Science Experiment

In their next hotels, two sat up in bed, their sleep schedules poor, their lamps off, and their phones on.

"Is the new event for Girls Frontline out yet?" said Yuruko.

Serena tapped her phone. "…um, not yet."

"Look, I found Mia."

Yuruko showed her an anime character on her phone and Serena shook her head.

"They don't look that similar."

"I mean, she has the same hair color." shrugged Yuruko. "She's based on a gun, so."

"I guess." Serena sat back, refreshing her phone. The most time she spent some days was checking for updates to her games. "…I'm bored. Um, do you wanna go somewhere?"

"Uh, Aimee'll get pissed if she catches us again." said Yuruko, though she stood up anyway.

Serena laughed and texted the group: she got two permission slips back, one from Mia and one from Samuel. They headed out of their hotel, visiting a local Walmart. As they stepped inside the dark, Yuruko's free hand scrunched. "Uh, I forgot to ask. Did you talk to Mia?"

"I did." nodded Serena. "Um, she says she still wants to be cautious once we get back and -- still kinda give me orders, but… yeah. She's starting to trust me more, too." With zero idea if this was true, Serena added: "I mean, she said that was how her mentor was with her, too. The one who, um -- she wears a rainbow dress, I think she's a lesbian."

Yuruko shrugged. "I mean, most female hosts are. It flips the rate of sexuality."

"Um, yeah. I just -- I think I'm bisexual, so."

"You're bisexual? Coolio. Uh, me too, actually. But there's a lot of stupid bitches on campus who think being bisexual is a birth defect, so, uh… just be careful telling anybody that."

"Okay." nodded Serena, a little uncomfortable with Yuruko's language, but pleased by her answer of sexuality: that had been her target.

And at the thought of the word 'target', a sense of guilt came over her. Part of what she accepted as being female was not to tacitly accept sexism, like Yuruko's, or to view other women in these terms.

"C'mon." said Yuruko, walking down the gaming aisle. Forgotten consoles & videogames were behind the glass doors left. She swiped her hand through one and took a console out of it, then set up at the back wall of store. Looking up at the security camera, she was reminded of the imageboard 4chan, whose users usually made a habit of pranking any live-feed connected to the internet.

It had been an enjoyable site before the right-wingers.

Serena came back with the generator and Yuruko set it up, then created a few batteries. "Sweet. Uh, we'll use my laptop as a screen, I guess. It has HDMI."

The security camera above began to rumble, and in the next instant -

- the hollow point of three bullets entered Yuruko's chest from above; she shrieked and stumbled, her hands a wild flurry over her head and forming a helmet -

- just in time for a second burst of bullets to pierce her back, and as a third volley erupted -

" - Blackburn!"

- with the speed of light, black fog flowed in to the camera's lens and filled it with acid, corroding it from the inside-out. A second stream of fog filled Yuruko's wounds - but the women had no time to rest.

A second volley erupted from a camera further down the wall, and as Yuruko readied to turn the volley liquid -

- the projectiles curved in mid-air, flew towards Serena, and as she readied to dodge behind the aisle -

- the bullets turned again to Yuruko, burst through her chest and out of her back; the two swept back in to the aisle, Yuruko taking her tablet out, hearing more gunfire as Serena healed her wounds and set her lantern down.

"Gotta find a counter - but just letting them know." winced Yuruko, flicking her tablet on, and as the screen lit to life -

- a bullet curved around the corner and pierced through her tablet, cracking it in half. With a curse, Yuruko pulled her phone from her lab coat's pouch - but as she powered it on, the true assault began then.

All around them, the store's security cameras burst to hideous life, dozens and dozens of bullets shooting out as if called by magic, piercing and shattering Yuruko's phone, and as the next swarm sought their necks -

" - Yuruko! Inside!" shouted Serena, patting frantically the glass door beside; a sweep of gloves turned the glass liquid, and in to the door of games the women swept, fog filling the shattering glass with solid spider silk and blunting the storm.

"Spider silk is stronger than steel." chimed Serena, relevantly.

"They're still shooting outside." winced Yuruko, a stream of fog repairing the pockmarked sheets. "Can't be based on sight - gotta be an automatic Revenant."

"Can't stay here forever either." nodded Serena. "Uh - it went for your tablet and phone, right?"

Yuruko nodded and caught the trend. Serena took her own phone out, held it out to the side, and as she flicked it to life -

- she felt a set of bullets hit the silk guarding her phone, and the women knew then the Revenant.

"Likes electricity."

