Beyond This Place

Chapter 9

The various animals charge.

They are beginning to fill the space of the elevator, pushing the people within towards the walls. Rin feels a terrible sting as a small, robotic rat nips her metal foot with its deadly-sharp teeth. Meiko is clinging to Kaito, occasionally lashing out blindly and swatting away swarms of mechanical dogs and cats of all sizes. Kaito is quite efficient, smashing foes under his foot. Luka looks panicked and squashes several small rats. Miku is attacking efficiently with a sword, Rin sees.

Len is snarling in the very back, but his eyes are wide with a fear that Rin has never seen in his eyes during battle as he backs against the marble wall. A hulking dog approaches him, one with cropped, bristly brown hair. It growls and snarls, its black eyes flashing red for a moment. Then it lunges.

Rin hears the gristly sound of bones crunching and she cringes, closing her eyes. Her eyes quickly snap open again when she feels the body of a cat smash against her. She snaps its frail body in half with unconstrained force. She turns and is glad to see the dog which attacked Len dead, despite the blood that wells from its chest like a fountain. Her eyes flick over to Len and she finds him on the floor in the corner, curling up with pain but also unbridled anger. His right arm is bloody and a canine tooth is embedded a millimeter away from his blue eye, cutting upwards in an uppercut into the skin between his eye and eyebrow.

"Len!" she says, forcing her way over. Len looks up at her from his one good eye, the other squeezed tightly shut as a tar-like substance trickles down in bulky rivulets from the wound, deep and black and thick. The red eye is bright crimson in the red lighting, fear dancing across its surface.

Rin hastily helps him up, albeit a little forcefully, and quickly forces her way out of the elevator and into the lobby ahead. Meiko, Kaito, Miku and Luka are already there, trying to fend off larger, more dangerous creatures and conniving scientists. Flowerpots are tipped, the dark black soil from their depths spilling out in sand-like clumps onto the carpeted floor.

She's running, running, trying to get away from the chasing animals when suddenly she feels Len's hand wrenched angrily from hers. She turns quickly.

Len is growling terribly, despite the pain reflected in his eye. A golden dog is tugging at his hand, leaving toothy marks in it. Rin quickly recognizes the golden, long haired animal as Hiro, Gumi's dog.

She struggles to reach Len as he wrenches his hand away. Rin feels sick when she sees one of his fingers hanging limply by strands of wires as Len's third hand lashes out.

He kicks off on roller wheels towards the dog. The knives on his fingers catch into the dog's skin and carry it into the air, causing it to let out a howl of angry pain. It struggles then drops, sending Len a dirty glance before slinking away in search of easier prey. Rin runs over as Len grimaces, swaying slightly.

"Don't pass out," Rin says, desperately. Len nods distantly, black pitch streaming down the right side of his face. "We have to get out of here!"

"My thoughts exactly," Miku says, suddenly beside them. "We don't have a chance against this many people and animals."

Rin nods determinedly and begins running, dragging the disoriented Len with her. Luckily, he's easy to move because of his feet, and they reach Meiko, Kaito, and Luka quickly.

Kaito kicks a large, tiger-like creature and it snarls in pain as it flies several yards back. Meiko turns to a growling dog and kicks it hard as well. Luka is jumping around almost comically, squishing anything beneath her.

"Let's escape!" Miku screams over the din of people in pain and animals roaring and growling and screeching. A cockatoo-like parrot robot dips from overhead and snags some of Miku's hair as she speaks, ripping the strands right out of her head. Miku lets out a yelp of pain. "We're no match for all this. They must of overheard us talking, the scientists, and released all their fighting animals, which are the ones that help the scientists watch robots."

"True," Kaito says, running over. Meiko tumbles over as well, kicking out to anything in her path. Luka comes as well, sweat gleaming on her forehead.

"The good thing about this," Miku shouts, her breath catching in her throat with exhaustion. "Is that it's too loud and messy to really discern anything. It'll be easy to escape."

Sure enough, they break out of the crowd quickly. Only a cat and a rat see them escape as they sprint into a nearby corridor, chasing after them.

"Ugh," Miku says, deliberately squashing the furred body of the rat beneath her foot. Len charges at the cat a bit awkwardly and lopsidedly and rolls it over, feeling the crunch of bones as its skeleton is smashed under his wheels.

