Emma chose not to respond to the gratitude April had expressed. What was even there to say? She hadn’t saved the infuriating woman because of some altruistic ideals. It had been a simple necessity as she was… She was too weak. She could not survive alone. Not here. Not in this strange pce… World? Wherever this was.

  And she was naked, with nothing on her. The people she had known were likely somewhere on this rock, but would they be of any help? She didn’t believe so. Her squadmates were capable but few, and she hadn’t exactly been friends with them… As for the people she had protected…

  They were disgusting, useless, lying bastards!

  Had they known? This strange woman had! So how had not the very best her country offered? The very leaders they all had relied on had lied to them! And for what? What was there to gain? Had they deceived themselves? She had heard tales about humans not being native to the Estan. There clearly was information about it!

  “You all right?”

  The simple question startled her—the sound was unexpected in the otherwise silent corridor. Emma tried to hold still, but her body betrayed her, twitching from the care in the short sentence. She pointedly ignored April, choosing to stare at the bck darkness they were wading through. Somehow, the tall, overpowered woman was ignoring the basic necessity of light for the eyes to work.

  This was not at all how Emma wanted to act. It felt like all of her agency had been taken away from her. Even the simple function of walking was robbed in favour of moving faster—escaping danger.

  But to what end? Where could they go? What could they do? What should they do?

  She pulled her knees closer to her chest, trying to make herself into a ball in the brunette's arms. She achieved partial success before she stopped sulking, deciding to answer the previous question.

  “I am fine,” she lied. Her body still felt like jelly. The fact she had jumped in front of a giant sb of a weapon still haunted her. She had almost died.

  Of course, April was not convinced. “Whatever you say.” She was slowing down, noticing something ahead.

  Emma tried to drill through the darkness once again before closing her eyes. “What is it?” She kept her fear at bay, wondering where she had found the bravery before. Had that been just desperation? She hoped she was better than that.

  Before the tall woman could reply, Emma saw a bit of light appear and grow stronger as they approached another room. They slowed down, both staying silent, listening for any signs of another opponent.

  Once more, she was set on the floor while April proceeded ahead alone with just a metal scrap in her hand. Once more, Emma watched the naked woman volunteer to check for any danger…

  It was unsettling for her. Emma did not understand how this woman worked. Why was she selfishly helping her? April had said something about getting information, but what could Emma tell? She didn’t know anything valuable enough to receive such treatment. She had expected to be used to look for traps or as a sacrificial pawn at some point. But no.

  Nothing was asked of her. She was treated with great care and protected at all costs. Emma did not understand. She truly didn’t. “And I did the same…” She sighed, following in the annoying woman’s footsteps.

  Emma watched April enter another empty room and give a warning to stay back. The pce was filled with the same blue light as in the previous one. On each side of the room, there was a door leading in unknown directions. She crossed her arms in front of her, feeling a chill enter from one of those entrances, noting it as important. Maybe it would lead outside.

  Meanwhile, April had marched into the centre of the room and looked around. The woman leaned down, apparently finding something of interest on the ground.

  “Oh, this is a… Switch?” April poked that something with the broken spearhead. “Ah, there are several all across the room.” Her pokes became more insistent.

  Emma’s eyes widened when she witnessed the height of stupidity. “Don’t do that!” She rushed ahead, trying to stop the idiot. Her naked feet stepped into the room, and the next moment, she felt one of her legs sink a little lower as her own carelessness triggered the hidden trap. “Oh…”

  April had a better description for the development. “You absolute moron! What the fuck do you mean by ‘Oh’? I told you to stay back!” She moved impossibly fast, trying to return to where they had come from.

  The ear-piercing screeching sound and a thud behind Emma announced the closure of the exit. She found herself lifted in the air, back in April’s arms, the strange woman’s face close to hers as she stared at the closed doors.

  All she could do was to apologise. “Sorry, I…” Emma felt sick. She should have known better. There had not been a reason for her to act so rashly.

  “It’s… fine.” April’s expression said it wasn’t. Her grey eye flicked to all directions while her brown one remained fixated on the doors.

  But soon enough, both eyes were looking at Emma, making her feel even worse. She endured the shame, not looking away from the rather rough-looking face. It wasn’t that April was ugly—no. Far from it. It was just clear that she didn’t take care of herself. Which was a bit of a shame.

  “... I didn’t mean to...” She wished she had a better expnation.

  “You wanted to help. Just like in the previous room.” April paused. “It’s too dangerous for you. I can take some punishment.” She puffed her chest, showing off her might. “But you have to be more careful. Okay?”

  It wasn’t fair. This overconfidence grated, and yet she could not find a rebuke. “I learnt. And you can put me down.” Her attempts at freeing herself were futile once more.

  These powerful arms didn’t yield in front of Emma’s pitiful attempts. Despite carrying her for what felt like hours, April didn’t seem to feel any exhaustion. She wasn’t even that sweaty.

  It was so strange. Emma poked April’s colrbone, wondering how this woman’s body functioned. An experiment of some kind? Maybe some kind of impnts? Maybe she wasn’t a human at all? Maybe it was actually magic?

