---

“We’re getting out of here,” said Yae, worry written oh her features. Fenchurch climbed out the bed, looking a tired.

“What’s up?” he asked, groggily.

She grabbed the remote and turned on the TV. Scenes of conflict and chaos appeared on the screen; written beneath in big, black letters was the phrase ‘MASS RIOTS IN RENO’. Fenchurch blinked and focused on the box. A mass of angry men and women, of all sizes and shapes, were attacking a police barricade. Suddenly, one leapt the barricade and bit a cop on the neck. The man went down in a mass of flailing limbs; his comrades rushed to aid him.

“What… is this?” asked Fenchurch, as he pulled on his clothes.

“It’s a bio-weapon of some sort,” said Yae. She was seriously agitated. “You just don’t see this kind of weapon in this era. It doesn’t make sense.”

“Wait… a weapon did this?”

“They’re really desperate,” said Yae. “The people from the future sent this. They either want to trap or infect you. Quick, let’s go.”

Hurrying out the hotel, Fenchurch wondered why the world had suddenly gone insane. Yae took a side exit, which lead them into the garage. Making her away along the edge of the complex, she saw a car waiting near the entrance.

Walking over, she found the keys and a note on the roof of the car. Taking them, she explained they’d just gotten a little help from the future. This calmed some of her agitation. However, as she read the note, nervousness returned to her face. Slowly lowering herself into the driver’s seat, she looked pensive before signaling Fenchurch to sit in the passenger’s seat. He did so.

“They’re insane,” said Yae, as she turned the ignition, “my superiors have officially gone insane.”

“What is it now?” asked Fenchurch, heart sinking.

“I can’t tell you,” she said, sheepishly, “That would violate one of the clauses of the order.”

“Well, does it concern me?”

“You might say that.”

Fenchurch shrugged. He knew better than to press for information. As they sped through the streets, they scenes of panic and chaos; the police were slowly being driven back by the mob. Suddenly, a group of disheveled men ran out of an alley and began attacking pedestrians; Fenchurch saw they were foaming at the mouth.

“Why isn’t there any traffic?” asked Fenchurch, suddenly.

“A little help from the future,” said Yae, with a wink.

“Well… aren’t a lot of people going to die if they aren’t in their cars?”

Yae snorted. “Hardly. They’d have abandoned their vehicles to monster gridlock pretty quickly.” She suddenly broke off and looked at a street sign. She pulled the envelope out of an inner pocket and read it again. “It should be right about here…”

Suddenly, a window smashed apart. Falling through the shower of glass was a familiar form, wrapped completely in bandages. She climbed to her feet, then jumped aside as a crazed, foaming-at-the-mouth man leapt after her. Yae opened the door, lined up a shot, and slew the attacker with one round from her revolver. The bandaged person turned around to face them, armed only with a machete.

Yae opened the door. “I’m under strict orders to keep both you and Jeremiah Fenchurch alive,” she said, blandly.

The two red eyes flickered between Fenchurch and Yae. Slowly, she walked to the car and sat inside. Yae jumped in and sped off down a freeway. Fenchurch noted that all other exits from the city were clogged; this one was clear. A little help from the future, he thought, dryly.

However, there was one more obstacle. As they rushed towards the exit, they found it was barricaded by the military. Men in heavy navy blue body armor were gathered around a blockade. All other exits were similarly blockaded. Eyes flickering around, Yae considered her position.

“I can take ‘em,” she said, ominously, before climbing out.

“Sorry, ma’am, but this area is quaren-” BANG! Yae fired a revolver round into the man’s thigh. He keeled over; Yae dived for his automatic rifle. His comrades rushed forward, guns at the ready; Yae drew her own weapons. To her great surprise, though, it was the mummy (a delightfully uncreative nickname of Fenchurch’s creation) who carried the day. The bandaged figure dodged out the car, darted forward, and grabbed the rifle. Somersaulting into a kneeling position, she expertly fired the rifle, crippling all of the soldiers. Returning to the car, Yae and Fenchurch looked at their comrade in a whole new light.

The road was clear after the blockade, but Fenchurch was still distraught. He couldn’t help but remember the people trapped in the infected city. It was horrible…

Yae pulled into a motel. “Who feels like a good night’s rest?” she asked, cheerily. Fenchurch wondered how she could keep her flippant attitude at this time. However, as he settled in the room, someone else got his attention.

The bandaged figure was sitting curled in the corner, hands on her knees, while Fenchurch sat on the bed. Yae’s eyes flickered between them. She really, really, really, had to go, but could she trust the mummy? Well, HQ wouldn’t have given her those orders if she wasn’t trustworthy…

Yae went to the bathroom.

