"So what's your plan, Colonel?"
Lewis asked, arms crossed as he fixed Pierce with a stare that still held a trace of distrust.
"First, I assess my personnel. I need a full breakdown of your abilities so I can evaluate our combat capacity."
Colonel Pierce replied, his tone even but firm.
"I won't force cooperation. Anyone unwilling to comply is free to step aside. I only need people who are ready to carry out the mission."
"And the ones who aren't?"
Lewis shot back immediately, his gaze flicking toward Roxanne, who still looked utterly unconcerned.
"For those unwilling to participate, or those who prove unusable, we simply remove them from the equation."
Pierce answered without hesitation.
"Bringing uncontrollable variables into your team was one of your most critical mistakes to begin with."
The temperature in the room seemed to drop at once. Sophie's expression tightened with concern as she glanced at the girl beside her. Roxanne, meanwhile, the very "uncontrollable variable" in question, merely raised an eyebrow, as if she had just heard something mildly amusing.
"From here on, I'll be waiting in the adjacent room. Anyone ready to proceed, come in when you're prepared."
Colonel Pierce concluded in a steady tone before turning and leading his two accompanying officers into the next room without a hint of urgency.
The first to move was 23. Without a moment's hesitation, he headed straight for the door. Alicia, Lewis, and Gareth followed close behind, falling into step as if quietly accepting the authority of the man who had just placed a new strategy in their hands.
"Let's go, sis."
Lloyd nudged Sophie, who still stood there, visibly torn. Her eyes lingered on the girl sitting apart from the group.
"Roxanne… are you coming?"
Sophie couldn't help asking one last time.
"Nope. You go ahead, Sophie. I'm feeling lazy… I'll come if I feel like it."
Roxanne replied without even looking up, her hands busy dismantling and fine-tuning a device that resembled a handheld gaming console.
As Lloyd and Sophie stepped into the room Pierce had prepared, the mechanical door slid shut behind them with a firm seal, leaving Roxanne alone in the vast hall, surrounded by silence, save for the faint clicking of the device in her hands.
.....
"Man… no thanks. That kind of thing is way too much trouble."
Darius blurted out, shutting it down before anyone could even think about pinning the role of spy on him.
"Come on… this is your chance to be the hero riding in to save the day."
Drago said with a laugh, clapping a hand on his fellow survivor's shoulder.
"It's not just about fooling the officials, alright? The real problem is getting that many people inside!"
Darius insisted, his brow tightening with frustration.
"And more importantly, the city's crawling with eyes I can't even see. If someone's watching from an angle I can't cover, we're screwed. Don't forget, our faces have already been broadcast all over the world."
"Alright, alright, let's all take it down a notch."
Connor stepped in, his calm voice cutting through the tension and pulling everyone back.
"We do have a plan to get inside, sure. But that also means we need to be certain it's worth the risk. If we mess this up… they'll read us completely and shut every way in and out for good."
"Last time, when Drago and Chloe slipped in, I had to break into their authentication system and rewrite their profiles on the fly. I made you look like nothing more than a couple coming back from outside, not an experimental subject and a speed freak in a massive pickup."
Kelly added, her fingers flying across the keyboard as lines of blocked code flashed on the screen.
"But after that incident, they overhauled everything. The system's been upgraded across the board, and I still haven't found a single weak point."
arius let out a long, weary sigh, like he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Then he took a drag, letting a cloud of dull gray smoke spill across his face, as if he could disappear into it and escape the conversation entirely.
"So let me ask this straight… why did you go that far just to get me out?"
Edward broke the silence at last, after sitting there lost in his own thoughts.
"Honestly, my life alone shouldn't be worth that much."
"Kid… watch how you talk about yourself. We value every human life, and that includes you."
Connor replied, his voice firm as he met the boy's gaze.
"As for why we were willing to take that risk… it's because of the parasite that came out of you. Right now, it's being kept in a lab so we can study it, figure out if there's any way to counter it or defend against it. We're not just destroying it blindly."
