The return journey should have been straightforward. Arthur led both squads through the facility's abandoned corridors, past the evidence of their defensive stand. Spent casings littered the floor, mixing with Rapture debris that was already beginning to corrode into unrecognizable slag.
"Still searching," Exia's voice came through the comm, accompanied by the rapid clicking of her keyboard. "No mention of Vapaus in medical databases. Nothing in military archives. Scientific research logs show gaps where data should exist, but the entries themselves are gone."
Arthur pushed open the facility's main entrance, squinting against the wasteland's harsh light. "Keep looking. There has to be something."
"I've initiated recursive search protocols across every accessible system." The frustration in Exia's tone was unusual—she typically maintained an almost mechanical detachment when working. "This isn't normal data loss. The removal patterns are too precise. Too deliberate."
"You think someone erased it?" Rapi asked.
"I know someone erased it," Exia replied. "The question is who had access to do something this comprehensive."
Scarlet moved up beside Arthur, her red hair catching the wind. "Central Government?"
"Most likely." A pause, then Exia's text flashed across their displays: *Shifty, do you have access to Central Government databases?*
Shifty's response came slowly, cautiously. "I... no. Not beyond standard operational parameters. Anything classified requires authorization levels I don't have."
The comm went silent except for Exia's typing. Then: "I'll have to hack it."
Arthur stopped walking. Around him, both squads came to an abrupt halt. "Exia, say that again?"
"I'll have to hack into Central Government databases," Exia repeated, her tone matter-of-fact. "It's the only way to access records about Vapaus."
"Absolutely not," Arthur said immediately. "That's too risky. We'll find another way."
"There is no other way." Exia's typing intensified. "My pet peeve is not knowing something, Commander. I've already initiated the intrusion protocols."
Anis's eyes went wide. "You've already—Exia, you can't be serious!"
"I don't joke about network security," Exia replied. "Now let me concentrate."
Shifty's voice cracked slightly. "You're... you're hacking my place of employment. While I'm on an active comm channel. This is—I can't even—"
"Your employment status is irrelevant," Exia said. "The information we need is—"
She stopped mid-sentence.
The sudden silence was worse than any alarm. Arthur's hand went to his Typhoon instinctively, though he knew the threat wasn't something he could shoot.
"Exia?" Alisa called. "Are you okay?"
"I've been caught." Exia's voice carried genuine surprise. "That's... strange."
"Strange?" Arthur demanded. "What's strange about getting caught hacking Central Government?"
"My location was pinpointed instantly. The countermeasure systems identified my physical position even though I initiated the intrusion from here, on the surface, through multiple relay nodes." The typing resumed, faster now. "That level of trace capability shouldn't be possible. Someone was waiting for exactly this kind of—"
Shifty's panicked voice cut through: "Commander! I'm tracking a rapid deployment order. Squad Triangle is being scrambled to... to Protocol's location in the Outpost sublevel!"
"Abort!" Arthur barked. "Exia, disconnect now!"
"Too late," Exia said calmly. "They're already here. I can hear them breaching the security door. Don't worry—none of our communications were compromised. I made sure to—"
"That's not what I'm worried about!" Alisa's voice rose to nearly a shout. "What's going to happen to you?"
"Exia!" Rapi's usually composed tone cracked. "Get out of there!"
Anis pressed both hands to her head. "What are you doing? Just run!"
The sharp crack of gunfire echoed through the comm. Once. Twice. Three times.
Then silence.
Arthur stood frozen, his goddesium hand gripping the Typhoon hard enough that he heard the metal creak. Around him, the Monarks had gone completely still.
"Target neutralized." A new voice came through the open channel—professional, cold, efficient. "Confirming kill. Subject is down."
"Privaty?" Shifty whispered. "That's... that's Privaty from Triangle."
Another voice, younger and confused: "Why would Exia hack Central Government? That doesn't make sense. She knows better than—"
"Admi, stay focused," Yulha ordered.
Privaty's voice chimed intinged with alarm: "Um, guys? There's an open video call here. On Exia's terminal."
"What?" Yulha's tone sharpened. "Admi, secure that immediately. Who is she communicating with?"
Rapi moved faster than Arthur had ever seen her move in a non-combat situation, her hand flying to her wrist-mounted interface. The comm connection died instantly.
The sudden silence pressed down on them like a physical weight.
"She..." Alisa's voice was barely audible. "She might have survived, right? Nikkes can take a lot of damage. Maybe she's just injured and—"
"Protocol models aren't combat-rated," Anis said quietly. Her usual sardonic tone had vanished entirely. "And Triangle doesn't miss. If Privaty confirmed the kill..."
