“What do you gain from this?” 08’s voice is clipped in his throat, biting off each word as it comes jagged out of his grinding teeth.

  “What do I gain from this?” 04s eyes narrow as his head lulls, that usual smile of his dropping down into something much more sinister. “Me and 03 here, we got what the docs paid for, isn’t that right?”

  03 tries to ignore him, tries to shut him out by bringing his hands over his ears and wishing all of this will go away.

  It doesn’t work.

  “You’re broken goods 08. We are tools for site-51, we are their weapons, their will, and you trying to get out of here only hurts them, hurts the rest of us.”

  “Me getting out of here means I can save us.”

  “The only thing you’re trying to save is yourself,” 04 sneers.

  “You might not be able to think about how other people would feel because you’re a fucking sociopath, but unlike you, Colin, I don’t just think about just myself. Maybe saving your own skin is what you would do, but not me.”

  04 grimaces at hearing his original name, wincing at the noise it likely creates in his head.

  “You are a smart kid Colin, we all are, you said it yourself. Think about it with me for a second. The harbinger enhances what is already there, you already lacked empathy before, you were already a little twisted before we came here, recognize the logic of that statement.”

  “This won’t help you.” 04 shrugs, but doesn’t say anything further, one eye catching the light in a way that makes 03 believe he might actually be considering it.

  “If you are aware of the mental changes that have been made to you, aware of the indoctrination process, aware of the noise and what brings it on, that means there is enough of us still in here to do something.” 08 taps his head with a knuckle. “It means if we can fight through it, we can escape this. The process was moved forward faster than they would like, we have 22% personality fragmentation, almost a full quarter, and you can’t tell me you haven’t felt that shift, felt the change since first coming here.”

  He is right. 03’s mind is constantly shifting, always fighting with itself, that level of internal chaos can’t have been intended. Physiological compulsion to follow orders or not, they really might have a shot at this.

  That brings the noise crashing down around 03 again. His whimpers as the pain explodes through his ears, drowning out the world around him. But this time he fights it, fights it harder than he ever has, forces the sick down until he can only just bear it. He can’t be out of action now, he can’t let the noise consume him now of all times.

  “How about this then…. Consider for a moment, the possibility that this project isn’t going the way site-51 intended. We know they have others like us, know they have more children. They didn’t put all their eggs in one basket, right? That means, if I can escape, if I can help us escape, really what that is doing is letting site-51 know that this batch is a failure. It helps their studies, it will help their performances with other batches, right?”

  The noise fluctuates again, some distant reality touching down in the back of his mind before the other pieces of him fight against it. The logic of his words work, but only partly. It’s obvious to one part of 03 that tells him this is an obvious ploy to manipulate the mental coding done to them, but another part struggled to find a fault in it.

  04 bites at his lip, one leg bouncing up and down, eyes locked on 08.

  “Come on, I have a solution, we just need to let me do what I need to do.”

  “It’s riskyyyyy,” 04 hums

  “I know it is, but after all we’ve been through, everything we have done. Isn’t it better to at the very least die trying?”

  Time slows to a crawl as the muscles in 04’s body shift. At first 03 doesn’t understand why, until he tracks 04’s eyes narrowing in time with his taloned fingers beginning to form.

  “Bad choice of words, friend. I’d much rather live,” 04 grinds out.

  A sonic boom cracks through the space as 04’s taloned hand carves a path straight through the air at 08’s head.

  08 grabs the hand moments before impact and locks it in his arm, shifting his shoulder to snap 04’s elbow, but 04 teleports away before 08 can finish the move.

  Alarms blare over the compound, red lights flash, and 03’s heart leaps from his chest as he realizes exactly what's just happened.

  “Please stay there!” 08 begs, looking 03 in the eyes as he summons his wings, and takes off towards the courtyard with a sonic boom that rattles the commons.

  03’s body vibrates with anxiety, every muscle twitching, sweat dripping down his brow, soaking into his clothes.

  He wants to cry, wants to whimper. Half of him wants to go after 08, wants to stop him, another half wants to watch him escape and pray he makes it anywhere else but here.

  The noise shatters him then, sending him falling to the ground, writhing there as the sound of sprinting boots fill the compound from every direction.

  The noise is all consuming, battling for dominance over the sirens and lights and winning without much contest. It feels as though his blood is ready to burst from his skin, from his pores, from his eyes and ears. It feels like every single inch of him is being unwound, torn apart, ripping the stitching of his mind.