He continued, explaining the importance of the biological sample they had secured.
"But why go that far?"
Edward still couldn't understand why they would keep something that dangerous so close.
"If we're going up against people with abilities like that… we can't rely on guts alone like some comic book fantasy."
Drago cut in, a faint smile tugging at his lips.
"It takes brains and information. If we don't understand how their weapons work, then we're nothing but targets for them to carve up."
"So what am I supposed to do?"
Edward asked, a quiet resolve beginning to take hold in his voice. He didn't want to be a burden everyone else had to carry anymore.
"If all you want is to live as a refugee, that's fine by us. You can stay down here, keep your head down, pick up small jobs, live a quiet life in this underground base."
Drago said, pushing himself up and stretching lazily.
"But if you want payback… or you just want to be able to protect yourself, then you're going to have to train."
"Train…? Train what?"
Edward echoed, frowning slightly as he looked down at his own hands, still faintly trembling.
"You. That's what. You've already got a solid foundation, you're fast on your feet, and you read situations better than most."
Drago replied, locking eyes with the boy.
"What you're missing is experience… and real, survival-level combat skills."
Connor nodded in agreement.
"In a world like this, knowing your way around computers isn't enough, Edward. If you can fight, you'll have a much better shot at surviving… and keep talking trash about those P-Type for a long time to come."
"There's one more thing you need to learn… how to actually survive out in the Outlands."
Jenkins added, his tone turning serious.
"You may have family out beyond the dome, but you know they're practically on the other side of the continent. You might be able to scrape by out there, sure, but fighting, reading people, staying alive in that kind of hell… that's a completely different game."
"But I've been going out beyond the dome to scavenge all the time. I already understand how things work out there."
Edward pushed back, frowning.
"If you really understood it… you wouldn't have been asking such basic questions about the Out Law in the first place. Would you?"
Murray cut in, his sharp gaze locking onto him.
"And more importantly, you need to upgrade everything. Your clothes, your gear, your weapons. I'll take care of that myself."
"As for your training, leave that to me. I guarantee it'll be brutal… harsh… downright merciless, kid."
Drago lowered his voice, putting on an intimidating expression to scare Edward, though his face ended up looking more ridiculous than anything resembling a fearsome instructor.
"So, what's it going to be?"
Connor asked again, making sure.
Edward fell silent for a moment. The memory of the rooftop flashed through his mind, along with Alicia's parting words, "Don't forget what I told you." He pressed his lips together, then made his decision.
"Alright… let's do this."
Edward said, his eyes no longer the same as before.
.....
Inside the briefing room, where the atmosphere had shifted completely, Colonel Pierce stood tall before a holographic display projecting a simulated combat scenario. All six members of the P-Type unit had already laid out the limits of their abilities in full.
"I'll start by outlining a basic combat structure."
Pierce spoke sharply, gesturing through the air as the display responded to his movements.
"The frontline assault team will consist of Lewis and 23. The two of you will act as the spearhead, engaging the enemy directly. Your physical durability makes you ideal for that role."
His gaze moved between the towering man and the unit's cold, composed leader.
"Your primary role is to strike first, draw attention, and break through defensive lines, not to carry out the main objective yourselves. So you will manage your energy carefully. Do not burn through it before it matters… is that clear?"
"Yeah… got it."
Lewis replied curtly, cracking his knuckles with a sharp series of pops, a hint of bloodlust in his posture. 23, on the other hand, simply gave a slight nod, silently acknowledging his role on the board.
"As for support and communications, that will be your responsibility, Gareth."
Colonel Pierce shifted the holographic map to highlight key positions along the outer perimeter.
"You won't need to put yourself at risk on the front lines. Instead, you'll secure the safest vantage point and use your skill set to monitor enemy numbers, assess the terrain, and continuously relay viable routes and openings to the rest of the team."
"If all I have to do is keep an eye on the battlefield, that's piece of cake."
