Second Death

Both Eight and Ten arrived at the Private Medic and quickly pushed the doors open. The only thing they could hear were the chattering sounds between Doctor 90 and the nurses. Once again, they almost jumped when the door suddenly opened on its own. They looked at the two guests with shock. "Informant and Master Ten?!"

"What happened?" Nine appeared a few seconds later.

"Eh? Professor too?! Aren't the Infinities supposed to have a meeting right now?" Doctor 90 asked with confusion on his face.

Eight went closer and looked down at the Subject who already got covered with the white sheet. Seeing this view, she felt the heavy weight resting on her shoulder once again. Not just because she lost the subject for the second time, but also Ten who was not supposed to see this and now he had to witness everything.

It was silent around them until Nine spoke up. "What happened to the patient?"

"I was not sure myself, Prof. At first, Master Ten was trying to tell us about the patient however we did not get to ask when Master Ten suddenly left. But when we were about to leave, we heard a loud noise coming from the monitor. From what I believe, the patient died two hours ago. The time of death is 12 a.m. I'm sorry for realizing it so late..." Doctor 90 said in a low voice.

"It's alright. You have done a great job. Everyone may leave and have your resting time now. Thank you and good night."

Doctor 90 and the nurses bowing their heads while giving him a farewell. Before closing the door, Doctor 90 gave a last glance at the subject on the bed.

How can it possibly happen? Might be from natural causes...

<<17>>

"Just how... How could this happen..." Eight muttered.

The atmosphere in the small private room was tense and silent. Nine could not help but look at Ten who sat on a chair in front of him. His body was slumped forward and his head hung low. That boy must have never expected it to happen like this.

Then he turned his gaze towards Eight. After looking back and forth between the two of them, Nine cleared his throat. Both of them looked at him.

"What should we do now? Are we still going to put him in the Ice Capsule?"

A sigh escaped from Eight's lips. "No, we can not. Everything inside the Room 80 has been destroyed including the capsule itself. Moreover, that was the last Ice Capsule I have built for these past few years. Even if I had to make it again, it would be a waste of another year. After all, Master Zero prioritized more on the experiment than the other projects. I guess we have no choice but to put him in Room 101 again. We should inform the others."

"Have you visited Room 80? How much worse can it be?"

"Well, just imagine that the entire room was completely annihilated with nothing left. Everything got destroyed by Four's Instinct. The whole facility is completely gone and there are no signs of safe projects anywhere. Moreover, the ceiling part has crumbled down and everything in it has crashed into the floor below. That's how worse it was."

Nine whistled. "That was a whole lot of damage. How did the intruder get inside that lab? And what exactly were they after?"

Eight scratched her chin. "I'm afraid I don't know any details. It doesn't help us much since the only CCTV that connected inside Room 80 was broken as well."

"Sigh! Looks like we had a hell lot of investigations to do." A few moments later, a frown appeared on the glasses' forehead. "But Eight... don't you find it kind of weird?"

Eight raised an eyebrow. "You think there's something else that might be wrong?"

"Yes. What do you think is the real cause behind the Subject's death? I've already done a check up on him earlier and I even did some X-Rays just in case, but there were no injuries or damages found on his body."

"What about the blood that was spilled on his shirt?"

"It belonged to Four."

Eight could not contain her surprise. "What? Does that mean..."

"What you are about to guess, I can't give the answers cause I'm still not sure yet and besides that..." Nine paused before shaking his head slowly. "...I don't know. His death seems a bit mysterious to me. Did someone kill him while he's in a state of unconsciousness?"

"Are you trying to say that Six is the one who killed him?" Eight raised both of her brows.

Nine sighed deeply before answering. "Of course n-"

"Is that true?"

Ten's voice interrupted them. Their gazes shifted toward the boy as he stood up abruptly. He looked pale and shocked.

"...But why? Why did Six want to kill him? What did he do?" His question sounded more like a whisper as he held his breath. It seemed he really was surprised by what he just heard.

Then his expression changed instantly. "Was he... the one who tried to kill Four? Was he the one who made Six angry?"

Both Eight and Nine glanced at each other silently. There were some things that neither Eight nor Nine could tell Ten. They did not want to lie to him, but it was necessary considering the circumstances. But now that the cat got out of the bag, they were not sure if they should continue hiding anything.

"Like I said before, we're not sure yet." Nine admitted reluctantly. "Even if he's the culprit, there is nothing we could do. He's already dead. So we should let this incident go and move on."

The silence continued for what seemed like forever until a light knock resounded on the door.

"Come in." Nine called.

81 entered the room, looking at the three people.

"I'm sorry to interrupt but there is something I need to return to you, Informant." He informed them before handing Eight a handkerchief.

Eight frowned while accepting it. "Thanks but it's already dirty. Why don't you just throw it away?"

"Forgive me, I could not dare. It's just... I think there might be an answer you are looking for," 81 added without waiting for the amber girl to reply. "I mean, I'm not the one who's actually saying this. It was from the Chief. Chief insisted that I return it back to you."

"Has she woke up? How was her condition?"

"She is fine. After I visited her, she fell asleep again. Well then, I shall take my leave now."

Eight nodded. "Thank you very much and all of you, make sure to take good care of her."

81 bowed slightly to them before turning around and leaving the room.

"What does that even mean?" Nine asked after a minute of silence.

"I'm also in the same boat as you." Eight unfolded the handkerchief and checked it carefully. "There's nothing in here though. But Chief 80 is not someone to insist on something trivial. So I guess, maybe there is something I need to find out."

"For now, just keep it as what she said. Maybe you will find something else after having a good rest. Yawn! Now that I mention it, I am tired too. Let's go." Nine stood up and headed towards the door.

Eight followed his steps and held Ten's shoulder. "You also need to sleep early, Ten. Today must have been hard for you after being brought here and there. Also, welcome back." She could see the tiredness visible on the boy's face.

Her faint smile showed when the boy looked up to her. "Okay and thank you, Eight."

Before closing the door, Ten peeked inside for one last time at the prone form of the subject, but it was still covered with the white sheet. "When are you guys going to put him in that scary room?"

"Tomorrow we will be a bit busy so maybe the day after tomorrow. Why? Do you also want to come?" Nine answered with a reassuring smile on his face.

Ten stared at him for a while before nodding slightly. "I felt guilty because I couldn't save him earlier. At least, paying respect for him would lift this small amount of guilt."

Eight covered her mouth, did not expect that sentences coming out from Ten meanwhile Nine smiling and nodding like a proud oldest brother.

A few steps walking, Ten suddenly stopped.

They turned back to him. "What is it, Ten?"

"Wing..."

Once that name came out from his mouth, Ten went back inside the Private Medic, followed by the two adults. Right now, the three of them are staring at Wing which appeared out of nowhere and now it was sitting next to the bed with its eyes closed and purring. Then it slowly opened its eyes and looked directly at them with a calm expression.

This view although it seems normal but for the three of them and especially Ten who knows his kitten well, it was extremely different.

"He's not running away..." Ten murmured and stared at Wing with surprise and wonder.

Those sentences alone caused the two to make different reactions. Nine with confusion on his face, still clueless of what is going on whilst Eight looked at Ten with the same shock reaction.

She turned her gaze, looking at the kitten. Slowly her hand raised up, touching her nose. "That's strange. There's no scent."

<<17>>

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<22, ESFP>