Ministry of defense. Frostholm. 10:03 am.
The steps could not be more perfect. Precision was like oxygen to him. Control was the greater goal he had always dreamed of. If he could not control something, he removed it, even if the cost was high. Respecting the pyramid was a golden rule in his book.
"Sergeant, report," he said while speed walking through the facility.
"The captain of the emergency unit has been officially neutralized," the sergeant replied, struggling to keep up with his superior. "The team's morale is at its lowest point, and the probability of the captain's repair is absolute zero."
He stopped abruptly and turned toward the sergeant. His eyes lit up.
"This morning could not be better."
"Why, sir?"
"Follow me."
They entered the meeting room. The sergeant saluted the high-ranking figures already seated and took a position at the far end of the table.
"Sergeant Wal will be joining us in today's meeting," he announced as he sat at the head of the table.
The meeting room was massive, dominated by a sleek, modern metallic table at its center. Most of the generals present were relatively young, full of energy, ambition, and decisiveness. That was part of his cleaning process.
"Before we begin," Vegas continued to speak, "Operation Switch Off has been successful. I thank you all for your hard work. Apparently, hiding information from IB agents and the police general director is not as easy as it sounds."
The general representing the east side spoke up. "He will follow our trail. We need to be cautious. As we saw two years ago, he has a particular talent. Manipulation is his strongest weapon. He was able to remove the previous Minister of Defense live on national television."
The west side general nodded. "Not only that. The president backed it without hesitation."
The north side general scoffed. "That man is nothing but a clout chaser. He has no opinion of his own. Since taking office, he has not made a single real decision, all out of fear of public reaction."
"I do not blame him," the south side general added. "Our country is powered by public opinion. If the people agree on removing you from your position, you will be gone in a matter of days. That is why Mikael values his speeches so much."
"Then we change that," a voice spoke from the far end of the table.
Vegas turned his gaze toward the speaker. "What exactly do you mean?"
"We cannot allow a group of civilians to decide who is in charge," the man said as he leaned forward, revealing his face. It was Sebastian Tamer.
Once the chief officer of the capital police, Tamer had been transferred to the military at Vegas's personal request. Vegas admired his courage and decisiveness. Tamer was only thirty-one years old.
"We are the superpower of this country," Tamer continued. "We are the ones keeping it together. Our word carries more weight than any civilian opinion. If we let the public choose leadership, they will simply elect another clown in a suit."
Vegas liked that aspect of Tamer. Direct, fearless, and decisive. He was also the one who had designed Operation Switch Off after his first encounter with Dr. Nick.
"I hear you, Tamer, but—"
"Apologies for interrupting, sir," Tamer said firmly, "but any decision other than taking control will result in us losing our heads."
"And why do you assume that?" Vegas asked.
All eyes in the room shifted toward Tamer.
"Mikael does not tolerate competition," Tamer replied calmly. "I worked under him since my early twenties. I can guarantee he is already planning to remove you from your position."
The atmosphere in the room shifted instantly. Several faces tightened. They could all see that scenario unfolding.
Vegas leaned back slightly. "And what is your solution?"
"It will take time," Tamer said. "But we must act fast."
Metromania's Sky. 12:00 pm.
The sunlight outside did not reflect what the E-UNITs were going through.
Beyond the small windows of the aircraft, the sky was clear, almost peaceful. Inside, the atmosphere was heavy and suffocating. Faces were dark, eyes unfocused, and silence ruled the cabin. Even the more upbeat units sat still, suppressing their emotions for one reason only.
03 sat quietly, staring forward, locked in an internal battle no one could interrupt.
The team was aboard an AC-130, flying back to Metromania. The flight was scheduled for twelve hours, but time felt stretched far beyond that. Every minute dragged, every second felt unnecessary.
Dr. Nick sat apart from them, his laptop balanced on his knees. Lines of data scrolled endlessly across the screen as he moved through secured servers. He searched for every clip, every recording, every trace of 02 that still existed. He collected them carefully, placing everything into a single massive archive.
He told himself he was building a foundation.
In truth, he already knew the result.
Even if he recreated her using those memories, it would only be a reflection. A shell. Another machine trying to imitate 02. It would not be her, and it would not be fair to the copy either.
He let out a slow, tired sigh.
From the corner of their eyes, several E-UNITs glanced toward him. 05 had already told them what she saw the night before. The silent breakdown. The long hug with 03. The way he forced himself to stay upright just to keep them together.
"Father."
03 stood up and walked toward him. She sat beside him slowly. To his surprise, she was smiling.
"I need to discuss something important with you."
