I grabbed my assault rifle, and placed my head and left arm through the tactical strap. I deactivated the safety of the weapon, even though it was out of ammunition. I set the fire selector to semi-automatic mode and fired a test shot by pulling the trigger. I activated the safety again. I took a magazine from my tactical equipment and inserted it into my weapon. Finally, I pulled the charging handle to load a round into the breech. As I watched my other three comrades finish preparing their combat gear, I heard Centurion Sullivan's voice over the radio from my seat.

“[The locations of the Skulls Paladins were updated about 7 minutes ago. We will soon arrive at the hospital where Zero was 7 minutes ago.]”

The only instructions Centurion Sullivan gave us before we left the shopping mall was to prepare our weapons. Now, he would give us the details of our mission. My squad companions and I listened intently.

“[It’s highly likely that Zero has betrayed us. If so, he must be eliminated. Not knowing of his actions, I cannot subject him to the Extinction Protocol, since I don’t have a reason to do so. All we know is that he has not established communications with me. As there are several reasons for the lack of communication, that reason cannot be used as a cause of betrayal.]”

A member of our squad was under suspicion of betrayal. His movements and purpose were unknown and Centurion Sullivan sought to create a reason to subject him to the Extinction Protocol.

As he said, the lack of communication could be due to a possible infiltration mission or transmission failures.

Therefore, it’s not a logical reason of betrayal that would allow him to execute the Extinction Protocol. While I was processing this information, I continued to listen to Centurion Sullivan through the radio.

“[Therefore, your mission will be as follows: you’ll be deployed on the hospital where Zero was 7 minutes ago and search for him. You must make sure to execute any civilians or armed personnel you find there. However, this massacre will not be an irrationality. The deaths of those people will become the resources that will allow me to establish the reason for executing Zero’s Extinction Protocol.]”

Moments ago, our vehicle had stopped. We had apparently arrived at the hospital facilities as Centurion Sullivan was detailing our mission.

Although Centurion Sullivan maintained a calm tone of voice as he spoke, the determination that took hold in his voice gave his next words the weight of a proclamation made by a king, thus nullifying any falsehood that emerged from his speech.

“[“While my men were searching for Skull Paladin Zero, they were spotted by civilians. As the existence of the Skulls Paladins must be hidden from the public, witnesses had to be executed. The main person responsible for this massacre was Skull Paladin Zero for not reporting his movements to his Centurion and ignoring my orders.” That will be the reason why Zero will be subjected to the Extinction Protocol.]”

A veil of silence enveloped our vehicle.

We all digested every word Centurion Sullivan said to convince ourselves that his lies were real. After all, that reason for executing the Extinction Protocol was valid, even if it wasn't the best.

Centurion Sullivan was unaware of Skull Paladin Zero’s movements. He only knew that he was acting without informing him. The lack of information limited his options. With his location updating every 60 minutes, he only had a geographic resource to work with.

For a moment, I thought that Centurion Sullivan was not being completely rational. A better method would be to go to the Control Room where it’s possible to access the body cameras of the Skulls Paladins. That way he could know the movements of Skull Paladin Zero at an exact level. After that, he could create a less dangerous reason to subject him to the Extinction Protocol. The method that Centurion Sullivan chose jeopardizes the success of our main mission. The concealment of our existence is the most important parameter to accomplish that mission. However, upon hearing Centurion Sullivan’s next words, I was able to understand that his irrationality was overridden by a particular variable.

“[The last message I received from Zero said that our target had been located. In that case, it’s possible that Zero has been following Alan all this time. Therefore, it’s assumed that Alan Leigh is also in that hospital. If so, he must be eliminated on site. In short, your mission will be to eliminate the people in the hospital and execute the target, Alan Leigh, in case you make contact with him. Understood?]”

—Order confirmed. (Haargh)

—Received. (Haah)

—Understood. (Haargh)

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—Yes. (Hah)

After receiving Centurion Sullivan's order, my squad companions and I confirmed his message.

Alan Leigh. The target that has been sought for decades and that has kept us at a dead point, preventing the progress of our mission. The existence of this variable changed the rules of the game. The possible presence of this man in the place gave meaning to Centurion Sullivan's reckless actions.

Skull Paladin Zero's first report mentioned the recognition of Alan Leigh. In that case, it could be assumed that Skull Paladin Zero has been in pursuit of Alan Leigh all along. It’s possible that Centurion Sullivan's aim with the hospital massacre is to find and eliminate Alan Leigh, as well as to eliminate Skull Paladin Zero, who is considered a possible traitor, as soon as possible.

