Silvereye

Holding my hands against their chests, Sabrina's and Anabelle's… I was aware of everything in the distance of the stars yet lost to what was in front of my eyes. This power, Soul Resonance, had taken from so much of Soul Killer, and was now bound to the mind of one who had taken just as much from them. The Crimson Heart.

Her presence was larger than what I just physically saw, she was a psychic organism, stretching through multiple bodies that all masked their appearances so it was impossible to tell which one was the real her.

A Gold BUG, but no SIM — every bit of her that came from Soul Killer was ingrained into her body without the need of an Implant. She was an extension of The Revenant, severed, but with their potent abilities. And she freely revealed them to me.

Keep doing this… until they live again. I sought for emotions and memories deeper inside of them, of anything I knew about them. As I prodded, the light I cast onto the shadow of death revealed thoughts and patterns I'd never looked into.

Sabrina was so lonely.

I saw flashes of her as a girl, hugging her twin brother, I never knew much about him, barely even his name. Daniel, I think? Belle was there too, in cadet school as they grew from over-aged kids into working adults…

And further, I saw Kim Liyung. Jaded, cold, Kim Liyung. Not the one behind me, being held at bay by the Crimson Heart's telekinetic grasp. She was worried and panicking, I was fucking something up.

What? Why did everyone keep secrets from me?

The SIM uncoiled and dug deeper through Sabrina, but it didn't merge with her. It refused to… and even if it did, how would I know if she'd wake up as a human. It was just as likely she'd become a MAL. A Parasyte.

And Anabelle's skull was in pieces, this was so futile… yet I continued trying. I could only ever try. I'd tried so hard today to protect people, but all it takes is one monster to ruin it all.

Steel Vanguard. Bladefather. Bladedaughter. The Dogwhistler.

It didn't matter how much work I'd done in the past when a single motion by either of those titanic forces could erase a life. How much could I strive to protect people, how much could I watch over them… and fail?

Even I was the same as them, Anthony as living, comatose, proof and Yvette as dead evidence…

It was irony, bitter irony, that all these thoughts of death and agony let me slip deeper into the workings of Sabrina's SIM. It had lived through her experiences, her life and the pain she felt. It didn't seem like a memory, but it felt… like a presence. A physical manifestation of the things she'd suffered through.

The key was with Kim Liyung, I felt her grief and pain burn out into the air. The smoke of desperation and longing spoke to the secrets of her soul… and I could harmonize with them. And she let me peer deeper into Sabrina's faded soul.

"Close… so close…" The Crimson Heart whispered. "But you don't have that power like I do… do you want it?"

"I do." I said, but not with my mouth. A second rose appeared in the air, and I took it into my mouth. I chewed, the flavor erased by my concentration as words became false to the thoughts beneath them.

Instantly, I felt connected to the Crimson Heart in a way that went beyond Starlight. Like my mind was a piece of hers… but my SIM was quick to react.

Hostile Mutagen Detected…

Hostile Mutagen Cleansed…

It was weak, so much weaker than any other Kaisel Clone, but it carried a wisdom that whispered into my abilities.

Mutation: Soul Resonance has had a Meta-Mutation; minor ability to glimpse into memori-

Sight escaped me, as the world melted into red.

———

I didn't see the memories, to be exact, of Anabelle or Sabrina… I saw glimpses of the world they lived in. Physical sensation, burning passion, longing grief. A SIM, fundamentally, absorbed different experiences than a BUG did.

Starlight was here amidst the chaos, a pink fairy floating as the one singular entity of order amidst this chaotic cosmos of crimson stars.

"Diana… are you alright?"

"I am." I responded, but there was no mouth in this form I took. "I just… feel like everything's changing, and I don't know what to do."

Another voice responded in turn, Sabrina's… and my paining longing for her pulled it into clarity.

"Daniel… you and Azure Phoenix… it won't end well."

A male voice responded. "Yeah… well you're having lots of fun with Princess Jade Storm. Azure Phoenix is…"

The moment revealed itself, but it was different, it was like I felt Sabrina as she lived that moment. Of the worry inside her heart.

"Sabrina and her brother were undercover early in their career… working within Muramasa."

In this form, I could feel the robes of Muramasa on Sabrina's skin… and she was intently staring at the Black Dragon mask her brother had just been given by Azure Phoenix.

