By the Trade Link, something sparkled. Buried amidst the rubble, hidden from view, was a flower. Now it was obvious, shimmering and sparkling with light. The flower grew from where it had been placed, extending a stalk. On the end of that stalk the bulb grew bulbous, larger and larger.

Men and woman stared at it, clutching their weapons, unsure what this signified.

'Ready up, might be something from the Chosen,' growled one of them, the leader, a man named Pete, hefting his auto-shotgun. He wasn't keen on this job. All the guards were gathered from the various groups within the Coalition, sent here to guard the Trade Link. In the past few hours, the Trader group had finally spilled the beans, and he and the others had been sent to guard this place.

Pete's finger was itchy on the trigger as the plant grew, and grew, and then burst open. Someone stepped out from it. He recognised this new arrival, he'd seen him at all the big gatherings. It was the trader's leader, one of those tight with Maxine.

He let out a puff of breath, relieved, as the man—Nicolai, he thought—looked around.

Taking him in, Pete's brows drew down into a frown. Nicolai was spattered liberally with blood. Clothes torn and bloodied. Where he should have had an arm, there was nothing. Just the ragged remnants of a sleeve.

He held an assault rifle, dangling from his remaining hand. There was a… severed hand tucked into his belt.

Pete found his weapon creeping back up. 'Nicolai, right?' he asked, then pressed on before an answer was forthcoming. 'What's been going on? How're things with the Chosen, with everything? And what's that you came from?'

Nicolai's face was blank. The silence stretched, increasingly tense. Then he smiled. 'Everything is fine. The war is over. We will remain as ourselves, separate from the Chosen, but the route for cooperation is open in the future; if agreeable. We got everything we wanted. The others are heading over here now.'

Pete let out a relieved sigh, relaxing with a smile. 'Good. That's good.' No more deaths. He nodded. It was the best one could've hoped for.

'Cooperation? In the future?' asked a frowning woman. 'With them?' She snorted. 'I bloody hope not.'

There came a hum as a drone sped into the room, pulling all of their gazes. Quick-moving messenger type. It immediately broadcast a message. Pete's brows drew close together as he puzzled through it, words and images jumping out at him.

He saw a picture of very same man who stood before him. Nicolai, shadowed eyes and blood on his face. Traitor. Extremely dangerous. Don't let him… Watch out… Report any sighting… Enemy.

He spun around in time to see a gunbarrel levelled at him. Perhaps he even heard the gunshot.

###

While the corpses cooled, Nicolai made his purchases. His hands shook, just a little. The dark was difficult to control. It was enraged he hadn't given it more freedom against Vikrum, convinced it could have somehow won. He did his best to cling to the Zero-Twelve state of mind. So long as he had something to do, something to focus on, he was able to maintain his calm and calculating focus, and avoid a descent into insanity.

He bought ammo and supplies, mainly. He didn't know how long it would until he was next near to a Trade Link.

He was glad to have seized quite a number of points-tags from the numerous people he'd killed recently—the Cultivators especially had held quite a few—as he was able to spend those on three items that had become crucial. A discounted level 2 bionic arm to replace his left, plus a replacement sleeve for the skinsuit since the original was currently in pieces around the remnants of that arm. He had spare Cherubic Surgeon Permits so didn't bother getting a new one.

His other purchase was more Rejuvenating Orbs, an item he felt was always useful. Everything was stored in his new Storage Symbiote, which had opened him up to carrying a great deal more than previously. He no longer needed a backpack, which was handy. It was a bulky item that had weighed him down. If he'd had this Symbiote earlier, and if it could fit in the anti-material rifle, he might even have been able to take down Vikrum.

The Big Mouth Symbiote, when he first activated it, took a moment to push through and settle within the Kidney Node he placed it in. Then it formed over the front of his Skin Suit, on his chest.

It was a large mouth, as big as his chest. Two thick lips. A long tongue slipped out and licked at them hungrily.

Nicolai stuffed it full, unbothered by the enjoyment the thing showed as he stuffed it with all his purchases and equipment. Once done he activated it again and the mouth faded away.

All that done he pulled out one of his two remaining Locum Flowers. The Coalition would be coming. The drone they'd sent would not be returning, and now everyone in this place was against him.

That was understandable. He'd betrayed, stolen, and murdered without regard, but if they hoped to make him pay, they would be disappointed.

He would've liked to use the Cherubic Surgeon Permit now and have the arm installed, but the process would take time he didn't have. He had to get moving before more arrived.

As he settled down and activated the Locum Flower, he winced at the difficulty of leveraging his Soul. This time it was quite a bit more difficult than the last. The process of activating the previous flower, while fighting off Vikrum, had allowed the Soul Rot to significantly advance. Now he was paying for allowing it to take so much ground. He knew that in his current state, were Vikrum to appear before him and attempt to stop him once more, the man may well prove successful. His Soul was in a pitiful state, and he suspected the Soul Rot would soon advance to the next stage.

