The transport plane touched down on cracked asphalt in the middle of nowhere. No lights. No personnel. Just the echo of engines against empty land. The moment the ramp dropped, everyone moved. Vehicles rolled out in tight sequence, engines kept low. Within minutes, the plane lifted off again, vanishing into the sky as if it had never been there.

  Williams scanned the horizon. “Where are we?”

  Mei-Ling replied. “Looks like Mexico.”

  Aiko smiled faintly. “I hope so. You know what that means, right?”

  Mei-Ling’s lips curved, just barely. “Home sweet home.”

  Dawson’s voice crackled over the radio. “All right, let′s get moving. That plane is too big to be unnoticed. Maya, you have the front door. David, you have the back door.”

  Williams frowned. “Where are we going?”

  “Home.”

  After a few hours they arrived at a small port and a raft took them to an island. They passed a small village and went to a big house on the other end of the small island. The whole place was absolutely peaceful.

  “We’re here,” Aiko said. “The sanctuary.”

  Mei-Ling looked back once, toward the water. “I’ll miss the orphanage. But I think I missed this place even more.”

  Michelle stared up at the structure. “That’s… huge. How did this—”

  “This has always been ours,” Dawson said. “From the early days. This is where the girls started their bloody careers.”

  Michelle blinked confused. “How…?”

  Dawson exhaled slowly. “Long story short, when the Organisation fell, we needed a place to safely hide and regroup. Didn′t plan on staying, but things turned out differently. This island belonged to a drug lord. He took the farmland from the people to make it his own drug fields and even forced the villagers to fork for him. They rebelled, but he quickly eliminated all the resistance. We offered the people to solve their little problem. They were sceptical. Three adults and a gang of children. But we made a deal. We do the job, even return the fields to the villagers, but keep the house and the property. And one night we sent out the girls. They weren′t together very long, so they were uncoordinated and unhinged. I told them to make a statement there. That was a mistake.”

  Milena crossed her arms. “Yeah. They went completely off the rails. That wasn′t a statement, that was… I don′t know how to describe it… You know what my basement looks like, right? Well looking at what they did, even I had to throw up.”

  Dawson continued. “Now the villagers were really frightened. The girls gave them a big scare and they were also afraid someone could come for retaliation. And they were right. Goons came a few times, girls delivered and the villagers calmed down a bit. So did the girls. They became friendly, we helped the villagers to rebuild their lives and made a deal with Mama Gabriela. She and her two sons now run the island. The deal was simple - as long as we are here, we help and protect them. In return they keep an eye on the house when we′re not here and they keep our secret safe.

  “And this house was a jackpot," Milena added. “Big armory, big drug lab, a cliff that gives protection and down there a beautiful beach. And since the villagers know what we are, we don′t have to pretend anything. And on the mainland not far away a black market heaven.”

  They went inside the house. An elderly lady and two men in their thirties were expecting them. It was Mama Gabriela and her sons. “Hello, Joseph. The house is just like you left it.”

  “Nice to see you again. How have you been?”

  “Good, but could be better. Your timing is incredible. Some goons were trying to settle down here. We drove them away, but I have the feeling they will come back.”

  “One of those who don′t take no for an answer? Don′t worry, we′ll take care of it. By the way, do you have what I asked for?”

  “The fake documents are ready. Even for our new faces.”

  Michelle smiled politely. “Nice to meet you.”

  Mama Gabriela studied her for a moment, her eyes were sharp but kind. “How did a decent looking young girl end up in this powdercake?”

  Aya answered before Michelle could. “She was too curious for her own good. And then saved our butts a couple of times.”

  Mama’s gaze shifted. “And this is…?”

  “This is my dad,” Michelle answered.

  Mama smiled. “A fine looking young man. I wish I was a bit younger. I′ll show you your rooms. Joseph, if you need anything else, just call me.”

  It took a while to unpack and settle in, but everything went as smoothly as always. Then they all went to the beach to relax a bit. After the battle with the cyborgs and the unplanned bugout they needed it. Everybody had a great time. Even Mei-Ling looked happy, but everybody felt she was not her usual self and her thoughts were someplace else.

