A.N: As usual, I own neither ZnT nor [Prototype].

I also wish to thank the readers whom commented on the fict; you gave good reviews and points. Since many noted a degradation of quality since the previous chapter, I tried to sort it back and rewrite this 3rd chapter. I guess I got stuck on a solipsistic cycle while writing it.

It took me quite a while to articulate this scene since I conceived it during my first writing of this fict itself. This is the best render of event I could make for this chapter. As I'm aware, I can be quite the dense idiot. Please include clear descriptions if you desire improvements to the chapters and fict. I like PMing, since praising is better in public as criticizing is better in private.

Please remember, except for a small minority, fan-fiction is penned by non-professional writers whom gave what little time and space left of their busy daily life to their passion. Respect the writers, be patient with them, guide them and nurture them, and the readers shall be rewarded with a great story. The same be with the writers; respect the readers, be patient with them, guide them and nurture them, and the writers shall be rewarded with the capability to write a great story.

Thank you again for your reviews and ideas. Anyhow, do enjoy the show.

Chapter 3: The unexpected revelations.

It seems that there's lot more beyond their knowledge when the thief/vandal caught was a staff member of the academy. Adding the fact that one of the item stolen shouldn't had existed here in Halkeginia, Alex and Louise hence acted quickly by moving the thief known as Ms Longueville to their back-up location, a bare shack situated 2 kilometers inside the nearby forest.

The fact that someone had witnessed them hastens the pace a bit. The desperate hence does as desperate do, thus justifying their sudden superhuman jump across the towering academy wall into the forest; an unusual act often makes the witness considered unreliable, but also bared risk of sticking out like a sore thumb. Time is definitely of the essence here to hide and disappear.

- Some time later -

Upon gagging, blindfolding and restraining her body on a chair in the basement of their shack, they turn their collective attention to the items collected. The particular item garnering their attention is a M72-LAW, an anti-tank rocket launcher used by the US military until early 1980s. It looked pristine, maybe due to magic. Unfortunately, it had been kept in a secure vault of a magic academy for some unknown period of time. Something is very off here.

The significance of the find is untold. Alex's collective inferred that they might not been the lone summon from Earth, and some of the previous ones might had survived. Worse, there could be some more earthlings in future summons.

However, another thought came to mind; why would Longueville stole the weapon? An item of this magnitude should have been top-secret, mainly due to its alien form and purpose if according to the technological level of the civilizations here. Thus someone must have leaked the information to her, or worse, had directed her to steal it. Alex knew he is a paranoid, and this revelation had raised it up a few notches.

His next course of action is to return to the academy and salvage his collections from the half-destroyed tower before anyone else does. At top speed and the agility of a ninja, he's back at the academy in mere minutes. With the guards' attention were focused on the main scene of the busted vault they later discovered, Alex thus managed to easily sneaked back into the tower and retrieved much of the useable potions and smaller equipment. With great care, numerous disguises and copious stealthy evasions, the larger usable pieces of their equipment were eventually transferred to their new hideout in subsequent trips.

- Earlier that same day -

Kirche and Tabitha were very worried when the explosions started. With guidance from guards and academic staff, they were evacuated safely when Louise's missing person was realized. Kirche voices her concern for the pink mage to Tabitha, whom promptly followed her to find Louise. They were just mere yards away detached from the main group when large rubble crashed through the wall in the gap between them. It was simply shocking.

Peering through the newly formed hole, all of them witnessed a scene of destruction unknown to them. There in the center was a fight between monsters; a strange black knight dueling a huge earth golem with nothing but his bare hands. Both combatants were agile, dodging attacks of the other; the knight barraging the golem with rubble to destroy it slowly pieces by pieces, while the golem simply attacks, dodges and regenerates its broken parts.

The grand battle ended quite quickly as the golem finally crumbles and the knight rushing forth to capture the golem's tired controller. That mage however had a last trick; a sudden explosive smokescreen covered them both, who both also later disappears as the smoke subsides.

That battle was too much for its audiences; they were stunned, shocked and unable to move by the show of power and carnage. Never in their life had they seen such thing. The knight was a monster; he had matched up and won against a huge golem, one strong enough to easily lay waste to the academy. The end was as stunning when both knight and mage disappears from their sights without a trace so suddenly. It took some time for other guards to arrive and shocked them back to their senses.

Tabitha however was alert much earlier than the others. Her training as a covert operative enables her to get over the shock quickly and tried locating the mysterious knight. She first lost him in the smoke but saw his movements towards the back of a building. She saw from behind the corner how the knight was also hidden in a bush waiting for something. Seconds later, she saw him sprung out and tackles something or someone.

