By the end of the bath, Ruby was essentially transformed. Her black hair gained a certain degree of healthy luster, and her ears and tail looked especially fluffy, enough to drive any cat enthusiast mad.

"This was so much better than expected!" Ruby proclaimed as she exited out of the bath. A thin fabric of a towel wrapped around her shoulders was the only thing that hid her bare athletic body.

"See? Good things happen when you listen to me!" Ava puffed her chest in pride. "And the scent that you were so worried about is nowhere to be found!"

Curious if Ava's words were true, Ruby sniffed herself, realizing that she smelled like roses, most likely due to the soap that had been put in the mineral water.

"It's time to dress up now." Victoria clapped her hands together.

As the girls began to put on their attires, they realized their oversight a moment later.

"S—Sorry, but aside from the clothes I wore when we first met, I don't carry any other…" Ruby muttered in dejection.

"I—It's fine." Claire reassured her with a bashful smile, giving her a spare. "It was our oversight to begin with. It's obvious that you wouldn't be carrying spares after escaping from confinement!"

Soon enough everybody was dressed, gathering in Michael's room.

"Have you gotten comfortable here?" Michael asked softly, observing Ruby.

"It would be ideal if you could share your side of the story."

Ruby's ears flattened, her tail falling to the side. After she took a deep breath, her lips pursed.

"Truthfully… There isn't much useful information I can share with you, simply because we were kept mostly in the dark about how things operated…"

Her voice faltered for a second, though when she met Michael's gaze, she felt safe enough to continue.

"We were kept in a colossal room. Padded white walls and light overhead that would shimmer in different colors depending on the situation. A single entrance to go in and out of the place. A large gate, it didn't smell like metal, yet it proved so tough nobody could crack it open."

Her limbs trembled slightly.

"There were a lot of us…" Ruby whispered, correcting herself a second later.

"A lot… Like me. How many, I cannot say for certain. Maybe it is not even possible to know. Each day the gates would open and those metal monsters would emerge. Some brought food and water with them. Others brought more of our kind. But every time they came, they also took some of us away. We do not know what they do with us… But I have never seen anyone return from their clutches, so I can only assume they are no longer with us."

Her voice cracked.

"But that is not even the worst part… No matter how hard we try, we cannot remember a life outside the confined space. Our earliest memories are always of being escorted there, as if we were created only seconds before arriving."

A flash of anger crossed her face.

"Some of us were small, full of energy, and hard to reason with. Children, the metal things called them. There were others with many whiskers on their faces. Since they usually calmed us down when we were scared, we called them elders. Most of us, though, were like me, neither growing nor wrinkling. Once, a friend asked the metal things why that was, and it said we were supposed to represent twenty years old."

Michael listened somberly. 'From what I am hearing, it seems that they were treated like lab rats for some kind of experimentation.'

His fist tightened silently.

"How did you escape?" Richard asked once Ruby got quiet. "From the way you described the place, it seems impossible for you to have broken out."

Gazing at the floor, Ruby whispered.

"Eventually my turn came. I was among the chosen to be led away. However, aside from me, one of the elders was as well."

Her eyes turned moist.

"I knew her. We called her Nana. When we were chosen to be escorted, she proposed a plan to desert. We did not even know whether anything existed beyond the walls, but we hoped that it did. That is why, when we were led out through the impenetrable gates, we struggled to break free, and some of us succeeded."

Ruby halted for a moment, clutching the sheets of the bed she sat upon tightly.

"But then we were hunted down. By the end only I and Nana remained… That is when she moved to protect me from a laser. A large gash opened on her abdomen, and regardless of how much I tried to hold the wound closed, it was fruitless. Due to my weakness, the only thing I could do was watch as life slowly drained from her eyes."

A painted smile spread across her face.

"But even then Nana didn't freak out. She simply apologized for leaving me alone in this world. With her last breath, she asked me to save my brothers and sisters if I find help somewhere. After that I remember running without stopping for a long time, sneaking past the metal things and numerous labs…"

Lifting her gaze, she glanced at Michael.

"Until I met Michael."

"..."

The crew grew silent. Not only were there more like Ruby somewhere, but there were likely many other labs holding different kinds of altered humans for all sorts of experiments.

"I see. Thank you for sharing; it was helpful. Rest assured each and every one of those metal things would be exterminated." Michael said.

In response, Ruby yawned, her eyelids getting heavy.

"I am glad." She uttered, settling over Michael's lap before drifting into deep sleep.

Purr~

Despite her deep slumber, she purred quietly, clearly content.

'She is part cat, after all. They are known for needing a lot of sleep, and I doubt she has had a chance to rest peacefully in a long time.' Michael didn't move, deciding to let her recover.

"We had our hands full with the aliens already, and now this… God, this world is twisted beyond measure." Leo's shoulders slumped.

"That is why we fight." Enzo proclaimed, remembering his brother. "We endure the horrors of the world ourselves in order to protect what we cherish. This is what makes us soldiers."

Since there were more than 10 hours before Michael was meant to meet the ruler of the city, the crew used the time to rest.

At the same time, high in the cosmos, close to the four inner planets of the solar system, the asteroid belt floated. At certain coordinates the mightiest powerhouses of humanity had gathered there, all wearing grim expressions.

A battle that would decide the future of mankind was about to take place...

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