The light was bright, took Luscious a while to adjust, or even focus. He stood up in his dizzy haze, looking around the empty white room, nothing was different, all of it was just the same, white tiled floor, white soundproof walls, and ceiling. Stepping forward and grabbing his white shirt, pants, and shoes, Luscious was ready for the day, he didn't dare step out of the door however, he just waited, it felt like a long wait too, but it felt like that every day. The buzzer went off, and he opened the door, and so did everybody else. No one spoke, and no one did anything. All that happened was pure silence, as hundreds of people walked down the small corridor. The white interior still feels empty and emotionless like everything, and everyone else. 

He continued to walk forward, and someone behind him tapped on his shoulder, he was confused, no one could do anything in this line, they needed to stay focused, stay still. He did want to answer her, he didn't want to seem rude, but he knew if he spoke, they would both die. The Marksman rifles unfolded from behind the pillars on the walls. Every single person in the room turned toward the weapons at the exact same time, almost as if it was choreographed. The guns were plucked from the wall, everyone grabbing their Marksman firmly in their right hand, and slinging it over their left shoulder. But the one person beside Luscious, she just grabbed her by the barrel of the gun, not by the handle, not by the grip, but she just didn't seem to care how she held the weapon, because a few moments later she was fiddling with the magazine, just pulled it out at one point and strapped it on her waist. 

Luscious looked at the woman with pure concern, "What are you doing?" He whispered to her, although it wasn't aggressive, it was more so out of shock.

She looked at him and smiled, "Whatever the hell I want."

He sighed, and chuckled a bit, before grabbing her gun and putting it over her shoulder, slightly annoyed, but impressed that she seemed so...energetic, but he knew that her energy would go away, and soon, just like everybody else, it would fade into an empty feeling. 

Walking to the shuttle bay, with the other passengers, Luscious realized that the girl was tagging along with him, she was number eight, and he was number two, she needed to move back down the line, so he tried quietly motioning to get her to leave, but she just shook her head. He didn't want another person to die due to their ignorance, but he just let her remain, especially since she was holding a magazine that was bigger than his, so his and her survival rate has already dramatically increased. He just continued to move forward, entering the shuttle and sitting in his numbered slot, while the girl sat in slot number three. 

Luscious, "What are you doing?" He whispered with a hint of anger but tried to keep cool.

Without even answering his question the girl looked at him and chuckled, "Names Vexa.”

He didn't really know how to respond until Vexa stuck her hand out, so he just shook. 

"Yours?" Vexa asked, her energy was quite a lot to handle.

"Luscious," That's all he said, trying to oppose her energy.

Vexa, almost for the whole ride inside the shuttle, poked at him and flicked him in the shoulder once in a while. He just sat there, trying to remain calm due to her being an annoyance. 

They arrived, the shuttle doors opened, and they jumped out, every member, of two-hundred people. Luscious grabbed his gun and pulled back the bolt handle, loading the gun with a single bullet. Vexa however, loaded hers with three, and she just stuck her tongue directly at him. He began to realize she was just like this, she had a playful nature, annoying yes, entertaining, maybe a little. He scoped in looking around and saw what he was looking for fairly quickly, a singular creature roamed about, his hands were covered in blood, its face distorted, and clumps of its own flesh covered its left eye and mouth.

Luscious looked back at the rest of his team, "Coganie S-1, it's on the street." And just like that, everyone looked directly at the street it was trudging through.

Vexa looked at him, "You know you work for Coganie?"

Luscious looked at her, "Yeah, always have, they kept me safe."

She just looked annoyed, "Coganie isn't keeping you 'Safe' if they are So, very clearly forcing you into this." Her change in tone was abrupt, almost as if she knew far more than she would, or could tell. He didn't know what to say, or how to respond. It was hard, but maybe she was right. But how? He has been doing this his whole life, how could she know anything about what he has done, what he needs to do? Luscious just looked at her, "Prove to me you are correct, otherwise, drop it." He, unlike most people who live here, is willing to listen to reason, and listen to someone of a lower class. He adjusted his rifle and looked back through the scope, glaring at the street. The Creature was gone, he started to frantically scan the street, the rooftops, and the buildings. He didn't know where it was, where it is, and now he was desperately trying to find it, but now that it was gone, either the mission was over, or his team was. Luscious stood up and threw the rifle back over his shoulder, he motioned to the rest of his team from the roof he was heading down, so he did, landing heavily on his feet and looking around, trying to make sure that this...demon was in sight. Screaming, he heard screaming, the sound of flesh being torn heard with it, as he headed into the deep black shadows of the street ahead. Grabbing his pistol, and turning on the light, Luscious walked forward, drawn to darkness. 