"We're safe for now," Miku gasps. The room they're in is devoid of people, only plants and black leather chairs lined up nicely around the room. The back wall is curved inwards like a semicircle and there's a large, flat square window that takes up the whole wall, displaying the stars and comets and the universe beyond outside.

"We're totally in the wrong place," Luka moans, covering her face. "We escaped the opposite way of where the launch wing was."

"Too late now," Miku sighs. "Hopefully we can find some shortcut that leads there. We can't go back to that war field."

"Speaking of which," Kaito says thoughtfully. "We better start running again before anyone notices we're gone and look for us."

"True," Rin says quietly. She changes the subject. "Why is everything lit red?"

"Code Red," Luka explains. "Since they found you, they're basically turning on all the alarm lights to tell the scientists to be super careful."

"Okay," Rin says. She turns to Len, who edges towards her hopefully. She reaches out touch his face, and realizes the tarry substance has near dried like half a mask over his face, very little still dribbling from the wound. She reaches over and eases the tooth out of skin as carefully as she can, but even so he lets out a loud cry of pain before the gleaming white tooth clatters onto the ground.

"What's this on your face?" Rin asks, turning to the case attached to her belt and pulling out a clean wet towel. She swipes it across the tarry substance and it fortunately comes off easily, black and disgusting on the white cloth. She quickly stashes it away as Len shrugs lethargically, his eyes half closed. He looks unsteady on his feet, his eyelids drifting closed before opening again slowly.

"Hey, snap out of it," Rin says, reaching out to touch his face. Len blinks slowly at her and Rin sees Miku frown.

Miku steps over, her boots padding softly on the plush floor. "That black stuff…It might have been the fuel that powers us."

Rin looks up at her in surprise. Miku shrugs. "That would explain why he's not feeling too active right now. Hopefully his body will produce more quickly, though, because we can't afford to have a half-dead robot at this time."

"Will it produce more?" Rin asks nervously. Miku nods thoughtfully.

"It has to, or it would make no sense that we can stay on for periods at a time. Maybe we should let him sleep, and if so, we need to get to a place to stay quickly." Miku mutters quietly. Luka jumps up suddenly, and Rin and Miku turn, wondering what she wants.

"There are some spare rooms in the lounge hotel," she says, smoothing her pale pink hair and glancing at the doorway with paranoia. "All we have to do is ask the guy at the counter for a room."

"One room?" Miku asks nervously. Luka shrugs helplessly.

"The guy will probably wonder why if I ask for more than one room, but I can ask for a big one," Luka says. Miku finally nods in defeat.

"Where is this hotel?" she asks. Luka sighs with some relief.

"We're relatively near it," Luka says. "Let's just hope that news doesn't spread too fast or no one saw me fighting for you. If no one saw, the man at the counter shouldn't know I'm helping you guys."

When they finally arrive at the hotel, Rin admires the lobby with her prying eyes even as she trembles under Len's weight. Nearly completely inactive, Len is leaning against her, almost asleep. Rin clutches his injured hand nervously, not wanting the wires that connect the dangling finger from the rest of his hand to snap.

The lobby is decorated with a large, crystal chandelier shaped like a flower that has petals that automatically move in and out, occasionally radiating fully outwards and shining rainbow colors from red to orange to yellow to green and beyond from where it's hung on the ceiling. Terraces line the pathway where water tumbles down into colorfully lit pools below, and the floor is made from cold, white marble decorated with gold depictions of strange creatures—huge half lion, half eagle creatures, horses with wings and crows carrying fiery balls in their talons.

"Hide," Luka suggests and her voice is a hushed whisper. Rin nods and stumbles over to the nearest hiding place, glad they're still clad in slightly disguising scientist lab coats. She ducks behind a tall wall where water streams down from the top from seemingly nowhere. Miku, Meiko, and Kaito soon join her.

"Poor Len," Miku sympathizes, patting his golden-brown hair, stained black at the ends from pitchy fuel. Len blinks lethargically at her and then closes his eyes again. Miku looks worriedly at his finger and Rin sighs.

"Stop getting yourself hurt so much," Rin whispers, though she knows Len can't hear her in his near-unconscious state. "You don't have to protect me. Don't get in meaningless battles, Len. It'll mean a lot to me."

At this moment, Luka comes rushing back, her pink hair streaming behind her and a tentative smile on her face. "I…managed to get three rooms. There really aren't many people in the hotels right now, so the man at the counter actually let me."

