Beyond This Place

Chapter 10

"How long have we been going?" Rin asks softly to Len as they stream through the halls. They've already encountered a few small groups of guard animals, some more ferocious than others, but none of them have been real challenges yet. Len flicks his eyes towards her and then contemplates for a while.

"On the map," Len says, pulling it out even as they continue running. Len is in the front and has the map due to his seemingly endless energy. Len points at a section of the highlighted route. "We're right about there."

Rin exhales through her nose in slight impatience. With the rate they're going, she thinks, it'll take just about eternity to reach the launch wing. Len reassures her with a surprisingly calm voice.

"We're about a sixth through already," he promises and his voice is strong despite the moving air that rushes by Rin's ears as she runs. "Just be patient, Rin. It hasn't even been a day yet."

Len laughs softly and takes her hand as they run and the warmth of his hand tingles in hers.

"We'll always be together, right?" He says, his voice ringing through the halls. Rin smiles back at him and squeezes his hand.

"Yeah," she says, looking forward. "Always."

After a while of running and curving in the halls, Len begins slowing to a stop, examining the map with interest.

"Do we go right now?" Len says and his pace is slow. Rin glances at the map, the highlighted path, and then forward at the intersection they're at.

"Yeah, I think so," she says, and Len nods curtly and turns right. They break into a run again, Len whipping his head back and forth and then down at the map to make sure constantly that they're not going the wrong way.

Rin is running when her pointed foot hits something bristly and small on the ground. Her eyes instinctively flick downwards and she sees a small, grayish blue rat on the ground, its red eyes glimmering. Rin quickly recognizes the red eyes and realizes that it's a guard animal.

She's about to squash it under the weight of her foot when it opens its mouth, its shiny, mechanical white teeth glimmering in the light, and screams.

It's like a siren, loud and wailing, and Rin stumbles back in surprise. Seeing its chance, it clambers away and hangs to the wall with curved claws, away from Rin's heavy foot, screaming all the while. Miku gasps from behind Rin.

"I think it's a siren animal," Miku says, her face filled with fear. "They usually scout ahead of groups, and if they hear or see whoever they're tracking they let out a loud, piercing siren so the group can run up and catch who they're tracking."

Kaito pales and Meiko clutches his arm nervously, looking alert. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

Sure enough, the loud, purposeful clacking of approaching scientists' shoes comes, and Len begins to back away, his whimpers melting into deep growls. Miku's eyes are wild.

"We need to run!" she says in a fervent, hushed whisper. Rin turns to her nervously.

"They'll probably find us anyway," Len says quietly. Miku sighs and nods her agreement with a lowered head as the scientists appear.

In the front is Gumi, who regards them with a quick up-down with her eyes. Her golden dog, Hiro, is at her side like always, its golden tail raised high into the air and swishing back and forth, cutting the still air into pieces. Its harsh, blue eyes shine with a blend of emotions that Rin can't comprehend, like the swirls on the surface of rippling water.

"You silly, silly robots," Gumi sighs, her voice soft but dangerous. "You've come so far, I almost want to let you go."

Gumi smiles subtly and twirls a small baton in her hands; one that Rin recognizes is like the one Neru had. "But I can't. Orders from the boss, you know."

With these words, she does a subtle, special movement by twisting her index finger and middle finger and Rin barely has any time to think when Hiro lunges, its pale golden hair streaming behind it. Rin screams and tumbles away, letting the ferocious dog land onto the metal ground hard on all four paws. Its pure-white claws glimmer in the light menacingly, huge and unnatural like teeth as it barrels forward again, aiming at her.

Rin gropes into the white backpack on her back desperately, and at last her hands feel the sleek metal of the gun. She whips it out, but Hiro is already upon her, growling and attacking her legs. Rin kicks out and the dog lunges again, its large and heavy paws slamming against Rin's chest and knocking her to the ground.

Rin finds herself struggling to cock the gun in her hands as the dog begins attempting to rip out her throat. Her hands are clumsy and she can't see what she's doing, so eventually she gives up, trying to conquer the ferocious dog by kicking it away.

