#miaaccept

“use what is left of my strength to restrain the demon and verbally guide my team to the exit. they all may not make it, and i doubt i would survive in such a situation, but the lives of many is worth more than the life of one. we’re in a war and casualties are inevitable. as much as i value my own life and will fight like hell to survive, it would be best for humanity and for the agency for as many of my members to escape and fight another day than to save only myself.”

the words are spoken confidently, clearly, as if it were the only logical answer that could be given. he understands he is an asset to the agency as well - incredible strength when paired with excellent skills in combat and a deep dedication to the agency are not easy to come by - but the protection of humanity had been ingrained into his psyche since birth. delun could not easily walk away from such a mindset especially when it had been the standard of which his parents’ had lived and scarified their lives by. it would be a slap in the face to disregard their teachings in such a way.

Being a junior agent now, Lucifer has access to areas he didn’t previously have, though that would never stop him from sneaking around places he shouldn’t be in. The demon has no ill will or intention when it comes to Meia, but his mischievous side loves to push boundaries and explore. He hated secrets, which is perhaps a bad thing considering Meia and the world were full of them. Theo knows that there aren’t many who don’t trust him, that they expect him to turn on him at any moment’s notice. Except for [Redacted].

[Redacted] was the only agent who never seemed to look at Theo with unturst, disgust, or hatred. His horns, black limbs, and black ring around his neck, never seemed to deter the agent. They always treated him like he was normal, and offered him a friendship that the younger thought was true. So when Theo is wandering the halls, not in malice or for information, but just because he’s bored, he finds someone else who shouldn’t be there. [Redacted] Shouldn’t be in this area, he shouldn’t be searching through the office, the files. 

 Theo’s stomach drops and he feels like he’s going to be sick. The one true friend he thought he had and they’re up to some shady fucking behavior. The demon knows that there are people who walk among that are nothing but liars, but he never expected [Redacted] to be one of them. Focusing on the files the other was trying to go through, Theo sends them flying all over the office, his anger starting to increase at the betrayal he felt. If [Redacted] was a spy, was turning on him, on the agency, he wasn’t going to make acquiring secrets easy for [Redacted]. 

 Seeing as there were no windows open or explanation to the whirlwind that sent the files flying, Theo had to run. It was a matter of who could get to Jinx first. Was [Redacted] going to find Jinx and lie, which seemed like a first language for them, telling them Theo was the one who turned their back on Meia? Or was Theo going to find Jinx and try to explain what he saw, rat out his best friend, the one person he thought that he could trust? Was Jinx even going to believe him? What if [Redacted] comes after him and is able to convince Jinx that somehow Theo is the bad guy? After all, neither of them were supposed to be where they were.

his mind whirs, cycling through all of their mistakes, and all of the ways to move forward. mostly the latter, because in the middle of battle, there’s no room for distractions or letting your mind wander. you need to be present, and attentive, anticipating the next move, preparing for it every second.

but he can’t help but wonder what he did wrong, because this shouldn’t happen. it’s just one demon, and yet it won’t go down. their medic is incapacitated, and the demon looks no worse for wear. have they gotten more powerful? he’ll need to let jinx know about this immediately, and maybe report to maylin directly once this fight is done.

if they make it out. the situation looks grim; the more they fight, the more escape routes they lose, the demon slowly backing them into a corner. seb quickly takes note of the surroundings again, looking for anything to use to their advantage, and--

there’s a crack in the stone fence to their right, part of it destroyed. the kids will be able to make it through the gap. seb knows this. they can escape.

“hey. the tall fence to our right. did you notice that hole in it? go. i think only one of you can fit through at one time but you trained for moments like this. you can be fast. and once you’re through, run back toward meia. don’t wait for me. just go.”

they hesitate. one of them protests. “hey, this is one of the times you need to actually listen to me,” and it almost sounds like a joke. maybe it is. maybe something a little light-hearted in this heavy situation will let his team breathe a little easier-- make room for the inhale they need to sustain them through their escape.

“go. i will be fine. i used to do solo work all the time,” he reminds them. “i’ll distract the demon.”

he doesn’t know if it will work, but doubt doesn’t get anything done, and it certainly doesn’t help the others. he is their leader and he will stand strong.

finally, they listen, and once one of them makes a break for it, the others follow. the demon turns to pursue them.

“come on you ugly fuck,” seb shouts to distract it, shooting the demon in head. why isn’t this killing it? what is going on?

“don’t you know who i am?” seb taunts. “i’m the one you want. maylin loves me. losing me? that would be a big blow to meia and you know it.” does seb really believe that? not quite, but it might be easy enough to sway a demon. he’s sure he’s of some value to them, even if only because they all watched him grow up. they would mourn him, surely.

he doesn’t want to put them through that.

it’s enough to get the demon to focus on him instead, and he still has a little bit left in him. he needs to kill the demon eventually, but for now, he can get away with just stalling it and giving his team the chance to get far away from here. that’s most important.

it lunges at him, and he dodges successfully, but now his positioning is even less ideal. still, he shoots at it. surely enough shots will kill it eventually, right? maybe kaiser’s experiments found a way to build demons with skulls made out of titanium. wouldn’t that be something?

his gun clicks.

click. click. click.

