The TV began to glow with a low quiet hum. The hum was then interrupted by the rough voice of a middle aged man. “Greetings, citizens. Thank you for tuning in for this morning’s news. Today a new star enters the crime fighting business to stop the many injustices that happen in our dear city of Kaizo. With me, I have Doctor Roberto A. Smith, the caretaker of this new hero.” The camera pans out to show a brightly lit lab covered in many neon lights. In the center, a tall man who looked to be in his sixties and in a well stained lab coat. 

“Thank you, dear interviewer, for showering my daughter with such praise,” said Roberto with pride. 

“Tell us, Roberto. What, when, and how is your daughter able to do what no man else can? There are so many rumors from the other scientists that your daughter will bring a new age! Doctor Smith, is this all true?” the interviewer asked. 

“Well to be quite honest, I can’t answer all your questions. However, I can tell you that it isn’t because I am secretive, but that I’ve still yet to know myself,” explained Roberto. “She is certainly an interesting child. Ever since she was born, her hair had the strangest trait of being able to change colors with her emotions. What I can say however, is that Violet is the one spark that keeps me going in life. I am simply proud of my daughter, and nothing will change that fact.” An audible awe could be heard in the office background. 

“Well thank you for your time Roberto, and hopefully next time we can answer more questions about your wonderful daughter. Now, for our next segment, the Cri-” The TV was turned off. 

A flustered girl, around sixteen or so, was hiding her face in a giant teddy bear. “Dad, why did you have to go and say that?” the girl asked, though no one answered. She was alone in her room, which was covered with many doodles on the walls and outfits. The girl got up from out of her bed and went into the closet to change out of her pajamas. Violet came out in a dress that was purple and white, and had a skirt with many pink stripes. A knock on the door could be heard, followed by, “Violet, are you still in bed?” 

Violet scrambled to grab her hairbrush. “No, Dad, just getting ready for the day!” 

On the other side, Roberto was flipping a coin in the air. “One heads, twenty-five tails,” tracked Roberto in his mind, as he waited to see his daughter. The door opened, and out came Violet, her long hair and eyes a bright pink. 

“Someone’s embarrassed. Was it something I said?” asked Roberto. Violet calmed down from her flusteredness, her hair turning a darker purple. 

“You can’t just embarrass me like that. This is my first day outside this laboratory and now everyone is…” Violet’s hair went a droopy shade of blue.

 “Don’t worry about what others think about you,” comforted Roberto as he pat Violet on her head. “I will always be here for you. Now, are you ready to see the world outside this laboratory?” Roberto then took Violet by the hand and walked her up multiple flights of stairs, until they had reached the first floor of the laboratory. 

When they exited the building, Violet couldn’t believe what she saw. There were endless spires of metal that pierced the skyline, each covered with lights as bright as stars. There were also people, so many people that Violet wondered how this city could sustain it. 

Roberto took a deep breath. “This city is the pinnacle of human technology. There is a thriving economy, endless food and water, and a house and job for everyone. However, some people hate that peace and try to destroy this utopia. That is where you come in, dear Violet. You are to help this garden with its weed problem, and you will be known as its hero.” 

Violet began to think to herself about what she was getting herself into. She would be a hero to the people. She would uphold the justice she was taught by her dad for years. She practiced with weapons, martial arts, and even healthcare for this singular purpose. She will make her dad proud. “I’m ready,” said Violet with determination. 

“Good,” replied Roberto. “There is a terrorist group called Crimson Dawn occupying the south side of Kaizo. They’ve been tormenting the factory workers over there, so I’m sending you to stop them.” A bus drove in front of the two, and the door opened. There was no driver, only a couple empty seats. Violet walked in, and the bus drove off.

A couple minutes passed, and Violet reached the Summer Steelworks factory. She was greeted by a line of butlers and maids, followed by an elderly man with a monocle. “Greetings, Violet. My name is Georgey, and I am the owner of Summer Steelworks,” began Georgey as he got down on one knee and extended his hand. “It is always a pleasure to receive help from your father, but to think he would send his own daughter.” 