Suddenly the weight is taken off her chest and she sits up abruptly, knowing in her gut why. Sure enough, Len is struggling to fight off Hiro, his third hand driving its knife-like fingers into the dog's golden pelt. The dog nearly roars, its blue, gleaming eyes wild and flaring with light. Len's pupils thin and slit in concentration, his red iris dilating slightly.

"Don't get yourself hurt again," Rin says desperately, though she begins to wonder if Len can hear her over the din of the dog's snarls and roars and his own growls. She raises her voice slightly. "You've already got yourself hurt too much thanks to that dog."

Len flicks his ponytail to show he's heard despite that he doesn't stop struggling with the dog, and Rin glances down at the sleek, laser gun. She cocks it and aims.

She pulls the trigger and the golden, bright laser bullet flies out so quick that Rin can barely follow it with her eyes. It burns into Hiro's coat and the dog jerks forward, its pelt ripping as it forces its way away from where Len has his fingers hooked into its skin. It snarls in pain, flicking its head angrily in attempt to glance at the burning hole in its side.

The smell of burning skin and thin layers of flesh prevails in the air for a little, followed by the overwhelming groan of the melting metal within the dog's body.

In defeat, Hiro yelps one last time before flopping down on the floor, closing its eyes. Rin sees that it's not dead yet, simply resting, but she has greater worries at the moment than the unconscious machine. She turns and fires at a scientist blindly who threatens to sneak up on her and she hears the yell of pain at the scientist receives one of the high voltage bullets to his arm. Once again, Rin can smell the rank, disgusting odor of burning flesh and she turns away, finding it hard to fight humans despite what they've done to them.

Miku doesn't seem to be hesitating at all. The scientists scatter in fear at her sword that threatens to cut through their flesh like a knife through butter.

Meiko is once again standing to the side, and Rin can practically feel her helplessness radiating from her skin. She looks around awkwardly, as if wanting to help, but she's backed against the wall to keep away unwanted attention.

"Rin," says a familiar voice that Rin's recognizes as Len's right by her ear, and she turns, looking at him nervously. He doesn't appear to have any large wounds, though his hands and arms are spattered with blood. Rin's stomach twists in disgust. "I…I think we have to run. We can't go on like this, and besides…"

Rin sees Len's hesitation and realizes he doesn't exactly want to spill the blood of the scientists either, despite the rash, uncontrolled spasms of killing Rin knows he has in him, despite it all. Rin nods quickly in understanding. "Let's get Miku, Kaito, and Meiko and run."

"Run?" Miku say and her eyes are weary as she suddenly near-materializes besides Rin.

"We've been running, running, from everything. I can't stand it."

But her eyes soften with understanding. "I know, though. We have no choice."

And with these words, she sprints, holding her deadly-sharp sword in front of her and parting the sea of guard robots and scientists easily. Rin follows quickly, her gun cocked and pointing at the animals and people dangerously. Len, Kaito, and Meiko stream behind her as they run for their lives.

"Cowards," she hears Gumi hiss at the scientists. "All of you, cowards." Then Rin hears her voice soften as she calms slightly midsentence. "But I understand. You all weren't paid to fight dangerous robots. Go back home, all of you. Gakupo and I will scout ahead with more guard animals and get those merciless robots."

Rin stops listening and continues running forward. She realizes Gumi isn't so bad to the scientists, and she could possibly be kind, but that seems like the last thing she wants to be to the runaway robots. Rin runs harder, faster, when she hears pursuing footsteps.

The footsteps eventually fade, but they go on running for a while before Miku begins slowing down, forcing the stream of robots behind her to decelerate as well.

"Gumi and Gakupo probably have gone to get reinforcements," Miku says quietly, twisting a strand of greenish blue hair between her fingers. Rin trembles, her limbs tired from running.

"Who's this Gakupo?" Rin asks. His name, in the context everyone has been putting it in, doesn't make him sound like a friend, and Miku proves it with her next words.