"Oh, really?" Miku seems relieved, despite that there's six of them. "I guess we could split up into twos…Rin and Len could be together, for one."

Rin blushes, silently wondering why everyone made them stay together (not that she was complaining). Miku continues thinking and Luka butts in.

"Well, each room has two beds," Luka explains. "We don't have to be that worried about it."

"Oh," Miku says, looking even more relieved. "In that case, Meiko and Kaito can have a room and I'll be with Luka."

"Fine with me!" Kaito exclaims, patting Meiko on the back. Rin notices Meiko is smiling slightly at Kaito's antics. Luka nods her consent and Miku nods as well.

"Let's go. Be inconspicuous, guys," Luka says, handing a key to Rin and Kaito. It's nothing more than a clear, lit-up card, but Kaito looks at it with great interest.

They head quickly into the halls of the hotel, avoiding people whenever possible. Luckily, the hotel is mostly deserted and they find their rooms quickly, which are, luckily, consecutive.

"Well, I'm going in to tuck Len in," Rin says, waving at them. Miku nods and then opens her mouth to speak.

"Do you think we should call Neru again?" Miku says, looking questioningly at Rin. "I think she's the only person here who'll know how to bind up Len's ripped finger." At the words, she glances nervously at Len's hand. Len is virtually sleeping while standing lopsidedly, his eyelids batting but remaining closed.

"Yeah, okay," Rin says, pressing the clear key to the compact mechanism on the door. The door clicks and Rin puts her hand on the doorknob. "I'll do that after I look after Len."

"Yeah," Miku says, quickly hustling away into her own room which Luka has already opened.

Rin turns and twists the doorknob, looking into their room. She drags Len in and then sits him down on the bed, going to sit beside him.

"Rin," Len says and his voice is surprisingly calm and sweet. Rin supposes his inertia comes from his lack of energy and fuel, so she pats his head before pulling out some paper to tightly wrap up his finger, sealed shoddily with a piece of tape.

"Go to sleep, Len," she soothes, and Len curls up on the bed obligingly and falls asleep nearly instantly, his breathing falling down to a calm wheezing. Rin watches him for a bit before examining the room.

There are two beds, as Luka has promised, and the room is quite spacious, with a table and three chairs. There is a stand are near the bed.

Rin finds the phone neatly placed there when she realizes she doesn't know Neru's phone number. She pats Len's side reassuringly before standing and grabbing the key. She heads outside.

She hustles over to Kaito and Meiko's room and knocks lightly, causing some crashing and knocking inside. She cringes, but it's not long before Kaito opens the wooden door and peeks outside.

"Oh hi, Rin," Kaito says cheerily. Meiko's voice comes from the back of the room.

"Kaito, you're just going to open the door whenever someone knocks?" Meiko jokes. "We'll be found right away that way."

Kaito shrugs and lets out a joking whine. "But it was just Rin!"

Meiko laughs a little, turning her bandaged head away. Kaito addresses Rin with a curious face.

"What do you need?" he asks, leaning against the doorframe. Rin shrugs with slight embarrassment.

"I'm sorry," Rin squeaks out nervously. "I just realized I don't know Neru's number, and I'm relatively sure Meiko does…"

"Oh yeah, that," Meiko says, standing up and then turning her head uncertainly. Kaito goes over to her to help her and she asks quietly for a piece of paper.

Kaito hands it over and Meiko manages to stumble to the desk and grab a pen. She writes down the number quickly, though her writing is haphazard due to her inability to see. Kaito takes the scrap once she's done and hands it to Rin.

"Just so you won't have to ask any more," Meiko jokes lightly. Rin utters a thank you and smiles faintly before leaving.

"Be careful!" Kaito says after her, and Rin nods her thanks again quickly before heading back into her and Len's room.

Setting the paper down on the table, she picks up the phone, which is clear and fancy and lit with multiple colors like seemingly everything else in the hotel. She slowly dials the number with care, glancing down at the sheet several times before pressing SEND.

She holds the crystalline structure of the phone up to her ear nervously as it dials several times. Finally, she lets out a sigh of relief when she hears Neru's voice on the other side of the line.

"Hello?" Neru asks, her voice questioning.

"Hi, Neru," Rin sighs out, relieved, though she doesn't really know why she feels so tense. "I'm sorry for being such a pest, but this is Rin."