The shuffling of the creature's feet could be heard, as was the sound of flesh being torn apart. Luscious couldn't see far ahead, and he didn't take enough caution to look below, so when he stepped on a metal grate, it wasn't quiet, at all. The creature's growling could be heard as were its footsteps, and they began to grow louder, the time between each step grew shorter, it was chasing him. Luscious began to run in the opposite direction, back into the moonlit street and back to the direct center, of where his team was. He was on the street, and they were on the roofs, ready to take the shot at the demon whenever they were ready.

He slipped into a small crawlspace to get out of the way, of the barrage of bullets that would soon cover this place. The Creature slowly walked out, and it seemed to just fade away, leaving a small glitchy trial behind where it was. Luscious came out of the crawlspace and looked around, confused, but slightly frustrated that the creature, that his team needed to capture, was gone.

Luscious, "Did anyone see where the creature went?!" He sounded worried, but more so shocked, they were never able to do what that creature did, none of the other ones could just, fade out of existence.  One man silently shook his head, which was enough for Luscious to know that it was gone. They missed their chance to kill it, and now it will kill everything. They had to catch it, Luscious knew that too well, he knew that if he didn't fix this, it was going to be the death of his team, except him, and number one. 

Then, in that moment, when everyone was thinking of their next action, the creature reappeared and tore through the team, killing one, then another, then another, without stopping, without thinking, without care. Luscious stood back and watched in horror, as he quickly thought to pull out his rifle, which he did, and he started firing the weapon at the beast, but each shot missed, it was moving too fast for him to react in time. He felt his arm being pulled into the crawlspace he was in before, he aimed his gun at what was pulling him in, before realizing it was human, it was Vexa. They both sat in there, Luscious wanted to fight but was horrified, and Vexa sat there, annoyed and a little tired.

She looked directly at Luscious, and spoke softly, "Give the creature time to breath, we will come back out when it's distracted, then, and only then, will you make your move."

Luscious nodded as if he understood what she was about to do, and he thought he did, but he was wrong. Vexa and Luscious waited about an hour, before she stepped out, and waved her hand for him to follow, in which he did. They slowly came out of the crawlspace, and into the now bright city streets, aluminated by the blue Sun.

Vexa looked back and talked to Luscious again, as she continued walking and minding each step forward, "How long has it been since you have seen the sun?"

Luscious was taken off-guard by this comment, it wasn't entirely random, as much as it was disrespectful to what had just happened only an hour earlier. Everyone was slaughtered, yet she acted as if she didn't care.

"Uh, no. May I ask what your idea is? I thought we were going to find the creature and I 'make my move'", Luscious asked, a bit rushed in his sentence, but seemingly a little irritated. 

"Trust me, we will get there. First, I need a drink," She retorted.

Although Luscious found her annoying, he also seemed to find charm in her mannerisms, although right now, he was far too worried about getting the mission complete that he didn't care enough to find her charming, he just found he rude. In his anger, he grabbed her shoulder and forcefully turned her around, and looked at her dead in the eyes, making her freeze, realizing she really did piss him off. She could just tell, from the amount of stuff he put up with, her fidgeting with the gun, talking without stopping, and being rude, that he was generally very calm, and kind in nature, but she went too far, and she could tell.

"What, the hell, is your plan?" He clearly was forcing his voice to be calm, for him to seem less frustrated than he was, it worked for everybody walking past them, but it didn't work for Vexa, she knew, she could see it in his eyes.

Brushing his shoulder off, Vexa smiled at him, her being frozen didn't last long at all. 

"Alright, let's just...," She didn't say anything to him, and she just pointed at the Bar only about a block behind them. 

"Trust me," She continued, "I got a plan."

He decided to just follow along at this point, she walked to the bar, and swung open the doors, without even looking around at the other people, she just sat down on a bar stool and looked over the counter at the bartender. She tapped her fingers waiting, and Luscious, did look around, everyone stared at him, no one dared to look at her though. Luscious sat down and looked at Vexa, waiting for her to say something. 

She looked back at him, "You're new here," She whispered, "I'm not. They trust me, not you." 

The bartender strolled over to them and looked at Vexa, "You want the regular?" He asked in a rather bored, and slowed tone. Vexa just nodded. "You?" The bartender asked, looking at Luscious. 

"I don't want anything, thank you though." He responded rather politely. 

Vexa looked at Luscious, as the bartender filled two shot glasses for her. He handed them both over to her, and she took out two coins without looking back at him. The bartender just grabbed coins and walked back around the corner. She slid a shot glass over to Luscious and gave him the look, to just drink. He didn't want to, but took the shot anyways, and so did she. Vexa stood up and grabbed a small plastic bag from her pocket, and the bag contained white powder.

"What the he-" Vexa put her finger over Luscious' mouth. She lifted her arm and waved the bag in the air, and everyone in the room, stared, before erupting into loud cheering.

