I carry the unconscious Lisa on my shoulder like a sack of grain as I run down the deserted corridor. The Militia should be flooding the school by now to evacuate civilians and cordon off the area where Jasvinder and the assassin are fighting. That means I can't use the main gate to leave if I want to stay off their radar. Then there's Lisa to think about. A grown man carrying an unconscious young girl about is guaranteed to draw the wrong kind of attention. 

Jasvinder had said that he laced the serum given to Lisa with anti-psychotics. Assuming he was telling the truth, Lisa shouldn't be in any long term danger. Her control over Reina may have been compromised, but vanilla medications can't affect us, since our physical bodies aren't actually in this dimension. The problem is that Lisa had complained about not being able to control the host body just before she collapsed. That meant Reina was becoming dominant. If this continues, Lisa would be forced to become a subordinate personality even if she manages to regain consciousness. 

It would be the Sheryl fiasco all over again. The Management had said that Lisa was vital to their plans. Meaning I can't allow Lisa's host to seize control of the body. My head would be sent rolling. Literally. Shit. I never thought being the Speaker would be this much of a hassle. Shouldn't there be a senior Operative that handles all this crap? But oh wait, our senior Operative got curb stomped by her own host and needs rescuing as well. What a complete shit show. 

If only we had taken action earlier against Jasvinder, but the Management kept kicking the can down the road thanks to Wu's recommendations. Icing Jasvinder would force Sheryl to possess a new host, meaning a child. So there would be a down time of at least a decade and a half before Sheryl's host would mature into a useful state. Wu felt the effective loss of an Operative for such a long period was too severe a price to pay and decided to keep things as they were. Jasvinder needed some prodding to keep on target, but the plan worked out for most part. 

Unfortunately, matters just had to come to a head at such a critical moment. 

I flinch as a loud crashing noise comes from the floor above me. The assassin is probably almost done kicking Jasvinder's ass right now, and that means my grace period is just about over. I need a secure place where I can hide Lisa and get to work resolving her problem. The longer I tarry, the more likely its Reina that will be waking up, not the Operative. 

Following the directions mounted on the wall, I make my way towards one of the school's science labs. I tug at the door, but to no one's surprise, its locked. That's not a problem for me though. I quick glance about tells me that there's no one left on this floor. Everyone in the school is rushing straight downstairs towards the exit. Good, that means the Militia's hands will be too full to perform a sweep of the building's upper floors. 

I summon my bulwark from the ether and simply force the locked door open using my newly enhanced physical strength. Carrying Lisa into the darkened room, I quickly lay her out on what I assume to be the teacher's table and begin pushing a cabinet full of lab supplies to barricade the damaged entrance shut. I then pile up a few random chairs that I find against the cabinet for good measure. With the lights of the science lab kept off, we should be able to evade a random sweep by the Militia. And even if they do drop by to check the place out, the cabinet should be able to hold them off for a while. Dismissing the bulwark, I take a look around the science lab. 

Each lab station in the room is a long table equipped with a row of test tubes, a Bunsen burner and most importantly, a sink. I turn the tap above one of the sinks and water flows out. Good. I hurriedly wash my survival knife and clean it with a nearby cloth. I then go to the first aid kit mounted on the wall and grab from it a vial of antiseptic lotion and a roll of gauze. Next I pull out a bottle of ammonia from the cabinet I'm using as a barricade. Placing all the items neatly on the lab station, I retrieve the final tool I need from a trouser pocket. My emergency syringe of serum, carried around with me in case I need a quick pick me up. 

I take a deep breath and carry Lisa to the lab station that I'm using. What I'm about to do is a gamble, but there are no good options right now. I don't have access to the facilities needed to properly treat her. Whether she survives this episode will be up to her own strength. I can only give her a chance. Nothing more.  I unscrew the bottle of ammonia and a pungent odor fills the room. I wave the open bottle underneath Lisa's nose and she groans in response. 

"Lisa, good, you're awake." I whisper, "I need you to listen carefully. There's no time." As I speak, I position Lisa's right arm over the sink and begin searching for an artery. 

"Jasvinder poisoned you." I continue, finding the artery I've been looking for, "That's why you're losing control over your host. Reina is devouring your psyche as we speak. You need to fight back."

"I don't know how ready you are for this," I mutter while making an incision in the artery with my knife, "but you'll have to deal with it. There really isn't a lot of time left."

I position Lisa's arm so that it will bleed freely into the sink. I then take her left arm and repeat the process. Soon, twin rivers of blood begin flowing freely, pooling at the bottom of the sink. A coppery scent begins to rise, competing with the smell of the ammonia. 

"I am bleeding your host's body." I explain to Lisa, hoping she can understand what's going on, "The blood loss will eventually send Reina into shock. As Reina's body weakens, so should her ability to keep you suppressed."

I nod to myself, wiping the sweat from my face with a handkerchief before continuing, "Once Reina gets weak enough, I'll administer to you a shot of serum from my private stash. This stuff's pure, it should allow you to awaken your ability package if your soul hasn't been too heavily injured yet."

Lisa moans incoherently. Is she even listening to what I'm saying? Does she understand? But none of that matters now. There's only one way out of this mess. And that's by tearing right through it. 