"You're not being a pest," Neru replies quickly, her voice reassuring. "What's the matter, Rin?"

"Um, I know we're totally helpless around here," Rin says, suddenly feeling very vulnerable when she thinks about how many times she's had to consult to Neru for help. "But Len…he's so reckless sometimes, I think, and he's gotten himself beat up and worn out. Apparently he lost a lot of fuel so he's resting for now. Could you possibly come over?"

"Oh, okay. Is it okay if I come over tomorrow?" Neru says concernedly. "I don't want to leave my duties at this second or people will wonder where I'm going."

"That's fine," Rin says. "Just try to be fast. We're in the hotel in the lounge."

"Okay," Neru says. "That's cool. You guys have gone a long way. What's your room number?"

"Thanks, and it's 1334," Rin says. Neru says some more things before they say their farewells. Rin exhales shakily before she places the crystal phone back down and sighs, turning to Len. He's still sleeping as peacefully as ever. Feeling tired and exhausted from the chaotic fight earlier, she slides beside Len beneath the covers, the white sheets cloaking them in warmth. Rin cuddles into his unmoving chest and eventually her eyes close.

A few sleepless minutes pass before Rin hears Len shifting a little, his eyes fluttering open.

"Len?" she says in surprise. "Go back to sleep. You need it."

Len blinks several times, clearing his throat and sitting up to gaze at her. He smiles fleetingly for a second. "Where…where are we?"

"We're staying at a hotel for the night," Rin explains hastily. "Go back to bed, please. You've lost a lot of fuel."

Len flexes his fingers, looking down at their sharp ends before lifting his head to look at her again. He shrugs. "Really? I feel okay right now."

"You'll feel tired later. You're losing fuel out of a wound," Rin says. "Go to sleep, Len."

He smiles, crawling over her.

"Not yet," he says, and she succumbs.

The next day, Rin awakens to the sound of knocking on her door. When her eyes open, she quickly jumps out of bed and smoothes out her messy clothing before walking to the door quietly and carefully. Len is still sleeping peacefully, his eyes resting peacefully closed.

"Who is it?" Rin calls out nervously.

"It's just me, Neru," says the voice from the other side of the wooden door, and Rin opens it. Neru is standing on the other side, tugging at her lab coat nervously.

"Hi," Neru says while twirling her blue pen between her fingers. Her traditional clipboard is held beneath her arm. Rin steps back to give Neru room to step in, and she does so, examining the room with golden eyes.

Rin looks over to Len and sees that he's now sitting up, rubbing at his dull eyes. He yawns hugely and whispers a hello before flopping belly-down onto the crinkled, unmade sheets and yawns again, stretching out his limbs. Rin blushes a little as she observes the messy bed.

"You're awake," Rin says, relieved that he's in working condition. Len smiles and crawls to the edge of the bed on all six of his limbs, limping on his hurt hand. Rin goes over to him and pats the injury, stroking his wrapped up finger with her hand. Len cringes slightly in stinging pain.

"Like Rin said," Neru says and she sighs and walks over. "You need to stop hurting yourself, Len. You make us all worried."

"Sorry," Len says, his ponytail drooping against the back of his head. Neru takes his hand and unwraps Rin's shoddy bandage to examine the damage.

"It's not too bad," Neru murmurs. "Just painful, right?"

Len nods vigorously, turning his head away to hide his expression of pain as Neru prods and moves his finger around. A deep, uncomfortable growl comes from his throat as he struggles to hold back a cry of pain.

"Sorry," Neru says apologetically before moving to his neck and producing a screwdriver. Rin watches as she slips the screwdriver into a tiny screw the color of his skin on his neck and swings open a panel that turns outwards. Rin recognizes this panel to be not unlike the one on her own neck that Neru unscrewed when Len hurt her wrist.

Neru taps at the buttons again on the panel below until Rin sees Len's shoulders relax visibly and he stops being so tense, though his eyes are tired from pain.

"I turned off your sensory nerves in your right arm," Neru explains to Len, her voice unwavering. She reaches over to examine Len's finger again and this time Len doesn't flinch, instead watching with wide eyes as Neru produces the skin mending cream from her coat as well as a roll of heavy, opaque green tape.

"This tape will mend your wires together again temporarily, but it'll hold it together until you body naturally heals it," Neru says in an equally steady tone. She puts out his finger, examining it. Rin cringes at how it hangs from two strands of sinuous wire.

