"Don't kill me!" The man said quickly, hands in the air, "Please, please don't kill me! I-I-I have just been watching you! Just-Just watching that's all. I swear. I am completely harmless."

     "That's what the other creepy old man said before I shot him." (Y/n) said plainly while pointing her crimson red pistol at him.

     "There is absolutely no need for you to kill me. I-I assure you!" He pleaded.

     "You do realize that the more you tell us not to kill you, the more it seems like it's kinda the right idea?" Rhys said.

     "Everything's okay..." Fiona reassured while lowering her gun, "If you're not here to hurt us, we're not here to hurt you."

     "Thank you for that. It is genuinely rare to encounter reasonable, somewhat intelligent-seeming people." The old man said with relief. Gortys slowly got out of her ball form and rolled over to him.

     "Hey there!" She greeted.

     "That little robot's why we're here. There's an upgrade somewhere nearby. We're looking for it." Fiona stated.

     "Well, I-I-I can't help you with that. I know nothing about it. So you should leave. We all should leave. All of us, going out separate ways." The old man says rather quickly and making everyone quirk their eyebrow up, "I can leave right now, in fact. And if anyone asks- not that anyone would, of course- I'll tell them, I'll say, I didn't see you. See who? See, I've-I've forgotten you already!"

     "Cut the crap, old man." (Y/n) said with a glare.

     "Aw, come on, man! You're... y-you're acting all killable again!" Rhys whined with a frown.

     "Alright, two things. You're a) really weird and b) obviously hiding something. What is it?" Fiona said.

     "I, I just, I... I, um...". The old man stuttered as everyone stared hard at him. His eyes catch Vaughn strapped to Loader Bot's back, "Oh! Y-your friend there... does he happen to suffer from artificially induced hemispherical obdormition?" He asked.

     "Artificially induced hemispherical obdormition? He does yes." (Y/n) repeated, everyone looked at the old man and at her in confusion. The two look at them and both frown.

     "Paralysis?" The old man asked in simpler terms.

     "Whuuuerrrrah." Vaughn groaned.

     "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good question, Vaughn. Why didn't you just say paralysis?" Rhys asked as (Y/n) nudged him.

     "Because he's not technically paralyzed. The contortion, the blinkless eyes. All signs of a toxin called Thanatopsol." The old man explained.

     "Oohhh that explains it. I knew it was something." (Y/n) murmured.

     "Whrrrruuueeeennn." Vaughn groaned.

     "Yeah. Yeah, that's a good question too, Vaughn. Why didn't you tell us days ago if you apparently knew the name of it and the symptoms?" Rhys asked as he looked at (Y/n).

     "Listen, don't get snappy with me." She warned with a glare to him, "I didn't think it was that bad and it never crossed my mind until he said that and I just now realized what it was."

     "So wait, wait you've seen this before?" Rhys asked as he looked between the old man and (Y/n).

     "At Hyperion I have." (Y/n) said.

     "Yes. If you let me get a better look at him..." The old man reasoned.

     "Hrrruhrrriihh... Urrrhhuhnnhah..." Vaughn whined.

     "Well, then you could fix him?" Fiona asked as she stepped up.

     "Of course you can, right? You're a doctor." Rhys said, already putting his trust into the old man.

     "We have no idea if he's a doctor!" Fiona argued.

     "Let's just assume that he is!" Rhys argued back, "Because apparently (Y/n) knew what it was and even she isn't a doctor."

     "Help me get your friend on the table." The old man said as Loader Bot put Vaughn's stuff body on the table, "There. Good." He said as he goes through a cabinet and pulled out a syringe, "Bully! Here we are." Fiona looked at the syringe with a brow arched at the old man looked at her and handed her the syringe, "Actually, young lady, I could use your help."

     "Uh, yeah. Okay." Fiona said with uncertainty as she looked at Vaughn, "What am I doing with this?"

