I tried to talk big, but there was one glaring issue. My illness was acting up.

  When I met 963 earlier tonight, and on the way here, it was only a slight ache. But upon the use of my ability, the pain flared up over my entire body.

  Every move I made, every twitch, swing, or action was gruesome. I could feel the thorns grinding against my bones and piercing through my muscles.

  In order to activate my ability, I need blood. Whether it be my own or someone else's, using my ability to adjust the blood into an explosive creates a counter-reaction in my body. Basically, the more I use it, the worse my condition becomes.

  The AOE of my ability is also really big. One cut is all I need for me to be able to cause a chain reaction of flowers. One cut, and anyone I face can be exploded into bits.

  Alas, if only I could be broken with no drawback.

  From where No.6 originally was, a small dagger clattered on the ground next to me. I picked it up and put it in my pocket, making sure she couldn’t go for it again.

  “Well, what are you all waiting for?”

  “No.9….cover me.” No.6 said with rage as she became invisible.

  No.9 nodded her head and looked at me with a determined expression. I bent my knees, wincing from the grinding of the thorns, and sheathed my sword, entering an Iai stance.

  This was a quickdraw technique my father learned from his old friend. My dad forced me to train it to react to and slash extremely quickly as a strong defense and offense.

  No.6 was sneaking around, but it didn’t matter. From my explosion earlier, a couple of drops of my blood were on her shoulder. I had already detonated it, so I couldn’t do it again, but I could feel where it was. She would be limping, too, from my first explosion.

  She’s coming at me… from the left! Once she enters my range, I’ll slice her!

  One second passed by, then two, then 3. My eyes open, unblinking, ready to react…..until finally, she entered my range.

  I grasped the hilt of my blade, but as soon as I did, a heavy voice echoed throughout the room.

  “You are unable to draw your sword!”

  I attempted to pull the sword out, but couldn’t. No.6 took advantage of my momentary surprise and punched me right in the cheek. I stumbled backward and brought the scabbard of my sword up to defend my face, but then No.9’s voice rang throughout the room again.

  “You feel triple the pain for 15 seconds!”

  Suddenly, the fading pain from the previous punch exploded back to life, and the shock of the pain made me drop my guard again. No.6, launched a straight punch right to my chest. It connected, and I immediately lost my breath as I took a heavy step backwards.

  No.9 is so annoying!

  “You were talking a lot of smack earlier, huh?!”

  I lifted my guard up, but felt a punch to my side. The pain exploded and reverberated all around my body, so much so that I was forced to one knee.

  “You think you’re better than the rest of us just because your daddy runs this place?!”

  After hearing that, I felt the form of a foot connect with my jaw, making me reel backwards.

  “You don’t know what my brother and I had to go through to even get here! All you do is complain and complain about how terrible your life is! But for us? Even another day where we can eat and drink water is another blessing!”

  Her form became visible once more as she grabbed my suit by the scruff of my neck and looked at me with rage.

  “Your stupid antics might get my brother killed! So just be a good girl, and do as you're told!”

  She readied another punch, but I cocked my head back and slammed mine into hers.

  “Just….shut up!”

  I quickly got up and kicked her in the stomach while she was reeling, making her lean backwards and fall on her back. I quickly ran and picked up my sword, testing whether I could unsheathe it. The hilt clicked, and I was able to draw my sword.

  Before No.9 could say anything, I lined my blade with the blood dripping from my forehead. Once more, it glowed orange, and I could feel it vibrating.

  “No.9! Just command her to fall asleep or something!”

  “T-That’s not how it works! If I could have done it already, I would have!”

  “Well, DO SOMETHING!”

  She cleared her throat and began to speak, but it was too late. I swung my sword, and shockwaves from the vibrations soared forward, drowning out any sound they were making.

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  I used this opportunity to sprint past No.6 and make a beeline for No.9. I don’t know the specifics of her ability, nor why she was able to make the guard from the other night sleep, but not me, but I do know that if she’s not sure of herself, her ability won’t work. She was going on and on about it when she was talking to 963 while he was stuck in the infirmary.

  “Y-You are unable to move forward!”

  However, her voice no longer resonated with those eerie vibrations, and it just sounded like a normal shout.

  “Stop! Stop moving! Stop! Why isn’t it working?!” She said while feeling her throat.

  I had completely closed the distance and jumped to knee her in the nose. The moment I jumped, I could feel the thorns scraping the insides of my legs. Even if I was prepared for it, it didn’t change the pain. It spiked as I pushed off, making the attack way weaker, but it was still enough to give her a bloody nose.

  After stumbling forward slightly upon landing, I quickly circled behind her and covered her mouth before she regained her composure and began using her gift again. I then held the sword to her throat and looked over at no.6, who was nowhere to be seen.

