The dark room's silence was disturbed with a constant, repetitive clicking sound. A single figure stood in the room this time, mindlessly tapping the keypad in front of the monitor. It was the small one who had silenced the others before. Every time it clicked, the image projected on the wall changed, showing a new recording. It stopped when the image displayed was that of a dimly lit tunnel ceiling. "Camera three hundred thirty two, seventeen months ago. Three forty-nine AM" The image moved, giving a view of the walls and surrounding are. A small voice was heard, and the camera view shifted until it was on the ceiling looking down. Kammie could be seen, walking a few feet ahead of Ezo, with a bag of random odds and ends over her shoulder. "Hey! Look!" The camera panned out, turning in the direction that Kammie was pointing. A large, black object could been seen ahead, buried deep into the dirt around it. "Don't touch it Kam, it's a screecher egg. The best thing to do now is just leave it alone." The small creature watched Ezo on the display, studying his features. "Dark skin.....white hair....same specimen from camera seventy-two?" The two figures continued searching, poking around as if they were looking for something important. The moving camera followed their every move,
recording each moment like a precious memory. The small figure watched more intently now, analyzing every detail.

Lia woke up when Kammie started to thrash around in her sleep and she leap down to shifted into her more human form. Gently, she touched Kammie's cheek and then lifted her up, settling the girl in her lap, Lia curled around her and rocked the girl into a more steady sleep.

Kammie shifted in her sleep. Tossing and turning in Ezo's bed, she thrashed about until she bumped into Ezo, who was in a deep sleep. Her body convulsed, jerking with wild muscle spasms. This all went on for a few minutes until she suddenly stopped, her small form still shivering slightly.

Nakia touched her cheek, looking up at the high ceiling of the tunnel, her mind searching for life that she knew they'd find. Suddenly Meki appeared beside her, the bunny demon nibbling on a bone as if it were a carrot. Her pink nose was twitching as she scented the air and her brown skin looked gray in the darkness, which she hated, being such a vain creature. She sat on Nakia's lap, mostly to get her attention and also because she knew the other girl would pet her long ears, as she reported, "We're being watched. Something...they are inhuman, but human. Ging had a vision after you left. Also, you should try hitting your pap back once. It would do loads for moral of the army." "Don't tell me how to do anything. You sound human when you nag me," Nakia snapped at the girl, whom flinched back, but only for a moment. Meki continued, "Well, Nakia, Ging's vision was of your sister. She was suspended midair in death stance. You might want to watch out. Also, you, not your father, will lead us, until your son comes." With that, the demonic bunny disappeared and Nakia shuddered, hating to hear Ging's visions second hand.

In a dark room thousands of miles away, a single computer screen cast the only illumination in the room. Several figures stood around it, the light casting their shadows on the wall. They all sounded human, though physically they looked positively inhuman. One figure had one too many arms, another was about eight feet tall and covered in what looked to be spines. Another seemed to be completely made from a bubbling, gelatinous substance, making wet, squishing sounds as it breathed. One of the grotesque creatures had small mouths where it's eyes should have been. "Amazing. They were wiped out in a mere instant......these beings are quite powerful indeed...." one of the creatures laughed in a great booming voice as it watched. "Did you see that!? completely dismembered!" One figure in the middle, noticeably smaller than the others, pressed a button on the computer's keypad. an image projected onto the wall, filling the room with light. Nakia could be seen descending from above with her army. The small figure pointed, and the recording froze. The image zoomed to a building on the far left, where a blurry figure was frozen in the action of running. "What is that?" "Probably just another wretch from the surface....it doesn't matter." The small figure waved a hand, and the video continued playing. it completely documented what had
happened during the demons' attack. Nakia was seen tearing more humans asunder with her whip which only made the monstrous creatures make eerie sounds. They were laughing. "The one with the long weapon....is she the leader?" This question caused the creatures to mutter amongst themselves, until the small one held up it's hand for silence. The video continued, and Ezo was seen running away from the chaos. Several demons were seen slaughtering the humans, then a severed head suddenly fell from somewhere, blocking the view of whatever was recording. An audible groan arose from the creatures until one pushed a series of keys on the keypad, and the image shifted to another, this one was at a distinctively higher position. Ezo was surrounded by Nakia, Lia and Seh. The image hazed over,
but regained clarity in a few seconds. Ezo could be seen knocking Seh down, and going for Lia. "Ooooh! This one's got some fight in him!" "How did he knock one over?" "Cellular acceleration." For once the small figure spoke, speaking in a clear, emotionless voice. "Didn't we introduce that to the surface dwellers as a drug?" The figures chattered incomprehensibly for awhile, until once again, the smallest figure raised it's hand, signaling silence. "We watch, we wait. The demons are already here, so we need as much information as possible. Nothing else matters now." The creatures let out horrible, bone-chilling laughs that resounded throughout the dark room.

A chuckle escaped Lia's lips as she realized that Ezo had fallen asleep, and she got up to get him a blanket from the closet. Gently, and careful not to wake him, she tucked him in. Soon she had finished working and started to dry it, using her magic, which was completely waned as she finished. Wrapping the meat in a piece of clothe she found, she put it in the corner and then shifted into a cat and leaped onto Ezo's shoulder to sleep.

Ezo could only watch as Lia slipped past him. Frowning, he followed her and leaned against the wall. He muttered under his breath, but didn't make a move to help her. Within ten minutes, he was fast asleep.

Lia leaped to her feet to follow him. Playfully, she pressed her nose to his shoulder and inhaled. Pulling back, she wrinkled her nose and said, "Beneath the scent of sweat, I can smell your exhaustion. I won't have done everything, just some of it, so don't worry." Smiling, she slipped past him, up the stairs and towards the remains of the deer, which she set to work on.

"I'm good. Really."Ezo lied, cracking his knuckles. He walked back toward the staircase, trying to avoid eye contact with Lia. "Besides, as crappy as this place is, you and your sister are still guests. I can't let you do everything while I'm sleeping."

"I'll cut up the last of the deer, smoke that, and we still have a lot of the fruit left, so that's a couple days of food. Nakia and I can always hunt for food...Well maybe just Nakia, since she can teleport," Lia said. She arched her back so that it popped and purred at the release of tension. Looking at Ezo, she added, "Go catch some z's. You look dead on your feet."

Ezo stretched his arms, stifling a yawn. "Well, we're pretty much done here. The only thing left is to gather some supplies for the trip." Staring at where the west wall used to be, he sneezed and added. "That shouldn't be too hard, seeing as we've barely got anything to begin with."

Lia shifted into a cat and quickly groomed her fur, mostly to get rid of the scent of warm metal from her and also so that she didn't feel sweaty. Ah the benefits of shifting. Back in her demon form, she looked at Ezo and asked, "What else do we need to do?" She wasn't even slightly tired and felt as though she could run for miles, but she could tell that he was growing weary, so she decided to take more of the jobs if she could.