HA\\LF: Dead nor Alive

Archie, Ruby, and Vincent were checking the files on the hard disk while Ivan went to sleep since he had work tomorrow. Eve and Nova were chilling in the living room and watching TV to waste time until those three found something interesting to discuss.

“I have been thinking. Where did Ivan get that hard disk? It’s impossible for him to get it himself and knowing it’s about Victor and his private corporate, then that means he got it from that building, right?” Nova asked Eve as she lifted her head since she was laying down on the sofa to look at Eve who sat on the other sofa behind her.

“Where do you think he got it? We both know that he’s not strong enough nor he was stupid enough to risk his life to get that thing,” Eve asked back with a smile on her face.

“Then who did? Is there someone crazy enough to steal something from Victor?” Nova asked, but then she realized that Archie was the one who asked Ivan, and Ivan was personally showed the inside of the hard disk to Archie. “Wait, Archie did?” Nova asked as she looked at Eve with a shocked expression.

“Why don’t you ask him?” Eve replied with a smile as she rested her cheek on her fist.

Nova furrowed her eyebrows and then looked at Archie who was busy checking the files. She decided to approach him and stood in front of the table.

“Archie, where did you get the hard disk?” Nova asked with a serious expression.

“VMC’s building,” Archie answered.

“Which one?” Nova asked with her eyebrows raised.

“That one,” Archie answered as he nodded up at the door.

Nova turned around and then looked back at Archie with a puzzled look.

“How? When?” Nova asked.

“While we went on a mission,” Archie answered so casually.

Nova was so confused by Archie’s answers because she wanted to believe him, but at the same time, it didn’t make any sense to her. How could he get the hard disk while he was on a mission with her and the others to the west.

“Who did it?” Nova asked.

Archie hesitated and stared at Eve who stealthily walked up toward Nova. She suddenly grabbed Nova’s shoulders and it startled her while she giggled mischievously.

“We both did. Me and Eve did it,” Archie answered.

“What?! How?” Nova asked as she looked at Eve’s hands on her shoulders and she felt like Eve didn’t plan on letting her go. “You both were with us far away from this city, how did you do that?”

Nova knew the only answer to her questions, but she wanted to hear the answer from him personally.

“You know the answer, but you just don’t want to believe it,” Eve whispered into Nova’s ear. “Remember me?” Eve said in the same voice when she interrogated Nova before she threw Nova on the wall.

Nova was shocked and turned around as she moved away from Eve, but she ended up stumbling on her own foot and then fell to the ground with a scared expression. She looked at Eve, but she didn’t see any difference from Eve’s usual self, it was just the voice that changed.

Eve smiled at Nova as she slowly walked toward her, but Nova crawled away from her because she remembered how terrifying that moment was.

“Why are you so scared? I didn’t kill you back there for a reason, so don’t be afraid,” Eve said.

Nova shook her head as she kept crawling back, but then the wall blocked her path and she had nowhere to go. She didn’t even bring a weapon with her and there was nothing that can protect her from Eve.

“So it was you…” Nova said with her voice trembling in fear.

Eve sat down on the ground with her legs crossed. “Of course! Do you think an Axis Human can become this strong?” Eve replied with a smile on her face. “Just to be fair, you didn’t cooperate last time, so I only teach you a lesson back there,”

“Wait, if you’re not, then does that mean he’s not as well?” Nova asked as she moved her eyes toward Archie stared at her from the chair.

“Yes, Eve and I are the same,” Archie nodded his head.

“What about you two? Are you guys also one of them?” Nova asked, and she was terrified if she was surrounded by Ex-Humans.

“No, we are still human, like you,” Ruby answered as she shook her head. “You can stand up, Eve won’t hurt you so just sit here and we will explain it to you everything,” Ruby said as she patted on the chair next to her.

Nova hesitated, but then she nodded her head and slowly walked toward the dining table and sat next to Ruby.

Ruby told Nova how she and Vincent first met Archie in the Eastern Nation a long time ago. She explained how he saved the people of the Eastern Nation, how she made Archie sound like a savior, and how he changed her and Vincent’s lives forever.

In the story, Eve was portrayed as an evil being who had no care for the humans and only desired Archie. This portrayal was fine with her because she knew it was what she wanted and she didn’t care about them.

“So, that’s what happened,” Ruby said as she stared at Nova. “There are other things that we hide it from you. It’s not because we don’t trust you, but it’s for your own safety and sanity. Trust me, you don’t want to know the rest about these two, or at least until you digest what you just heard first,” Ruby continued.

Nova was bewildered and was speechless after she heard all that. She looked at Archie and Eve which was quite odd to look at after she listened to the story. How those two became so close and how Archie wasn’t mad or angry at her.

“Now that you have listened to our story, what are you going to do with it, Nova?” Eve asked as she transformed her claws into a razor-sharp blade. “If you think of exposing our identity, I have to kill you know,” Eve said with a serious tone and expression.

Nova shook her head repeatedly as she stared at Eve’s claws.

“Good, as long as you stay quiet about it and follow us, you will be safe,” Eve said as she turned her claws back to normal. “You have become a part of us, and you can’t leave,” Eve continued.

“Who else know about this?” Nova asked with her trembling voice.

“Colonel Fanheim, Tommy, and Daniel. Only those who know about them,” Ruby answered as she looked at Nova. “You’re not alone, so you don’t have to be so pressured with the information you got right now because we are all in the same boat now,” Ruby continued as she tried to comfort her.

Nova nodded her head with understanding.

“By the way, we found something else from the hard disk,” Archie said as he pointed at the screen. “It’s said here those super Axis Humans were deployed into some kind of a secret base. There were at least five bases that are mentioned in here,”

“Secret bases?” Eve asked as she stared at the screen.

“Yeah, Z-1, B-4, G-3, H-3, A-0. We don’t know exactly what those are, but we believe it’s some kind of a secret bases that Victor has. If the numbers represent the fallen continent, and the alphabet is the coordinate or the number of the base, maybe we can find where it is,” Archie answered as he rubbed his chin.

“But there’s A-0 there, I don’t think there’s a 0 here,” Eve replied as she pointed at the screen.

“We think the A-0 is Atlantis-0, but we are not sure though since it’s just a speculation. If we need more information about this secret bases and operations that Victor did, we need to find another hard disk. We all know which VMC’s building that have all the information,” Ruby explained as she looked at Eve.

“The main building, in the Central Nation,” Eve said as she crossed her arms.

“Yeah, but that’s going to be hard to do. I think if you guys make a mess there, he will appear and show himself,” Ruby replied as she nodded her head.

“Let’s not do that for now,” Archie said as he sighed. “You might think it won’t be a problem, but the one who’s going to fight him is me, and I don’t think I’m strong enough to kill him yet,” Archie shook his head.

Ruby and Vincent hummed with understanding while Nova looked at them with a puzzled and curious look on her face.

“Him? Are you talking about Victor? Is he really that strong? I don’t think he’s an Axis Human though,” Nova asked as she looked at them.

“Not Victor, but the boss that might be stronger than Archie. The one who ruled over the nations,” Ruby answered.