"Gumi and Gakupo," she says coldly. "They used to show me around the laboratory because they were ever so kind to me, when I was still special. Gumi leads the West Development Wing and Gakupo leads the East Development Wing, though they didn't at the time when I first met them. They've got a firm and high position in the company, though not as high and not as enigmatic as Neru's father."

"Oh," Rin says, finding nothing else to say. Miku shrugs and continues walking forward lethargically.

"Shouldn't we run?" Len says in a small voice that echoes around, making him cringe. "I mean…"

"None of you killed any scientists, right?" Miku suddenly says and her voice is harsh. Rin shakes her head quickly and she sees Len, Kaito, and Meiko do the same.

"Good," Miku says. "We… don't want to kill any of the scientists, because that would make us as low as them."

Rin nods to show she's understood, and Miku begins picking up her pace slightly.

"We should run," she says at last, finally addressing Len. She sighs again and pushes back a strand of hair. "You're right, I know. It's just… things have changed since we first started being on the run. I… I admit there were times I just wanted to give up…"

Miku pauses. "But I think we can make it. Let's just persevere." She turns to Len, and Rin sees the sparks are back in her eyes, dancing like scattered fireflies. "Len, where are we going next on the map?"

Len reaches over into his pocket and produces a crumpled heap of white paper. He looks up in embarrassment. "I… had to crumple it quickly when the scientists attacked us."

"It's okay," Miku reassures hurriedly, gesturing for Len to hurry and look. Len squeaks out a "oh, right" and spreads out the paper. There are creases dancing across it like the strands of a haphazard spider's web, but Miku doesn't mind as she looks over Len's shoulder. Rin steps over and does so as well.

"We're here, I think," Len says, pointing at a segment of the highlighted route. "We were there," he pauses to point at a room a little down. "…And we ran up here." His finger moves back to its starting point and Miku nods in agreement.

"Thank god we're still on the route," Rin says, laughing weakly. "If we had to backtrack that wouldn't be good."

"Yeah," Miku says, her greenish blue eyes shining. "There's a lot of things be thankful for, but right now we've just got to move."

Rin nods in understanding and Len folds up the paper carefully, clutching it in his hands. Rin worries that it will be bloodstained, but she notices Len's hands are relatively clean, having wiped them quickly on his white shirt as Rin can see from the brown, half dried stains on the white but dirtied fabric of his shirt.

"Shall we run?" Miku says, finally remembering to place her sword into its sheath, which is clipped to her green, patterned belt. Her belt is decorated by zigzags dividing the belt into clean triangles of green and a darker shade of the same color.

"Yeah, but I could do with some ice cream right now," Kaito says, in a dull voice that makes all of them laugh.

"Anyway," Miku says, patting the pouting Kaito on the back. "We better go now."

She heads forward, her speed moving up to a trot. Rin files behind her, forming a line that starts with Miku, Rin, Len, Meiko, and then Kaito. They move quickly for a while, and Rin begins to relax after moments of simply running and listening to the sound of Len's soft voice as he directs them where to go.

All at once, Miku stops. She seems to be in lighter spirits now, but she mutters a quiet warning. "There's a small faction of three guard animals ahead. Watch out, even though they shouldn't be too hard to eliminate."

"Hmm," Len says, folding the map carefully again and stashing it away. "I'm ready to fight them."

"I want ice cream," Kaito says, groaning.

The three guard animals approach slowly, to Rin's surprise. They don't charge forward unexpectedly or lunge or growl—they come slowly, calmly, and silently. Somehow, it makes Rin feel even more uncomfortable and her stomach twists.

As if reading her mind and trying to comfort her, Len reaches out and intertwines his fingers with hers, brushing his lips over her cheek a little hesitantly before flicking outwards the fingers of his left hand, letting the disproportionally long, spindly fingers stretch out before narrowing together into their trademark drill, the serrated edge that curves around its circumference glimmering in the light dangerously.

The three animals approach, ever closer, before stopping completely before them. One of them is a large dog, the other a smaller one of the same species, and a proud, sleek-furred cat.

