[center][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/eSHR32V.png[/IMG][/center]
[i][b]Flashback: Samuel’s awakening[/b][/i]
“Readings and vitals are stable. We’re ready to begin, Doctor.”
“Excellent — administer 06-GH1 and then prep the table.”
“Yes, Doctor.”

The machines and contraptions which imprisoned his life and consciousness suddenly began to alarm their loss of control. The myriads of doctors and assistants around him panicked and succumbed to confusion as to how it was possible for him to on the path of awakening be. They screamed at each other incomprehensible medical methods of putting him under again, as his body began to tremble and his lashes began to flutter in and out of awareness.

“How is this happening?! Quickly! Contain him!”
“We don’t know, Doctor! His readings were fine just moments ago; this is coming from somewhere else!”
“Watch out!”

The man who was previously in chains broke himself free by sheer will and force well beyond what for him was norm. His roar was loud and deep and echoed throughout the deadened halls of the underground, covert research facility. In his delirium, he reached for whatever objects of sufficient lethality that he could grasp with his senses and proceeded to slaughter every last one of the personnel that were locked inside the transparent glass chamber with him. When all had fallen beneath his might and hate, his skin was no longer light; it was of various crimson shades native to the people he had gotten to know for several years. They were suddenly nothing to him — ants beneath his feet, specks of dust. His consciousness was no longer clouded by whatever curse that had previously forced him to humanity. He had finally awakened from a slumber crossing countless of physical bodies and years of imprisonment on this wretched planet.

Samuel did not know where or when he was as he crawled out of an exhaust pipe in the middle of the frozen tundra, covered by a thick layer of snow that spanned as far as his eyes could see. For nine times the space that measures day and night, he traversed a vast unknown. Across endless expanses of snow he trod in agony. Over jagged mountains clad with the bones of lost wanderers, within caverns where appalling creatures dwelled, and through bedlamic blizzards that tore his clothes he struggled with only a faint voice in the distant winds as his guide. Suddenly, one day, a horrid figure appeared before him. He had never before seen or remembered such a bizarre creature that could speak.

“Who are you?!” Samuel inquired, trembling in fear.
“Oh, not all there yet, I see.”
“Answer my question! — Demon!”
“Oh, a demon am I? Did he take away your ability to reason as well?”
“What do you want with me, creature?”
“I have a task for you, Barthandelus.”
“I do not know of whom you speak! My name is Samuel.”
“No, it is not, but we will get to that later.”
Samuel attempted to ignore the figure and continue his trek back to civilization.
“Not so fast, boy.”
“What do you want with me?!”
“Like I already said, I have a task for you.”
Samuel stood silent.
“The time has come to set things straight. When you remember your true name, know that I have asked of you to retrieve Phyrexia. You have heard of this relic many times before.”
“I do not know what you are talking about, foul creature. Leave me be.”
The dark figure yielded and allowed Samuel to pass him.
“Just remember what I have said to you here.”

[center][IMG]http://i.imgur.com/qGY5muB.png[/IMG][/center]
[i][b]Sewers[/b][/i]
Olivia beheld everything that transpired — Aarons struggles with his inner demons, Kimberly’s valiant efforts to protect those of his equal, Magdalena’s and Olivia’s own attempts at destroying adversary, and then Emily’s fall to darkness that revealed the disturbing truth. Through Olivia’s inspissated lashes she laid her cerulean eyes upon baleful spirits hovering about their presence and then seeking refuge within Emily’s body, morphing it in the process. The wound that Emily had suffered became infected by some eldritch sprout of slimy, ebony shades. It emitted a foul odor as Olivia approached and sat down on her knees beside Emily, gently placing a palm on the girl’s forehead — it felt warm and feverish, shifting in coloration as the freckled girl slipped deeper into some alien trance. Olivia slowly stroked Emily’s hair backwards from her forehead as Kimberly did what he could with his medicinal abilities. There was no denying that Olivia was furious within the depths of her heart, but she was unsure as to why. Emily was her dear, beloved friend, but Olivia had just witnessed her absorbing a xenomorphic spirit — it was against every possible rule and moral that the dark haired girl believed in.

Olivia concurred with Kimberly’s suggestion of getting Emily out of the sewers. There was no sense in preaching her own sense of ethics concerning xenomorphic interactivity, and by doing so delaying Emily’s recovery even further. “You’re right, let’s get out of here,” Olivia said. Remiel insisted on carrying the injured girl, and so it was. Olivia was, however, infinitely more concerned with what had actually transpired moments ago and why it did not seem to register with anyone. She glanced at every member of the squad to see if she could catch a glimpse, eye contact, of someone with which these events did not sit well. However, the dark haired girl also had to consider the possibility that the spirits which Emily absorbed had recently been consumed by the creature, but it did not explain the vile growth in her wound. Olivia decided to keep her mouth shut for now and deal with it once Emily was well enough to explain herself.

[i][b]The Facility: Meeting with Sofia[/b][/i]
Olivia stood up and pushed the worn office chair to the corner of the bantam room where Kimberly had positioned himself. She did not know much about mental disorders or the hallucinations of which Kimberly was accustomed, but she did know a person that was not well when she saw one — especially when they decided to cast themselves onto a hardened floor without any reason whatsoever. Besides, she had dealt with Kimberly’s episodes a few times before at the Academy, so this was not the first time that Olivia had witnessed his strange behavior. The only difference was that there was nowhere or no one to turn to this time; she had to deal with it herself. 

“Have a seat,” Olivia said and guided the man who stood many leagues above her own height to sit down. She gently placed the tip of her fingers underneath Kimberly’s chin, amongst the furry beard, and urged him to lift his head up straight. Olivia then proceeded to examine his eye movement as she said “Look at me,” and feel his pulse. These were the only things she knew about, as she had done it before, but Olivia felt as if she had no idea what she was doing nonetheless. “Kim, do you have your pills with you? Where are your pills, Kim?” Olivia repeated herself, not sure if the boy was with her in the moment – for all she knew, she appeared a talking raccoon to Kimberly.

Olivia shifted her attention to Sofia and everyone else for just a moment. However, still paying close attention to Kimberly. “Alright, let’s for one second say that I believe you — where is he and why is he doing this? What could he possibly gain from killing all these people in cold blood? Why didn’t he come back to us? I mean, do you know anything at all?”