The room is wide. Expansive, definitely. The tiles are of a dark color and the walls are painted dark blue with some decals on them.

At one end of this room is Mikael, dressed only in a pair of Gi pants. On his back reveals a large, crest-like tattoo. His hair is tied up in a ponytail and he is barefoot, assuming a martial stance.

At the other end is his elder sister, Ramiel. She as well is dressed in a pair of Gi pants, but is wearing a sports bra on her chest to cover her breasts. Her usually hidden tattoos are visible.

Both take a deep breath.

Rapidly, they lunge at each other, exchanging punches and kicks, which both parties block equally. They try again to hit each other, but both of them dodge on each occasion. Mikael, making a move to try and outsmart his sister, activates his ability and turns his body into a floating mass of darkness for a short period of time - a couple of seconds - but it doesn't work, as Ramiel simply uses a high knee raise to target the mass exactly where his face is. She is accurate, and the mass disappears, leaving Mikael up in the air, as she kicks him to the ground across from her.

"I win, again." Ramiel says, taking a breath.

"I can't even contest this one." Mikael says, sitting up on the ground and wiping the blood from his nose.

Ramiel walks up to him and sits down next to him. "What's happening to ya? You lasted longer the last time we sparred."

"I've..."Mikael stutters. "I've got things on my mind."

"Chica's giving you a hard time..." Ramiel says. "Why didn't you say so?"

"Yes-Wait, No!" Mikael protests. "No, it's not Chica."

Ramiel gives him a coy smile. "Then what is it?"

"There's this person who attacked us while we were at the Hold..." Mikael starts explaining. "She had these amber eyes and she seemed to know about the Alpha Virus."

"Isn't that good news? You've found someone else with your problem." Ramiel says.

"It would be...If Gabriel had waited for me to get a name out of her..." He retorts.

"Ah, so you're worried you might not be able to find out anything if this girl goes into hiding?"

"Isn't that what the Enclave does best? Hide? How do I get any useful information from her if I can't find her?" Mikael complains.

Ramiel sighs. "What makes you think she'll give you the information you need anyway?"

Mikael pauses and stops to think.

"The Enclave are our enemy." Ramiel starts. "They know this and they don't bother to toe the line. Why do you think you'll be worth her abandoning her own allies? Because you are suffering the same fate? Losing your humanity every time you choose to fight? News flash, Mikael, The Enclave don't care about humanity. Chances are, she even enjoys her predicament more than she hates it. It's all the same with them..."

Mikael looks away from her. "Well, what can I do to solve my problem?"

"You have three options..." She says. "One - You can cross the Border Ethereal and get your answers from the Preternatural itself, though you'd have to be way stronger than me to survive without getting captured like the *last* time."

"That one's out for now, any other options?" Mikael says.

"Two - You can find a World-Eater class Fallen and press it for information on the Hand or Three - Find a higher-up amongst the Enclave and press *them* for info on the Hand or the Alpha Virus."

Mikael stares at her blankly.

"None of those options are even remotely readily available." He complains. "Where would I find a World-Eater and why would I go looking to press them for information?"

"You complain a lot, you know that, right?" Ramiel adds. "How do you intend on getting back at them if you don't get stronger to do so?"

"I will get stronger...I am a lot stronger than two years ago when this all started..." Mikael claims.

"Mikey-baby, all those options bleed into one another...if you get through the third, there's nothing preventing you from getting the second, and if you can go through the second option, you can definitely get through the first."

Mikael's doubts continue to press on. "What are the odds that I survive if I get through the border right now? I can use my Ignition now, I've tricked out my Kill Radius and I've got two Soul pacts."

"That you were allegedly born with, Mikey." She complains. "You had them the last time you were there, remember? You're not getting far if you enter the Preternatural the way you are now."

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Mikael gets up and picks up a towel. "Well, I don't have any ideas, Rami."

"Well, you've got to pick a path and stick to it...your humanity depends on-" Ramiel says but is cut short by Mikael.

"I'm not risking death to protect my humanity, Rami." Mikael says and walks away, leaving his elder sister sitting down and staring at the wall.

I was a bit too blunt there... She thinks to herself. Fuck, Ramiel. This is your brother we're talking about...you have to be more sensitive.

Mikael returns to his girlfriend's apartment, and as he unlocks the door, Chica is walking right past the entrance into the kitchen. He walks into the living room, and takes a seat on the sofa.

"Anything the matter?" She asks.

"I'm just a bit frustrated is all." He replies.

She starts washing the dishes. "Things didn't go over well with Rami?"

"No, it isn't her. I just feel kind of...stuck, I guess." He starts. "I'm not making any progress to actually getting any information on this virus thing, and I really don't know how much time I have left."

Chica leaves the dishes and walks over to him to give him a hug. "We'll find something. There's a big break coming for you, I know it."

Mikael embraces her as well.

The Next Morning

Colt Country, Southwest Bayside.

Mikael and Marvin walk down the streets under the bright skies of Colt Country. Mikael is wearing only a striped red T-shirt and a pair of jeans along with a pair of dark red shoes, whereas Marvin is wearing a black leather jacket, with a white shirt, and black trousers with a pair of black boots.

"Remind me again why it took you three days to contact me? And why we are in Colt Country?" Marvin asks.

"Well...Marvin..." Mikael starts in a taunting voice. "You'll find out soon enough."

They enter a junkyard and Mikael leads Marvin to a dilapidated building at the north end of the yard.

"This is getting weird, Chen." Marvin remarks.

"Calm your tits, Marvin. There's nothing weird here." Mikael replies.

They arrive at an elevator within the dilapidated building. Mikael clicks on the elevator and specifies the floor, and they both get in the elevator.

"Does this thing even work?" Marvin asks.

"Only one way to find out." Mikael says, as the elevator rapidly drops down multiple levels underground, before arriving at the floor Mikael had set. Mikael walks out of the elevator regularly, but Marvin walks out, holding his mouth.

The floor resembles that of a basement parking lot with its ample space, but it is poorly lit, and only the elevator and the door in front of Mikael have lights hovering above them.

"Better swallow it" Mikael says. "Cassy doesn't like it when the house is dirty."

Marvin throws up anyway. He turns to Mikael, after cleaning his lips and taking a second to catch his breath. "Who's Cassy?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Mikael replies, clicking on a digital tablet integrated into the wall. The phone makes a beeping sound, before a voice escapes from the device.

"Who's there?" the voice is that of a young woman.

"Howdy do, Cassy?" Mikael replies immediately. "Mind letting me in?"

"Ugh, what is he doing here?" Another voice, a male one this time, comes from inside.

"Give me a sec, Mikey." She says.

A few seconds later, the door opens to reveal a young woman, somewhere around his age. She is short, with bright orange hair and freckles. She is wearing a crop-top vest with a pair of denim shorts. She is not wearing shoes.

"You need another refill?" She asks.

"There's that, but I also want to talk to you and Matty about something too. Also..." He stops and motions to Marvin.

"Who's the regular human, and how'd he get past the veil we set up outside?" She asks.

"There's a veil outside?" Marvin asks.

"He's a half-breed. He can see *and* move through veils." Mikael explains. "He's also my new investigation partner."

She looks at Marvin and walks over to him. "I'm Cassandra. I'm an auto body engineer, I've also known Mikael for a pretty long time. You are?"

"Marvin. Paranormal investigator." He replies and stretches out his hand to shake her.

She shakes his hand and pulls him closer. "Clean that up. There's a closet not too far from here. When you're done, join us inside." She whispers, referring to the puddle of vomit next to him.

She turns around and waltzes indoors, Mikael following behind. He turns around to face Marvin. "Told ya."