"Besides… Sabrina…" Alex spoke, turning her gaze up to him. Alex was a man who resembled her, he was gentle with his blonde hair falling softly over his worried face. "I… have to take responsibility... I... got her pregnant."

Sabrina's shock erupted through me, and it called for another memory. One faded and scratched and was unbelonging to Sabrina, but instead, to Anabelle Grazhe.

I was looking at Derrick Ryder, as he drove… and then crimson overwhelmed me. I felt my hands reach for a wheel, and then the crash blacked me out.

And there was another crash, Sabrina in her car with Daniel and Azure Phoenix, intending to take her into police safety for witness protection. Azure Phoenix chose Daniel over her father. But things didn't work out so well.

"Rachfeld…" Starlight whispered. "Triggered their car to explode with his powers, but… only Daniel died."

I felt the harrowing loneliness of being the only twin left, of carrying your brother's spine just to walk again. Both her and Anabelle followed patterns of numbness, of years of flowing through the minutiae of life. Of being told apologies that came out methodical, of having to be strong when nothing felt like it mattered…

"I don't know where to start…" I said aimlessly. "I don't know why we all have to live through so much… pain."

Starlight shivered, her tears disappearing into little gems in the madness. "I don't know either Diana… but I… want to believe in that life where we can find meaning throughout it all."

"How can I?!" I shrieked. "Everything always go wrong!"

"So?" Starlight had an almost naive, stubborn look to her. "If things go wrong, fix them."

"It's not that easy." I sobbed.

Starlight spoke, her heart pouring on every word. "I know… but… I'm just… I don't think we can fix things alone. Or have to? But I want to…? With my dad's issues, with you… and it is difficult. All these emotions are complicated, and it doesn't help that you power works with them and I don't even know how to start! But… if we're the only ones with the potential to do this… we have to try? I was made to be a… guiding star of sorts, sometimes I'm doubting it, but I want to believe that's what I am. Even if… the world tells me otherwise."

I felt the crimson stir around me, bleeding with pink. "This is going to really tire me out… but I think I can try and figure out the truth about things. Make it less taxing, I'll convert everything into… well… I'll BUGify these memories — it should give you an overview of everything. It'll... probably leave me offline for a bit."

My thoughts stilled, and I agreed silently. A part of me still wanted to believe. To hope in a hopeless world.

"Do it… thank you." The colors shifted, becoming more pink as sensations were deciphered and logic applied to the senseless. And then, I saw things as they happened…

Sabrina… grew up in a relatively nice family. Her grandfather was an astute Major with many medals of honor earned from the Fourth Swarm, while her mother was an award-winning chef, her father was separated by divorce but maintained healthy communication. And her twin brother was always by her side.

But how she was as a child was far different than how I knew her now. She was quiet, measured and observant, if there was anyone who acted like the Sabrina I knew now, it was her brother, Daniel. He was loud, impulsive, even reckless to a degree and she was his grounding force.

As they grew up, both hearing of the exploits of their grandfather, they joined the police and formed a close friendship with Belle. He and Daniel were quite a pair, butting heads and sharing drinks, with Sabrina keeping the two of them in check. Despite their antics, Sabrina and Daniel were remarkable officers and quickly received Bronze Implants upon promotion to Investigators.

There, Daniel pushed deeper into investigating Muramasa. His Psyche Feature let him delve undercover, and soon enough he was tasked with going full-time. Sabrina had her issues with it, and… requested to join him. While her Mutations weren't as fitting for infiltration, she was a natural at improvisation and maintaining a low profile.

Back then, she was a lot colder, a lot more willing to push her Mutations. She was Wraith, and the undercover act was an intellectual exercise that she excelled in. At times, the Sabrina I knew manifested, her presence magnetic with empathy and a willingness to understand — but underneath it laid a colder figure. One who sent many who would call her a loyal friend to jail.

Daniel needed Psyche to become someone else, she could see him being torn apart the deeper he went, the more bonds he made within Little Requiem's branches of Muramasa. Back then, Kim Liyung was Princess Jade Storm of Muramasa, a figure demanding respect — almost deific in the hierarchy as a Dual Adapter.

But the Princess' doubts were always there with the Dynasty. Sabrina saw it first, and although I never thought I'd claim Kim Liyung was easy to manipulate, the truth was she was as human as everyone else. They hadn't yet started a romantic relationship, but they connected easily… and it drew Sabrina deeper into the fabric of Muramasa. And her brother went along with it.