Violet, confused by the gesture, took Georgey’s hand and was invited into the factory. Surrounding them were an assortment of people bucketing liquid metals into large furnaces. Many were scarred with burns, and some had missing limbs. “Don’t mind them,” Georgey said to Violet, who was now a pale white.  “The Crimson Dawn is responsible for this. They are a cruel group of terrorists who think that we contribute to the destruction of the world. A spy of mine has given me the next date for their assault.” Georgey then handed a pamphlet to Violet, who had calmed down from her shock, and then Georgey went off. 

Violet took the time to look through the pamphlet. It was made by Roberto who simplified the plan that he wanted Violet to take. It was simple: prepare for the assault that happens in five days, capture as many terrorists, and protect Georgey. While Violet was reading, she felt a presence watching her. It felt… wrong. Terrible. Threatening. Violet turned around to see a young boy no older than twenty. He had tan skin that was covered with black spots, and he wielded a wrench covered in rust. 

“Oi,” said the young worker. “You must be the girl Georgey hired, right?” 

Violet, still cautious, replied back, “Yes, I am the one Georgey hired.” 

The worker sighed with relief. “Good, I was looking for you everywhere. Who knew someone so bright could be so hard to find.” Violet’s cautiousness transformed into curiosity. 

“Why were you looking for me?” asked Violet. 

“Simple,” replied the worker. “I’m the spy that Georgey told you about. Name’s Carmen by the way.” Carmen spat into his right hand and put it out to shake. Violet’s face scrunched up and her hair turning into a dark green. There was no way she would shake his hand after he spat into it.

“Whoops,” Carmen began. “Guess I shouldn’t greet you like that.”  Carmen then wiped his hand off and put out his left, which Violet shook.

 After Violet shook his hand, she then asked, “So why are you here again?”

“Oh right, I completely forgot about that part. So Georgey wants me to show you the factory during off hours and to tell you about the plans Crimson Dawn has been preparing.” Carmen then pulled out a strange circular piece of metal with a chain on it and stared at it. 

“What is that?” Violet asked.

“It's a watch. Used to tell time,” Carmen replied. “It’s a relic my pa found back when he was alive, back when things were much simpler.” Carmen put the watch away, his face lined with a bit of sorrow. “Well, it's night now, you should probably go to wherever Georgey has you staying in.” Carmen began walking away, before turning around. “Oh, wanna meet up back here in the morning?” Violet, not sure what to say, simply gave a nod and ran off.
When it was dark, Violet went back to Georgey. Georgey had a large white house, covered with artworks etched into its walls. “Excuse me, Georgey,” Violet said as she walked through the door. The room she was in was large, spacey, and filled with many books, but it felt empty, as though it was simply there to look fancy. The books looked like they never left their book case, except one.

“Ah, Violet, it's nice to see you again.’’ Georgey was sitting in a reclining chair with a book in his hands. The book was very worn, its cover nearly faded off and its pages bent. 

“I was wondering where I would be staying for the night,” asked Violet as she looked at the books within the bookshelves. They were not even named. 

“Of course,” Georgey replied without looking away from his book. “I’ll show you your room.” 

When Georgey looked up, he saw Violet trying to grab an unnamed book. “Don’t bother with those books,” began Georgey. “They were failures I made long ago. A culmination of hours I spent wasted in order to reach what I believed to be the pinnacle of my ability.” Georgey stood up and opened a door that led down a long hallway, and gestured Violet to follow. Violet followed, and Georgey continued his speech. “This city that we live in is one of progress. If one should live, and not just survive this city, they must improve themselves until they have reached their limit. Those skyscrapers were just like us, small and insignificant. Yet through years of improvement, they grew so tall that not even heaven itself could stop it. That is what this ragged book is, a pile of pages reborn into its finest form.”

After a moment of silence, the duo appeared in front of a small door. “This will be your room for the next couple of days. If you have any questions you can always ask me,” said Georgey with a smile. 

Violet took a couple seconds to think, before coming up with a question. “If that book is the best you can do, then shouldn’t you turn your other books into books as great as it?” 

