“That wasn’t supposed to happen!” he cried out.

“Then why did she just die?” I asked.

“I have no idea!” he said. “Uhh… Look I just joined here last week, and I really needed the money for my family.” I noticed when he suggested cutting the wires and tubes, he started with an “Uh”. Maybe that was a tick that showed he was lying.

Also, it’s the classic sob story. I didn’t want to listen to it.

“I don’t care why you joined, I want to know how to save these people,” I said. Hopefully, that stops him from rambling.

“I don’t know,” he began sobbing, which sounded weird since it was so high-pitched.

Well, lying to me wasn’t going to solve anything. I doubt this guy could revive people, so I was just stuck with this failure.

“Please just let me go,” he continued crying.

Sadly, I couldn’t really think of anything else to do with my heroic Corebring face. If I tried to save other people, I’d just get them killed. It’d be pretty funny, but there’s no point in harming other people if they didn’t bother me. I’d rather just leave them be.

Besides, even though Ento looked like a scientist, I had no idea what any of this sci-fi tech would even do. Even if I asked this guy, he’d probably lie to me again just to try and please me.

“Actually, I think I’ll bring you to the Hive,” I said. “Where you’ll be judged for your crimes against humanity.”

“Wait no!” he said. “I’ll do anything. Please! Stop!”

I put him in my apron’s right pocket and he disappeared. Now, there were two sets of essences. One for the creepy scientist, and one for the lying scientist.

At least I didn’t have to hear him for now, he was starting to get annoying with all his whining.

Meanwhile, SpookyErind was wandering the edge of the room, observing some more sci-fi-esque machines on the edges of the walls.

Do you ever wonder what these do? She asked.

Not really, I was more upset at what just happened.

You could relieve some stress after destroying this stuff, she said.

That was actually a pretty decent idea. I couldn’t save anyone so my heroic Corebring face would have to be put on hold. The best thing I could do is in enact Rule #4 right now. And what better way to do that than disrupt the 2M’s operations?

I had Ento walk over to SpookyErind. It really felt like we were in some sort of sci-fi setting. And that was saying something because I’d seen some of the advanced tech Greaves had been working on when Mom took me.

Boxes and boxes of neon tech and wires stood before me.

I wound up my fist for a punch and prepared to break several of the neon-overloaded machines. And I threw a punch.

Crack.

A metal crater appeared where Ento punched, with sparks flying. Sadly there was no explosion. Wait no, an explosion would be bad since I’m right next to it.

How did that feel? SpookyErind asked.

“It felt good,” I said. It was true. Using super strength was so much fun. I could not imagine going back to my weak human body. Over the past couple of weeks, I’ve never felt more alive.

That’s good, she said. Let’s destroy more of this stuff.

Wait, was she trying to coax me into liking my superpowers? Does using my powers accelerate the Adumbrae takeover? I remember our conversation from before that she was trying to get me to not use the 2M’s tech to maintain control over my body. What if I accidentally destroy something here that does that because SpookyErind told me to.

Why is myself quite stupid sometimes? she pouted. SpookyErind walked over to me and leaned down to pinch Ento’s cheeks. It didn’t hurt, but I’d prefer it if she didn’t do that. Why would they have that same tech here where they experiment with people?

“I don’t know,” I honestly said. But that didn’t make me any less suspicious of her.

Okay, answer this, have you lost any control of your body in the past two weeks? She asked.

“Not really, other than my first clone,” I said.

So what proof do you have that I’m going to take over your body? It’s the same amount of control, if not more than you’ve ever had. Especially with Ento.

“Because you’re an Adumbrae,” I said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

So what if I was an Adumbrae? She asked. How do you know I’m taking over your body?

“Because everyone knows that Adumbrae take over people’s bodies,” I replied. Where was she taking this?

Really? And how do they know that? SpookyErind asked as her eyes seemed to glow even more.

Do they check if every Adumbrae is taking over people’s bodies?

