A group of young people killing time outside a convenience store in the early evening is usually not that suspicious. Well, not in the eyes of a normal person. There's always some annoying old man to compin about the younger generation.

  Not today. The streets were completely deserted. Empty of human or animal life typical of a standard American suburb. Zero customers in the store, which was closed, by the way. Zero workers returning from work. Only one or two cars on the street. People who can't afford to stay hidden at home even under the threat of an EVO attack. Doctors, firefighters, police officers (ugh). Life goes on. And life doesn't care about EVOs any more than they care about it.

  That's exactly why groups like those young people emerged. Independent EVO hunters who take care of the small cases. After all, Providence isn't omnipresent. They can't deal with every EVO attack on the pnet. Especially when the choice is between a colossal city-destroying monster and a slightly mutated wild dog.

  "It's like a horror movie..." Jason muttered. Anxious eyes peering over his shoulder at the street for the fifth time in the st thirty minutes. Empty, just like the other times. How he wished that would be of some help.

  "Oooooh. The ghost dog is going to get youuuu." The gunner, Arthur, taunted his partner with a bad imitation of a zombie. Still lying on the wall with the rifle resting on his belly.

  "Its going to get you if you just sit there and do nothing." Jason warned and turned his attention to the task at hand. Trying to recover the soda he honestly bought from that damned vending machine. Was it too much to ask to be honest for once in his life? Just when he didn't want to ask Akari to hack everything for them.

  Speaking of which...

  "Arthur? Where's Akari?" Jason asked his partner. Finally noticing his companion's absence.

  Arthur shrugged, unconcerned. "She came into the store about five minutes ago."

  Akari chose that moment to exit, accompanied by the entrance bell. A huge bag of chips open in her hands and another one under her arm.

  "Akari." The young woman froze in pce. Staring at Jason like a pet caught doing something it shouldn't. Which usually ends up being the case. "You remembered to pay for that, right?"

  She nodded slowly. "I put the money on the counter... I think... Just a second." She quickly disappeared back into the store. Three seconds ter she returned with a triumphant smile. "I did!"

  Jason nodded and said, "Thank you." They already cause enough damage during their hunts. If they also get a reputation for thieves on top of that, then no one will want to hire them.

  A very curious group, the three of them, to say the least. Led by Arthur Graham, a "professional" hunter. Caucasian with blond hair, greenish eyes and features that indicated somewhere in the United Kingdom, completely out of pce in the American Midwest. Equipped with a modified version of a Providence suit acquired in a completely legitimate way (source: Trust me bro).

  Right behind was Jason Martin, their engineer, mechanic and often the voice of reason. The perfect image of a student in this field. Bck hair cut to sharp perfection. Pants and a dress shirt worn more out of habit rather than style preference. Except for the holster of the semi-automatic pistol strapped to his hip.

  And finally, Akari Kogu. EVO whose mutation had nothing to do with her peculiar personality. Not feral, but definitely with a few screws out of pce. The most out-of-pce of the group. A young woman of Asian descent, with spiky wild bck locks and eyes that were once dark, but now showed a very faint blue glow. Her battle attire of choice was baggy pants, a white shirt and a dark blue coat.

  Originally it was just Arthur and Akari. Both came from the same orphanage, left to their own devices when they became adults. The "awakening" of Akari's abilities was the kick that pushed them to form a duo of EVO hunters as a way of earning an income. Jason being a recent addition. Having decided to join them after witnessing Akari and her constructs in action.

  Akari crouched down slightly next to Jason. And although he was on his knees they were almost the same height. Akari had always been the shortest among the other children. "Do you need help?"

  Jason considered his next words carefully. "Can you open this without damaging it?"

  Akari responded with a soft hum. That sound always reminded Jason of a generator, oddly enough. The low hum of an electric motor in the middle of the night. "I guess so? Hold it here quickly." Akari shoved the packages toward Jason. Now with her hands free, EVO girl took her pce next to the machine and pressed her palms against the metal.