 Georgey’s smile went limp, and the kindness in his voice going cold. “Violet, if I wrote more books as good as this one here, then the magnificence of my literature would rot. It would go from a masterpiece to a normal piece, for its uniqueness is what makes it a masterpiece. Take our social hierarchy within this factory. The poor follow the workers, the workers follow their managers, and the managers follow me, for I am unique. Suppose another me came into existence. I would lose my value as a person, for I would no longer be unique. It’s the one ideal that I’ve disagreed with about your father.” At the end of his speech, Georgey looked tired and his breathing was heavy, a hint of suffering flashed in his eyes. Georgey then wandered off back into his library, and Violet went to sleep.

The days following the first were extremely boring for Violet. It was always either training the workers in some sort of martial art, or just wandering around the facility, waiting for something to happen. However, that horrible feeling of being watched never went away. The only time things ever got interesting was when she was with Carmen. Carmen would always talk about what the old world was like. Back when there were trees and animals in cities, or before the global crisis that people of olden days called “Global Warming”. It was strange that Carmen knew so much about the old world, so on the last day of preparations, Violet asked, “How do you know so much about the old world when it happened so many centuries ago?” 

Carmen had a big smile on his face and simply said, “Follow me.” 

Carmen took Violet to a small, withered shack. Inside was a bunk bed, a couple shelves, and a large house that expanded downwards. “This hole contains many ancient items from long ago. Long ago, people buried this large iron chest called a time capsule. There they store items that they thought were important so that others can find them,” said Carmen as he walked into the hole. The chest was huge, spanning around ten feet in each direction. Inside were what could only be described as wonder. Many books that were written in other languages and filled with strange imagery, along with other ancient tools. 

“How did you find this, let alone unbury it?” asked Violet.

 Carmen took a deep breath. “An old friend of mine showed me this place. When I had found her, she had already unburied it but couldn’t figure out how to open it. So she gave me this shack and box so that I could open it.” When Carmen was finished, a tear had rolled down his cheek. “That woman is now the leader of Crimson Dawn.” He then wandered into the capsule and pulled out a small velvet box. “This is a ring I found in the capsule. I want you to have it so that you can remember me by it,” he said solemnly. The box contained a black metal ring that looked like any other ring. When Violet put it on however, the ring changed color to that of a bright purple. Just like Violet. 

It was now the final day of Violet’s stay. Doomsday had now arrived. A loud intercom roared through the factory. “Attention!” began Georgey. “This battle will be the deciding factor in whether we live or burn in hell. So live, my men. Live so that you may see tomorrow’s sun. Live so that you may go back to your families who await your return. Live so when we look back upon this day, we will raise the glasses of friendship and laugh loudly at the fools who dare attempt to strike us down!” A loud applause was heard throughout the facility. Every member was given an automatic rifle, a combat knife, and a pistol should their health be deemed unsalvageable. The men waited for the intruders to come at the front gates. They hid on conveyors and behind crates, while those on the front line steeled themselves for the upcoming bloodshed. They waited, and they waited, and they waited. Nothing happened after five minutes, or ten minutes. It was just silence. 

Finally, one man decided that he was done waiting, and turned around to go back home for the day. He was met with a thousand glowing lights, followed by a thousand steel shells. The backline was bombarded with endless piles of lead, with every man being shredded down to a bloody red mist. The enemy had come down from behind. The men who had prepared were now frightened at such a sight. The managers ordered the others to retreat, but to no avail. Violet, being at the other end of the battle, began shouting orders wildly. “Retreat, everyone! Retreat!” Her mind was struggling to figure out what had happened. Think, Violet, think. How did we get ambushed from behind us? The factory is just a giant rectangle with only one main entrance. There are no windows or other entrances. What happened? Then a thought clicked into her mind. A major entrance…the leader of Crimson Dawn…A large hole. Violet then charged towards the front line. She knew it was like a death sentence to charge into the front lines, but she had to try. 

