In the training grounds of the Enlightenment Program's complex, the rest of the soldiers congregated. In front of the soldiers were their instructors, Altius and Trixie.

Trixie no longer possessed the star-eyed pupils nor the purple, glittering robe in her fight against Amelia. Those features likely wore off over time. She returned to her usual jester suit.

Altius, on the other hand, had bandages wrapped around multiple areas of his body. Despite his injuries, he still showed up to speak with his soldiers.

"Tsk, where the hell are Ariel, Ivory, and Baran?" Altius questioned with an annoyed expression.

Sariel, who was also there, began to sweat as she heard Altius.

Uh oh...

"I think they're visiting their friends in the hospital," Trixie assumed.

"Tch, they're missing this on the day I was gonna commend them," Altius said. "If they use that as an excuse, they better be prepared for the consequences--"

"W-We're here!" The voice of Amber was audible as she came running up along with her friends. Just like Altius, Amber and Iaden showed up despite their injuries.

"What the...you two are already up and moving!?" Altius questioned.

"Yup! Don't worry about it!" Amber assured.

"Whatever, just get your asses among your peers."

They obeyed and adjusted themselves in the formation of their comrades.

Immediately after, Altius took a moment to scan all the soldiers present.

"Sigh, I never thought the day would come where I'm giving you guys commendation for your work," Altius said. "But you guys are far different from the maggots I saw on the first day."

The expressions of the soldiers lit up after hearing that. It made it sweeter their usual cold and harsh instructor, Altius, said that.

"Tsk, you guys may have shown results in training and hands-on missions, even faster than previous groups of this program, but don't let that get to your head," Altius advised upon seeing their bright faces. "I just consider you as proper soldiers. You all still have a lot to learn."

"I'm also glad that you guys are showing improvements!" Trixie chimed in. "Because I'll get to play harder tricks without worrying you guys may die!"

All joy left everyone's (except Amber's) faces and was replaced with cringeworthy upon hearing Trixie.

"Hehe, you may be upset now, but you'll love the tricks later!"

"Anyways, in recognition of your improvements and since some of us got injured from the mafia subjugation mission, I'll give you a day off today," Altius stated, which surprised everyone. "Yeah, you should be shocked. This won't be happening a lot."

Due to his injured state, Altius limped his way to the exit of the training grounds. He was followed by Trixie, who waved goodbye to the group.

"Remember, don't let yourselves become complacent after hearing this recognition," Altius stated as he glanced back at them.

With that said, the instructors left them to leisure.

Happy with the day of relaxation they received, the group began chatting with their peers.

"Yeah, it's just as Sergeant Altius said. We can't be complacent," Sariel said to Ariel while Amber was happily conversing with Aiden, Baran, and Ivory. "We gotta catch up to Amber and Aiden so they don't have to do these things alone and get injured."

"...Yeah," Ariel agreed in a low tone. "I was thinking the same thing."

"Maybe we can use today to train--"

Sariel was interrupted by Amber, who quickly approached them.

"Hey guys! Since today is a day off, why don't we all hang out!?" Amber suggested with an excited smile.

"Hang out?"

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* * *

For the first time in a long while, the friend group, especially Amber, was able to experience a normal, fun day. They made use of that day by going to an amusement park.

The ones present were Amber, Ariel, Sariel, Aiden, Baran, Ivory, and strangely, Kreuger.

"...Why am I even here?" Kreuger questioned with an annoyed expression. I don't even care about most of these guys...

"Oh, c'mon! You're also my friend!" Amber stated. "Of course, I'd invite you too."

In response, Kreuger sighed. Meanwhile, Aiden turned his head away in jealousy, which Sariel noticed.

"Anyways, let's go in, guys!" Amber said. "We'll try as many rides as possible!"

She quickly skipped inside and was followed by everyone.

"She's excited for this, huh?" Sariel said.

"Hehe, yeah. I guess this isn't too bad occasionally," Ariel stated.

Seeing the wide range of rides, Amber became even more excited, which even infected the rest of the group.

Ha, I remember coming here with my family... Amber reminisced as a slight tear came to her eye. She quickly wiped it away before the group could notice. No, let's not get sad, Amber. It's a fun day today!