Rin glances at them awkwardly as they stare back blankly, unseeingly, their red, beady eyes blinking on and off, on and off, never stopping. Rin stares for a while and they do nothing.

"Len?" Rin asks uncertainly. Len looks at them with genuine interest and suddenly his eyes widen as they simultaneously open their mouths and let out a single, piercing BEEP that permeates the silence of the room.

"Rin!" he near screams, jumping in front of her and hugging her for a reason Rin cannot comprehend. She barely has time to call out his name questioningly when there's an earsplitting sound of shattering glass and metal and the sound of combustion.

Rin first feels a wild wave of searing heat, and then pain courses through her body as the heat increases and increases, burning into her skin. She feels Len grow limp, the grip of his arms loosening around her.

For a while heat blusters around her, shattering the cool air into tiny smithereens, and she feels the pain of burns on her skin.

At last the hot, burning air cools, and Rin dares to open her eyes. Len is resting weakly against her, his eye blinking rapidly. His skin is blotched with angry burns, and the tips of his hair are blackened, though mostly heat resistant, and his ponytail twitches weakly.

"Len?" she manages squeakily. Len glances at her and pushes off her, stumbling back slightly. The metal parts of his body are mostly fine and unburned, but his clothes and synthesized, soft skin are marred in several places. Len turns to her, his eye still blinking quickly as if attempting to get something out of his eye.

"It's not too bad," he mumbles. "Just some burns. Could I have the skin salve?"

"Um, okay," Rin says, bending down and placing the backpack on the floor. She notices the three guard animals from before are nowhere in sight. After some rummaging in the pack, she pulls out the container of salve and opens it, slathering her fingers in its cool, pink cream and applying it to the burns on Len's arms and back. After she's applied the salve to all the burns she can see, she sits back, screws back on the top of the container, and places it back into the backpack, zipping it up. "What was that?" she asks at last.

"Bombs," Miku says, approaching. Her body seems very heat resistant and burns only crinkle and burn her clothes slightly, but Rin supposes it's from being a culinary robot and working around fires a lot. "Those three guard animals were bombs, not real ones. Luckily, the bombs weren't very strong ones. I suppose they couldn't afford to make too many strong bomb animals."

"Ow," Kaito says from where he's cowering in the corner. He and Meiko are mostly unscarred as well, save some burns, probably from lagging in the back. "That's not the kind of ice cream I wanted."

"Yeah," Rin mumbles, feeling a little annoyed that she and Len are the only ones who are really hurt. She remembers to whip out the salve again and begins applying it to her burns as well quickly, letting the smooth, pink cream blend into her skin and cool and cover the blemishes where she's been burned. Miku sighs and bends down next to her, as if sensing Rin's frustration.

"I'm sorry, Rin," she says, patting Rin's arm. "I'm sorry you and Len were hurt the most in that explosion. You're lucky Len recognized them as bomb animals relatively quickly and protected you."

"Yeah," Rin mumbles, reaching out to take Len's hand. Len croons hoarsely at her touch, shaking his head to let the burned tips of his hair crumple to ashes and fall down from his head. His ponytail flaps up and down as he tests it out to make sure it's still working before he seems content, stroking the ground with his four feet. He appears to be attempting to hide any remaining pain that the cream hasn't relieved (and Rin's sure it's plenty, considering that the cream heals their skin but barely removes the pain).

"We'd better go on and persevere," Miku manages, standing up awkwardly. "We can't call Neru for help or anything…" She glances at Rin, as if asking for her approval.

"Yeah, okay," Rin says, standing. She helps pull Len up as well as he stumbles, doubling over in pain. He looks at her thankfully as she brushes his clothes nervously, allowing the ashes to fly off.

"You need new clothes," Rin says nervously, blushing despite it all. Len glances at her awkwardly, instinctively clutching his shirt to himself, the back of the white fabric gray and marred, holes gaping on its clean weave of no longer white thread. His black pants are also marred, but only small holes like slightly widened pinpricks pattern the bottom of the legs (thankfully, Rin thinks).

