Those ungrateful little shits, I internally raged as the crowd of people packed in the corridor surged away in panic, screaming and trampling each other.

The ones who stayed were Deen with my Erind body, Imani’s group, and, surprisingly, Tesh and Kiera.

I get it...Todd, my trusty puppet, ripping apart unconscious humans infected with parasites before they could transform was a nasty sight. Fine, it was downright terrifying and vomit-inducing to an average person. But we did save the sorry asses of the people running away from this same fate. And I even used my power to heal a few of them.

The least they could do was stay around to cheer us on.

"Mother Core’s Grace!" exclaimed Snark, a tall ginger and a teammate of Imani. His voice sounded vaguely familiar. "What is he doing?" His voice wavered as he turned his head away from Todd’s carnage.

"The parasites burrow into the spine and brain of the victim," I explained, "and will mutate them into the horrible monsters like what you saw in that other room. We have no choice but to destroy their bodies before that happens."

That didn't really answer why Todd was tearing bodies piece by piece like he would make modern art with their bones and innards. He could’ve just squished them and been done with it. The hosts and the parasites were already dead—I couldn’t see any red forms, and definitely no green—but my puppet continued redecorating the corridor for Halloween.

It must be Todd's subconsciousness interpreting my generic order to destroy the bodies this way. He was definitely super destroying them beyond my expectations. Next time, I should be more specific.

"They're still humans!" said Boojum, another of Imani's friends. “This isn’t right!”

He ran a few steps forward with his hands in front of him. I half-raised my arm, ready to shoot. Imani had mentioned he had an artificial Core; he might use his powers to stop Todd.

But he lurched to a halt when he realized there was no one left to save. With slumped shoulders, he hastily retreated to avoid the splashes of blood while Todd continued to do his task.

(Stop), I mentally commanded Todd. I should've done that earlier, whoops. The whole scene was so fascinating that I kind of just let it go on.

Todd was a few sizes bigger now; his body was pockmarked with bullet wounds. After receiving my commands, he stood straight and dropped the clumps of flesh in his hands.

I probably pumped a bit too much of my power into him; I wasn't sure how long he'd last. I connected my healing finger to him to counteract the effects of turning him into a bulky muscle freak. But I couldn’t heal him that much, or his body would also begin to break down from an overdose of my power.

"It is impossible to save someone,” I told Boojum, “once parasites are embedded in their spine and brain. Removing the parasites means killing the person. I already explained this to those two." I pointed at Deen and Imani. "If we let them be, they'll turn into monsters. You've seen what they look like in that room we passed?"

Boojum hesitantly nodded.

"And you humans would like to die as humans, am I right? Not a horrible mutated beast?"

"I..." Boojum turned to Imani. She didn't back him up.

I already had an extensive discussion about this with her and Deen while Todd fought off the tentacle zombies in our room. Imani saw the entire transformation, so she understood my point. Boojum and Snark only saw a couple of dead monsters in one room we broke into.

"Think of this as mercy," I said. Wow, such a cool line. If this was a movie, this scene should be in the trailer. But would it be too spoilery? "Let me handle them so you won't get your hands dirty. I know that humans are fickle with their conscience. That nonsense does not burden me." I was just busting out one cool line after the next.

"Is there no other way? We can't just—"

"Aren't you going to do anything about them?" I pointed to the fleeing people. A few found unlocked rooms to hide in. But most stuck with the herd and continued running to the stairs on the opposite end of the floor. "They'll eventually meet Tea Party members."

Imani looked at her teammates. "Someone needs to protect them."

"Alright, we'll split up," Boojum said in an authoritative tone. He sounded like their team leader, but Imani mentioned that a different person was their contact with the Professor. "Snark and I will gather and guard the survivors. You continue freeing more people."

"Got it! Be careful."

“We’ll try to find a way out of the building if possible.” He glanced at Tesh and Imani. "Do you want to come with us?"

"We'll stay with the robot," Tesh said, pointing at me.

Kiera nodded. "I think it's much safer with, um, her...yeah."

Good choice, I thought. But then again, maybe not when I’d need a new puppet.

Then Boojum turned to Deen. "How about—?"

She shook her head before he could finish his question. "I'm also staying with Pino. She might be able to cure my best friend." She nodded at my original Erind body that she carried princess-style in her arms.

I wanted Deen by my side. She was supposed to protect my original body, and both of them should be near me. So, I made up a story that I might be able to ‘cure’ whatever was wrong with unconscious ‘Erind’ if I could retrieve particular stuff, like power cells or whatever, that the Tea Party had stolen.

I demonstrated my healing power on minor injuries earlier, explaining that I had experimental features that bordered superpowers because of stolen Corebring tech that Greaves reverse-engineered. And she readily believed me because…what other explanation did she have?