"Gonna head to the Bathroom with this fool ya'll!" She pointed at Luscious while shouting. She grabbed his hand and pulled him into the bathroom. She went into the stall beside him and threw the bag in the toilet, not flushing as it would be obvious she got rid of the drugs.

"So what is your plan?" He asked, curious, and kind.

She smiled as she changed her outfit, from the all-white, bland clothing, into something more...her. Silver lined suit, and black as the main shade used on it.

                                                           ***

They walked out into the cold night, the clouds still rushing strong around them. Luscious grabbed his rifle and took out a small black grapple, using it to pull himself onto the roof of a building. He pulled the weapon forward and aimed down into the middle of the street, retrying the plan from earlier, but Vexa was bait. He stared at her through his scope, waiting until the monster appeared in front of her, but while looking at her, he remembered what she had said. He remembered what happened to him only seven hours before, he felt bad, because he knew she didn't really dump the drug, because after they were done talking, he heard something splash in the toilet water, and then he heard the bag open. He shook the thought out of his mind, as he waited for the creature to show up.

It was a long wait, very long, to the point where Vexa started fidgeting and tossing a ball into the air, but Luscious stayed still, calm, aware, and watched until it appeared. Luscious readied his sniper and aimed it at the creature's head, ready to fire. Right as he was about to pull the trigger, Vexa stood up, getting in the way of his shot, so he aimed higher until he noticed something, Vexa was holding her hand out to the creature. 

Luscious waited for the monster's next move, and it did make its next move, but it wasn't what he expected, it took Vexa's hand, then it let go. The thing didn't attack, it just stood there, then it fell to the ground, as blue orbs flew from its eyes and mouth, then they disappeared. Luscious jumped down and looked at Vexa, concerned, not mad, but simply, confused. She turned around and looked at him, then smiled, "It's gone."

Luscious was now even more confused, "That was it?"

"Yeah," Vexa responded. "I just needed to set its soul at ease, the blue orbs, was it finally being freed from its body."

Luscious looked at her, "It's soul?"

Vexa looked back at him, "He was, set free. They are vengeful, only because of the things we have done to them."

Luscious, "You're talking about when Coganie imprisoned them because people were afraid."

She nodded, "The creatures don't want to harm us, they are just angry, and afraid."

Luscious stood, looking at her in defiance, "They will harm us no matter what we do!" He yelled, his tone defensive and angry, he wasn't ready to understand, he didn't want to.

Vexa looked him dead in the eye, "Do you have any proof that they killed people without being threatened first?"

He had no response, because he knew, that there was no evidence to support what he said, she was right.

She looked at him, just as defiantly. They both had their belief in what was right, but after what Luscious saw, after how it didn't attack Vexa, and after her being allowed into Coganie's wipeout teams along with him, she was right. He knew she was right, she knew it as well, it was just whether they would agree, to do what he didn't want to. Luscious sat down, and Vexa continued to look at him, now she was looking down on him. 

"What do we do?" He asked, rather hoarsely.

She sat down beside him, and looked at him warmly, "We don't need to fight Coganie," She sighed, "We just need to make sure we get you safe because if you join me, you might be in danger of what Coganie might do to you."

He nodded and stood up, "I'm ready to go with you."

She looked confused and stood up with him, "Already? Just like that, you trust me?"

He smiled, "Your human, not one of the creatures. And honestly, I can't trust anyone here. Maybe I can trust someone now."

She smiled back and walked to the outskirts of the city, motioning for him to follow along, which he did. It was a long walk through the blue sunlit city streets of Kowerata. The city's walls loomed over them, each one seeming taller than the last. The feeling of being watched never left either of them, Vexa seemed uncomfortable by it surprisingly, so she put her hood on, and put her hands in her pocket, making sure to not look at anyone, other than Luscious. She trusted him somehow, whether it was him being more kind than most, or it was him not trying to kill her for what could be seen as a betrayal to his team, for setting the Kauket free, or maybe, it was because he gave her a chance, something that is not all too common around here. Luscious, however, he had no reason to trust her other than the fact that she was one of the few, that gave him a chance, a chance to see what may maybe, just maybe, be the truth behind why he did what he did, what his team did, what Coganie did.

They were both far from the city's entrance now. Vexa looked below her and kicked the ground hard, then again, then again. She kept kicking until the floor gave away beneath them. Vexa stood up as dust and dirt fell on both of them. She grabbed the floor that broke below her, and she lifted it and held it up above her until it stayed. She jokingly pushed Luscious forward, in which he smiled at her and walked forward, even further into the dark underground. Everything was dark, pitch black until one single light came on, then all of them did. Luscious saw what was before him, but it wasn't what he thought he would see when she brought him here. Hundreds, and hundreds of people, either lying down, asleep, eating, talking, playing. 

Vexa looked at him, "Welcome to the people of Project Volarian."