Alan Leigh has been in hiding for decades. Finding him after so long has driven Centurion Sullivan to act as quickly as possible for fear of losing him. For him, just going to the far-off Control Room is likely the same as abandoning his mission to execute Alan Leigh. Even if there is only a 1% chance that Alan Leigh is in this hospital, Centurion Sullivan will not waste a second in reaching him.

My companion closest to the double doors at the rear of the vehicle opened the doors and the rest of us followed him. Being the last to exit, I closed the double doors of the vehicle. As I did so, I glanced over my shoulder at Centurion Sullivan and Blake exiting the car.

I turned off the safety on my gun.

I followed my comrades as we adopted a diamond formation. Being the last man, I kept to the rearguard of our deployment. My three comrades moved forward, with each man keeping watch on the front, left, and right respectively.

Before us, a single two-story building seemed to be the last trace left by Skull Paladin Zero. Upon entering the facility, an array of dozens of seats flanked the entrance on the right and left, forming a small hallway in front of the main door. The spacious room, which seemed to be a waiting room, was empty. A row of customer service points was lined up at the back of the waiting room, and to the right was a hallway leading into the building. Next to the hallway, near the entrance, were the bathrooms.

“I will maintain this position. (Haargh)”

Skull Paladin R-66, who was the leader of our formation, maintained his position in the middle of the room, next to the seats. The remaining three of us moved forward to the bathrooms on our right.

Skull Paladin R-09, who maintained the right flank of our initial formation, went to the front, since he was the closest man to the bathrooms of the right. I moved forward with him. Skull Paladin R-84 took up our rearguard as the man furthest from the bathrooms and the man holding the left flank of our initial formation.

R-09 and I entered the bathrooms while R-84 held his position at the entrance, in case anyone overtake R-09 or me. R-09 entered the women’s bathroom on the right and I entered the men’s bathroom on the left. At first glance, the place was empty. However, to my right, some of the doors to the private bathrooms were closed and others were open. I moved towards one of the closed doors and opened it. Over the closed toilet, a security guard with his eyes closed sat with his clothes intact in a position too uncomfortable for sleeping. Seeing that his vital signs were active, I was able to figure it out. He was sedated and his inert body had been hidden in this place.

Did Paladin Skull Zero do this? I thought when I saw him.

If he decided to conceal a combat element like this, it means he was looking to infiltrate this place. The fact that he adopted non-lethal measures implies that his purpose was to avoid an armed confrontation. If so, it’s likely that he failed, as the waiting room was empty. But there were no signs that a combat had occurred. In that case, the people should have detected the presence of a man with military equipment, who had the appearance of a Skull Paladin, and left the place. If that is the case, then he sedated this security guard before being detected. And after that… what? If he was able to go so far as to sedate and conceal this guard, it means that his infiltration was successful. In that scenario, it would be difficult to be discovered afterwards, unless it was on purpose.

At that moment, a strange thought made me scan the place for other escape routes. There were only small ventilation slits in the area, through which it would be impossible to enter the room.

…It’s strange that Skull Paladin Zero was able to arrive at this place without raising suspicions, I thought.

The only possible way to access to this bathroom is the main entrance next to the waiting room. So he must have used some kind of disguise. It would be the only method capable of allowing the security guard's body to infiltrate this place. In that case, what happened to the people in the waiting room? If Skull Paladin Zero used a disguise to infiltrate the hospital and to sedate this security guard, the absence of the people makes no sense.

“…” I watched the security guard for a few moments, lost in my thoughts.

I'm going in circles. These thoughts are unnecessary. There is no clear evidence to verify the involvement of Skull Paladin Zero in this incident and no hypothesis will change what I have to do here.

I raised my gun and pointed the barrel at the head of the sedated security guard in front of me.

As Centurion Sullivan said, the deaths of these people are only resources that will allow him to fulfill his purpose.

I pulled the trigger of my gun and, confirming the perforation of his skull, I headed to the second closed door, located just to the left of the private bathroom I had just left, only to find another security guard, also sedated. Without wasting any more time, I ended his life with a shot to the head and, after a quick check of the other bathrooms whose doors were open, I left the men's bathroom.

At the entrance, R-84 and R-09 were awaiting my arrival.

“Women's bathroom cleared. (Haargh)” R-09 was the first to speak.

“Two executed in the men's bathroom. (Raaagh)” I replied.