“Uh no, because then that would be a risk of them losing control anyway,” I said.

So doesn’t that mean that there could be a chance that some Adumbrae aren’t harmful?

Fuck. I never thought about it that way. Could it be possible that there were some Adumbrae that didn’t try to take over their hosts? Maybe. But it’d be too hard to know. The BID and the Corebrings would never let someone progress that far.

Still, that didn’t change the fact that I had no way to measure SpookyErind’s intentions. Even if it were true that some Adumbrae were friendly, I had no idea if SpookyErind was friendly. I didn’t believe it.

This is so sad that you are so stubborn, she said. She stopped pinching Ento and looked towards the wall. She clicked her tongue. I’ve already shown how much I love and care for you. Don’t worry, I’ll continue to do so, but it makes me so sad that you’re not reciprocating my love.

Whatever. She can mope by the wall all she wants. I was going to destroy more of this base. And collect some more humans to experiment on. Maybe I might even be able to grab some experiments and Adumbrae. That would be interesting to see.

I started walking out the door, but SpookyErind immediately pulled me back. A quick blue bolt passed by where my head was and hit the door instead.

Doors and corners, SpookyErind said. Got to watch out for those.

“Thanks,” I said.

Just taking good care of myself, she beamed. Meyoumeyoumeyou.

Weird chant. I had Ento take out her syringes and prepare to throw them. SpookyErind also focused on summoning her time bubble with her left hand. The golden bubble grew and raced past us. It headed toward where the electroshock bullet came from.

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That was actually pretty useful if I guessed correctly what she did.

I walked outside and turned to the left. There, a trio of guards were frozen inside the golden bubble, which had expanded to engulf all three of them. They were buff men in some kind of light armor, so not just any regular 2M’s. And they also had electroshock weapons aimed at us. It was like some sort of tableau. Except, these weren’t actors.

Wow, Ento might have died if SpookyErind hadn’t saved me.

I just wanted to make sure you were okay, SpookyErind said. I’d be sad if you died right before me.

Ignoring that, I started walking toward the guards. Hmm. I took the ant syringe and threw it on the one on the left. I waited for another ten seconds and then threw the regenerated ant syringe at the middle guard.

Wow, this was a pretty powerful combo. They couldn’t do anything while I threw syringes at them. And I didn’t have to worry about them shooting at me.

After I threw the third syringe, time inside the bubble resumed as normal. The syringes hit each of the guards.

Wait a minute, they could still shoot us from here! I heard the clicks of their handles and prepared to duck to the side, but nothing came out of their guns. Huh. Did they jam?

Did causing them to shrink cause that? I think the same thing happened with Trenchcoat Guy. He tried shooting me twice, but the 2nd time failed because I hit him with the ant syringe. That kinda did make sense. Most insects didn’t really harm me when I was younger. And I was essentially turning them into insects.

Each of them cursed and panicked as I went to pick them up. I had Ento grab the left and middle guard, while SpookyErind grabbed the right one.

I deposited the two I picked up in my apron’s right pocket, and SpookyErind also dropped the human she caught as well. They each vanished, and I could feel each of their essences separately, which was impressive given how small that pocket was. But that’s just superpowers for you.

“How are things going Erind?” Deen asked. “Is everything okay?”

Woah, I nearly forgot about my main body. I hope I didn’t look too weird being tuned out of it. I had been focusing on Ento. And without my main body having anything to do, I just kind of left it there.

“My clones are fine,” I said. “There’s been a few guards they’ve run into, but I’ve taken care of them.”

“Just remember our training with Myra okay?” She said.

“I am,” I said. Hmm, maybe I should do some fun things here with my main body. Even though I couldn’t do anything physical, I could do some mind games.

“Umm so Deen,” I said.

“Yes?”

“There’s a bunch of other hostages they’ve kidnapped,” I said. “They’re lying on stretchers next to those heartbeat monitors. Their arms are connected to these weird machines. Should I try disconnecting them?”