Although Amber and the group thought it would be fun, their excitement slowly diminished as they took part in the rides.

The roller coaster, which moves at fast speeds and through loops, was the first one they chose. While most people were screaming and desperately begging for it to stop, Amber and her friends had rather bland expressions on the ride. They felt no rush or onset of adrenaline from the ride.

Wait, something is wrong.

The next was the pendulum ride. As the gondola was swinging back and forth, this induced screams in the riders and peaked when swung 360 degrees and hung in the air for a moment. This induced adrenaline and panic in most, except for Amber and her friends, who still had bland expressions.

Something's wrong. Amber kept thinking.

A haunted house, which frightened most by people dressing up as well-designed zombies, ghosts, skeletons, and slasher killers popping up, still invoked no reaction in the soldier friend group.

No matter what ride or attraction they tried, not one brought out the slightest reaction in them.

Eventually having enough of the rides, they settled for a meal offered by the park.

"Heh, it seems the best part of this day was the food," Baran mocked as they were eating hotdogs and fries.

"We're blessed with powers. Naturally, these rides wouldn't have been enough for us, Ivory said.

"Sigh, I forgot about that, Amber said with a downtrodden expression.

"Hey, it wasn't all for naught," Ariel said optimistically. "This is still a good memory!"

"Good memory...that's it!" Amber stated that an idea clicked like a lightbulb in her mind. She immediately raced for her phone and took it out.

"Let's take a picture! All of us together!"

"Tch, why should I take a picture with you guys...?" Baran questioned.

"Ah, shut it. I'm fine with it, and I'm my arm's in a cast and got a bandaged eye!" Aiden said.

"Yeah, me too. Makes you wonder how we got on the rides in the first place with these injuries," Amber said. "Whatever, let's just take it. Get in the frame, guys!"

Amber aimed the phone for a selfie, and everyone (albeit some reluctantly) huddled together to get in the phone camera's range.

The phone camera's shutter was audible as Amber took a picture of the bright smiles of Amber, Ariel, and Aiden, the closed-mouth smiles of Ivory and Sariel, and the bland faces of Kreuger and Baran.

"...Couldn't you guys have at least smiled a little?" Ivory stated as they observed the photo.

"It's fine...it's perfect like this," Amber stated. I'll never delete this...

That picture was significant to Amber. She never thought she could have people she could smile with ever since Jack's attack on her family. Little did she know, this day...was the calm before a great and terrible storm.

* * *

As nightfall overshadowed the streets of England, its civilians began their usual locking up of doors and windows.

That would be routine by most, but one grossly unlucky couple heard a knock on their door after closing theirs.

"Hmm, who is it at this time of the hour?" The woman asked.

"I'm not sure...I'll go check," The man decided before approaching the door. After opening it, the one person no normal civilian would want to see was waiting on the other side - Jack the Ripper.

"Hello, mate!"

"Wha--"

SPLAT!

Jack painted the walls and furniture red with the blood of the couple. They died without even getting a word in.

"Jack, I thought you we agreed on coming to England the next day," The developer said as he approached Jack, who was staring at the dismembered corpses with a sadistic smile.

"You told me to let loose, and because of that, I couldn't wait any longer," Jack responded. "Besides, the sooner we complete this 'mission,' the better."

"Heh, I wasn't annoyed that you came here earlier. I also have my reasons for coming, as you know," The developer said. "Do what you must, my game character. I'll be tagging along closely."

* * *

Around the same time, Chief Barry, who was doing late-night paperwork, received a call. It was from the 'current' US president, Ada Foster.

"Hello, Mr. Barry," Ada greeted on the other side of the phone. "My apologies for calling so late."

"President Ada?" Barry responded with surprise. "It's not a problem. What can I do for you?"

"First, I should commend you on your success in the mafia's subjugation," Ada began. "Unfortunately, they couldn't be helpful, but you made the right decision."

"Thank you."

"Now, for the reason I called you. Now that you've dealt with the mafia, you can focus all your forces on the main threat," Ada stated.

"Do you mean...?"

"Yes, it's time we tackle this problem for the benefit of both our countries," Ada declared. "I will be coming to your country so we can plan how to eliminate Jack the Ripper."

"I understand. We'll begin preparations immediately."