Meeki and Braya returned to find the storage closet door left opened. The Innocent Girls abandoned the room, but they left the lamp behind. At first Meeki couldn't make out anything inside, but Braya drew in a sharp breath. Taking a closer look, Meeki noticed something stirring. The shadowed figure out of a man.
“Rugero?” Braya guessed.
The figure started and turned around. The light illuminated his face. His eyes widened upon recognizing them. Braya guessed correctly.
“Samara?” he called out.
Meeki wondered what he was doing there. Thinking it might be a trick, she looked around the hall, but it was clear.
“What's going on?” Meeki asked.
“You've got to run! The leader's betrayed us!” Rugero cried. His entire body trembled.
“What do you mean?”
“The leader—he set us up as bait to distract you—he wants every one of us arrested or dead.”
Meeki strained her eyes and noticed that two others were in the room. They were on the floor and hadn't moved. The larger one was probably James, and the smaller man was Jacques.
“They're d—dead. They tried to stop the leader when he told us his plan, he sh—shot them,” Rugero said, moaning pitifully as he looked to the lifeless pair.”
Meeki choked up to seeing the corpses and stepped backed away to avoid seeing them any longer. Even though neither of them were particularly nice to her, she couldn't stand the sight of dead bodies.
Braya stared for a moment, and then she suddenly punched the door in a fit of rage.
“I've had it with this shit!” Braya growled.
Meeki thought the noise would attract unwanted attention, but the hall was too quiet for her liking. That assassin was out there somewhere. This wasn't the first time he'd try to hurt them, but the feeling wasn't any less terrifying. Meeki kept close to Braya and watched the tanned walls warily.
“We've got to find the others,” Meeki mumbled.
Braya's rage already subsided. “They planned to start at the cafeteria, thirteenth floor.”
“No need,” Kiluana suddenly called out as she turned the corner behind them.
Meeki never thought she would feel so relieved to see Kiluana. “You know the situation?”
“We found those three by the door shortly after you left.” Kiluana turned and waved for them to follow. “Braya, you need to join Maika down on the fifth floor. And Meeki, we're going to the top floor. Hurry.”
They approached the nearby pair of elevators. One of them opened instantly when Braya pressed the button. But had one last thing to say before boarding.
“Kill him. Painfully,” Braya told them.
The elevator door slid shut and she went down. That bit of advice sent a shiver down Meeki's spine. Braya always seemed so pure and kind, such talk wasn't fitting at all.
* * *
They couldn't quite see the administrator from the door's window. The back of his chair was taller and wider than the man himself, but his white robed arms poked out the sides. The television hanging on the wall played sports news broadcasts. He seemed to be very enthralled with it.
Fifteen minutes passed without any sign of danger. Meeki paced around the door before leaning against a wall.
“It's too bad we won't get recognized for this. People used to get these great wishes granted for this kind of stuff,” Meeki mused.
Kiluana was sitting against one of the many thick plaster columns painted in blue. She had a vacant stare and didn't respond to Meeki's suggestion of rewards. A girl like her probably cared little for political favors, and she was already a public enemy in any case.
“I hope the others are okay,” Meeki said.
Patience was not an easy virtue to uphold. Meeki walked along the hall and checked the administrator's door once again. Nothing in there had changed since they arrived. The little man still sat in his chair, hardly moving as the news showed various clips. Something about it troubled her.
“Come and look at this,” Meeki said.
Kiluana climbed back to her feet and walked toward the door. But she hadn't quite made it when a deep voice boomed from around the corner. “Don't bother.”
Meeki and Kiluana spun around to see Elian approaching. But something was wrong, it was the assassin's voice rather than his own. Kiluana withdrew two pistols at record speed and jumped behind a column. She held her gun at the ready and smiled in a blissful way. Everything about her became exquisite and beautiful whenever there was to be shooting. Meeki on the other hand trembled like a child and stumbled behind another column.
“Finally showing yourself, hm?” Kiluana teased.
“You destroyed my stealth machine, I have no choice.”
“So sorry, but that's business.”