By some miracle, Violet was able to make it to the tiny shack. She was exhausted and her hair now a dark gray. With a rifle in hand she slowly opened the shack door. Her hunch was correct. The time capsule had been turned into a pile of scrap, revealing a large tunnel where it once was. “Seems my little secret has been found,” screeched a wretched voice. That feeling of something wrong had bloomed into a feeling of pure terror. Violet turned around to see a figure about six feet tall, wearing a black leather, hooded trench coat that was drenched with the now familiar sight of blood. It also had no face, just a black void. In its hand was an oddly shaped metal stick. A bat. It was covered with many nails and its handle was wrapped with many bandages. In it’s other hand, to Violet’s horror, was Carmen’s watch, ticking away the seconds.

“Carmen was such a good man, wasn’t he? He was kind, compassionate, and caring. What a shame he had to rot in this disgusting place,” said the figure. Violet couldn’t speak, she couldn’t think, she just charged at her opponent, her hair now as red as the blood that surrounded her. “How pathetic,” the figure said as it took the bat and slammed it into Violet’s arm. Violet flew into Carmen’s shelves, each crumbling upon her landing. The rifle in her hands fell onto the ground, which was then grounded into pieces by the aggressive figure.

Violet was in agony. Her arm pulsated with a splitting pain every second. “I’m surprised you’re still able to keep conscious,” said the figure. “But then again, this isn’t your first time you were taught how to handle pain.” 

That sentence sent Violet down a path of panic. “What do you even know about me?” yelled Violet in anguish. 

The figure stood silent, before emitting a loud laughter. “What do I know about you? Oh that's a good one. Let me tell you something interesting I think you should know.” The figure kneeled down to the crippled Violet, slamming its bat into Violet’s leg. “I know everything about you. Both your past, your present, and your future. There is nothing I don’t know about you, oh Violet.” The figure then got up and began to slide down the long tunnel. “One more thing, you still love your darling dad of yours, right? If you want to know about your dad and I, take this to the trapdoor under your closet. Then we’ll see how much your father truly cares for you.” A card was thrown onto Violet, hitting her head and knocking her out.

When Violet woke up, she was still in Carmen’s shack. Her wounds were now healed, and the card was with her. Violet took the card from the floor. It read: “Security level six: VIOLET.” Violet was unsure of what to do next. Normally this is where she would ask Roberto for advice, but she couldn’t do that now. She had to do something. Violet exited out of the shack, where she was met with a heartbreaking sight. There lay Carmen’s body, leaking scarlet blood from the many new holes in his flesh. Violet collapsed on her knees and held Carmen in her arms, his vessel a cold and lifeless husk. Violet cried for minutes by Carmen. Her sorrowful wails echoing throughout the silent factory.  Her first friend in a new world, now gone forever. Violet looked at the ring upon her finger. The ring was a dark blue, just like her. Violet took in multiple deep breaths to try and calm herself down. She knew what she had to do now. It was time to go back home.

On her way out of Summer Steelworks, she encountered a familiar sight. A bus with no driver, except now it was extremely battered and near broken. Violet walked into the bus, and the doors closed behind her. The bus groaned a low, saddened howl, and began to wander back to the lab. When Violet exited the bus, the lab was still there as if nothing had happened. On the inside however, was just silence. There was no sound of scientists chattering, no sounds of the test tubes clinking on each other. It was as if they never existed. “Dad!” yelled Violet as she wandered into the lab. “Dad, I need to talk to you.” As she went closer to her room, down the flight of stairs, she noticed something. One of the step covers had been moved, and revealed something that resembled a card holder. “This must’ve been where the card was hidden,” Violet thought to herself. 

When she had finished going down the stairs, she encountered a strange sight. Every bit of her room was gone. All the clothes, the bed, the closet. All that remained was a large handle with a card reader on it. Violet nervously slid the security card into the machine, and a hidden trapdoor opened where Violet’s closet used to be. Violet looked down the trapdoor. It contained a ladder that stretched for a long while. 

Violet climbed down the ladder for an unknown amount of minutes. To her, it felt like it went on indefinitely. When she finally reached the bottom, Violet saw a room filled with many beds and monitors with broken screens. Upon closer examination, the monitors had card readers like the one in Violet’s room. Violet slid the card through the reader. “Entry 001,” a distorted voice said. “Today marks the start of Project Meta. The other scientists with me are as excited as I am to witness the birth of a new age with me.” The clip had ended. Violet then went to the next monitor. “Entry 002: We are currently taking samples of multiple extinct species through their fossils. The idea being we can use them to improve the human body through genetic splicing.”

