"... Ashford."

  "..."

  Chouko stared in complete silence at the woman before her, registering the scene. The lights in the diner suddenly went out for an inexplicable reason, a bullet broke through the window on a direct path to her head, and the girl sitting in front of her caught the bullet with her two bare fingers.

  Yumi revealed herself the moment she said that name and announced to this table her status as one of the mercenaries. The fact that she came out and said "Ashford" is blunt and revealing. The name, "Diane Smith," is thrown out the window, leaving behind Chouko Ashford and the android. Yumi and the grizzled man she's with are mercenaries.

  In the darkness, all around them, people start to panic and shout. The people in the diner's line disperse and scatter, the people at their tables abandon their food, and the people behind the counters duck and cover. The patrons, the staff, and every single other person in that building. All of them are in utter uproar at the window being broken by a gunshot.

  With these screams, pure adrenaline rushes into Chouko's body, activating a fight-or-flight instinct. Everything is rushing into Chouko's head, this very sight being burned into her mind as he calmly... ever so calmly thinks to herself...

  ... run.

  There's no beating her. Chouko decides she must flee.

  This woman is capable of catching bullets, for God's sake. Too many unknowns surround her. If Chouko stays behind to fight her, Yumi will get the upper hand and apprehend the two easily. So, in the mass panic of the diner, as other people are running and scattering about in the darkness, Chouko immediately breaks into a sprint. Throwing herself out of the table and beginning to run to the exit.

  Right behind her, Shortcake follows. Immediately following Chouko's lead, the android is sprinting after her, trying to keep up the best she can. Her eyes flicker and flash as she locks onto Chouko, running almost at the same pace as her.

  In this moment of escape, Chouko keeps track of the four threats: the blackout, the sniper, and the duo behind her. This coordinated attack is deliberate, designed to catch her off guard as a combined effort to take her down. There are too many unknowns, so Chouko starts simple. It's only a matter of wondering how fast she can run, how fast she can mitigate the threats of—

  "A-Ah! Diane!"

  Chouko stops in place and looks back, seeing Yumi grabbing Shortcake into a chokehold. Her eyes are wide as Yumi catches up in a matter of seconds, managing to grapple Shortcake with an arm around the android's neck.

  The diner is fully packed. Crowds of people pass by the three as Chouko glares at Yumi, as Yumi restrains Shortcake in place, and as Shortcake is helpless in place. From their lefts and rights, lines of people are safely avoiding them, only wanting to get out quickly.

  Seeing this puts Chouko in a tense dilemma, as she wonders if she should attack Yumi. Crowds of witnesses aside, any attacks will fail. Yumi can catch bullets or use Shortcake as a shield. If Chouko tries, Yumi can catch knives or other such items. No guarantee doing anything unarmed will even work. All combat actions are out.

  Maybe if Chouko uses the butterflies...

  ...

  As... Chouko thinks this, and as she stops in place, a flicker appears over her eyes and she sees herself. Her ability is at work again, showing her what Shortcake sees in the dark. Shortcake is still affected by the butterflies, if not hiding one on her right now. The butterflies are a viable option for Yumi.

  But... something's wrong. Beyond just seeing Chouko and the panicking people currently fleeing around them, Shortcake also sees someone over Chouko's shoulder... one of the waitress androids. The ones that attend to tables and such. The silhouette of the ponytail haircut and server uniform match what Chouko's seen before, it's one of those androids.

  Instead of its trademarked golden eyes, Chouko notices... pure white eyes, as all the color is gone from the android's artificial eye lights. It is only pure white headlights over her eyes. Its body is stiff, it doesn't show any signs of sharing the diner's panic, and it is right behind Chouko. This makes Chouko feel a chill down her spine, an eerie sense of dread seeing this...

  ... and before she can even react, the android promptly wraps its arm around Chouko's stomach.

  Chouko is locked in place, briefly struggling to break free. Then she stops, she stops struggling as a blade—one of a stainless steel chef's knife, one previously coated in bits of raw meat—is held up to her neck. Right up to her neck, making her stop struggling at the risk of possibly cutting herself if she continues.

  "TARGET HAS BEEN OBTAINED..." the android calls out, its voice purely robotic. Its voice is completely hostile, its face staring straight at the back of Chouko's head. "QUERY: EXECUTION PROTOCOL."

  Chouko tensely takes a deep breath, sweat trailing down her head. Her eyes twitch as she tries to use her ability, but Chouko doesn't have anything prepared beforehand! It had only been about 15 seconds or so since the lights went out, and she didn't want to risk creating any when the diner was bright... so, no butterflies are out right now!

  "ACKNOWLEDGMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED. COMMENCING WITH: EXECUTION PROTOCOL," the android calls out, pulling the knife closer to Chouko.

