I looked down and saw that battered man, patched together and on the brink of death, with a smile on his face. Only seconds later did I realize what he had said.

  — Crying? No, sir. It was the dust from the explosion… I think it irritated my eye.

  I said it while smiling. Somehow, maybe I could smile too, even in the middle of all that.

  I pulled him back into the ruined residence, until I heard the sound of sirens blaring. That was the signal for the enemy troops’ retreat. Ground reinforcements were arriving… only then was I able to relax.

  ERICK HELEN

  Helena was close to finishing the preparations. Time was running out, and I still didn’t know what to do, and the noise of her metallic parts clanking around the room was driving me insane. I had tried to make Luna give up several times, without success.

  The moment when she would extract the compound was approaching. I thought about refusing, but I feared for Luna. I didn’t want that madwoman to do anything to her.

  Since we were on the top floor, there was no way to know what was happening in the other sectors. The only means of communication we had was her transmitter.

  Finally, the damned moment arrived. She strapped me to the metal table. The buckles—I didn’t know what material they were made of—but every time I moved, they tightened even more. Maybe, if I used all my strength…

  She began. I felt the cold needle in my lower back. The pain was horrific. It was possible to get used to it. When she finished, I could still feel the lingering pain. Luna was sitting behind the table; I couldn’t see her face or how she was—only that. I needed to do something, and fast…

  LUNA HELEN

  Seeing Erick in that state, going through all of this, filled me with anguish. I hoped that after this, he wouldn’t have to worry anymore. If we could replicate it, maybe…

  Helena stood there, holding the syringe, staring at the liquid inside it. Her eyes were focused exclusively on that, as if nothing else held any value.

  Then everything happened too fast for me to understand.

  Erick broke free in seconds, leaping at Helena. The two fell to the ground: his body altered by the Crimson against Helena’s robotic body. Erick was on top of her, pinning both her wrists to the floor, while Helena struggled to break free. In the middle of their struggle, the syringe shattered in her hand, cutting it. Her body began to collapse.

  Erick rolled off her, backing away.

  — Damn it, you son of a—

  Helena screamed in fury while clutching her arm. Her entire body trembled. She looked at him, and even with those robotic eyes, I saw desperation in them.

  She dropped to her knees, cursing repeatedly. Then there was a scream—a bestial scream. She lunged at Erick. The impact of the attack sent him flying several meters, crashing into the cell wall. The sound of the impact echoed throughout the room.

  — HELENA, STOP!

  No matter how much I shouted, she didn’t seem to hear me. She had completely lost her reason.

  Erick got back up. I heard strange cracking sounds coming from his body. She charged at him again, striking toward his chest. He dodged by a hair’s breadth, her hands passing mere millimeters from his sternum. She didn’t stop; the attacks came relentlessly. I grabbed an iron chair and struck her in the back. Nothing made her stop. She completely ignored me.

  Unauthorized duplication: this narrative has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

  I didn’t know what to do, until I remembered the device Mr. Lucius had given me. I pulled it from my pocket and activated it. It emitted a pulse that shut down all the equipment in the room. All the lights went out, soon replaced by red emergency lighting. Helena collapsed, bracing herself against the floor as her body repeatedly failed, spasming uncontrollably. She let out a bestial growl that sent chills through my entire body.

  I rushed toward Erick. His eyes were red; he was in a frenzy. The crimson veins had already reached his neck, pulsing and crawling frantically.

  — ERICK, LET’S GO!

  I shouted as I grabbed him, his hand just inches from Helena’s head. His nails had lengthened. The crimson veins throbbed along his arm. He grabbed me with his other hand. Erick’s voice came out distorted:

  — RuuUuN!

  — No! I’m not leaving you. You have to fight this.

  ERICK HELEN

  Not this again… no. I felt my body losing control. Everything in my vision had turned red. My body burned. Every movement of the crimson veins inside me felt like they were tearing me apart from the inside. The more I resisted, the greater the pain. I just wanted to give in, I wanted it to stop. I had already done enough. I needed to rest.

  Luna’s voice reached me muffled. Even knowing she was there, close to me, she had to run. I didn’t know how much longer I could hold on.

  I felt a puncture in my neck, then another, and another, and another. Until my vision began to blur, and the red was replaced by darkness. The last thing I saw was her face.

  Then I was transported to a distant scenario, something that resembled the dreams I had been having over the past few days. Memories that weren’t mine, from a past older than anything I knew, from worlds that weren’t my own.

  Memories of a pale-skinned man with red eyes. Crowds fell to their knees at his feet, and he welcomed them gladly. Dozens, hundreds, thousands, millions… more and more beings.

  I felt something growing inside that man, something that corrupted him little by little.

  Then the darkness returned, and I was once again transported to another memory: a field of blood, with golden, shining lights in the distance. The sea of blood swallowed the lights, and one by one they went out, until only one remained. That light resisted, no matter how many times the sea surged against it.

  I felt that light shining brighter and brighter. It began to envelop me, but instead of fighting it, I accepted it. It wrapped around me, and the heat it radiated, the pain it caused, did not harm me. I endured it. I had to endure it.

  I felt the light burning and burning inside my chest, until, at last, everything stopped. I opened my eyes and Luna was in the corner of the room, staring in my direction. It wasn’t fear—it was astonishment. I don’t know what she had seen.

  Everything still felt strange to me, as if I were learning how to walk again. I tried to get up, but my body didn’t respond properly. It was slow, weak, and drowsy. Luna began to approach me.

  — Erick? Brother? Are you okay?

  Before I could answer, I saw Helena rising behind her. Her body creaked; the parts inside it failed with every movement. Luna gasped and ran, placing herself in front of me. Helena, in a sudden motion, plunged her hand into the side of her own head, all the way to the wrist.

  The strangest thing of all was the smile on her face, before she collapsed to the ground, lifeless.