Chapter 14: Silent Farewell

**You must be company level 58 to read this chapter.**

### **Stage 14-1**

> *"I stand in an open field. The sky is low. No wind. No clouds. Someone is calling my name.*
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> *I look around and see a hazy figure in the distance.*
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> *I chase after the figure, but it only gets farther away. Its color gets lighter, as if haloed with water, starting to disappear around the edges.*
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> *Suddenly a great fog swallows everything. All I see now is an icy grey."*
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MC wakes up from a dream where she's chasing after a figure that disappears into an icy fog, feeling cold and deep despair. The sky is gloomy and oppressive, and a storm is looming in the distance. She recalls the recent events with Lucien, contemplating and brooding over his betrayal. Pulling herself back together, she turns back to several files on recent cases of Evol going out of control in Loveland City, and she notes that all of her clues, as well as Lucien himself, lead to Loveland TV Tower. Gavin hasn't contacted her for days, and Victor hasn't called in a week. She calls Gavin's commander, but doesn't reach him. Not willing to give up, MC decides take matters into her own hands. Throughout Loveland city, she could see toppled trees or billboards, the secret indicators of an out-of-control Evol.

She brings her files to the police station, but the police have their hands full dealing with all the various outbreaks around the city. Officer Landsman mocks her, treating her as a nosy newscaster looking for a scoop, and the other officers dismiss her concerns. When she leaves the police station, the storm that had been brewing had broken out.

### **Stage 14-3**

It rained all afternoon, and let up by evening. MC travels to her office to pick up her dad's notebook. All the companies were on hiatus, but the security guard was there. He warns her of an employee who had gotten stuck in the elevator two days prior, and ran out of the building when he saw a dark shadow. MC dismisses the security guard's warning as a ghost story, and proceeds up the elevator to her office. As she grabs her notebook, she receives a call from Kiro, who anxiously asks her where she is right now.

MC tells Kiro that she's at the office, and Kiro tells her that he's on his way to her. He tells her to get out without taking the elevator, and guides her to a fire escape exit. He doesn't explain what's happening, but he says he'll tell her everything when they meet. Kiro uses the buildings security cameras to give MC detailed instructions. As she exits the fire escape on the 10th floor, she hears the sound of footsteps from above. Kiro talks her through her escape down a second fire escape, through the parking lot. As she exits the building, a black car drives up and she's pulled into the car.

### **Stage 14-5**

MC struggles against the person holding her, panicking, until she realizes Kiro's hugging her. As MC calms herself down, Kiro warns her that they're being chased. Kiro holds her, protecting her and shielding her eyes from the danger behind them. MC tells him she's not a child, and he says, "I know you're not. You're my Miss Chips. There's nothing she can't do. Everything she cooks is delicious, and she always gives me half. She's my superhero!" MC laughs, and she's finally able to relax. As Kiro pulls up several windows on two laptops, he explains that the people who were chasing her today are from the same organization that trapped them at the Hacker Summit. They had already scoured her office building a few days ago, which explains the security guard's story. Kiro had hacked into their files, and learning that MC might be in danger, he came looking for her. He manipulates the traffic system, changing traffic lights and traversing several back roads until he finally announces that they've lost their tail. Kiro takes MC home, but she expresses concerns for her own safety. Kiro reassures her that her home is special, because she's being protected by the special task force. He also tells her he'll be monitoring her through surveillance, though he promises he's never done it before. Kiro tells her he can't stay with her because he's also being monitored. He warns her not to go out on her own, not to go out at night, and that he'll come back for her after he's taken care of some things. Kiro takes MC's hands, looks into her eyes, and tells her to cheer up. He encourages her to call if she's scared, or if she can't sleep, and he places a piece of strawberry candy in her palm.

### **Stage 14-7**

By the time MC returns home, it's dark outside. With everything that's happened, she's feeling restless, and she wonders what changes in the organization caused them to start chasing her out in the open. MC checks her phone and she's surprised to find two missed calls and one voice message from Victor. MC is relieved, and assumes that Victor had failed to contact her because he was too busy before. She contemplates the foreboding feeling she'd been having because she couldn't reach him, and listens to his voicemail. "I need to go away temporarily to take care of something very important. Don't worry. You need to protect yourself, and don't go rushing into danger... I hope to see you in the future." His voice was deep, calm, and composed. MC puts down her phone, her heart pounding with doubt. She tries to call him back, but his phones just rings with no answer, and her worries grew. She listens to his message again, and again, but she couldn't understand his cryptic words.

The scene cuts to Victor's home, just minutes before. No one was picking up his call, and Victor expresses his annoyance before redialing. Sighing, he decides to leave a message. After he hangs up, the phone slips from his hand as he doubles over in a familiar, soul-tearing pain. A black vortex opens in the middle of his room, drawing him in. Unable to fight it, Victor is pulled into the darkness, and he couldn't help but think of MC. The vortex vanishes, and Victor along with it, leaving the room exactly the same as before.