  ***

  Later that evening Mei-Ling was sitting alone on the beach watching the sunset. Aya and Dawson saw her.

  “What is she doing there?” Aya muttered. “Don′t tell me she is still whining because she killed those cyborgs. Oh, I′m gonna go there and punch her back to reality!”

  “Don’t,” Dawson said quietly. ”She needs to deal with it on her own. We didn′t know she had any PTSD, but those past events did trigger something in her.”

  Aya frowned. “Yeah, like what?”

  “Survivors' guild and old memories,”Dawson said quietly. “When she opened the container back at the port and saw those abducted girls, for her it was like she saw herself. Do you know how she came to the Organisation?”

  This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  Aya went still. “No, paps.”

  “Just like those girls. In a box. A way smaller than they had. And she also had a family. Not a loving one, but still a family. She survived, remained who she was. Those girls weren't so lucky. And not even did Mei-Ling survive, she was the one who pulled the trigger.”

  Aya's head sank down. She felt guilt for what she said earlier.

  “Right now she needs a friend,” Dawson adds. “She needs a family. Come.”

  Dawson and Aya went down to the beach. Mei-Ling was standing in the water, with a few beautiful flowers in her hands and she was gently singing a chinese song. Aya stood in the background like a statue. She doesn’t understand a single word in Chinese, but there was something in that song that emotionally hit her to a point, where even the strongest and most brutal of the Fangs started to have watery eyes. When Mei-Ling finished the song, she put the flowers onto the water and said “I am sorry for what I had to do. But I know you’re in a better place now. You are free.”

  She then turned around and what she saw was as rare as meeting a Yeti: Aya with an open mouth and tears in her eyes. “What… was that… It was… beautiful.”

  Mei-Ling smiled faintly. “Probably the only thing I clearly remember from my early childhood. It is a lullaby my mom used to sing to me.”

  That opened Aya's floodgates completely. Her tears were like two waterfalls. She went to Mei-Ling and hugged her so hard, her soul almost left her body. Dawson joined them and the three shared a rare emotional moment. For Mei-Ling this was a kind of a closure as she sang them a final lullaby for their eternal sleep.

  ***

  Days have passed. Michelle and her team were digging through Schmidt's laptop in horror and disbelief. Seeing all the gory details of what those poor girls had to go through made their stomachs turn. One terrible procedure after another. What the Fangs had to endure in their time - compared to this it was a walk in the park. But the laptop also gave them a bit of good news.

  “The three cyborgs were prototypes,” Michelle said. “Those and the fourth one that was deployed in the lab, they were the only ones activated and the lab was the only place where they produced them and did the research. So it′s safe to say all cyborgs have been shut down. What is more concerning are the potential buyers. China, Iraq, even North Korea? If this is legit, we may have prevented a global disaster. Imagine what would happen, if terrorists or a militaristic country would have a small army of those.”

  “I rather don't,” Dawson said. “Not a pretty thought. But right now we need to think in a bit smaller scale. Like a US wide scale.”

  “That ain't exactly a small scale,” Michelle countered.

  “Then try a CIA-size scale,” Dawson corrected. “We need to know who blew the whistle on us and why. And who to trust.”

  Williams leaned back. “I can try to contact Ferguson and maybe cash in a favour at the NSA. But I may be tracked…”

  “In his files the CIA shows up a lot and also the navy. I think that was the arms contractor good for. This still will need a lot of digging.” Michelle said.

  Talia nodded. “I can give you a secure line to Ferguson. But no guarantees.”

  “Let′s give it a try,” Dawson said. “But monitor the lines closely.”

  The call connected.

  “Chief, are you alone? Can you talk?”

  “David? Is that you? Where the hell are you? The whole Langley is upside down!”

  “I did what I had to do. Couldn′t risk the laptop falling into the wrong hands. I can′t tell you where I am, but me and Michelle are safe. But that is not the reason I am calling you. You know what we found. You know how high this is going. We need to find out who else is involved. Who sent you after us.”

  “That won′t be easy. The order came from the top. You all were marked as terrorists. I have the orders to find you and bring you in!”

