I should warn you guys that anything can happen at any time. I don't know why but I had the urge to say that...
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        Ara had already felt like things were a bit off that morning so when the human tracking nasod appeared, she wasn't too surprised. In fact, she sort of expected it, or at least something similar, to happen. Afterall, Add hadn't remembered anything at all from the previous night which meant that Raven's group likely had something to do with it. Ara had also found it strange that Owen had been mentioning how he couldn't remember the past. Yes, Ara heard him for her senses were excellent but she played it off as if she hadn't noticed. Then Seris had asked if she and Add were ready for the mission as if knowing they were awake last night. Not only that but Raven's unreadable expression only made Ara worry.

        Now that they were being ambushed by nasods, Ara wouldn't even be slightly surprised if it was all a part of Raven's secret scheme or something where he had Proto set everything up. Ara was just about prepared for a fight too...until the newly manufactured nasod disappeared from sight. "How stealthy. It has a camouflage mode," Eun commented. "Not now Eun," Ara thought with a bit of irritation as she and Add naturally took a defensive stance, their backs to each other.

        It was an automatic reflex. Either that or Add would have pulled Ara behind him as if he was strong enough to protect her from anything in the world which Ara found hilarious at times. "Add, Ara, we're going to keep you guys surrounded until we get to the next door. The two of you are going to go ahead of us while Owen contacts Proto to resolve this situation while you guys proceed," Raven said as the Crow Mercenaries surrounded Add and Ara, not even thinking about letting them fight. This most definitely surprised Ara for she hadn't expected them to sacrifice their well-being to keep herself and Add, but herself in particular, protected.

        "What if there are more of these those things up ahead?" Add asked as the Crow Mercenaries inched forward. Suddenly, the nasod that they were all carefully searching for despite it being invisible became clear as day right before attacking Fred. Fred cried out in pain as his right leg was cut rather deeply and he fell to his knee. The nasod swiveled and went for a finishing blow but Zohan blocked it. "Seris, Owen, get them to the door!" Raven ordered.

        The two who had been addressed began leading the way and Add and Ara both followed leaving Zohan, Barton, Raven, and Fred to fight that one nasod that seemed to be a threat more than the many other nasods still around them. Seris easily took them down and despite Owen's obvious frequently displayed anxiety (or whatever it was. Ara didn't really know), he was an excellent swordsmen. He was making quick work of the nasods he came across yet somehow leaving them perfectly functioning but injured. Seris was merciless though. She seemed to be purposefully aiming for the nasods' cores and the only reason Ara knew this was because Add had explained things like that to her many times in the past.

        "Pay attention, child! You're going to get hurt!" Eun's voice snapped in Ara's mind as the fox moved Ara aside to avoid the attack of a nasod that neither Owen nor Seris got to. Add was even attempting to put some effort in taking down a few nasods but he did nothing more than shocking them. Ara knew how much he hated destroying nasod technology or even nasods themselves. Once at the door, Seris and Owen took defensive stances behind Add while Ara filled in whatever gaps there were.

        Add easily unlocked the door due to his implementation of new codes in the interface system. "Go on ahead with them Owen. We've got everything handled here," Seris said. Owen nodded and followed after Ara and Add who were already making their way down the strangely empty corridor of the nasod factory under the castle front. "Ara, my dynamos aren't reacting well to this environment. They keep sending me warning signals. Something is definitely wrong," Add said as he led the way. He wasn't too hard to keep up with since his dynamos weren't carrying him.

        "Do you think it's another tracking nasod?" Owen asked having heard Add's comment. Add nodded in confirmation. "We need to be especially careful. You witnessed what it did to Fred. I can do the fighting if you prefer," Eun said in Ara's head. Ara just shook her head and kept going. She didn't need Eun's help and would only start using her power as a last result. The only reason Eun had taken over earlier was because she sort of did so on her own and Ara couldn't stop her because she didn't know how. "Ara! What did I just tell you!?" Eun snapped as she made Ara dodge another attack. She had used Ara's name so she was definitely serious now. "Right, sorry," Ara apologized.

        The corridor emptied them into an oddly empty room that had pannels of some sort as the walls and floors. "This is a trap. It's got to be a trap," Add muttered as he began to back up. As if the panels heard him, the corridor they'd just come from snapped closed with a door that was not previously there. Add muttered a curse and instinctively got closer to Ara and had his dynamos protectively circle them. "Nice for you three to have joined this demonstration today. I didn't expect three of you to make it so far but I guess it can't be helped since The Tracer is among you," Eve's familiar voice said from an unknown source.

        "This whole mission was a trap!" Eun observed. "Now, citizens of Altera, I will demonstrate the capabilities of our new enforcers, Code: Track_01," Eve said to the crowd that must have been around her. The floor beneath them began to rise and the ceiling opened to reveal the noise that wasn't there before along with dropping a bit of sand down onto them. The crowds of nasods cheered as the trio was lifted up into an area that seemed like an arena.

        They stood in the center of the sand filled arena and lining the arena walls were the eleven nasods in the Track_01 prototypical group. "I've had Apple track your team's progress and they seem to still be struggling against Track_01 Commander. You three will be destroyed by the rest of them if you try resisting but I'm expecting you to resist. Afterall, you need to show my nasods just how effective their new protectors are," Eve said as the remaining Track_01 prototypes powered on.

