It only made sense that like me, Dorian and Rav be given time to process the presence of our mind-controlled friends and/or schoolmates and cope with its effect on them.

   Also, it was the best way to help Rav get his spontaneous proposals to me out of his system without me resorting to Speck-inspired means.

"Are we okay now?'' I asked the boys. Not that I had a watch or anything, but it seemed like enough time had been spent gawking and releasing strangled sounds at those below us.

   Rav nodded, though his attention was now on Dorian. So was mine, honestly.

   The plan was us finding the students first so that Dorian could do what he'd told me and Rav would help save everyone. Well, we'd found the students.

   We watched Dorian pace around for a minute or two until he settled in front of the bannister, looking down at people as the hand of his not holding the Neuroskel clenched the bar so hard his knuckles turned white.

   Being unable to see his expression from where I was, I took reluctant steps toward him, eventually resting my hand on his shoulder and leaning into his side.

"You'll be fine, Dorian."

   He didn't reply to that, but I watched him set the Neuroskel next to him and turn to face me. Then he leaned down and pressed his lips to mine.

   My arms encircled his neck as he held me closer and tighter. The deeper he went made the thought of letting go eventually a thousand times more difficult.

   Because then the current fire coursing all over me would dissipate, because then I'd experience the withdrawals that followed his lips no longer on mine, because then although he's not far away, I'll miss him like crazy.

   With a heavy heart, we finally came apart for air. That's when I saw how tear-filled his eyes were.

   But then he picked up the Neuroskel and said with a tone more humorous than his features, "You know, once you get used to it, Deth is actually a cool name."

   I frowned. What was he talking about–Oh. Our disastrous couple's name.

"No, it's not." I scoffed.

   He gave me another kiss–on my cheek this time– and moved to whisper in my ear, "I know. But that's what we'll make everyone else think."

   I rolled my eyes. "Good luck with that."

   All it took was our eyes meeting for us to betray our mock straight faces.

"Okay." Dorian was still grinning when he remarked, "I'm ready."

   We proceeded down the stairs which led us to everyone, me holding onto his empty hand and Rav on his other side, looking every bit like the younger brother he was.

   We settled on the large, bare space from everyone else under the stairs.

   Dorian sat cross-legged on the floor while Rav and I remained standing, holding onto our guns, in case Speck woke up and tried to attack or any of these students broke out of their trance.

   I flinched at the clicking noise the Neuroskel made when Dorian put it on his head like one would a helmet. What he was about to do was such a longshot and it wasn't easy watching him take this risk. But I couldn't forget the strong conviction emanating from him as he explained to Rav and I what he was going to do to save everyone.

    According to Dorian, he knew his tattoo couldn't be what made him immune to the mind-control devices by the time Speck used the third placement gun on him. When our principal kept implanting the devices in him–here's the strange part–, he saw his mind connect with and explore the entire makeup of each device. This lasted for only a few seconds before that image went black. Then he felt nothing but a numbness right before passing out. It was Speck's scan that made him understand that his brain severed that every connection by destroying the device.

   What this then meant was that if Dorian was able to establish that same connection with the Neuroskel, his mind would prod into everything that had to do with the device, including the mind-control devices connected to and dependent on it. Then his brain, perceiving them all as threats like it did before, would destroy the devices in the students' brains as well as the Neuroskel in the same, safe way it occurred for him, without any worries of self-destruction...

   ...is what he said.

   Okay, I won't lie, this made sense. In theory. I had a few reservations about Dorian testing this theory out. But his attitude toward this situation showed that he'd made up his mind once this solution came to him.

   From a glass half-full perspective, Talise, Minji and everyone else would be free .

"What's your take on this?" I whispered to Rav. Dorian had his eyes closed and such a concentrated expression I didn't want to disrupt by being loud.

   His gaze never left Dorian as he answered, "Obviously, there's still a large part of me that wants to drag him away from all this so that we can figure out another solution.." I'd never heard him sound so serious. "But he believes that this is the best way, even if it means sacrificing himself. And as hard as it is to admit, I believe him and I really hope none of us are wrong."

   I sighed. "Me too."

   Rav breathed out a sigh too, throwing an arm around my shoulders. I leaned into his comforting warmth.

   That moment of vulnerability was soon shattered by a soft click followed by the feel of cold metal against the back of my neck. I knew I wasn't imagining this when I saw the tautness that had overtaken Rav's face. His lips moved a few more times before I understood what he was mouthing.

   Camila.

   At that thought, the weapon dug deeper into me as she said, "Drop your guns and turn around."

   I didn't think twice before complying. It was impossible to not sneak a glimpse at Dorian while I did though. Rav was not so subtle in doing the same as he dropped his gun.

   It took everything in me to suppress a gasp upon seeing Camila again. The changes in her were too drastic for the brief period we'd been apart. And these changes were not the good kind.

   More like the dishevelled hair, bloodshot eyes and unsteady hands kind.

"You fixed it," she murmured.

   I traced the direction of her eyes over our shoulders to the Neuroskel on Dorian's head. The blank gaze she held a moment ago was replaced with something else that caught me off guard.

   Relief.

   The hope in me that was destroyed like the Neuroskel she dropped didn't seem so far off anymore. With Speck out of the picture, it wasn't going to be easy, but making her see reason was possible now.

"I–" Her chest heaved at the large breath she inhaled before speaking. "I didn't want anyone dead."