"Yeah." Yuruko took Serena's phone, Medicinal forming a case of steel around it, a slit to allow Blackburn to fill it with silk. "We've gotta get to the security room - might find the host there, right?"

"Okay." nodded Serena, taking their magnet, and holding it high as Yuruko's hands pressed against the back of the enclosure.

"Ready?"

"Ready -"

" - run!" shouted Yuruko; a swift sweep turned the back of the aisle to liquid, and with no time to waste, the women burst out of the hole and in to the next aisle, cacophony of gunfire entering their ears, and as they curved towards Serena's phone -

" - man, how many fucking -" - she winced as a bullet missed narrowly her thumb " - security cameras do they have?!"

" - must be a real bad area!"

The two rushed through more aisles, shelves collapsing behind as they burst out and through. A wave from Yuruko, and the women peeled right to the back wall, and as another volley sought their magnet phone -

- the bullets curved down in midair, pierced through Serena's back and out of her heart; she shrieked as she stumbled forward, and as Yuruko turned, another volley sought her own neck -

" - Medicinal!"

- but a choke of her gloves around her neck, and a steel brace formed to blunt the foul projectiles.

"I - forgot to charge my fucking phone." groaned Serena, and the two swept in to the aisle beside, security cameras along the back wall still firing steady shots.

"I don't have much left, but -" Yuruko panted, working quickly with her hands, hearing the bullets enter the shelves behind. "We'll use these to lure it - alright? We gotta run and duck - run and duck."

"It ain't me." said Serena, and with a laugh like a fortunate son, Yuruko threw something out of the aisle - two Medicinal-made batteries, terminals connected to each other.

They felt the cameras outside whirr and turn, and out to the back aisle the women rushed again, gunfire entering the battery circuit, another forming underneath Yuruko's boots, only a dozen aisles separating them and the employees only door now.

Down the aisle they ran, and as they came six within range -

" - wait!" shouted Yuruko, peeling in to the aisle left, yanking Serena by her collar as she threw another circuit. "Serena - here!"

Serena blinked for a second, but caught the trend quick, and the two stepped in to the aisle of lightbulbs.

"Can buy us some time for me to recharge." panted Yuruko.

"I - oh." laughed Serena, taking a box off the shelf and opening it. Blackburn's fog dripped in to the bulbs, and as the electricity filled the bulbs with light -

- she winced as every last burst in to shards, Blackburn's electricity accidentally too strong for it. She discarded it with a groan, scooped another box up, and as a second stream filled the new set with light -

- she felt with aghast back three hollow points pockmark her; the pain slumped her forward -

" - Medicinal!" shouted Yuruko, throwing another battery sacrifice beyond, buying them only seconds before the next volley would come.

"I- why isn't that working, shit shit shit -"

At her side, Yuruko scooped up a box of energy-saving bulbs. As she threw it to Serena, Blackburn filled it with electricity -

- and the two breathed relief as the next volley of bullets curved to seek the bulb inside.

"Okay - okay -" nodded Yuruko, pulling Serena by her hand down the aisle, shelves of energy-saving bulbs besides. "Fill just the low wattage ones - and start doing this!"

She yanked her hand off from Serena and started waving her arms frantically. The war gave the punk no time to ask questions, and she started her own jig as she filled the whole shelf to life -

" - got it!" shouted Serena, and down the aisle the women ran again, the hellstorm carving the energy-saving bulbs to bits as they ran down, only six aisles separating them and the employees area.

They heard the last bulb get shot to death as they shoved through the employees door, to the hall beyond, and as they rushed in to the control room at the right -

- an expected scene met their stare, their male foe at the other end, thirty feet separating them and he.

But their blood froze at the dozen security cameras at his feet, ripped from their hinges and readying to fire.

"Medicinal." panted Yuruko, attempting to form a new circuit -

- and only half of one came, her uses expended with no time to recharge. The man laughed as he realized, and as the cameras readied to shred the women alive -

- a stream of black fog filled Serena's nostrils; with no option left, she rushed forward, and as the first volley sought her neck -

- it curved in mid-air, and the lead shot through Yuruko's heart, tearing skin and blood, only a dozen feet separating the man and Serena now -

- and with the speed of fog, a black stream filled his throat with razorblades; and as he fell, a second and third volley entered his lungs -

- and out of his chest burst out a knife, his still-beating heart impaled upon it. A sweep of fog destroyed the last of the cameras with acid, heart still beating below.

