"Oh no, kitten. 'We' won't 'all' lose. I can guarantee you that much," Luke said, hands shoved back in his pockets. Alice nodded anxiously as Gwin issued her commands and ran out of the room to gather supplies.<br/><br/>'Luke, I'm receiving reports from several operatives in the field indicating possible compromise. The transmissions are highly erratic. From what I can gather, many of the Saints have fallen victim to some form of psychic attack or conscription.' 'Hm. Sounds like our girl at work. It's probably safe to assume she's not solely attacking our people; more likely she's going after anyone out there that knows how to fight. That'll include ArmsTech and Government agents. Nirvana, can we interrupt her broadcast? Jam her somehow, or at least free the Saints? If she wants to go to war that's fine with me, but I don't want to give this little bitch any more firepower than she's already got and I'll be damned if I'm going to let her get<em>my </em>people killed.' 'I'll try.....Luke, it's no good. Her powers have grown geometrically since she gained control of them. To be honest, I don't even know if I can still use Jake to shut her down now without killing her. At this point, the only thing I can promise is that her abilities still won't work on us. She can't affect software, and your mind is beyond anything she could handle.' 'Fine. She wants to play with the big kids, she can damn well accept the consequences, and to hell with Marcos.'<br/><br/>Luke angrily pushed off the wall and moved in front of Gwin. His hand shot out of his pocket and he grabbed her beneath her chin, forcing her to look at him. His smile was gone now, and his eyes were harder than steel. "Very funny, princess. You want to build an army? Go for it. But take your little puppet strings off of my people, or there will be consequences." Gwin simply smiled coldly, well on her way to becoming drunk with her newly-returned power. Her amusement at finally seeing Luke's cage rattled distracted her from noticing Nirvana assuming control over Jake's processes.<br/><br/>"And what, exactly, are you going to do about it, Luke? What is the big, bad Luke Saipher going to do to me if I don't obey?" She asked sweetly, her sarcasm practically dripping from her saccharine smile.<br/><br/>Luke pulled her a little closer and stared into her eyes. "I'm going to cut my losses and kill you." With a mental snap of his fingers, Nirvana took full control of Gwin's implants. It was the simplest thing in the world to suppress her involuntary processes.<br/><br/>He released his grip on Gwin's throat and she fell to the floor, limp as a dishrag. Her eyes widened in terror as Nirvana temporarily shut down the girl's muscular response systems, leaving her limbs as responsive as wet noodles. Next she took command of Gwin's respiratory functions and restricted her breathing, and the kid started to gasp like a beached fish. She looked up in horror at Luke as he stood over her, cold and unfeeling.<br/><br/>"Now do as you're told, Gwin. Let my people out of your control, or we'll shut down your heart next. I told Marcos I'd bring you home alive, and that's still what I'd prefer to do. But at this point, I don't have any problem taking your corpse home for him to bury, either. You have 30 seconds to release them, little girl. Starting now. And if you so much as think about attacking me, or hurting them, I will end you here and now." Even in the throes of panicked asphyxiation, she could tell he meant it.<br/><br/>"Clock's ticking, princess."