Heat watched as the High Paladin stepped forward in his regal armor, his dark and scarred hands moving to rest on the podium before him atop a wooden stage lit by paper lanterns.

  “My people, we have gathered here today to celebrate an auspicious occasion: our success as a city, our independence, and our safety and comfort from the dangers of the Infected,” he said, his voice deep and rich. “Though it has taken us years to reach this point, we have all worked hard to accomplish so much, sacrificing for one another and abandoning practices we once considered sacred or necessary. But we have succeeded, and not only that, we have thrived in the face of danger. We have come together as one people, as one city, caring for one another as best we can. That is how civilizations are built, my friends, and that is how our survival will go down in history: not as the squabbling of petty differences, but as the unity of all who survived these troubling times! So for tonight, feast and be merry, knowing that we will not only survive, but thrive!”

  The crowd let out a cheer, and Heat couldn’t help but cheer along, knowing how much she had helped to bring about this moment. Sally held her hand silently, but the warm smile on her face said more than enough about how infectious the mood was- and Heat’s other hand was being swung by Madeline, who couldn’t look happier. As the crowd began to move towards the buffet tables, Sally and Madeline practically dragged Heat towards the food, and for once she was just happy to go along with things. The three of them loaded their plates high with all kinds of food- including some fish that apparently came from the coast a few miles past the swamp, a small fishing outpost having been established in the past few weeks.

  “Man, if only we had rice, Cold could make some sushi with this stuff!” Heat lamented as she ate her meal, munching her way through grilled fish, mashed turnips, and a few slices of bread with dried fruits cooked into it. She then took a swig of beer from her mug to wash it down, letting out a satisfied sigh afterwards.

  “What’s Sushi?” asked Madeline as she ate through her own plate, her mug filled with juice instead of beer.

  “Basically raw fish on top of a bed of cooked grain. It tastes a lot better than it sounds.”

  Madeline made a face before going back to her meal, gnawing on a legbone of some sort to try and extract the marrow.

  Soon enough they moved onto dessert- Sally gladly munched on the cookies Heat had baked en masse, but Madeline went straight for the cakes, trying to get an entire one for herself before Heat stopped her and gave her two slices instead. Heat tried a little bit of everything, both what she had baked and what her coworkers had made; it was all delicious, and Heat found herself still munching on a small nutcake when the games were readied.

  Sally’s enhanced strength had her volunteer to sit at an arm wrestling table, daring anyone to come and challenge her; many people did, and every time they were bested, their hands slamming against the table until it almost wobbled. Heat was sure to cheer on her girlfriend every match, and Madeline watched with stars in her eyes.

  Once Sally’s replacement showed up a few hours later, they moved on to other games- Heat was particularly in love with a ring toss game that resulted in her winning two small plush toys for Madeline, and Cold tried out a crossbow shooting game and earned herself a small plush dog that resembled their childhood toy. Together the four of them had a great deal of fun, especially after they came across a strength-testing game and Sally nearly broke it. Madeline was smiling ear to ear, Sally was walking with more ease than Heat or Cold had ever seen, and the twins finally felt at home.

  Heat unfortunately felt the need to use the bathroom; excusing herself, she went off to the nearby toilets, only to find them occupied and with a line. Grumbling to herself, she went off further to the toilets at her bunkhouse nearby. However, right as she was heading back after finishing her business, she heard shuffling coming from an office nearby. “Hey, is someone in there?” Heat called out, her hands cupped in front of her mouth. “What’re you doing in there, the party already started!”

  The shuffling sound turned into a crash, and Heat tried to open the door only to find it jammed. With a solid kick she burst it open, crushing the chair that was stacked against it and revealing someone Heat didn’t recognize. But they looked terrible, almost rabid, their face sunken and their eyes blazing with light, and in their hands were a series of documents.

  “Alright, I think you’ve had too much to drink- I’m getting you to the guards, you can apologize to my commander when you’re sober,” Heat stated, roughly grabbing the man by the arm. However, instead of drunkenly slurring his words, he let out a feral snarl and clawed at Heat with his other hand. Heat’s eyes opened wide as she ducked back, realizing that this was no drunkard- it was an Infected.

  She immediately struck out a snap-kick to its knee, only for the Infected to shuffle around, the kick just barely missing; Heat then followed it up with a flaming punch to the gut only for it to back off, then did a spin-kick to the Infected’s face. The final strike hit, wrenching its neck to the side. The Infected lashed out with a series of wild strikes, but Heat dodged or blocked each one before grabbing the Infected in an arm lock and breaking its arm. It howled in pain, and Heat was taken aback at that- other Infected seemed to just ignore pain, but this one clearly was smarter than the rest. And she had to know why.