Violet stayed in the room for a while, listening to monitor after monitor. Listening to entry after entry. “Entry 017: With the samples collected, we must now make a suitable vessel for our new creation. Currently as of this moment, my assistant Georgey is investigating the ancient scriptures of animal anatomy found in the time capsule. Perhaps with the ancient words and our advanced technology, we can improve research as a whole.’’ The sound clip ended, being the last one in the room. Violet wandered around until she had found a door hidden among the walls. Inside was a long hallway filled with many shards of broken glass. Violet carefully waltzed around the glass and noticed an odd sight, a large glass tube standing among two fractured ones. The singular monitor in that room was then played. “Status of experiment 546: Deceased. Status of experiment 547: Deceased. Status of experiment 548: Missing.” Violet continued to move forward. 

As she wandered the facility, another strange sight befell upon her. It was a man. Or was it something else? Violet pulled out the combat knife that she had stored from Summer Steelworks and approached cautiously. Suddenly, the man lunged at Violet, and Violet could see its true form. It had the body of a man, but his face had a long bill on it. Its hands and feet were webbed, it had a long spike coming out of his right hand, and it had a long tail. Violet dodged away from the strange creature, before pouncing upon the strange creature herself. The knife was plunged into the creature’s heart, and it collapsed. A voice could be heard in the distance. “Status of experiment 548: Deceased.” What was that? Violet thought to herself. Was this monstrosity what my father worked with? Violet shook her head. Now was not the time to think of questions. 

Violet wandered and wandered, wondering where she could find Roberto and hoping that he was safe. She continued to tune in on any monitors that she could find. “Entry 077: Though we have had many failures, the experiments still continue. It’s not like we haven’t learned anything, so we’ve still been making some progress.” Violet’s worries grew and grew as she got more and more lost in the endless labyrinth.  

“Entry 121: Many of our scientists have started to become disheartened and worried if we will ever make a breakthrough. Only Georgey and I seem to have stayed fully confident.”  After exiting a hallway, she saw that she was standing upon a bridge. The metal bridge connected to a long pillar that had a door and a monitor on it. The bridge Violet stood upon looked over a deep pit. Violet didn’t know how far the pit went. It was something she did not want to test. Violet went over to the door, with inscribed “Experiment 99” upon it. Violet slid the card through again, but this time a different, more familiar voice could be heard. 

“Entry 100, assistant speaking: Due to my seniors wanting to work throughout the night, I, Georgey, have decided to record this entry. Seeing my seniors struggle has made me realize that we should try with the basics again. Thus I have created a normal human in this chamber. Back when we first made this place, we agreed that there would be nine different pillars with chambers in them. Each chamber would represent a different scientist’s personal experiment that no one else could interfere with. Many of the others believed my creation was a waste of space, but I felt it was needed. Thus I shall give him a name due my belief of his importance. I feel like Carmen would be a good name.”

Violet was in shock, her hair now a dark amber. Carmen was someone born here, but how? Violet thought to herself. She lacked information, some clue she was missing. It was then a light caught her eye. By another pillar was a small flame being waved side to side. Violet didn't know if it would be a good idea to approach the flame, but it was not like she had any other choices. After traversing through the endless stairs and hallways, she popped out onto another bridge. There upon the bridge was an elderly woman with dark blue hair. She was in a black button-up shirt and slacks smoking a cigarette. Next to her was a trenchcoat and a bat, along with a mask as black as night. 

“It seems you got my signal,” said the elderly woman. Violet immediately got into a defensive stance with her knife. The woman simply smiled. “Violet, we both know that you want answers to the things you’ve been seeing right? You don’t know why this is under your room, you don’t know why your father is connected to this, and you certainly do not know why you are connected with this.”

Violet slowly eased up, before speaking, “Why would you tell me anything, and why should I believe you?” 

The elderly woman began to lean on the rails of the bridge. “We’ve been taught that we should only trust the people who father trusts, right?” Violet caught a strange word in that sentence. 

