Leave The Monster Alone

He just took the female in his arms and left with an amused smile. The feeling of unrest would not leave Fidi though but he could do nothing at all. He picked up the other body, ready to get it to Mark.

It felt ironic to deliver this news to Mark after the other's encounter with his sister which Fidi tried to not think about. After all, they were not blood-related, just bound by the words spoken long ago. 

And now someone else had lost their brother as well. 

En had found Mark and that thought resonated inside his mind all the while he ran all the way outside the parameters. He wanted to help En but he knew that was not what the other wanted from him. 

So he ran as fast as he could, making his feet work for his and En's sacrifice. 

There was a feeling of doom in the air which he could not shake off, his instincts telling Mark to turn around and to help En out if he wanted him to live but the other had pushed him away for a reason.

He had wanted Mark to help the base out, even at the expense of his own life and well being. Mark would not sully that by being selfish. He could not sully it by being selfish. 

So he ran and allowed his scanner to scan the area as he moved about. The range for this scan was rather large which allowed him to pick up a lot of smaller bombs. 

And when Mark said a lot it was no exaggeration but a fact. He had already picked up 5 signals in the same wing and he had to wonder just how the other made it possible. Most of these places were not easy to reach for people, much fewer outsiders. 

But it could be thought of later as well, while right now he has a job to finish. 

_____________________

I'm sending you the location of the bombs, the one we used before in the cafeteria. There are more of them all over so try and get them off as soon as you can. Also, do not touch them directly or you might get contaminated.

_____________________

Mark could only bet that Alan, his partner, would be ok even if the bomb exploded. Their status as a divine beast should allow them immunity to that thing but there was no surety

It scared Mark, surely it did but these bombs were a priority. Already it felt like En had sacrificed himself for them but he was alive. 

He was alive, right? Alive and kicking and he would come to annoy Mark any second now with his annoying voice. 

He would not die, right? 

He had not moved that far before his screen flashed with a message even marked as code red. 

_____________________

System code: red (initiated by user coded as En) 

Beginning self-destruction sequence. The blast will go live in 60 seconds. Everyone is cautioned to escape while they can.

Warning: will not work on threat level 4 and above. 

_____________________

Mark felt frozen as soon as he read that but he had to force himself to dismiss that. Surely it was a fluke or someone playing a prank on him? Hahaha, he laughed so they could stop now. 

There was no way En took this route out of the situation? Why had he done this? To take Shiro down? There was no need because Fidi was around there, right? It was all a fluke. It had to be because En would not do that to them. 

He would not do that to Mark just as they had been on the cups of repairing their relationship, right? 

Mark numbly dismantled the first bomb he found and then moved on to the other. Outwardly there seemed to be nothing wrong with him, his cold eyes looking sharp and glaring as ever. 

But there was an actual vulnerability there that could not be unmasked if someone looked deeper inside. There was a fragility there that spoke of betrayal the other felt. 

Why had En done this time him? If he was going to pull this stunt then he might as well have not repaired their friendship at all. That way the hurt would be less for him, right? 

But Mark could not help himself from yearning for a single message from the other. A message that was not likely going to come anytime soon. 

Or ever, if En really did die but Mark was trying not to think about it. He couldn't help but feel the disturbance in the air as he went further. Something big was about to come their way, a wave of destruction. 

Which struck the place just as Mark gave out a gasp of horror. The hallway was filled with zombies which meant one of those bombs must have exploded while he was delaying. How much more did they have to uncover right here? 

Then it was all plain white with the light shining all around him before it faded into a familiar backdrop of the hallway he was running in. Something heavy filled Mark's chest when he saw the empty hallway. 

The zombies had disappeared and did have the feeling of wrong. Then again, he felt as if he was hallucinating all the time so it would be fitting if this was an illusion as well. 

But his mind and heart said that he had lost something important just now and Make knew he could not deal with it if he remained in his current condition. His system took the clue and toned down his emotions but the grief and loss still lingered. 

_____________________

Lower. Turn it all off if you can

_____________________

Emotions, Mark did not want to feel then right now. They were a hindrance and they caused a lot of problems for everyone involved, including Mark. It was better when he had none since they did not distract him and he made better decisions overall. 

_____________________

WARNING: EMOTION SENSOR TURNED LOWER THAN RECOMMENDED. IT MAY CAUSE FUNCTIONAL ISSUES IN THE USER.

To proceed press 'Yes'

_____________________

It was likely a horrible idea but at that very second, it did not feel as if it was nothing but brilliant. These pesky emotions would quiet down and the silence would help Mark concentrate. 

And he needed peace and quiet if he wanted to make it through this day without losing it. 

The peace came as soon as the new setting vs settled in his system but the feeling of relief did not come. Nothing came but the empty silence which would have horrified Mark had he been able to feel. 

But he could not feel anything so he did not feel anything but the sweet silence of his mind. 

_____________________

Mark, are you alright? Your end went far too quiet for a minute or two. Do I need to come to help you out? 

_____________________

Help? Mark did not need it. Especially from someone who would be emotionally endangering Mark's wellbeing. He had the white he wanted to work anyway. 

_____________________

No need. Continue disabling bombs as you are instructed. I will meet you later

_____________________

Once the message was sent, Mark looked for the last location in this locality. He was not sure how this bomb had been treated or even if it had exploded yet but he should check to rule it out. 

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Nathan carrying out a female figure in white and their eyes met for the briefest of seconds before Nathan was out of range. 

Make felt an emotion he was not supposed to at that very second, he felt rage and anger. 

He had to forcefully shut that emotion down and even ignore the warning signs his system was flashing at him. 

It did him no good to feel and he needed to be objective here. Finding the bombs ranked higher than running after the feeling of rage he felt anyway. 

When he reached the last bomb, Alan and Vodi were already there working on it. Mark joined them as soon as he neared them enough to check their work out. 

"How long before you are finished?" The progress report was important to have since it helped Mark plan out what to focus on next. Alan was frowning at Mark and he could not focus on why. 

But that was the talking for later. Right now Mark needed to focus on the bigger picture. Thankfully, Vodi got the point and briefed him instead. 

"We took care of location 1 you gave us. A hoard slowed us down but the light took care of them. Any idea what it was and how to reproduce it?" No Mark had no idea and somehow he did not want to even know. 

This was a time his mind and rationality were at war with each other. One part of him did want to know but his mind argued that it might compromise the mission.. How it could happen, Mark had no idea about, but it could so his brain protested the very idea.