     "You're plunging it into his heart." The old man said casually and (Y/n) almost choked on her own spit. Everyone's eyes widen and looked at him, Vaughn anxiously glanced around. Fiona grimaced and raised the syringe, stabbing it down into his chest. The others except (Y/n), Athena, Loader Bot, and Gortys flinch. Fiona pressed a button on the syringe and took a step back. Everyone watched intently as there was silence.

    "Soooo... What now?" Rhys asked.

    "I don't know." The old man shrugged, "I've never done anything like this before."

     "Um what?" Fiona looked at him.

     "I swear if we killed Vaughn, we should blame Rhys." (Y/n) said.

     "Why me?!" Rhys asked.    

      "Because you went along with it and got your best friend killed, without even questioning if the guy had a medical license." (Y/n) stated as Fiona continued to stare at the old man in shock.

    "I thought you knew what-"

     "Gaaahhhh-gggghhh!" Vaughn howled in pain as he bolted upright, "Someone, please spit in my eye! Or lick! Lick my eye! I don't care! Lick me in the eye!" (Y/n) bursted out laughing.

     "Oh, god. The toxin turned him insane. Or into an eyeball fetishest." Sasha said as that made (Y/n) laugh harder.

     "He's dehydrated, but that shot you gave him should help." The old man said as (Y/n) started to calm down, wiping away a few stray tears. Vaughn started to rapidly blink and lean back in relief.

     "Oh, oh, oh man. Oh, that's the stuff. Oh my god, thank you for blinking. Ohhhh... gahh-haahh-haahh..." Vaughn groaned as everyone shifted uncomfortably.

     "Well, glad I could help." The old man said as he tried to walk away before Fiona caught him by the arm.

     "Whoa, hang on there, Doc, if that is your real name." Fiona looked at him skeptically.

     "It's not, and I never said it was." He said.

     "Well, I'm not done with you yet!"

     "There's no need for you to be this suspicious, surely..." He whined with a frown as Fiona crossed her arms, "But I just helped hi-" He caught Athena's intimidating glare at him and he sighed in defeat and started to walk away, his back facing them, "Very well. I'm... on the run, you see. I have lost everything. My wife, my son, my cat. I did not lose them in that order, though. I lost my wife first, then my cat, then my son. So: wife, cat, son."

     "Have you ever thought of becoming a professional storyteller? Because your sense for crucial information is just-" Rhys started before (Y/n) elbowed his arm with a glare to him.

     "Rhys." She warned and he immediately shut up.

     "Forgive me. It's been a long time since I've enjoyed human contact. Perhaps I've forgotten how to talk to people. You must understand, I've suffered months of wandering, isolation. Skulking from one location to the next. Broken, ashamed. Homeless, I got here, to this place, only minutes ago. So... I'd ask that you leave me now, to my demons, and go." He said while hunching over depressingly.

      "That's a sad story. But I still don't trust him." Sasha claimed.

     "Me neither." Vaughn said while placing his hands on his hips.

     "I do! Is that dumb of me?" Gortys asked as (Y/n) chuckled and squatted down to pat the top of her head.

     "Oh, Gortys. You're too pure for this world."

     "I found your clothes." Fiona said.

     "Clothes?"

     "You're gonna tell me it's not yours? It's the exact same outfit you're wearing right now. Or is it just an odd coincidence?" He scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "You know, you seem like an intelligent man."

     "Thank you. I am."

     "You've probably figured out by now that the easiest way to end all this, and get rid of us, is simply tell us the truth."

     "I'll tell you what you want to know." He said as they walk towards him, "Follow me. I am not a simple traveler. I've lived here for months."

     "So, dead wife, dead kid- that's all made up?" Vaughn asked as the old man walked over the window.

     "The bunker within that jungle- I suspect it contains the upgrade you've been looking for. I wish I could tell you more about what's inside, but I was never brave enough to check. The problem-your problem- is the Atlas Automated Security System that surrounds the bunker."

     "Isn't it always." Fiona sighed.

