By the time they arrived at the Milton Ingert Memorial Hospital -- the lair of the Researcher and her enforcer, the Lab Rat -- Stu only had eight minutes of Night Vision left. He used what was left of it to survey the scene.

  The hospital was a large, multistory building right in the middle of downtown Heart's Glow. It looked more like a prison than a hospital, though -- the front of the building was protected by makeshift walls, similar to those Stu had seen surrounding Beggar's Town and the Harbor, and there were two big searchlights on the roof (although only one was moving at the moment). He spotted a couple of quadcopter-style drones buzzing around near the entrance as well, along with at least a dozen armed guards.

  These guards, however, weren't human -- they were faceless humanoid robots, black and silver. Each one had a stylized clock symbol etched into its chest. "Watch & Coppersmith robots?" he whispered to Millie.

  She nodded.

  And the robots weren't the only guards -- there were zombies prowling around the entrance, too. Stu was too far away for the ICON system to make out their designations, but they appeared to be ordinary zombies for the most part, and not irregulars. A few were wandering around, aimlessly, but most of them were simply standing there, motionless, their chins resting on their chests.

  "Those are the grub-zombies," Millie said. "They're under the Researcher's control."

  "How does that work?"

  "They have grub modules in their brains. These ones are programmed to attack anyone who gets too close to the hospital. She has this remote control she carries with her, too, to give them direct orders, although I'm not sure how that works."

  "Interesting." He studied the hospital's entrance. How the hell was he going to get Lucky and Luna out of there? The place was obviously extremely well-guarded.

  He sat down behind the car which they were using for cover and tried to think. How was he going to avoid being spotted by the drones and searchlights? The robots might be able to see him too, if they had infrared vision.

  Did he have any skills that could help? His Night Vision timer was counting down -- he only had six minutes left now -- and he had already used Dead Aim once today, to kill the bomber back at Curly's Gym; he wouldn't be able to use it again until tomorrow. His superior strength, speed, and Regeneration powers couldn't help him here.

  He did have seventeen skill points saved up, however. He opened up the skills menu and started scrolling through the list, looking for something that might come in handy. The only affordable one that looked like it might be of use was Shadow King, which would allow him to "disappear into the shadows," but he wasn't sure how that would work, or whether the drones and robots might still be able to see him with their infrared cameras.

  "What are you doing?" Millie asked, seeing him poking the air with his index finger.

  "Nothing," he said. He glanced at her, and found himself a little unnerved, again, by her glowing red eye, which gave her an almost demonic look. Could he trust her? Was this whole thing some kind of elaborate ruse? He had a gut feeling that she was telling the truth about herself and about the situation, but he had no way of knowing for sure.

  Well, that wasn't entirely true -- he could use his skill points to purchase the Lie Detector skill, which would allow him to see through any lies.

  Shadow King, Lie Detector...both of these skills were associated with the Scavenger class. He was starting to regret choosing the Bulwark class -- having a strong defense was important, sure, but the lesser skills of the Scavenger class were much more versatile, and much more useful in situations like this.

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  He could still purchase these skills, of course, if he wanted to, but he would have to pay full "price" for them. Shadow King only cost two skill points, but Lie Detector cost six.

  He decided to hold off on buying anything right now -- skill points were valuable, and he didn't want to make any rash decisions.

  But how was he supposed to get into this place? He turned to Millie. "Any ideas?"

  "You might be able to get in through the morgue," she said. "That's the route I took, when I escaped. But that was months ago, and the Researcher may have sealed it off or placed guards there since then."

  "The morgue, huh?" That didn't sound fun.

  "You can get in through a little underground tunnel that goes under the street." She made a face. "The Researcher uses the morgue as a dumping ground for her failed experiments. It's a nasty place."

  "I can imagine," he said wryly. "How did you manage to escape?"

  "Stealth mode," she replied, as if that explained everything. He wasn't sure if she was speaking literally or figuratively or what -- as some kind of cyborg, it was entirely possible she really did have some kind of literal stealth mode -- but he didn't bother to ask.

  "Are there more zombies inside the hospital? More robots?"

  "Yes, but it's the Lab Rat you really have to worry about."

  "You keep talking about this guy. Is he really that dangerous?"

  "Yes."

  Stu frowned. "You said he's a cyborg? Like you?"

  "Yes, except I only have a few artificial parts. The Lab Rat's almost all artificial, except for the zombie parts."

  "Zombie parts? He's a zombie, too?"

  "Sort of. He's fast like a speedy and strong like a rager, and his organs regenerate like a zombie's. The Researcher has done all kinds of experiments on him. That's why he's called the Lab Rat."

  "No kidding."

  "She put a grub module in him, too, but she probably didn't need to. He's totally loyal to her, always has been."

  Stu didn't relish the idea of fighting a man/monster that was half-robot and half-zombie; he hoped to avoid this thing if he could. "Anything else I should know?"

  "You're probably going to die."

  An ICON message suddenly appeared in front of his face:

  Quest Available: Infiltrating the Ingert

  He tapped the message, which caused the "Accept quest?" message to appear. Sighing, he tapped "Yes." There was no turning back now.

  "What are you doing?" Millie asked him again, seeing him interact with the ICON messages.

  "Just a little tic of mine. Will you show me the entrance to the morgue?"

  "I will, but that's as far as I go. Remember, if you make it out of this alive, you have to take me with you when you leave Heart's Glow." She shook her head. "But you're probably going to die."

  "I heard you the first time," he muttered.

  * * *

  Millie led Stu down an alley and into a dilapidated building across the street from the hospital. This building wasn't guarded, but there were a few zombies wandering around outside, which they were obliged to sneak around. Stu, relying on his Zombie Radar -- this skill was definitely coming in handy -- was able to avoid several zombies which might have otherwise surprised them.

  His Night Vision ran out just as they arrived at the building, plunging the world into darkness again and almost causing Stu to trip over his own feet. Millie gave him a disparaging look. "You're clumsy," she complained. "How in the world did you manage to take out all those zombies back at the gym?"

  "I'm tougher than I look," he said lamely.

  "You'd better be."

  Annoyed, he turned to look at her. "You know how many zombies I've killed since I arrived in this world? I've only been here a few weeks, and I've already lost count."

  "Is that so?"

  "I've killed bombers, ragers, speedies, even a mutate. I know what I'm doing." In truth, practically every encounter he had had with a zombie, so far, had been a terrifying, nerve-wracking experience, but he wasn't about to tell her that.

  "Well, for your sake -- and for mine, too, I guess -- I hope you find your friends and make it out of this place alive. But I think the odds are stacked against you."

  "Thanks. I think. Which way?"

  "Down here."

  She led him deeper into the building, which seemed to be some kind of clinic, presumably affiliated with the hospital. Stu turned on his flashlight as they descended a set of steps, into a basement; Millie pointed to a set of steel doors at the other end of it. "That's the tunnel that will take you into the morgue," she said. "Doesn't seem like anyone's watching it, but I'd be careful just the same."

  "Thanks." He turned to look at her again. It was hard to hold her gaze -- that unblinking red eye of hers was so strange and eerie -- but he forced himself to anyway. And, looking closely, he discovered that her other eye, her intact, organic one, was a rather pretty shade of blue, which he hadn't noticed before. "This is where we say goodbye then, huh?"

  "I guess so."

  "It was nice meeting you, Millie." He gave her a little smile, but she didn't smile back. Instead, she simply nodded at him and said, "Good luck."

  He turned away from the cyborg-girl, took a deep breath, and pushed open the doors, shining his flashlight into the underground tunnel beyond.