The situation wasn’t as bad as it could be; granted, Alexa was surrounded on all fronts, and her reinforcements depended greatly on Alexanders finding this more entertaining by participating in it or in the Theater Master returning.

  It could also be solved by Meli-Meli deciding that she didn’t want to carry on with her attacks on her, not that it looked like something that was probable to happen, since all the zombies had started pilling up on each other to attempt and get at Alexa, it was quite the smart way to go about it.

  Alexa was stuck to the ceiling while she attempted to get more data into the situation, not that it was anything useful to get; she had a limited amount of data, besides the fact that she could probably get more data by getting into combat…

  As, that was the only option, so looking down, she started plotting her next target.

  Alexa turned her attention down; the horde was pilling more and more on itself to attempt to get to her, so first, Alexa shifted a blob of flesh into her arm, growing a bulb of meat filled with a base liquid.

  The first step that Alexa took was shifting the chemical composition of the water, shifting it from a mere base liquid into another compound; Alexa was pulling materials from her [Banked Storage] to supplement what she already had, manually moving the composition of the atoms and shifting it.

  Core: The shift from base liquid (H2O) into ammonia nitrate (NH4NO3) is complete.

  Please proceed with caution.

  The new liquid was…stable enough; Alexa could feel her Nanites struggling to keep the liquid in this form; some remnants of the water compound remained, and it seemed to want to react explosively; Alexa took notice of this and removed those chemicals from the formu.

  Her next step was more important. Alexa went to her database to check the most efficient way to detonate this compound, and while introducing water seemed to do the trick, she wanted a more extensive explosion. In the end, she decided to make do with a chemical reaction; she made an external compartment to the blob of meat she had made, and the main component was the explosive formu that she had gotten from the ammunition that Alexanders had used against her.

  She ced the exterior of the blob of meat with that component [Gunpowder], with that done, she now only needed for the blob of meat to remain intact for a few seconds, she could have made it out of metal or other type of materials yes, but it would make it harder to get the reaction she wanted, so in the end she left it as a blob of meat, and with that done, she went ahead to make a tendril of biomass made up from tendons and connected it to her, with that done she was ready.

  “Bombs away.” Alexa merely said as she let the blob of meat drop; at the same time, she moved herself to put her legs against the ceiling, and with a strong kick, she jumped out of the ceiling as she increased the length of the tendril made out of tendons, all so it wouldn’t suddenly follow after her, that would make the point moot.

  In the end, her blob of meat was met with the growing pile of [Humans], and it combusted in quite a great explosion; Alexa quickly cut out the connection to the blob of meat and discarded it away as she was shoved away by the explosion. Perhaps Alexa had used a little too much of a condensed compound? Nonetheless, the effect was quite good; most of the [Humans] near Meli-Meli had pilled upon her as if to protect her with their combined flesh, and those that hadn’t been near seemed to be lost for a second.

  It was long enough for Alexa to capitalize on it, so she quickly moved to the nearest one and using her cws she ripped out their neck and on those that she found on her way to the next she plunged her cws to rip out their hearts.

  Her Nanites quickly consumed the flesh and increased Alexa’s stockpile, as for the [Blueprints]? Alexa left that for ter, shoving the data into a separate part of her Mindscape for ter perusal. The number while diminishing greatly, it was still a little too much for her to deal with.

  She had plenty confidence that she would end up winning in this scenario, since she could recuperate easily enough by using the biomass that she was earning herself with each kill, the problem was not one of mass, but of energy, she had plenty to burn thanks to the MRE that she had, and perhaps she could scrounge a few if she was lucky, some of the people within the horde seemed to be dressed in sportswear.

  So if Alexa was lucky some of them would have on them, not that Alexa would count on that, so her options were to find a way to get past the hordes of [Humans] that Meli-Meli was using to protect herself…or running away.

  She had plenty of confidence in Alexanders not snitching on her should she remain fighting, but she wasn’t sure if that would apply if she ended up running away.

  “[Notice: Incoming space Mana Wavelenght detected. Possible hostile, prepare for combat.]”

  A mechanical announcement, so there was still some of [Main Core] remaining huh?

  No wait, Space Mana Wavelenght?

  “The Fallen Angel has come to bring judgment!” The voice of [Gabriel] resounded before his figure fully manifested.

  The man was wearing a bck face pte that covered his face but let his hair flow; it was an incredibly impractical design; it would do nothing to most attacks unless they came from the front, which was a stupid way to attack such a weak spot.

  “....Rhapsody, why aren’t you wearing your mask?” Was the first thing that [Gabriel] said as he took in the surroundings, “And what is the status of this situation? Cerberus couldn’t tell me much, and she merely pushed the panic button.”

