At some point Orion came to notice Freyaa was gone. He wasn't sure at first, his memory was all over the place. Did he see her yesterday? Three weeks ago? Three months, perhaps… Not to mention, his apartment looked a lot different too. He didn't quite remember moving to this place, Freyaa probably wouldn't find him here.

The small tie he had to the normal world was gone now. Not that he'd blame her if she really had given up, it was safer for her to stay as far away as possible anyway. But it didn't make him feel any better about pushing her away. Isolated. It had been a long time since he felt this alone.

Orion desperately struggled to maintain a sense of self, focus, any form of stability he could find. His hair had become dark blue from exposure to the dimensional energy, it would come and go but it never left completely in certain patches of his normally brown hair. His physical health would occasionally lapse as a result, but he was able to keep up with it enough to function most days.

His mental health, however, was almost too far gone at times. He could barely tell how much time had passed since he was betrayed. His foresight betraying him stung more than anything else. He still believed he was on the right track regardless, the project was still progressing.

His awareness was always more consistent in the laboratory. He couldn't tell if it had something to do with the lab itself, something they had done to him intentionally, or some mental hang-up allowing him to function properly only in that space.

The rest of Orion's time was spent as an existence that wasn't him or any of the parts, he knew that made up the man known as Orion. At least he didn't think it was, but he couldn't tell. Just a persistent daze.

Considering his limited understanding of what manner of non-human entity the Boss was, it wasn't something he was capable of remembering, made it far harder to figure out how to escape the syndicate. He couldn't tell if it was some form of magic or curse controlling him but whatever it was, it wasn't perfect.

It wouldn't be impossible to break free, but it wouldn't be easy either. It was difficult to do anything without someone watching him behind the scenes. He couldn't afford to get caught trying to escape again, not after last time.

"It seems I am making good time today." The words escaping his mouth hardly felt like his own.

He looked back down to the chemicals in his hands carefully pouring the contents so that it reached the exact amount in the graduated cylinder.

He poured the contents into the mixture he had already created. It was interesting work, yes quite interesting. He was kind of sick of it to be honest.

He wasn't quite sure what it was he made, he couldn't remember anymore. He wasn't able to retain that much information consciously if he tried. His notes too looked completely illegible to him. This he knew was in fact intentional.

He somehow fulfilled his task as intended, as if he was on autopilot. The more he tried to think about it the hazier it would get. In trying to parse how dangerous the chemicals before him might be, he completely lost himself again.

He zoned out for some time before snapping back to awareness. “It used to be so easy to remember here but things have gotten worse, haven't they?” He said to himself.

When his hands put the test tube over the burner for a bit too long, the chemicals made a sort of fizzing sound snapping him out of his trance once more. "It's not supposed to do that, is it?" He set down the test tube back on the rack and stepped back, he stared at it for a good few minutes.

Nothing happened. He moved back towards it. "That was rather anti-climactic now, wasn't it?" He sighed going back to work.

Nothing quite as terrifying as working with unknown chemicals as your memories distort and fold in on themselves. His foresight completely overlooked his dazed actions leaving him unable to predict much of anything at all when he felt like this.

He finished mixing the chemicals and sealed it in a container tightly, if a single bit of it was lost it would waste a lot of time and money. If that were to happen, he wouldn't be able to work on his project this week. 

He needed to work on his project. That was the only reason he was still here after all. The only reason. There was already more than enough energy gathered for him now, he had to keep using it and finish the project.

Even so he saved some excess in a small syringe to be used as some modicum of self-defense if he got himself in trouble.

“If I do get the chance… Maybe I can figure out what they’re doing and why.” He thought out loud.

Whatever it was didn't look pretty and it was sure to sting, unlikely something lethal, however. The syndicate didn't do killing, unless as a last resort. The boss was usually the one to do the honors regardless.

You can't make money off the dead for long after all, there are only so many organs. A finite resource of course. A simple fact of life, it was strange how major corporations dismissed this and yet here in the depravity of it all, the value of life was actually quite measured.

Well, the measurement was mostly in the organs down to the keratin in your fingernails if it came down to it, but valued, nonetheless.

"Now where was I supposed to go again? ..." He looked at the poorly drawn map that had been given to him. "I think I know where this is... " he stated in a confused manner placing the container in a bag.

He finished washing up the lab table and set off to find the unknown place that the map was attempting to show him. Any conscious thought beyond his destination was eliminated as soon as he stepped out of the door again.

He wandered around for a while. "I thought this was it... Apparently it wasn't..." he was now lost, as usual. They made it so difficult for him to remember anything but didn't bother to send someone to make sure he got to the right place.

It wasn’t long after that Orion once again blended into Katz.

The place Katz had come to, was the location of a small gang. It wasn't a much of a distance from where they had hidden the lab, hardly a few blocks away in fact, but Orion still managed to get lost there. Perhaps one of the few areas within city limits left that was not claimed by the Sapphire Syndicate.

At the very least, no one here would be of any threat to him. Orion thought for a second about retracing his steps, but quickly dismissed the thought. The last time he tried doing that he ended up being lost for about three days until the boss came to get him.

He paused for a second, feeling like someone had been following him. He shook his head vigorously ignoring the sensation entirely, he had to get this over with and go back. Orion had already forgotten why, but he knew he absolutely had to return.

He sighed and looked around. This place was definitely not familiar and most likely nowhere near where he was supposed to be. Katz analyzed the area around him and the people in the immediate area. Sadly, no one seemed to be the helpful type, nor did he want to take the risk of disclosing the fact that he was lost.

All of a sudden, he smelled coffee, and picked up his head. If he could find a place to sit down and relax then maybe he could figure out how to get where he was going. He looked around once more only to realize someone was indeed following him.

"Um... did you require something of me?" He asked somewhat mumbling as he gripped his bag tightly. From the alleyway he'd just passed appeared a man. He was a considerably short man, at least compared to Orion.

His blond hair was unkempt but slicked back well enough to keep it off his face. His eyes were a golden brown that almost glimmered in contrast to his dark attire, there was something reddish about his one eye, but Orion brushed it off as a trick of the light.

Orion couldn't tell if the man was a thug or an escort. The platform boots really threw him for a loop on that one. Was he trying to look sexy or intimidating? The man jumped slightly when he was noticed.

"Oh, um..." The man gave him a once over before continuing. "You seem lost, this ain't exactly the safest place to be getting lost. How about I lead you to a better part of the city?" The man gave off a friendly smile. But it was easy to tell he didn't have pure intentions, definitely more on the thug side of it after all.

Katz smiled mischievously; he knew what the man was planning to do. It was impossible that the man wasn't aware the bag he was holding contained, well, something interesting. He'd probably try to shake him down for it. ‘A perfect test subject. He’ll get what he deserves.’ A petite man like him would be no problem for Orion.

"Thanks... I would like that." He carefully held his bag and made an innocent looking expression. He never left the house without a good arsenal of defense. He always made sure to be prepared for anything, and often times it proved effective. In this case his weapon of choice was a bit of a variable, but it will do. He clutched the bag with one hand and extended the other for a handshake. "Um... So... Whom do I have the pleasure of greeting? My name is Orion by the way."

He gave his real name, he had no clue why that was, perhaps it was merely because he was playing an innocent role that he felt the need to be somewhat truthful.

The man smiled with a false shyness, "That's a lovely name, I'm John." He lied, taking Orion by his wrist ignoring the handshake entirely in favor of leading him away quickly.

It was painfully obvious wherever they were headed was not in any way a safer part of the city. It was dilapidated and mostly abandoned save for a few squatters that occupied the place. Not to mention, right on the edge of syndicate territory.