Neru curls tape around the end of each broken one. With this, she pulls out their other ends from within his hand and she connects them efficiently with quickly working fingers.

"There," Neru says under her breath before pushing the finger to the rest of his hand and carefully aligning them. She turns her head slightly towards Rin while still holding Len's hand and finger together. "Rin, could you use some of that cream and spread it around the circumference of the tear in Len's finger?"

"Um, okay," says Rin hesitantly. She's not sure she's going to do it right, but she twists open the cap of the salve and swipes some of the pinkish cream onto her index finger. She begins rubbing it into the visible tear line on Len's wound, swiping it around his whole finger. She looks to Neru questioningly once she's done and Neru nods to signify that it's enough before removing her hands. Surprisingly, Len's finger sticks together and Neru smiles slightly, her eyes slightly weary.

Neru leans forward again and taps buttons repeatedly on the panel on Len's neck, letting the soft sound of beeping that ensues when she presses a button prevail in the room. After a while she swings the door closed again and turns the screw in again, locking it tight with her little screwdriver. Len flexes his fingers nervously as Neru reaches over and takes the cream, twisting the cap back on. She stashes it and the opaque green tape away.

"There," Neru says and her voice is slightly worn down and tired. "It'll be a little stiff and weird for a while, but it'll heal fully in possibly a few days."

"Thank you," Len says sincerely. Rin sits beside him and pats his shoulder. He smiles weakly at her and places a back foot on her lap. Rin laughs slightly and strokes the cold and hard but sensitive metal, and Len smiles in delight. Neru applies some salve to the hole above his eye, sealing it tightly although the fuel has long since stopped dripping. She sits back.

"Well, what are you guys going to do now?" Neru sighs. "Almost every single scientist and guard animal is looking for you, you know. There's a bounty on your heads, and various factions of scientists and guard animals are off to kill you. They patrol everywhere now, really."

"That's… unfortunate." Rin says, looking sadly at the floor. Being on the run hasn't been the most enjoyable thing that's happened in her short life, and it's had its shares of downsides and upsides. Neru speaks out, trying to reassure her.

"Hey, it's not so bad." Neru says. "I know you guys are trying to get to the launch wing, so I managed to get my hands on a rare map from my father."

"Most scientists don't have one of these because no one wants them wandering around the separate wings, but my dad gave me one, thankfully. I highlighted the easiest path to go to get from the Crystal Hotels here to the Launch Wing with a glow ink highlighter so you can see it in the dark too. The lines on the map also glow, just in case. You'll really have to be careful for those factions, though." Neru continues. She hands the highlighted paper to Rin and she takes it in her small hands as Len leans on her tiredly, glancing down at the map as well.

The route Neru suggests they take is highlighted brightly with the greenish yellow hue of highlighters, fat and strangely bright. Rin examines the path. It doesn't actually look too bad and not too long, just curving in strange directions. Out of curiosity, Rin sees how far they've gone. Her eyes scan over the Cell Wing Number 11, which she remembers vaguely to be the cell wing they had occupied. She moves past the small square sector of the quaint town, then to the large West Development Wing, and then to the small forest between one connection between the East and West Development Wing. Her eyes travel through the East Development Wing all the way to the lounge which covers the whole circumference of the circular space settlement, then to the small sector where they and the Crystal Hotels are.

"Thanks," Rin says and grabs the dirtied white backpack and unzips it, carefully sliding the map in along with Neru's picture of them. She swings the backpack over her shoulders, letting it slide awkwardly to the side as the structures on her back protrude out and get in the way in general.

"I guess it's about time to leave," Rin says, walking over to grab the crystalline, lit up key from the desk. Neru nods her consent as Rin helps Len up—he's still a little sleepy, especially from last night. She opens the door and holds it as Neru and Len walk out before letting it go and allowing it to click shut behind her.

Rin walks over to knock on Kaito and Meiko's door, her knuckles rapping against the dark, reddish wood on the door. Before long, Kaito opens the door, his hair ruffled and uncombed.

"Oh, hi," Kaito says. He glances at Neru and smiles with acknowledgment.

"Good to see you, Kaito," Neru addresses, her voice slightly amused. "You've grown since you were fourteen."

"Well, duh!" Kaito exclaims, beaming slightly. Rin smiles at his antics before her face hardens.

