A large bang echoed as the wheels of the chair connected with the glass.

Surprisingly, the window held firm. Deen, Imani, and I deflated at the anticlimactic turn of events. It was funny hearing all of us loudly exhale at the same time.

Did Chair Guy the Second not swing hard enough? Or was the window like those high-impact ones used in hurricane-prone areas? It wouldn’t be surprising if the Greaves convention center installed expensive windows. The crash sounded different from what I'd expect from hitting like ordinary glass or something.

The rest of the room stopped.

The people trying to tie the Original Chair Guy turned to look at the new fuckery behind them. Tesh was first to react, extracting himself from the crowd to come to his wife's aid. As he ran, shouting from everyone erupted.

"Kiera! I'm coming!"

"The hell are you doing?"

"Hey, someone stop that guy!"

"That's my fucking plan! You stole my plan, asshole!"

Chair Guy the Second pulled back the office swivel chair for another try. But its wide base and legs got tangled with the blinds, the wheels eating the slats. He tore a section of the blinds as he pulled the chair away. Kiera, who was trying to wrestle the chair away from him, fell down.

Bright searchlights flashed by the room, and we could hear the muffled sound of rotors as a helicopter passed by.

Blinded by anger at his wife getting hit, Tesh charged Chair Guy the Second and slammed him against the window. Kind of dumb if the goal was to not break the glass and anger the Tea Party. Others told him to stop being an idiot.

Fortunately, the window remained intact. I could see why the Tea Party kept us here—these rooms would act like holding cells for the monsters they’d make. Only when the parasite creatures had mutated into something stronger could they break out. I bet I'd need to exert a bit of super strength to punch through it if I wanted to.

"What are you doing?" cried out Praying Man. "Just tie him up!"

"Let go of me!" The Original Chair Man wasn't done just yet and tried to escape again with his captors distracted. He shoved the Dapper Old Man and Window Guardian before trying to get another chair and heading for the windows. He didn't get far as others piled on him like he had the football.

"Is the box secure?" Praying Man said, nervously checking it.

“They can see us, right?” said Dapper Old Man, adjusting his expansive clothes as he stood up. He waved while approaching the box. “We are following your demands! Do not harm us!”

"Don’t worry ‘bout it," Window Guardian replied as he got up. "We’re not escaping. We even stopped these two morons. They have no reason to kill us."

"One can hope," said Praying Man. "Okay, everyone, let’s all calm down now! Wait for our turn to be released. Everyone will be—"

The Original Chair Guy screamed, "They're not going to let us go, I tell you! Why aren't you listening to me? Everyone should try to escape now! Why are you trusting what terrorists—argh!"

Window Guardian punched his face to shut him up. And probably also as revenge for the attempted violence on windowkind.

"Everyone, just stop it!" Kiera said. "Tesh, you too. Tie that guy and leave him to the side."

"We got everything under control here," Praying Man said to the camera on the crate.

The Tea Party must be enjoying watching our group's shenanigans. I could picture them snacking on popcorns of evil or whatever terrorists ate while having a good laugh. Or they might be disappointed that the show didn't last long.

I shared their sentiment—or the sentiment I was making up for them.

If only the two Chair Guys continued with their escape plan, the Tea Party would’ve been forced to release the parasites to stop us. I say 'forced' because I was sure these terrorists would instead save up every tentacle-parasite-zombie they could make for their escape breakout plan. They wouldn’t want to release the parasites before they were done with their mysterious business.

And when those worms would come out of their canisters, it sounded based on Deen’s warning that they’d come for me.

Was it because I was an Adumbrae? Did they prefer to take over Adumbrae?

I had only encountered them after they were already inside people, so I didn't know if they wanted my body more than others—Ewww! But if a majority of them headed my way, and that was a disgusting picture, I could easily slip into Pino during the commotion with Deen none the wiser. She'd be too busy trying to protect me. Everyone else would be preoccupied with surviving.

Sure, I had to cook up an explanation for why a metal mannequin suddenly appeared, and my Erind body got knocked out cold. But I'd cross the bridge once I got there.

The most important thing was that I needed an opening to summon my Pino face and put it on. And I couldn't do that right now because this bitch best friend of mine was watching over me like I was a child that could accidentally get lost in an amusement park.

"Deen," I whispered as I tapped her shoulder. She still held me back with her arms like she was guarding me in basketball or something—I sucked with sports analogies. "Deen, did your Guardian Angel say anything else?"

"No...” She shook her head. “Nothing more for now."

"What was that about me destroying the camera?" Imani asked Deen. "Seems like a false alarm, huh? Did your power get it wrong?"

I found myself half-agreeing with Imani that Deen, or rather her Guardian Angel, made a mistake. The two Chair Guys were securely tied and sat on the floor, far away from anything they could break. The windows were safe, although a section of the blinds was ripped off. The worm box was also untouched.

Flashes of red and blue lights from the police vehicles across the parking lot accented the room. Several of our group peered through the glass, waving their arms as the helicopter passed by overhead again, but Praying Man shooed them away.

