Zone enters the facility and sees Wash and Carolina. Carolina was staring at the turbines inside. 

[Looking for something?] 

"Leads, information, anything. Wash, you said Maine had been through here, right?" 

"Well, yeah, but that was ages ago." Wash reminds her. 

"Then look closely. Don't tell me hanging around those morons has turned you two soft." Carolina turns to them. From on top of a balcony Tucker and Epsilon sneak in, watching the three Freelancers. 

"Hey, she said morons, that's us." Tucker whispers. 

"Tucker, shut up, let me listen." 

"The Meta was attempting to transfer energy from these turbines into his suit. It was the only way he could keep his equipment running." Wash explained. 

[Geezoloo...Dax...] 

"Poor Maine." Carolina sighs. 

"Carolina, it wasn't your fault." Wash places his hand on her shoulder. 

"But it was my AI." Carolina brushes his hand off. 

"None of us could have known what would happen." 

"Yeah? Well sometimes I'm not so sure." Carolina walks past them, her back facing them. 

[What?] 

"We were told that the AI were specifically designed for each of us, right? North was chosen for Theta, York had Delta, Zone you have Xi, but Sigma was mine." 

"What are you saying?" Wash asks. 

"You really think the Director didn't know what would happen?" 

Zone and Wash look at each other. [Carolina, that's ridiculous.] 

"He always had his little experiments. He just forgot to take a few extra variables into account." 

"And what about now? The whole world thinks you and Zone are dead. Do you think he knows we're coming for him?

"Yes, I do. And for once, I look forward to proving him right." Carolina says with determination. 

[(Sighs) The Director was always hard on you.] 

"Dude, he said hard on. Bow chicka-" 

"Shut up. They're gonna hear you." Church seethes. 

"He was hard on all of us, Rex." Carolina says putting her hands on his arms.  

"Oh come on, you've got to let me have that one." Tucker mutters persistently. 

"Quiet, you're going to give away our position." Church protests. 

"I've got about five positions in mind for her. Bow chicka-" 

"Tucker, I'm serious!" 

[Yeah, you're right.] 

"But you have to admit, he was also pretty hard on himself." Wash adds. 

"That's it, I'm doing it." Tucker stands up. 

"Tucker!" 

"BOW CHICKA BOW-" Carolina turns around and fires her weapon, hitting the wall next to Tucker. "WHOA! SAME TEAM, SAME TEAM!" 

"What are you doing here?" Carolina demands. 

"Okay, take it easy, Carolina. We just wanted information." Church explains. 

"Epsilon?" Wash says surprised. 

"Look, if you two are planning on dragging us around wherever you want, the least you could do is fill us in." 

"I'll fill her in. Bow chicka-" Carolina fires her rifle again, making Tucker duck. 

"Tucker!" Church shouts. 

"Sorry." Tucker mutters. 

"You and your squad are on a need to know basis. And right now, you don't need to know anything." Carolina growls. 

"Seriously? Geez, you're worse than Tex." Epsilon groans before Carolina shoots him. The bullets pass through him. 

"Okay, that one was on you." Tucker states. 

"Get out!" Carolina shouts. 

"Fine, we're leaving already." Church leaves but doesn't make it far. "Hey Tucker, I need you to leave, I can't actually do it on my own." 

"Carolina, you've got to calm down." Wash pleads. 

"Don't tell me how to lead my squad, Washington. Now, sweep the area and report back to me when the two of you are done." Carolina then walks out of the room. 

"(Sighs) On it, boss." Wash then heads up the ramp, leaving Zone. Zone sighs and looks at the turbines. He feels something nudge his leg and sees Cyclops whining next to him. He kneels down and rubs his head. 

[I'm starting to think Xi is right Cy, she really HAS changed.] 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

Carolina walks outside and bumps into Caboose and Xi. 