"It's time to go, I think." Rin says. "Neru gave us a highlighted map to tell us where to go, but we have to be careful because there are a lot of groups of scientists and guard animals after our heads."

"Okay," Kaito says, his voice calmer and serious now. "Meiko, I think it's time to go," he says, turning his head around.

Meiko comes to the doorframe, looking neater and more well-mannered than Kaito in general. This makes him look around awkwardly.

"Okay," Meiko says, her voice surprisingly understanding despite her eyes being unable to see, her dominant sense broken. Rin nods as well and turns back to Len and Neru, gesturing for Kaito and Meiko to follow. Rin is walking to Luka and Miku's room when she hears rapid footsteps like running.

"Wait!" From behind her comes a voice, and it only takes Rin a moment to register that the voice is Mikuo's. She turns and sees him running towards them, his swallowtail coattails streaming behind him before he breaks and stops right before them, panting visibly.

"I'm sorry," he says quickly between labored breaths. "I followed you, Neru. I wanted to see where you were going."

"Um, it's okay," Neru says and her eyes are wide with surprise. Mikuo glances up at her apologetically, his right eye gleaming from beneath the stark white bandages.

"We're actually going to get Miku and Luka right now," Rin says informatively to Mikuo. "They're in that room." She gestures over to their room's door, which is wooden and deep purplish red like all the other doors down the corridor and beyond. Mikuo's shine even brighter, probably at the idea of seeing Miku, who Rin now understands is almost his sister from what Neru has said.

Rin walks over to Miku and Luka's door and knocks on it. There's some shuffling coming from within, beyond the door, and Miku opens the door, combing her copious amounts greenish blue hair rapidly with a crystalline, glowing comb that Rin can see the hotel has provided.

"Oh hey, guys," Miku says, continuing to comb her hair, her strokes coming up and down and up and down over and over again on her gigantic ponytails that nearly touch the ground. "Hi, Neru." She adds, before her eyes flick over to Mikuo. She hesitates for a moment.

"Hi, Mikuo," she says with a softer voice. "Why'd you come?"

"I followed Neru," Mikuo says, fidgeting slightly when he notices Miku's careful tone, not unlike the padding of a cat. "Um, how are you?"

"Good," This time Miku speaks more confidently, as if she's noticed Mikuo's awkwardness (which she probably did, Rin thinks). "I presume you've come to say it's time to go?"

"Yeah," Rin says and nods again. "By the way, Neru gave us a map so we know how to get to the Launch Wing."

"Really?" Miku says, her eyes shining. "Thanks, Neru."

"No problem," Neru replies curtly, spinning her blue pen between her fingers. Around this time, Luka appears at the door beside Miku, her mature blue eyes scanning the near-crowd before their door.

"Hello," Luka says. "Are we going?" Miku nods, bouncing forward.

"Mikuo and I will go with you guys part of the way," Neru says. "We can't go the whole way—we don't want to be gone long, but have this."

Neru fishes in her pocket for something before finding a small hair clip, white and topped with a piece in the shape of a flower that pulsates out calm, relaxing blue light. She clips it in Rin's hair along with her other clips, letting it spark slightly from her bangs.

"It's not just an accessory clip," Neru explains. "It's actually a little camera-like object that kind of tells me and Mikuo where you are, or if it detects danger. If it does, this machine," Neru takes a white rectangular object out of her other pocket. It has a small red light on top. "This piece will start beeping and flashing red lights, so we'll know and we can come to help if you need it and if the piece senses the battle is dangerous enough."

"Oh, okay," Rin says, glancing upwards to try to see the little piece of technology clipped in her hair. Neru nods briskly while Luka begins fidgeting.

"I've been gone from the Launch Wing a long time," she says at last, a bit nervously. "I think people are probably wondering where I am… I mean, I think I maybe should go soon."

"That's okay," Miku says. "You just have to help us check out of the hotel," she adds, laughing slightly. Luka laughs a little as well and combs a hand through her hair nervously.

"I'll do that, and then I'll head off," Luka says, her voice slightly apologetic. "Here's my number, by the way. When you guys reach the launch wing, just call me and I'll go get you a ship to head off in. I do wish I could just bring you guys with me, but that's probably too dangerous."

"Thanks," Miku says sincerely, taking the small piece of white paper with Luka's number on it that she offers and tucks in a pocket. "I presume you're just going to get through the crowd by going back the way we came?"

