Oni struggled to get his emotions under control. Though at a distance, he watched Dev closely. She'd looked like him just now—like Sen with how fast she'd moved to try and strike her own crew.

That disappointed him. He'd thought her above petty acts of violence. Lotsu always said people not in charge of their emotions were fools.

Now when he walked behind them, he no longer felt proud. This was a washup crew, led by a couple of washup head cadets.

"We'll be missing lunch," Dev informed them, "because we're getting a thorough check up. That means secondary and third layers of scanning."

The girls, walking before them, each slowed.

As anticipated, the main one, Pleasant, turned, arms folded. "That's—"

Dev caught her by the throat and slammed her into the wall on the left so fast Sen could barely react.

"Now you listen to me, mutt. My father died telling me one thing, and one thing only, and if I cannot get what I came for...." Dev dragged the girl forward then slammed her again. "You don't get what you came for either."

All remained frozen in that empty hallway. Sen had no luck in calming Dev down. In fact, it wasn't until Pleasant shed a tear that Dev let her go. Whether it was from pain or surprise, no one could say.

Mercy looked worried for the first time. "Do something," she told her sisters.

"You're another one," Dev said, grabbing her under the arm.

But as Dev walked on, Sen lingered with Pleasant. He crouched and tried to help her up. She brushed him off, face turned to the wall as she stood and followed.

Oni slowed in his stride. This was his fault. And with how frequently the sisters looked back at him, he became aware that they more than knew that.

This wouldn't go unanswered.

But instead of the medical area they all knew, they kept walking. They even left the well-lit hallways until they came upon an area marked 'restricted.'

It was a huge set of double doors. Sen looked up at it and let out a deep breath. "I hate this."

He and Dev shared a glance. Her anger was enough for him, and he approached the wall to the eye scanner.

Oni expected him to use the good eye but instead he picked up the eyepatch and received the scan.

Dev forgot her anger momentarily. "You have a new eye?"

Sen left the eyepatch up, displaying the unsettling injury. There was nothing there.

"Nah. It's the structure of my face it scans. The eye thing is only there to throw people off. Otherwise, bad actors could just steal eyeballs and gain access, right?" When he received no answer, he asked his cousin, "Are you sure about this?"

"And have them claim I was sleeping with a recruit?" She seethed, "And get that on my records? I'd rather be dead."

Her words had Sen letting out a sigh. "Right."

After he turned and approached the doors this time, they slid open to reveal yet another hall.

Oni stepped closer for fear they'd leave him behind. However they got this medicine, he needed to see.

The world beyond the doors was dank and nearly black in some areas. It wasn't a place anyone seemed eager to journey into.

Sen unhooked his own matrix then typed and waited. "He's coming," he said finally.

In the distance, something emerged from the darkness.

Its movements were familiar. Even its body shape. Oni, and truthfully, even Dev's crew, stepped away when the man came into view.

It looked identical to Sen...only...stranger. Once it reached the light, the metal on its skull in places showed them why. But he was a clone, so Oni willed his frightened heart to calm.

"Senji," it said, its voice hollow and robotic.

"Big brother," Sen answered. "How are you?"

It blinked but not in a uniformed fashion. One eye closed then opened, followed by the other. Instead of a cadet uniform, it wore a white lab coat. One arm was bionic, perhaps that entire half of its body.

In answering Sen, it cocked its head.

"Sen—" When both brothers regarded Dev, she tried again, "Sento, could we call on your assistance?"

For a long while, he studied Dev. When he looked to Sen for help, the boy replied, "It's Dev. You remember Dev, right?"

A light flicked on in Sento's eyes and he calmed. "The nice girl with the bad cooking."

Oni thought to smile but Dev's frown told him this wasn't meant as a joke. Perhaps it was the only thing the boy could remember of her.

Sen put a hand on his brother's shoulder, and they shared a glance.

"Whatever it is, Father'll be angry, won't he?"

For a short moment, Sen hesitated then confessed, "Yes. But I'll be happy. And by extension...so will you."

Sento stared at Sen's chest, processing the words before he smiled. "Oh. All right."

Sen opened the eyepatch and held the boy's shoulders. "I need...."

A chemical list came out of his mouth at lightning speed. It looked inhuman the way he spouted what he required and the amount.

Ending finally with, "All in pill form."

Sento picked his head up and stared past him. "You have a heart condition." He touched his own chest and said, "Does that mean I have one as well? Is my time limited? Must I make peace with this existence? What is beyond this moment? How long will I have?"