"We know," I tried to smile and ignore her gun. "We know you don't. You're not a murderer, Cami."

   Her jaw ticked as her eyes bounced back and forth between Rav and me. Then, although it took forever, the gun aimed lower and lower until it was pointing at the floor as she held it beside her.

   The conflict in her face was evident, "But he said–"

"Cami, look at me. Look at me!" I said. "It doesn't matter what Speck says. You are not a murderer. You are not anything he says you are neither are you compelled to do the things he tells you to."

"H–he said it's for the g–greater good."

"Murdering people? Viola? Minji? Please don't tell me you believe that."

"It doesn't matter what I believe!" she spat. "People need to be better. And he's going to make that happen."

"I agree that people need to be better. What he's doing isn't really going to make that happen though. He's only robbing so many people of the chances to become beyond the vision he sees. And I can't promise that those people will be everyone, but he's stifling this greater good we, including you and him, all want.

"I can't relate to most of what you experienced when you were in the streets and I'm not going to pretend to. It's indisputable that Speck helped you a great deal when he took you away from all that and it makes sense why you may feel like you owe him a lot. But you can't let him hold that over you and... Cami?"

   Her focus was no longer on me. It was on the Neuroskel again.

   And Dorian. Who hadn't stirred since this interaction began.

"What's he doing?" she gestured toward him.

   My heart skipped a beat at her grasp on the gun tightening. I sneaked a look at Rav only to discover he'd already beat me to it. We were thinking the same thing. Camila could not know what Dorian was trying to do. His unwavering concentration had to mean something. Any wrong move could destroy the possible connection he'd established with the Neuroskel.

    Camila was far from stupid (as we'd painfully realised). Dorian's present position was already a huge give away that something was up. It wouldn't be long before she found out what it was.

   Not unless we created some form of distraction.

   Think, Beth, thin–

"I'll tell you what he's doing." A new, yet all-too-familiar voice and face appeared, startling us all, even Camila.

   Speck, the man I'd believed I took down, wobbled from behind Camila toward us on shaky legs and resorted to standing next to her. He held up one of his hands, giving me a glimpse of a well-known syringe. I noticed that its glass case contained remaining drops of the colourless substance I'd injected into him.

"The full dosage has to be administered for it to work properly. Good thing I pulled away before you could make that happen." he grinned my way. "All you did was give me an energy-inducing power nap."

   A faint glass-shattering sound filled the room after Speck smashed the syringe to the floor. I watched the remaining liquid ooze onto the floor, not unlike my belief that this man could be taken down.

   He returned to replying Camila, "He's ruining the incredible future we've looked forward to all these years. The future mankind needs."

   My stomach churned when he placed a glistening hand on Cami's shoulder.

"Are you going to let that happen, Camila?" He made sure she wasn't looking at anyone else but him. "Are you going to allow him to deprive people of what they should be? If you let him live, I can assure you, he's going to do exactly that. You can't let his kind live."

   I sucked in a sharp breath as Cami's lowered hold on her gun began to raise. I glanced at Rav with shiny eyes that begged him to do something. My mind couldn't think of anything else that could convince her.

"What do you mean by his kind?" I was this close to crying out in relief when I heard Rav question Speck.

   He stared at Rav, "I mean those like him that'll destroy everything I've worked so hard to build."

"Because he's immune. So that means killing Dorian and anyone who's immune like him? Whoever they may be? Even to you? Every last one?"

   Speck shrugged like there was only one obvious answer to all those questions. Rav went back to being silent after that.

   However, what he'd been trying to achieve all along since his first question hit me.

   And I wasn't the only one.

"But..." Camila shook Speck's hand off, backing away from him with the most queasy expression I'd ever seen. "The Neuroskel doesn't have any effect on me. I'm immune too. I'm like Dorian."

   From our principal's horrified face, he found out what Rav had done a little too late. Speck's subsequent glare toward him was murderous enough to send him six feet under this very floor.

   His eyes softened when they drifted to Camila. "I would never hurt you, you know that."

"You saw his answer to Rav's questions, Cami," I said. "From that, to the way he treated Dorian to making you almost murder your own classmates, Minji and Viola, one thing is clear, and it is that nothing will stand between him and his goal. That includes the lives of whomever gets in his way, including yours."

"And you know the people which come to mind when that sinks in?" Rav asked her. "The people he claims he's against."

"He may have saved you once," I added. "but can you really say with utmost certainty that he'll do it again now?"

   I couldn't say I enjoyed how torn Camila appeared. However, I couldn't say either that I didn't like how the flaws in Speck's ideologies were rearing their ugly heads and making her question what she believed she was standing for.

   That moment was short-lived by Speck suddenly snatching the gun from Camila's hand and aiming it at Rav and me. The look we received indicated he was done talking.

   I shut my eyes, hoping that being blind to him pulling the trigger would calm the whirlwind of hysteria within me. I felt Rav take my hand in his and although I stayed blind to my surroundings, I knew then he was also bracing himself.

   The impact never came. Not on us, anyway. A loud thud against the floor, however, forced my eyes and–upon seeing what was before me–mouth open.

   Mr. Speck was unconscious on the floor, his hand empty of the gun he sought to shoot. Camila stood next to him, her face giving nothing away. But then it all made sense when i saw what she was holding:

   A syringe.

   Unlike the one I'd used on Speck, hers had no traces of the colourless liquid left.

   She'd given Speck the full dosage.

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