  “Figures. Well a word of advice. Don't send anybody after us unless you want to arrange funerals. From our perspective the CIA broke the deal and the girls don't feel bound to it anymore. And to be honest, I have the feeling the CIA wanted us here only to study the girls to create even better cyborgs. The deputy was involved. That said something.”

  “Official news states he died while being on an undercover operation.”

  “Official yes, But we took Schmidts laptop apart. That was no undercover mission. He was in it up to his neck. If things get hot, we can leak the information to every news outlet there is in the US. But you know that would cause an earthquake of galactic proportions. I would like to avoid that. Just let me know if you find something.”

  “No promises.”

  The line went dead.

  “The line was clean,” Talia confirmed.

  Milena sighed. “That didn't really help. Guess we′re on our own.”

  “Then let′s keep analysing the laptop. There must be something we could use,” Dawson said.

  Michelle leaned forward. “I think I found something: Look. CIA files. And names. Dad, you recognize any of those?”

  “You bet I do. This one is the deputy assistant you killed, those are from the department of science and technology and this one is from the department of analysis. Those are some big names.”

  “Now what?” Talia asks.

  “We need to speed it up,” Williams said. “Everyone grabs the data according to their area of expertise. Michelle, you do the pre-analysis and be the “librarian”. I will take the CIA investigation. Talia, tech analysis. Milena, med files, Joseph, international business and black market. And take the other girls to assist you. We may have cut off the main head, but we have to make sure no new ones grow instead.”

  He looks at Michelle. “What?”

  Michelle looks at him with a satisfying smile. “So this is how you looked at work, right?”

  Milena smirked. “And he wants his old job back…”

  Williams shook his head. “Not sure about that anymore.”

  The team got to work. It took some time to process the data, but what they found gave them at least a bit of hope.

  The CIA is really the only ones directly involved,” Williams concluded. He puts together the intel that can cut that head off for good. “All other names are basically corrupted individuals. So MPs and other crime investigators won′t have a hard time bringing them in.”

  “I′ve investigated the hardware and programming,” Talia reported. “Most of the stuff comes from China. The fibers are experimental tech still in testing. SimCor bought it legally to test them on prosthetics and gather data. Illegally then under the table to use them to build cyborgs. The metal sheets were also experimental. Material was bought legally and then refined in the US. That is one factory that can be shut down. Most of the programming was done in the underground facility in North Georgia.”

  “I′ve studied the medical procedures, wishing I didn't have to,” Milena said quietly. “But I learned more about the serum, its components, how they refined it, but-”

  “They were not the ones who found the serum. They bought it,” Michelle interrupted. “So we need to find the seller. I′ve also found extended information about potential buyers and business partners. There are also extended ties to facilities in Brazil and even Japan, but nothing specific. “

  Williams looked at Talia. “Talia, can we do one more secured call?”

  “To whom?”

  “Agent Samantha Tucker. NSA analyst. I have known her for a long time and she helped get the NSA on that contract. So far the NSA wasn't even hinted at in Schmidt's files. It could be our chance.”

  Dawson gave Talia a silent nod. The call connected.

  “Hello?”

  “Hello, Sam.”

  “Oh, my God… David, is it you?! How did you get this number?!”

  “Can we talk in private?”

  “I guess so… What happened? You are all over the news! They said you orchestrated terrorist attacks on SimCor!”

  “In a way that is true. They were building human based weapons.”

  “Say what now? You mean like the Black Fang?”

  “I mean something way worse. Like when you fuse the Fangs and Terminator. They were building human cyborgs.”

  “Are you mocking me? You expect me to believe that? And why is your own agency not taking care of this?

  “Because the CIA is directly involved in it. And we have uncovered it. That is why they′re after me.”

  “What? No way. And… why am I actually listening to this? What do you want from me?”

  “Listen. I just want a little favour. I would like to send you some materials and I want to ask to just take a look at them. Unofficially.“

  “Only look at them. Yes?”

  “Only look at them. And then let me know what you think. You are the top NSA analyst.”

  “Will it get me into trouble?”

  “Not as long as you don′t tell anyone.”

  “Damn. OK, I owe you this much. Send it over.”

  Williams sends a sample of the files to agent Tucker with the flicker of hope they could finally find an ally they could trust.