  The "execution protocol" is just a glorified way to say the android is going to kill her, Chouko thinks to herself... a mere second or two away from it.

  Chouko can affect the android, she can do something to it... but not with the time she has left! Chouko doesn't have enough time to reach for her phone or prepare the butterfly dust. None of her methods are viable in the short time she has left! Cursing herself as she feels the metal blade pressing into her skin, Chouko feels her body tremble in instinctive fear at being put into this situation.

  In the next second, the android is going to... to—!

  "... ghh!"

  Quickly, Yumi runs in front of Shortcake, breaking into a sprint straight at Chouko. She's let go of the android completely and is directing her attention to the android, pulling her hand back and winding up a punch. Her eyes glow brightly, the veins in her arm light up, and...

  ... Yumi appears right in front of the two, almost having teleported as she goes for a left hook punch right over Chouko's shoulder! Her fist pushes itself right into the side of the android's head, the loud sound of metallic crunching echoing out.

  The android's body is completely frozen in place. Its eyes flicker and blink, completely short-circuiting with the vigorous sounds of sparks echoing out. At the moment, the systems are registering "critical damage" as Yumi's punch does a number to it, the hinges in its neck almost snapping as the android's head twists to the side.

  Chouko is bewildered by this sight. What is this? What exactly is Yumi doing— ... is... is this an ability as well? Is this Yumi's own version of the butterflies...? Does Yumi have an ability, one that far overpowers Chouko in every way? Chouko desperately needs to be cautious of Yumi and the threat she poses.

  But... these thoughts, for the time being, are interrupted by immediate concerns about the knife. The android is still holding the blade up to Chouko's neck, even after being interrupted by Yumi. All the android has to do is fall back to finish the job. Chouko needs to act and pry the knife out, before...

  ... immediately, as Chouko thinks this and has her thoughts interrupted, Yumi pulls her fist back and twists her upper body, lunging her other hand out to grab the android's knife-holding wrist. She goes on the offensive, using leverage to suddenly and forcibly pull the hand away from Chouko's neck, a firm grip on the android's wrist as its arm is pulled.

  "Ghhh... she's ours! HANDS OFF!" Yumi loudly roars out, her eyes flashing a bright blue while her veins glow a matching shade. Yumi puts her full weight into this, gritting her teeth as she pulls and pulls...

  ... and Chouko is shocked by the sound of metal being torn apart.

  In the next moment, Yumi brutally pulls the android's arm off of its body, ripping it clean off with pure force! A sudden, ferocious action as Yumi throws it to the back, the arm flying past the passing line of people to her left and slamming into the edge of a table.

  The android's eyes flash red, with emergency alarms coming out of its mouth. In pulling its arm off, Yumi has disconnected some of its wiring from its body, exposing a massive hole in the side of its body. "ALERT... ALERT... ALERT..." it calls out, a faint static buzz in its voice before it falls back and over. Chouko falls with it.

  Yumi proudly grins after doing this, throwing her fists into the air and up at the ceiling. For some reason, Yumi is taking actions similar to a combatant celebrating a triumphant victory, a boasting position of pure pride. The blue light in her veins fades, and she visibly tries to garner attention for her victory.

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  How curious. There is a brief window of time where Yumi's attention is off of Chouko, so Chouko focuses, and...

  Meanwhile, seeing Yumi tear off an android's arm, Shortcake is visibly frightened by the sight. Her logical processors register the sight of an android having her entire arm torn off, and thus... pure fear is in her head. Yumi can do the same thing to her. So Shortcake backs away from Yumi slowly, wanting to get away, wanting to flee. At the very least, escape to safety and give Chouko one less problem to worry about, since Chouko was only caught because Shortcake was caught...

  However, Shortcake's escape attempt stops as the android bumps into someone. John is standing right behind her, looking down at the android as he stands in the dark.

  Her pink eyes look at the man, pure fright and terror in her eyes. Without anything to do, Shortcake flails her hands at the man, defending herself pitifully and pathetically. If nothing else, this movement should do something to distract him...

  "... tch." John just grabs Shortcake's left wrist, rolling his eyes as he looks at Yumi. "Quit celebrating! Get Ashford, now, and—!"

  However, John is immediately interrupted as he quickly looks behind himself to see a different android incoming. It holds one of the diner's wooden chairs in its hands, seconds away from bashing his head in with it. "ACKNOWLEDGMENT HAS BEEN RECEIVED. COMMENCING WITH: EXECUTION PROTOCOL," the android calls out, swinging.

  Yumi looks over with a tense look on her face, but... then turns back to Chouko, crouching down to pick her up as instructed. Pops's got this, she thinks.

  John, quickly, lets go of Shortcake and holds his hand out at the chair to catch the chair by the leg. He keeps his feet planted against the floor, putting his weight and might into slowing the chair down. The android's swing is held off, only hitting his head lightly with the force of a mere falling apple.

