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"He was asking for it!" Elizabeth snapped in response, swinging her bare fist at Adela. "You didn't have to heal him!"

"He started it! I didn't attack him until he went after me just because he felt like being a d**k or whatever!" Elizabeth complained. Her shield melted away, reforming on her left arm, as she grabbed for Adela's leg with her right hand.

"Ugh!" Helena fell over, quite startled by the whole turn of events. One bladed arm rose to attempt rubbing at the Host's face, but she stopped short with a frown. Damn, she can make that hurt. With a groan, Grissom rose to her feet again. Few people bothered to pay her any attention, even Adela. And then there was a silent rumbling in her stomach. The hunger was returning, the God Essence working her up. She'd have to maul someone soon. Like, REALLY soon. Again, Helena chose to engage Adela. Swiftly she approached, one blade before her to be used defensively while the other was poised to strike. The artist couldn't have hoped for anything better than Adela practically flipping onto her blades. With the girl unaware, she lashed out with both blades to hack the Sigil-girl in half, regardless of any previous planning. Amidst all this, Helena could be seen licking her lips somewhat disturbingly.

Elizabeth's charge was inconveniently interrupted by a limp ragdoll of a man - probably a Nihilite - being thrown into her. She was tossed aside.

Another similar event blew another man into Adela, accidentally knocking her out of the way of Helena's attack.

In the Minds of the Hosts:

Clarissa:

She stood alone. The room was empty. A single light was aimed at her, above and to her left. She couldn't see anything around here.

There was a clang. A door had closed. Footsteps were approaching, but the echoes made it hard to determine from where. Clarissa looked around, but she could not see.

"Host L2," came a voice from the dark. It spoke with authority, and Clarissa felt herself drawing up at the sound of...her name? That was her name?

The footsteps again. Someone was coming. They were about to enter the light. She saw a foot, in a shining black shoe. It fell slowly to the ground, seeming to take eternity in its descent. It hit the floor with a click and

Elizabeth

She laid in a bunk. The ceiling above was lost in darkness, as the only light around was a portable work light on the floor. She rolled onto her side to look over.

There were three other shapes around the light, talking softly. On the multitude of bunks around, sleeping forms moved and groaned softly in their sleep. Only Elizabeth and the other three were awake. She focused in on their conversation.

"I'm gonna take him down one day!" said one, a small boy with a shock of red hair. He punched his fist for emphasis. A dark little girl next to him laughed.

"You'll never beat R," she chuckled. She shook her head and looked away. The last boy nodded slowly in agreement.

"Did you hear about the Symbiotes?" he asked after a minute of silence. "They

Helena

Bang!

The dummy hit the wall with a loud noise. Helena sighed in admiration as the muscular man turned away, grinning. The scientists nodded in approval and made notes.

Two more dummies came into the room, and the man turned to face them. They began to move back and forth, hanging from the ceiling, and the man's eyes followed. After a moment, he closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and raised his hands. They shifted from human appendages into glistening organic cannons, aimed at the dummies though the man's eyes were closed.

Two coughs, and the dummies were torn to shreds. Very impressive. The sound of clapping, and Helena, the scientists, and the man turned to see the infamous Host-Agent R, applauding slowly. The man's limbs turned from guns to hands as he bowed slightly.

"Excellent work," said R. "You have what it takes to be my apprentice, really. What do you say, J

Jesse

He stood outside, looking at the sun. It was almost sunset, and he liked this time best.

Next to him stood a small woman, who sighed in contentment. She wore an identical uniform, though hers fit better. Jesse turned to look at her.

She smiled softly. "We're almost through. Soon, we'll be Host-Agents too. They're even fast-tracking me! Tomorrow, I start the new S Program! They told me that I would become a Sy

Lance

His hands morphed back to normal. Rubbing his wrists, he turned to the scientists. Their faces were inscrutable as they wrote notes on their clipboards.

"Again," came a voice over an intercom. Lance turned back to see a dummy came sliding into place. Lance's hands morphed, and he looked down in confusion. Had he done that? He must have willed it, or it wouldn't have shifted. He turned to face the dummy and sighed.

---

This all took place simultaneously. It took no longer than a second, but it certainly affected the Hosts.

She slowed and glanced around, evaluating her options. Elizabeth was doing well on her own with that massive shield of hers. It looked like Saieve and Clarissa could use a little help with that Agent and the Irishman. Or was he Scottish? Who knew.

Helena turned her back to Elizabeth and Adela and instead made her way past Finnegan to approach Host 'A' and Saieve. Halfway to her destination, she came to a stop, distracted by the sudden flaring of memories. Host-Agent R and another of the Hosts... Agent or not, she couldn't remember, but seeing as how none of her comrades could summon a gun, she figured it was the former.

As it came to an end and her eyes came back into focus, she shook her head lightly. In doing so, she caught sight of something much more interesting, and moved quickly to investigate. It was an Agent pinned beneath the foot of some woman-- ally was the only name by which Grissom knew her. She groaned involuntarily, and looked a little embarrassed at the fact. Standing before this Nihilite and Agent beneath her boot, she felt that disgusting side of herself desperate to emerge once more. With a pleading look in her eyes, Helena asked quite timidly, "Can... Can I have him?" Obviously, she wasn't talking about sex, either. There was no lust in her expression, but there was definitely a craving...

The woman looked down on Helena. "I suppose you mean now, and I don't think so. Perhaps - even probably later, as I'm quite confident he'll try something stupid." She gave M a little kick here. "However, for the moment - I'm interested in him myself. I imagine, you know, that the Sigil-empowered would probably be as useful to you as the Hosts-Agents."

"Stupid is often what I do," Agent M added helpfully, feeling the virus systematically repair his body. He would need a bit more time, but only a relatively small amount, to be recovered to a decent level.