Inside an excessively hygienic control room several men and women in lab coats worked lethargically. These were the researchers studying the Kronos cells. Working had become a tiresome burden after the disappearance of their mascot; Tanya Smith. Any and all enthusiasm that had once existed in this workplace vanished along with her.

It had been a rough couple of months, the death of their original head scientist was a welcome event in light of the more forgiving replacement, but the escape of subject 9 and Tanya’s disappearance completely overwhelmed them. Most of them had been against the tests performed on subject 9 and the treatment of said subject thereafter, but since subject 9 had been ‘created’ anyway it would have been cruel to discard her. The scientists in the room claimed the guard had helped her escape and they both disappeared in the process, but it was one of these very scientists that discovered the guard’s corpse and disposed of the corpse; they all understood what happened but none of them were knew whether to be happy for the escaped subject or worried, most were both.

Tanya’s disappearance, however, had the biggest impact on them. The whole team had been working together for nearly two years and had become quite close over the time they spent together. They all thought of each other as equals, as rivals, and as friends. Currently, none of them would deny you if you said Tanya was the binding factor of the group, as was evident in the perpetual gloom resulting from her absence.

The depressed atmosphere seemed like it would last forever, but then someone’s phone rang.

“Sorry…” he said glumly as he switched his Digita to silent and answered anyway, “Hello, Bill speaking?”

“Bill! It’s been a while! I have gre- gh! I have great news!” came the energetic voice from the other side, “Are you in the lab?”

Bill would have dropped his Digita if it weren’t attached to his wrist, “T-Tanya!?”

Mention of the name turned several heads.

“Who else would I be?” asked the voice indignantly, “Anyway, are you in the lab? It should be work hours right now so the others will probably be around too.”

“Y-yes, I’m in the lab with everyone!” he said excitedly as his energy returned.

“Great, gather everyone put me on speaker phone!” Tanya said happily.

Bill looked up and realised he had very little to do in the way of gathering attention as all eyes were already on him, the room was silent enough for Tanya’s voice to be heard clearly despite the low volume. A couple of the scientists closer to the doors nodded in acknowledgment and ran off to fetch any stray scientists, whether they were busy checking up on something or docking in exorbitantly late – a couple had started doing so not that long ago.

Within a minute everyone had gathered and Bill said, “Alright, everyone has gathered… You said you had great news but first tell us where you are and what happened.”

“Oh, I’m in district 3 at the moment. I was kidnapped… but don’t worry, I was rescued and the case was secured.” Tanya said.

“District 3!? That’s a dangerous place, are you ok!?” asked one of the scientists frantically.

“I’m ok for the most part, my leg is pretty much ruined but I’m still alive and kicking!” called Tanya happily.

“Doesn’t sound like you’ll be kicking well anytime soon, no matter how alive you sound!” called out a snarky voice from the back of the crowd.

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“Don’t tempt me Jessica!” called Tanya, both angrily and amusedly.

A round of light giggles later everyone became serious again and Bill asked, “So, are you safe?”

Tanya spoke excitedly, “That’s where the good news come in! Yes, I’m safe. I’m being protected by a local crime lord. Guess who the crime lord is!”

“Um… Kai Berglund?” said Bill hesitantly, saying the only name he knew to be related to the slums.

“Err… no. You realise that if it was him I’d be in even more danger than anywhere on the streets, right?” asked Tanya with a tone that made everyone easily imagine her raised eyebrow on the other end.

“Don’t keep us in suspense, just tell us who it is!” called out one of the voices.

“Alright, she goes by the name ‘Tiama Cusith’, though you guys might better recognise her as ‘Subject 9’!”

There was a moment of silence as everyone tried to gather their thoughts, ‘Subject 9? A local crime lord?’

The room became noisy as everyone started discussing the latest revelation, though they were quickly silenced by Bill. “Is she really Subject 9?” asked Bill dubiously.

Tanya took a moment to steady herself before speaking, “Definitely, when she corrected me she also acknowledged the alias ‘Subject 9’. That means that she somehow also knew our designation for her. For now, I plan to stay here and work with her, being a first-generation Kronos Cell she might have some sort of instinctive understandings that could really accelerate our research.”

The group in the lab had mixed reactions, they obviously wanted to see Tanya again but they were also excited about the new prospects this opportunity provided. In the end, they all knew how stubborn Tanya could be and let her do it without complaint.

Bill still felt the need to question her and said, “We won’t fight you about this, but please give us more information.”

Tanya asked, “About Subject 9? I don’t know a lot about her… I know even less about the situation but I’ll tell you what I can.”

“Yes, tell us what you can.” Bill said pleadingly.

“Alright,” started Tanya, “She seems to have recently taken over a local gang called ‘Dragon’s Nest’. It seems she was on her way to deal with a clan known as ‘Viper’ when she and her convoy got caught in the middle of conflict between two other groups. One of those groups was the one that kidnapped me while the other is apparently an undercover military operation. Anyway, she got rolled up in the conflict and ended up participating in my rescue. The military’s forces were spread too thin and their forward base of operations was captured by surprise, she went racing off to help recapture the base while I was sent off to be sheltered at Dragon’s Nest HQ… Leading to the current situation with me swimming in painkillers, warm in bed.”

“Wow,” muttered Bill, “That’s quite intense… are you sure she’ll come out of there alive?”

Tanya spoke solemnly, “There are no guarantees, but she apparently took down an entire squad of armed men alone so I have high hopes.”

There was a moment of silence before the class clown Jessica called out, “Tell us more about Subject 9! Is she prettier than you!?”

Tanya quickly replied as if on a high, “She’s fucking hot!”

“In which way!?” Questioned the snarky woman yet again.

Tanya paused for a moment before saying, “Both I suppose? She’s got a figure that puts most gravure models to shame and has dragged – quite literally at that – a good couple of the maids working here into her bed and all of them have either become bisexual or lesbian… From the sounds of it she has some very strong ‘alpha male’ tendencies so the sex is probably pretty hot.”

“Tan-yan!” cried Jessica with a playful tone, “You didn’t have to say it like that! Now I’m standing in a room full of men with raging boners!”

Several men blushed and averted their gaze and covered their crotches awkwardly as the women glared at them. Bill, however, decided to play along with the girls and tilted his hips forwards with pride, breaking the awkward mood and ending the exchange with light hearted laughs. It helped that Bill and Jess had known each other since childhood, he knew that this wouldn’t reflect badly in her eyes.

After the room quieted down and everyone had regained their dignity Bill asked, “Anything else you need to tell us?”

Tanya pondered for a moment before answering, “Not at the moment, but I’ll keep in touch. First order of business is to establish relations with lady Cusith.”

“Lady Cusith?” Bill asked with a raised eyebrow.

“Subject 9,” answered Tanya flatly.

“Ah, right…” muttered Bill with a hint of shame.

“Yes, I believe that treating her as a person is the correct thing to do… both politically and morally.” Tanya supplemented.