“Barnett, give me one of your vines on my arm, 100 cm long, thorned only on the length not touching my arm.” 

“Sounds like you have a plan,” Barnett said. With a wave of the witch’s hand, a deep green growth snaked from the inside of her sleeves, coiling on her forearm with a firm grip. Thorns, sharp and unforgiving, dotted the vine the moment it left the tip of Claire’s fingers, their pointed ends glinting under the light from outside as if it were made of metal. 

“Good, can it be strengthened, and made a little–” Claire turned around and gave the makeshift whip a practice swing, not caring even as it left a deep groove on the side of her bed, “-lighter, then maybe, make the end resemble a curved hook that keeps its shape?”

“Whoa, that is a lot of requests! So, a basic enhancement spell, basic weight alteration spell, and a flexible plant part with a firm end while still keeping the flexibility of the rest. Usually, these traits would be too much of a contradiction to all fit into one object, however…”

“Barnett?” Claire asked.

“Of course it’s possible, but there is a catch~”

“Ooookay, get to it, we don’t have much time.”

“If we keep all of them active for too long, as in more than one and a half system hour long, they will end up rejecting each other and the spell will all disperse,” Barnett explained, then added with a smile, “With a big kaboom.”

“Well, that sure is reassuring. Anything else I should know, Barnett?”

“I’ll tell you when you need to know it~”

[Time is of the essence. It is almost the ideal moment to make your escape.]

“Cordis, can you add something? I need you to make a timer that I can see, one and a half system hour. Can you make it appear in the empty corner space of the virtual map?”

[Yes, that can be done.]

“Okay, that settles it then. I’m as ready as I could be.”

“I have added one additional enchantment to link the weapon to your will. Good luck, Claire. See you on the other side.”

Barnett waved her hand, and with the gesture, the vine on Claire’s hand glowed with cycling colors, going from red, blue, green, and flashes of other colors before finally settling on a faint white. As if manipulated by invisible hands, the end of the weapon curled into the shape of a hook, before its green color faded into gray, creating the illusion of carved stone attached to its end.

“I am ready, Cordis.”

The moment Claire touched the glass door, it slid open without resistance. 

At the same time, right as she stepped out, the white lights gave out, sparks flying as something cracked in the air. Panic gripped the area, screams echoing as the other patients - no, prisoners - were screaming in a piercing, painful shriek, out of fear, unfamiliarity, perhaps even the uncertainty of a change in routine.

Claire wasted no time. The Mirror Device strapped to her wrist glowed in a soft, silver hue, the same hue reflected in her eyes. With the aid of Cordis’ alteration, the red, criss-crossing lines from the detection devices became clear. A quick dodge here, a sliding move there, she moved with almost practiced ease, her smaller stature allowing her to slip through gaps in the danger range with millimeters to spare.

Behind her, the door to her room slid back to its former closed position, leaving a seamless glass wall. 

In her previous outing back, back when she aided Izabel to alter the spire, and in all the times she was taken out of the room for treatment, Claire realized one thing - the safety and detection devices placed throughout the halls formed repeating patterns. Seeing the range of the devices only made her endeavor that much more easier, and the machine companions, the ones usually wandering the halls, are now nowhere to be seen. At any other time, two or three would wander the halls, yet this time, Claire had walked out of her room and only saw one.

With a single, stray thought, a command was made, and the vine attached to her hand lashed towards the machine, crushing it into scrap metal. With the sound of static, the machine ceased moving.

“Let me out! Help!”

The voices were getting louder, more desperate, accompanied by the sound of clawing. What was once pristine has turned into a chaotic mess, from the robotic attendants, to the prisoners kept behind glass, all were gripped by madness, as if their long-buried subconscious desires for freedom burst out of a cage made of false perfection.

All from her escape.

Memories of being escorted through the halls, of being prodded and poked, all to find and root out the undesired feelings, treated like a malignant patch of dirt that refused to grow fruits. With another silent command from her thoughts, the vine on her hand extended again, acting as a grappling hook, sending one of the lights hanging on the ceiling to fall with a solid crashing noise as she launched across the hall.

[Break-out detected. Patient Claire Saphira is advised to return to her cell. Failure to comply will result in a more extreme disciplinary measure.]

“It’s not as if they would let me off if I do return,” Claire thought, only to be greeted with silence. 