“Yeah, we want to stop their experiments,” Deen said.

I internally smirked.

“Okay,” I said. “I destroyed the wires on - oh no!”

“What is it?” Deen asked.

“The heartbeat monitors are beeping red!” I said. “What should I do?”

“I don’t know!” She panicked.

“I think she’s dead…” I said in a somber tone.

“No…” Deen said sadly. We sat in silence for a while. I stared at her face. Wow, she looks pretty even when sad.

That was pretty fun. Getting Deen to offer me bad advice that just gets one of the civilians killed. And causing her emotional distress. I should do this more.

Of course, I already knew what happens when you disconnect the machines because of the Lying Lab Coat Guy. I wasn’t actually going to disconnect another one - that would bother somebody who hadn’t bothered me. Instead, while I was telling this story, Ento, and SpookyErind were collecting more guards.

“Don’t worry guys,” Johann said, typing on a keyboard to the side of the driving wheel, which was turning on its own. I guess a self-driving van is pretty useful. “I hacked into the traffic system, so hopefully we can get there quicker and stop their experiments ASAP.”

“Good job Johann,” Myra said.

“Yeah, thanks Johann,” Deen said.

And the sadness on Deen’s face was wiped away, replaced with hope and compassion. Such a fascinating turn from her mopey one.

Back at the 2M’s base, I had Ento pick up another guard and put him in her pocket. That was like the 20th guard. Wow, I had a lot.

SpookyErind and Ento entered a large room. There were several doors surrounding the edges. Suddenly, doors on our left and right opened. Fuck. Were we being surrounded?

These just weren’t regular old guards either. One person came out of each side. A guy on the left and a girl on the right.

“Ehh, a highschooler and a kid?” The guy that came out of the left said. His hands ended with long green spikes, which dripped green liquid. He wore an open jacket, but was shirtless, with a green tattoo of some weird star symbol in the middle of his chest.

“You kids are going to get grounded tonight,” the girl said. I was surprised she wasn't wearing a clown outfit for making such a terrible pun. Instead, she was wearing a simple purple dress. Her purple hair matched the style of her dress.

So these were Adumbrae they sent after us? I wouldn’t mind taking them and experimenting on them later. And I’m pretty sure they would be a nice sweet meal as well.

I had Ento throw all three syringes at Acid Guy while SpookyErind’s time bubble-headed towards Purple Girl.

“Ow! He exclaimed. “What the fuck are these?” Wait, did the syringes not work on him?

But he slowly started shrinking, but at a way slower rate than humans did. Was it because of his abilities? Or was it because he was an Adumbrae.

“What the fuck is going on with me?” He panicked. He was still taller than me, but slowly dwindling.

I wasn’t a scientist, but it was time to test a hypothesis. Did the syringes not work as fast on Adumbrae? Or was it just that guy's powers? Wait a minute, that’s a question, not a hypothesis!

All right, I hypothesize that the syringes didn’t work as fast on Acid Guy because of his powers. Let’s test this! 10 seconds had now passed, so I took out the reformed ant syringe and threw it at Purple Girl. She was currently frozen in the time bubble, but SpookyErind let time resume so the syringe could hit her.

“What is this?” she asked. She started slowly dwindling in size, about at the same rate as Acid Guy was. Okay, I guess my hypothesis was wrong. It did turn out my syringes were less effective against Adumbrae. It did kinda make sense since their bodies were stronger. It’s really sad though. Suddenly, Purple Girl’s body started glowing purple.

“I’ll kill you brats!” she yelled. “You are goooing-” Her voice slurred and slowed down. Thankfully, SpookyErind’s time bubble stopped her from doing some villainous monologue about how she was going to kill me. I really did not need to listen to any of that nonsense. Especially since I was the one going to be killing her in the end.