  The what now? There was a Panic button? Alexa…could see how that would be useful.

  “I didn’t think it would be good to expose myself on this situation,” Alexa answered, then pointed at one of the cameras while wiping some blood that was stuck to one of her cws, “Besides we are being monitored.”

  [Gabriel] turned to look at the camera and shot it without saying anything.

  “As soon as you put on your mask you are protected by the w, they can’t use anything you show them since you are both defending yourself and those around you, if you don’t put on a mask they can use it, so just put it on, if you don’t have it with you then I can loan you a spare.” [Gabriel] said, pulling out a neckce in the form of a feather.

  Alexa debated about taking the chance to use this as a way to get a sample from [Gabriel], her less logical and more emotional self hadn’t made much progress on that front. At the end it was her more logical side the one to win, “I have my [Mask] with me,” She ended up pulling out her own Mask from the bracelet she was wearing.

  Instead of taking it out using her hands, she merely shifted tendrils from her arm to pull and stretch the bracelet in a special way that allowed her to turn it into a mask; once that was done, the Mask climbed into her hand and snuggly settled itself into her face.

  “....Okay then,” [Gabriel] said turning to the tide of [Humans] that was groaning and then to the pile of cooked meat that had been a [Human] pile before, “Update on this? What is the status of the enemies? The social networks called them Zombies, but these don’t look like what I expected, except those there that is.”

  [Gabriel] didn’t seem inclined to judge her for what she had done, instead he merely raised his [Gun] and shot at the [Humans] that walked toward Alexa, what she noticed was the fact that he was going for non-lethal attacks.

  The first one was shot on one of its legs, and when that didn’t stop him [Gabriel] shot him in his two legs a few times, one at the ankle level and one at the knee level, one shot per area, and done in both legs.

  When they got into the ground with legs that no longer worked, they started cwing toward them, so [Gabriel] then started shooting at the arms to stop them from working.

  “They seem to move like the Zombies in the movies even if they seem to be alive,” [Gabriel] said, turning to Alexa, “What do you know of this?”

  Now, how much data should Alexa even share?

  “They are under the influence of Meli-Meli’s [Core Power],” Started saying pointing at the pile of [Humans] that had started to move away from the pile, it seemed that piling up on each other, while working to protect Meli-Meli, it didn’t help on the process to release her back, “They all being maniputed by her, her [Core Powers] seems to be aligned with [Mind Core] type.”

  “I see,” [Gabriel] said, opening his wings wide and showering the hall with a golden light. Alexa didn’t quite understand the meaning behind this movement.

  “[Notice, detected new subtype of mana. Holy Mana.]”

  Holy?

  “Her Core seems to be quite sturdy, or perhaps my Core is too diluted to affect them,” [Gabriel] said as he ripped out a couple feathers from his wings and threw them at Alexa, “Keep them near you, they should give some protection against the effects of Mind Cores.”

  Alexa took the feather and they felt quite…fluffy, she was sure her more emotional side would have found it quite entertaining, but as it was now?

  “[Notice, lodged mana sample.]”

  It was merely another ample to be categorized, “Thank you for the assistance,” So Alexa said as she took the feather and pced it into one of her pockets.

  “...Yeah I don’t think it was affecting you that much, I only lost a few of my mana from that, so perhaps you are sturdier naturally.” [Gabriel] said as he turned to look at the other [Humans] in the sports hall, “...But then again, if you can do this at that age…I guess mere Mind Control will not work on you.”

  Doing this?

  “Cerberus had said that your past was problematic, but I guess it was an understatement.” [Gabriel] spoke again turning to Alexa, the [Gun] never pointed at her, but Alexa couldn’t help but feel as if the [Gun] was being pointed at her.

  “I also heard what happened between you two…” [Gabriel] said as his [Gun] shot again, the bullet hit someone that wasn’t in the line of sight, which was impossible, “...I will not pretend to know better or understand what you went by, or anything complicated like what Cerberus, Hermes or even Vulcanus will tell you.”

  [Gabriel] continued shooting people, never once did he kill anyone, but he also shot those that Alexa had killed before, his attacks somehow exploding upon contact with the areas Alexa had damaged.

  “Don’t take it too personally; whatever Cerberus said or did, she had the best interest of her family in mind,” [Gabriel] continued speaking, Alexa still thinking about how to proceed with this situation.

  [Gabriel] seemed to have perfect awareness 360o around him, as his bullets seemed to hit people that he wasn’t aiming at, was he teleporting the bullets?

  The amount of calcutions that it would require to move across space a projectile that was traveling that fast…The math implied that [Gabriel] was a monster, and Alexa wasn’t sure that her own AI Core could do those calcutions that fast when she was at her prime.

