As Li enters Harry's private ward, she turns back into her human form. Harry is sleeping soundly while Ara is peeling an apple. As for Tyler, she hasn't seen him. She thinks of pulling a prank on Ara, who never noticed her change into her human form. She slowly walks behind Ara.
"Boo!"
Ara jumps out of her seat and lands on Harry's bed, waking him up.
"LI! You scared me to death!" Ara blurts out as she tries to calm down. Her heartbeat is racing.
"Omf! Ara, my... my injuries." Harry taps her shoulder.
"Oh my god! I'm so sorry. Li startled me. I didn't mean to." She jumps off the bed and sits back on her chair, taking a few deep breaths.
"It's fine. You're not that heavy. My wounds just aren't healed yet, that's why it still hurts." Harry smiles at her. She smiles back and feeds him the peeled apples.
"By the way, you look like a mess, Li."
"Li, did you save the lady?"
Li just looks down sadly. Harry can tell, judging by her expression.
"We did all that we could, but we arrived late. I'm sorry."
"It's alright. It's not your fault."
"What happened to you? Where are the others?"
"We had a tough fight against Volton and his men. We were beaten up but still managed to take Volton down. The others may have arrived at the mansion by now. They brought the first two targets on the list. Dr. Spencer took them to the ship as bait. Heh, Volton thought we couldn't resist human blood, but he failed, thanks to the red pill." She grabs an apple and takes a big bite.
"Dr. Spencer's too blind to see she's playing with fire."
"It seems she unconditionally loves Volton. She even served him her own blood."
"So tell me, is Volton a successful one?"
"Yeah, he's like us, but he doesn't know how to take full control of his powers. He's unbelievably strong, what more if he learns how to control it? With an army of his own, it'll be total annihilation of humankind if he lets them out."
"That would be an apocalypse. As long as they act and think like humans, we can still do something about it."
"That's why I'm here. He's got a whole lot of a failed army."
Harry's eyes widen upon hearing Li's information.
"How can you tell?"
"Volton himself told us. Whenever a failed one loses control, the serum takes full control over them. They're so thin, with bone-like bat wings, all bald, and their faces are disfigured."
"I would've been like that if it weren't for Tyler's blood," Ara speaks up after being silent for a moment.
"Yes, worst case. Even if they fill up on blood, there's no way they can change back. They'll remain vampires, deadly ones, to be exact."
"As long as Volton doesn't know anything about our discoveries, we'll have a few cards up our sleeves."
"He knows we have something valuable, it's the red pill. But he doesn't have the slightest clue about it."
"We must keep the red pill a secret. No one must know about it."
Harry starts to worry. If Volton gets his hands on all his research work, it will be the end of them all.
Meanwhile, at the mansion, Slacovich instructs the others to interrogate Dr. Smith and her subordinate. They ask her everything she knows about the facility.
"Dr. Smith, how are you related to General Johanssen?"
"I don't know who he is."
"You're obviously lying. You know what? My family's thirsty. Your blood would be a great help. Why not cooperate, and we'll make sure you and your friend live to see the sunrise."
"Please, spare us. I only know General Johanssen because of the program he funded at the hospital. There's a basement, its door is well hidden somewhere in the parking area."
"What's in the basement?"
"Chemicals. Lots of them. The General wanted us to come up with an antidote for a certain BB-HGC serum. He gave us the formula and funded the reversal research. I don't know what it's for."
"Are you sure? What about your decision to send the best biochemist at your hospital to the facility?"
"That, The General said he could help him enhance his skills and knowledge for new medicine. That's all he said. I swear on my life."
"Seems like General Johanssen played you for a fool. He used you as his pawn, and you obliged. Good thing he's gone now."
"What do you mean?"
Slacovich turns into a vampire and buries his fangs in her neck. He knows she's told all she knows by drinking her blood. Her memories of what he wants to know flow into his mind. After satisfying himself, he tells the others to drink until they're satisfied, and to spare some for Li.
