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Saieve moved quickly, searching for the entrance and avoiding looking suspicious as best he could.

*

"I think I'll give climbing another shot, there's gotta be an easy way in up there. Now that I know they won't take kindly to my sight, I'll be a tad more careful."

Clarissa had been wandering aimlessly - well, not so much aimlessly but as relying on instinct to get her to where she wanted to be. She made a right turn before answering Helena. "I don't really know, but I think it's this way." She hoped it was in the direction that her guts were leading to.

The more she headed to to her destination, the more restless she became. Helena seemed to be feeling the same. Please don't let it be the virus making us like this.

Helena mentally swore she could feel the excitement welling up around her. Everyone was intently looking ahead, wondering what they were going to find, where this inhuman urge was going to lead them.

Then she stopped in the midst of her track of mind with a sudden realization. There were very few people around here. Sure, there were a lot of physical obstructions and most of the defenses were sturdier than those previously found, but it just felt... lacking.

"I think we're walking toward a trap," she murmured. Despite this, she couldn't stop herself from advancing through the halls. "Be ready for... anything, I suppose."

Even as Lance spoke, the three of them realized the folly in jinxing such marvelous good luck, and they froze as there was a creak from somewhere around a corner ahead. In the second before they could begin backpedaling, there was a thud behind them.

After a few agonizing seconds of approaching footsteps, the Hosts found before them a man, tall and gaunt, with white hair and an imperial demeanor. Behind them stood a woman with brown hair, highlighted with pink, who smirked when she saw them.

The Hosts instantly felt a mixture of familiarity and Hunger as they realized who was facing them: two of the Host-Agents, undoubtedly dangerous and apparently aware of who the Hosts in disguise were.

"Well well," said the man. His dignified voice creaked slightly with that distinguished sound of age. The woman behind the Hosts giggled, expressing a high and light voice, full of either innocent entertainment or well-disguised malice. "What have we here?"

He advanced towards them, his heavy military boots thudding on the metal floor. He wore a black dress uniform, impeccably pressed and without a single sign of lint. His numerous medals glinted in the light as he halted about five yards from them, his stance ramrod-straight in the stark hall. "If it isn't the failed Hosts. Why are you here? You have no business here." He looked over their shoulders to the girl. "Do we let them go, or do we kill them here?"

The girl chuckled, and the Hosts realized that it was malice, not innocence, in her laugh. "I say we just end the lil losers' lives righ' now." She had a Cajun accent.

---

Around that time, Saieve stumbled upon a locked door, standing on its own at the end of a hall. He tried to force it open, to no avail. He could, however, sense something inside.

Something like a Host.

And, indeed, within the room were two forms. One, a young male, was stretching in the middle of the cell. The last thing he remembered, he had been sparring with someone; then he had woken up, and there was blood everywhere. No one was left inside the gym, but before he could move a lone man in a black suit entered. And now, here Van was.

The other, a woman, sighed and leaned her head against the wall daintily. The beautiful pornstar played with her fingernails as she thought back. She had been in her Penthouse, planning a trip, when she had felt sick. The boy with her, Caleb, had run out to get medicine, but Cossette didn't remember him coming back. She had woken up in an alley outside, covered in blood, and being shaken awake by a woman in black. And now, here she was.

Saieve felt that it was urgent that he get into that room, though he was unaware that there were Hosts in there beyond a vague feeling.

There were no vents to be seen; apparently this base was built with infiltration in mind. It looked like Saieve would have to get some keys.

He hadn't seen guards in a few minutes, though, and there was no way for him to remember how he had gotten here.

The girl giggled hysterically. "What we want is to kill you, silly boy!" she cackled.

The man nodded soberly.

((XD))

Saieve sighed with relief, at least one of them were conscious. She finished speaking and he chuckled curtly as his mind briefly visited the gutter. He cleared his throat.

"My name's Saieve, we can deal with formalities later, right now we need to get you out of there. I...I think there's someone else in there with you, right? Try touching them." he quickly explained, assuming she was a host (as they were being held captive), "It might freak you out at first, but don't panic, I'll explain what I can once you're out."

He stood back from the door.

Just how many people "volunteered" for this? he wondered. He thought of mom and what it seemed he had done, How many people lost someone important because of this?