“Ah, right, she can’t hear me.”

A notification from Cordis appeared in front of her eyes, disrupting her train of thought. Along with the message, a map was displayed, a red dot indicating where she was.

[You are close to the stairs leading to the upper ground floor. Once we reach the first floor, we will be able to reach the ground floor and head out.]

“How do you plan to deal with this, though?” Claire asked back. “With this much commotion, there’s no way they won’t notice.”

[You are not the sole patient in possession of a Mirror Avatar. The other one is currently making his escape. He is currently one floor below where you are.]

Another turn towards the stairs, just one more round of sprint, and she would be one step closer, her adrenaline keeping her going. Distantly, she felt that she was a little out of breath, however, the glee was keeping her afloat– 

It was short-lived, as the walls of the hall leading to the stairs split open, revealing tools with a pointed edge Claire recognized as similar to the needles used for injection. She cringed at the thought.

Behind her, she could see a swarm of the robotic attendants, all ready to subdue her.

“Damn it!”

She gritted her teeth. Barnett’s ability to fly would have been useful, if only the spear would not turn into a heavy, pointy stick the second she lost contact with her Mirror Avatar. Claire shook her head, ridding herself of the stray thoughts. There was nothing to be gained from this.

Time is of the essence.

With no memorized layout to guide her movements, Claire’s jumps became a little clumsy. She commanded the vine on her hand to cling on the trap closest to the ceiling, then propelled her body as the clang of metal and crashing liquids missed their mark barely centimeters behind her. The robotic pursuers, however, remained unaffected, barrelling through the wreckage with a singular objective without stopping. She was now halfway through, her pursuers attempting to grab her with what looked like metallic claws with a blunt edge.

With a pissed click of her tongue, she grabbed onto a nearby opening, using the vine on her hand as a grappling hook, while gravity allowed the machinery to come crashing down. Even though the building was meant to hold people within, it seems that they were not designed with the potential of escapees in mind.

She landed a few meters ahead, so close to the doorway leading to the second floor. With renewed rush, Claire ran, ran, it was so close, and she could take a breather.

Only to have her hopes dashed, as a mechanical attendant had rushed from a nearby connecting hall, blocking her way.

“Get out!”

She directed her vine to wrap around the robot, only for the plant matter to start emitting a white smoke. The mechanical attendant has transparent liquid seeping from some of its orifices. In panic, she took a step back, barely remembering to look behind, pursuers still hot behind her.

She was trapped.

Claire cursed under her breath. There was no way out. 

Until her thoughts were interrupted in a loud, banging noise so close to her.

“Don’t get distracted.” A voice said from behind, then Claire felt herself lifted up. It was a man, perhaps one head taller than her, however, all she got was a glimpse of brown hair. She was thrown back onto the stairs, barely managing to right herself with a stumble.

In front of her, there was a lanky, tall man, sporting brown hair. If Claire had to describe him with one word, he was ‘unremarkable’ in such a way that he would disappear into any crowds easily, not helped by the fact that he was so calm, an eerie calm of someone who has seen everything that the light ever touched. He wielded a sort of modified rifle with a long muzzle and a bigger opening, the bullets having the appearance of miniaturized canisters more than proper bullets.

As the canister-bullet exploded on the mechanical helpers, it rained a transparent blue substance that sent sparks flying everywhere, setting off a chain reaction disabling the machines.

With a huff, the stranger stood up, pushed the door separating the hall from the stairs closed, and turned to look at Claire.

“Be careful next time. You’re the other Mirror Avatar user mentioned by Cordis, I assume?” He asked.

Claire glanced at him with a wary expression. “Who are you?”

He gave a small, closed-lip smile. “Cautious, a good trait to have. Anyway, I am Elliot. We have the same objective, let’s work together.” 

“Nice try. Can you prove that you are a Mirror Avatar user who needs to flee and not someone trying to tail me?”

“Hmm… How about this, let’s try again. I am Lapin, of team B in the upcoming rescue mission, operating under Adler’s team in the Spire Search. My partner requested her to search for Geltona in return for our help,” Elliot said, while putting the rifle on his back. “Is that enough for you?”

“... Barnett, I’m in Hunter’s team,” Claire said simply. 

“Good. Let’s head out, then, before they move again.”