  No matter how many times Jason witnessed it, watching Akari use her powers was still as impressive as ever. Her eyes closed. Breathing deeply. Focusing only on herself and the nanites in her body. Searching. Commanding. Neon blue veins ran from her arms and through the machine as if it were an extension of herself. Her eyes glowed the same shade behind her lids. If Jason really tried, he could almost hear the faint electrical hum of the nanites working.

  "Um... Nope. The lock is mechanical. I can't open it from here." She expined. Neon veins fading from the metal. "A sp should loosen it." She raised an arm that was already starting to glow.

  "No Crackjaws." Jason vetoed it immediately. "Just help me shake it a little. That should do it."

  Arthur, still on the fence, twisted to sit up straight. "Is Crackjaw a new project?"

  "New version of the gauntlets." Jason expined without taking his attention off the machine. Each one holding one side and shaking it lightly. More cumbersome than anything. The machine wasn't very heavy and Akari is abnormally strong even without constructs. She could probably throw that thing far if she wanted to. "More ergonomic and not so huge."

  Akari's sour expression expressed her dissatisfaction with that st part quite clearly. "Bigger is better."

  "Literally 'that's what she said'. Aye." The gunner cpped his hands. A mischievous smile on his lips.

  "Ha ha. Very mature. Hey-Akari! Careful there-" Something hit and fell inside the machine. "Hold on. I think the can came loose."

  The two carefully put the machine back in pce. And sure enough, the soda was there waiting in the tray. A little shaken but not enough for the can to explode when opened.

  "Thanks. That helped a lot." Jason gave Akari a friendly punch on the shoulder. A simple gesture of affection that meant a lot. Akari smiled a toothy grin. Almost vibrating with pride.

  Akari is an easy person to like. Always super cheerful and affectionate, even if her typical neutral expression doesn't show it that much. Willing to help anyone in need without hesitation. A person who loves a lot and very easily. Be nice to her and you'll have a friend for life. Be rude and, chances are, you'll get a few scratches on your face at best.

  Arthur had once said that Akari was like a hunting dog. Fierce in battle and always loyal to those who prove themselves worthy. A pretty crude description in Jason's opinion, but not necessarily inaccurate. It doesn't help that Akari herself agrees and joins in on the joke.

  At least Jason assumes it's just a joke. Hard to tell with Akari. She's totally the kind of person who growls at people she doesn't like.

  "And continuing." Jason turned to Arthur. "Oversized arms are more of a hindrance than a help. I tried to reduce them to a more practical size. About 6/8 of what they were. It should be better for her to fight now."

  "If you say so. You're the engineer here." Arthur pointed at Jason with the butt of his rifle. Jason knew there was no threat in his voice. If there was, Jason would be staring at the bullet at the bottom of the gun's barrel instead of the butt. But Arthur can make even a stock intimidating.

  "I say and guarantee. Besides, there's nothing stopping her from going back to a previous version if there's a problem. The original schematic is still in the notebook."

  "And in my head." Akari added proudly. "Safely stored in the armory."

  Arthur nodded. "Can you pass me some of those? I'm hungry."

  The night remained strangely calm, which only served to fuel suspicions. That thing had been causing chaos in Greenwich for at least a few weeks. A nocturnal beast determined to devour everything it could. Dogs, cats and other pets. Food in stores and restaurants and, unfortunately, even a human. Everything the beast sees, it hunts.

  It was to be expected that an EVO with that kind of reputation would be easy to find. Four hours of fruitless searching disagreed. No visual contact, no sightings, not even tracks. The thing just disappeared.

  “Do you think it ran away?” Jason wondered.

  “What are the odds that the thing ate something poisonous and died in some hole?” Arthur threw the idea out there. As unlikely as it was, it still managed to make his companions ugh.

  “Local terror found dead after eating a car battery. That would be a great headline.” Jason joined in. “The thing is, if that happened, they would use it as an excuse not to pay us.”

  “Just say it was our pn. What are they going to do, put us on a polygraph?” Arthur cracked.

  “Hey…” Akari tugged on Jason’s sleeve. “Isn’t that the EVO down the street?”

  The reaction was instantaneous. Months of muscle memory honed by combat came to the surface. Arthur cocked his rifle and took aim while Jason took cover between them, pistol already unholstered.