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  As she let go of the Infected’s arm, Heat lashed out with a kick to its torso, using her force-enhancing powers to make it twice as strong; the Infected crashed against the wall with another howl, its broken arm flailing, only for it to grab a pen knife with its good hand and slash wildly. Heat had to duck and dip to avoid being cut, then slammed her open palm into the Infected’s elbow, forcing it to drop its weapon. She then grappled it to the ground, slamming her knee into its spine with a force enhancement, a loud crack echoing through the room. The Infected no longer could move, its spine broken, but it still hissed and spat with a ferocity, gnashing its teeth as if it could bite Heat from its crooked downed position.

  Cold formed her wyrmic avatar, its size larger than before- now closer in size to a ferret than a garden snake- and the two began to concentrate. The Mind-Delving Ritual began, and the Infected’s struggles began to weaken as the sisters dove into its mindspace.

  The outer layer was in shreds- or perhaps it was better to say parasitized, metaphorical acres of artificial mental constructs blocking out everything else, telling it what to do and when to do it, almost like a layer of fungus growing over what was once a healthy tree. Heat and Cold worked together to burst through that outer layer, revealing that most of the rest was eaten away, leaving almost nothing but tatters behind, not enough to restore to a full personality. But the core was an interesting one- the earliest memories were replaced by something, something tied inherently to the outer shell, something foreign.

  As Heat and Cold dove towards it, a pair of cruelly indifferent eyes gazed out at them before disappearing, the core going with it and leaving behind an empty shell.

  “What the hell was that?!” Heat cried out with a caw.

  “Something that can control the Infected. Something that can guide and direct them. Something… like their King,” muttered Cold.

  “Well, I’ve always wanted to commit regicide,” said Heat, grinning.

  As Heat exited back into their body, she picked up the Infected onto her shoulder, its mind gone entirely, nothing left in its brain but autonomous processes like breathing. As she carried it out of the office, a guard stormed into the building with a lantern, shouting, “Stay where you are!”

  Heat stopped, putting the Infected down, making sure to comply- best not to give them the wrong idea. “I caught an Infected trying to steal documents. At least I assume it was an Infected, because it sure as hell acted like one when I caught it in the act, and its mind is in tatters. Someone was controlling it.”

  The lantern was lifted up, and the guard peeked at Heat’s face. “You’re those one-body twins, right? What the hell were you even doing here?” he asked.

  “I was using the bathroom, since the ones at the festival were in use. And I heard this guy rustling around in the office, had to break down the door, and then fought him. I… admittedly used excess force in taking him down on the assumption that he was a normal Infected, but he’s still alive, so the healers should be able to fix it if I was wrong… hopefully the mental specialists can find something I couldn’t, because whatever the hell was puppeting this body is long gone.”

  The guard leaned down to the Infected’s body, looking up at Heat for a moment before peeling back their eyelid and putting his fingers in front of their nose, then checking over the rest of the body.

  “Hm… he’s alive alright. And I’m inclined to believe you- his fingernails are almost claws, and his body shows signs of strain and hunger. Even the Infected need to eat, but no one goes this hungry in Last Stand. Not anymore. We need to report this immediately.”

  The two of them carried the body out of the barracks, keeping to alleyways and side streets to avoid the celebration- no need to dampen the celebration, not yet. Soon they made their way to an alley near where the High Paladin was still sitting, the man reading a book and drinking something alcoholic from a mug as the party raged on around him. As the guard rushed off to inform the High Paladin, Heat took a moment to slump to the ground, suddenly rather exhausted as the implications of tonight hit her. Soon the guard and the High Paladin came walking up at a measured pace, and Heat stood to her feet and gave the High Paladin a nod of acknowledgement.

  “I understand you found what you believe to be an Infected within the city walls tonight,” he said, his arms crossed in front of him and looking like they were missing a sword to grip. “Show me.”

  Heat propped up the Infected’s body, showing the High Paladin it was alive and explaining what she had witnessed and experienced.

  “This is dire news. You’re in one of the Expedition Teams, correct? You’d know Infected behavior better than most. And what you described, that other mind controlling it… we must tighten our guard patrols. No need to let the citizens panic just yet, but the gate controls are to be guarded at all times- and put up lanterns along the inner side of the wall, just in case they managed to climb them.

  “You, Recruit. Thank you for bringing this to my attention. I wish I could thank you, but this is no thankful thing. For tonight, return to the festival, for you will need your rest in the coming days.”

  Heat gave the man another nod before walking off to find Sally and Madeline, her heart heavy and her steps wooden.

  “I’m sorry she disrespected you, sir- should I reprimand her?” asked the guard.

  “No need. She has spirit, that one, and we need that spirit most of all, especially now,” replied the High Paladin, running a hand across his bald head in frustration. “Now get that man to the healers; see what they can make of it.”

  The guard rushed off to obey, carrying the Infected over his shoulder, and the High Paladin sighed before returning to his duty- looking relaxed and calm in public view.

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