Seizing the chance, she dove into the same bush he occupied earlier for a better view, only to see him jumped over the nearby wall into the forest outside the academy. That amazes her since the wall was both 20 feet away and 15 feet high, too far and too high for a mere knight to simply jump in a single bound.

- 36 hours after the incident, at the hidden shack -

Mathilda De Saxe-Gotha, criminally known as Fouquet the Crumbling Dirt or generally known as Ms Longueville the Tristain Academy headmaster's secretary, was in a huge pickle as to speak. She doesn't know how long had she had been unconscious and/or detained; her eyes were shut as much as her mouth, and the ropes binding her cuts her painfully while water continuously and slowly dripping upon her head.

She was relatively accustomed to pain as part of her activities, but this torture was on a whole other level. She knew of two things now; firstly, she had failed and had been captured; secondly, she's probably not long before her death.

The sound of a door opening and admitting a person snapped her attention towards its source. The sound of steps was slow yet firm; the steps ended besides her. A few moments of silence passed before her mouth gag removed.

"Ms. Longueville. Or should I call you Fouquet instead? Or better still, Lisa?" said the voice, a deep sound she somehow felt familiar. "I hope you were comfortable with this luxurious suite I provided you" the voice sarcastically added. Mathilda kept her silence despite the goading for her response.

"Funny. I never thought you are the quiet type. I kind of missed your alluring moans when I did you really hard. Well, that was before you ripped me off and hide like the w-ore you were back then. Hahaha. And now you're just sitting there quietly tied to a chair. Pity though, you still look like the b-ch I like to f-k. Hahaha" the voice laughed.

"Bernard, you son of a b-ch! You useless weasel! How dare you?! Damn you!" Mathilda angrily shouted at the man holding her captive. "What do you want from me, you useless d-ck?! Revenge? Or just getting some information for your precious pimp?!" Mathilda ejaculated sarcastically to rile up the man.

"Pimp? Hahaha. Your retorts grew weak, Lisa. I would really like to 'roughen' you a bit, but the boss had other plans for you. He has a gift for you, and he also like to say this to you "This will only hurt a little. After that however, much more" said Bernard before sticking something sharp into her brain stem.

True to those words, it hurt a little for mere moments before untold pain ravaged her; her scream could be heard piercing the thick underground wall, but unfortunately, no one is nearby to hear it nor come to her aid. Her body trashing trying to quell the pain, but to no avail with the bonds she was held with.

Once the pain stopped, she had lost her consciousness. 'Bernard' was very satisfied when his plan to partially infect Longueville was a success. It worked better than his previous attempts on various subjects including the Bernard he's now impersonating; all his failures weren't wasted though as he also consumes them. Giving her some time to be fully integrated, he left the shack as the time for Louise's day is about to begin.

Once he is beyond the shack, Alex assumes his usual form once more. Bernard, the man he took form in the so-known Lisa's presence, was a rogue used to be in cahoots with her before their association lapsed. It was his persona that informed the collective as to her 'real' identity and her probably more direct connection to solving the mystery of that rocket launcher. To Alex, her capture is a boon he seeks to leverage; the criminal underworld is a thriving, prosperous place to be wherever great power asymmetry exists between rulers and their subjects, provided the status-qua is fervently maintained.

Looking back on his achievements so far, Alex had much to ponder about the fallout of the attack on the academy. As he truly desires to keep a low profile while staying in Halkeginia, he resisted the temptation of directly infecting the population such as the example of Greene. Unfortunately, his felt his morals to be in disarray since the very beginning. Halkeginia isn't Earth, no matter how he slices and dices the fact. The intelligence he gained from the constant visit to the library and inquiry from most of the population so far, having tempered by his so-deemed 'Council of Souls' within him, all had painted a grim picture to the former human.

Halkeginia as they, and him by extension, knew was a small piece of a probably much larger world. An isolated region, cut off in the north and west by the Brimic Ocean and the encompassing Land of Elves in the south and east. A region where technological advancement was considered a heresy as dictated by the so-call Church of Brimir; a land where magic rule supreme and yet had also stagnated, just slightly better than its science and technological counterpart.

Delving into the sociopolitical aspect of the region, they saw how inequality reign king in the daily life of the region. The commoner as the powerless, magic-less majority of subjects was oppressed not just physically and mentally but also dogmatically just by lacking the lineage to wield the power prevalent by the 'noble' mages. The 'noble' rulers also had been too complacent in the last few millennia past; great wealth and power that could be gained from effective and efficient use of various resources were left untapped even by the ease of what magic could provide them.

