The Sound of Unity concert had been a success but in more ways than one. While the concert had managed to draw in the attention that Haven was looking for, it had also afforded the Agnes the chance to meet up with another old friend. Svetlana was one of her dearest friends. She was actually the person who had pulled Agnes off the streets and invited her into the mansion, the place that would change the ex-runaway’s life for the better. If there was anyone she felt guilty about not keeping in contact with, it was her. However, the past was the past. They had a chance to reconnect now and Agnes was going to take it.

Now that the two of them were a part of Haven, there were more chances for them to reconnect. Agnes was thankful for that opportunity and it was one that only continued to help her appreciate the organization that she had become a part of. Haven was really all about mutants and trying to help them find their place in the world and she was more than grateful to be a part of that. As much as she was grateful for the X-Men and the Mansion, Haven just seemed like a place where she belonged.

But that was enough of that. Plans had been made and Agnes was eager to get the night going. She had Sveta had agreed to go out and get a bit to eat and maybe go enjoy a movie for old time’s sake. They could catch up, have a fun evening, and just be themselves again. With all the drama concerning River and…well…her relationship with Becca, Agnes was in the need for a drama-free evening. Who knows, maybe she would even let Sveta know about this little occurrence so she could get some unbiased advice. That would be useful.

Standing outside on the sidewalk, Agnes sighed as she waited patiently. She was dressed pretty simply for the evening in simple white jeans that hugged her hips, a loose gray top, and a light blue, denim jacket which was unbuttoned over that. Two silver necklaces hung around her neck, dangling over her top, and the sparkle of her engagement ring was clear on her finger. She almost forgot to put it on tonight – it was an occurrence that seemed to be happening more and more.

As she shook the thought off, Agnes leaned her shoulder against a lamppost, her iridescent wings pressed against her back thanks to specially made openings in her jacket that allowed them to poke through. The fluttered briefly as she lifted her gaze and looked up and down the sidewalk. She and Sveta had agreed to meet here so that they could head out; sadly it seemed that Agnes was just a tad early. No matter, it wasn’t as if they really had a set timeline tonight. Tonight was just about fun and relaxat—

PING!

Her phone sang from her back pocket. Reaching over, she pulled the phone out and casually began to flip through it, swiping to open up a recent text message. For a second she had wondered if it was Sveta telling her that she was going to be late or canceling, but she froze when she realized it was from Becca. She sighed and chewed her lip. For a second she thought of just ignoring it but curiosity got the better of her as she swiped and pulled up the message.

I was wondering... Maybe you'd want to come over tonight? I was hoping to cook. I haven't cooked for you in forever. I mean, unless you're busy...

Lifting her head to make sure no one was around, Agnes shook her head as she gave in and started to type up a response to her ex / whatever she was now. She only hoped that Sveta would get here sooner rather than later so she could forget about this for even just a couple of hours. Giving up on not responding, and not wanting to be rude, Agnes quickly typed up a response to send off.

Can’t. Plans with Sveta. Raincheck?

[SEND]

It sounded silly but she hoped that Rebecca wouldn’t assume that Agnes was lying and was actually out with River. Mistrust was the last issue that she needed from both parties now…

Sveta was looking forward to going out with a friend. It had been forever since she had done that - out, on the town, to buy food like a normal person, not wearing a mask or a dress, and not using her powers to boost other mutants. Sure, Agnes was a mutant too, but they were also friends, and Sveta did not have many of those. Maybe, for one night, the two of them could honor their unspoken agreement, and pretend that they were just two average gals, having some food and maybe a drink...

Sveta spotted Agnes on the sidewalk before she other girl noticed her. Agnes was absorbed in her phone, and from the look on her face, Sevta could tell it was not a very pleasant conversation. For a split second she wanted to reach out and tap her on the shoulder, but obviously, it would have been a horrible idea.

