Power. Control. Status.

That’s what it’s all about…

Her footsteps echo hard against the cold basement floors. Face solemn and eyes burning with an ancient grudge hidden within. It was about time to unleash something she wanted to show the world.

Mankind is weak.

Mankind is evil.

And so… Mankind shall pay...

“Is it ready?” She asks right after entering through the tinted door.

This was a weekly routine. Every weekends she’d specifically made her presence in the lab known. She had to make sure everything is going according to plan. Just the way it should be.

“You think?” The suited up figure who had a gas mask on looked up at her, “Well, it’s going smoothly. Like finally after all the months of preparation.”

“Really?” She raises a brow, peering through the large liquid-filled tank, bubbles seething from the mouth of a human body floating inside. She cringes her nose at the unpleasant sight.

“Would I ever lie to you?” He breathes out a sigh, steaming the surface of his mask cover.

She casted him another glance, “Well, just don’t mess it up. These bodies are expensive.”

“Since when were these expensive?” He gave a bitter chuckle.

There was a mild clicking of tongue, indicating disapproval, “Just be careful not to blow anything up. I don’t want the entire campus collapsing into all… these.” She gestures around the gloomy place.

Gloomy as it looks, this place would be the start. The beginning of a new race. The very birth of inhumanity and chaos. Something she takes delight in, casually pondering about during free hours. Not that she’s got a lot of free time to spare.

He points a large tweezer in her direction, she could picture his grin from behind the mask, “That… saves us the trouble of collecting new bodies for sampling.”

“I’m being serious!” She huffs and rolls her eyes.

“Yes, yes captain…”

She scoffs at the careless remark, letting her gaze fall again to the experiments one last time before making her exit. This was never a place she liked being in for too long.

***

Time surely flies.

That class test held during the previous week felt only like yesterday. Well, at least only the feeling of studying felt like yesterday. Yet another test was coming up soon and Tzuyu finds herself spending more time over at the squirrel girl’s place, even staying nights over when they end up studying past midnight.

Sana insists.

Tonight was yet again specially late. Coffee cups and bentos had littered the place around the table where they say at. Sana watches the younger girl fidget every few seconds and raises a brow. Fidgeting, or any other bad habits that existed for the matter, does not belong to Tzuyu. That she was very certain.

The younger one was starting to feel prickly all of a sudden. Cracking the tensed nerves in her neck and back did not help calm her down.

“Are you alright?” Sana finally asks.

Tzuyu frowned, “No actually… I was about to say that I’d better make a move now.”

“It’s really late now.”

“I know, but… I just have to make sure…”

“Is this about your family?” There was a soft look in Sana’s eyes, “What you told me about the other day?”

Tzuyu begins to wonder if spilling too much secrets to the older girl was alright. She doesn’t even know, or recall, of anything that would have made her reveal her troubling past. Something she’s never done all these years. Not even once. Perhaps she was finding her current company too comfortable for safety.

She blinks, “I’m sorry for bothering you about it.”

“Well, I asked, and trust me I’m not bothered at all.” Sana reaches out for her hand again, caressing it lightly to assure her all was fine.

“It’s not something I’d tell anyone about.”

“Thank you for sharing it with me.”

Tzuyu lowers her head to stare at their joint hands, “You’re the only one who asked.”

“Really now?” Sana felt a chuckle escape her lips.

“The only one who asks with the thought of genuinely wanting to know.” She felt her fingers being played around gently in Sana’s warm hands.

“So honoured for this friendship, Miss Chou.” Sana teases and then glances at the wooden clock hanging on the wall, “Can’t it wait till tomorrow? Whatever it is you need to attend to.”

“I would rather not wait this one out. Thanks for tonight’s study session. It’s great as usual.” Tzuyu smiles slightly and pats Sana on the head. A gesture she had started doing ever since she noticed the adorable resemblance the girl has to a furry little tree animal.

Sana was already pouting by the time the younger one had slung her backpack one side over a shoulder. She bids the younger girl off with a small wave and they exchanged ‘see you soon’s before Tzuyu made her way down the streets.