  “If you don’t become visible in the next two seconds, or I hear you coming closer, I’m slitting her throat! You think I’m just a sheltered child who’s had it easy in life, you think I’m just daddy’s little princess?! Well, test me and find out just how much of a good girl I am!”

  There was no response from No.6.

  “1!” I yelled, trying my hardest to mimic 963’s expression from when he did this to me.

  I moved the sword closer to her throat, and blood began seeping from her neck. Then, like a flash, No.6 became visible about 10 feet away from us with her hands up, glaring at me.

  “Good. Now just shut up and listen.” I said as I moved the sword slightly away from No.9’s neck.

  “You all wanna rag on me about escaping, when you don’t even realize how dangerous it is inside here. All that talk about wanting to keep you and your brother safe when you don’t even know that staying here is only increasing your chances of dying.” I said, my arms trembling.

  “Are you talking about the tests?! We can deal with a little pain–!” She started, bringing her hands down and clenching them.

  “Hands….UP!” I said as I brought the sword back to No.9’s throat, slightly wincing in the process.

  She quickly brought her hands back up, and I continued.

  “You don’t know the truth of this facility No.6. What’s even crazier to me is that No.9 knows, and still went along with No.1’s plan!”

  No.9 shook her head like she was trying to deny my truthful statement.

  “You remember how No.9 was talking about our adventure, where she was caught by No.1?”

  No.6 nodded her head slowly.

  “Do you wanna know what we found on our little adventure?”

  She hesitantly glanced at No.9, who had turned away from her completely.

  “Monsters. They’re creating monsters! From the dead or failed test subjects. Mixed together with different types of infected animals from some foreign lands to create disgusting creatures.”

  “You expect me to believe that? No.9, she’s lying right?”

  No.9 refused to look her way, and No.6’s eyes widened in realization.

  “Do you really think you and your brother are safe here?! One moment of weakness, one moment is all it will take for your brother to be turned into one of those hideous things! And you still want to stay here?!”

  “No….I don’t….I mean….”

  “I don’t know who came up with this plan, but we’re split up, and your brother is on the other side. I doubt 963 would kill him, but what do you think will happen to him once they find out he lost to someone who barely has powers? You think they’ll pat him on the back and say ‘better luck next time?’ You all are being played!”

  As I said, I released No.9 and kicked her in the back.

  “Now explain what’s going on, No.9.”

  “No.9?! Have you and No.1 been keeping this a secret from us?!”

  “I was told by her and 963 to keep it a secret, it’s not my fault!” She said as she stood up.

  “Well, what about No.1, huh? It was you and No.1 who came to us with this plan anyway! We stop them, and we get one wish granted by Mr. Dahia and Dr. Verrat! Was that a lie?”

  “T-That’s what No.1 told me!”

  “Well, how do I know you or No.1 aren’t lying at this point? Oh my god. Oh my god. My brother….I need to get to my brother. We have to get out of here!”

  “N-No wait! We can’t leave, if we leave then 963 will–!”

  “I don’t care about 963! And he doesn’t care about any of us either! Because of your weird obsession, my brother might be dead or be on his way to being turned into a monster! Maybe even both!”

  “Enough! We’ll get nowhere if we don’t know what’s happening! No.9, explain!” I yelled at a frantic No.9.

  “Explain what?! I’ve already said everything!”

  “What did No.1 say to you that night? What was the plan you two came up with today? What is his goal? Start talking.”

  Tears started streaming down her face as she began to pick herself up from the floor.

  “I….I just wanted to help. I didn’t want anyone to suffer anymore.”

  Me getting mad at her will get me nowhere; I need to calm down. What would 963 say in this situation?

  I crouched down beside her and gently patted her shoulder.

  “We won’t be able to make any progress unless you tell us what happened. The less we know, the less likely we’ll be to figure out what No.1’s planning. If he jumped through all these hoops to get all of the numbers in one place, there had to have been a reason. Only you can help us solve it.”

  “My brother… my brother might be dead because of yours and No.1’s schemes! Tell us what happened now!”

  I held my hand up, motioning to stop as No.9 looked away.

  “Everyone has their own circumstances. You may have thought that doing this would protect 963, but for him, living here is the same thing as being dead. He values freedom far more than you might think. Could you live with yourself if he spent the rest of his life hating you?”

  She relaxed her body and turned to look at me.

  “No….I don’t want that.”

  “Then tell us.”

  She stood up and nodded her head.

  Phew….I had to go full robo-963 there for a second. I even had to start talking like he would.

  No.6 walked to the opposite side of No.9 and crossed her arms with an impatient expression.

  "I...will tell you everything that happened that night." She said, clutching her hands close, finally resolving herself to speak.