As for Todd, I explained that he was an unfortunate victim of the parasites. The 2Ms controlled the parasite monsters with a boxy gadget, and that became the inspiration for Pino's new backstory—the Tea Party wanted to capture me because I could also emit signals that somehow influenced these parasites. I came across Todd and controlled him.

It sounded plausible enough that they'd have to buy my bullshit. This was the advantage of truth being way crazier than lies.

Now, Pino, the sentient android with inexplicable abilities, was on her way to wreck Tea Party ass...and also save people because I was supposed to be on the side of good. I fit in with the group, with two wannabe heroes already present—Deen and Imani.

Boojum and Snark chased after the people who fled. They had their work cut out for them in gathering those idiots. Half of those who reached the faraway stairs went up; the rest went down. But that was their problem.

I waved for my group to follow me. "Come, let's check more rooms," I said. We had to pass by the flesh and blood bonanza section of the corridor that was Todd's making. "Take care of your steps," I cautioned them. But that also applied to me. It was going to be embarrassing as fuck if I slipped in the blood.

Ah, the memories... I did slip in blood and guts in my old condo. And the hallways back there looked so much more brutal when I fought with the hordes of parasite monsters using a puppet. Such a weird thing to feel nostalgic about.

Deen had no hesitation crossing the gore while carrying my not-so-human body.

Imani followed, almost closing her eyes while covering her nose as she passed.

"Oh my god," Kiera said. She made puking noises. "I can barely handle the horrendous stench, and now this?"

Tesh gave his wife his handkerchief to cover her nose and aided her in following us. "Just close your eyes. Close your eyes and breathe through your mouth."

Imani pressed her ear on the next door with a metal bar securing it. “Something’s going on inside.”

Even though I didn't have an ear and wasn't right next to the door, I could hear muffled screams in the room. They became louder, followed by crashes and other noises. Next, there was pounding on the door; Imani jerked back in surprise. The people in the room were trying to open it, pleading for help.

"They released the worms inside!" Imani exclaimed.

Then pounding and the screams stopped. We all looked at each other in surprise.

“Open it!” Deen yelled, breaking the silence.

"Prepare yourselves for what's coming out," I said as I raised my finger, about to point at the door to order Todd to open it. But something caught my eye. Instead, I pointed down the corridor.

"Everybody get down!" Deen called out.

(Todd, kill that guy!) I had barely finished my command when a Tea Party member who had just climbed the stairs opened fire in our direction. Todd barreled down the hallway. I spread my arms wide and covered the others with my indestructible body, just like a true hero would. Bullets pinged off my body and ricocheted to the walls. Looking over my shoulder, I saw that Deen had pulled them to the floor.

The terrorist stopped shooting and jumped over the railings to the floor below. Todd followed him, but he tumbled down the stairs because of his size and awkward gait.

I looked at the door and then at Imani. "You open it!" Every second that passed meant more people getting infected. Wow, I got this thinking about others thing going on.

She threw herself at the door. It didn't budge. Next, she tried pulling the metal bar. There was a creak. She yanked it a couple more times with her aug-arm. That uprooted the drills inside the hardwood about half an inch.

The room remained silent. Did the parasites get all of them?

"No! No! No!" Imani yelled as she placed her foot on the door for more leverage.

Deen grabbed the metal bar and pulled along with her.

Oh, fucking Deen. Don't leave my body alone. But I didn't need to worry because Tesh and Kiera were pulling it away as they distanced themselves. They realized that it was about to get dangerous, and Todd wasn’t here with us.

The two hero wannabes succeeded in removing the metal bar. Deen kicked the door near its lock, forcing it open. She should be more careful with her displays of strength. Our story that she had an augmented body like Imani could only go so far before it becomes unbelievable.

"Ready!" I said as the door swung open and revealed—

"Empty?" Imani lowered her raised fists.

"What the...?"

“Where did everybody go?”

The conference room had no one inside it. But we didn’t imagine the sounds and shit; the whole room looked like it had been wrecked during a frat party. Maybe? I haven't been to one.

Blood and black slime were on the floor, walls, and ceiling. Parts of the conference table had gashes as if clawed by some beast. A few chairs were disassembled, and a cabinet was smashed. A few body parts littered the floor—a tentacle here, a human hand there. This was similar to another room we broke into, where we only found a couple of half-eaten monster corpses and no one else.

"Again?" I said. "There were people here moments ago."

"Yeah, I heard them."

Tesh and Kiera came closer, curious about what was going on.

"How is this possible? An illusion?" Deen stretched her hand past the door.

"Be careful," Imani said, forgetting what we told her about Deen's powers. "We don't know if this is a Tea Party trap."