"Hello" she smiled instead, waving a hand. She was similarly casually dressed, in jeans and a blouse, wearing her elbow-length gloves and a fashionable scarf wrapped around her neck. She was dressed in blues and greens, avoiding her usual red-hued wardrobe for once. "Have you been waiting for long? I'm sorry... Is everything okay?" she inquired, nodding at Agnes' cellphone, wondering if her friend had gotten some bad news, or maybe was in the middle of an argument...

Agnes shook her head silently. She still couldn’t believe that she was a part of this situation. Staring at the text message that she had received from her ex-girlfriend (now current side-piece) Agnes was having a difficult time processing all of it. Her and River were on rocky terrain but was it enough to justify trying to win back her ex-girlfriend? On top of that, Rebecca was in a happy relationship before the violinist had showed back up on the scene. It was just, ugh, maddening, to think of how much trouble she had caused. But whenever she thought about those lips, the Scot’s sweet touch, it was hard to even consider giving it up, not matter how bad the situation was.

Ugh! She needed to get out of this headspace otherwise she was liable to cancel on Sveta and see if Rebecca was still up for that dinner. Thankfully the choice was taken away from her when the sound of her friend’s voice cut through the evening with the soft sound of greetings.

>> "Hello…Have you been waiting for long? I'm sorry... Is everything okay?"

Sveta, who always looked amazing, arrived like a break of light through a mass of fluffy storm clouds. Agnes found herself breathing a small sigh of relief, thankful to have a friend by her side that could distract her from the annoyances that were plaguing her mind. The two of them were fairly well-practiced in dealing with personal dramas, so it was easy for Sveta to pick out that Agnes was going through some turmoil. But as she wasn’t really looking to discuss it, Agnes merely smiled as she tapped the side button on her phone to turn it off and slipped it into her back pocket.

”Hi hun,” she said with a wide and pleased smile. ”Nah I haven’t been waiting long.” A sigh fell from her lips as she tried to phrase her answer for the last question that her friend had for her. ”I’m ok. Just…” she shrugged and shook her head. ”…drama.”

If anyone would listen to her troubles, it would have been Sveta but honestly it wasn’t something that Agnes wanted to talk about right now. She didn’t want to think about the relationship she had aided in ruining or the fact that she was consistently cheating on the person she was supposed to be marrying soon. If anything that seemed like a conversation that was best saved for after she got a drink in her hand, not before.

”Shall we?” Agnes asked as she gestured for her friend to join her at her side and walk to their choice of dining establishment. As she waited for Sveta to follow next to her, Agnes breathed out a deep sigh and glanced to her. ”How about you? Staying out of trouble for a change?” She grinned at her.

>>”Hi hun. Nah I haven’t been waiting long. I’m ok. Just…drama.”

Sveta could tell that whatever the drama was, it was bothering Agnes more than she let on. But the night was young yet, and it was probably a good idea to get a few drinks in before they got down to talking about the heavy stuff. The Russian girl smiled and nodded, walking along in the silent agreement that they would ignore the drama for now.

>>”Shall we?... How about you? Staying out of trouble for a change?”

"I always stay out of trouble" Sveta smirked "But sometimes it still finds me."

It was true. She had never been one to look for trouble... not since she discovered her powers, anyway. Being a vigilante, well, that was dangerous, but trouble was not the goal of the endeavor...

"Haven is different, though" she added. Agnes knew exactly how the organization worked, and it was just one more thing they could share "I feel... more grounded, dan I ever was with the X-men. It's just... I feel like it is safer, with my powers." she shrugged "How about you?"

Agnes hated to keep this kind of news away from Sveta, but what good would it be to talk about it when they were just reconnecting. She wanted to save any possible character-injurying news to herself. She didn’t know how her old friend was going to take to the news that Agnes was currently carrying on an affair with her ex-girlfriend while trying to figure out how to break up with her current fiancée. It was complete and utter madness! Admittedly, if a friend of hers came to her with said news, she would be there for them, but there would be just the smallest change in how she looked at them. That was simply not something she wanted to deal with from the friend.

Thankfully, even after her enigmatic news, Sveta seemed to understand that it wasn’t the time or place to bring it up any further. With a nod Sveta instead seemed to move onto a completely different subject, bypassing her comment and instead answering the question Agnes posed to her.

