The night over Whitehall hung low and heavy. In a corner of the corridor, a young night guard leaned against the wall, nodding off. Asleep on duty. The instant she confirmed it, Kaitlin jammed a lockpick into the keyhole of the door. To break out of this soft confinement. *Screech. Clunk.* The rusted lock gave an ugly sound. "[surprised]...What the!?" The guard jolted awake with a shout. Kaitlin was already out in the corridor. "[cold]I'm off duty. Weren't you asleep?" The guard's face froze in confusion. While his mouth flapped open and shut, she sprinted past. Her heart hammered. A fugitive, running through the halls of Enforcer Headquarters. Leaving everything behind, heading down—further down. —*Silas.* Her head was filled with nothing but that name. Bridge Four. The old drawbridge, sealed off due to decay, melted into the darkness of night. Kaitlin slipped off the ladder and cut through the maintenance passage he'd once told her was a secret route. The handrail was cold, and the iron framework groaned with every step. (*If I weren't alone, I'd never make anyone use a path like this.*) Gray haze dampened her skin. The air of Zaun. Poisonous air that made your lungs feel heavy in an instant. She kept climbing down the ladder without hesitation. Three turns down the side alleys of Clockwork Street. The abandoned warehouse he'd told her about. "[whispers]Silas...?" No answer. She pushed the door with its broken hinges. Iron dust pattered down. Inside was darkness. Not even the faint light from the upper levels reached here. In the dim, stagnant air, someone lay collapsed against the wall. The smell of blood. Sour, metallic—clinging to the back of the tongue. "[scared]...!" She started to rush over, then stopped. The floor was wet. The feel under her soles wasn't a puddle. Sticky. Blood. Silas leaned against the wall like a discarded doll. She couldn't see his face. His jacket was soaked in blood, his right flank twisted at a strange angle. His breathing was shallow—only by watching his chest barely rise and fall did she finally understand he was alive. "[whispers]...This is awful." She knelt beside him. The cold floor pressed the chill of blood through her stockings. Two broken ribs—she could tell without touching. The left side of his chest was caved in. A laceration on the back of his head, too. "...Silas." Kaitlin touched his cheek. Bloodless. Cold. That's when— "[angry]...You came alone... You idiot." Silas spoke in a faint voice. Eyes still closed, but his tone carried the same old venom. "[angry]Who's an idiot!? How did you let it get this bad—" Her voice shook before she could stop it. But the corner of her lips loosened, just slightly. He's alive. Alive enough to spit out his usual insults. "[serious]...Can you stand?" "[angry]Take a look and figure it out." His bloodied hand scraped at the floor. He wasn't trying to get up. He *couldn't*. Kaitlin took his arm, tried to drape it over her shoulders. Her breath came hard. "[gentle]I know a back-alley doctor in Zaun... I'll get you there." "[angry]Don't... Why did you come? You're supposed to be up in—" "[angry]There IS no 'up' anymore! I came because you can't be left alone!" Her voice came out louder than she'd ever expected. Silas seemed startled too—he drew a sharp breath. That's when— "[gentle]At last. We're alone." A voice from behind. She spun around. Three figures stood in the entrance of the abandoned warehouse. The man in the center smoothed back his silver hair, his gray eyes narrowed into crescents as he smiled. A thick ledger in his hand. Flanking him, two brutish Enforcers. "[cold]Deacon..." "[gentle]To think you'd make me come all the way down to Zaun. It pains me, as your security detail. But now I can rest easy. I'll erase every last unnecessary thing for you." He tucked the ledger into his pocket, then spread his hands and stepped closer. "[whispers]That man is dragging you down into Zaun's filth. You are *my* Kaitlin, and mine alone. I am the only one who can bring you back to the upper levels—to a place that is white and righteous." His voice alone was impossibly gentle. As if whispering to a lover. But his left hand was pointing at Silas. "[sad]Come." The moment Kaitlin opened her mouth to scream— "[angry]Shut up..." Behind her, the blood-soaked body moved. Silas pressed a hand against the wall and stood. Maybe the broken ribs were pressing into his organs—blood dripped from the corner of his mouth. Still, his eyes glared, fixed. He took one step toward one of Deacon's men, then another— "[angry]HRAAAGH!!" His fist buried itself in the man's face. The underling's nose broke, blood spraying. But in the next instant, the other man kicked Silas in the side. *Thud.* The kick landed right over the broken ribs, and a groan leaked from his mouth. Still, he didn't drop to his knees. He swung again. Got kicked again. "[scared]Stop it!!" Kaitlin drew the Hex rifle from her hip holster. The crystal glowed pale blue. She leveled the sights at Deacon. "[cold]Touch him again, and I'll shoot." Deacon kept smiling even as he stared down the barrel. "[gentle]Is that so. How unfortunate." He raised the communicator on his collar to his lips, making sure she saw, and switched it on. *"—Kaitlin Fails. Wanted for suspected collusion with Zaunite criminal organizations. Apprehend on sight."