[sub][h3][center]T H E   P R O M I S E[/center][/h3][/sub][hr]
It was supposed to have been a job. An in and out stay on the greatest space station that humanity had ever known. But it had ended up being more than that. Now, oh, now she was faced with so much more. She had never been one to have been put off by violence. Assassination wasn't beyond her, be it literal or of a person's character, this had simply been a job. A well paying one that had one end goal: Find a way to give her employer a parahuman ability.

It had taken months of research and an entire workforce to do it. Luckily she had bother. Then she had to find a way off planet and searched the stars only to find a boy, no... a god, who had shown her [i]everything[/i]. She had been shown everything, if only for a moment.

She needed to get away. Somewhere where she would have the time to find a more permanent solution. That of her on earth would surely perish with the crashing of the red wave, but she would live on. She had to. In order to do that unnoticed, she would need a distraction.

Arianna moved through the corridors of the spire on her way to the master server room, uncontested and shaken to her core- her appearance [i]and[/i] disposition not her own. A body was a change of clothes for her...

But until now she had never known fear.[hr]

[sub][h3][center]Archie[/center][/h3][/sub][hr]

"Lets go then. Please." Archie commented, donning his lab coat. The others followed suit, their motions brisk but precise. None of them wanted to be here any longer. Not with the remains of Tabatha reminding them of their fates.

Opening the door out of the room was perhaps one of the most harrowing experiences of Archie's life. There was something insidious about it, and not knowing what was behind it. The first door into the spire had been mysterious, sure. But knowing their fate now made this next passage far more threatening.

Fortunately, while the halls were busy, they were not out of the ordinary. Archie had the advantage of facial hair that gave him the appearance of being slightly older than he was, but the halls were filled with people dressed similarly to them, albeit with lab coats that were properly buttoned- a discrepancy the young man quickly picked up on and rectified. No, the most notable trait of these people was that they were all of such varying age. Young men and women, likely college age or interns intermingled with 40's something adults and senior scientists with gray hairs peppering their hair.

It was then that Archie was reminded how different the real world was compared to this bubble in the sky. On The Promise, parahumans were common. More common than people. The Spire was different- a reflection of the views of the world below. The indoctrination of 'Parahumans arent people' starts young, and by the time children were adults, it was normalized to view them not all that differently than a stray or dangerous animal. A nuisance and maybe even a threat if you got too close. Something to be avoided or destroyed, situation permitting.

Fortunately, they were literal wolves in sheep's clothing. They were young, but not abnormal. They were dangerous, but they looked human. The biggest giveaway way Lynn's hair, but she was a small and her natural fear of, well, everything had her place herself instinctually at the center of the pack where her meager height made it difficult for others to see her hair over everyone else.

Archie was just behind Keaton, who led them through with stoicism- speaking in short 'rights' and 'lefts'. It was good, the less they said the better. But what Natalie had said in the other room had concerned him. [i]I....I'm gonna kill them. I'm gonna kill all of them.[/i] It was worrisome to hear from someone he cared about, never mind her history of instability. If she lashed out or lost control, it would all be for nothing. He slowed his pace to walk next to her, and reached out to grab her arm. He squeezed it, half with grounding force to reign her in and half in comfort. She was stronger than him, at least in this form and he knew it. She could break his grip and him without a second thought. But she wouldn't do that to him, he was convinced.

"[i]Easy, Nat.[/i]" he said, his voice low as if a warning. But it was softer than that, too. It showed his unease. He needed her to keep it together just long enough for them to make it to wherever they were going- which seemed to be up as they made it to an elevator and Keaton hit a button denoting the number '34' on it. He let her arm go, then.

They stood in silence for a moment as one or two others came into the elevator. Unable to speak, Archie positioned himself as close to Lynn as possible, unintentionally shepherding her into the corner where she was least likely to be noticed as an outsider. He bumped into her shoulder, offering her a sly smile and a sideward glance as if to say [i]tag, you're it[/i].

A few got on and off, and when they reached their floor they had only made it a dozen or so steps when an alarm began blaring over the intercom. Immediately, his heart rate went sky high, and he felt something clawing at the edges of his vision, desperate to get out. But he held it back. They were dead. They were so totally dead and they were found out and they were going to fail and-

[b]"ATTENTION. PARAHUMAN PSYCHIATRIC WARD CONTAINMENT BREACH. ALL PERSONELLE RETURN TO NEAREST SHELTER AND AWAIT FURTHER INSTRUCTION."[/b]

The announcement played three more times before stopping, but the alarm itself continued. People were moving quickly around them, funneling in various directions. There had been another breakout, evidently. While morbid, this could be exactly what they needed.

"Move!" Archie said, raising his voice to jump start the group into motion. They were running now. Running to wherever Keaton was taking them. He was faster than them- he could feel it in his lengthening heels as his adrenaline fueling his accelerated heart rate. It was harder to force it back and down. He slowed to keep pace, trying his best to slow his vitals. They came upon the door quickly, and Archie could tell it was the right one just by how Keaton regarded it. But it was locked. Keycard access only requesting security clearance that none of them had.

"Lynn, Natalie, do you think you could break it down?" he questioned, turning on his heel to face the two. His eyes were undoubtedly not his own now. Definitely human, but not his. They would know that being out here where the alarm was loudest wasn't a good idea for long.

The clocks were ticking, now.