  The android tries to pull the chair away, successfully doing so. However, this force is enough of a diversion for John to move with the chair, his hand gripping the android's entire upper face. Holding it as if it were an apple in his hand, his fingers squeeze and hold it tightly, applying heavy pressure to its forehead.

  In the next moment, pure light begins to form in his palm, his hand charging its spotlight. Bright, searing light is building up in John's hand, the man making use of his cybernetics to make this light brighter and brighter, his hand heating up as he does so.

  The android, in response, has its audio channels cut off as it exclaims in a deep, masculine voice: "Hold on... the Serbian Flashbang?! You're here?! What the—"

  These are its last words. Immediately, the light unleashes itself, flooding and pumping into the android's head. A brief two-second spotlight flashes out the other side, coming from the back of its head as pure smoke sizzles from the space between the android's face and John's hand.

  John stares with a cold look on his face, his gaze contorting into a look of pure unease at this. Thoughts run through his head at this information, to which he just sighs in response. "... a hacker that knows about the... tch. Damned hackers..." he mutters, releasing his fingers and letting go of the android's head.

  The android, promptly, collapses. The silicone over its forehead is melted and seared off, burned away with a faint hole almost through it. It simply is no match for John and his cybernetic light. It lies on the floor, limp and lifeless with all power depleted from its body.

  Shortcake looks down at this android and covers her mouth, horrified as she looks at John. From both Yumi dismembering an android to John burning the android's head from the inside out, Shortcake knows there's nothing she can do against these two. Surrounded from both sides, she watches the two in pure mortal terror. All she can do now is surrender, so she... she holds her hands up, with nothing she can do. Nothing. Absolutely nothing, whatsoever!

  John flexes his smoking fingers as he turns around. He calls out to his companion with an order: "Yumi! Find us some cover, now!" Completely ignoring Shortcake's words, he grabs the android by the waist... and lifts Shortcake up with ease, carrying her between his arm and side.

  "You got it, Pops!" Yumi exclaims, dragging Chouko by the shirt collar and running quickly. Chouko's front body drags along the diner floor, almost lifelessly.

  Shortcake... Shortcake is shaking, starting to sob and cry as John carries her. "I'm sorry... "P-Please... please don't hurt us! Please!" Shortcake begs and pleads. "I-I'll do whatever, as long as you don't melt us...!"

  "Shut up..." John whispers, running after Yumi as they go with the crowd. "Do what I say and you will get out of this alive..."

  There's no reason for her to trust this man... but Shortcake slowly nods, continuing to shake as she shuts up as instructed. Going quiet, with only the faintest of whimpers sounding out at a minimal volume.

  Yumi's destination is the kitchen; specifically, the vacated one behind the meat counter. She quickly hops over the counter, her sneakers standing on the trays carrying the Swedish meatballs and the fried chicken. She keeps hold of Chouko by the shirt collar, and holds her hand out behind her back for John.

  John throws Shortcake over the counter and has the android fall to the kitchen floor. Then, he grabs Yumi's hand and hoists himself up, using Yumi to get over the counter and hide behind it as well. After this, Yumi jumps down into the kitchen and pulls Chouko into a restraining hold.

  Now, they're hidden from the sniper...

  John lets out a faint sigh as he ducks behind the counter, smoke still sizzling from his hand as he stares at Shortcake. "Listen to me, android. If you receive any signals or popups, reject them. Completely reject and deny it."

  "W-Why...?" Shortcake asks in confusion, unsure what blocking and rejecting those... words... does. "C-Can you tell me why?"

  John glares at the android, about to reprimand her for talking back, but... he sighs, using this as a chance to explain it to Yumi as well. "We are dealing with 'Trojan'."

  Trojan...?

  Shortcake tilts her head. "I... I don't know what that means..."

  "It's the name of a hacker," John whispers... continuing to explain to the android. "Named after a Trojan virus, something... malicious. A malicious program that disguises itself as real software, to perform various things. I suspect we're dealing with him of all people."

  The signs line up, after all. John knows Trojan's modus operandi. The hacker causes some widespread panic in a public setting, then the androids "malfunction" and act against the target, using whatever is available at the location. A kitchen knife, a chair... so on and so forth. This has to be Trojan's work.

  But that's the thing: Trojan works with items in close-quarters fashion. All of the victims in jobs he's taken have reported injuries and causes of death as melee only. He does not work with guns... let alone sniper rifles. Trojan solely works close to the target and is strict in his ways. Quite like how a carnivore would not eat plants, a hacker sticks to his palate of skills. He can't just spontaneously develop a taste for guns.

