"You just had to open your big mouth, didn't you?" Enidri whispered to Donva. She pressed her body behind the archway that led into the Granis' kitchen. The lights were still on, but slow-moving shadows were cast against the checkered tiled floor. 

"What? More robots?" Donva mouthed back.

Enidri nodded. She jutted her head past the corner of the arch to the kitchen's entrance. Two BRUTEs had their back turned towards her, both were armed and had their weapons pointed to a specific target in the kitchen. 

"Mag can't even let me eat in peace, huh? He's got to send his stupid robots in the kitchen to follow?" the voice of an angry and old woman barked. The BRUTEs made no response, making the kitchen silent for a moment. "Can't you dolts at least get out of the way of the fridge so I can actually get something out of it?" There was weak clank, followed by a grunt from the old woman.

"What's going on in there?" Donva whispered as he pulled Enidri away from her cover. 

"Looks like some of the robots are holding some old lady hostage!" Enidri said softly. 

"That's terrible!"

"Looks like the rumors are probably true."

Donva looked around the hall before facing the swordswoman again. "Same plan as last time?"

"There's only two robots in there. I say we each go for one. I take left. You get right?"

Donva nodded. "That works for me."

With the plan agreed upon, Enidri moved first. She kept her Ion Blade in her hand but still deactivated. Donva mirrored the swordswoman's movements, his eyes rapidly switching between Enidri and his assigned target.

"Don't you two have anything better to do than stop an old woman from getting some food?” the creaky voice cried. “Surely Mag must want you to do something more important. Maybe cleaning up that mess of an office of his. Or perhaps looking out for intruders?"

The elderly woman was obscured by the hulking and idle metal masses. They remained motionless with their rifles still drawn. Both Enidri and Donva stood behind the automated guards and faced each other. Enidri gave Donva a salute with one finger and then placed the edge of her Ion Blade against the back of the robot's head. She pressed the button and the yellow beam extended, piercing the metal shell of the robot, shredding through the inner circuitry before bursting out of the glass-plated eyes.

The robot dropped its gun as it toppled forward, sparks flying as its face slid along the wide hole created by the Ion Blade. The robot clanked when it crashed onto the tile of the kitchen floor. Enidri quickly turned her head and saw that Donva's arms were extended into tendrils that wrapped around the BRUTE's arms. "Hold 'em still Donva!" Enidri called out as she pulled her Ion Blade back for another stab. 

Donva grunted, wrapping his extended appendages tighter around the robot. The BRUTE's eyes lit up, only to have them deactivated when the glowing sword sliced through the metal piece that connected it to the rest of the body. The robot stopped struggling to break free once the head plopped to the ground. Donva returned his arms to normal, panting as he leaned on the edge of the marble table.

"You feeling all right?" Enidri ran to her brother's side and placed a hand on his back.

"Yeah. Still getting accustomed to my new affinity. Takes a lot of concentration and energy just to activate it. Just using it for a minute really took the wind out of me."

"It gets easier the more you become familiar with it."

"Yeah. I've got a feeling... that might be a while." 

"What about you, lady?" Enidri looked over her shoulder and saw the old woman dressed in a lab coat. She pressed her back against the kitchen’s counter, her hands shaking as she set herself upright. "These robots didn't hurt you, did they?"

"No, miss," she replied as she fixed her crooked glasses. Her bushy white hair was in a disarray, but her movement was steady. "They didn't harm me."

"Looks like they won't be able to, either," Enidri said as she punted the severed head underneath the table. 

"Who are you two?" 

"Us?" Donva asked as he looked at Enidri with confusion. "I... uh... we..."

"You work for whoever owns this place?" Enidri said, cutting Donva off. She turned off her Ion Blade and fastened it back onto her belt. "Or maybe this is your place?"

"It's the former. You can call me Zuwya."

"By the way you were talking these BRUTEs, I'm guessing you're not a fan of your employer."

Zuwya chuckled. "Spot on! This is the Grani estate. And Magson Grani is my 'employer.'" The scientist accompanied the last word of her sentence with a pair of air quotations. 

"That name sounds familiar." Enidri tapped a single finger to her chin. "I think I've come across that name back in my early years of Exterminating."

"Wouldn't surprise me. Mag used to be an Exterminator himself. Despite his wealth, he loved the idea of killing for the sake of killing."

"Oh, now it's starting to make sense! He must have been a damn good one for his name to float around Labrisson like that."

"Exactly. But killing your run-of-the-mill Essencima just didn't cut it for him. He wanted to go after more dangerous game." Zuwya picked her cane off the ground. She hunched forward, slowly moving towards the kitchen's exit. Enidri kept her eye on the aging scientist while Donva hunched over the sink, filling up a cup he grabbed from the cupboard the brim with water. "To make a long story short, that is why I'm here. Mag needed someone to make powerful prey for him and his friends to hunt for entertainment."

"That's sick!" Enidri scoffed in disgust. 

"Tell me about it. I protested the idea. But Mag has something of mine that I cannot live without." Zuwya stared out the kitchen corridor, propping herself up with her cane while one hand rested behind her back. "But perhaps it's best if I learn to live without it. Besides, it's not like I have much life left in me."

"You sure do know how to make things seem bleak, lady," Enidri replied.

"But back to my question." Zuwya turned her head over her shoulder, staring at Enidri through the foggy lenses of her glasses. "Who are you two and what are you doing here?"

"I'm an Exterminator from Labrisson," the swordswoman replied. "And the skinny guy chugging water is my half-brother, Donva. He's a former Essencima researcher from Scholburn." Donva waved at the scientist with one hand while tilting his glass of water up to his lips. 

"That's quite the interesting pair to suddenly show up in the middle of the desert."

"Yeah, well, some of our friends went missing. And we're here to try and figure what happened to them."

"What do they look like?"

"One's a brunette with a long ponytail. Tannish skin. Got a loudmouth. Another's a quiet and scrawny fellow. Short black hair. Yellow glasses."

"Can't say that I've seen them."

"Last one stands out. Couldn't miss him if you tried." Enidri spread her arms apart about a yard. "He's got a head about this long. Blue scales. Metal mask. Speaks in really short sentences and is surprisingly friendly for a talking crocodile."

Even though eyes were hidden by the reflection from her glasses, the woman's eyebrows revealed her surprise. "Gurk!" she exclaimed. 

Enidri smiled. "So you have seen him!"

"Unfortunately. Mag has captured him. Taken him into his Eco-Dome to be hunted."

"What?" Enidri clenched her fist. "So those rumors on the Dark Network were completely true!" The swordswoman stood over the squat woman, putting both hands on her shoulders. "We've got to get into that Eco-Dome. Can you help us?"

"Do you know how long I've been waiting to finally get back at Mag and his family?"

"No."

"A very long time."

"Hey Donva!" Enidri said as she tilted her head towards his direction. "You hear that? Sounds like Zuwya here could use a little help."

Donva put the empty glass into the sink and let a refreshing sigh. "Sounds... fantastic..."

"We could use a bit of help too, lady. I think if we work together, everyone could end up happy. That is, if your last name isn't Grani."

"I would like that very much. Perhaps we could start by locating your friends."

"You think they might be here?"

Zuwya nodded again. "Oh, absolutely. Knowing that deranged wife of Mag, she probably has them locked up somewhere and forcing them to watch the Hunt! She has a very warped sense of hospitality."

"You know this place better than we do. You'll have to lead us. But we'll provide the protection." 

"That much I can manage." The scientist left the kitchen, hobbling as fast as her legs and cane could take her. "I already have an idea where Evelyn might be holding them."