Gareth replied with a confident grin, casually spinning his tonfa in hand.
"The team assigned to carry out the primary objective will be Alicia and Sophie."
Pierce turned to face the two women, his expression firm.
"With your specialized abilities, infiltration and close-quarters elimination will be both efficient and silent. Once the assault team has created an opening, you move in immediately and finish the job."
Both Alicia and Sophie nodded in unison, acknowledging the order. Though in Sophie's eyes, a trace of unease still lingered.
"Hold on a second…"
Lewis frowned, his voice edged with protest as he stared down the colonel.
"Sending the physically weaker ones right into the middle of it… don't you think that's a bit ridiculous?"
"Not at all. In a real engagement, the enemy's attention will naturally gravitate toward the most immediate threat, which would be you and 23."
Colonel Pierce explained calmly, his tone steady and composed.
"They won't waste time focusing on two smaller women. And the moment those two get in close, while the enemy is fully occupied dealing with you… I can guarantee the target won't survive."
"And what about me?"
Lloyd raised a hand, his gaze steady and composed.
"You'll operate from the rear. Your skill set doesn't require direct engagement."
Pierce pointed to a position farther back on the map.
"Keep your distance. Stay well clear of the front lines, and position yourself where it's safest while providing support. As for visibility, you don't need to worry. With targeting data from Gareth and the new equipment we'll be issuing, you'll be able to use your abilities at maximum effectiveness."
The members of the P-Type unit listened in silence. The structured, professional nature of the plan began to reshape how they saw the battlefield. Where they had once fought without direction, each of them now had a clear role, a defined position on the board laid out by the colonel.
"So when do we move in and capture them?"
23 asked, his tone carrying a clear urgency to bring this to an end.
"We won't… not yet."
Colonel Pierce replied calmly.
"What the hell? We sit through all that, and now you're saying we're not doing anything?"
Lewis slammed his fist against the table with a loud bang, frustration spilling over.
"I never said we'd do nothing. I said we're not focusing on the experimental subjects for now."
Pierce continued, his reasoning measured and precise.
"From this point forward, your objectives are limited to two. First, apprehend ordinary criminals who have fled beyond the dome. Second, disrupt the Out Law's operations as much as possible."
"And what's the point of that? Isn't that just a waste of time?"
Lewis pressed, still unable to see the logic behind such a roundabout strategy.
"Not at all. Successfully apprehending ordinary criminals builds a tremendous amount of credibility for this unit. Once that happens, people both inside and outside the dome will start acting as our eyes and ears. When they see real results, they trust us more."
Pierce said, gesturing toward the large map.
"The Outlands is a place where we have very limited intelligence. Information and leads from civilians living out there… are far more valuable than blindly chasing targets at random."
That explanation began to shift the way the P-Type unit saw the battlefield. This wasn't just about brute force anymore. They weren't meant to be executioners alone, they had to become a force people relied on, in order to gain access to critical information.
"As for interfering with the Out Law, the goal is to undermine their credibility… and turn up the heat on them."
Colonel Pierce continued, narrowing his eyes with a hint of calculation.
"While the Out Law may be the dominant network outside Biotope 5, the other six biotopes are each controlled by their own power structures."
He tapped a command, and a list of global criminal factions flickered across the display.
"Zambezi Blood in Biotope 1, Yozakura family in Biotope 3, The Raskolnikovs in Biotope 4, and The Mortifer Syndicate in Biotope 6… They may appear allied, but those alliances exist for nothing more than mutual benefit."
"Once one group starts to look weak, it creates pressure. And pressure turns into conflict."
Pierce concluded, his voice cold and precise.
"When suspicion sets in and they start tearing into each other, the information we need will begin to surface on its own… without us having to waste resources on direct confrontation."
The P-Type unit fell into stunned silence as the scale of the strategy sank in. This wasn't just about hunting targets anymore. They were beginning to understand that warfare at a professional level was far more dangerous than brute force alone.