  “What’s the point you are getting at?” Alexa couldn’t help but ask, she couldn’t waste time like this, not on something so trivial.

  “Are you an enemy or an ally?” [Gabriel] asked; the Gun wasn’t pointing at Alexa; he wasn’t looking at Alexa either; if anything, he was pointing his back at Alexa; what should be his more vulnerable spot.

  And yet, Alexa felt as if he was fully bearing down on her, as if any wrong movement from her would result in a [Gun] wound on her, and for some reason, Alexa got the feeling that while it would be a mere [Gun]shot wound, it would disable her, as if [Gabriel] could somehow target her [Core].

  “I am currently an employee of [Haephestus’ Forge],” Alexa answered, the pressure didn’t let, but it also didn’t increase, “So long [Haephestus’ Forge] doesn’t turn hostile, I will not bare my [Weapons] against them.”

  And that seemed to be enough for [Gabriel] to let go of the pressure, “Sorry about that,” He said shaking his head, “I was never smart or good judge of character, so I needed to make sure.”

  That seemed like a strange way of ‘Making sure’, “Also don’t think too badly of Cerberus, she has a soft spot with kids, but she loathes the Saintsworths more than anything…If anything, she will probably beat herself once the recordings of this get to her.” [Gabriel] said with a sigh.

  Records of this? They would arrive to her? Why?

  “The Lieutenant masks have recording on by default, so she will see this. And you….are you even aware of what you are doing right now?” [Gabriel] asked, turning to look at Alexa for the first time since he arrived here.

  “I am dealing with [Hostiles] in a combat setting.” Alexa answered, confused, “I was told there were no rules of engagement, so I am proceeding as best as possible while minimizing the risk to myself and searching for a way to finish this [Test].”

  “.....What are the conditions for finishing this test then?” [Gabriel] asked, was he not aware of the [Test]?

  “Same as always,” Alexa said she was now wearing her Mask, and it covered her choker thanks to the snug design to her neck, the thing seemed to want to connect to her jacket and or bodysuit, so it was attempting to fetch that part that was missing. One convenient design fw. “[Survive] or [Eliminate] all hostiles.”

  “....Yeah, I guess that is what it would look like, you are one crazy broken kid ain’t you?” [Gabriel] barked a sad ugh at Alexa, “...If you were speaking like that when you arrived it’s no wonder that Cerberus was all over the pce about attempting to get you out of Minion work, we didn’t see it since at the time, and since Vulcanus wanted you on it we assumed that she was exaggerating.”

  Alexa’s way of speaking? What was the deal with how Alexa was speaking?

  “Is something the matter with my speech?” Alexa asked, “It should be normal. I haven’t tampered with the vocal cords or the [Brain] yet.”

  “ ‘Yet,’ she says,” [Gabriel] said with a sigh, “You are speaking like a machine kid; there are no emotions in you.”

  …So?

  “Meli-Meli uses a [Mind Core], her power allows her to tap into [Emotions] and use them to fuel or control, having [Emotions] at this juncture of the fight is a detriment more than anything,” Alexa didn’t see a problem with her execution, if anything she was wondering why he had a problem with that? Wasn’t it more efficient to do away with the [Emotions] before they became an issue?

  “...You said that there was an entity within you that helped you use your Core Powers right, one that seemed to be more mature.” [Gabriel] said turning to look away from Alexa and start shooting at the [Humans] who had started to move towards them. “Main Core was it?”

  “He is currently unavaible, he was linked to the emotional response center, same as Ale Saintsworths and Alexandra Saintsworths,” Alexa said back.

  “.....*Sigh* I don’t get paid enough for this, just…Can you undo whatever bullshit you did to yourself? Tampering with brains, mind and emotions never ends well, look at her.” [Gabriel] said as he pointed at the pile of [Human] meat that was where Meli-Meli had hidden herself, “She can barely speak normally, and her brain is overtaxing itself; she will probably have a Core Crash any minute now.”

  A what now?

  “YOU ALSO WORK WITH VILLAINS?!?!?” Meli-Meli screeched at them, “MORE PROOF THAT YOU ARE A MONSTER!”

  Well….So [Gabriel] said that Alexa could end like that? So she should turn back her [Emotions]?

  Alexa wasn’t quite sure if that was right, but now that she thought about it, there was also the option of trying to put P4 at the front wasn’t there? That one had less emotions of them all…

  Well, that was a thing that was possible to do then.

  “I’ll attempt to do something then, this is possible thanks to the partition to our mind caused by [Cerberus],” Alexa said as she closed her eyes and focused on the Mindscape within her.

  It was time to put to work P4 again.