Where Sabrina knew restraint, Daniel didn't. He formed a bond with someone he never should have, Azure Phoenix. A fleeting, passionate love was born between them… and it sent everything spiraling.

"You got her… pregnant?" Sabrina couldn't believe her ears. "I- Daniel, are you an idiot?!"

"Oh come on, you're getting all buddy-buddy with Jade Storm." Alex chuckled. "It's kind of funny, two twins go undercover in Muramasa, bot leave with a Princess!"

"Daniel, it's not the same-!"

That argument was the one time neither forgave each other, and the lines of Daniel's identities blurred. He was willing to throw everything away for love. So Sabrina begged to the one person she thought would help him. To Kim Liyung, to Jade Storm.

She gave passage for them to escape, but they weren't let go so easily. When the car exploded, Sabrina was kept alive as Muramasa took her from the wreckage — albeit, in a poor state. It took organ donations from Alex, who had died… to keep her alive. And the only reason she was alive, was because of Kim.

That was her last order as Princess Jade Storm, because soon… Kim Liyung trafficked Sabrina in her broken state to the police, where she gave herself in. Both women were left with their shattered pasts, Kim's haunting history with Muramasa and Sabrina's overwhelming grief to her brother's death.

Deep down, she blamed herself for it. For getting too involved, for not talking sense into him. In their eroded selves, Kim and Sabrina found each other… and changed. Kim wasn't trusted easily, but her results as an informant gradually led her to being allowed into leading raids on Muramasa. Sabrina's demeanor shifted, a part of her wanted to keep the memory of Alex alive — and she did.

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She'd always been good at pretending to be someone she wasn't. And in desperation, in hope, she changed the way she acted with others — becoming more cheerful, more reckless, more wanting to fill the void her brother's endearing personality left. She tried to think of what he would say, and said it. He would live on through her.

That was how she boldly proclaimed to get to Tier IV in the swarm, how she helped me get others involved with ASK, how she got the Dreadwire assignment.

In ways, none of it was truly her… only a mask to let her cling onto the future. When deep down she was… drowning. And no one knew, not me, not Belle. But I should have known. I felt it. The occassional drop of a mask only my Soul Resonance could touch.

The truth of things only came out a little before I joined the SIO, in a conversation between her — and now, ex-girlfriend, Kim Liyung.

"You have a nephew." Kim's words struck through Sabrina like a cleaver. "He's dying."

"How do you know?" Sabrina's voice came out colder than I thought she could. "Are you… still…"

"I am, sometimes." Kim shrugged. "Only to Mei."

"She's the one who killed Daniel!" Sabrina held back a full scream.

"No, Sabrina…" Kim whispered. "I did. I ordered a Special Investigator on my payroll to do it. Rachfeld."

Sabrina took a moment to respond, but when she did, it was emotionless. "I knew it."

"I'm not surprised." Kim said, eyes unable to meet Sabrina's. "I- I thought you were my weakness. I knew I was getting too involved with you and… I-"

"I am your weakness." Sabrina said, teeth clenched. "You changed too late."

Kim held back tears. "I… ever since then, I've been… trying."

"Don't make this about you." Sabrina scoffed. "You said my nephew is… dying. How?"

Kim pursed her lips. "You know why."

Sabrina's eyes fell to the sword on Kim's hip. "Your father's experiments."

"There's a… plan. Mei doesn't agree with it, but it's happening regardless because of War-Watcher and Skeleton. They're going to have my father killed and… I- if my sister gets a hold of my father's power… she can heal your nephew."

"Heal him?"

"Using your genetic material... or... samples from your Implant. You and Alex were twins, fraternal, but… she and Pheonix have been looking into any cure, but-"

"Fine." Sabrina said it so easily.

"That means you'll have to die."

"I know." Sabrina didn't sound sad about it, there might have been relief even. "And what about you, where do you fall into all of this?"

"My sister needs my sword if she's going to kill my father." Kim's hand tightened over it's hilt. "I… we're going to duel, whenever this happens… my father will be under attack by many. He'll be weakened, enough that maybe one of us could get a killing blow. If I win, then… we can still heal your nephew, maybe research his Implant so you don't need to-"

"You're not winning, you're not beating Mei. You never could." Sabrina sounded so spiteful. "And I hope you don't. You killed Daniel and…"

Sabrina laughed, it was maniacal. "Now I have to die to save his son… my nephew. You know what, I'm fine with that. I'll let you suffer…"

Kim shuddered, her nails digging into her arms. "I just want to make things right. I want to… move on from who I used to be. I didn't think things would get so complicated."