  He doesn’t notice the guards hauling him to his feet until he is fully off the ground and made to look Doctor MacArthur in the eyes, red lights bouncing off the deep wrinkles of his face.

  “08 has fled, hasn’t he?” Doctor MacArthur asks, searching 03’s eyes.

  The noise carves a ravine through his consciousness, that impossibly loud sound worse than any death he had to suffer in the Harbingers' judgement. He would suffer them all a thousand times, no, he would suffer them for eternity, if it only meant the noise would stop.

  “Answer me 03. 08 is trying to escape, he is your friend, yes?”

  “Yes… yes he is.”

  “He is trying to escape, or he is your friend?”

  “Both!” 03 cries out, anything to stop the noise.

  “I see. And you knew he was displaying signs before this moment, yes? In the shower, when he tapped your name in Morse code, when he tapped his name in Morse code?”

  “Yes-yes!”

  “You’ve known for this long, that it was possible, and yet you fought the noise to this very moment, didn’t you?”

  03 shifts in the guards arms, he can break them, tear them apart limb from limb without a passing thought and yet he has never felt more helpless in his life than in this moment.

  “Doctor MacArthur,” James’s voice says as he approaches closer from down the hall.

  “James my boy, perfect timing, I am glad you got here when you did.”

  “Of course, I got the message that someone tried to teleport within the compound, I was shocked to see it was 04 though.”

  “04 teleported away to save himself from 08’s escape attempt. 03 here was just telling me all about how he knew this was likely to happen and said nothing.”

  James scowls, searching 03’s expression for signs of collusion.

  Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

  “I'm sorry!” 03 cries, head lulling down for only a moment before Doctor MacArthur grabs him by the chin, and raises his head to meet his eyes once more.

  “Sorry doesn’t prove to me that you can be trusted. I mean this when I say, you and 04 are my most impressive subjects. I would hate to decommission you, boy.” He pats 03 on the cheek, and it feels—in that very moment—to be the one and only thing he needs in life. The warmth of his hand, the reassurance in his voice, the pride, the trust. He needs to prove to Doctor MacArthur he can be trusted, needs it more than anything.

  “What do we do?” James asks.

  “What do you think we do, Handler? We solve the problem.”

  James clicks his tongue.

  “If you are not up for the task, then I am very willing to assign another—”

  “I’ll do it.” James steels himself, squaring his shoulders and raising his head.

  “Then give 03 here the order.”

  Doctor MacArthur releases 03’s face and steps aside, allowing James to take his place.

  “03, I order you to bring me 08’s head.”

  Tears streak 03’s cheeks, as his wings manifest from his back with enough force to drive the guards off of him as if they weigh less than dust.

  “Fleas in a jar aye? Go catch him before he breaks through our lid. I've released the redirect, but will re-enable it in 45 seconds. Happy hunting!” Doctor MacArthur coos.

  03 launches himself through the hallways and out the ruined door left behind from 08 to reach the open air of the courtyard in less than a second, where he shifts his wings and accelerates up into the sky—the rush of wind and dirt stinging his eyes for a moment before it clears.

  08’s deduction is simple. The compound that is site-51 has a method of redirecting teleportation within the area it controls, as they were permitted to use teleportation while in training, though they could never teleport beyond a certain distance regardless of their individual capacity. That means that the teleportation barrier acts as a “wall” extending up and down for who knows how far. They aren’t able to teleport through the barrier, or when the teleportation lock is active they can’t teleport within the borders of the barrier. However if 08 can manage to physically pass through the wall, the area of effect, then it’s likely he can teleport elsewhere afterwards.

  Only 03, 01, 04, and 08 can teleport, and other than 01’s—they all needed line of sight, or knowledge of a space. If they can see it, they could teleport to it, or if they knew about it, such as knew the space beyond a wall was empty they could teleport to it that was as well. Once 08 passes the barrier, he can be as far as the horizon in the blink of an eye.

  But in order to pass the barrier, he needs to reach the barrier, and in order to reach the barrier unseen and with the highest chance of success, he needs to disappear into the clouds high above to break line of sight from anyone else’s attempts to teleport to him to stop him. It is of course possible to teleport directly to 08, but there is always the possibility the 08 is anticipating a teleport-open and is preparing a strike in the event of that.