An agent in the special task force reports a spike in data, exceeding the detectable range for their device. He requests backup to investigate.

In Kiro's apartment, he reads a 10 page document titled with a serious expression on his face. Written across the top is the title, "Superpower Amplification Experiment (Code P029)" and "Location #03: Loveland City."

### **Stage 14-9**

The blaring sound of ambulance sirens cut the early morning silence. Unable to sleep, MC walks over to the window and watches them rushing towards a thick cloud of smoke. MC feels a stabbing pain in her head, and as she leans on her windowsill, her vision goes white. She sees a thick fog, with a familiar silvery steel structure going in and out of view. She walks to the TV tower against her will, and an elevator carries her to the very top. In the fog, she sees an unfamiliar woman who speaks to her, but MC can't hear anything she says. In her hand, she holds what's eluded to as pandora's box. MC sees a hand pulling a red switch.

MC gasps to recover from the throbbing pain. She tries to recall the vision, or to see more, but nothing's there. She's perplexed at the ambiguity of her vision, compared to any of her prior visions. MC ponders with her notebook, fixating again on the TV Tower, and decides to call Gavin's commander. Before she can ask him anything, he cuts her off and tells her that the only person who can make a change, for better or worse, is her, and then he hangs up on her. MC looks out her window towards the TV tower in a daze. In the background, the news reports on an explosion at the tower this morning at 6:10am. Currently, they're reporting 5 dead and 47 injured. MC realizes it's another case of Evol going out of control, and she's overwhelmed by the weight of the situation. She decides that her Evol might exist so she can change the future, rather than waiting for it to happen. She steels her resolve.

### **Stage 14-11**

The next day, MC mails all of her evidence to the police, and writes a letter to Anna granting her authority to handle all of the company's affairs. She calls Kiro, but he doesn't pick up, and she needs him for her plan. Unable to wait, she leaves her apartment to search for him.

MC feels like someone is following her, so she uses her phone camera to look behind her, but sees no one. Once she was among other pedestrians, and because she's in broad daylight, she assumes she's just being paranoid. As she rounds a corner, a shady figure dressed in all black, wearing a black hat and mask, grabs her. MC screams out, only to realize that it's Kiro. He explains that he was on his way to her building, and had planned on calling her when he got there. Kiro warns MC that someone is tailing her, and he makes a plan to ditch them by running to the metro station on the count of three. Kiro and MC are able to run, hand-in-hand, into an empty subway cart just as the doors are closing, effectively ditching her stalkers.

Now that they were able to catch their breath, Kiro's expression shifts to anger. "Why did you go outside against my advice?!" he yells at MC. "If I didn't just happen to run into you..." MC apologizes, and explains that she needed him, but he didn't answer her call. Kiro checks his phone, and his eyes darken upon seeing the black screen. He puts his phone away without further explanation, and asks MC why she was looking for him. MC tells him that the recent happening around Loveland City might be tied to an electromagnetic wave originating from Loveland TV Tower. She explains Evol, and references the message about Black Swan from the hacker summit. She thought that someone like Key would be able to shut down the emitter, returning the city to normal. She asks Kiro if he believes her, and he immediately responds that he does.

Kiro tries to hack into the TV Tower to shut down the emitter, but fails. He promises MC that he's sure he'll turn it off next time. MC breaks the fourth wall with some foreshadowing: "At the time, I didn't know what kind of determination was behind those words, and I couldn't make out the hint of unease behind his earnest expression." MC tells Kiro that she has to go shut off the emitter in person. Kiro immediately volunteers to accompany her, because if she's going to be a superhero and save the city, she can't go without "her biggest fan." MC warns him that it's dangerous, and she's worried about getting him involved. He reveals that he is also an Evolver, and that his Evol is the ability to passively attract people, which is why everyone loves Kiro. When he loses control of his Evol, his fans began rioting, so he couldn't appear in public anymore. Kiro mentions that there's something else important that he has to do, but doesn't tell MC what it is.

Despite her protests, he tells her not to say no to him. "I want to protect you too," he smiles at her, and so she could only agree.

### **Stage 14-13**

MC and Kiro arrive at the Loveland TV tower, which had been shut down two days prior due to an out-of-control Evol incident. Even though all of the roads leading to the building had been blocked off, they discover the entrance is completely swarming with Kiro's fans, along with several reporters and film crews. A rumor online had said that Kiro would appear in public for the first time since he announced his retirement. Kiro notices that the story which started this rumor was meant to be a warning. Soon after, a fight breaks out between several over-zealous fangirls, and the security guards had to break them apart. Fortunately, no one was hurt, but Kiro is still upset about it. Kiro calls Savin to the scene to help calm the situation.