Deen walked inside the room. Turning her head left, she informed us, "The windows aren't broken. I can’t see any way out."

Oooh! A locked room mystery? When Mom and I used to watch true crime documentaries, we’d occasionally come across cases with locked rooms and try to guess how it happened.

In this instance, I had no clue how humans and monsters could suddenly disappear. Was there a trapdoor or something? It must be connected to why the Tea Party transferred the hostages to these rooms instead of leaving us in the event area.

"How did they get out?" Tesh wondered.

"There's something more to the Tea Party's plan than turning people into monsters," Deen said. "It can't be just for their escape."

"Let's check more rooms," I said.

I had a slight hope that Mom might be in one of them, but it was more likely that the Tea Party kept her and the rest of the big wig Greaves people in another place. The mysteriously empty rooms were concerning. I agreed with Deen that there was more to this, and I had to find Mom before she’d disappear like all the other people.

"What was that?" Deen said.

A crash? I felt slight vibrations beneath my feet.

Imani looked down. "Below us?"

She was right. Something was happening down there.

"Where's Todd?" I said. He should've gotten the terrorist who ran away by now. (Return to me.)

BAM! The floor violently shook.

Was my stupid puppet trying to climb through to get up here? (Stop that, you idiot. Go to the stairs.)

BAM! Part of the floor bulged upwards. BAM!

This wasn't my puppet. And this something was trying to break through the floor!

"To the stairs!" I led the group to where Todd descended, hoping to meet him. I could still feel that he was alive through our connection. "Everyone stick together, and don't forget your unconscious friend!"

"What the hell was that?" Tesh asked.

"A bomb?"

My link with Todd was suddenly cut. "A new enemy!” I told them. “The parasite monster I was controlling got killed!"

"An enemy? Someone that could destroy fucking concrete and steel rebars?"

"It must be the Adumbrae of the Tea Party!" Imani said. "Uh, I heard rumors that they have an Adumbrae." She probably added that so Tesh and Kiera wouldn't be suspicious about her.

We reached the stairs, trudging past the body parts of Tea Party assholes that Todd killed earlier. I also stepped on some hard pieces that seemed to be ceramic shards. I didn’t pay it any mind as I peeked downstairs.

No Todd.

Whatever was trying to bust through the floor had stopped. I couldn't hear loud crashes anymore. Instead, the beating of a drum was becoming louder and louder.

"Go! Go! It's coming here!" I urged my group. I stayed by the stairs while they passed me. "I'll distract it!"

Outwardly, it was fucking noble of me to sacrifice myself to delay this bastard who killed my puppet. But I wasn't sure how much of it counted as altruistic or brave, given that I literally couldn't die in my Pino form. And my goal in doing this was to ensure that my real body could flee to safety.

"Come with us." Deen stopped running to look back at me. She left my body with Tesh and Kiera.

"Go on!"

"We can't let the Tea Party have you."

Oh, come on, I thought. Obviously, she wanted me to be with them to 'heal' my Erind body. But it might be better that she was here. With her Guardian Angel and my powers, surely we could defeat an Adumbrae? As long as it wasn't someone unfairly overpowered like Stella. Is it time for a Pino and Deen team fight?

The stairs shook. I looked down again.

This time, someone looked up at me.

The Adumbrae, for what else could he be, looked like a humanoid lion with ferocious red mane. He was bigger than Todd and occupied the whole width of the stairs that could comfortably fit three people side by side. He bared his dagger-like teeth and roared with spit flying around.

"RHWAAOOR! I'm going to rip you apart!"

"You don't even know me," I answered as I raised my right hand in Deen's direction.

She was running toward me. "We have to work together!"

Was this her Guardian Angel's message? Did it see a future where we'd succeed in killing this zoo escapee? I pointed my index finger at Deen. Would the Guardian Angel consider this a threat? Deen's regeneration should counteract its adverse effects.

With a short leap, Lion Ass latched on to my landing with his claws.

I changed my mind and shot Deen using the middle finger of my right hand. My next view of Deen was upside down as Lion Ass climbed to this floor and started swinging me. He smashed me against the railings and the walls.

"Pino!" Deen cried out. "No!" She picked up a gun still held by the severed arm of a Tea Party member.

Darkness. Lion Ass covered my entire head with his palm. I felt a pop as he disconnected my head from the rest of my body. When I could see again, the world was swirling. I was tumbling through the air and hit someone.

"Pino!" Deen said as she caught my head. She fell back and rolled across the floor because of the power of Lion Ass' throw. "Pino! Oh my god, what do I—?"

"Don't worry; I’m still alive." I stared at her with my lone eye. "Let's kill this guy."