I shoved the metal back into place, then flipped a lab table onto its side, slamming it in front of the opening. Then I raced into the hallway filled with the cloning tubes.

Kabi continued on, heading toward the exit much faster than me.

I slowed down and used the remaining explosive crystals, attaching them to the tubes. There weren't many, but it was at least something.

Kabi's presence continued on my senses, meeting with several others in the areas where the cages held the zombie-like people.

I picked up speed, but my feet went tumbling as explosions rocked the building. One blasted Catherine's lab, and it sent me flying against a cloning tube.

All of them rattled, and dust hung in the air as I climbed to my feet, making it hard to see for a few moments. I resisted the urge to cough. Twisted metal filled the hallway, blocking my way back toward the only exit I knew.

Notifications pinged me, but I shoved them away.

Thankfully, the explosive crystals I'd just placed didn't blow. But the collapse left the only way to go heading back toward Dilom. I relaxed my shoulders and crept back, before pulling the little boom out of my inventory. Quickly, I started charging it, funneling as much energy into it as I could.

Step one, charge, step two, get away from it once I put it into place.

Manee and Dilom continued the fight in the laboratory as I traced their actions using their auras, staying hidden while charging the little boom. It took longer than I thought it would before it didn't take any more energy.

Then I carefully placed it in the center of the cloning tubes.

"The clones!" His voice echoed in the room. Dilom raced in my direction, and Manee yanked him back, not once but twice.

I darted out of the cloning area and into the laboratory, searching for another door. Half the bright lights overhead were out, and several of the screens flickered strangely.

The fight between the two of them felt like Manee was toying with him, though blood dripped down her wrap in several places. Dilom didn't appear any better than her.

While I really wanted to get a swipe in, my focus was on getting the hell out of here before the remaining explosives blew.

Dilom's back injury from Manees' sword dripped blood, but it didn't look as bad as it should. The skin slowly stitched itself back together.

Another explosion came from a different direction, and I darted toward the far wall where another door stood closed.

My movement through a bright section flickered me into visibility, and Manee jerked back in surprise. Dilom raced away in the direction I'd come, and she started after him.

I shook my head, and she slowed down.

The little boom blew.

The entire lab shook, and the blast from the hallway filled with shattered glass, and green goo as body parts went flying, along with me and Manee.

My body crunched into a metal cabinet, and my head slammed into a shelf as the rest of the light went out in the lab. I bit my tongue, and blood filled my mouth as I shoved the notifications away.

"No!"

The scream from the cloning area made me shiver as I crawled to my feet. Everything hurt, my stomach demanded food, and I shoved two pieces in my mouth before a figure marched out of the dust.

Shreds hung from his frame, covered in blood and green goo. One of his arms dangled uselessly, while the other tightened into a fist. Half his hair was gone, and the rest matted with goo.

"I'm going to kill you all," his voice came out calm and collected. Then it pitched upward. "Years of research and Forgers gone. Erased from existence!"

He stomped over where Manee still lay on the floor and kicked her side. She went flying several feet in the air before crashing into the wall of a cage. She stirred slightly.

"You will pay."

His back faced me as I charged. I hadn't even put conscious thought into moving, but then I found myself right behind him. My spear sliced deep into his back, right below where Manee had struck earlier.

He twisted around faster than anticipated, and my spear slipped through my fingers, staying in his back. I rolled past his fist, missing my head by inches.

"Catherine's little science project. You should have fled when you had the chance." His eyes darted every which way, trying to spot where I hid. "I can use you to rebuild the entire line."

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I silently pulled my knife out of my inventory and waited. This time, I aimed for his knee, slicing the back of the joint before darting away.

Dilom slumped to one side, then limped closer to a cabinet.

Not going to happen. I'd watched enough movies to know when someone had a secret up their sleeve.

This time, I darted forward, keeping low and cutting through his knee completely with the burning blade.

His hand slammed into the side of my body, and something shattered.

I stumbled back, and the second hit missed, but I'd dropped my knife from the blow. My lungs burned as I tried to breathe, but I couldn't stop now. He still stood.

Claws erupted from my knuckles as my stomach growled again. That whispering voice came back, urging me to kill him as soon as possible. For once, we agreed.