The other half of me trusted Deen’s invisible pet. This wasn’t the end of it.

"I-I don't think I’m wrong," Deen said. She anxiously looked left and right, remaining super on alert. "Just be prepared, okay? Trust my Guard—I mean me. Trust me that something's about to happen, even if I can’t say what it’ll be."

"Can't you tell me what your power is?" insisted Imani. "Is it future sight—or, I guess not. Is it more of a sixth sense type of power? Can you feel—? What?"

Deen suddenly jerked and pointed at the box of worms. "Now's the time! Imani, you have to destroy the camera!"

"You know what? No." Imani stomped her left foot and placed her hands on her hips. "First, tell me what's going to happen."

"I-I don't know! But I'm sure it's bad, okay? Just destroy the camera. Please!"

"Deen, it's not like I don't trust you. But you have to give me a reason why I should do this. How does your power work?"

"Girls, calm down over there," Praying Man called out.

"Just sit down and wait for our turn to get out of here," Window Guardian said.

"Follow Deen's instructions, Imani," I emphatically said from behind my best friend. "You can think of it as some kind of future sight if that'd make it simpler. Though it’s not. The important thing is you can…and should trust Deen."

I doubted explaining about the Guardian Angel would convince Imani; it’d just make everything more confusing. She still probably wouldn’t believe us without a demonstration. And we couldn’t do that right now.

"If I follow her, I might put everyone in danger," she countered. Locking eyes with Deen, she said, "I'm not saying you're lying, but I don't have any experience with how your power works. Nothing's happening right now. What if I'm the one who'll make it worse?"

I could see Imani's point. As Window Guardian commented earlier, the Tea Party had no reason to kill us, given we had things under control.

Maybe the Tea Party assholes would release the parasites anyway, and the Guardian Angel was warning us about it? They might think our group would try to escape again, and turning us into monsters would prevent future headaches. Or perhaps they'd want to punish us for trying to break free. Who knows how fucking terrorists think?

But it did bother me that the Guardian Angel warned us to prepare for danger after Chair Guy the Second tried to break the windows. According to Deen, her pet could see around ten minutes into the future. Shouldn't it have instead told us to stop the two Chair Guys several minutes in advance?

If it was somehow better to let the Chair Guys be, then the Guardian Angel should've alerted Imani, through Deen, to destroy the camera while the commotion was happening. She’d readily comply in the rush of everything. With time to think, she was expectedly doubting Deen.

And why wasn't the Guardian Angel helping Deen to convince Imani to follow her instruction? It should be a breeze for it to do so.

I’m missing something...

What was that about the Guardian Angel telling me to be careful? Kind of an out-of-the-blue advice. It was the first time it had a message specifically for me. I didn't believe for one second that its main intention was to save me. It never cared for the well-being of others unless it affected Deen.

Furthermore, I was the hardest to kill out of everyone in this room. Maybe Deen, actually. But she was cheating with her powers, so she didn't count.

So, what’s her annoying prescient pet up to this time by telling me to be careful? Narrowing my eyes in thought, I stared at Deen's bouncing golden locks while she argued with Imani.

Suspenseful background music was needed here. It was like when the main character in a mystery movie was about to figure out the whole plot. Everything was in slow motion; sounds were becoming distant and muffled, the sound of a heart beating slowly taking over everything.

'What if I'm the one who'll make it worse?' That was what Imani had said. The Guardian Angel should've taken this into account. But what if that’s the Guardian Angel's plan all along?

"Imani!" I blurted out as I shoved Deen to the side. "Deen's pseudo-foresight power has never been wrong. Never. That's why it's super valuable, and the Professor wanted to protect it."

"I don’t want to gamble people’s lives,” she said. “I can’t just believe—"

"We know that the Tea Party's going to turn everyone into monsters," I said, "and they're about to do it soon. That's what Deen is sensing! You have to destroy the camera! If they see us killing their expensive slugs and saving the hostages, they will send their guys up here to stop us."

Deen eagerly nodded. "With the camera gone, they'll have to assume the parasites will get all of us."

"Yeah, they'll just think one of the hostages smashed the camera in desperation or something. They won't suspect we're here.”

“And they shouldn't see what we’re going to do,” Deen said. “As soon as the camera is off, I’ll break down the door, and everyone in this room can escape.”

“Yes, Deen can do that with her super strength. She has an artificial Core, remember?”

"Are you sure that'll work?" Imani said. "If you're wrong..."

Uncertainty was still on her face, but she did take a couple of steps back. Her body was already half-turned to the conference table. She needed just a bit more prodding and less time to think about stuff like why were we pushing her to destroy the camera instead of doing it ourselves.

The obvious answer was that I had to transform into Pino while Deen should be distracted enough not to notice. I obviously couldn't tell Imani that.