>> "I always stay out of trouble…But sometimes it still finds me."

Agnes giggled and nodded her head understandingly. ”That just seems to be our lot in life, right?” she sighed and shrugged. ”So much for the calm and quiet life.”

She breathed a small sigh as they continued on down the street, walking side-by-side. Agnes could already feel her friend’s power seeping into her skin with how close they were. The coffee buzz filled Agnes with a nervous kind of energy. It had been awhile since she had been in the woman’s aura and felt that so it was going to take some getting used to. But with a deep breath and a nod that she was actually fine, she was able to push on.

>> "Haven is different, though…I feel... more grounded, dan I ever was with the X-men. It's just... I feel like it is safer, with my powers. How about you?"

A nod came from the violinist. ”Oh definitely,” she said as she tucked some hair behind her ear. ”I feel the same way. I just kind of feel like I found a place with them. The X-Men were great, don’t get me wrong. They provided me a home when I didn’t think I would ever have one. An education that should have been denied to me. I’m eternally thankful for all that but…I dunno…I guess I want to do more and Haven just fits that description, you know?” She chuckled.

As the duo marched on, neither would have noticed right away the towering figure of a M.E.T.A.bot as it loomed in an alleyway. As the approached, Agnes would jump, momentarily startled by it before she shook her head and moved on. At first glance it looked as if the bot was inactive, simply standing there, no movement, no lights, no sound, just standing in utter silence. It could have been a statue for all they knew. But even as the girls would pass by, the bot would slowly whirl, turning its head to follow them with its scanners.

”Ugh!” Agnes said to Sveta. ”Those things always creep me out. Still can’t believe they’re all over the city like that.”

”Scanning…X-Gene detected…” it would announce, silently, to itself.

>> ”I just kind of feel like I found a place with them. The X-Men were great, don’t get me wrong. They provided me a home when I didn’t think I would ever have one. An education that should have been denied to me. I’m eternally thankful for all that but…I dunno…I guess I want to do more and Haven just fits that description, you know?”

"Yes." Sveta nodded with a smile. She felt very similarly to Agnes' description. The Mansion had given her sanctuary, but it was never really home; she was too dangerous to be around for most mutant kids, or even the team. Sam had been kind to her (even a bit closer than kind, occasionally), and trained her well, but in the end, she was a vigilante on the payroll. Haven was... simpler, somehow, but it also felt more fitting to her. Agnes probably felt the same. Sveta was glad she had a friend in her new home.

They walked down the street and past a M.E.T.A.but muttering to itself. Sveta saw Agnes shudder.

>>”Ugh! Those things always creep me out. Still can’t believe they’re all over the city like that.”

"Detect dis" Sveta frowned, flipping off the bot as they walked along. They were not breaking any laws, walking down the street like this, going for dinner. Sveta hated the bots too. They were just... wrong.

Coming back to New York meant coming back to certain surprises. She hadn’t expected her city to be filled with scary robots at every corner with the idea that they were there to help save lives. It was an amazing concept, of course, but there was something wrong with these robots. On the news, and especially in reports provided by Haven, these things were glitch-y as all get out. They arrested mutants who were not armed, harassed humans, and yet they were still allowed to roam the streets. Really she didn’t understand how the cops could allow something like this to go on but when faced with the option of death, who wouldn’t rather a robot take the fall?

Agnes breathed in a sigh of night air and shook her head as they passed the robot that muttered something about “detecting”. Really she didn’t want to think about it too hard. More than likely the sentinel detected that they were mutants but so long as they weren’t trying to arrest them, they should be fine. Agnes continued to mind her own business, feeling slightly on edge thanks to being near Sveta, and kept her hands folded in front of her.

She made a slight comment about how creepy the devices were and made ready to change the subject to a different matter entirely. However, before she could even get the words out, Sveta turned and started to act snide to the bot’s comment.

>> "Detect dis.”