They continue on in mostly silence, and Miku walks slowly to respect the fact that Rin and Len are most likely in greater pain than the rest of them. Instead of his usually quick pace, Len limps behind and Rin skirts by his side carefully, catching him in the moments where he falls. Eventually Meiko and Kaito even get ahead of them, Kaito glancing back at them, his blue eyes gleaming nervously as they fall behind.

Eventually Len begins moaning in pain at each step, his legs shaking to keep himself up. Rin pats his back, but she really isn't sure he can go on for much longer.

As if proving her thoughts, it isn't long before Len collapses on the floor. Only then does Rin realize the extents of his burns as he clutches the burned skin on his arms and legs despite the wounds being invisible due to the salve. Rin bounds back to where he's stopped and bends down next to him, running her fingers over his skin, watching where he cringes at her touch to tell where his burns are.

Miku, Kaito, and Meiko approach, looking down at them with concern. Miku glances around nervously, as if watching for anyone who approaches. Meiko steps forward awkwardly.

"Rin?" Meiko asks questioningly, tilting her head uncertainly. "Do you think you have the strength to carry him…? I mean, you'd probably want yourself to, not Miku or something."

"Carry… him?" Rin asks incredulously, glancing at where Len has curled up on the floor, his eyes closed tensely and his limbs shaking. Meiko nods and Rin looks up at her, confusion written across her features. "Isn't he too heavy?"

"You can manage," Meiko assures. "I'm under the impression that he isn't too heavy—for storing and moving purposes, you know. He also gets heavier during battle, so he doesn't get knocked off his feet too easily using some weird technology I don't understand."

"How do you know this?" Rin asks, tilting her head as she asks. Meiko shrugs, letting her red-clad shoulders rise and fall.

"When you two were being developed, the scientists talked about you a lot. The newest technology you used, how efficient you were going to be… they also seemed pretty hyped about the new type of robot Len was and is," Meiko says. Rin nods slowly and then nods faster to show her understanding before walking up to Len a little hesitantly as he convulses and twitches slightly on the floor when spasms of pain come from his burns.

"Hey, Len?" Rin says, prodding him gently and lifting his lowered chin. His eyes are pained as he looks back at her, and the whites of his eyes are pinkish red. "Meiko thinks I should carry you. Are you okay with that?"

Len coughs hoarsely and nods his consent and Rin picks up his arms carefully, watching him cringe carefully when she touches one of his unseen burns.

She takes his arms and wraps them around her neck, the feverish heat of the metal on his arms touching her neck hotly, scalding her skin. Rin grimaces and stands the pain until it subsides before she hooks her arms under the crook of his first set of legs. His back legs wrap around her weakly, the metal as feverish as ever.

"We'll be okay," Rin assures, surprised at how light he is.

"Thanks, Rin," Len whispers, his voice cracking and squeaking at seemingly every opportune moment. Rin nods to show she's heard and Len hugs her tighter, pressing his hot body against hers. She cringes, her own burns painful. She gently strokes his hand before looking up at the others, signaling that she's ready to go wherever they have to.

"Well, let's hurry," Meiko says, turning to go and clinging to Kaito's arm for guidance, but Miku doesn't move and doesn't turn to face forward, either. Her eyes are glued forward towards something behind Rin.

It's then that Rin notices the fear dancing in her wide eyes.

"It's Gumi and Gakupo," she croaks out, her voice a barely audible whisper. Rin's eyes widen as well and she turns around clumsily, making Len dig his fingernails into her shoulders as he struggles to stay near her without falling off.

Rin sees Gumi approaching, recognizing her form from a distance by her bright, saturated green hair and her characteristic red tinted goggles always pulled onto her forehead. Besides her stands a man Rin does not recognize. His hair is ever so long, tied together into a long, elegant, albeit strange ponytail, his violet hair glimmering almost malignantly. Around the two is a whole army of animals, all of them walking in perfect synchronicity like well trained soldiers.