Maybe throw more syringes? SpookyErind suggested. Actually, that sounded like a pretty decent idea.

Here was a chance to redeem myself in the eyes of science. I had a new hypothesis. Multiple doses of the syringe will have more of an effect. Experiment Time!

I took out all three syringes and threw them. As they entered the time bubble, they slowed down, before immediately speeding back up. They injected herself into her body.

“Ow!” she cried and started charging at us, before getting slowed down again. It was very funny. It kind of reminded me of when Mom and I were watching movies on TV. I would continuously press the pause and play button. The characters would just start talking and stop. Sometimes they’d make hilarious expressions. I had to stop that though because Mom would get mad at me. She wanted to enjoy the movies. Sorry Mom, but those movies were kinda boring.

We waited another ten seconds as I launched another set of syringes. Have I mentioned how good of a shot I was? Because these three hit her again. Maybe I should try archery. Actually, this was more of a ninja skill. Where could I get some shurikens to test this?

After time sped back up for the syringes, they hit Purple Girl again.

“Agh! It HURTS!” she got on her knees. She looked kinda tired too. But she started shrinking at the rate the humans did. So in a few seconds, she was the size of a large pill. I had Ento walk over to pick her up. And into my pocket you go! She vanished in an instant, her essence joining the rest in my pocket.

Wow, I just captured my first Adumbrae insect. I wonder if Mom would be proud of me that I was capturing Adumbrae and their humans instead of insects. Sadly, I don’t think she would. I’m pretty sure she found insects to be annoying and killed them. But she didn’t approve of my ‘experimentation’. So I guess it’s just the ‘immoral’ way of killing things that bothered people.

Anyways, that did confirm my hypothesis that multiple sets of syringes worked. Maybe it took three on an Adumbrae to have them be at the same rate as a human? She did seem in pain after two bee shots, but not flailing in pain like the humans.

A whirring sound filled both Ento’s and SpookyErind’s ears. Huh?

The doors on the opposite side of where we came in burst open and a fleet of drones came in. Would my syringes work on them? I wasn’t sure. Hopefully, they could destroy them.

I threw all my syringes at the drones, but they began spreading out. My syringes hit a few of them, piercing their metal frames, and causing them to crash.

Sadly, I still had to wait for 10 more seconds to get new syringes. The room was filled with a hailstorm of bullets. SpookyErind got in front of Ento as the bullets hit her. They barely did any damage to her, just barely nicking her skin. It felt like several tiny insect bites. But more drones were coming in. How many drones do they have? I guess they got tired of sending humans here to die, but this was just outrageous.

And I wasn’t going to be able to destroy all of them.

Suddenly, the time bubble grew to take up the other half of the room. Several of the drones froze up as the time bubble encompassed them, leaving just a few drones that were on our side unaffected. Now, this I could deal with.

I easily launched syringes at the handful of drones on the left, while SpookyErind charged the drones on the right. She leaped in the air and swiped with her arms. She was easily able to swat the drones. Meanwhile, Ento only had to deal with a couple of drones, but that seemed like a fun thing to do, so I had her jump in the air. Weeee! I tried hitting the drone with my arm, but my arm wasn’t long enough to reach the closest drone. I hate being short.

As Ento landed, I threw more syringes at the remaining drones on the left. They easily got pierced and crashed. Their bullets hurt more than they did against SpookyErind’s skin. And I hate being the weaker one.

That just left a horde of drones frozen in the middle of the room. Hopefully, we wouldn’t have to deal with them. Some of the new arrivals looked pretty scary and had some big cannons on them.

Wait a minute, wasn’t there Acid Guy? Where was-

“Take this you bitch!” I heard in an extremely high-pitched voice. A green blur appeared in front of me. It launched an even tinier spike toward my goggles. I wasn’t expecting it, so I didn’t have much time to evade.

The green acid spike broke through my goggles and embedded itself in my eye.

Ento screamed as her eye felt like it was burning.