Sveta flipped it off and Agnes giggled, covering her mouth, shaking her head at her friend’s crude gesture. Grinning she sighed as glanced to the device then back to her friend. ”Haha! Come on. Let’s go before you get us in trouble or something.” She shook her head as she marched on with Sveta by her side. ”Been waiting to do that long?” she chuckled.

As the girls walked away, the METAbot whirled gears as it took one step out of the alley and onto the sideway. With a mechanical turn of the head, it kept scanning the two women as their walk. A recording of the incident played in its memory, of the blonde’s middle finger and of the brunette’s giggling. A twitch and a spark and the device suddenly reclassified the incident to attempted assault on police property. Another foot followed and it was standing fully out on the sidewalk. A turn of the hips and it started to march directly towards the two girls.

”Halt…bzzzzt…” it twitched again. ”You are under arrest of threatening a police OFFiceR of thE Law…”

Damn this one was buggy.

Sveta grinned as they walked past the robot, wondering if anyone was monitoring the video feed of her flipping off the camera-eye. If they were, even better. Whoever thought these things were a god idea, and not some dystopian horror show, deserved some obscenities.

>>”Haha! Come on. Let’s go before you get us in trouble or something. Been waiting to do that long?”

"For ever" Sveta giggled. She would have hooked her arm into Agnes', except she did not want to push her luck with her powers.

They got a few steps further, before she noted the mechanical whirr behind them, and paused. Girls' night out or not, Sveta was always alert of her surrounding. Especially when they included anti-mutant machines.

>>”Halt…bzzzzt… You are under arrest of threatening a police OFFiceR of thE Law…”

"Of, for **** sake" Sveta groaned, turning to look at the twitchy robot. "You are not an officer of the law, tin can. And I did not threaten you." she spoke louder and slower, like to a child "We come in peace!"

Sveta, sometimes, was just too much. Agnes couldn’t help but laugh a little at the Russian’s woman’s shenanigans. It helped to alleviate some of the tension surrounding them having to deal with the robot. Agnes felt nervous around them. She didn’t like the idea of something automatic trying to dole out justice to people. She had seen to many movies and read too many stories where things like that absolutely went awry. It was ridiculous to think that the government could make a move like that without fully testing it out. It was just…stupid.

But she would keep a smile on her lips as she shook her head. Svetlana seemed all too eager to piss the thing off and just marched over to her side. Together the two women continued on, Agnes’ anxiety of being around the device beginning to quell a little. She just wanted to put it behind her so that she and her friend could continue with their night in piece.

With a smirk to her friend, she opened her mouth to push their conversation along but they were quickly interrupted by the reappearance of the METAbot. As it would appear, it wasn’t just standing around, off line. After the blonde had flipped it off, the device creaked to life and began to pursue them at a somewhat brisk pace until it caught up.

Agnes nervously looked between Sveta and the robot.

>> "Of, for **** sake…You are not an officer of the law, tin can. And I did not threaten you… We come in peace!"

She looked down, a little unsure if that was wise of her friend. The last thing they should really be doing is antagonizing these things. She had read so many reports concerning how buggy they were, about false arrests, and malfunctions; the last thing she wanted was for them to be another statistic. So, with a sigh she tried to whisper to her friend.

”Come on, Sveta. Let’s just go,” she urged. ”Maybe it’ll just wig out and fall apart or chase after some pigeons or something.”

Sadly it would seem that the METAbot had other ideas. After the woman had admonished it, the faulty programming in its head proceeded the words with inflections and threats that were never uttered. Worse yet, it perceived the brunette as being the more dangerous of the two by confusing the wings on her back for some kind of mutant weaponry that were putting them under threat. With a glance to the blonde, and then to the brunette, the bot registered a new line of commands.

Stepping forward, it forcefully pushed passed Sveta and onto the terrified looking Agnes who attempted to run to her side. Before she could get there, though, the bot cut her off, standing between Agnes and Svetlana. From its wrist it procured a set of faulty looking, overly electrified handcuffs.

”Halt, mutant! You are under arrest for threatening public lives…” It announced and advanced.