“Just so you know, all of your little girlfriends have been taken care of,” he said.
Kiluana's entire body stiffened. She glared at the man, uncertain about believing him. Meeki found it far fetched, considering that he had only fifteen or twenty minutes to deal with four girls. Braya especially wasn't one to lose a fight so quickly.
Elian shrugged. “They were quite easy to handle, except for that pigtailed one. While we're on the subject, the administrators are all dead. I killed them earlier today just before lunch.”
Meeki shuddered and wanted to disbelieve it. Kiluana held her gun to Elian and walked to the administrator's door. She looked through the window but her face remained stiff and unconvinced.
“Open the door and see. I disabled the locks,” Elian said.
Kiluana pushed the button and the door slid open without fussing over security checks. She then turned to Meeki with a very grave look on her face.
“I'm going to check. Stay with him.”
“Stay?” Meeki said.
“It'll only be a second.”
Meeki looked between Elian and Kiluana. Being alone with a highly trained spy murderer? This wasn't exactly her idea of a good situation.
“You can't just—”
But Kiluana ignored Meeki and headed into the administrator's office anyway.
“Relax!” Elian assured.
He sat down against a column and seemed quite happy with himself. Meeki sighed and backed up against the wall beside the door. She stared at Elian with some mixture of fear, disgust and intrigue. It took a while to grasp the implications of him being the assassin. The thought of having been so close to a murderer on two occasions disturbed her.
“You killed James and Jacques. Weren't they on your side?” Meeki asked.
“They hardly matter to me. Those cultists—the entire cult I should say—are just scapegoats I can point a finger at. The same goes for you girls. Though I must admit, you're all a bigger pain than I imagined.”
“So you're going to get us arrested as the real assassins?”
“Yes. I'm sure you'll be executed or might serve life sentences, but you will have my gratitude.”
Meeki frowned. “What a comfort.”
It was good to know that he wasn't the one interested in violence for once. After a little act of surrender, they could surprise him and put an end to this bloody mess.
Kiluana returned from the other room and stood by the door. She looked to Elian with a straight face that made Meeki uneasy.
“Well done. But I guess you've had the advantage the entire time, so it isn't really that impressive,” Kiluana said.
Meeki's eyes widened and her heart pounded. “So—you mean he's really. . .?”
“Yes. It's very brutal in there, and it's been a few hours.”
A paralyzing chill cut through Meeki. They failed! The administrators were dead! How could this have happened?
Kiluana stepped forward and leaned against one of the blue columns. She fiddled with her gun a bit. “So, I'm curious, why would you kill off your own bosses? And spare me that 'I want to make the world a better place' drivel.”
Elian grinned. “To put it briefly, everyone knows these administrators do nothing but banter and chat. They don't know how to be leaders. They earned their rank through favoritism and money, not by hard work. They're disgusting slobs, and the planet has suffered for it.”
“And your hatred was so great that you couldn't just quit Gonsalez to join another party?”
“What's the point? They'd end up in the same hideous condition, so I wanted to try politics my own way. I worked hard my entire life to be the man I am today, and I'm sick of seeing people given free passes in their jobs, their lives, and everything else. It's only fair that I strengthen our society's forgotten ideals on the value of hard work. My way is the only way to turn this wretched lazy society around.”
Kiluana bowed to him. “I like you. You won't take shit and you work hard for what you want. I could use a man like you.”
“It's unusual to receive such respect from kids your age. Thank you.”
Kiluana's face abruptly became emotionless, as if she was another person altogether. “Now let's get with the shooting.”
“I suppose,” Elian agreed.
Kiluana slipped behind a column. Her back flattened against the surface and she held the two guns close to her body. Elian only stood up and made no effort to hide. Meeki took to Kiluana's example and hid behind the opposite column.
But Elian was not through talking.
“I'd like to make a proposition. We should ask Meeki whether she wants to continue this pointless violence. She is, after all, the real innocent one here.”
This was a strange thing to suddenly propose. Kiluana looked to Meeki and shrugged.
“What are you talking about?” Meeki called out.
