Shori looks down at her hands in confusion. “I see you’re making good use of your LOCKER enhancements,” Riashi says.

“LOCKER enhancements?” Shori questions.

“Correct. Perks for saving the universe, I guess. I found this on the train.” Riashi holds up a folder with documents explaining their new gifts. “Apparently, our powers unlocked on our 14th birthdays.”

The pair make their way back towards the subway car that has reappeared in the distance. The Infinity Subway dashes back to them, presumably to pick them up. It comes to a halt, opening its doors.

A voice is audible from inside the subway car, which turns out to be Adaer. “Congratulations!” She yelled, “You all have reduced The Lost population and learned about your abilities. Now, quickly get onto the train.” Adaer states.

“I’m glad to see her, but is it just me, or does she seem to be hiding something?“ Shori asks.

“Obviously.” Riashi walks away from Shori and hops onto the subway. “C’mon, Shori.” He says.

Shori, exhausted, follows him, not saying a word. They sit down as the doors close. Adaer stands in front of them. “That was but the first part of your mission; we need to speed things u-- a r g h !”

“Adaer!” Shori yells. “Don’t worry, I’m fine,” she says, “your next destination is… is… I mean, it’s…”

“What is it!?” Shori asks worriedly.

“That’s not supposed to be our destination!” Adaer says, staring directly at the digital sign on the wall. It read, “DESTINATION: KIRA’S LABORATORY.”

“Kira’s Laboratory…” Riashi says, putting his hand on his head. “I feel like… I’ve heard that name before… Kira.”

Adaer shakes her head and looks visibly disturbed, “Your next destination is Kira’s Laboratory. Please be careful. Good luck.” She says as she begins to disappear.

The subway immediately comes to a halt, almost flinging them into the windows again. Shori, surprisingly, doesn’t say a word. “I have a feeling this will be our final destination,” Riashi says.

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“What do you mean by that?” Shori asks. She, of course, doesn’t receive a response as Riashi exits the subway. “Huh,” Shori says as she leaves as well. The second they leave, the Infinity Subway, rather than speeding off, disappears. “That’s new…” Shori says, looking a bit anxious.

“Come on,” says Riashi, looking in her direction, “We’re not here to stand around.” Shori nods as they begin to observe their surroundings. The whole structure of the laboratory they were in was surreal, with weird inscriptions patterned across the walls. Countless test tubes filled with colored liquids surrounded them, with nothing else inside. They were cracked open, but no liquid seemed to fall out. Is it even liquid?

“Hey, Riashi, look at this,” Shori says, near one of the walls. Riashi quickly comes over. These say, “One can only be evil in someone else’s mind; all ideas are logical and within reason, just not in everyone’s eyes; No permission. No remorse.” Strange, Shori thought. The wall was filled with ramblings like this. As she pondered what they might mean, Riashi called out!

“Behind you,” Riashi says, while LOCKED ON with his two glowing dark blue guns.

Shori quickly turned, only to be met with a horde of The Lost. “Crap, an ambush!” She yelled in a panic. Harmoniously, they both LOCKED ON to The Lost, shooting their way to survival, but suddenly The Lost stopped advancing and started to chant the five words. “Kira… torture… us… cannot… trust…”

As their chanting continued, Riashi started to experience flashes of a beautiful woman with golden eyes and a coily puff of hair tickling and hugging a younger him and a smaller girl with big, brown eyes. “Moth…!” The flashes race through his mind, as his memory starts to return with each word. Confused, nothing makes sense.

Both Riashi and Shori make a hasty escape and call out for Adaer. They run out of the lab and approach the subway platform. Soon, the Infinity Subway materializes before them and opens its doors. They ran onto it quickly, not daring to look back. The Lost pounded at the windows and attempted to get on. However, the doors closed promptly, and the subway disappeared. “That was close,” Adaer says, “had you all not called when you did, you might be… dead!” Adaer sat down on the seat across from them. She looked around fearfully as if knowing something was about to happen. “I’m… sorry I brought you all into this and didn’t tell you sooner…” She mumbles, “All this time, they’ve been searching for… me.”

“Why!?” Riashi asks.

“The Lost… I created them. I took people who stepped on this subway and turned them into the creatures you saw before you. They were my creations. No permission. No remorse.”

“None of this makes any sense! Why would you do that? Why would you bring us here? Do you want to hurt us, too?” Riashi asked with a pained expression.

“Of course not! When your enhancements activated, the three of us synced or LOCKED ON, if you will. This enabled me to find you both after years of searching. I’m so sorry I lied. This was the only way for me to see you two again.”

“Again?” Shori asks.

“Don’t you understand? My name is Dr. Kira Adaer. You two were my original creations, my babies, and you were taken from me long ago.”

THE END