Agnes’ eyes went wide. ”W-wait…what?!” She looked to the blonde.

>>”Come on, Sveta. Let’s just go. Maybe it’ll just wig out and fall apart or chase after some pigeons or something.”

Agnes was clearly anxious. Sveta could commiserate. Being a mutant was not easy, even under the best of circumstances, and one was more likely than not to get harassed, or her night out ruined, by some racist piece of equipment. Agnes had seen her fair share of fights, and Sveta had too. They knew better than to provoke the robot.

Sveta was about to turn and walk away... but then the META pushed past her, heading for Agnes.

”Halt, mutant! You are under arrest for threatening public lives…”

>>”W-wait…what?!”

"What the F***!" Sveta reiterated, seeing the scared expression on her friend's face. If the buggy piece of sh*** decided that Agnes was a threat to civilians, its programming would attempt to take a mutant out by any means necessary. And judging from the sparks that flew from the handcuffs, it would not be kind to Agnes...

"Okay, dat's it!" Sveta was angry now, for her one night out being ruined, and her friend being threatened. Since the META decided Agnes was the more dangerous of the two of them, Sveta decided to fix at least that one bug in its system. "HEY!"

Sveta's kick was aimed at the part of the robot where its footing connected with its metallic body. It was not a particularly stable construction, and it stumbled off balance at Sveta's attack. She hoped it would be enough to turn its attention back to her.

>> "What the F***!"

Agnes was terrified. She could scarcely understand that her friend was also worried for her, shouting obscenities at the idiotic automaton. All she knew was that her fight or flight instincts were starting to kick in and she needed to back away. Her wings fluttered nervous, beads of sweat dotted her brow. Stepped further and further back as the machine with the sparking handcuffs drew closer, Agnes could feel a shout developing in her throat.

She couldn’t fight this. She could use her insects to attack or distract people, but machines? Machines had always been a weakness to her and to see one barreling towards her with every intent of causing her harm, she just wasn’t sure how she was going to cope. So with a shaky breath she merely shook her head and backed away. She needed to get out of here. Both she and Sveta needed to get out of here before they ended up getting killed.

The machine was hell bent on grabbing her. Flight too over by this point as Agnes turned, her wings suddenly beating hard and lifting her from the ground. She just needed to get some space so that she would whip around and hopefully carry Sveta to safety, not caring that she would have to touch her to achieve it.

>> "Okay, dat's it! HEY!"

”Halt!”

The bot was upon her. Agnes had turned her back, taking to the air, so she didn’t see what had happened. She didn’t see her friend, the Russian bombshell, kicking out hard into the back of the leg of the mechanized beast. She didn’t see the robot suddenly arch, arm flailed wildly. What she did notice was blinding and searing pain as she felt the METAbots wing grab her too roughly by the wing and suddenly pull and crunch.

Her wings were so thin that no one would expect there to be pain. Maybe a slight discomfort, but nothing more than that. Truth was that despite the thinness, there were still thousands upon thousands of tiny nerves in each wing. And to feel all of them suddenly scream at once, crushed by the mechanical strength of the bot was enough to nearly make her want to collapse.

”AHHHH!!” Agnes shouted in pain.

Her body suddenly jerked back, one of her wings crushed in the palm of the machine before she felt it being harshly detached from her back. Agnes was in agony, careening like a helicopter suddenly losing its lift. She fell with a clatter onto the concrete, her body bouncing a step or two. Quietly she gasped, mouth gaping as she curled in on her herself. Pain radiated off her back, her body screamed at her, blood warming her back at the stump where her wing was pulled.

Agnes lay there, unmoving, trying to get some kind of conscious thought. She was still in danger, she knew that she was, but she could scarcely think.

Meanwhile, behind her, the METAbot, now down on one knee, crackled and sparked a it whirled on its midsection to face the blonde interloper. There was another twitch as the machine lifted its head, eyeing her angry expression. ”Scanning…” it muttered. ”Senator Packwood…” the machine announced to Sveta. ”Fear not. Mutant will be subdued and taken in for attempted assassination.” Turning away from Sveta again, the METAbot stood up once it regained its footing and advanced on the fallen Agnes, dropping her crumpled, ripped off wing in the process. ”MUTANT! You are under a-A-AR-a-RRest for an attempt to assassinate a government official.”