"Oh, no," Rin mutters and she glances at Miku questioningly, asking with her eyes what they are to do. Miku doesn't move and instead stares forward, and Rin realizes that running won't help—the guard animals are too fast and too lethal when the army is so close.

In the frightening silence, save the slavering, growling, and roaring of the approaching army, Len lets out a deep, dangerous growl and clings to Rin desperately, his eyes fixated forward blearily.

"Stop right there," Gumi hisses as her form approaches, and Rin sees the demon dog, Hiro, by her side, as always. Gakupo is twirling one of his lilac tresses almost with an air of superior boredom.

"Surround them. End command," Gakupo says smoothly, his voice rich and deep. Still moving in perfect synchronicity, the large, dangerous guard animals surround them, growling from deep within their chests. Rin sees that the guard animals this time don't include small rats, dogs, and cats, but rather lizard-like, draconic creatures and disproportionally large dogs. There are even strange, mechanical tigers, and to Rin's horror, lions. The lions aren't as big as the one she and Len encountered in the virtual forest, but are virtually smaller clones of the same model. Miku is cursing under her breath and Len clings to Rin, his noises of discomfort increasing in volume. Eventually he pushes away her, landing on the floor with a hard thud and crumpling there, struggling to get up but failing.

"Len?" Rin asks, beginning to panic slightly as the guard animals edge closer, obviously impatient for either Gumi or Gakupo's orders. "I know you want to fight, but you're in no condition to do so!"

"I…" Len hesitates for a second before crumpling again in defeat. "I… guess so. I don't like being so useless."

"You're not useless," Rin says quickly, whipping out her gun as she speaks. She sees Miku unsheathing her sword and poising it up high threateningly and Kaito pulling out his knife. "You've done far enough already."

Len doesn't reply as Gakupo and Gumi step forward, the guard animals parting slightly to allow them into the circle. Gakupo smiles coldly, and Rin is suddenly far more afraid of this man than she ever has been of Gumi. His icily grinning lips part to speak words Rin never wants to hear.

"Attack. End command."

The guard animals leap forward. Rin screams.

The first shot from her gun embeds itself into the glimmering, white chest of a dragon. It roars in pain, flaring out its metal wings and charging at her after stumbling back a few steps. Rin pulls the trigger several times and the laser bullets embed themselves into the machine creature's face before it falls back, smoldering.

Rin turns to shoot more of the animals, but reinforcements seem to come in every second. The surrounding circle has broken apart in the wild fighting and Rin swipes Len up quickly in panic, causing him to scream in pain, but Rin has no time to check on him. She falls near where Miku, Kaito, and Meiko are clustered, dragging the stumbling, moaning Len with her. Now that they're all in a cluster together, they begin backing away down the hall through a hole in the circle of guard animals.

They're pushed all the way down the hall by the attacking robots until they fall out of the hall into a wide, square room, large enough to fit several robots and scientists. Halls radiate out from the room like legs.

Rin sets Len down on the floor beside her quickly and not at all gently—she doesn't have the time or capacity—and shoots at several advancing guard animals as they begin cornering her. With a jolt of fear, suddenly Rin realizes Miku, Kaito, and Meiko are no longer beside her and she's trapped in a ring of guard animals alone.

They advance, snarling, slavering, roaring. A thin wreath of flame shoots out of a dragon's curved, metal nostril and narrowly misses roasting the skin on the top of her arm. A tiger roars and unsheathes and sheaths its claws repeatedly in challenging malice.

Rin at first tries to retaliate, shooting several bullets at the approaching animals, but as a small group working together they dodge most of the bullets easily, freakishly human sneers on their robotic animal faces. Whenever one falls, another seems to come to corner her as the move closer and closer.

"Miku? Kaito?" Rin asks weakly when she realizes she can find no escape other than from outside help. She hears no response by the faraway clattering of a sword against metal.

The animals get nearer and nearer, their faces distorting in Rin's fading vision. She panics as she hears the whooshing of wind as a robot leaps forward.

The next thing she feels is indescribable pain jolting her body as a huge, clawed paw slams into her chest and her form gives way, the paw plunging into her inner workings.