  08 is stronger than 03 is, but 03 is faster, and it isn’t long before he catches up. At first 08 is a speck in the distance and then he is directly under 03 as 03 passes 08 and continues to fly above him.

  “Eren!” 08 calls out, his voice caught and carried away by the rush of wind between them.

  40 seconds.

  03 ‘s eyes stinging with tears, the noise alight in his head, Doctor MacArthur's expectations, James's orders, the sight of his friend, a friend who is betraying site-51.

  03’s wings extend, the razor sharp edges pointed downward to catch 08 as he ascends but 08’s reaction time is nearly as fast as 03’s.

  08 banks left, entering a tumble that he corrects a fraction of a second before 03’s feathers are launched from his wings in a volley fire of hypersonic razor blades.

  The thunder of their release shatters the skies, the soundwaves rolling between the layers as 03 rockets forward to outpace the noise, once again catching 08 in a split second.

  “You don’t have to do this!” 08 shouts backwards, but 03 barely hears a sound as he moves faster than the soundwaves he projects behind him.

  “I—”

  08 spins and tries to drive his weapon into 03’s chest, but 03 knew the strike was coming, he flies in tight, tucking his wings into his back to drive hard into 08’s chest, sending the air from his lungs.

  08’s wings alone can’t support him as the sudden collision bends them backwards at an odd angle.

  “Please Eren!” 08 cries as they plummet for a moment, 03 wrapping his arms around 08 in a hug.

  The world itself shifts, as something inside 03 begins to break apart and flake away with the rushing wind.

  08 is his friend, but if 08 escapes, they will all be dead. If 03 fails, he will be executed, and worse, disappoint Doctor MacArthur, disappoint James, Doctor Yiva, the 0-6, and site-51.

  As much as 03 hates it, 04 is right, again, but so was 02.

  Is it better to die trying? Or is it better to live, so that someone is still around to remember?

  “Eren please—don’t do this,” 08s voice catches.

  03 loosens his grip around his friend, his first real friend, his best friend. 03 summons his blade backwards, and attempts to drive it through 08’s spine.

  His blade catches in 08’s feathers as he folds them in as well, sending the blade spiraling out of 03’s hands to return to the feathers on his back.

  Blood spatters 03’s face as 08 summons his own blade inside of 03 stomach and pulls it out just as quickly.

  03 grunts and teleports away, appearing behind 08 and firing yet another barrage of feathers, this one coming much quicker.

  15 seconds.

  Several tear through 08s body, his left leg is a ruin and his hip bone is visible through the peeled back curtain of flesh that flaps in the wind, but as soon as 03’s barrage is done, 08 unleashes one of his own.

  03 teleports away again, blood spilling from the hole 08 left in his stomach. He is going to pass out soon, but he needs to stop 08 first.

  James ordered him to take 08’s head, and that is what he will do, even if it kills him… no, especially if it killed him.

  08 isn’t trying to kill him though, and that is exactly what 03 is afraid of.

  03 extends his senses, locating the flap of 08’s wings as he continues to climb higher and higher.

  03 waits until 08 is near the top of the metaphorical mason jar, his pace slowing, his lungs trying to breathe in the higher altitude air. 03 can sense it, feel him near the edge, near the point where he can try and teleport.

  08 is a better fighter, he is a more competent martial artist, he would have been the better tool.

  But 03 is much faster.

  5 seconds.

  The adrenaline drops through 03’s body, slowing time to a crawl even at hypersonic speeds. He can feel the air begin to shift from the beginnings of a teleportation as 08 nears the threshold just beyond a thin layer of clouds that obscure his view.

  03 rockets past the barrier above the cloud line so much faster than 08 could have ever dealt with, and once he is beyond it, once he can see, 03 teleports to the space directly in front and above of 08

  03 spins in a tight forward roll, his right leg extended high above him, so that his momentum is maximized as he completes his spin, and brings his leg down in an axe kick.

  08’s eyes flicker to meet his, but his body can’t react as 03’s heel crunches down on 08’s collar bone, sending him downward and back inside the borders of area 51s influence.

  03’s wings expand, a cloud of pitch black that blocks 08’s view from above, cutting off his escape.

  0 seconds remaining, the redirect is back.

  08’s mouth moves, his muscles twitch, and then he vanishes in another teleport, a teleport he doesn’t realize will redirect him to the containment cell, which means it’s only a matter of seconds before 08 tries to escape that too.