Sveta watched in horror as the scene unfolded in front of her eyes. Agnes opened her wings and tried to get away; Sveta hoped that she would. She did not want to see her friend get hurt, and she would rather take on the buggy bot by herself than having to worry about Agnes...
... but the escape ended as fast as it began. A claw caught one of Agnes' thin wings and tore it off, earning a horrible scream from the girl that made Svetlana see red in shock and anger.

"AGNES!"

How dare that ugly, racist pile of junk hurt someone like that?!

Too late, the META turned back towards Sveta, who prepared to defend herself... but the bot did not attack.

>>”Scanning… Senator Packwood… Fear not. Mutant will be subdued and taken in for attempted assassination... MUTANT! You are under a-A-AR-a-RRest for an attempt to assassinate a government official.”

Sveta's jaw dropped at the unbelievable f***-up of it all. The bot way beyong glitchy. It was downright insane. Where were the cops when they were supposed to be supervising this thing?!

The bot advanced on Agnes, who was still lying on the ground, curled up in agony. Sveta knew one thing: She could not let the bot get to her. It would kill her, and Sveta was not about to lose a friend. Or let people watch a mutant girl be killed by a murder machine just because she had wings.

Screaming a string of Russian profanities, Sveta lunged at the bot again. This time, she knew that hits and kicks were not going to cut it. Instead, she grabbed hold of the META's shoulders and pulled herself up, straddling the metallic body as she tried to tear vital parts - optical sensors, wires, anything movable - out of it with her bare hands.

"LEAVE... MY FRIEND... ALONE... YOU PIECE OF S***!"

The pain was almost too much to bear. Agnes curled into herself, pain and shock settling over her body as she attempted to just sink into the darkness in hopes of being completely forgotten. However, with every fraction of a movement, she felt that thunderclap of pain sweep through her body again and again. It was useless to think that she could just forget a pain like this, but it really was damn near impossible. All she wanted was for her pain and discomfort to end but the warm, sticky fluid that poured down her back from the broken stump where her wing had once been was too much of a reminder.

>> "AGNES!"

Vaguely she heard her name being called, she recognized the voice as her friend, Sveta, but she could hardly do anything about it other than whimper. The machine in the background was still jabbering on nonsense, but when it condemned her for attempted assassination, she began to sober up. Agnes shakily placed her palms on the ground and whipped her gaze back towards the device. It was already advancing and the sparks and twitches that it displayed were not good signs of its mental capacity. This was absolutely insane.

As much as she just wanted to keep curling in deeper and deeper, she knew that she had to move. He pulsing of her terrified heart beat so hard that she feared she would have a heart attack at the tender age of twenty-three. But fear gripped her deep enough that just sitting there was no longer an option. The robot was coming and it was looking to cause her more harm than just ripping off one of her wings and crippling the other.

Shakily she moved onto her feet and tried to force herself to move forward. She got only a step or two before she whipped around and looked fearfully upon her pursuer. The METAbot was upon her, hand reached out to grab her, when there was a sudden shout from behind.

>> "LEAVE... MY FRIEND... ALONE... YOU PIECE OF S***!"

Agnes gasped, stepping back, watching as Sveta threw herself on the machine and began to attack it like a wild animal. Sveta struck everywhere she could get her hands on, ripping out wires, pieces of metal, anything that looked as if it could be important. Fearful for her friend, Agnes stepped closer, but recoiled whenever the robot lashed out at her.

”Sveta! Get off of it before it –“

”Senator Packwood! This is behavior unbefitting of a government official!” the machine rambled off. ”Cease and desist before action is required!”

As the blond ripped out a particularly length wire, the lit eyes on the machine suddenly dimmed before going out, the machine stopped, dead in its tracks for a second. It seemed that maybe they had been successful in shutting it off, but before either could prepare, the bot bucked, hard, blindly swatted at Sveta to knock her off.