He calmed himself as, in due time, the process stabilised and the Locum Flower's strange energies flickered around him, preparing for the teleport.

He was almost done with this place.

###

Nicolai unfolded from the plant's bulb, and it fell and decayed as he emerged. He had anticipated emerging into an empty room, a place far from any others, deep in the bowels of the castle. A place where he'd never seen any other humans wandering around, where he would be safe to install his new arm before moving to his next task.

He was thus surprised to find himself surrounded. He regarded the guns that were pointed at him. A Cultivator's Soul Sense blanketed him.

His head turned slightly to the left then the right, the motions slow and calm, as he took in those around him. No one he recognised, and no one who looked particularly dangerous. He'd just been caught by a group of randoms. A smile flickered over his features.

'Drop the gun! Drop it!'

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After a moment's thought, Nicolai let the assault rifle fall from his hand to clatter on the ground.

'Put your hands up and don't move! Don't do anything! You try and charge any of those Imbued, you die!'

Nicolai raised his singular remaining hand, showing his empty palm. 'I come in peace.' His mouth twisted in what looked like a rueful smile. 'But I'm sorry to say I only have one hand to put up.' Within him the darkness Module hungered. Not yet, he whispered to it. It understood. They all understood. They had to take care here; take care, take heed, take it slow. Wait for an opportunity. He hadn't expected to teleport directly into an ambush, but he wasn't surprised. It seemed somehow natural, somehow right.

He had been gradually moving all of his things to this place over the past few days, and that very day had left the last of it, the last time he'd teleported back before everything with Vikrum. He'd had a feeling events were coming to a close.

Of course, these people had seized those things. One of them aimed his anti-material rifle at him, struggling to hold it steady. Another held his Skin Suit helmet, looking like he'd been about to put it on.

They couldn't have been here too long, as the metal boxes containing Kleos and Maric were unopened. It reminded him of when he'd first met the group, only this time he felt none of the uncertainty of back then. Now he knew how this would end. Of those in this room, only he would remain alive.

He watched the faces around him, and waited.

'I know you,' said the one he'd identified as their leader, a tall man with oily black hair and narrow features, speaking slow and thoughtful. 'Yeah. You're that guy. Huh.' He smiled. 'The big man himself. The Trader. Nicolai, right? But the Chosen call you Viper. Why they call you that?'

Nicolai shrugged. 'Beats me.'

'Is it 'cuz you're dangerous? Untrustworthy?' said the man leadingly.

'He doesn't look all that dangerous right now,' said another of them, a smirking young woman with a shotgun.

They were all exchanging pleased smiles. The looks of people who'd had a big catch flounder randomly into the net. But they'd already made a fatal mistake.

They should have shot him the moment he appeared. Failing that they should shoot him right now. They hadn't. They weren't. With every word he spoke and every move he made he twisted and shaped their view of him. Thus, there was no need for him to rush and try something desperate. Right now they were arrayed around him, all their guns held on him with fingers tight to the triggers. He just needed their positions to change, their guns to lower, and he knew their current high-strung wariness wouldn't last. It never did.

The dark and the thrill moved into the background, the calculating core and the Mask rising to the fore. His eyes settled momentarily on one of them in specific; the Cultivator, who had remained silent. A lanky, sweaty man. Nervous. He could sense something from Nicolai. An instinctual or spiritual awareness that this situation was not as clear cut as it seemed—that death was near. He was keeping his eyes and Soul Sense tight on Nicolai, feeling for the slightest use of Oma.

But he was the only one feeling such fear. The others only saw a bloodied man missing an arm, who they'd caught in a neat little trap… and the expensive and useful things he carried.

'How'd you lose your arm?' continued the young woman.

'Faulty instructions.'

She frowned. 'For what?'

'The chainsaw.'

'Huh?' she gaped at him, then burst out laughing.

Nicolai's face smiled back at her.

The lead man snorted a laugh, exchanging raised eyebrows with some of the others, who were chuckling. 'You're a lot more calm than most people in this situation. You understand what's happening here?'

Nicolai nodded. 'Don't worry. I'm shaking on the inside.'

The man snorted again. 'I like that. I hope I manage to be as calm as you look, if I'm ever in your shoes. It's nice that you can be calm about this. No need for any unpleasantness, is there? Not when we can be civilised. Don't you think?'

Nicolai nodded, observing as they snorted and smirked and shifted their stances, releasing tension. He was wondering how it was these people came to be here, how they'd known to set this trap. He wanted to understand their point of view, to put himself in their position. It would allow him to better manipulate them.

'In the interests of continuing a calm dialogue, may I ask how you came to be here?'

The leader shrugged. 'We were looking around, that's all.'

'And saw the flower I left?'

The man smiled. 'That, which prompted us to dig a bit and we found everything else. Immediately thought the flower looked a bit off, and Examining it said it was from a Symbiote, used for teleporting.'