It was slightly past midnight, which explains Sana’s worry, but Tzuyu felt more at ease during night time rather than in the day. That she didn’t tell the other, for fear of bringing about some strange curfew rule into effect.

She inhales deeply and frowns. She was right. Something was off here… Right at this alley. Quickening her steps, she turns a corner into a darker back street. Her eyes widens at the two hazy figures at the other end of the pathway. One was sprawled on the ground. Her nose had picked up the heavy scent of blood.

Dead? No… but barely alive, she feels the weak pulse.

Jogging her way over swiftly, she was surprised to see two girls who were about her age. The one seated up had tightly clenched fists and teary eyes. She bends over and decides to tend to the injured one first. Carefully ing the blood stained top, Tzuyu slowly opens the shirt and felt a scoff working its way up .

What was she even expecting?

The deep gashes running along the girl’s torso couldn’t be more familiar. It was what Tzuyu grew up seeing. Large claw marks dragged across vulnerable delicate human flesh. Her hands traces the mark slowly and then she frowns sharply.

She turns to the other petrified girl fiercely, “What did you see just now?”

The girl let out a small squeak at the sudden confrontation, followed by a strangled sob. She shakes her head repeatedly, “I don’t know! I don’t wanna know!”

Tzuyu’s eyes softens. Through all her time spent with Sana, the younger had learnt from the older girl that holding hands was a way of effective comfort. Though she was not used to such intimacy with anyone else, she figures something had to be done or she wouldn’t be able to get the answers she needed.

Reaching out awkwardly for the girl’s freezing hands, she held them as gently as she could, “Don’t worry. Just tell me what you saw. I promise you’ll be safe.”

“I…” The girl squeezes her eyes and held onto Tzuyu’s hand tightly, “I… You wouldn’t believe me…”

“Try me.”

“Someone came… From the sides… ” She glances at her unconscious girl beside them, “I don’t know who, but she got attacked first…”

“Is she someone you know?”

The girl shook her head like a child would, “No… She was just in front of me while we were walking.”

“Passer-by?”

She nods slowly, wiping the tears away from her cheek, “Y-Yes…”

Tzuyu reaches into the pocket of the silently crying girl, pulling out her phone, “Call the ambulance. Police. Whatever is necessary. I don’t know how it works here but we need to get this girl to a safe place.”

The girl nods frantically and begins shakily dialing the emergency number, “H-Hello? I-Is this the emergency line? We’ve got s-someone injured here. P-Please save her…”

Tzuyu straightens up and stands by the side. Her mind was running over the words said by the crying girl...

Someone? That someone must not be human then. She frowns again.

The claw marks did not have any scent of their kind, which was absurd and very unlikely to happen. Their way of identification was by their scent. There was no such thing as scentless…

Her thoughts flashed back to a certain campus cheerleader and her eyes darkens.

“E-Excuse me…” A soft voice distracted her angry train of thoughts.

She turns around and meets frightened eyes, “Yes?”

“T-Thank you… For being here and… I don’t know what will happen to me if you hadn’t come…” She tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ears.

Tzuyu shrugs, “Don’t mention it. I just happened to be passing by.”

The girl dips her head in a shy nod and then bites her lip before softly mumbling, “My name’s Mina… Myoui Mina.”

Tzuyu raises a brow, “You can call me Tzuyu. Guess we’ll be waiting for that ambulance to arrive.”

“Yes… It won’t take too long.”

Tzuyu hums casually and then switches the topic out of curiosity, “You live nearby?”

“Just around that corner actually.” She points.

Tzuyu was surprised. This was near Sana’s apartment… She could jolly well be seeing this girl pretty often.

“I’m actually… New.” Mina says quietly, “Transferring to a college here.”

“Oh. Which one?”

The girl takes out a file and shows Tzuyu the school’s logo printed on it.

“Oh…” Her eyes widens in surprise.

Looks like they’ll be having a new classmate.