Alex is in a quandary himself. His past existence as a researcher yearns to create something great from the great pile of resources available just an arms-reach away. The viral instinct within him however desires to spread further, stronger by consuming the unsuspecting populous. On another hand, his Council had debated almost unstopped among others between subjecting the lesser beings of commoners and mages alike, destroying the nations to rebuild civilization anew, and just simply hide away until the status-qua requires him.

Concepts of Right and Wrong had been slipping away from Alex since his creation in the Infection Outbreak mere months ago. The constant pull from various directions had now strained his grips on what left of his sanity and his concept of ethics and morals even more. Hence, as flimsily his argument is on it, he felt the dreaded experimentation and application of partial infection on key individuals are more than necessary and quite justified. This is an act for the Greater Good, at least to him and his existence. His aim isn't to conquer the land, but just keeping a good rein on the local authorities until he returns home or so.

After setting up that tower lab a week earlier, he had started to find a back-up location and make-shift field-testing station which the shack became as it is now. The previous owners were a band of highwaymen whom became his first set of test subjects for partial infection and related studies. Bernard was amongst those (un)lucky four men. The next set of three was more promising; they lasted through the infection before driven to gibbering insanity by the constant pain, one of them hence kills his fellow sufferers before gutting himself like a fish.

The third set became too robotic when whole brain viral replacement was implemented to counter the resulting constant pain. At least they were useful for collecting materials for the new lab. The fourth was the best so far, presence of some verbal and physical tics aren't the worse of drawbacks. Although too early to be said conclusively, their blending back into the society was not impaired. Ms. Longueville hence should be the best agent/sample their research could yield so far.

- Later the same day -

As Alex went through his day as Louise, his mind started to debate again an issue he had held back for some time, an issue that will determine some of his future actions. The issue was none other than the reason why should he return back to Earth. The idea seems strange to him after spending some time as a citizen of Halkeginia.

Although he would miss Dana, he is beginning to felt that returning to Earth in the near future a hassle due to the fallout of the outbreak. Postponing his return by a few years should be sufficient. A counter-thought argues that that the time-flow between the worlds could be too different that his eventual return might be too late. Hence, another thought argues as to why bother returning in the first place.

As the heated mental debate goes on, Louise didn't realize that Kirche and Tabitha had sat beside her. Kirche had tried attracting her attention during class, but to no avail. When the class was truly over, Kirche tried her best shot and blew hard into Louise's ear, earning her a forceful push into the nearby wall and a combat-ready Louise inches from hurting her really bad.

Such action was truly shocking; Kirche knew her 'friend' had changed but never to such extend, Tabitha also reached combat-ready alert in response, and Louise was shocked that she nearly blew her cover and hurting her closest 'friend'. Neither of them said nor moved for the resultant few seconds of eternity.

"Louise. I'm sorry for startling you" Kirche as she broke the silence. "We, Tabitha and me, were very worried yesterday when you had gone missing after the explosions started. By the time we realized you were gone, we tried searching but to no avail" she continued.

She adds after a pause "Louise. I knew you had changed now. I even called you as an imposter before, but I know deep down you are still the Louise I knew before. I know I'm asking for too much, but please help me, Louise. Please don't suffer alone; it's hurting us as well"

With a hurt and sad look, Louise responded as thus "I'm sorry, Zerbst…No…No… I'm sorry, Kirche… I'm truly sorry. I had a lot to think about today. It had to do with the incident yesterday, and some more. It's really about something that only I can do; you don't need to worry yourselves."

"No! No! Louise, no! Your look during the whole class whilst thinking was so terrifying. It almost looked as if you had transformed into a monster. The fury shown was such that the world could be set aflame at your will. The pained sight was so deep as if the Brimic Ocean was but a drop in your pit of despair. The longing look as if the parting by death is insignificant to the loss you had. But worse was the lack of hope, as if hope exists no more, never was and never will. Your expression scares me, Louise" ejaculated Kirche upon hearing Louise's response.

With a slight smile, Louise hugged Kirche as tightly as she could. "Kirche. I'm very sorry for hurting you so. I didn't intend it to be so…so dramatic. Tabitha, I'm also very sorry for hurting your closest friend so much by my thoughtless actions. Both of you, please forgive my inadequate self" she said at Kirche and Tabitha upon realizing how misguided she had been.

