As they stumbled through the corridors they came across two guards slumped against the wall, metallic spikes protruding from both, their guns left by their sides.<br/><br/>"The hell kind of weapons are those?" Tom asked as Enigma passed them a gun each. "I've seen a lot of alien weaponry, that...THAT is something entirely new to me." Suddenly, somewhere around the corner ahead of them, came a strange whirring noise. "What-" Tom started asking before Enigma silenced him, signalling for them to follow her, they got a matter of metres before they flattened themselves against the wall, seeing the source of the sound: a guard had a prisoner pinned against the wall, his vice-like grip on the man's throat ensuring escape was impossible.<br/><br/>"The machine," the guard said. "Where is it?"<br/><br/>"I don't know what you mean," the prisoner snarled in reply.<br/><br/>"I do not have much patience," the guard said, punching the man's face hard enough to break his nose. "Tell me where the machine is."<br/><br/>"Ask Mertens," the man spat in response. "It's his machine, I don't know anything else about it."<br/><br/>"We already did," the guard replied, coldly. "Unfortunately he didn't know enough to spare his life." Tom had to stifle an outburst at the news of Mertens' fate, hoping the other two hadn't noticed.<br/><br/>"The man is telling the truth," came a deep voice from somewhere out of their line of sight. "He has served his purpose." With a sickeningly loud noise the guard snapped the prisoners neck, allowing the body to slump to the floor, the guard turning around a moment, but he had changed. The whole of the right side of his face was covered in a metal similar to the spikes they had seen in the guard's body. After a moment the guard vanished out of sight round another corner.<br/><br/>"Curtice..." Tom said, staring at the dead prisoner. "He didn't even deserve to be here, he was being released in two days. This...this...what the hell is happening here?"<br/><br/>"They're called Aphra," Enigma replied. "Not that guard, he was only a drone."<br/><br/>"How could you possibly know that?" Tom asked, turning to look at her.<br/><br/>"Because I'm one of them," Enigma answered. "I am also an Aphra."<br/><br/>"What the hell is going on?" Tom said, pointing his gun at her head. "I'm not going anywhere with you until you start explaining yourself."