Elsewhere in the facility of S.P.E.A.R., a tall man in a black Army Combat Uniform walked down a dimly lit arched hallway. His loud, heavy footsteps were reminiscent of thunder as it echoed from one end to the other. Several soldiers were stationed on each side of the hall and as he walked by, they saluted out of respect for their superior.

When he reached the end of the hall, a set of double doors was before him. He fixed his tie as two men opened the door for him. After the first step into the room, the doors were closed shut behind him.

The window blinds were twisted shut, letting small shards of sunlight deep through. A mahogany desk with two chairs was laid near the edge of the room, in front of the windows. At first glance, the surrounding darkness made it nearly impossible to see the figure behind the desk.

"General Siegbert Baasch," the figure addressed the arrival.

"Commander Desrosier," said Siegbert as he sat down in front of the desk. "So, why did you call for me? I was in the middle of typing up those reports you wanted."

The Commander leaned on his desk. "I've decided that I'd prefer to hear it from you directly."

"In that case," sighed Siegbert. "Recalling the tragedy that struck us all a month prior to recent events, Colonel Isabel Baasch, my wife, along with the rest of the Viper Unit were killed in action by Project Gaia" –he squinted his eyes– "your daughter."

"Are you holding a grudge, General?"

"No." Siegbert shook his head. "I already warned Isabel about the dangers years beforehand. She knew what she was getting into."

"I thought it was fitting to allow my daughter to end the lives of the infected." He leaned back in his seat, "An end by Mother Nature, so to speak."

"Lazarus," Siegbert stood up as he improperly addressed his superior. "She's still a kid."

"She's not a child by any means," Commander Desrosier scoffed. "Legally by law, she's an adult. Nineteen years old and she can already make her own decisions. Remind me, Siegbert, what did I say when I told you the purpose of the Living Weapons Project?"

"To create a weapon that would surpass Mankind's greatest efforts no matter what." Siegbert clenched his fists. "We abducted around 10,000 lives and look where we are now... only seven out of thousands survived the operations. The chances of those surgeries being successful were far less than one percent. The seven that survived are the lucky ones."

"Yet, sacrificing a couple thousand lives is unavoidable when trying to cater to the needs of billions." Commander Desrosier leaned back in his chair. "Continue with the report," he ordered.

"Fine," said Siegbert as he stood tall. "Donovan Guillory, the former head of the PMF, Virus, has been confirmed dead. Other targets of former SPEAR executives have also been successfully eliminated in recent weeks by the Living Weapons."

"And Vallotton?" The Commander asked. "He–"

"Dead, sir," Siegbert interrupted without a shred of hesitation. "Vallotton was executed not too far from the Eiffel Tower in Paris. You can thank Projects L2 and 5A for executing the mission flawlessly in under an hour."

"Excellent," said Commander Desrosier. "Now that all the nuisances are out of the way, we can continue with SPEAR's agenda." He motioned his hand for Siegbert to sit back down.

"What agenda?" asked the General. "We've been dealing with traitors for some time now that I forgot we even had one."

Commander Lazarus Desrosier reached into his desk and took out a small block with several buttons on it. He placed it on the desk, between Siegbert and himself.

"What's this for?" Siegbert asked, eyeing it.

"A few months after the initial operations." Lazarus leaned forward. "I ordered Project Binary, or as they call her, QT, to link a detonation device to the nuclear arsenal of the world and as you can see..."

"Lazarus." Siegbert let out a deep sigh. "This is pure madness."

"At the push of a button, the superpowers of the world will be at the mercy of our fingertips." Lazarus nudged it over to him. "You can have the honor."

"Honor?" Siegbert's eyes widened as he was taken aback. "There's no such thing when a single button can end the lives of millions. Do you want to bring forth a nuclear winter?!"

"Not everything can be resolved by peaceful means, General. Denuclearization is one of them," Lazarus said with a stoic expression. "While the United States Congress is busy fighting among themselves and the Oval Office houses an orange idiot, SPEAR must take action on its own. We've always worked in the shadows and maybe the time for us to show ourselves to the world is near." He stood from his seat. "If you will not detonate every nuclear bomb in the world, I know who will."

The double doors swung open as a single individual stepped through. A young man dressed in a white patient's garb with a metal collar rushed past General Siegbert and swiped the detonation remote. Before the General could take a peek at the arrival, the nuclear arsenal of the world was detonated all at once.

It was too late for Siegbert to do anything in time. Once he saw the person responsible, he recognized the face of the seventh Living Weapon, Mortem, who had a twisted grin on his face.

Back in the glass room, the other six were stunned by the sudden news they were hearing.

"London, Venice, Moscow, Brussels, Jacksonville, and Seattle were among the few of many cities caught in the simultaneous detonation of nuclear weapons worldwide," said a news anchor on the TV. "The current death toll is unknown, but it is already believed to have gone into hundreds of millions worldwide."

"I know I said this before as a joke, but..." Arkham had trouble forming his words. "Are we the bad guys?"

Zero closed his book and placed it on the circular table. "Gabby," he addressed her. "Can you lead me to the archives?"

"What for?" she asked. "Going through some files won't change what happened."

"We'll need answers before we leave," he answered as the others looked at him. "It's clear that we cannot stay here anymore."

"So, what?" Arkham sat down on the couch. "We stage a mutiny or something?"

"Simple," Zero said and glanced at him. "We escape. We'll have to split up to cover more ground. Any objections?"

"None from me." Ven helped QT onto his shoulder. "Leave the security system to us."

Gabriella stood up from her chair. "My position on this whole thing is obvious, but nobody deserves to stay in this hellhole."

"That just leaves me and Arkham, huh?" Christa yawned as she stretched her arms. "I don't trust SPEAR at all, so anywhere would be better than here."

"I guess we'll find and secure our way out," Arkham said as two submachine guns materialized in his hands. "Yo, QT, you haven't said anything."

QT leaned on Ven's head. "Commander Desrosier told me that detonation remote was only for emergencies. Everyone who just died... their blood is on my hands."

Arkham quietly picked up her empty bag of chips and crumbled it up into a ball. "Look." He threw it at her face, causing her to shift her gaze toward him. "You can sulk later. It's time we get to work."

QT nodded quietly without another word. She and Ven were the first to leave the glass room, then Arkham and Christa, followed by Zero and Gabriella. Three teams of two split up in the facility and each pair went down a different path.

"Our uprising has begun," Zero mumbled under his breath.