"You need to use this chance to seize control from Reina." I say as confidently as I can, "The window of opportunity will be small, so you cannot hesitate, do you understand? Wait for too long and the host body will die."

Another pained groan from Lisa. Taking that noise as an affirmative, I press on. 

"Once you do that, the real difficult part starts." I say, "You need to use your powers to heal the body. You haven't been trained yet as an Operative, so take this as a trial by fire, OK?"

"Uggggg." an unhealthy noise comes from Lisa's throat. 

"I'll guide you as we go." I say reassuringly taking Lisa's hand in mine, the blood mixing with my sweat, "The Management assigned me as your instructor. And I'm going to instruct the shit out of you."

Lisa's skin assumes an increasingly unhealthy pallor, her lips turning blue. Its time. I pick up the syringe and jab it into Lisa's neck. The serum is pumped into her body, and the rest is up to her. 

Lisa suddenly begins thrashing about fiercely and I lean against her to prevent the host body from falling off the lab station. Her entire body has become as hard as rock, as if all the muscles were tensed to the maximum. Lisa's fingers sink hard into my hand as her grip tightens by several magnitudes. A low growl emits from her throat as Lisa's jaw clenches, like a dog ready to bite. I quickly shove my handkerchief in between Lisa's teeth before she nips her host's tongue off. 

"Right here with you, Lisa." I urge, "Keep fighting. Don't give up to a mere flesh bag."

"GGGGHHHHH -" the growling noise in Lisa's throat intensifies and her eyes suddenly snap open, glaring blindly at me. It said that the eyes are the windows to the soul. And in Lisa's eyes I can see two conflicting expressions, dueling for dominance. One, filled with hate towards me. The other, determined and grateful. But there's one thing both expressions share. Fear. 

The fear of death. 

"Use the serum, Lisa." I begin to instruct, "Focus on it within your blood to unlock the dormant power. When the heat rises, burn away Reina from the host body and make it yours."

Lisa goes bug eyed and her skin suddenly flushes. Her growling grows increasingly savage as blood vessels pop up in the whites of her eyes. My handkerchief lodged in her mouth has become soaked with saliva as Lisa's jaw chomps down hard. 

"Final push Lisa!" I squeeze Lisa's hand hard, "Finish her!"

Lisa's jaw slackens and instead of an animal growl, she releases a loud shriek that echoes throughout the science lab. Shit, I hope no one heard that. And just like that, Lisa's brow explodes in a torrent of sweat, her fever breaking.

"The moon ... the moon ... is a mysterious mistress ..." Lisa mumbles the identification phrase weakly, her eyes losing their focus. She did it. Lisa won. 

"Its not over yet." I order, "You need to heal yourself before the host expires. Dig deep into the body's essence. You should be able to sense the 'bleeding' status. Delete it and replace the status with something like 'health' or 'healing'."

Now this is the real test. It took me years of frustrating practice before I could reliably grasp conceptual statuses and force them into reality. It is the foundation of an Operative's ability set, and also the most difficult part to master. I begin bandaging Lisa's arms to help with the process. Situational props do matter, like how I can fly only with the bulwark deployed. I could theoretically fly using my ability package alone, but the drain of imposing such a radical change on reality would be too much for me to bear. 

"How to delete?" Lisa asks, her voice barely able to be heard. 

I don't have time to teach Lisa how to grasp and destroy concepts. So that leaves educating her in the quick and dirty way of doing things. 

"Burn the status away." I tell Lisa, "Burn it the same way you used the serum to get rid of Reina." Wasteful and inefficient, but I can always properly teach Lisa this lesson again if she survives. 

Lisa's face flushes again and I feel the bleeding begin to ebb. The wounds on her arms slowly begin to scab over. Amazing, no wonder the Management has such high hopes for Lisa. She's a natural Operative. She uses our abilities as easily as we breathe air. 

But Lisa's lips remain blue and her complexion is as pale as ever. 

"Put in a healing status." I remind my pupil, "Imagine the wounds closing and returning to good health. Keep that picture in your mind and use the serum to brand it into the body." 

"Not enough ..." Lisa chokes out, "Body is resisting the change. Heat is not enough."

Damn it. Lisa must be running out of serum. The fight with Reina must have been more difficult than I anticipated. 

"One last push ..." Lisa mutters as she expends the last of the serum I gave her, causing a sudden flash of heat to rise from the host body. A knot of tension snaps within the body and Lisa goes from being as taut as a drawn rope to as limp as a noodle in an instant. There's no rush of vitality or any other signs of recovery. 

She must have failed in her final attempt. 

I let go of Lisa's hand. So that's it then.

But to my surprise, Lisa picks herself up from the lab station and looks at me with clear eyes. 

"How?" I ask.

"Replaced 'bleeding' with 'anemia'." Lisa smiles, "Seemed an easier thing to do."

"Didn't think of that." I grumble, "My pupil is already better at this than me. How embarrassing."

"I had a good teacher." Lisa's grin widens as she extends her hand to me, "Lisa Minster. Nice to meet you, senpai. Please treat me well."

"Maximilian Trupp." I reply. 

And two bloodstained hands clasp in a firm handshake.

Carrying them with the hopes and dreams of an entire world.