Luka nods. "Yeah. It's probably too dangerous for you, though."

"True," Miku agrees before swiping up her own crystal key. Kaito is already dangling the card in between his fingers. "I guess we should head down now."

Luka nods in agreement before they head down to the lobby. All of them but Luka make themselves unseen to the clerk at the counter as Luka hands the three crystal cards to him. After some talking, she heads back to where they're hiding.

"Okay," Luka says. "I'll walk with all of you out of the Crystal Hotel, but after that I've got to go, I think. Be inconspicuous."

Rin nods as they begin walking away. Luckily, the clerk is tapping a black ball-point pen on the table and staring uninterestedly into space and doesn't really notice them. They manage to get out of the lobby and into the lounge again.

"Well, see you guys soon," Luka says, turning around to face them and waving her hand, the blue nail polish on her fingers gleaming in the light.

"Bye," Len pipes up, and all the rest of them mutter their goodbyes as Luka heads off. Her silky, candy-like pink hair shimmers like silk before disappearing around the corner.

"Well, let's go," Neru says after a while. "Mikuo and I will accompany you guys for one day, probably. After that we'll probably head back."

Miku nods at Neru to show she's heard before turning back. "Wow…If you think about it, we're so close to getting away, maybe." She laughs weakly. "I hope so, at least."

With these words, Rin remembers to take out the highlighted map and they head off, following the yellow line.

After moving about a lot, Neru decides it's time to wrap up the day. Luckily, they haven't met any of the enemy factions, but to be safe they duck in another empty room to rest for the night and lock the door behind them.

"Hey, Len," Rin says, walking over to him. Len is sitting on a chair, looking drowsy, but he awakens quickly at the sound of her voice.

"Hi, Rin," Len says, turning to her with acknowledgment. He gestures towards the chair beside the one he's resting in, and Rin sits down on it.

"I was thinking…" Len says absentmindedly, staring down at the floor a little guiltily. "I mean, everyone thinks I'm so dangerous. The whole reason why we're all in danger is because I'm dangerous. Am I…really that bad?"

"No," Rin says soothingly, though she's secretly surprised that Len feels so worthless. "Don't listen to what those scientists say, okay? It's what we think of you that matters."

She hugs him gently and Len smiles weakly and hugs her back. "I guess."

Rin looks around the room as Len tires, falls asleep and eventually grows limp with his arms around her. Meiko and Kaito are already sleeping peacefully, curled up on chairs, and Neru, Mikuo, and Miku are sitting in the corner of the room, talking in hushed voices about things that Rin has to strain to hear.

"Why do you always have those bandages on your face?" Rin hears Miku ask Mikuo, her voice concerned and much nicer than it had been so many days or weeks ago. Once again, Rin can't recall how long they've been on the run.

Mikuo shrugs, subconsciously touching the bandages on his face with two fingers. "The radiation from the bomb mutilated the side of my face that was turned towards the hypocenter. It also affected the rest of my face, but the doctors were able to heal the part that wasn't as damaged." Mikuo shrugs again and Neru pats his shoulder reassuringly.

"Maybe we should just go to sleep now. Rin, Len, Meiko, and Kaito are already doing so," Neru says. Miku nods her agreement and they disperse, filing into chairs to sleep.

Rin thinks she should probably sleep as well. She rests her head on Len's shoulder before falling into dreamless sleep.

"Rin! Wake up, wake up!" Neru is shaking Rin with unconstrained force, and Rin's eyes open slightly to see Neru's wild, concerned face.

"W… What?" Rin says slowly. Her mind is still groggy from sleepiness. Neru frowns, her eyebrows furrowed.

"Rin, a faction of guard animals have broken into here," Neru explains hastily, as if there's no time to waste. Rin's eyes widen and her heart beats rapidly in her chest in welling fear. "You've got to help us!"

"Um, okay," Rin says, stumbling up clumsily. Neru hands her the sleek gun from the white backpack and Rin fumbles with it in her hand before eventually looking up to see what they're facing. Her stomach twists at the sight.

There are hordes of ferocious chimeras made from metal and flesh, all of them looking wild. They don't hesitate to strike, having recognized the escaped robots. Len is slicing many of them to bits, leaving nasty splashes and puddles of blood on the walls and floor. Miku is doing the same with her worn-down sword, and Rin feels sick when she sees blood dripping down the length of the sword to the hilt and reddening Miku's tightened hands. She sees Miku grimace at the warm touch of the blood but carry on fighting.