Outside, Fenchurch’s curiosity got the better of him. “Who are you?” he asked the bandaged girl, honest confusion in his eyes. Her eyes flickered up. Standing, she approached Fenchurch, sanguine eyes fixed on him. Soon, she stood directly in front of him. Then, with one deft motion, she dropped the bandages. Fenchurch’s eyes widened.

It was Tenshi, stark naked. Her crimson eyes looked down at him. She was really very pretty, in a surreal sort of way, and quite shapely. Her bluish hair had grown out, becoming a tangled mess. Fenchurch blushed and looked away.

“Does my figure displease you?” she asked, blandly.

“No- no, not at all,” he said, stumbling over the words. “You’re very pretty.”

For reasons known only to herself, Tenshi reached out and caressed Fenchurch’s cheek with one pale hand, making him blush harder. “What is wrong?” she asked, passively.

“I’m-” Fenchurch honestly didn’t know what to say. “Aren’t you embarrassed?”

“I have no concept of it,” she said. She continued to stroke his face. Fenchurch relaxed slightly; her pale skin felt soothing to his skin.

“What are you?”

“My body is a creation of water and steel… Water is my flesh, held in place by bones of steel; I was built, not born.”

“Yes, but, who are you?”

There was a silence. “At first, my mind was not unlike a computer program; willing to ignore all things for the sake of triumph. However, Major Yae Corona of the Clocktower Agency did serious damage to my nervous system while defending you. The damage required… rewiring.” There was a long silence.

“So… that’s who you are,” said Yae. Tenshi looked up at her, face expressionless. Yae had emerged from the bathroom. “Take these,” she said, tossing some clothes at Tenshi. Fenchurch felt embarrassment flood his mind.

---

Gendo Trench was on his way. Concealed beneath his long, dark coat, it was impossible to tell if he was fat or lean. Gazing out from beneath a pair of sunglasses, he chilled all those he looked at. Right now, though, he was pensive. Examining the corpse of a ‘Sanguine Plague’ victim, Trench wondered whether its demise was connected to a certain missing boy.

Behind him stood a woman, perhaps twenty-five, with shoulder-length, black hair and strange red eyes. He had met her in the past; she was a good agent.

“It is quite a coincidence,” she said, softly. “A boy is kidnapped by a strange woman, a bridge he tried to cross was blown up, and is later seen in a small motel where a firefight breaks out and a Jane Doe assassin is killed. Then, he turns up in Reno, where an act of bio-terrorism nearly claims his life, and he meets up with this ‘bandaged girl’. The kidnapper shows up at all of these instances, usually protecting him.”

“Indeed,” said Gendo. “I am inclined to believe that someone with certain connections is responsible.”

The woman kept a passive expression. “Indeed. But motive could they possibly have for killing him?”

“There are strange patterns in the world, Agent Strange, connections form where not expected…”

“Hmm… yes, but they deployed a bioweapon to kill him. Surely one boy from a youth hostel wouldn’t require this much force?”

“True. However, his companions seem dangerous in their own right…”

---

When Yae awoke, she heard a steady scrabbling noise at the door. Curious, she walked up, and looked out the window. Scrabbling at the door was an infected man; his eyes glowed red, his mouth was open and drooling. Cursing, Yae saw the area outside the motel to be flooded with a dozen of the monsters.

“Tenshi! Fen!” she called, preparing a blitz. There might be more; the window didn’t provide full view of the corridor. Both of the kids were up in seconds, alert and awake. Fenchurch certainly knew how to adapt.

“Alright, looks like they got us surrounded,” said Yae. “Tenshi, take this!” The major threw the sawed-off shotgun to the pale girl. “On the count of three…”

“Three…”

“Two…”

“ONE!”

Yae threw the door open and began shooting, emptying both revolvers. Observing through a window, Fenchurch saw twelve attackers fall as they rushed towards the door. More approached, but Yae withdrew and was replaced by vicious shotgun blasts. The courtyard was soon empty.

As they left and climbed into the car, Fenchurch looked at the carnage, stunned by Tenshi’s brutal efficiency. As they drove off for New L.A., Fenchurch decided to continue a conversation he had begun earlier.

“What did you mean when you said you were a creation of water and steel?” he asked.

Tenshi’s eyes rotated towards him. “The frame of my body was built from steel.”

“Your skeleton?”

“Yes. Then, the Water was washed over it, creating flesh. Then, the nervous system was created, wired for the purpose of your destruction.”

Yae snickered. “Water? Please. She was made from Ether.”

“Huh?”

“Ether is great stuff. We use it to facilitate time travel, heal wounds… and, apparently, to create our good friend here.”

Tenshi returned to staring out the window. The spires of Los Angeles loomed in the distance.