only been seen by herself, and had no apparent company when she had stepped into the Underground. Lyria focused on how to address the question, "You think I would bring my entire team on something that could've turned out to be a wild goose chase? Like I said, I'm fluent in the stealth field. We felt confident enough that I could handle this on my own."

Maple stood by and watched the discussion going on between her father and Lyria. The other members were standing by as well. She was unsure if they all felt the way Marcus felt, but it was clear none of them trusted Lyria that much. They had too much to lose to lower their guard now.

Maple felt it was appropriate to speak up, "Dad, what if she is telling the truth? What if there is another group out there like hers? What if we aren't the only ones to actually stand against Helix?" Maple felt strange listening to herself speak. She didn't like Lyria at all, but the hope her offer provided seemed better than waiting for death to come strolling in their front door.

Marcus turned his attention to his daughter, "And what if she's simply trying to fool us? What if we follow her plan? It means we leave here, and then what would the people do? We can't just abandon them."

"Why, we take them with us of course. Surely you didn't think I would expect you to leave them behind?" Lyria seemed generally surprsied at Marcus' assumptions.

"And how are we supposed to take them with us? They can't move like we can, and we have no way of transporting them." Marcus raised a point. Alphas were capable of much longer distances of travel at much quicker paces. With the forces that were going to be bearing down on them, it was doubtful that they would be able to run. He had not even considered the idea of fleeing.

"I'm glad you asked." Lyria was bearing a smile on her face. She was defnitely hiding something from the group.

She looked down to the datapad that had been flung back to her, and after swiping around on it for a few moments, she slid it back across the table to Marcus.

"On the pad before you, you will see my solution. For an organization like mine, moving people around is no issue."

Shown on the datapad's screen was a long trainlike vehicle. It was covered in white steel plates, with a black glossing filled in between. At the head, it came to sharp point, like an arrowhead and had a large red ballistic glass covering what Marcus assumed was the operators room.

"What exactly am I looking at here?" Everybody else seemed as curious as Marcus was.

"That is a battle class Rapid Transport Hover Vehicle, or RTHV for short. Capable of sustained weapons fire and high speed movement across any terrain, it should be more than enough to carry all the people here as well the members of Generation.

"How exactly do you even have one of these? Something like this would've been destroyed by Helix back when the arms requesition was put into effect."

"Well, they can only take things by force. Hard to take stuff from someone when they have just as much force to keep it." Lyria let out a smile that almost made Marcus want to chuckle. If she was telling the truth, this might actually be a way for them to escape their impending doom, even if the refugees might not all be on board with the idea.

"If we agree to this, when could your, let's see, RTHV as you called it, get here exactly?" Maple felt her heart race. Was her father actually going to go along with it? While she wasn't exactly as thrilled as he was about a way to save the refugees, she knew it would be the right action. The breadth of possibilities began to open up before her mind.

"Give it about two days, at least by the time I can get a call out without drawing attention. So I guess this means you're actually going to trust me?" Lyria had a bit of spark in her eye. Marcus felt that she wasn't telling them everything they needed to know, but what choice did he have? They could make a last stand, or live to fight another day. They didn't have many options.

"I guess we will. Besides, as much as I want to cut down as many of their goons as possible, I'd much prefer taking a shot at the entire corporation." Marcus looked around him at the ones who had joined with him to fight. Briggs, Germaine, Amanda, Akatsuya, and Maple, all nodded their heads in approval. He knew they probably had as many misgivings about the idea as he did, but they were willing to take that chance...