“We?” asked Violet. 

“Yes,” replied the woman. “We were raised by Doctor Roberto, we were sent to Summer Steamworks, and we met our one and only friend, Carmen. The dots about me and you should’ve connected by now.”

The dots indeed connected in Violet’s mind. It made sense and every word was true. Besides how she got here, everything fit like a puzzle piece. Yet something was still being kept from Violet. “If you are me, and if you were raised like me, then why did you lead the terrorist group Crimson Dawn into Summer Steamworks?”

The older Violet had a surprised look on her face, as if she expected a different question. “The first Crimson Dawn was not originally a terrorist group. Its origins were that of a non-violent protest. Back in my time, I was still told they were terrorists, and when the time came I unloaded bullet after bullet onto citizen after citizen. I was blinded by the lies Roberto and Georgey told me, because we were born to believe them. It was only after I met Carmen in that old shack that I realized that their ideas of life were different then the one I was taught.”  

 “It's strange, is it not?” continued the older Violet. “We both cared for Carmen, yet we both could never save that poor soul. Be it from Georgey, or ourselves.”

The older Violet sighed and dropped the burning cigarette into the dark void below. After a few seconds, a loud choir of screams roared through the facility, filled with pain, suffering, and agony. “Whenever someone dies in Kaizo, their bodies are sent to Roberto for analysis. When the bodies are done with, they are disposed of as materials here. These materials are then used for the experiments you’ve listened to. Roberto somehow keeps them in a semi-awake state, so that they don't rot away. They are dead, yet they can still walk.”  The older Violet then sighed and walked over to the monitor by the pillar, and slid her own card down the chip reader.

“This is where our creator came in,” said the older Violet, before letting the monitor play out. “Entry 782: Finally, after all this work, I’ve done it. I’ve created a child that consists of things that no man possessed before. Tough skin, superhuman strength, it can even regenerate from minor wounds! Look at the child’s hair. I think I’ll name it Violet. Soon I will improve the human race with this creation. To perfect this troubled society as a whole.” A laughter could be heard from the monitor before fading away. Both Violets were silent. What could one say when they hear that they were but a building block for some greater plan?

“There is one last thing I intend to reveal to you,” the older Violet muttered. “How many of us do you think exist in this world?”  

Silence was back again. The two were in thought. “So what do you expect me to do now?” asked the younger Violet. The older Violet grabbed the bat, and wrapped the bandages onto her wrist. 

“If I was younger and more naive, I would’ve asked you to help me with this plan, but I know you wouldn’t go along with such a plan.” The older Violet pulled out something that looked like an egg. It was metal, and it glowed with an intense heat. 

“I intend to restart this world using this: the core and energy supply of Kaizo. It’s a nuclear reactor all compact so that you can simply hold it, though you can still feel the burning radiation course through your skin.’’

Violet realized what she was implying. “You're going to destroy this entire city,” the younger Violet said as she drew her knife. 

“I have to. This world has no justice. It's just a living lie.” replied the older Violet, her hair now a brambled crimson. “This place gives me no hope. It lacks the dreams that normal people have. You don’t have much time to stop me. Unless being a pile of ash is what you wish to be.” 

Both Violets lunged at each other, swinging their weapons and clashing violently. Each one was waiting for the one moment the other let their guard down. Each one was staring into the other's eye, waiting for that split second. Their arms shaking as they clash again and again as the sound of metal hitting metal rang throughout the lab. “Violet?” said a familiar voice.

There was Roberto, watching the scene. He was wielding a strange item in the shape of a rifle. “Get down!” yelled the older Violet. She slammed her bat into the younger Violet’s shoulder as a laser was fired through the older’s shoulder, blowing off her entire arm. The bat she held fell off the bridge and into the void below, as the remains of her arm fell upon the younger Violet. “You bastard,” screamed the older Violet. “You were going to kill the both of us!”

“Yes, that was the plan,” replied Roberto. “I have deemed you too dangerous, and that you are no longer needed for this world. Of course it's not all that bad. All I need to do is to simply rebuild you. Throw your scraps into the pile and re-use them. It will be like nothing ever happened.”