"Well congratulations, Jade Storm." Sabrina clapped. "You better start moving on from me."

Kim's eyes shut, her shoulders shifting as tears rolled down. "I'm sorry Sabrina. But I- I'll honor whatever you choose. I still… care."

Sabrina looked away, anger coursing through her, but with it came regret and guilt and a longing. Deep down, there was still a lingering affection for Kim she couldn't erase, in the way they'd been there for each other. "Kim… you better take responsibility for my nephew. I don't want him anywhere near… get him away."

She shuddered still. "What's his name?"

Kim glanced at Sabrina with tear-filled eyes, a desperate plea inside of them. "Daniel."

And so the world went, I came into Sabrina's life, utterly unaware of any of the pain she'd harbored throughout it. A new friendship blossomed, but it's roots had already withered away, Sabrina's mind was set.

She asked Dreadwire to kill Rachfeld, her and Kim engaged with Azure Phoenix — a guise in which Sabrina confirmed to her nephew's mother her intents — and against Bladedaughter, when Sabrina saw Kim's hand had severed… she released a blast of frost to conceal Bladedaughter's escape.

And then she let herself die.

I was never in any equation of it, throughout the last two months I'd only ever been a distraction to her.

I saw her in her room, writing on a piece of cloth, her words coming out slowly through the ink. It was her will. I'd made one too, simply bequeating all my assets to the Silver Heart Foundation.

Sabrina's words were simpler.

Dear mom, I've made a friend and I'd like you to give him a package. He works at a Shardware clinic named Retrofit Operators.

I'm sorry… who starts a will like that? I've been in a blur these last few years, you made things happier for me, so I'm leaving all my possessions to you. I'm sorry for leaving you alone, I didn't want to… but… Daniel had a nephew.

I didn't know either, it was after he died. He's named Daniel Junior, and is the son of a woman from an unfortunate family. I know it's not fair, none of this is, but… Kim's agreed to take care of him if it's too much work for you. As for dad, I'm equally sorry to you. I know we've had our troubles, but you always tried your best. In the end, I was the one with problems.

And to Belle Vineyard, thank you for being my friend. Throughout it all.

And for Diana Ulri-

She scratched my last name.

-for Diana Jones… continue being Silvereye. I'm sorry you could never save me, you came too late into my life, but there's many others out there who need you. Shine bright.

The memories faded, and I was left in my solace. Both of my hands were placed on either Sabrina, or Anabelle's chests… begging their SIMs to revive them.

I took my hand off Sabrina's.

Her SIM gleefully burrowed out of her, and with a pinch of my fingers atop them, I tearfully burned away the bits of Crimson Heart's Mutagen. My eyes met Kim Liyung's, a confused rage within me. "Take it, get it to her nephew one way or another."

Then I dove back into the mindless Crimson, as Anabelle's pain reflected back to me. I could feel Starlight's presence, her melancholic veil all around me where the hues of pink flowed. "I… I'm sorry."

"It wouldn't have worked either way. Ripley's concoction was always meant for Anabelle, not Sabrina… it was just dumb hope." I gritted, as I swam deeper into my connection with Anabelle's SIM.

Hope… was it wrong for me to feel that way amidst everything? Sabrina had lied to me the entire time I knew her, yet I lacked any… spite. I'd lied as much as she had, pretending to be someone I'm not. For the last two months I dug myself into a hole of self-pity, of pushing everyone away until… until it was too late.

Sabrina was going to die, she'd decided that so long ago. I wouldn't have changed that in a week, maybe not even in two months. But I should have tried. It was a paradoxical feeling of regret and yet… not feeling hateful towards myself for once, maybe it was because I had grown so jaded, or even expected someone close to me to die.

But I accepted that fault, that I wasn't doing enough. That Sabrina had, even as a lie, given me companionship I longed for. I could look past that, I could mourn her, I could… believe in who I thought she was. Because to me, she was every bit as bright as she seemed, even in the darkness surrounding her.

Sabrina was my friend. I held onto that lie, I held onto the words she left to me — to Silvereye. To shine bright.

I would illuminate the path forwards, I would crawl into the Uncaged's throats and rip their souls out, I would… I really wanted to make this city worth living in. A world where people could have that picturesque life they'd dreamt of as kids, and for the kids who couldn't have those sorts of dreams… I wanted them to be boundless in their aspirations.