”Assassination attempt in progress! Assassination attempt in progress!!” The machine suddenly twisted in an inhuman manner to hurl the blonde off, reaching up to snag her by her clothing and rip her away.

Agnes limped as she reached out for the blonde. ”Sveta! Get off! W-We have to run!” Already there was a deafening buzzing in her chest, the sounds of her legions becoming angry and agitated. A few clings flew out from between her lips, followed by ants beginning to crawl out from her calves. She would have sent them after the METAbot she more than certainly didn’t have enough to do that. She didn’t have that kind of power; she would need a boost to do that…

>>”Senator Packwood! This is behavior unbefitting of a government official! Cease and desist before action is required!”

"GO F**** YOURSELF" Sveta retorted, pulling out another wire. Some sparks singed her satin gloves, but she was too angry to care. It must have looked insane, the unarmed blonde dressed for a party and attacking a METAbot, but looks were really the least of her problems right about now. As long as she was keeping the machine occupied, it was not attacking Agnes.

There was a moment of stillness as one wire came loose, and Sveta took a breath. Did she managed to shut...?

>>”Assassination attempt in progress! Assassination attempt in progress!!”

The bot came back to life with a vengeance, and twisted violently, swatting it Sveta. She had loosened her grip for a split second, thinking she had won - and now she regretted is as the bot's claw tore her free. She felt a shock of pain as the overcharged cuffs touched her, then she was slammed against a nearby concrete wall, her head bouncing hard enough to make her black out for a few moments, as she slumped to the ground.

The METAbot was losing it goddamn mind. As Agnes leaned heavily against a lamppost, struggling to keep her foot due to the blinding pain in her back, she watched in fear as Sveta struggled to bring the bot down. The machine was completely bonkers, assuming the blonde was a senator and that Agnes was some kind of assassin. There was no reasoning with the over-sized, malfunctioning toaster oven. It was on a mission now, reaching to break the insect queen in half. However, before it could lunge at her, there was growling from Sveta, a spark in its eyes, and it stopped.

>> "GO F**** YOURSELF"

Agnes winced, fearfully looking at the device. Was it over? It seemed like it was finally over because the bot had fully stopped moving. However, she would be proven wrong when the monstrosity suddenly began to flail, spin, and claw at the blonde-headed monkey on its back. Stricken with panic, Agnes reached out for the blonde, but squeaked and stumbled back when the bot suddenly bucked, grabbing the blonde and tearing her from its back.

The world slowed after that. Agnes watched in complete terror as her oldest friend was suddenly pulled off and hurled through the air. When she bounced off the brick wall, Agnes heart stopped. Chasing after the woman, the injured violinist was masked only with concern for her friend, not the murderous bot that was tweaking out just behind her.

”H-h-hA-hALt…mutant…” it rumbled in its mechanical voice, but she paid it no heed.

”Oh my god. Sveta…” Full of concern, she rushed as best she could over to her fallen friend and knelt down beside her.

Terror gripped her heart as watched her friend lay motionless. She had to see if she was alive so the thought about Sveta and her abilities had momentarily blinked out of her mind. Reaching down, quivering with the effects of the Russian’s aura already digging deep into her body, Agnes placed her bare fingers against her friend’s throat to check her pulse.

”Mutant…you Are AREare arrested!”

But as the bot loomed behind her, Agnes didn’t hear it. She didn’t see it. She didn’t see anything. Instead all she felt was an otherworldly vibration as it started to course throughout her body, sweeping into every cell, every crevice, and latching onto those simple strands of DNA. And like that…her X-gene was put into overdrive. On her knees, she didn’t feel the robot as it reached out, it’s hand inches from wrapping around her neck, when she let out a guttural scream.

That was when they came. All around her, from the cracks in the walls, from the ground, from nearby trashcans and discarded food containers, and even from her own body, insects began to mass. They all chittered and chattered, sweeping across the ground and through the air like a black mass. Soon enough, the area was covered…