The elevator could fit three armored personnel carriers with ease. Blood stained the floor, walls, and ceiling; dents, scratches, and small-caliber bullet holes scarred the plating. A sickly green light bled from the dial. More blood clotted in the corners—half-dried, half-frozen.

  Ten floors: B1, B2, B3, all the way to B10. All subterranean. Bottom level: Experimental Bioweapon Storage/Disposal 10. Multiple human hazard symbols and biohazard max-security clearance markings circled the glowing B10 button—their current location.

  Geiger pressed G for ground floor. The armored doors moaned shut; the elevator shuddered upward at a snail’s pace. This one was optimized for extremely heavy loads, not speed.

  Then he turned toward the newest member of the squad.

  “Ten-hut!” he barked sharply.

  They all stood at attention.

  “Glass, Rain, at ease.” They responded instantly.

  “Gene-sister, I’m Geiger, your squad leader.”

  “A privilege and honor, commander.”

  A German accent; she performed the gene-warrior salute. They returned it, glanced at each other, then locked their gaze back on her.

  “Sister, disclose your callsign, missions, former squads… and…”

  “…serial number.” His left hand unconsciously balled into a fist at the sound of his own words.

  She looked at him blankly for a split second. The unnamed warrior breathed deep.

  “Chief, I have not been assigned a callsign. I am GW-02-G7X.” Her eyes stayed on Geiger but remained unfocused.

  “Nonsense! That is not your name! That is the number the humans shackled you with!”

  “Acknowledged,” flatly.

  “Decide on a callsign, sister! One—max two syllables! Choose wisely. This is what we will call you henceforth,”

  Two seconds later, a wisp of a smile burned into her angelic face,

  She unsheathed her blade, knelt, and presented the 1.8-meter weapon in both hands. She looked at each squadmate; her eyes faintly glowed radioactive green.

  “My name is Edelweiss, commander—brother, sister. Es ist eine Ehre, an Ihrer Seite zu dienen.”

  (It is an honor to serve by your side.)

  “What?!” Geiger lit a cigarette. Rain chuckled and started carving a cockroach into the wall with his combat knife. Glass’s eyes narrowed as if she had spotted an enemy sniper.

  “Edelweiss was a white flower that once bloomed in the Alps, commander—long before the nukes turned all to ash.” A smile slowly warmed her mouth; her hands covered her heart.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  She sheathed her blade and stood.

  “How did you devise your callsign, gene-warrior?” He waved a hand at her.

  “My husband named me Edelweiss, sir.” Her smile warmed in her face fully.

  “We do not have names! Who was your designated mate?!” His words felt like poison in his gut; his palm reached for his hilt.

  “My husband was Dr. Holger Schneider, sir,” softly. Eyes unfocused again.

  Rain carved another cockroach mounting the previous one. Glass felt the venom in her mouth; her eyes trained on Edelweiss’s throat.

  “Do you just admit that you fraternized with a human?!” Geiger spat at his feet. Glass’s nails shot out; Rain twirled his knife.

  “Holger—he—you do not understand, commander!”

  “Did you stuff cockroaches up your bullet holes for favors, sister?” Glass hissed; venom splattered onto the floor.

  Edelweiss gasped and covered her mouth. Rain added a falling nuke to the cockroaches.

  “Drop your bag. Toss your weapons to Glass.”

  Geiger’s blade was in his hands in less than a blink. Glass bit her lip, dropped to all fours, coiled to strike. Rain added a happy mushroom cloud enveloping the burning cockroaches, then signed it: Rain, November 19, 2073.

  Edelweiss nodded sharply and complied. She did not touch her blade.

  “We will discuss your dire transgressions in detail during air transit.” Geiger pointed at her scabbard, circling her with blade in hand.

  “Herr Geiger!” She held his gaze.

  Geiger launched into a flurry. Each swing passed centimeters from her as he circled. She never moved. Never flinched.

  Rain clapped and nodded. Glass had already slipped into her blind spot and waited.

  Geiger threw a backhand slash at throat level.

  A supersonic detonation—like a fighter jet screaming overhead.

  The blade’s tip missed her skin by millimeters. Her hair whipped violently, as if during a parachute insertion. She didn’t blink; her eyes stung from the compressed air.

  Geiger nodded.

  “Missions. Former squads. Kills.”

  Her eyes slammed shut; palms pressed together at her chest; head tilted back.

  “No missions.. no squads.. executed countless… sir” She stammered, palms covering her mouth.

  Geiger sheathed his blade and met her eyes. None blinked.

  He turned to Glass. Her tongue flicked twice slowly; she was telling the truth.

  “Killed why? How? Under whose command?!”

  “Zharova's sir.” Her gaze drifted again.

  “She was securing research funds, called them scientific exhibitions…”

  Geiger staggered; his hand returned to his hilt.

  He searched her eyes—unmoving emerald orbs. Glass nodded again. No Morse needed. Another tortured specimen.

  “For how long has she experimented on you, sister?”

  Edelweiss stared at her boots, eyes shut tight.

  “I reiterate! What was the nature of the experiments?” His gaze flicked to Glass.

  Edelweiss gasped.

  Seconds passed.

  “Gene-sister, understand this: you are untested, unknown, with limited combat experience—ignoring your notorious decisions and… background.”

  “I will prove my steel and explain myself when you deem necessary, commander, sir!”

  Geiger’s jaw clenched; his grip steadied. He glanced at Rain and Glass. They nodded.

  Rain laughed, smoke trailing from his nostrils as he spun his knife like a pencil.

  Glass’s eyes flared yellow. Venom pooled behind her teeth. Her tongue flicked once.

  “Proper introductions! Stay your blade unless ordered! Defend yourself!” Geiger shouted.

  Glass coiled in Edelweiss’s blind spot, silver hair blending into rusted steel—an assassin’s cloak.

  Silence.

  She struck—claws for the gut, fangs for the arms.

  Edelweiss never saw it. Geiger did. He waited… then shoved her aside at the last millisecond.

  Edelweiss’s massive frame slammed into the wall, denting it further. Glass’s dagger-claws bit steel as she hissed from the opposite wall.

  “Glass, do not indulge.” He stepped back. Glass licked her lips.

  She spread her hands; claws gouged thin valleys into steel. Sparks flew. On all fours, she coiled again.

  Edelweiss rose, sliding her spectacles into her rig.