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(Medical to Training Room/To find the Professors)

Kiri awoke with a groan. Wh-Where am I? Medical? Oh, yeah. The mission.

Hoping it was all just a bad dream, she sat up. About 5 seconds later, she was leaning over the side of a bin dry-heaving. Mathias, just one cot over, heard her and stirred. Stumbling out of the cot, god was he sore, he went over to Kiri and held her head for a bit. After a while, she stopped, but still didn't remove her head from the bin. Mathias heard sobbing coming from her.

Well, I suppose its only natural. She was almost that Mantis's lunch. he thought to himself. "Kiri? Come on, you're okay now."

Her head snapped up and she glared at him angrily. "I am not okay. Because of me, you were almost killed. Because of me, you weren't there to help Mike when he needed you. I went on this mission not only because I was asked to, but because I thought that maybe I could help keep you and the others safe. I failed."

Pushing him away, she stormed out and headed down to her workshop. She knew she was being a bit unreasonable, its not like she was completely useless the entire mission, but right now, that one moment overtook all others. Mathias wanted to follow, but he decided it might be best to find the Professors and report in.

][Don't forget that you have a wrist comm. If you ever need to find someone in particular just give them a call.][

Mike was unconscious for a long time and when he awoke he was staring at the curtains of the Med Bay. He frowned at the curtains not understanding. Then he remembered what had happened and he was consumed with rage. His eyes glowed a bit as he sat up and walked towards the door.

A Neo-Human nurse caught his arm and told him he needed to be checked by a doctor. Mike complied and the Neo-Human doctor came in and did the standard medical check for injuries incurred on a mission and was told to be on his way. Mike jumped onto a mag lift and shot straight for the training floor, he had to let off some steam.

(Med Bay to Training Grounds)

Even as he was leaving the Medical Bay, Mathias's wrist comm was at his mouth.

"Professor Luminos, Field Agent Coriska reporting in for debriefing. Please transmit your location so that I may report on the progress of our mission."

Mathias nearly laughed at himself. He had literally just passed the Conference Hall not more than two minutes ago. Going back, he stepped inside and stood at attention, sure that the Professor would be there in mere minutes.

"Glane and Wreak happened, sir." Mathias knew that the Professor wasn't going to like this, but he recounted the mission exactly the way it happened.

"I've never seen anything move that fast, sir. Even with my powers activated, I couldn't keep up with it. And I have a complaint about the choice to include Kirana on this mission. While she performed as well as could be expected, this was not the type of mission she was trained for. She told us her specialties lay in infiltration, sniping, and systems analysis. This was an extermination, sir. A slaughter. She was completely unprepared for close-quarters combat or the mental fortitude required for it."

Mathias felt his temper rising, but he tried his best to keep it under control. It was true, though. While an excellent marksman, he had never seen her fight hand-to-hand. He'd have to fix that...

Mathias gripped his hands tightly at his sides. Distraction? He DARES talk to me about distractions!?

Mathias couldn't contain himself and felt pretty sure he could confide in Will his doubts.

"Sir, I'm afraid that I find it hard to take Mike's assessment of Kiri's impact on me seriously after I had to pull his a** out of the mission the last time. He went berserk. We all joined this group for different reasons. I don't know why you joined, sir, but I do know that Mike is here for one thing. Revenge. He willingly puts the mission, not to mention the rest of us, in danger with his insane charges. MY purpose for being here is to make sure no one ends up like my sister did. It's not just Kiri I would lay my life on the line for, sir. It's everyone else. As a Neo-Human, her combat capabilities are significantly less than ours. Scientific fact. Mike thinks she's green? Fine. She is. But if he expects her to stop being green, she has to make it back from the mission alive. I did what I thought needed to be done. As for Kiri, she will be prepared for the next mission. I promise that. Whether or not she goes on it is, like you said, up to her."

Mathias then kept quiet, certain he'd probably be reamed out for bad-mouthing a friend and ally. Regardless, he only spoke what he knew from experience. Mike, as much as he respected him, was a loose cannon and more of a danger to himself and everyone else than he realized. Mathias wasn't angry at him, or Will for that matter, he just wanted to see everyone come home at the end of the mission.

Mathias punched the wall, sending energy up its surface. He thinks he knows me? Bullshit. He may have read my personnel file, but that was compiled a year ago. A lot can happen in a year. What I meant was that I don't want to see anyone die needlessly. Mission before your allies, hmm? I think not.

If he was as expendable, then let them see how they do without him. Taking his wrist-comm in hand, he sent a message containing his resignation to the Professors, then sent a large electrical charge through it, shorting it out. Throwing it into a nearby incinerator chute, he went to collect his things.

Kiri was on her way back from the range and lost far in thought. Am I really cut out for this? My passion is inventing. Not combat. I hate it. What am I going to do.

Passing Mathias's room, she heard rustling inside. Opening the door, she saw him packing.

"What are you doing?" she called softly.

Mathias, not looking up, answered. "Leaving. Apparently, I'm too 'emotionally connected' to my teammates. Bah, whatever. I'm not a machine. I don't want to see anyone else die. For any reason. There is no such thing as a 'good death.' There's just death. And now, retirement. Stay on Mike's good side. Maybe you'll stick around."

Kiri shook her head. "No. I was just contemplating leaving as well. I'm an inventor and a hacker. I don't want to see anyone die either, though I suppose I'm even softer than you. Killing those daemons last night, it didn't bring me any sort of peace. Give me ten minutes, and we can leave together."

Mathias nodded and Kiri ran out. True to her word, less than ten minutes later, she had all of her things in a small backpack and the two walked towards the doors.