"Daddy...why are there so many black vans outside?"

  The feared Noire siblings left the capital after fulfilling their mission. Flames engulfed the buildings, causing them to collapse on the poor innocents hiding inside. The collateral damage, unintentional yet devastating, was far greater than anticipated. Beneath the rubble of a fallen structure, Varryance lay still conscious.

  "Found him! Help me get the rubble off..." Mercy's voice was distant as she worked to remove the debris from Varryance.

  "I'm okay! Ugh...I needed to lay down for a while anyway..." Varryance groaned as Mercy and her squad removed the rubble, revealing him.

  "You idiot... I thought I lost you..." Mercy's voice broke with emotion as she hugged him. One of his former squadmates added, somberly:

  "SAM is dead. They were here for her."

  "How did they even find us?" Varryance muttered, his voice hoarse. The same squad member replied, a bitter edge in his voice.

  "Don't know, they made a lucky guess. We left no tracks, either."

  "SAM... she's repairable... just need the right equipment..." Varryance's words were steady, though exhaustion lined his face. He rose with Mercy's help, leaning on her for support as he continued.

  "Is there anyone familiar with IARO Tech?" he asked.

  "IARO Tech? You said they were made by the Germans." Mercy's voice was filled with confusion.

  "Yeah, well, IARO made her models. She's a prototype... I realized during the Barren errand," Varryance explained. One of the soldiers stepped forward, his voice cutting into the conversation.

  "This way."

  They arrived at SAM's corpse, positioned in front of the crowd. Even with a BPNG shell shot at her, she remained mostly intact-her limbs were the only parts missing, but those were repairable. Varryance felt a surge of relief as he stopped leaning on Mercy, who was momentarily shocked before smirking.

  "Yeah, she's fixable. No worries... Hope her dome isn't too damaged, or we'll have to repair that too..." Varryance remarked.

  Mercy's brow furrowed as she asked:

  "What happens if her dome is too damaged? Can't it be repaired, or...?"

  "It can be repaired, of course. But it'll wipe her memories," one of the squad members answered, piecing it together.

  "Well... there's one person I know, but it's at the Barge," Mercy said. Varryance nodded, his expression turning serious.

  "Then we head there, you and me. Rest of you stay here and help around. Hordes will come eventually due to all the commotion." The other squad members nodded in agreement, though they still helped Varryance and Mercy load SAM onto the back of a pickup truck.

  "You drive. I'm going to take a nap... Plus, I don't know where the Barge is," Varryance muttered, sinking into the passenger seat. Mercy nodded, getting behind the wheel and immediately heading toward the Barge.

  In front of them, however, stretched nothing but sand and a dark sky filled with shimmering stars.

  A couple of hours passed, and they arrived at a deserted town. The buildings were in ruins, and the place was dead quiet, only distant waves were heard. Still, Mercy woke him up just in case something happened.

  ''Varry... wake up.''

  ''Mmm... we arrived?''

  ''No... this is the pickup place..but I hate this town... it's filled with raiders.''

  Varryance rubbed his eyes as Mercy started a conversation with him, driving slowly through the town.

  ''How was it back then?'' said Mercy. Varryance replied, still somewhat vigiliant.

  ''How was what?'' he said, yawning.

  ''The cities... towns... stuff like that.''

  ''Well, it was more than this, I can tell ya. It was... beautiful, to say the least, but this... with raiders, nothing different.''

  ''Really?''

  ''I mean, yeah, except back then it was a bit more controlled, I guess. Big cities had issues with bombings and terrorism, but we had our own enforcement.''

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  ''Like police?''

  ''Not quite... we called them Civil Security, C.S. for short. You might've heard of them from those armored suits..."

  ''Civil Security... if they needed these bulky armors, surely the cities weren't safe, right?''

  ''Well, C.S. were ruthless law enforcement operators, and back then, terrorism was with nuclear weapons almost all the time. Back in my day was when weapons got mass-produced and sold everywhere... illegally and legally.''

  ''And then the war happened...''

  ''Yup.''

  ''You mentioned you had kids but never mentioned you had a wife. What happened to her?''

  ''I really don't want to talk about that...''

  ''Sorry to bulge in,'' said Mercy with a sad tone, clearly understanding that talking about the past wasn't Varryance's favorite topic.

  ''Raiders...'' said Mercy, looking in the distance. The raiders were waiting in the middle of the road on the boulevard they were in.

  ''What are the odds that there are raiders in the houses watching us?'' said Varryance to Mercy. She replied:

  ''High. Really high.''

  Mercy stopped the truck far enough from the raiders on the road.

  ''What do we do?'' asked Varryance. Mercy didn't know either.

  ''I don't know... I don't usually go to the Barge... I never deal with raiders that much...''

  ''Still got explosive arrows?'' said Varryance. Mercy responded:

  ''Yes, why?''