The paw never makes it all the way through her when there's an unearthly shriek like an eagle gone crazy, wild roaring, and the sound of thrashing. Rin struggles up—the pain is coursing through her body crazily and she's surprised she isn't unconscious, though she supposes it's because the wound isn't as deep as Len's was.

She looks up and everything stops.

Len is standing as if he were never burned but Rin's heart shatters as soon as she sees him. His red iris has completely dilated, leaving no whites, and his pupils are slit into narrow lines, his face contorted into an expression that Rin doesn't want to understand. In complete ribbons and tatters, the body of the tiger guard animal is flayed at his feet.

"Don't even touch Rin," Len says quietly, but audibly enough for Rin to hear, his voice distorted and cold, burbling out of control for moments at a time. Then Len lets out a bloodcurdling roar filled with an emotion Rin cannot comprehend.

His whole body shudders before shattering.

From his back comes a huge, frightening, mechanical hand, spurting out of his skin along with several knives. Rin begins backing away in unconstrained fear as Len screams in a voice that is half natural, half unnatural, and at last Rin sees the metal panel that the scientists put on his back so long ago fall away. A huge, barbed and thick tentacle of machinery falls out, curving between his legs almost like a tail.

"Len?" she asks fearfully, but Len ignores her, not even showing at all that he's heard, beginning to rip any machine or guard animal nearby into shreds. Rin is shaking uncontrollably—she doesn't understand Len's outburst.

She backs against the wall, watching him rip the creatures to tatters from his hands in front and behind. As Len breaks apart the sea of now retreating guard animals, she sees Miku, Meiko, and Kaito watching with wide eyes as well.

The guard animals are falling, and she sees Gumi, Gakupo, and Hiro retreating, their faces actually afraid before retreating into the shadows. Len snarls at their retreating backs and is about to give chase when the last guard animal, a dragon, distracts him and he rips it to shreds.

All the animal robots are demolished, yet Rin doesn't feel any satisfaction as Len continues snarling at nothing, panting and surrounded by fallen metal shreds. Miku, Kaito, and Meiko are all on different sides of the room, watching in silent apprehension.

"Hey, Len?" she asks at last, attempting to hide the fear that slathers her voice as Len stands there, various knives on his back whipping through the air challengingly. At the noise, Len turns and stares at her for a while, his pupils still slit.

"Len?" she asks again, and Len looks at her with unchanging eyes. Then a deep, dangerous growl comes from deep within his chest.

Rin doesn't have time to scream when Len falls upon her, pinning her to the wall with his drill hand and his third, knifed hand. She screams as the knives plunge into her soft skin and the serrated edge of the fingers on his left hand rips her skin in thin cuts. His breath is feverish and warm as it curls in her ear while he snarls, his eyes filled with empty recognition.

"Len?" Rin repeats for the umpteenth time and she feels tears pricking her eyes as Len simply growls at her, pressing his left hand to her chest and getting ready to rip her already exposed insides to shreds. Her throat tightens as she chokes back a sob. "Why are you doing this?"

Len blinks and growls, his left hand's fingers snapping into a drill and pressing hard against her machinery within. Rin bites her lip until it bleeds to hold back an impending scream. The flower-shaped clip on her bangs suddenly shines a constant, deep red and begins beeping quickly in succession, loudly.

"It's me, Rin," Rin says weakly, raising her voice in panic and hysteria. Len's growl stops abruptly.

"R-rin? Rin?" he says, his voice growing more natural and clarifying slightly before withdrawing his hand, his eyes wide as he struggles to remember something he can't quite capture. "Rin?"

In this moment of hesitation, suddenly Len is wrenched away, his weight taken off her. Rin struggles up in surprise and sees Gumi and Gakupo grabbing onto Len's arms, dragging him away as Hiro guards from below. The two scientists are wearing full body, metal suits.

Rin's heart plummets when she sees a whole new armada of huge guard animals approaching quickly on running legs. The guard animals approach closer and closer, their claws and teeth glittering like knives from seemingly all directions.