        "Damn it! We can't escape this situation," Add growled as he ran a hand through his hair in fustration. "I don't understand. Proto told us this was the way," Owen muttered in disbelief. Ara spotted Eve along with Apple and Proto by her side just like the first day she'd seen her. This time they were in a special VIN (very important nasod) section of the arena. "She told us. She said she was neither an enemy or an ally. Even now, we can't tell where she stands," Ara said. She, Add, and Owen stood with their backs to each other preparing to fight for their lives. "This is insane though. Raven and the others are barely managing against just on of these things according to Eve and now there are eleven of them with just three of us. We'd be lucky to last a couple of minutes against them," Owen said as he slightly shook.

        "Your comrades barely have an advantage. A sword even when wielded well is only so good against an enemy made of steel and especially an enemy that can escape sight. We, however, have the advantage. Add excels in this feild for he knows nasods very well and could easily create a code to disable them if we buy him time. Ara has me on her side. Despite her not wanting to use my power, she has no choice this time and with the techniques of my past hosts, she can be quite useful in detection and defense."

        "Owen, you doubt your own skills. You were able to take down those nasods earlier without harming their cores. If you can focus your blade on their cores this time, we will definitely have a chance. That is our plan. We will succeed with it," Eun said, suddenly taking over for a bit as the nasods walked towards them rather slowly. They were being cheered on by the many nasods in the stands and seemed to be enjoying the praise.

        "That won't work. I need a sample of the codes to formulate an anticode. We'd have to take one down first for me to get that. It won't be as simple as you say, Eun. Our best bet is all out defense. If I hit them with enough voltage, I can power them down one by one but it will take time to build up enough power for each wave of voltage. Either option is dangerous and time consuming," Add said as he seemed to be looking at something with his glowing eyes that Ara couldn't see. He'd told her about his eyes' special abilities but she'd nearly forgotten about them.

        The group of Code: Track_01 all disappeared from sight all at once. "Alright Ara, it's up to you. Keep your last remaining friend and potential family safe with your life...or at least most of it!" Eun said as she gave Ara back her control. Ara erupted with Eun's power with a full nine tails and her senses immediately sharpened. It was hard to focus with the crowd being so loud but she was able to easily make out the prints that were made by the invisible nasods. The sand in the arena provided her with a sort of second sight.

        "I can see them. Their prints in the sand are still there," Ara said loud enough for only Add and Owen to hear. "Good. Let us know if any get too close. Owen, you'll keep them back when they become visible to attack. I'll let you know when I have enough energy to take one out," Add said with a nod. He had barely finished his sentence when a nasod appeared in front of him with its blade-like arms brandished to attack. Ara reacted just as quickly as it did, allowing Eun to guide her movements to shoot spheres of dark energy at the nasod in succession.

        Her attack knocked it off balance and to the side just as it made its attempt to attack Add. The nasod recovered quickly and disappeared once more. "Sorry, I...I didn't see its prints," Ara apologized as Add staggered backwards a bit from shock. Owen kept him from falling. "It's okay. You...there's no way you could have predicted that. They're still invisible afterall," Add said with a little surprise still left in his voice. "Don't get distracted for too long, Ara! This is not the time nor place for it," Eun said as she sidestepped an attack from an appearing nasod and sent a stream of dark energy spheres at it.

        "Their strategy is alarming but it's game over for at least some of them now. How many of them can you get near me at once? I know I said I could only take out one at a time bit I've found a solution for that," Add inquired. "Two are heading for us right now!" Ara said in alarm as the tracks in the sand became far more frequent towards them. "Actually three are. I can see the sand moving just a little bit on this side too," Owen said as he held his sword up to stop an attack if there were to be one.

        "When they get within three feet of us, I need you guys to give me a signal," Add said as his dynamos suddenly began to crackle with electricity. "Add, that's too close! I can't actually see them and if I let them get too close then-" Ara was saying. "Just trust me! If I don't time this right, we're dead either way," Add said. "They're getting closer!" Owen said, his voice slightly raised. "I said three feet away," Add reminded. "Now, do whatever it is now!" Ara yelped as she stepped back a bit.

        Just as she finished speaking, Add released some sort of wave of energy from his nasods that was quite visible in a nice shade of purple electricity. The nasods that were about to attack became visible instantly and fell to the ground right before their blades could reach them. Add let out a sigh of relief as did Owen. Ara was thoroughly frightened and stood still. The nasod crowd gasped in surprise, others beginning to boo at them. "Eight more to go," Owen whispered. When he did though, all of the nasods became visible which shocked them.

        Ara looked up to Eve as she seemed to be muttering something with a look of disapproval and the Code:Track_01 nasods reacted to her words. They charged at the three of them all at once. "This isn't good!" Owen commented. "We have to split up!" Ara said. "That's what they want though!" Add said as he began shooting electrical balls of energy from his dynamos at them to slow them down a bit. Ara had done the same with her dark energy. "What choice do we have?" Ara asked. The nasods surprised them again, this time leaping backwards as they three down bombs of some sort near the trio's feet.

        For the first time in a while, Ara actually cursed just before the bombs went off. Luckily, they were merily smoke releasing bombs but unfortunately this smoke was rigged. "Don't breathe this stuff in!" Owen warned but there was too much of it to try blocking. The smoke stung Ara's eyes and fuzzed her sharp senses. She saw the nasods entering the smoke, unharmed of course, and take hold of her, Owen, and Add. Despite the drug that was seeping into her system, Ara fought for as long as she could trying her best to get free and not give up. The last thing she remembered was being hit before her world went black.
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So...I didn't exactly see this comimg. I mean, yeah I'm the author and all but hey, I'm surprising myself here too! Until next time you amazing readers!