  That was an EVO, there was no doubt about that. The creature might once have resembled a pinscher, judging by the excess fur and the general shape of its snout. But the mutation had taken its toll. The EVO shuffled along, its gait made difficult by the gross tentacles growing out of its back. The thing no longer had eyes, just a thick, fleshy pte where they should have been. Long, crooked fangs. Far longer than any nd creature should have.

  The monster and the hunters turned to each other almost at the same time. The EVO growled loudly, taking up a lunging position. Tentacles cracking like wet whips. From its body nguage, the monster must have been hungry.

  “Akari!” Arthur gave the signal. Akari spread her arms. Metal rushed and expanded inside and through the girl’s elbows. Nanites organized themselves first into blocks of dense metal, then into articuted fingers and more complex mechanisms. Forming two mechanical hands rger than Akari’s own torso. The young woman finished with a fist-csh with enough force to make the ground shake.

  The EVO’s attention turned fully to Akari. The beast barked, ferocious and incessant. A provocation that Akari answered with a low growl of her own. It took a step forward. Akari flexed her knees to dash. Arthur readied the trigger. A tense second passed in which neither of them moved.

  A fsh of movement. Arthur pulled the trigger on instinct. The bullet shattered useless on the asphalt. The EVO was there one second and the next there was only the bullet hole. Akari raised her Crackjaws to defend herself. Arthur jumped from the wall to the roof of the store. Adrenaline pumped through everyone’s blood.

  A tense second passed. Two seconds. Five. Nothing.

  “Did it ran away?” Akari muttered.

  Just as she spoke, a furious howl echoed through the sky. The three of them followed the direction of the sound to somewhere above. The moon shone brightly among the stars. And right there, easily some thirty meters above, was the hound. In the grip of a bird too rge to not be an EVO as well. It thrashed violently, legs and tendons whipping through the air. It was moving away very quickly.

  “There was another one?!” the gunner excimed. No one had said anything about aerial EVOs. More importantly, no one had said anything about paying for more than one.

  “Um… Uh…” Akari turned to Jason and Arthur. Gauntlets half-disassembled on her arms, unsure whether to let her guard down or not. “Lucky strike?”

  “Make it lethal! Go ahead, we’ll catch you! Go go go!” Jason ran to the parked van. Arthur was right behind her. No time to pn now. Time to show their true expertise: Make shit up as they go.

  Akari didn't respond with words, but crouching down and undoing Crackjaws. The schematic was clear in the EVO girl's mind. Ptes, wiring, stabilizers, propellers and engines. Technology only possible with Akari's control over her nanites. The liquid alloy ran freely down the hunter's back. Forming wide wings and high-powered propellers that unched her high into the air in seconds.

  Flying. Of all the machines and abilities Akari had gained, wings were by far the one she loved the most. Feeling the wind rush through her clothes was indescribable. The freedom of movement to soar through the skies and do pirouettes among the clouds. Seeing the world so small from up there was a beauty that Akari could never put into words properly. It made her chest feel tight with… happiness? Adrenaline? Both, probably.

  The EVO bird had turned east. A route crossing part of the city's downtown and commercial district towards the mountains beyond the border. They had a few minutes at most before EVO disappeared between the mountains.

  "It's in sight!" Akari warned over the communicator as she dove in pursuit of the EVOs. Followed right below by Jason and the van desperate to keep up with a human-shaped jet cutting through the sky. Arthur held on tight to the passenger seat.

  “Keep visual contact. If you can find an opening to take them down, do it. But don’t open fire. We can’t risk anyone getting hurt by a stray bullet.” Arthur gave the orders. A trickle of sweat ran down the gunner’s forehead. That’s the tricky part of urban combat. Too many things can go wrong. Too many people can get hurt.

  Akari tried to get closer to the mutant bird. Now she could get a better idea of ??what she was up against. The mutation hadn't changed much from what she assumed was a bald eagle in the past. Aside from the rger size and more skeletal build, Akari noticed fangs growing inside the bloody beak and elongated fangs embedded in the prey. The canine EVO continued to thrash and struggle against the cws. The blood dripping from the holes in the fnk where the tentacles had been minutes before made it clear that the only progress the dog had made was to injure itself even more.