I wanted to be the hero people believed me to be.

Spark Tendency is now Bronze I

Iron-Grade Boon: Increased ability to affect the Warp Energies of others.

And I wanted to save Anabelle's life. For her and Dryder to… acknowledge one another, for even Anomaly to give me the answers I wanted. And so, I grabbed their lingering selves inside their Implants, my entire spirit poking beyond my skin and bones to melt into her thread-bound life, and weave her back into existence.

The memories weren't as clear here, but the emotions surged out like waves that I swam through. She was as ambitious as she was lost, searching for a path to light in a world of shadows formed from a mountain of corpses left by her father. As things cleared, they also got blurred, Anomaly's presence also manifested through the Implant — a history not belonging to Anabelle's had infected the SIM.

I felt torn, like my mind's mirror had been shattered into a million pieces and all that contained my reflection was a single shard. Juliet's needle pinched me, and the voiced stopped. The choir was gone, the cacophonic symphony shot down so only my voice remained.

Isolated, deprived, shattered — Anomaly was so alone. Afraid of the dark, of the quiet, of the stillness.

The only thing she could cling onto was the back of Anabelle's mind, as everything she used to be faded away. Yet, she tried to be Soul Killer.

The police, Anabelle's father, quickly realized something was different. But by then, Juliet was dead. Treatments changed, her father's voice instilling identity into her.

"You are Anabelle Grazhe. Staff Sergeant of the Intelligence Division."

Medication put them both to sleep, and Anomaly was both the barrier keeping Anabelle from remembering the truth, and the glue that kept their mind together. Sometimes, when I saw a scene pass, I couldn't tell which of them was in control.

I never saw Dryder in these memories, only felt the lingering hole in Anabelle's heart for him. A nostalgia for people like him, something she'd often felt with Anthony and even me. Although she was stern, demanding and cruel at times — she was never a hateful person. Even to the criminals she put in jail, there was pity, empathy… and responsibility shadowing her every action.

Her every word. I saw her force people to say their vilest secrets, how her father congratulated at the torment of altering people's whole identities for split moments, how she commanded so many to die. And how she subtly used her abilities to… change them.

"Why did you hurt them?" She questioned one man in a domestic abuse case.

"Because… she cheated on me." The man grabbed his head.

"Pain does not warrant more pain…" She spoke, and there was a genuine honesty to her. "Do you love them?"

"I… I do, but she betrayed me!"

"And what about your son? He's innocent."

"I… the kid's not even mine."

"So? For six years, you raised him as your own. I know it hurts, but you're better than this, I can feel it. Your records say you were adopted, would you ever claim your bond to your parents was false simply on a matter of blood?"

The man's gaze hardened. "No."

And Derrick, although I couldn't see him with her, was the reason for why she sought for the unrefined spark within the shadows. She'd seen the potential for good things coming from a bad past — remnants of a desire to honor the man she'd forgotten, and the sister she mourned everyday.

But in the face of professional duty, emotions came second.

Anabelle looked downcast as she addressed the man. "Present yourself in court this way, and they'll reduce your sentence. But an abuser like you will still receive his punishment. Once you're out, do what you can to make things right."

I related to so much of her, her longing to be a source of peace and structure to a world demanding the worst of you. The futility of it. She tried, even with demons clinging to the back of her mind, to be someone capable of changing this city for the better. Even if it meant using everyone around her.

She wasn't so different from her father in that regard.

Anomaly, on the other hand, was the uncomfortable middle-woman between Soul Killer and the police, ensuring neither crossed paths. Anabelle couldn't disappear so easily, so Anomaly was allowed to exist by the greater consciousness of The Revenant. Yet, she wasn't accepted so easily either.

And Dreadwire had identified that.

Their conversation had been a mirror to much of Anomaly's own thoughts, an almost fearful encounter for her as he stripped her vulnerability down.

"And fear is what controls you, that fear of death." Dreadwire had no hesitation in his voice. "I have no reason to manipulate you, you're already being manipulated by your own fear. The truth is, they're going to get rid of you one way or another. If not the police and skeleton, Soul Killer will… I doubt they really care for evidence of their failure. And you know that, because once… you were them."

Anomaly gritted her teeth, chewing her words out. "You're a bastard… but fuck, you're serious?"