“Did you ever care about us?” asked the younger Violet. 

“Oh Violet, I have always cherished you. You were my greatest creations that I have put multiple years into. However, it's not like you were anything special. After all, I just need some time and a bit of trial and error, and soon it will be like you never changed. You can soon join the twenty-four others that I have disposed of.”

“Bullcrap!” yelled back the older Violet. “We both know you never had a shred of heart for any of us. The pain training you’ve inflicted on us was torture not training! The only reason you even weakened it was so that other Violets wouldn’t run away immediately.” 

Roberto seemed to be unfazed by the words that were spat upon him, as if they held no merit or intent. “So what if I rip a leg? It can be put back. So what if I starve you for weeks on end? So what if I trap you in a pool of water so that you almost drown? Limits are meant to be tested on creations.” A second laser was fired at one of the older Violet’s legs, disintegrating it to a pile of ash as it exploded into flames. Roberto then approached the crippled Violet, walking past the younger Violet, who was frozen with fear and shock. 

“This world has already accepted me into its fold. It fully trusts me, and believes whatever I speak to its naive ears,” Roberto said as he kicked the older Violet. “You have lived too long for my tastes, so let's just get this over with.” Robero charged up the energy rifle for a final shot, until Violet grabbed him. Roberto didn’t flinch as he continued to stare at his prey.

“Violet, listen to me. I am simply doing what has to be done. This is what must be done so that everything remains right in the world.”

“Roberto,” whispered Violet under her breath, “Thank you for teaching me everything I know.” Violet threw Roberto off the bridge and into the pit of flesh below. Another choir of screams could be heard, followed by a loud splat. 

“To think you had the guts for that,” said the older Violet as she tried to lean against the pillar. “But now we have no one else to listen to, no one to give us orders. We have nothing to live for, right?”

The younger Violet silently nodded. She had no idea what to do now with her life now that it had been stripped away from its wonderful lies. “Since you lack a purpose,” began the older Violet, “I will give you a new one.” The older Violet reached into her pocket and pulled out a key. It was well worn, and was covered in many stickers. “What Roberto never told you, is that he couldn’t dispose of us. Despite everything, he still had some love for his creation. Though I guess when it bit back was where he drew the line. We all ran away from him into this ancient ruin called a bunker buried in the outskirts of Kaizo. Perhaps there you will find a better life.”

The key was exchanged between hands. “So what will you do now?” asked the younger Violet. Both looked at the older Violet’s missing arm and leg, now piles of smoldering dust that will never return. The cavities where those limbs used to be still continued to burn with the sizzling of human flesh.  “I still have one last thing I intend to do,” the older Violet said as she held up the core. “I’m sure now you won’t object to this.” 

Violet understood, and silently but solemnly waved goodbye. She began to run upwards to the surface, her blue hair and tears the last thing the older Violet saw of her.. “I guess this is it,” the older Violet said to herself. “I think I lived a happy life. Or at the very least…one without any regrets.” She pressed the core’s self-destruct button, and simply embraced it with a bright yellow smile. I’ll see you soon, Carmen.

When Violet exited the lab, there was the bus again. It had its doors open, as if waiting for her. Violet climbed into the seats. It was well worn but comfortable. Violet then had some rest that she had long lacked.

Violet was awoken by the sound of a loud boom. Followed by multiple rumblings, Violet got out of the now parked bus, and saw that she was in a different building. There were multiple people watching. They all were Violets of different ages, some were tall, while others were small. They all had different traits that were unique from one another, except for one. They all had hair that changed colors. It was like looking at a fractured rainbow. “Excuse me,” said a voice from behind her. It was a young girl who had long hair, and was holding a teddy bear. “Why hasn’t auntie come out of her bus yet?” the girl asked. Violet silently pulled out the key that “auntie” had given her, and the young girl understood what had happened. “Auntie is gone now, isn’t she?” said the child solemnly. The child then began to weep, followed by the rest of the occupants. Violet also had tears in her eyes. Even though she didn’t know her long, no one wants to watch themselves die. Violet joined the others in weeping, as the hot, colorful embers fell upon the cold, monochrome city.