Ignoring the pain, I launched myself at the hobbling figure still trying to reach the cabinet I'd crashed into earlier. Both sets of claws dug as deep as I could into his body. Again, he tried to twist around, but this time I held on.

With nothing left, I bit into the side of his neck, my sharp teeth piercing his flesh. Blood filled my mouth as I pumped as much poison as possible. I swallowed once, then again as energy flooded my body, healing my ribs and lungs.

His hand reached up and gripped my head, tearing me away from his neck.

I took a chunk of flesh with me, swallowing it as well. Yanking my claws free, I swiped at the arm holding me as he swung me away. Fingers went flying as three golden lines appeared beyond my claws.

"You beast!" His good knee slammed into the floor as he fell, blood pouring from the wound in his neck. His bright blue eyes stared in my direction. "Catherine would be proud of her creation."

He slumped forward.

More notifications sounded, but I remained on the floor, panting. My mind raced, unable to stay focused.

Food. I needed food.

The claws retracted from my knuckles and I barely noticed.

My eyes went to his body, and I couldn't stop myself from crawling forward. By the time I reached him, Manee had reached her feet, covered in blood and bruises.

Another explosion came from a distance, making everything rattle again.

Then his body turned to dust.

"No…" I whispered to myself, the sight enough to shock me back to the present. "He's a clone…"

He had to be.

Meat appeared in my hand that I frantically gnawed on, trying to stop the thoughts racing through my brain. Focus, I needed to focus on the clones.

I scarfed another hunk of meat, then a third, before I crawled to my feet, snagging my knife, then my spear off the floor. We had to find his tube. It needed to be destroyed.

"We must go," whispered Manee.

"We need to make sure he can't come back, first…" I darted to the cabinet, but inside the crumbled door were only strange cylinders lining the shelves.

[Energy booster. Inject to replenish one's energy.]

All twelve of them went into my inventory.

"We need to find the green tube that's regrowing his body," I explained, as nothing stood out in the lab. "They are cloning themselves."

Manee paused and took a deep breath. "There's another room. I've been there…" she trailed off for a moment, thenshe sprinted toward the door that I'd been trying to get to before I'd decided to join the fight.

It sprang open, and the entire space glowed a green color. Large vats stood along each of the walls, some containing creatures like the Compy, others beetles, while a single one had a small flyer. The largest tank held a Harvester.

The next row of vats contained Azura people, though twisted. Some with only three arms, others with two heads. One looked like it'd been merged with a Harvester. Another explosion rocked the room, making everything shake, including the floor. The glass shattered in an empty vat, spraying the green goo everywhere.

Lights flickered in the darkest section as a smaller row of humanoid tubes whirled to life. Symbols blinked near the top. The first one blazed to life, while others already contained large masses, humanoid in appearance.

[Dilom.]

[Ebram.]

[Feld.]

That last one I recognized from a fight a few days ago.

"How do we…" My words trailed off as a sword sank into the tube with the name Dilom blinking over it.

Manee yanked her sword back out of the glass as ooze started gushing out. Another dark tube whirled to the.

[Dilom.]

Again and again it continued until no more tubes were empty. I used my spear on the ones she left behind.

"We need to warn the others of this," I said, thinking about how everyone hadn't understood why this camp was here. If they needed that much water to set up a cloning facility, it made sense. But if they could set up one, they could set up others.

There weren't any other doors that led out of this room.

"How do we get out of here?" I asked.

Manee stood staring at the tanks of others, the ones near the doorway. She screamed as she launched herself at them, glass and ooze flying.

I backed slowly out of the room and into the lab before heading to the cage that had contained the dead Compy. I quickly cut the hole in the wall back open and shoved my way into the recovery room. The wall on the other side of the room bowed inward, but it hadn't torn.

I headed for it and used my spear to make a small hole. A shredded hallway greeted me, one that now opened up into Catherine's destroyed lab. Again, I cut another hole in the wall, careful to watch my energy levels.

The metal wouldn't bend this time, so I had to melt it all the way around. By the time I stepped through, Manee had joined me without a word, covered in goo. The door leading to the other area had expanded, that wall completely bent outward, and part of it melted.

The cage area had survived a little better, and fires flickered in the distance.

Yelling came from several directions as I crept toward the open doorway. Beyond, screams filled the air.

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