Alex, under the disguise, felt how heartfelt the words Louise had said to the duo in front of them. Despite his sociopathic tendencies, he knew he was in a new world and situation. While attending this school, he realized that he's no longer the main face but Louise is. She, despite her past behaviors, is just a naïve student, a still growing-up child. Her classmates too, close and far, were basically the same.

Despite the time is short before they too shall be tainted and painted by the world, he had asked too much of them to ignore the changes he made of Louise. It seems that reducing some slack in front of them isn't too bad an idea. Louise used to be an insecure child, an academic prodigy isolated by her own fear and anxiety of the world at large. Too much a change is made, close friends and family shall mourn her, and the others shall keep their distance ever more.

"Kirche, Tabitha, I'm hoping to not assume too much, but do you really want to know what troubles me so much? It's a long story, and it involves deep dark secrets that could haunt you a lifetime and more" said Louise as she hit an impasse whether or not spilling the beans will be the best route ahead. Both paths often tempt people to stick their nose in things they will soon regret deeply. She had tossed the proverbial coin, and chose the direct method as the better of the two evils.

Kirche Von Alhalt Zerbst considers herself to be a resilient and resourceful maiden whom faced countless challenges in ensuring her life lived fulfilled and free. None of that however manages to prepare her when she accepts the invitation of neighbor/rival Louise de La Vallière to her room to learn of her change recently.

Accompanied by Tabitha, she marveled at the simplicity of Louise's room upon her entrance. The room, standard for a noble of her esteemed house, was large yet the space was emphasized by the bare functionality of the simple furniture it held. A bed, a desk, some tables, a built-in closet, rows of book, scroll and item filled the shelves, and ample space to train either simple magic or exercise, such is the room simple contents.

Their suspicion rose exponentially when Louise, a small young lady, managed to pushed heavy furniture securing their entrance. A look at the windows saw them as securely locked as the door. Kirche's troubled mind realized that they were now trapped inside a room housing a probable former-friend-turned-monster; her next thought was a long string of all the expletives she knew in every language she had, all in one neat sentence.

"Calm down both of you. I did say I had a secret so deep and dark. I just want to make sure you wouldn't bolt out the door or jump out the window just because I scared you silly or something" said Louise upon seeing their reactions.

"Louise, you dolt. Your actions alone had already made me want to do both. Did your common sense get fried alongside your brain when you summon a familiar that day?" retorted the tall red-headed mage while clutching hard her other blue-haired friend.

Embarrassed, the pink mage responded "Well, I guess you're right that I did go a bit overboard just now. It's just that what had happen been simply life-changing for me; and the effects was as significant to all of you as well…Anyhow, let's sit down on my bed while I prepare some tea."

Upon finishing her task, Louise sat down and asks them "To start, might I inquire what knows you of slime monsters, mimics and its ilk?" A slight silence erupted before Tabitha, acting unlike her usual silent self, answered the inquiry as detailed as she could, "Slime are amorphous monsters that consumes almost any matter it engulfs by slow dissolution. It commonly attacks by throwing pieces of itself to ensnare and damage its victims by the same consumption method."

"Mimics are another monster species that attacks victims whom fooled into approaching it by their form mimicking man-made items and tools. Although both species are different, both are found in isolated, dark and damp locales far from sunlight. Some mimics however shared the amorphous form of slimes, enabling them to shape-shifting prior to an encounter" added the blue mage.

"Pray tell, Louise. Does your deep, dark secret involve having either being as your true familiar? And does this have brought forth your changes, no matter how unlikely it is connected?" asked Tabitha politely yet firm unlike her usual demeanor. Kirche however was quite startled; she knew her best friend hid much of her personality being a hidden refugee/fugitive, but her current aura and stance tells more of a covert operative, soldier and/or a firm royal, one she truly knows Tabitha as.

Louise answered in tune as thus "Lady Tabitha and Lady Kirche, please forgive me for trying to deceive both of you all of this time. It is true that I have another familiar, my true familiar instead of the 'cute little familiar' as Lady Kirche compliments it to be. My true familiar could be inferred to be a combination of the two species you had referred earlier. It is a strange creature requiring it to bond symbiotically with its summoner. It is also as you inferred in bringing forth changes in me; our bond creates a stronger body and mind which enables me to better my magic, and the relief of being capable of performing magic helps my disposition even more"

To show existence of her 'true familiar', she demonstrated Alex's shape-shifting ability with her arm by making a greenish slime slid down her arm before turning into a spatula, a simple knife and an agile tentacle which extends to take a scroll from a far shelf; she adds "Another boon is that it could shape-shift itself into numerous utensils and tools, easing many tasks for its summoner".

