The metal springs of the bunkbed creaked as Mark climbed off it. He'd been meditating, trying to fill up his reserves as much as possible, he'd just managed to create two [Animated minds] the other had called to leave.

Jonathan, Jason, and Wesley had already regained their energy and once they did there was no reason to stay here. So Mark hopped down and began tightening the straps on his pack. He'd already given Dorian more than enough food in exchange for their medical supplies. Mark understood why these three refused to leave, but that didn't mean he agreed with it. Walking toward the lounge Mark spotted Sam getting up from the couch.

Yet another concern to add to his list.

Sam had been fine ever since transforming back into her human form but Mark couldn't help but be concerned for her. Whatever else that other form offered he hoped it was worth it.

It was one thing to change physically but that form seemed to affect her mentally and even went so far as to lock away her emotional state.

Sam had said it was to process more information, and he got it, but that didn't make the situation any less aggravating.

When Sam saw Mark heading in her direction a lazy grin spread over her face. She nodded her head towards the door.

"Come on. Everyone else is already at the lift."

Mark snorted and followed behind her, maneuvering his [Animated mind's] to press against his shoulder blades.

When they got there Selene and Alara were there to send them off. Dorian was busy with something so he'd said goodbye earlier.

When Alara saw Mark she grinned.

"Mark, Thank you for everything. I hope you guys get to where you need to go."

Mark nodded to her, offering any last-minute advice he could think of that would help them against the Corruption.

"Mark, let's go!" Jason shouted from the elevator.

He was about to move towards the door when Selene grabbed hold of his wrist and lowered her voice.

"Take care of everyone out there, especially those two."

Her eyes fell on their group as they waited for Mark in the lift.

Mark cocked his head at the woman, but she backed away as she rejoined Alara, waving as she did so. Mark furrowed his brow at her but then nodded as he stepped onto the lift.

The moment he did Jason pulled the leaver and the five of them found themselves rising gently out of the bunker.

Sam was looking at her tablet as Jonathan began speaking.

"Okay, so our destination is close by so we should avoid wasting energy. That means we're on foot, is everyone good with this?"

A round of acknowledgments went up as the Aura users moved to the front.

Sam finished describing their route just as the lift arrived back in the small room on ground level.

Mark could still hear the growls of a couple more determined Corrupted outside the building.

Jason did a silent countdown, and when he put down his last finger, Jonathan and Wesley moved out with him.

The sound of Corrupted screaming and flesh tearing was followed shortly by silence.

Sam and Mark stepped into the sweltering late-morning sun, taking in the scene. The Corrupted had done extensive damage to the outer building, even exposing its steel core in some places. However, their numbers must have dwindled over time, as there were fewer than half the bodies here compared to when they had escaped.

The two stayed vigilant, in case more Corrupted were drawn by the noise. Fortunately, they only spotted one or two additional creatures which they quickly dispatched.

"Let's get moving," Sam said.

The trip over to their destination was quiet and honestly, almost pleasant. Because of the lower population density in this area, they didn't come across many Corrupted as they listened to the sounds of Cicadas buzzing in the warm sun.

This meant that it wasn't long before the DoE building came into sight. As luck would have it, the thing looked to be locked up tightly, and with only minor structural damage, Mark felt his spirits rise.

They cased the area to make sure no powerful Corrupted were lingering outside, but after killing only a couple of Ordinators, they decided to enter.

Moving to the loading bay Jonathan headed to the front of a metal shutter. Jonathan slipped his fingers under the door and forced the roller door upwards, causing the squeaking metal to bounce over the open lot. The room beyond was a delivery area, it even had a space for a truck to reverse part-way into the structure.

The inside was pitch black so Sam and Mark created a couple of lights to surround their team.

"Alright, this place is huge, and the equipment could be split between several locations, so it's probably best to split up into two groups to search."

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Mark frowned as he spoke up.

"Shouldn't we stay together? I can't protect you if I can't see you."

Which wasn't strictly true but Mark didn't say this.

"That's a fair point, why don't Sam be in the one group and you in the other? That way both groups have caster support." Jason said slowly.

Jonathan sighed.

"We should remain together. Even if everything looks safe we don't know what kind of Corrupted are in here."

Jason nodded at Jonathan but continued.

"And I get that, but being here any longer than we have to will only cause more problems. The sooner we find what we need the better."

Jonathan looked unhappy, but he didn't seem to disagree with the man.

"Alright, Sam, Jason you're with me, while Mark and Wesley, you two stick together."

Mark understood what was happening. Jonathan probably didn't want Jason paired up with Sam, so he'd put himself in her group. But it also didn't escape Mark that the teams were well-balanced between defense and offense. Partnering with Wesley meant there was little that could hold them down for long. Sam, on the other hand, had powerful offensive abilities, so she needed more people around her for protection while she cast.

