My mind races as the car powers along the freeway through the fast lane. Lisa suddenly being incapacitated changes things completely. She can't hide or flee from the nurse's office at the school, meaning I need to secure Lisa's safety before dealing with Jasvinder. But I had timed my journey to the school on the assumption that Lisa would be able to handle herself. This last minute diversion might very well allow Jasvinder to slip through my fingers, costing me the chance to rescue Sheryl. 

And to drive the point home, the moment I exit the freeway, my car runs headlong into a nasty traffic snarl up, causing my progress to slow to a crawl. As the car putters along at a sedate pace, I am sorely tempted to summon my bulwark and just jet all the way to my destination. That would be stupid and draw needless attention to me, so I naturally resist the urge to follow my more reckless instincts. But this little fantasy causes my blood pressure to rise even further until I manage to firmly squelch it. Stay calm. I need my wits about me now.  

Several minutes of frantic drumming against the steering wheel later, my car passes a junction choked with vehicles and the traffic congestion finally eases up. Lisa's school should not be more than ten minutes from where I am. But that is ten minutes by car. If I drop the car of somewhere to prevent it from being tracked and complete the journey on foot, I can expect to take almost double that amount of time to reach the school. With the minutes slipping away, I seriously consider just driving straight to my destination. Lisa had called me from the school on my personal number anyway. I can't hide this fact from either the Militia or Olivia if they go checking the phone records. I might as well just say that Lisa asked me to pick her up from the school since she was not feeling well. Perfectly innocent and reasonable. 

Then I remember the fact that I'm here to gank Jasvinder as well. It would be inconvenient to explain why my best friend's corpse was found at the same place I was at. Ditching the knife is not a problem, but if the Olivia manages to both trace my vehicle and get a personal admission from me that I was at the scene, there would be no escape.

Screw it. Walking it is then, even if it would be cutting things really fine. I drive down a side street, aiming for a spot to park my car where it won't be connected to my actual destination. 

....

The school bakes in the orange glow of the early evening sun. A large squat four story building, the school is protected by a solid concrete wall that completely encircles its perimeter. The main gate remains open however, with a slow trickle of students and the occasional car leaving the building. Club activities are going to be ending soon. I need to settle both my missions quickly before the gates are closed, complicating my getaway.

No security at the gate, so I openly walk right in. The road passes beside a field with a running track where a group of students in sports getup are being lectured by a teacher. A sudden sense of nostalgia grips me. When was the last time had I actually been to school? A couple of decades ago by my reckoning. But nostalgia aside, looking at the students in the campus, there's no sense of familiarity or kinship. Its like observing alien lifeforms doing their thing. A feeling of complete detachment towards the lives of the people you are watching. 

Whomever said you can't turn back the clock was correct. There's only one path available for me now. Forward and ever onward. 

Passing the field, I cut across a parade square that had been built into the compound, dodging around an inattentive security guard. From there its up a short flight of stairs and I am through the entrance of the building itself. Now, Lisa said that she was in the nurse's office when she called me. A check of the directory helpfully attached to the wall tells me that the place I'm looking for is on the second floor. Easy enough. 

I ride the elevator up to the second floor and simply follow the arrows helpfully painted on the walls pointing me to my destination. I stride past a row of empty classrooms and right at the end of the corridor is the nurse's office. The door is shut, but from the small window built into the door itself, I can tell that the lights inside the room are on. And as I reach for the handle, I notice something else. A voice. Someone's talking inside the nurse's office?

Going into a crouch, I peek into the office through the window on the door. And I see an elderly Indian man bending over and lifting Lisa's body up from the puke stained floor in a princess carry. The Indian man then gently moves Lisa to one of the beds in the nurse's office and sets her inert body down. 

Shit. I'm too late. Jasvinder is already here. And Lisa's not fighting back or even reacting to his presence. Whatever she's down with, it must have completely knocked her out. I draw the knife from my coat and experimentally turn the knob of the door. There's no resistance and the door opens silently on well oiled hinges. Staying in a crouch, I begin making my way into the nurse's office while Jasvinder's back is turned to me. 

Then out of the blue, Jasvinder starts talking to the unconscious Lisa. 

"You're a brave girl Reina." Jasvinder says in his best doctor's voice, "Taking good medicine is never pleasant."

I steadily begin drawing closer towards Jasvinder as he carries on his one sided conversation. 

"You're able to fight back against the voice in your head, that's good." Jasvinder murmurs, "One or two more doses should be enough to keep the voice fully under control."

The doctor than draws a syringe from his pocket filled with pale red fluid. He places the syringe next to Lisa on the bed, allowing me to examine its contents. Contents that I recognize. Its the blood serum. There's nothing else that pale red fluid could be. 

Jasvinder then takes out a small bottle of alcohol and a cotton swab from a men's purse slung over his shoulder. He begins generously soaking the swab with the alcohol and as he continues with this ritual, all the pieces fall into place within my mind. Lisa's fever and her inability to awaken her powers. Jasvinder's dismissal of my concern about this issue. Why Jasvinder never needed to conduct harvests to manufacture serum. 

Anger builds in my chest. I trusted this man, and he lied right to my face, playing me for a fool. Jasvinder wipes the cotton swab vigorously against Lisa's arm and before reaching for the syringe once more. 

I don't give him the chance. 

"Bastard!" I shout, my emotions getting the better of me, and charge forward slashing at Jasvinder with the knife. He spins around in alarm and instinctively lifts his arms to block my attack. But this is a knife made to cut meat, and the blade glides cleanly through, parting Jasvinder's flesh and causing blood to soak into the sleeves of the traitor's shirt. I follow up by shoving Jasvinder hard, sending him rolling across the floor, away from where Lisa is resting. Before the traitor can gather his wits, I pull him up hard by the collar of his shirt and bring the edge of my knife to his throat. 

"How long have you been doing this?" I demand, "What did you dilute the blood serum with?"

"The last few months." Jasvinder gasps, "I laced my remaining stockpile of serum with anti psychosis medication. We're ill Don. The Operatives we had been cursed with are a sickness of the mind."

"We spared your life." I snarl while drawing a thin wound across Jasvinder's face using the knife, "In return you agreed to work with us. And this is how you show gratitude?" 

"Don, listen to me." Jasvinder pleads, "Fight back. Its not too late for you. You don't need to be a slave to that monster."

"Don's not listening." I snort, "And its time for you to say goodbye."

I draw the knife back, ready to deliver the killing blow. But my senses are suddenly overwhelmed by a warning shout stemming deep from within my blood. My powers have activated again. Death sense. There's something close by that is capable of posing a threat to my life. It can't be Jasvinder though, can it? I've got him on the ropes. I focus my mind, trying to track the source of the danger, but the roar of jet engines from outside the building disrupts my concentration. 

"What in the world?" I exclaim as I turn towards the window of the nurse's office. 

The source of the noise is a bulwark hovering on its jets just outside the building. The divinely powered machine steadies its flight and draws level with the window, the pilot most probably eyeballing both Jasvinder and myself. The bulwark is the exact same model I had fought in front of Jasvinder's clinic, the only difference being its current choice of armament. Instead of a sword, this time the machine carries an over sized assault rifle which is rested carelessly against the bulwark's shoulder. 

Without a single word, the enemy bulwark with a single motion swings the barrel of the rifle right in my direction. 

And all hell breaks loose.