Tabitha then asked an armor-piercing question, "Louise, I'm quite curious as to your usual familiar. How come you publicly have an owl instead as a familiar?" Louise promptly answered as best she could "That 'owl' everyone saw I had was actually just a piece of the main familiar that I parted out. If you are curious as to why the form of an owl does it take form, the truth is that that is the most suitable form based on its size at that moment. My familiar was quite small back then. I just kept quiet about the truth for a while just based on the situational momentum after the ritual. Besides, nobody did suspect anything else nor did they scrutinize even more."

"Anyhow, going back to the core of the issue and the reason you are here, I would like to say that the main reason why I was sad and depressed in class earlier was the fact that I nearly died that contest day. I had made a mistake of being panic and lost when one of the explosions occurred near me, throwing me against the wall before I fainted; I awoke later only to discover my familiar had saved me. That 'owl' became my shield and the main part engulfed me in a cocoon as we were trapped under some rubble. Using its shape-shifting ability, we dug out before finding a healer to tend my fortunately light wounds. In short, the thoughts resulted and related memories were daunting for me to think and ponder about" said Louise explaining her situation.

Tabitha hid well her non-amuse of how Louise hiding a great deal more secrets as she could assessed from Louise's own demeanor, yet she congratulate her on her amazing control of her own familiar, and promised to help her as best she could; Kirche was amazed with the amazing new capability of her friend/neighbor/rival, and happy that she had gotten closer to Louise, and consoled her on the unfortunate trauma she must have of the explosion.

However, both young ladies had similar thoughts hidden deep inside: the current Louise must be handle very tactfully and carefully from now on. She is now a wild card, a disaster waiting to happen, lest steps are placed to mitigate the potential risks. Her current behavior already indicates how unstable her psyche seemed.

The evening then ended later after the girls talk more on that incident; Kirche tells the epic story of the valiant Black Knight she saw fighting the giant golem, a knight she allegedly now have a great crush on; Tabitha however resumed her silent behavior, although Alex knew how meticulous her sights are now on Louise (and him by proxy).

Alex knew that all of his lies and misinformation will hurt him someday, but revealing the identity of the Black Knight and the true events of that day was beyond the line they as a collective whole had set for this gathering. The next phase of his plans had begun, and shall be well underway whenever 'Lisa', 'Longueville' or whatever-her-true-name-is finally awakens. It is very prudent to have most if not all loose ends tied up as soon as possible. The next month should prove to be most crucial and delicate for the success of their plans so far.

Omake: Dana's longing.

Dana Mercer was just strolling in the park this evening. She had a lot to think about ever since she was allowed to leave the hospital. It had also been a week since she had set her eyes on her brother; he often visits her no matter how sparingly it is.

Alex Mercer…Zeus…Her thoughts was a bit disarrayed. She knew that her real brother had died by a technicality, and the 'man' her 'brother' is now is none other than an extraordinary viral cluster/being formed in his image.

She had already mourned his passing as the only living relative she had. She had accepted the strange fate she's now in. She had also accepted him/it as her new brother, no matter how much he/it thought she hasn't. She missed him/it. She hoped he/it visits her once again soon.

Unfortunately, Fate is a fickle being… Suffice to say, it shall quite the period before they meet once more, and it'll be in ways she least expected.

A.N: Just to be clear. Bernard is an OC I created, while Lisa is a pseudonym I created for Mathilda/Longueville. It's very probable that in the time she spent in the criminal world, she must had at least a few other pseudonym thrown around to keep her true identity intact and a secret.

And Yes. Kirche and Tabitha knew something is very wrong with Louise, and will do something about it in their own ways. They are reacting rather tactfully at a person who'd trapped them in a room under the assumption that they would just run or jump out when she reveal her so-deemed dark secret.

Another point to note, Alex and Louise had and shall act quite OOC at times during the course of the fict. Why? In my honest opinion, it is the complication of the summoning spell, and his assimilation of her. My understanding of the familiar ritual is that it calls forth the best-matched familiar for a mage, subduing and thus prepping it for the binding spell, which Louise had failed to perform. Alex's consumption method fortunately acts similarly to the binding spell, only that he's the initiator and stronger party.

Both magic and viral actions are having a subtle tug-of-war for the control of her body and mind. The planned end result shall be a fusion between the two major personality of Alex and Louise. Unfortunately, OOC is a frequent occurrence if not a must. Worse still, the process shall be slow and rife with mood swings. Let's hope Alex had it in him to control this predicament. (Muahahahha!)