"Um, hey, hi Caroline. Yes, um, excuse me, um, have you seen Church lately. Uh, he and I were supposed to hang out after we rescued him." 

"Tell your friends to stay out of my way, or else." She states menacingly. 

"Or else what?" Xi says defending Caboose. 

"Or else they'll bring out my ugly side." 

"Oh, oh come on Caroline, I bet you are really pretty under that armor." Caboose states. 

"What?" Carolina says dumbfounded. 

"Um, I mean, you know, I mean I understand that there's some helmet hair. We all have helmet hair from time to time, but you know." Carolina growls as if she were going to choke him. "Yes, um so anyways, what did you want me to tell Church and Tucker again?" 

Carolina pulls out her pistol and shoots a mountain of fusion coil explosives stacked behind Caboose.

"Just try and put that into words." Carolina then walks away.

"Witch." Xi mutters. Carolina whirls around. 

"What was that?" She growls. 

"Nothing." Xi says simply. Carolina narrows her eyes before leaving. 

"PEEEEUWWW! Explosion." Caboose imitates the fusion coils. 

"Zone, better realize sooner or later, that Carolina is not herself anymore." 

[I do know.] Xi and Caboose turn to see Zone and Cyclops. Xi reappears in front of his face. 

"So you agree with me? She isn't the same! Took you long enough." 

[I'm sorry I doubted you okay? Look let's just get ready to head out.] The three then leave Caboose. 

"Okay, bye!" Caboose says waving. Elsewhere, Carolina passes by a Warthog. The Reds poke out from behind it after she's gone. 

"You know, I'm beginning to think Simmons might have had the right idea about this Carolina chick." Grif says nervously. 

"See, I told you!" Simmons exclaims. 

"Normally I would agree with Simmons, but in this case it would also cause me to agree with Grif. Therefore, I will simply grunt ambiguously." Sarge then grunts. Wash then walks up to them. 

"Hey, did Carolina come this way? We've got to get going soon." 

"Right, we've been meaning to talk to you about that." Grif states. 

"About what?" 

"This whole "finding the Director" thing." 

"You mean the mission." Wash clarifies. 

"Yeah, that." 

"We were thinking. Now that we've helped you find Church, we should just let you handle the rest. You know, wouldn't want to cramp your style. That whole Freelancer thing. You're good at that." Simmons points out. 

"So you're abandoning the mission?" 

"Red Team never abandons the mission, we're just accepting an alternate mission, of different risk." Sarge explains. 

"Less risk." 

"Less is different." Simmons corrects. 

"Securing the front lines of Red Base." Sarge states. 

"Going home is risky? On what scale?" 

"Well, we haven't been there in ages. Who knows what kind of nefarious ner-do-wells have moved in on our territory." 

"Hmm, I guess you're right." Wash shrugs. 

"What?" Sarge questions. 

"Well, you are wanted criminals of the UNSC I wouldn't be suprised if they were setting up an ambush for you right now." 

"What?!" 

"I suppose I can't stop you. Anyway, I'm going to go find Carolina. Good luck." Wash then walks away. The Reds look at each other nervously. 

"On second thought, you could probably use the extra help." 

"Yeah, we're sticking with you." Grif agrees. 

"Never abandon the mission." Simmons adds. 

"Semper, the sempering thing. Semper, ah forget it." 

-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-

On top of the facility, Zone and Xi were talking. 

"So you agree with me Rex? Rachel isn't the same person anymore, she's bent on killing the Director! And she doesn't care about us." 

[She does care Xi. She just...look we'll keep an eye on her okay? But let's not be too hasty with assumptions. Carolina just wants to stop him from doing any harm to anyone else. So do I. Let's just not push her any further.] 

"Alright...Rex I know you care about her a lot. But she doesn't want help, she wants blood. And when the time comes you're gonna have to decide whether you want friends or want to be a killer." Xi disappears. 

Zone sighs and looks up at the sky. ~What am I gonna do Victor?~