'He was gonna just cut it free,' interjected the young woman, grinning with pride, 'but I said: whoever left all this stuff here probably has more, and when they use the flower to return here they'll be vulnerable. We ought to set up, wait, and see what else we can get!'

'So you did, so you did,' said the leader, nodding and smiling. 'Clever girl.'

'Very smart,' said Nicolai. 'Today really is your lucky day.'

He'd already known they hadn't been waiting for him specifically, otherwise they'd have recognised him immediately. As he'd suspected, this was all just down to random chance. He recalled ensuring the flower was well hidden, but from what he saw it had shifted while he'd been gone, grown a little larger which presumably had led it to poke out.

Once they'd found it, the young woman had predicted a big fish would turn up, and here he was; the big fish had arrived, and it was injured. As soon as they got over the surprise of just how big of a catch they'd made and the curiosity they were indulging in, they'd kill him.

Easier to take his things if he was dead.

He sighed, then let out a rueful laugh. 'It's a shame,' he said, shaking his head.

'What's that, Mr. Viper?'

'I thought I'd played it all so smartly. I'll tell you how I lost my arm, truthfully. Just now, I fucked over Vikrum. Stole something from him. You should've seen it.' He laughed again, acting proud of himself. 'I've been doing that for ages. I've been scamming and stealing from everyone, building a cache of treasure. This was the last job. Right now I expected to be halfway to my cache then on the way out of this shithole.' He shook his head. 'One little mistake, that's all I made.' He glanced behind him, at the decayed remnants of the plant. 'Should've hid that better, shouldn't I?'

The skinny girl quirked her lips. 'Huh. Who would've thought. You sound kinda like us. He does, doesn't he?'

The others were nodding.

'We've been robbing and stealing, too,' said the leader, grinning at Nicolai.

Nicolai gave him a look. 'I don't suppose you're looking for a new member?'

They all laughed at that.

'Nice try,' said the guy, shaking his head. 'I'm a little tempted, actually. But you've been a pretty important guy. A leader. I think if I let you join, it wouldn't go well for me. Two men like us can't coexist alongside one another. I'm sure you understand.'

'Of course.' Nicolai nodded.

'But it'd be a shame for that big hoard of yours to go to waste. After all that work. So, it's around here somewhere?'

'Very astute. Actually, I was hoping you might let me go if I were to show you where it was.'

The leader grinned again. 'You know what? Maybe I can. Maybe I will. You've been very friendly. If you show us where it all is, we'll be friendly too.'

Nicolai smiled at the man, who smiled back.

'Since we're all in a similar line of work, I wonder if you've any advice for us?' continued the leader.

Nicolai shrugged. 'Don't get caught.'

The leader was nodding, smiling, having predicted this response. Before he could voice his own, someone else spoke.

'Hey,' said the Cultivator. The others glanced at him. He mopped the sweat from his brow, first on the left, then on the right—so that only one eye was blocked at a time, so he could always have one eye watching Nicolai. 'We should just kill him. Seriously. This guy is fucking dangerous.'

'Really?' said the leader, his tone sarcastic; irritated his banter with Nicolai had been interrupted. 'Things must look very different from where you stand, because from here it looks like he's missing a fucking arm.'

'Trust me,' said the Cultivator, his voice hurried, worried. 'If his treasure is nearby, we can find it ourselves. Even if we don't, I'm sure he's got plenty. We already got all the guns and ammo and all the rest he left here. I say we kill him.' Nicolai glanced up and his eyes met the Cultivator's, just for a moment. The man flinched.

'Chill out Ryan, jeez,' muttered the girl, a mutter that was echoed by some of the others. 'What are you so worried about? Look at him. You wanna risk losing the rest of the stuff he's hid away 'cuz you're a little afraid?'

'I'm serious! There's something wrong with—'

Nicolai chose that moment to let out a grunt, interrupting the man and recapturing their attention. He suddenly staggered backwards and rested his back against the wall. His grunt turned into a pained gasp; one he was quite pleased with, considering that he'd used a Rejuvenating Orb since losing his arm and was in no pain at all. It was fortunate all the blood on him gave a different picture.

'If you don't mind, I'll just have a little rest here while you discuss,' he said, and gave them a strained smile.

He knew what they saw. A man whose face was white and pained, traced by lines of sweat. A man who shivered, his legs trembling slightly. He knew how he looked. Like someone you wouldn't bet on to win a fight against a kitten, let alone anything else.

The leader scoffed, shooting the Cultivator a disappointed expression, as though disgusted by his cowardice. Nicolai knew they were communicating over Local from their expressions, he didn't need Cyberwarfare to tell him what was said. Grow a pair. This will be the biggest payout of our lives. If you're so worried, then watch him closely.

Beneath the false weakness of Nicolai's exterior, under his flesh and deep in his Soul, the Dark and the Thrill hummed and writhed, lightning in a bottle, straining at the cage of his self-control. They knew that the moment for their release was close.

But that self-control was complete. They would be kept hidden until the time was right. They accepted this, just barely, because they knew the release would be glorious.

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