* The mechanical announcement echoed through the silence of the abandoned warehouse. "[whispers]Now you belong only to me. No place for you in the upper levels. No place in the undercity, either." Kaitlin's hand trembled. (*It's real.*) Abandoned by the organization. Cut off from her allies. No—maybe she'd never had allies to begin with. "[angry]Idiot, don't move! Are you trying to die!?" She shouted. Silas, who shouldn't have been able to move, was still trying to plant himself between her and Deacon. "[angry]Shut up... I just hate it when I can't see you." He spat, blood mixed with saliva. Those words erased Kaitlin's hesitation. She pulled the trigger. *BOOM!* The non-lethal round shattered the concrete at Deacon's feet, kicking up debris. Deacon flinched and stumbled back a step—in that single instant— "[angry]We're going!" Kaitlin grabbed Silas by the wrist and ran. She kicked through the warehouse's back door and burst into the alleys of Clockwork Street. Behind them, one of the underlings roared, "After them!" The two of them tore through the dim alleyways. —Except. "[sarcastic]Yo, Silas. You're looking pretty wrecked." Ahead, five men now blocked the way. All of them had parts of their bodies mechanized with crude chem-tech. Koslov's thugs. "[cold]We're moving on Murdock's intel. Boss Koslov's pretty keen on finishing you off, too." Hearing that, Silas gritted his teeth. —*So Deacon really was connected to Koslov.* "[angry]...West Zaun is the Rusted Quarter—Koslov's turf. East is the Enforcer cordon. The drawbridge has already been flagged." Still breathing raggedly, he gripped Kaitlin's wrist tight. "The only option left—is the worst place there is." "[gentle]Let's go." Kaitlin answered instantly. "[angry]There's a risk of Gray-rot... It's a miasma swamp." "[whispers]If I'm with you." She said it shortly, then pulled Silas's hand and turned. The next moment, she was sprinting at full speed. Destination: the miasma swamp—Gray Marsh. Behind them, the thugs shouted. Deacon's men joined in, seven pursuers in total clogging the alley. "[angry]After them, after them! Do NOT let those two escape!!" Deacon's shout had lost every shred of elegance—his voice cracked. The neon glow of Clockwork Street cut off, and the two plunged into the dark wetlands. — Gray Marsh. The moment they set foot in it, the air changed. A choking, sweet stench—chemicals mixed with rot. Gray haze crawled up from underfoot, making lungs feel heavy in an instant. "[surprised]...!" Kaitlin pressed her sleeve to her mouth. Even so, the toxic air seeped into her mucous membranes. Silas didn't let go of her hand, running deeper and deeper into the ruins. The footsteps of their pursuers were still distant. But they were closing in, steadily. A corner of the ruins. Silas slipped into a spot that barely had a roof left. "[sad]...gah... hah..." In that moment, his knees buckled. "[scared]Silas!?" He dropped to both knees and coughed violently. Blood spattered from his mouth, tiny bubbles mixed in. "[angry]...Bone might've... punctured a lung." He clinically assessed his own condition, then wiped his bloodied mouth with the back of his hand. "[sad]Stop... don't move anymore." Kaitlin pulled out the cloth she had and pressed it to his mouth. The white fabric turned red, rapidly. Her hands trembled as she held it to his wound. "[crying]...nn... uu..." And then, for the first time, she cried out loud. Kaitlin, who had never once cried until now, unable to hold back her emotions. "[sad]Why... why do you take it all on yourself alone? Until it gets this bad—until it gets THIS bad... Are you stupid!?" Tears fell onto the blood-soaked cloth and blurred into it. "[whispers]...Don't cry. It's pathetic." Silas looked up at her vaguely and said it. "[angry]Shut up! Whose fault do you think it is that I'm crying!" She shouted back at him and pulled his shoulders close. A cold body. But its weight was definitely here. Silas didn't resist. He rested his head against her shoulder. His breathing still shallow, on the verge of stopping, but he opened his mouth. "[whispers]...If it's with you." He said only that, and closed his eyes. "[crying]What's that... supposed to mean..." Kaitlin stroked his hair. The sharp smell of blood, and the sweet poison of the Gray haze. In the dim ruins, only her quiet sobs echoed. Outside, the voices of their pursuers could still be heard. It was only a matter of time before they were found. Silas's breathing grew shallower and shallower. His wounds were worsening. Had the broken ribs damaged his organs?—the bubbles in the blood he coughed up were increasing. The Gray haze crept relentlessly into these ruins, too. (*He might not last until morning.*) But Kaitlin, feeling his weight, just kept sitting there. The two of them huddled close, as if confirming each other's warmth, at the bottom of a pitch-black night, simply waiting for that moment.