Taking a gasp for air, Rin jumps into the fray as well, cocking the laser-based gun and shooting it at several animals. Luckily, the bullets of laser-hot energy only cause small sprays of blood to fly out and Rin remains relatively clean while felling several foes.

Neru comes in with a long, needled stick that she stabs into several of the animals. The animals who are touched by the stick fall, but Rin quickly realizes they aren't dead but only tranquilized.

"There's still a lot left," gasps Kaito, suddenly beside Rin. He wields an almost laughable small knife, but it proves effective when a half-mechanical, half-biological bird dives down upon him, screaming, its fake red eyes gleaming, and he swipes it cleanly through its breast and it falls. Blood drips from its feathered chest.

"Is Meiko okay?" Rin asks between pants. Kaito nods and gestures with a flick of his head to where Meiko is staying, wisely staying still. She occasionally lashes out when any guard animals near and surprisingly doesn't miss more than half of the time. Rin can trust that her other senses are quite sharp and turns back to shoot a rabid cat with mangy fur splotched with sheets of metal foil. It falls at her feet and stops vibrating, signifying that its mechanical processes have stopped.

"This is so… I don't know how to describe it, frustrating," Rin groans. "How did they get in anyway?"

"They broke down the door," Kaito sighs, explaining in a tired voice as he kicks a small, charging dog away. "I guess some of them have X-ray vision or something like that and sensed us inside."

Rin lets out a contemplative noise of understanding and continues fighting. Eventually the remaining, more cowardly guard animals begin leaving, such as small dogs, some cats, and several of the rats. They squeak, yelp, and meow as they leave.

She shakes her head quickly, trying not to get distracted from the fight as she shoots at the last retreating dog and it falls limply onto the floor. Len rolls over to her and clutches her hand with his unstained one. Thankfully, it is mostly devoid of blood, save a sew specks and trickles. He smiles at her weakly even as he pants from the exertion of fighting.

Neru walks over as well, also looking quite tired. She takes the stick and lets it retract in, leaving nothing but a small baton that she stashes in one of her pockets.

"That was tiring," she says between heavy breaths. She scans the room with a critical eye and sighs. "There's blood everywhere. The scientists will be able to tell we were here, if not just because the faction of guard animals probably sent an alarm call back to the leader of whoever's spearheading this search. Probably Gumi. She and Hiro are absolutely ferocious."

"We better go," Mikuo agrees, stashing his sword into its sheath. It looks almost like Miku's, yet its blade is made from a newer, synthesized metal that has a pearly, blue sheen in the light, iridescent and almost like the surface of a bubble. "Me and Neru, I mean. Back to Cell Wing Eleven. And you guys better get going on the highlighted path Neru gave you. Most likely another faction of reinforcements is going to come around here."

"True," Rin says, going over to the bag to put away the laser gun. "We'll go then, I guess."

Neru nods and Rin steps forward, trying to ignore the blood that laps at her bare feet as she walks through the disgusting, warm puddles. Once she goes past the doorframe that now lacks a door to fit in it, instinctively water pools out of the pores of her legs and feet and washes them clean from the splashes of blood. Len follows her, his four rolling feet cutting through the blood like four swans, making the watery, red liquid part and make rippling wings around his feet. Miku skips over it as well as she can, but her feet still land in at least one puddle of the stuff and she cringes in disgust.

Mikuo and Neru are careful as well, not wanting to get questionable blood on their feet, and Kaito leads Meiko carefully through.

"Here," Rin says, swiping down their feet with towels to clean them off. Neru nods her thanks quickly.

"I guess it's time to part," Neru says. "But we'll be there if you ever get in trouble."

"Yeah," Miku says, reaching out to touch Neru's hand. "You've been a good friend to all of us, Neru. I admit sometimes I've been frustrated with you, but, you know, people always have those kinds of moments with friends." Miku laughs.

"Yeah," Neru says, her eyes showing immense gratitude. "I'm hoping I can catch you guys at the launch wing when you're about to leave, judging through that clip Rin has. Until then…"

She waves and Mikuo waves, and all of them wave back. When they're gone, Miku turns determinedly to the others.

"Let's go!" she says, just like always.