"Oh - f-fuck -" panted Serena, turning and rushing back to a collapsed Yuruko, filling desperately her wounds - " - oh god please be okay, please be okay -"

Yuruko's wounds filled as if a grave with dirt, new flesh ejecting the casings inside. Serena felt that worry Mia had that first week, until Yuruko gave a wince with her fingers. "O-Okay. I-It's okay." She coughed, pressing herself up to sit. "What… what did you do? To… get in range?"

Serena wiped her eyes, sitting close with her. "I- sorry, just - was just scared. Um. It was - it was that it shot anything with the lowest electrical signal, right?"

"Yeah. That's why we wanted to wave our arms. Our bodies have electrical currents."

Serena nodded, starting to calm. "I filled - um. My nostrils up with smelling salts - so my heart rate - fuck, it's still through the roof - I thought I could kill him quicker, so -"

" - you did good." laughed Yuruko. "Don't worry. We did good."

Serena nodded. They sat there for a while, waiting for their Revenants' uses to replenish. Once done, they went over to the Revenant, heart still-beating, and as Blackburn's fog filled his heart with razorblades -

- they saw with aghast eyes a dozen bullets burst outward from the heart and curve inward, shredding the metal to bits, leaving the Revenant seemingly unharmed.

"What the fuck?" said Serena.

"…fuck."

"It's still alive?"

"I've read about this happening before." sighed Yuruko. "Some super-strong Revenants can survive without their hosts. It's gonna keep defending itself."

"They - wait, what?"

"Yeah. Sometimes they - um, can survive without their hosts for a while after death - but… If I touch it - it'll shoot me. Don't want that again." Yuruko winked.

"…so it'll shred anything I put in there." muttered Serena. "What are we gonna do?"

Yuruko grinned. "Okay, uh. Run to the other end of the store or, uh, whenever the emergency exit is. Shut the door on your way out. I'll meet you there. I've got an idea."

Serena nodded, running out of the room and shutting the door behind.

As Yuruko crouched down and formed her full-face respirator, she remembered the first time she had seen one. Ten or eleven years old, she had been playing some videogame in her room when she heard her father's car pull in. He stepped inside wearing a full-faced respirator and made an exaggerated show of realization to Yuruko, saying that he must've accidentally work it out of his workplace, in to his car, and not realized it on the entire drive home.

Yuruko giggled as he checked himself in her mirror. He remarked that it made him look like a Predator: a creature from a movie, that he said they would watch later if her mother was out of the house. Making another show out of struggling to take the respirator off, he removed it, and said that most likely, someone back at work was screaming about a missing respirator. Yuruko would later realize that safety protocols made this entire scenario impossible, but she had always preferred these types of pranks to her mother, who simply assumed that Yuruko's autism made humor indecipherable, and seemed to view her as some type of punishment.

"H2, Sb, F7… 1, 51, 9."

For some hosts, their Revenants gave them innate knowledge of certain matters: Mia & handling a sword, Yuruko & the periodic table. How these bacteria had absorbed human culture was, of course, something for Yuruko to research.

She held her right hand over the heart, and a stream of liquid dripped from her palm -

- a stream of liquid burst from her palm, and she didn't look back as she ran back across the room, through the door, slammed it behind, and down the main aisle she ran, Medicinal drying her right glove.

Ahead was Serena at the emergency exit, Yuruko's laptop and a videogame case in hand, and as Yuruko rushed close -

" - let's go!" shouted Yuruko, and they, in to the emergency exit and the back alley beyond.

"What - what did you even do?" said Serena, the two cutting through and around the corner, rushing back in to the main parking lot.

"Fluoroantimonic acid - the strongest known acid! Uh, besides helium hydride, but that doesn't count because it's not corrosive!"

"Is that gonna destroy it?"

"They're gonna have to call a cleanup crew - but whatever!" laughed Yuruko, and gestured for Serena to stop as they reached midway down the lot. "Alright - should be out of the danger zone."

With a laugh, she raised her right glove -

- and a hole started corroding through. She shrieked as her entire glove disappeared -

- but laughed at Serena's instant worry, and Medicinal recreated her glove.

"Just kidding." cackled Yuruko, taking her respirator off.

"Don't do that, c'mon." laughed Serena. "Especially after earlier."

Yuruko grinned as she took her laptop back. "Did you get something to play?"

"Yeah. We still gotta game." grinned Serena, handing the videogame case to her. "Um, this says it has local co-op on PC. You could probably just run it on your laptop."

"Dynasty Warriors?"

"Yep."

"Coolio. Let's play when we get back."

She opened up the game's case, and frowned.

"Uh, where's the disc?" said Serena, peeking over.

Yuruko blinked at the slip of paper inside.

"Enter this code online for your digital download."