Tyler arrives at the ward and tells Li to go home, taking Ara with her. The next day, after getting a good rest, they look good as new. They all go to their offices and do their respective workloads like nothing happened the night before. As for Harry, they just inform his department that he got into an accident and is currently staying at St. Claire Hospital. His subordinates plan to visit him after work.
Li's contact from China sends an email regarding the mission. She rushes to Slacovich's office and tells him about it.
"President! I've got news from China. They managed to get into their system but were then blocked. Only this file was taken." She hands over the printed documents.
"Let me check." He goes through all the pages and looks at Li.
"We can send someone to spy on them using the talent agency as a gateway."
"House of Flame Entertainment, this may be the main source of his army. Recruiting talents as an alibi, then submitting them for experiments. Volton Hellgazer, we will stop you no matter what." Slacovich slams the documents down on the table.
"Who's it gonna be? Tyler or Ara?"
"This is a serious matter. We can't afford to sign them up just like that. We need to discuss this with them. Contact everyone. Let's meet at the mansion. Ask Dr. Spielberg to discharge Harry, we'll pick him up on the way."
Li immediately sets out to contact everyone. They file for an early leave that day and hurry home. They pick up Harry from the hospital on their way and head straight to the mansion.
They gather in the living room. Li hands out the documents detailing House of Flame Entertainment, owned by Hellflame Inc. Tyler and Ara both know that it's going to be one of them.
"Slacovich, this is like walking into a lion's den. Are you sure we're sending one of them?" Diego sounds hesitant.
"Volton believes Harry is one of us, that gives us an advantage. We must not let Dr. Spencer meet Harry, or we'll be found out. Dr. Spencer's records state there are six of us. We can play some tricks with that. As long as Volton's dumb enough to mistake lies for truth, we'll be fine. But we must be careful when going out. There may be spies watching our every move."
"Then who's it going to be?" Tyler's face turns serious.
"Dr. Spencer knows there are three girls and three boys," Sofie points out.
"But Volton doesn't know. Dr. Spencer's too scared to defy him. We'll use the misinformation between them."
"I'm not letting you send Ara! It's suicide!" Tyler stands up, kicking the table in protest.
"Tyler, I can do it. I may not be as strong as you guys, but I can defend myself. I may be weak, but my agility is unmatched by anyone here," Ara says seriously.
"Tyler, if you go against the majority, that just means you don't trust Ara's capabilities." Sofie glares at him.
"Tyler, I know you're worried. But let me go. Trust me on this one." She stares into his eyes, silently asking for trust.
"I trust you." He turns his back and stops for a moment. "If anything happens to her, I'll make you pay." His eyes are fierce, sending chills down everyone's spine, except Slacovich, who admires his conviction.
"What do I need to do?" Ara is motivated.
"Make sure to get a contract with the talent agency. They'll be holding auditions next week, you should prepare. I'll back you up by pulling some strings. We won't let anything happen to you. If you sense danger, leave immediately. Your life is more important than any information we might gather." Slacovich taps her shoulder gently and stands up. Sofie sits beside her and squeezes her hand.
"You should probably check on Tyler," she whispers. Tyler is in the corner, listening. After hearing Slacovich's assurance of her safety, he heads to his workshop.
"Ara, I'll ask Tyler to make some gadgets for you so we can talk and hear everyone's voices simultaneously. For now, be a darling and go to Tyler. He's in his workshop for sure." Li leaves and helps Diego assist Harry to his room.
Ara knows this mission is important. She may be able to collect information from the crew there. She can't let her new family down. For their trust and love, she will do whatever it takes to complete the mission, even at the risk of her life.
Tyler locks himself in his workshop, creating tools for Ara's mission. He installs a tracking device in a necklace he bought recently. He'll give it to her on the audition day. He wants to help her badly. Then the thought of a new film Slacovich invested in strikes him. There will be auditions for that too, on the same day as Ara's.
He'll ask Slacovich to let him join the film, even for a small role. From there, they'll figure out a way to lure House of Flame Entertainment into casting their own talents. Volton won't miss that chance and will surely get involved. Inspired, Tyler rushes to finish the gadgets and prepare to share his plan with Slacovich in secret.