  ''I saw trucks filled with raiders the moment those guys appeared. We're going to make a run for it. I'll drive, you shoot them down, alright?'' said Varryance as Mercy switched seats, nodding.

  ''Alright...'' said Varryance as he floored the pedal. The raiders immediately started shooting at them, almost getting run over by Varryance. Four trucks behind them began to form up as both of them were shot at from different houses, just as they expected.

  Mercy leaned out of the passenger window, firing an explosive arrow at the truck in front of the others. The explosion blocked the way for the rest. Varryance cheered at the explosion from the truck, lighting up the entire town and creating a massive mushroom cloud behind them.

  ''WHERE AM I DRIVING?!''

  ''MAKE A TURN HERE!'' yelled Mercy as Varryance did a tight left. SAM in the back was swinging back and forth.

  ''TWO MORE TRUCKS BEHIND. BE STEADY!'' yelled Mercy as she leaned out the window again. But as soon as she got out of the window, Varryance's vision became blurry and red.

  The Parasite took action.

  ''GET IN!'' said Varryance, dragging her back inside as she shot the explosive in a random direction by accident, hitting a house and destroying its front entrance. As she was dragged into the car, they were rammed from the left by a third truck at full speed, making them roll over inside a house and destroy it completely. Varryance hugged her, trying to protect her from the impact as much as he could, but Mercy was already unconscious. The raider trucks pulled up around the pair.

  ''Fucking assholes, they are going to pay!'' said one of the raiders, looking down at the passenger window, aiming a pistol at Varryance's head, smiling at him. But suddenly, he fell down with a thud, his head splattered, then a loud echoed boom.

  ''SNIPER! GET DOWN, SHIT!'' screamed one of the raiders as his partner's head was blown to pieces right beside him. The corpse hit the floor, making Varryance flinch slightly, still hugging Mercy tightly.

  ''IT'S THE FUCKING BAR-'' said one of the raiders further away, getting killed instantly. Only one raider survived, talking to himself as noone was alive for him to speak to.

  ''Come on... where are you at...'' said the raider. Moments later, he was jumped out of nowhere and hit the floor. Varryance looked through the rear window and saw a man wearing a mask that covered his entire face, with glowing eyes, tearing the raider to bits with his bare hands, killing him viciously.

  ''All of 'em are dead... we're clear.'' said the man, rising and sighing. Moments later, he looked down at the passenger window, seeing the pair.

  ''You two alright?'' said the man with a deep voice. Varryance looked at him with dilated pupils.

  ''Also, a Barge... now I know what you tried to do.'' said the man, grabbing both of them forcefully out of the truck through the window, scratching Varryance's back slightly from the shattered glass, making him inhale sharply.

  ''Seems a Barge and a woman, they tried to come to us but got attacked.'' said the man to the radio stuck to his chest. A response came from the radio as the pair still lay on the ground, Varryance holding Mercy.

  ''Alright, I'll bring down a bird to get you three. Five minutes, over and out.'' said the man on the radio. Their savior lifted the car with one hand, inspecting SAM, who was lying under the upside-down wreck.

  ''Ain't she a beauty... that's why you're comin', right?'' said the man. Varryance responded bluntly, getting up, sitting leaned against one of the raiders trucks.

  ''She needs repair.''

  ''I gotcha.'' said the man, dragging SAM out with one hand as he held the car up with the other. Varryance began hearing rotors in the distance, sighing in relief.

  The helicopter arrived shortly after. Varryance held Mercy dearly as they leaned on the wrecked car, the other Barge that saved them doing the same. The helicopter landed in front of the wreckage as a member came out of the side doors, leaning forward and offering a hand. Varryance handed over Mercy as he followed inside, while the other Barge came last helping Varryance carry Mercy, closing the door behind him.

  ''How is she?'' said the Barge that lent a hand.

  ''She is breathing,'' said Varryance bluntly as he remained stiff, his body tense.

  ''Our med will take care of her, don't you worry. And what about that scrap metal there?'' said the helping Barge, pointing to SAM's wreck.

  ''She needs repair. I heard someone where we're headed now is familiar with IARO tech?''

  ''IARO? She's a prototype? How did she even manage to be in that condition?'' said the Pilot, as Varryance responded through headsets.

  ''Yes, she's a prototype, and we got attacked by some NURO goons, siblings, apparently, at the Capital.''

  ''Must've been a bad business if they came. They usually come if something serious occurred.'' said the savior, as Varryance grunted, staying quiet, feeling like he'd told too much.

  ''We have arrived.'' said the Pilot as Varryance looked outside the window.

  The Barge City covered the night sky, the trading area located near an island on a literal barge. The island, however, was big enough to house an entire city of buildings that lit up the sky, rival to the capitals size. The entire premises were walled up, with several guards stationed around the city.

  ''The island is where we live. The barge is where we trade, so you know how to navigate. I'll guide you towards Vanesa's with the prototype, while my colleagues deliver your woman to the med.'' said Varryance's savior. He simply stayed quiet, waiting to land.