  They had found her at the bottom of that shelter… Well. It had been something else before. She wasn’t quite sure what. The site had been mostly abandoned for a long time but was still a cssified military secret. So how did this strange creature appear there? And right when those Overseers showed up too…

  “Could you stop that?”

  “Hmm? Emma continued to poke. April’s skin felt normal. She moved her finger to the side and pushed again, finding nothing unusual. The woman was warm, her skin smooth and clean. It felt nice to touch, she noted, sliding her finger to the side.

  “It tickles.”

  Emma raised her eyes and yanked her finger away. “Sorry.” She couldn’t quite handle the bashful expression April was giving her. “I was just wondering how your body works.”

  “It’s just a body.” April deadpanned. “It works just like yours.”

  “Sure, but—” It didn’t add up. She wanted to say more but noticed the woman’s right grey eye was flickering from side to side again. “Um? April?”

  “There is something. Stay near me. Don’t wander. The switches have become inert. But…”

  Suddenly, Emma was on her feet, her back against April’s, who wielded the broken spearhead—the only weapon between the two. She pushed down her panic, searching for any possible danger.

  The walls remained cold and smooth. The doors shut and locked. The ground was still there. And the ceiling had a blue light source shining on it all, and next to it…

  A hole. A hole from where several limbs sprouted out—long and thin, sectioned in several parts. Chitinous and glossy, reflecting the blue hue on their bck surface. These lean legs waved and bobbed before sticking to the ceiling and pulling out a hairy ball of a body. Eight blue crystal eyes full of curiosity peered down at them as the spider finished exiting its resting pce.

  And then Emma screamed! Her voice echoed from wall to wall, deafening her. She could not look away, her breath quickly running out from the unexpectedly ear-splitting shriek. Only then did she realise she wasn’t the only one screaming.

  April backed into Emma, almost knocking her over. The woman held the piece of deformed metal in front of her with trembling arms. They both looked in horror as the hideous monster dropped to the ground. It blinked, its eyes shining with intelligence. Lazily, it stretched its legs, slowly sensing out the surroundings.

  Once more, Emma was almost knocked over. “Hey!” She punched April’s back while breathing heavily, her voice feeling rough from the scream she had just made. “Watch it.” Her fist felt feeble against April’s tense body.

  Somehow, April was still screaming. But the impact on her back brought her some sembnce of crity. Emma watched the woman look at her, their gazes locking for a moment.

  April’s expression twisted through various emotions. There was disgust, primal fear, reluctance, anger, and finally acceptance until determination repced it. Her retreat ceased, and under Emma’s questioning gaze, the woman began advancing.

  At first, April’s steps were full of reluctance. Emma’s hand remained hanging in the air as her shield charged ahead, roaring a sound full of regret for all the choices she had made.

  “Wait!” Emma’s legs felt heavy. She wanted to follow. Truly. She didn’t want to let April go alone. Not again. She was better than that. “It’s… I can…” Her knees gave, and her body colpsed forward. Her palms hit the ground, barely keeping her from face-pnting on the floor.

  But Emma’s eyes never left April’s valiant figure jumping into the jaws of the gigantic spider. She wanted to look away, to avert her eyes. She could not watch… She did not want to see this strange woman die.

  Yet, no matter how long she waited, the worst didn’t happen. April crashed into the disgusting monster, and Emma gasped. She saw the spider’s front legs raise—veritable guillotines—ready to fall upon all who stood in its path.

  “DIE!”

  Emma’s jaw fell, witnessing the incredible dispy of pure violence.

  “DIE! DIE! DIE! DIEDIEDIIEDIDE!” April’s voice became an incomprehensible stream of blur. “DIEDIEDIED!”

  “Uh,” Emma suddenly felt very sick. Something green and smelly spshed in front of her. Her instincts wanted her to pull away from the spider's blood, but she was rooted in the spot. Her eyes sometimes failed to follow April’s movements, but she knew the woman was winning.

  And it wasn’t even close! The dagger imitation fshed, puncturing the spider’s body. It thrashed, trying to bite and kick and push the ball of destruction away from itself. It released a disturbing sound—gurgling and threatening. But nothing helped.

  When April’s makeshift weapon got stuck in the spider’s skull, she abandoned it and began pounding the creature with her bare fists, pummeling it into the ground. The frightening monster twitched, moving less and less.

  “April,” Emma could barely believe. “You won!” She used her shaking limbs to push herself from the ground. “You won!”

  But the woman didn’t stop. Her arms fshed as she kept punching the dead body, heedless of anything else, and set on the complete demolition of what had been once a breathing creature.

  “April!” Emma stepped closer, finally getting through to the manic woman.

  The savage frantically beating the corpse shuddered. April froze with one of her hands pulled back. She breathed out and then punched again, grabbing one of the spider's eyes and pulling it out with a victorious excmation.

  “You won…” Emma felt incredible relief. “We are safe.” She gingerly stepped around the rge spshes of blood covering several spots on the ground. “Uh… I don’t think I want to go closer…” There was even more spider juice where April stood.

  But the said woman was not listening. She was looking at the round, blue gem in her hand in wonder. “And this is a thing as well?”

  Emma didn’t understand what April was talking about. But she could tell it was important. “What is a thing?” She decided to ask.

  Enkiari