Instead, I told her, "Then we’ll find your teammates and save other rooms too. We shouldn't mess this chance up." I hoped my face was very convincing. I didn't normally do persuasive and desperate because I was supposed to be a minor side character; Deen should pick up the slack.

Sensing the chance for some heroism, Deen got fired up. "Imani, we’re wasting precious time arguing about this. Destroy the camera before the Tea Party releases the worms. I don’t know how much time we have—"

"What are you talking about over there?" Praying Man was approaching us. "Camera? What camera?" We had been loudly arguing for a couple of minutes. It was surprising that he only heard us now. "Don't do anything—Hey!”

Imani suddenly rushed past him. He tried to grab her, but she shoved him away with her right hand, her aug-arm. Praying Man tumbled across the floor from the force, crashing into a potted plant.

"Everyone, to the door!" Imani shouted as she leaped on one end of the conference table. She ran on top of it, heading for the metal crate.

Confused murmuring was the only reply. People didn't move.

Except one.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Window Guardian said as he clambered on the table, ready to intercept Imani. "Stop that—"

His body seized up, his arms straightening by his sides. He fell on his face like a tree, not that trees had faces, and rolled off the table like a log, keeping with tree similes.

Imani had the index finger of her right arm pointed at Window Guardian. She shot him with her stun gun. Then she balled her hand into a fist and raised it high above the metal crate.

Only then did the other people near the table realize what she planned to do. Most fled in panic to the walls. Two guys stayed and tried to stop her. But they were too late. Imani's fist hammered the camera.

We lied to Imani. I lied to her—Deen actually thought I was telling the truth when she backed me up. The Guardian had to go this route, from giving me a weird message to causing Imani to doubt Deen so I'd understand what it was going for. And it had to indirectly communicate with me because Deen would never agree to this plan.

The Tea Party wasn't going to release the parasites. But now that we destroyed the camera, they would sic those disgusting slugs on us.

"Why did you do that?" yelled Praying Man, almost screeching.

"Stay near me," Deen said, "so I can protect you." She rushed to the door, ramming it with her shoulder.

The top of the door sort of bent back a bit, but it remained shut—tough door. And the metal bar thingy the terrorists used to lock was doing its job well.

I opened my hand and concentrated on summoning. The golden liquid rose out of the crystals on my palm. It slowly formed into a humanoid face. But instead of changing into a deep red color, as with my Blanchette face, it turned silver. I bowed, keeping my hand low and covering the faint light with my body.

Deen was so focused on making an escape route for the hostages that she didn't notice what I was doing behind her. She even forgot she could've just asked me to open it for her, given I was way fucking stronger.

Her fist smashed through the thick wood. The door still didn't open; it only gained a new hole. Next, she tried to push against the horizontal metal bar, but it remained firmly attached to the walls, barring our escape and holding the door together. Then she tried breaking the door piece by piece, grunting in frustration.

Was her Guardian Angel telling her to do this?  How the fuck was it going to explain her handiwork to the others? Luckily for her, and me, no one was watching us.

"You've doomed us all!" Praying Man lamented. "The Tea Party will get angry at us!"

"I'm saving you guys!" Imani explained.

"We're all gonna fucking die!" cried the Original Chaircrouched Guy. "Untie me, you fuckers!"

No one cared to free him, but he gave the rest an idea of how to escape. They all flocked to the windows, bringing their own chairs to attack it. Most of them hit other people instead of glass. I had seen sports riots more organized than this.

"No! Don't go there! To the door!" Imani ordered them.

I thought they were all going to face us, but several hissing and mechanical noises silenced the room. I had no idea how we all heard it over the fucking raucous, but we all did. Perhaps it was so distinct, and everyone subconsciously expected to hear it that we all managed to pick it out.

Deen instantly turned around, her eyes on the table.

I was crouching low to her left side, hiding my summoned Pino face.

She shoved me behind her, instinctively protecting me. I didn't get to see what happened next to the metal crate. But as she pushed me back to the door, I noticed that she had made some progress breaking it down.

There were now three holes. The middle one was the biggest, large enough to fit my head through. There it was, the slow motion when the main character was about to figure something out.

I stood up, putting on my Pino face while aiming my head at the hole. The last time I transformed into Pino, which was also the first, I did it through a dream with SpookyErind. I didn't know how I became two bodies.

But with this setup in front of me and the knowledge that the Guardian Angel prepared everything, I felt this was the correct course of action.

My head shot through the hole in the door just as Pino’s face covered mine.

The next time I opened my eyes, I faced a door with holes. Through them, I saw Erind--pretty and cute as usual, but a bit pale because I didn't bother to put on makeup.  My original body, outlined by a faint gray hue, closed its eyes and fell back--unconscious, temporarily dead, or whatever.

Deen's concerned voice filtered through the holes. "Erind! What happened to you?"

I stepped forward, about to speak, but some asshole interrupted me.

"Stop right there, scrap metal!"

Turning to my left, I saw two Tea Party members down the hall pointing their guns at me.

"That won't work," I told them with my robotic voice.

They opened fire.