"We'll topple what they've built." Dreadwire flicked his vial — a Soul Anchor — over to Anabelle. "Otherwise, I'd suggest you end it here and now."

That was where the memory had stopped for me when Ripley showed it, but right now… it continued. I felt Starlight's hesitation, but my voice sharpened. "Continue showing this to me, Star."

"But…"

"Do it." I left no room for refusal.

Anomaly looked over the vial, seething. "You think we haven't studied Juliet's attempts at a cure?"

"I know you have, but you'll find none quite like that one." Dreadwire's voice hollowed. "I'm the source of it's effectiveness."

"Let me guess…" She snickered. "Those nanites you took from Yuzhou?"

Dreadwire paused. "Assuming they are, how did you know about the nanites?"

"Who do you think made the MAL these things were based on? I- well, my other selves did." She tossed the vial back. "It's based on the Bladefather's Mutations, you don't know half as much as you think you do. You're just a pawn."

"Same as you." He said defiantly.

"That the best comeback you can come up with?" Her voice hardened, taking an ethereal tone. "You're smart, Ripley Donovick. I'll give you that, but still such a miniscule man in a world of giants. The Founders could step on you like ants, and they wouldn't care… if not for the Implants in yours and Diana's bodies. I have to say, my greater self was quite pleased — actually — that I delivered Diana to them."

"Because of our Implant's source." He deduced.

"I hypothesized it, from Diana's rate of development, but you don't really want me alive for research into The Revenant, do you? You want my expertise into Implants, even fractured as I am… no one else knows them like I do." She took a step forward, her voice brimming with pride and calculation. "So what do you really want from me, Ripley Donovick?"

The words gripped him, prompting him into truth. "How to raise Compatibility, how to do it safely to Silver Implants without compromising the health of the Adapter."

"Silvers?" She clicked her tongue. "And where do you intend to get the research materials?"

Her eyes drifted onwards, and Dreadwire stayed silent as his gaze drifted to the same location. At the Prison Compound.

"He wouldn't." I bitterly coughed, as my own thundering heart stormed the crimson sea. Starlight appeared in front of me, her expression haunted and lost.

"Starlight." I held back my anger, for her. "The entire time, was he-?"

"For his mother, please." Her eyes wetted up, her body trembling.

"I'm not angry at you, Starlight." I sighed, feeling overwhelmed beyond anything. Ironically, that harmonized most with the SIM of Anomaly and Anabelle. "But how much did he know?!"

"He… he knew a lot. But wanted to keep you safe." Starlight's voice broke. "He didn't mean to…"

"Stop protecting him." My voice wavered like it was balanced on the edge of a knife. "Was he… also working with the Bladedaughter?"

"He-" Starlight's form began to flicker, her outlines cracking apart. "I don't feel good, Diana."

Looking at her form, I turned away, she was just another pawn in all of this. I couldn't believe this, I didn't want to.

As I pulled away from the crimson sea, I felt just how drained I'd really become. Throughout the entire time, I was fueling their Implants with my Energy in a bid to keep them alive… and… Anabelle's skull was reforming. Bone and flesh had sewn together, and her chest was rising and falling steadily.

Crimson Heart clapped. "Congratulations."

I stayed silent, Starlight's lingering presence was still in my mind but she was so weak and tired now I barely felt her. I needed answers, but they wouldn't come from her. Not the truth.

Standing up, I took steps away from everything, towards the exit of this makeshift infirmary behind the Heart's illusions. But I stopped, my eyes catching against a wall of no particular importance… but I felt something behind it.

"Where are you going?" A voice behind the wall spoke.

"To Dreadwire."

"Why?"

"He lied." I said simply.

"Let her see me." The wall began to disappear, and my eyes were forced onto the image of Quartz in a broken suit holding onto a corpse. Half of one.

Topaz was dead. His body severed into two and held in Quartz's hands like he was trying to fit them back together. He didn't even have a look of grief on his face, only one of denial and disbelief. Voice quivering, he spoke. "Take my Energy. He did this to us."

I let out a breath, it carried feelings I couldn't name. My hand met his arm, and out drew a thick sludge of Iron as his skin blistered and boiled.

He didn't wince, he didn't mutter a word of pain. He just looked at me, channeling the weight of his silent rage towards me.

Only once my own body felt on the brink of burning out did I let go, and he nodded.

I would get my answers out of Ripley, one way or another.

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