No one else seemed to argue so Mark sighed and went around to each of them casting [Bestowal] and wrapping them in powerful lesser constructs. As well as creating a [telepathic link] between the five of them.

One of his [Animated minds] winked out of existence already, but Mark thought it was worth it.

"We meet back up here if you guys find anything. If you find any new Corrupteds, don't engage." Mark said.

He probably hadn't needed to say it, but he still felt it necessary.

Jason was rearing to go and the moment they opened the simple door leading deeper into the structure he was off.

Mark expanded a construct in front of himself as an early warning system, while Wesley took up point.

Just as Mark turned the corner he caught sight of Sam waving at him before disappearing around the corner.

When they were alone Mark began to expand his construct more to begin searching the nearest rooms. He had avoided throwing a construct over the whole place because of its sheer size.

The building was a double-story affair with a basement level. The equipment –if it was here– could be anywhere so the only thing they could do was just to begin searching.

Wesle opened any doors Mark hinted towards as they moved through the long corridor. He wasn't exactly sure what they were looking for so he spoke up.

"Wesley, can I borrow your tablet, I might also be able to pull up a map of this place, it will save us time later."

Wesley looked up and nodded, taking his tablet out of his inventory and handing it to Mark. Mark took some time to pull up the relevant information but noticed the loyalists had left out a good portion of detail in their reports to NAS.

Luckily Mark had already memorized it but it made him frown.

Mark must have let his annoyance show because Wesley spoke up.

"What's the matter?"

Mark shrugged his shoulder.

"Everything is good Wesley. It just seems like they left some details out of your data."

Wesley scratched the side of his stubble not looking the least bit surprised.

"Yeah, I figured as much. Oh, also you can just call me Wes."

Mark cocked his head. Wesley had always been someone he'd met in passing, and even during disastrous occasions—like the underground raid—he had proven to be a powerful ally. However, Mark had never really spoken to him in depth.

He knew Wesley only respected strength, especially that of the physical variety, but something must have changed to get him to make this request.

Mark smiled.

"You all good over there? I don't mind calling you Wes if you're fine with that."

Wesley's brows twitched, but he nodded. "I'm good. Now that I've seen what you can do, I'm happy to have you on our team."

Mark laughed freely. "Okay, well, Wes, we're looking for a machine that looks like this," Mark said, showing the tablet to the man. "You come across anything—"

Mark's smile vanished the moment something came into contact with his construct. Wesley must have noticed because he immediately raised his shield and looked down the corridor.

Mark was startled but quickly reassured him. "Don't worry, it's just not what I expected. I don't think we're in any danger."

Wesley relaxed slightly, but as the edges of light touched the object, Mark bit the inside of his lip. Lying against one of the walls was a Corrupted. It was already dead, slumped with its back against the wall, hardened ichor spreading from it, pinning it in place.

Mark narrowed his eyes at it. From where he stood, he couldn't tell what had killed it, but it was clearly dead. There were no visible injuries, just a hollow, lifeless gaze in its gray eyes.

Mark stepped closer and kneeled to examine it further. As usual, small bits of corrupted life had begun to sprout from the surrounding ichor, but something felt off. Corruption usually spread from a single point—where the black sludge fell, it would branch out and grow, hardening into twisted new life. The odd thing was, this Corrupted seemed to have been the carrier. But why had Mark never seen anything like this before? Corrupted purposefully spreading ichor was something entirely new.

Mark waved a hand over it, briefly activating [Draw Corruption]. He immediately felt the dark power moving toward him, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary—well, beyond the usual weirdness that came with Corruption.

Since they couldn't gather much from the body, they decided to press forward. However, more bodies began appearing along the way. Eventually, they reached a dead end on this floor, and Mark reached out to Sam telepathically.

'Hey, are you seeing this?'

'Yeah, I'm not sure. I've already taken a sample, but it's strange. Wait, Jason found something…'

Mark called for Wesley to stop for a moment. 'Sam, what's going on?'

Before he could get an answer, Mark felt her link their sights. He could now see Jason and Jonathan from Sam's viewpoint as they stepped into a room. They must have made a beeline to the first cache, as they were already there. The room was large, but the same ichor was splattered all over the place.

The difference here was that several pieces of equipment were stacked in the corner. From this angle, Mark could tell they were likely what they came to retrieve.

The problem? Attached to the equipment was a large note with just two words written on it.

'Guys, get out of there now!' Mark yelled both in the link and out loud.

Mark barely had time to register the single living Corrupted in the room as it turned its head toward them. The moment it spotted them, the ichor leashing it to the walls began to swell. Rapidly spreading through the room and then bursting out as a dark flame. The explosion shook the entire building, and the last thing Mark saw before the link went white was the note going up in flames.

"BOOM BITCHES!"

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