Kiro and MC enter the underground parking garage through a side door, and Kiro uses his phone to jam nearby surveillance, as well as guide them through the building. When MC's paranoia start to kick in, Kiro grabs her hand and comforts her. Kiro guesses Black Swan is running some kind of experiment to amplify Evol abilities, but the experiment failed. MC is shocked that they're treating the entire city as a guinea pig, and Kiro responds that it might not just be Loveland City. MC speculates on the role Lucien has played in all this.

As Kiro and MC enter the lobby, they see the building in a broken state, with a giant crack running along the floor.

### **Stage 14-14**

There were cracks in the walls, glass and ceiling of the building. MC is concerned for their safety, but Kiro assures her that the damage was controlled, and didn't affect the building's structural integrity. MC asks how that's possible if the damage was caused by a freak accident, and Kiro replies that maybe it wasn't an accident. The damage appears to be precise and calculated. If someone's powers had gone out of control, they should have completely destroyed the lobby. Kiro uses his phone to map out a route to the roof that will allow them to avoid surveillance and the security guards, and the two of them proceed to a service elevator, which carries them to the 90th floor observation deck.

In the elevator, Kiro notices MC seems worried. She admits her concern, and he reassures her that he's with her. While she admits that it was good to have a legendary hacker like Key with her, she also knew he was no fighter. She jokes that their combined stats wouldn't even add up to 5, and he reassures her that they were able to escape Black Swan twice before. He strokes her hair, which helps calm her down.

As they exit the elevator, they hear two voices approaching them. Kiro pulls MC behind a recess in the wall, covering her with body, and the two are able to hide in a perfect blind spot. The two voices get on the elevator and descend without noticing the protagonists. After the00y're certain that the coast is clear, the two hurry towards a freight elevator, which they had previously ruled out because it was unsafe. Kiro tells MC that it might have been affected by the cracks, but it still runs. The elevator arrives at their floor safety, but it starts to drop as soon as Kiro steps onto it, and he pushes MC out of harm's way.

MC screams Kiro's name as the elevator doors slowly closed, but she thinks she hears a loud "bang." Her mind goes blank.

### **Stage 14-17**

MC starts shaking in panic and fear as she struggles to reassure herself of Kiro's safety. She hears footsteps approach, and several people dressed in all black appear, along with a young woman. She has long, flowing black hair, dark grey eyes, dark purple lipstick, and she's wearing a skintight black leather body suit. Her face is full of arrogance and scorn, both captivating and terrifying. MC asks her if she's from Black Swan, and she answers that MC doesn't need to know. MC accuses her of hurting Kiro, and she replies that he isn't dead yet. Relieved, MC focuses her attention on escaping her would-be captors, and looks around to assess her situation. As she does so, her vision goes white. She sees a blur of images and hears the crashing of glass. As she comes back to her senses, she grabs the phone lying beside her, and throws it through the cracked window behind the icy young woman. Taking advantage of the chaos, she immediately gets up to run down the hall, but she's brought to the ground by a powerful force. MC looks back in surprise to see the young woman, completely apathetic, standing underneath a sheet of broken glass shards. Although a violent wind was blowing, none of the glass shards moved. MC realizes that another, hidden, Evol user must be manipulating them, and she fights to suppress her terror.

MC is taken to another floor, where the lobby has a glass walkway suspended in mid-air. The force that was holding her down has lessened, but it's still difficult to walk. The young woman walks over to MC, cooly judging her worth, and comments that there's nothing special about her. "Why would you cause him to sway?" she mutters to herself. She removes her glove, and a black snake crawls out from her wrist. The snake's golden pupils lock onto MC, who desperately wants to run away, but is unable to do so. MC notices a black Ouroboros tattoo on the young woman's wrist, and an unnatural pale grey color on her fingertip. Just then, the young woman's phone rang, and she turned away from MC to answer the call. "I'm here to take back experiment equipment. P029's effect isn't as predicted." She hangs up her call and returns to MC, her steely grey eyes filled with fury.

### **Stage 14-19**

"I'm not going to kill you," the pale-skinned woman said, her face indifferent. "If you can escape from my grasp, then I'll concede that you have some value." Though she wasn't even touching her, MC could feel a scorching pain. The mysterious woman's grey fingertip dissolved and spread into the air, moving around like it was alive. Suddenly, they heard a loud sound from below, and the ground started to shake. The glass walkway was cracking, and a ton of white smoke billowed in from all directions, obscuring everyone's view. Sirens were blaring, and the fire sprinklers had gone off. Amidst the chaos, the gravity that had been holding down MC let up, and even though the woman tried to grab her, MC was able to escape. A hand grabs her shoulder, and she hears Kiro's voice. "Come with me." MC was overcome with happiness as the two darting through doors and corridors as they ran towards the roof. As the fog cleared, MC looked at Kiro. He was soaked. "Are you okay?" MC and Kiro both asked each other at the same time. MC explains that she wasn't their main objective this time, and they hadn't done anything to her. Kiro tells MC that the elevator he was in had fallen a few dozen meters and slowed to a stop, but it had taken him a while to get back up to where she was. Kiro says that they need to get out quick. The organization is dangerous, both the woman and "the one hidden in the shadows." Kiro examined the routes on his phone and freezes when he realizes that they can't use any of the elevators, so they decide to take the stairs.