She didn't finish the sentence.
Rapi stood motionless, her blue eyes fixed on some distant point. Arthur knew that look—she was running scenarios, calculating options, trying to find a way to change what had already happened.
Shifty's voice broke through their shock: "Commander. You need to return to the Ark. Immediately. If Triangle reviews Exia's logs, if they trace the communications—"
"Move out," Arthur ordered, his voice rough. "Double-time formation. Shifty, plot the fastest route back."
They ran.
The wasteland blurred past as both squads pushed their pace to the limit. Arthur's prosthetic legs ate up the distance with mechanical efficiency, but his mind kept returning to Exia's last words. *Don't worry.* As if her own death was just another data point to be processed and filed away.
The minefield appeared ahead of them sooner than expected. Shifty marked a safe route through the scattered ordnance, her voice tense but controlled: "Follow the waypoints exactly. No deviation."
Alisa was in the lead, her saw-blade arms retracted to minimize her profile. She'd just passed the third waypoint when the ground erupted beneath her feet.
The explosion threw her backward, a geyser of dirt and smoke marking where she'd been standing. Arthur was moving before she hit the ground, closing the distance in seconds. She lay sprawled across scorched earth, her left leg twisted at an angle that made his stomach clench.
"Mine was too small for standard detection," Shifty reported, her voice strained. "I'm sorry, I should have—"
"Later," Arthur cut her off. He knelt beside Alisa, his hands already pulling medical supplies from his coat. "How bad is it?"
Alisa tried to sit up, winced, and settled for meeting his eyes. "I've... I've had worse?"
The damage wasn't catastrophic—her Nikke durability had absorbed most of the blast—but shrapnel had torn through synthetic muscle fiber and hydraulic systems in her calf. Arthur worked quickly, wrapping the wound with a pressure bandage that would at least keep the injury from worsening until they reach proper medical facilities.
Alisa watched him work, her face flushed with something that wasn't entirely pain. "Thank you, Commander. I... I think I can move again."
Arthur helped her to her feet. She tested her weight gingerly, nodded. "Functional. Not optimal, but functional."
The explosion's echo had barely faded when Shifty's warning cut through: "Multiple Rapture signatures! They're converging on your position!"
"Defensive formation!" Scarlet's command was immediate. "Watch your spacing—we're in a goddamn minefield!"
The Raptures came from multiple directions, drawn by the blast like sharks to blood. Arthur counted at least twenty units, with larger signatures following behind.
Lyra's rifle spoke first, the Basilisk's distinctive boom dropping a Rapture that had gotten too close to marked ordnance. "Avoid the marked positions," she called out. "Let them hit the mines."
It was brutal mathematics. The Raptures had no concept of danger, no survival instinct to override their attack programming. They charged straight through the minefield, and the resulting explosions tore through their formations.
But not all of them.
V's katana flashed as she intercepted a Rapture that had somehow navigated through the chaos. Her blade carved through its torso in a single fluid motion. "They're learning the safe paths!"
"Then we don't let them learn," Arthur said, his Typhoon roaring to life. He tracked a Rapture attempting to flank their position, his burst catching it center-mass and sending it tumbling into an unmarked patch of ground. The mine there detonated, confirming Shifty's earlier warning about undetected ordnance.
Ocean and Nyx coordinated rocket fire, their explosive rounds creating new hazards for the advancing Raptures. Flower and Miranda held the center, their combined fire forming a killing zone that nothing organic could have survived.
Scarlet moved through the chaos like she'd been born to it, her SMG chattering as she protected Alpha team's flanks. Anis laughed—a harsh, bitter sound that had none of her usual humor—as her grenade launcher turned a cluster of Raptures into scrap.
Alisa fought despite her injury, her saw-blades emerging to carve through anything that got close. She moved with a slight limp, but her determination never wavered.
The last Rapture fell to Rapi's precise marksmanship. She lowered her rifle slowly, scanning for additional targets that didn't appear.
"Clear," she announced.
Arthur surveyed his teams. Exhausted. Shaken. But intact.
"Shifty," Rapi said quietly. "How far to extraction?"
A pause. Then: "Ten minutes. Maybe less if you maintain current pace."
Ten minutes. Arthur looked back toward the facility, toward the Outpost, toward where Exia had died trying to find answers about a substance called Vapaus.
They'd come here seeking information. Instead, they'd lost one of their own.
And they still didn't know what Vapaus really was.