  Nature is brutal, Akari thought. Well, nature was a strong word in this context. Biomechanical mutations still have a biological part, after all.

  The eagle luckily didn't seem interested in anything else in the city. Satisfied with the size of its current prey. Akari followed it. Patiently looking for an opening that wouldn't risk crushing anything too important in the fall.

  The canine EVO, however, had other pns. Another howl of pain tore through the air as a new long tentacle tore a hole in its back and tched at the left wing with enough force to draw blood.

  The eagle, overcome with pain, lost its footing and began to fall. A furious screech accompanied it the entire way. Akari watched as the two EVOS fell, still locked in combat.

  Perhaps they had gotten lucky after all. Two problems about to take each other out. It would be a good change of pace for once.

  The fight continued. About twenty meters above the ground, the dog finally managed to free itself from its captor's grip and grab the eagle with its new tentacle. The eagle struggled and thrashed in the air. One st burst of movement and the dog lost it grip and was thrown away.

  Right in Akari's direction.

  "Shit!" Akari tried to throw herself away from the canine monster. To no avail. The beast flew close enough for the disgusting tendon to tch onto Skydrive's left wing. The sudden additional weight and the bad angle made it impossible to stay in the air. She started to lose altitude fast.

  “Let go! Let go of me!” Akari barked in rage. Her hand went straight for the hunting knife strapped to her waist. Akari didn’t carry a gun. Arthur had tried to teach her how to shoot once, and her aim had been so disastrous that the three of them agreed that it was safer for everyone involved if Akari didn’t carry a firearm at all. The knife was a st resort for situations like this, in case she was attacked and already had an active construct.

  The dog didn’t stay still. Still struggling and clinging desperately to Akari. Swinging too much for Akari to get a good cut on the tentacle. And the few ones that did connect barely did any damage. Too hard. Too tough. Another tumor began to grow on the EVO’s back. Another tentacle growing.

  Fifteen meters. The second tentacle had fully formed. This one sporting a spearhead that could have been bone or metal but was undoubtedly lethal. The rooftops of the shops below were closing in faster than Akari would have liked.

  And amidst the chaos, the eagle swooped down. Nearly missing Akari and the hellish pinscher in the process. The bird gave one st menacing screech before retreating to its refuge in the mountains. Bastard.

  The attack was enough of a distraction for the canine EVO to nd a strike. The spearhead cut a deep gash in Akari's leg. Akari hissed in pain between quick breaths. Ten meters. They were hovering over a small square in the middle of a roundabout. Akari could see their van two streets away. Looking for a way there.

  Square. Open field. No one around.

  Akari undid Skydrive. Both hunter and prey plummeted from the sky, one far more desperate than the other. Akari adjusted herself in the air with the grace of an experienced skydiver. Searching for another schematic in the arsenal. Metal covering its legs and expanding more and more, molding itself into heavy metal blocks shaped like boots.

  The dog hit the ground first. Impact accompanied by yelps of pain and the unmistakable sound of broken bones. And seconds ter, the meteoric impact of Akari nding in the same spot.

  The van screeched to a halt a few meters away. Arthur jumped out of the vehicle before it even came to a complete stop. Rifle in hand, running towards the crater.

  “Akari! Situation!” The soldier shouted.

  The dust settled. Akari had moved a few steps away from the crater. Only then did she dismantle the construct.

  The EVO dog y at the bottom. Body crushed beyond description. Akari still remained alert.

  “Dead. I think.” She added.

  Arthur joined her seconds ter. Now having a better view of the damage.

  “Ugh. Dead. 100% dead.” He lowered the rifle. Only then Akari let out a breath she hadn’t realized she was holding.

  “The other one got away.”

  Arthur shook his head. “We’ll worry about him ter. Are you hurt?”

  “A cut. Almost healed.” Akari lifted her injured leg. The nanites were already in the process of closing the cut. In minutes, the only sign of the attack would be the cut part of her pants.

  “Lucky you. I wish I could heal so quickly.” The gunner ughed a bitter ugh. “Come on. Help me cut off the head. The guy at the hotel asked for proof.”