     "If I were you- and in this instance I'm not- I'd gain access to the security tower, which is there."

     "Heh. I can get in and disable the security systems. Easy." Rhys said with a boastful of confidence.

     "Not easy. Not at all easy. But your best option, nonetheless." The old man said.

     "Automated Security System, huh? Huh, just realized the acronym for that is ASS. Ha!" Vaughn chuckled to himself as (Y/n) sighed with a shake of her head.

     "Yeah that's probably why no one calls it that." Sasha stated.

     "Hey, Rhys. Guess what we're gonna do? We're gonna disable Atlas' ASS. Hahahahaha, so good!" Vaughn laughed.

     "Is there a reversible syringe to make him go back to being paralyzed?" (Y/n) asked, "He shouldn't be having this type of energy."

     "Do you think Rhys can handle hacking into those security systems?" Fiona asked the old man.

     "Please. In my sleep." Rhys scoffed.

     "Because overconfidence has never gotten you into trouble before..." Fiona said.

     "So we're done talking, then? We can actually go secure this upgrade now?" Athena asked rather impatiently as (Y/n) nodded as she too got somewhat antsy to get going. "Fiona, while Mr. and Mrs. Robot Eye here hits the security tower and hacks the defenses, you and I will infiltrate the bunker and grab the upgrade."

     "What?" (Y/n) pouted as she looked at Athena, "But I want to go with you."

      "It'll get too dangerous. We don't know what's in that bunker and I'm not risking you getting hurt. Stay with Rhys." Athena ordered.

      "I'm not a child anymore, Athena. I can take care of myself." (Y/n) huffed as Athena pinched both of her cheeks and pulled them, "Ow!"

     "I don't care. I'm supposed to be training these two and watch over you. You're still as reckless and childish as ever, I don't want Lilith on my ass if you get yourself killed so stay with Rhys." Athena growled, "Am I clear?"

      "Yes!" (Y/n) whined as Athena finally let go. She pouts as she rubbed her face, "Meanie..." She grumbled under her breath, that earned her a swift and hard swat on the back of her head and (Y/n) yelped softly. Athena glared at her before looking at Fiona.

      "Let's get this Gortys component and get out of here, huh?"

      "Awesome! This is incredible!" Fiona said with a wide smile.

     "Confidence. That's good." Athena said.

     (Y/n) stared at the two and huffed as she started to leave, Rhys watched her. "I'll wait for you outside, Rhys." She said with a hard tone in her voice as she walked out. Everyone watched her leave as Vaughn cleared his throat.

     "Okay, little update from me, uh, which is, I feel terrible! Not good at all. And I'm sure I've got some residual nerve damage."

     "Almost certainly you do." The old man said.

     "Right. Thank you for that input. So, I'm gonna maybe chill out here? If that's cool with everyone? I'm sure (Y/n)'s cool with it."

     "Uh, yeah, that's okay. I'll go with Rhys and (Y/n)." Sasha volunteered as they begin to walk out.

     "There's a lot of stuff I can do, right? Huh? I mean, I don't have a robot eye... I'm not a highly trained assassin... Not a CEO of a huge corporation or anything like that... Also not particularly charming, but- but I can still do stuff!" Vaughn said, "Yeah, I-I-I can do it. I'll-I'll figure out something to do back here while you're gone. Have fun, everyone. Being awesome... I guess."

     Fiona walked over to him, "Hey, do me a favor. Watch that guy. I don't trust him as far as I can throw him."

      "I doubt you could throw him at all. He's probably much heavier than he looks." Vaughn claimed while looking at the old man.

     "That's kinda my point." Fiona said with a roll of her eyes.

     "Ah, got it." Fiona walked back to the others.

     "All right! Everyone knows what they're doing?" Everyone nodded and confirmed, "Hey, with a plan like this, what could possibly go wrong?" She said as the door closed. Athena looked down the stairs to see (Y/n) pacing back and forth angrily as she waited and sighed softly to herself.