Len begins screaming, his voice now completely normal again as he begins letting out a few, painful sobs. "Rin! Rin, I—! Help me, please—!"

As he speaks, his voice melts back into insane hysteria and he growls and screams, his pupils slitting. His metal appendages swing and reach out towards Rin dangerously and slap Gumi and Gakupo in the faces. The knives clatter off their metal face masks uselessly and Len screams and thrashes.

"Run!" suddenly a voice calls fervently into Rin's ear, grabbing her hand and sprinting off. Rin struggles to keep up the pace despite the pain in her chest, not knowing who the perpetrator is. Rin glances around as the person pulls her into a hall and, despite the blurred world around her, she sees Miku, Meiko, and Kaito gather around her, running as well.

Rin glances forward and her eyes have to adjust and squint to stop the wind from getting into them and she recognizes blonde hair.

"Neru?" Rin asks, incredulous, until she remembers the clip in her hair and how it would alert Neru of any danger. Soon enough she also sees Mikuo running with them, hanging close to Miku.

"Yeah?" Neru says, raising her voice above the rushing wind. Rin fights the urge to break away from Neru, knowing the guard animals are hot on their trail and she'd probably be ripped to shreds if she ran off.

"But… Len…" Rin says, and just thinking about it cloaks her voice in despair and she bites her lip. Neru flicks her head towards Rin to show she's addressing her.

"I'm really sorry…" Neru says, her voice barely audible, but Rin can sense overwhelming despair coating her voice. "I… I don't know if there's anything we can do."

"Judging from the state he was in," Neru sighs. "It's what the scientists were afraid he would do. He's trained to react strongly to acts of violence against his "owner" in order to protect them. While put under extreme stress, such as how he feels useless and the pain from his burns, the way he reacts to violence against his "owner" can be very, very violent depending on how attached he is to said person.

"I guess… He considers you, if put in most technical terms, his owner," Neru says. "And he obviously really, really attached to you, so he just snapped to the extent that the urge to fight back took over his common sense.

"I'm sorry," Neru repeats quietly, and Rin looks away to hide her tears. Despite the moments she's been afraid of Len and everything he's done, the last thing she wants to happen is to lose who probably cares about her most in the harsh conditions of the laboratory.

Eventually Neru slows to a stop, the other three robots slowing around her. "I think we lost them for now. Do you have the map?" Neru addresses them, and Miku replies unsteadily.

"Len had it," Miku says weakly, moving to come beside the trembling Rin. Rin is thankful for her silent comfort and Kaito and Meiko come over too, reassuring her in a wordless gesture. Rin looks at the floor and hides the coming tears.

"Well, that's okay," Neru sighs. She pulls out her own copy of said map from her coat and looks at it. "I think this is the path I highlighted," she says, running her finger along a path. "We're off course over here."

She points again and Miku nods distractedly. They're obviously all disoriented and an uncomfortable silence prevails.

"So we can head here," Neru traces her finger along some hallways. "There are some small lounge rooms in his area and we can rest there once we reach there. I'll fix your wounds too."

Rin looks up slightly and realizes that Miku, Meiko, and Kaito, too suffer from several wounds. Miku is panting and her arms are completely slit down their lengths. Kaito's trademark scarf is shredded to near-tatters, and there are rips in his clothes that reveal bloody wounds. Meiko's bandage on her face is completely shredded off, revealing clouded, unseeing eyes.

Rin stares for a second at her eyes—her irises are an unnatural shade of red and split by whites in several places into blotches, dots of black pupils spreading across the bits and pieces of red. Rin looks away quickly and she can see why Meiko always wears bandages over them.

"Yeah, okay," Rin says and her voice is quiet like the faraway beat of a distressed heart. Neru pats her back as reassuringly as she can.

"Does that wound hurt?" Neru asks, gesturing at her split chest. "It looks painful."

"I'm okay," Rin says, her voice unintentionally gaining a bitter, angry edge. She turns away quickly to hide her frustration as her fists clench angrily.

Neru says nothing more as they continue in tense, wordless silence.