  No, the sniper has to be someone else. Regardless of their affiliation, it's Trojan and an unidentified gunman at the scene. Fending off Trojan and the androids in the diner should be simple, he and Yumi made short work of two so far... but the sniper's a different story. John needs to come up with a plan to take out the sniper, or—at the very least—escape.

  "Right... Yumi, listen up. We should..." He stares at Yumi and pauses, staring at the woman with a shift in facial expression. "... Yumi, the hell are you doing?"

  Yumi, sitting with the two and holding Chouko in a chokehold, stares at John. "Putting Ashford into a chokehold," she whispers, matching his volume. "She's a slippery one. She'll break free if I don't do this."

  "No... no, that's not what I'm concerned about," John responds, pointing his hand at what Yumi is chokeholding. "That's not Ashford..."

  "Eh?" Yumi looks at Chouko, blinking. Black hair, red eyes... British. This is Chouko Ashford, she knows it now. "I'm pretty sure this is Ashford, Pops."

  "No, that's..." John begins to answer, his eyes blinking as he sees Yumi holding the one-armed android. "That's the android... you picked up the android, Yumi, not Ashford...!"

  Yumi is absolutely bewildered, taking a moment to grab Chouko's arm. She squeezes both shoulders one after the other, confirming this is Ashford. Ashford and her two-armed self. "I ain't got a clue what you're talking about. This is Ashford."

  John's face grows more tense. "Yumi...! I know what I'm seeing... this is the android!" What John sees is Yumi grabbing the air, her fingers getting dangerously close to exposed wiring. A delusional act without context. This is the android. This is the orange-haired android, one of the workers at this diner.

  The two stare at each other, seeing two completely different things. Yumi sees Ashford, John sees the diner android.

  Unbeknownst to them, a red butterfly rests on the back of Yumi's neck. Flapping its wings discreetly, currently working its magic. John is the correct one. Yumi has completely fallen for Chouko's ability.

  In truth, Chouko is using her ability to fool Yumi. At the moment, Chouko is quietly keeping low as she moves with the flow of panic, currently fleeing with the other patrons of the diner. In particular, running in the far back of crowds just fleeing and escaping the diner, masquerading herself as a panicked patron as well.

  As she maintains the butterfly on Yumi, Chouko is also employing the use of a butterfly above the crowd itself. Because "Chouko" is in Yumi's grasp, "Chouko" is not running with the crowd. The real Chouko is invisible right now, in theory. That's how the ability worked the first time.

  Right now, Chouko needs to retreat, to come up with a plan to save Shortcake. Put in another situation where she's separated from Shortcake, Chouko is left to think about how to take care of both diner threats. Maybe if she stalls them out, Yumi and John will wear themselves out... or the androids will take them out, and then it's a matter of—

  "G-GHHHH!" Chouko feels herself being shot in the ankle, falling to the ground.

  Immediately, the butterfly dust is dispelled, and Chouko becomes visible once more. The people around and behind Chouko watch as this girl spontaneously appears out of nowhere, falling over and onto the lot asphalt.

  Most have no reason to stop and check on her, a stranger, in an active emergency. Their own lives are far more important. So, people are quick to run past her, going around and spreading further away from her. Either they are heading to their cars to drive away, or they're simply running away from the parking lot in general.

  Chouko is hyperventilating. The pain is overwhelming. Cracks form over Chouko's eyes as the pain spreads from her head, her left shoulder, and her left ankle. The entire left side of her body feels like an utter hell, with the only saving grace that she's not being trampled. Chouko's no stranger to being shot, but having a second one when she's already enduring a shoulder wound is absolute agony.

  To make it worse, the bullet hit the back of her ankle! Chouko could manage with a bullet in the shoulder, but having the wound close to her foot makes it an immeasurable pain every time she takes a step! Every time she takes a step, each time she puts her weight on it, pure suffering! This is a pure agony that... that...

  ... is in the back of her ankle...?

  Chouko, as she's seething in pain and suffering, as she feels the blood coming out of her ankle, immediately thinks about that detail. She's been shot in the back of her ankle. The back of her leg.

  To repeat, the back of her leg. The sniper shot straight at the back of her ankle as she was running away from the diner.

  That...

  That doesn't make sense...

  The sniper first had a clear aim at Chouko's head when she was sitting in the diner. Since there was no one outside that window, the sniper should have shot from a far, far distance away from the diner. If the sniper were far away, it wouldn't be a shot to the back of her leg... it should be the front or the side. The bullet would not be able to hit the back of her ankle.

  And yet, it has, almost as if the sniper was behind Chouko. As if the sniper—in just one, single minute—went from where he first shot far away, then spontaneously made it to the diner to shoot the back of her ankle.

  Chouko's thought, amidst the pain in her body, is that. That's what Chouko is thinking. The sniper is abnormal. The sniper is unusual. The sniper...

  ... is about to kill her, while she's down.