“I'm willing to give you freedom. I'll let you go without any harm to you or your family. Consider it my apology for getting you into this situation.”
It sounded like an interesting offer, but Meeki couldn't trust Elian. Even if he would be honorable about it, there was a chance that Clara would know about it.
“No. Someone wants you dead, and they told me that I have to be here for it,” Meeki said.
“Who said that?” Kiluana asked.
“And who wants me dead?” Elian added.
“Who cares? I can't tell you,” Meeki said.
“Fair enough, then it's settled!” Kiluana cheered.
She leaned out of her cover to shoot a relentless stream of energy at Elian. The shield picked off every one of the shots, but Elian himself stood there without making any effort. By the time Kiluana ceased her firing and returned to cover, the shield's exhaust created a light atmosphere of smoke throughout the hall.
Kiluana wasn't discouraged by his passive resistance. She holstered her guns and elected for a bigger one, the same she used that night at the motel. She flipped a switch on one side and shook the gun to wake it up. Elian meanwhile removed something from his pocket, not quite a gun but a small electronic device. He was busy tapping a string of buttons on it, and then Meeki heard a small clunk somewhere else in the hall. She turned to see that a string of black wall mounted guns emerged from the wall above the administrator's door. They all pointed directly to Kiluana, who was not minding them at all.
“Surrender,” Elian said. “I have a number of guns on you. I can press one button and you will be hit by all of them. There would scarcely be anything left of you.”
Kiluana looked around and spotted the black guns waiting like crows. She placed the gun against her chest and closed her eyes. After several seconds she skipped away from the column and charged for Elian with a guttural battle cry. The guns on the wall simultaneously fired at her. Meeki flinched and nearly covered her eyes.
Perhaps expecting such timing, Kiluana jumped through the air. Every shot passed under her and fizzled against the floor. She drove the gun at Elian's face, hitting him with a loud crack. He stumbled away a bit and fell to the ground.
Kiluana wasted no time. She held the gun under her arm and fired. The shield tried its best to stop this, but with a deafening loud hiss the blue bullet pierced through. It impacted Elian's little device, which sparked and exploded in his hand. He kicked his leg up and a bright yellow glow flew out from under his feet. This surprising blast slammed against Kiluana's leg and flung it back. She hit the ground with a loud thud.
Elian hopped to his feet and retreated down the hall. Meeki peeked around the column and stepped out. It seemed that the fight had come to an end for now, but Kiluana was still on the floor. She struggled to push herself up, but something was wrong with her leg.
“He's getting away, are you alright?” Meeki asked.
“Pull me away from the sight of those guns, will you?”
Meeki took Kiluana's hand and helped her move near one of the columns. Seeing Kiluana helpless in such a way killed what little hope Meeki had.
“My leg's paralyzed,” Kiluana muttered. “I underestimated him. Guns on the bottom of shoes? That's a marvelous idea.”
“Are you sure you're alright?” Meeki asked.
“Oh yes, it's just paralysis, like what you had. But anyway, you'll have to go after him yourself.”
This was exactly what Meeki wanted to avoid.
“I don't know, what if he gets a weapon or something? I can't win a fight against someone like him.”
“You'll have a superior weapon.”
Kiluana pushed herself up with one hand and reached into her holster with the other. She pulled out a gun that Meeki hadn't seen before. It was long and somewhat skinny with thicker brown parts on the bottom. Just ahead of the trigger was a little black bar which reminded Meeki of something from her books on Newhope history. This was an older style of gun from times before Aster even existed. They fired small pellets rather than energy.
“His shield's regenerating from what I just did to him, but it's still weak. It won't stop these bullets.”
She handed the gun to Meeki. It was cold to the touch and heavier than it looked.
“The magazine's loaded, you have about five shots,” Kiluana said.
“What about you?” Meeki asked.
“I'm going to radio in some medical assistance for all of us, but that'll take a while. Hurry up and go before he comes back with another one of his little toys.”
Meeki looked to the gun and Kiluana and bit her lip. It wouldn't be easy taking Elian alone, but it didn't seem like there was much of a choice now. She nodded to Kiluana and prepared herself to go.