It was already nearing 3AM in the morning but the mission was nowhere near being accomplished. Usually they would call it a day by now and push the field tests to the next day but this was different. This was the final test.

Everyone was on their toes. Silence and anxiety filled the room while the officers looked intently at numerous security monitor screens spread against the wall which displayed live recording footage of different areas of what seemed like a mysterious jungle. The test subject's final mission was to annihilate 300 targets within 2 hours. Model M set out into a particular deserted jungle off the coast of Jeju, used specifically for secret government missions, hideouts and war preparations. Only the best of best combat fighters were able to step foot on those grounds. It is notoriously named as Death Island as most who step foot on it will not make it out of there in one piece.

If anything goes wrong during this mission, it would jeopardise this entire operation. Model M was their final hope. Operation ELITE's fate was in her hands.

"She has to survive."

Dressed in a long white laboratory coat, the tall man's eyes scanned across the numerous monitor screens in front of him for a particular AI robot amidst the surviving 100 targets left in the field. His tired eyes trailed away to his wrist watch as he clenched his jaw aggressively. He could feel the pressure of time eating up his confidence little by little by every passing minute. Just then, at the corner of his eye, he finally spot a familiar figure hidden in the bushes on 20th monitor screen at the bottom right. He let out a sigh of relief at the surviving AI robot who is still standing strong after defeating 200 targets. However, he was worried about her current physical conditions and whether she could successfully pull off this dangerous mission.

"Model M, report your status now," his stern voice instructed into his micophone and broadcasted through the public announcement system as his eyes shifted to one particular monitor screen. 

"Model M present, sir. Status report: 200 target annihilations. Health levels are steady. Ammo quantity left is still at a moderately high range. No damages to exterior physique. My body temperature is rising higher than reccomended. I will be hiding in the shade and commencing internal self-cooling procedure now," Model M reported informatively into her head gear, while keeping her rifle at her chest level in case of an unexpected ambush.

"Good work. Oh wait... Looks like we have company. Beware, Target 21 has just entered your premise hidden in the tall bushes. Please secure Target 21 after cooling," the man cautioned as he noticed a tall male figure dressed in all black with bright white coloured numbers '21' printed on the back of his vest. 

Target 21 was fully geared, his head gear entirely blocking his features and body protection suit totally covered his skin. He raised his pistol in the air at chest level while cautiously advancing through the high bushes.

"Cooling procedure complete. Target has been secured. Permission to fire, sir," her monotonous voice called through the speakers in the room as the man nodded immediately.

"Permission granted. Continue the good work and complete the mission. Time check: You are left with 54 minutes and 36 seconds. We're counting on you, Model M," the man's voice cracked unnoticably under the time pressure. 

"Roger that, sir. Model M wiill accomplish the mission within the time limit," she reassured him before switching off her head gear, aiming her gun at target 21's head from afar and pulled the trigger effortlessly. 

Splat! Thud.

Without even having any time to react, target 21 immediately got shot in his head and dropped lifelessly onto the bed of fallen leaves on the ground and his body seemed to have vanished into the bushes.  

"Just 99 more to go, we're counting on you buddy. We're ALL counting on you." 

"Model M, do you copy? Time check: 25 minutes and 12 seconds left. Report your status immediately," the man exclaimed in anxiousness while the room was kept in suspense.

Silence rang loudly in the room. Nobody even dared to breathe. 

"Something's wrong."

"Sir, we should prepare for the worst before it hits us in 25 minutes' time. This large number of targets is just too many for one AI robot. We should shut the programme down before the mission fails. When this fails, the government will win over all legal rights to wipe away our hardwork over all these years. It's not worth---", before Amber could continue, Eric rudely cut her off.

Slam! Eric impulsively hit the table top with his palm which startled the entire room. Everyone was frantic, but the person who had it worst was their team leader Eric. 

"NO! We promised the government this would work. We sacrificed so many hours and thousands of ELITE AI bots just for this moment. Don't you dare pull the plug on this right now, not when victory is so so close," the desperate leader argued but was only to be challenged by another team member.

"Yah! Eric Nam! You might be the team leader but listen to Amber. She has a point! We've wasted enough resources and money on this. If we recklessly and blindly continue on with this absurd plan of yours, and if the government finds out we have failed the mission, they would wipe it all clean. CLEAN. Do you hear me? Isn't that worse than putting this on hold now? At least we can choose to walk away in secret and no one else needs to get hurt. We can keep our operation lowkey and carry on on our own. There's no going back if we fail and hand everything over to the officials. Please Eric, you gotta listen-" Ailee begged Eric to think more rationally but only to be greeted with an unpleasant slap on her face. 

Slap! Eric's hand slapped Ailee's face as her head swung to the left, making her lose balance. The room gasped in unison. They have never seen this side of him. As much as he usually shows his explosive temper outbursts, nothing ever came close to this. Eric has had enough of this, all of this. 

"Listen up, you fools! We have invested our lives, heart and soul into this. We are not giving up now, you hear me? If risking failing the mission to possibly reach our ultimate victory then it's a sacrifice I'm willing to take. Besides, our fighter is still standing strong. We've trained her hard for this moment, she's born to win this. Trust in her, we'll succeed. I just know it," Eric tried his best to persuade his team mates with every ounce of hope left in him. 

In actual fact, he himself was also questioning the probability of Model M's success at this rate but he was not ready to give up ye