"No. Brother. Calm down." Sen stepped before him and held his face. "Calm down. This is not for us. Listen to me. We do not, do not, have a heart problem. We're strong. We're robust."

"But I can get a new heart," Sento told him. "Many subjects—"

"We do not require anything. We do not require a new heart. Reprocess this logic," he commanded.

"We do not have a heart problem. We do not require anything."

"Correct." Sen fell silent for a moment then said, "We need this medicine. Surely, you just have a match."

"That already exists in the facility. It would be unnecessary to create it yet again."

Sen's jaw worked much like someone formulating a lie. Finally, he said, "I do not wish to inform Father of this."

His brother met his gaze. "You wish for me to drop my short-term memory?"

The sadness in Sen's expression said he didn't.

"Yeah, big brother, just this one time. I'm sorry. But before you do, I'm going to need a list of any head cadets with a demand for this medicine and also the secret field medic with the key to the med bay pharmacy."

Sen received a lot more than that. Whatever the device that his brother brought, he connected a wire to his matrix and scanned each and every single girl. When he turned to scan Oni as well, Oni remembered himself and stepped back, refusing.

They shared a long gaze with one another before Sen gave up in his efforts and gave the device back.

Once Sen received the information he wanted, Sento, studying him, said, "You are missing an eye, brother." He reached for his own left eyeball. "Do you require one?"

"No. No, thank you." Sen patted his cheek and asked, "Are you ready?"

It was a slow nod but it came in time.

Sen glanced back at Dev who'd been quiet through this entire disturbing ordeal.

The clone's eyes rolled back, sporting all white when he dropped. Sen caught him.

A moment later, they both stood again and Sento regarded him in confusion. "Brother. When did you arrive?" He paused then concluded, "I've dropped short-term memory."

"Yeah. I'm sorry."

But as Sen spoke, his brother focused solely on Dev. It was a pleased expression for some time.

Finally, Sen offered, "That's Dev. You remember Dev, right?"

His brother focused on him and answered, "The nice girl with the bad...the bad...." He stared forward then refocused and said, "The nice girl." His blue eyes explored Sen's face. "Brother, you're missing an eye. Do—?"

"No. I don't need a replacement. But thank you."

Sento nodded then waited. When no one spoke, he turned to leave. "If that is all...."

Sen watched after him as he made his way down the hall. Part way, the clone paused then turned, pleased when he said, "The nice girl with the bad cooking."

Dev made a sound. In time, she forced a smile then waved at him.

He smiled back and turned to walk away.

Even after the doors closed, Sen didn't move. Dev stepped close to him and slipped her hand in his grip.

They both watched the doors together.

"You did the right thing," Dev said, "letting him see you."

Sen held up his matrix and said, "I just hope the crud is worth it." He let out a groan. "Looks like we'll be paying your new boyfriend a visit."

Once he turned to flash the profile of the secret head cadet in charge of the medicine, Dev narrowed her eyes at him.

"Any promises you've made to Bray, trust and believe you'll be fulfilling it in my place long before me."

Sen marched past her. "I was afraid you'd say that."

One hour and one less life-line later, Sen returned to his spacious bunk with a pill container.

"We'll keep track of them," Sen informed the girls, "and even though they do damage to a healthy person, you'll all be taking one, wasting the entire batch, unless someone fesses up all ready. And good luck finding more."

It was then, and only then that Pleasant stepped forward. "I'm the one with the heart condition."

Sen wasn't convinced and neither was Oni, but he understood her logic. Get the medicine and be the one to potentially get kicked out should that information come to light.

Dev grabbed her own matrix back from Sen and entered in the info. "I'm documenting it."

They could all fit comfortably in Sen's room which, much like Dev's, was private but even bigger than hers.

Sen called Pleasant's bluff, giving her a tablet to take. She downed it without hesitation, a fact that disappointed him.

When she held her hand out, he muttered, "You're being foolish."

"Am I getting them or not?"

He grinded his teeth then said, "No. You won't be. But I'll give you an extra one and I don't care what you do with it."

And that was that.

Pleasant pocketed the next tablet but it was Mercy who was concerned.

"We can't be seen coming to a male who isn't our head cadet every day. Rumors'll spread."

"I'll come," Pleasant said. "It hardly matters now."

Once that was over with, Oni remembered about the celebratory dinner that they were late for.

His heart wasn't in it. He asked Dev, "Mind if I turn in early?"

She didn't respond right away, that should have been his hint.

A hand came down on his shoulder, squeezing him a bit too tightly as Sen informed him, "Guess who's back under my helpful wing yet again?"