Back in the lobby, the dark-haired woman stands amidst the fading fog, unamused. "Aren't you going to chase them?" a mysterious man asks her. "No," she responds. "If you're done playing, then I'll have a turn."

### **Stage 14-20**

MC and Kiro run up an endless, spiraling staircase made of steel and glass. The sunlight reflected through the glass made it look like a sparkling amber castle. Their footsteps echoed in the otherwise quiet space. Then, they heard a thud from below. "What is that noise?" MC asks, but Kiro only pulls her faster upwards. They have to hurry! The crashing sound is growing closer, and MC turns to look behind her. The stairs below were collapsing, level by level, like they were being crushed by a heavy force. She asks Kiro why this is happening, and he replies that it's another Evolver's power. MC's feet grew heavy, and it was difficult to breathe. The pressure threatened to overwhelm her, and it felt like they wouldn't reach the exit in time. Though her body was reaching its limit, she knew she couldn't stop. Kiro's warm hand holding her gave her courage, and he cheered her on as they ran. As they neared the emitter, MC started to feel its uncomfortable effects. Kiro slipped, though he caught himself on the handrail. When MC asks if he's okay, he says he's fine, but she could feel his hand trembling. "We're definitely going to be fine," he said as he smiled and squeezed her hand, and so they desperately ran.

Kiro and MC approach the rooftop and find the door half open. "We made it!" she cries out in excitement, but Kiro responds grimly, "he's here." When they're just one step from the rooftop, Kiro stops. He lets go of her hand, and turns to look at her with a gentle smile on his face. "We're going in, right?" she said nervously, but he didn't answer. He stared into her eyes intensely, and his beautiful blue irises suddenly turned a bright, beautiful, golden color. "I command you," he said sternly, his face serious, "all within my range of control belongs to me. Now, walk onto the rooftop, lock the door, and don't let anyone in...including me." He closed his eyes.

MC panicked. She couldn't move. She couldn't speak. "Don't be afraid," he said, smiling kindly. Against her will, she walked right past Kiro. As they crossed, he whispered, "You'll be okay... I will always protect you." She walked out onto the roof, and turned to grab the door. "Don't! Don't!" she screamed silently, "Kiro hasn't come out yet!" Tears streamed down her face as she wept in desperation, willing her body to obey, but it wouldn't. She saw his figure in the doorway in front of her, with a dark, looming presence fast approaching. He called out to her, asking her to wait for him, and the last step slipped out from under his feet. The last thing she saw was his smile as she shut the door and locked it.

She stood alone on the rooftop of the tallest building in Loveland City, braced against the strong wind, staring at a cold, metal door. A golden-wing bird flew by, like a ray of light...

### **Stage 14-22**

A long time passed, and the sky grew dark. Finally, MC could move again. In an instant, as it everything holding her up had vanished, she collapsed to the ground. Unable to get her thoughts in order, MC struggled to her feet and pounded on the locked door, but it was wedged shut and she couldn't pry it open. She shouted Kiro's name, but there was no reply. Sliding back to the ground against the cold, grey door, MC wept uncontrollably. "Didn't we say we'd face it together...?" she asked, though no one could hear her. Despair overcame her as she blamed herself for what had happened to him. She was the one who wanted to come. She was the one who wanted to be here. She was the one who ran into danger, and yet he was the one who got hurt.

A red light flashed at the top of the tower, and MC turned her attention towards the emitter. Though the strong wind threatened to blow her away, MC climbed a ladder towards the top of the tower, rung by rung, with all of her strength, and all of her being. As she climbed, she kept telling herself that she needed to wait for Kiro to return. The emitter was making her dizzy, and her mind was fading out. She reached out for the red switch, and she pulled it down as she lost consciousness, simultaneously falling off the ladder and turning off the emitter. She saw all of the happy moments of her life floated before her eyes, glowing warmly in the dark night. A tear ran out of the corner of her eye as she braced herself for her final moments. In her daze, she felt a familiar wind holding her up. The thick smell of blood surrounded her, and though she was still falling, she knew she was no longer alone.

Gavin anxiously wiped away her tear. He had come too late. He reached out, pulling her towards him, as the two of them fell. A black vortex opened, and air currents surged around them. "I will accompany you, till the very end."