“fuck,” he mutters. he’s out of ammo.  

he tosses the gun to the ground and unsheathes the knife attached to his belt just in time for the demon to charge again.

he should’ve told the kids he was proud of them.

do they know?

zhihei gets quiet when he hears someone coming, pressing his lanky figure into the wall. he’s all but disappeared into the shadows, when a number floats in the corner of his vision - eighty-five percent, flickering faintly red.

he stops breathing, goes still. the number climbs to ninety-two.

he’s not supposed to be in this area - which is exactly why he’d come, so no one would go looking for him here. sun zhihei is a bunch of defense mechanisms cobbled together into the vague shape of a human being. one of them demands for him to be completely alone at times, away from all of the commotion and possibilities, so he can clear his head. instead, he’s treated to info that he’s most certainly not supposed to know, something that makes him inhale a risky breath. his percentage wavers just a bit.

ninety-one percent chance that he won’t get caught, if he doesn’t move.

so he keeps still, and keeps listening, squirreling away the info that is unwittingly revealed to him. they are certainly things that he should let someone more important than him know, but… he thinks he’ll just tell bonnie, which is probably another defense mechanism speaking.

how much is a life worth?

bonnie takes no pleasure in choosing who lives or who dies, nor does she think she has the right to. but the truth is, it is a job like any other. if it was not her making these decisions, it would be someone else. in a way, she is glad it has to be her - she is not quite sure she could trust the judgment of someone other than herself.

people usually get sentimental when facing something such as this, you see. they are either unable to choose, therefore dooming the whole operation, or they sacrifice themselves for what they believe is the greater good. saving your whole team by letting the demons take you sounds quite heroic, does it not? unfortunately, she does not care about any of that. if she did, she would probably be long dead and therefore of no use to anyone.

as a senior agent, she is an important part of meia. she cannot let herself get killed out there. medics are also a top priority, so it would be ideal if she could save them too. when it comes down to the other agents, it all depends on their efficiency and status. are they capable of holding their own? are they severely injured? she would gladly put herself in harm’s way to try and rescue them if she sees a point in it. as cruel as it sounds, she realizes that some routes are more beneficial to take, even if that means someone gets left behind.

perhaps sometime in the future, when the demon threat is no more, there will be no reason to even think about this. at first, she used to feel a sharp sense of regret tingling in the back of her mind every single time she was faced with such a decision. with time, she had to let go of that. it could not be allowed to eat her alive, so she simply accepted it as a necessary evil. at the end of the day, she swore to do what is best for meia - sometimes, the truth of that can be hard to swallow.

the medic badge at her hip allows her entry into most places of the agency but as a junior she isn’t supposed to take advantage of it. that being said, ash has and always will be a bit of a trouble maker. the years have made her smarter, wiser--but she retained that mischief. 

thus after running an errand for the medic wing she had found herself loitering in the science wing. a place she wants to spend more time in--to be able to help better the serums and hopefully create something to help her friends with their painful enhancements. 

the hall was empty when she started down it so imagine her surprise when she spotted someone round the corner quickly. she didn’t think anything of it at first because it was probably just a tech agent coming back. but the person made eye contact with her and it was easy to see the shock on their face. “what are you doing--hey!” the person turned and ran, and ash was quick to grab the concealed baton on her waist as she took after them. 

haneul considers the question quietly, her expression thoughtful as she muses over the dilemma in her head. first of all, there are very few places that she does not have the clearance to go. secondly, her enhancement can often be difficult to control, feeding thoughts and snatches into her mind without her permission. there’d been a time when she’d almost gained control over it, although it’s hard to say whether it had really been control when there had been so few people around her to learn to tune out.

ever since she had returned to meia, the thoughts that flood her mind are mostly things that she staunchly tries to ignore, to tune out, to dismiss — but there are so many voices that it’s been incredibly difficult to sort through her own thoughts, let alone all the other thoughts that have been flooding her consciousness. it’s difficult to to pick individual thoughts of the jumble if she isn’t actively focusing on them to begin with.

but if — if she were to hear something that is absolutely vital for her to alert her superiors or at least her peers, there would be no hesitation in her mind. more than anyone else, she understands the dangers that a security breach or vital information could grow to become. this kind of information cannot be left to stew, not when it threatens the safety of everyone at meia. consequences be damned, if she gets in trouble for having been where she was — the safety of everyone is more important than her own personal reputation.

while hanging around in an area you are not authorized to be in, you overhear vital information that a higher up should hear. this would also mean admitting you were in the wrong place. what do you do? be honest.

he shifts nervously in place. what would he be doing in an area he wasn’t permitted to be in? geon has never been the rebellious type, he’s never been one to shake the boat, and especially not now that he feels like his every moment in these halls is borrowed time. he hasn’t been able to shake the character of his old agency, the fear that one mistake will be his demise.

“i… i would have to tell a head agent,” he feels like holding his breath, hoping he’s given them the right answer, the one that will allow him to keep living here. “that’s the right thing to do, right? i’d… i’d accept any punishment for trespassing. i must have been lost or something. i wouldn’t- i’m just saying, i would never go into an unauthorized area without permission.”

they’ve all been nice here. even the ones who don’t trust him don’t have the same level of cold hostility that he’s accustomed to. but he doesn’t want to risk it. he’s spent far too long alone, if he’d be so lucky to escape with his life again.

“if it was really such vital intel then… then i guess it would be a good thing that i was there, even by mistake, right?”