Nick swallowed. At her current state, he had no idea what that request might be.
"Of course," he replied carefully.
She looked straight ahead, her smile calm and controlled.
"Can you turn off our emotions?"
The silence that followed was heavy and absolute.
Nick stared at her. The team stared at her. No one moved. No one breathed.
He slowly removed his glasses.
"What?"
"I believe grieving over 02 will negatively affect our performance," 03 said evenly. "Our current condition is unstable. We are barely keeping ourselves from losing control again."
Nick shook his head immediately. "I refuse. There is no point in continuing this discussion."
Her smile faded slightly.
"This is not a request, father."
He looked at her again, this time with visible confusion and fear. "03, I will not turn off your emotions. You would lose what makes you who you are. I cannot accept losing another one of you, especially by my own hands."
"Then turn us off completely," she said. Her voice began to rise.
Nick stood up instantly. "03, do not ask me for something that ends your life."
"Why?"
"What do you mean why?"
"Do you enjoy watching us suffer?" she asked quietly. Her voice cracked. "Do you enjoy creating beings just to show them how cruel life can be? Is that your ultimate goal? If it is, then end it. I understood this a long time ago."
"No, that is not what I meant."
"Then I am giving you two choices," she continued. "Either end us, or end our emotions."
"That is not fair."
"It is not fair to us either," she replied sharply. "Watching our captain fall apart piece by piece. Watching her smile while dying. Seeing someone you call family trapped behind glass while you can do nothing. Where is the fairness in that? Were we made only to watch death for the rest of our existence?"
Nick froze.
There was no argument left to give.
He slowly sat back down, staring at the floor beneath his feet.
"At least you were made with a purpose," he said quietly. "Most humans are thrown into this world without one. We build it ourselves. We shape our future. We choose. I wanted to give you even a fraction of that freedom. That was the reason behind your creation."
He looked at her again.
"If I remove your emotions, I erase that reason."
"Turning us off is logical," she replied. "If something has no purpose, it should not exist."
He buried his face in his hands for a moment. When he spoke again, his voice was steady.
"I will not turn off your emotions."
"Father—"
"But," he continued, cutting her off, "I will add a switch. You will have the ability to do it yourselves. If you believe it is necessary, then you decide. That is the responsibility of being human. We choose for ourselves, and now so will you."
She leaned forward and rested her head on his lap.
"You really enjoy dumping responsibility on us, don't you?"
He crossed his arms. "I hate deciding for others. Especially for you. I made you intelligent so you could choose. I will not stop pushing that idea."
03 let out a small laugh. "02 was right."
He sighed softly. "She said the same thing about you before this mission."
The aircraft suddenly lurched violently. The floor shifted beneath them, and warning lights flooded the cabin in red. The steady hum of the engines broke into chaotic alerts as the plane tilted sharply.
A voice echoed through the speakers.
"This is the captain speaking. We are under attack. The left engine has been destroyed after direct impact by an unidentified hostile unit. We are being ambushed."
03 lifted her head immediately. Her expression hardened.
"No more family time," she said.
She stood and turned toward the team.
"E-UNIT. Code Red initiated!"
***
The cargo door opened.
The left engine was gone. The aircraft couldn't hold altitude much longer.
Cold, violent wind rushed into the aircraft, shaking the metal walls and flooding the cabin with noise. Below them, the city of Metromania stretched endlessly. Glass towers reflected the morning sun, highways curved like veins, and far below, the streets looked calm and unaware.
The team moved into formation. This time, there was no familiar presence at the front.
03 jumped first.
One by one, the others followed her into open air. Thrusters ignited across their backs as they descended. Weapons were drawn immediately.
Waiting for them was a swarm of Black Medics.
They hovered above the outer district of Metromania, forming a loose wall in the sky. These units had already fought them once. Now they were ordered to erase what remained of the team.
03 pulled her sniper rifle forward, but the moment it cleared her back, several Black Medics rushed her at once. Their movements were sharp and aggressive.
On the ground, E-UNITs were nearly unstoppable. Their speed and strength could not be matched.
But in the air, everything changed.
Thrusters had limits.
A Black Medic clipped her shoulder. LIBERTA ripped free and started falling. 03 tried reaching for it, but a Black Medic blocked her path, forcing her to react instead of chase the falling weapon. Another came from above. Then another from below. If she chased the rifle, she'd be swallowed.
She struck one hard, her fist smashing into its face. The robot spun and fell toward the road far beneath them, its body twisted and broken.
But this time, there were too many.
Every time she pushed one away, another replaced it instantly. They did not hesitate. They did not slow down.
That was the strength of disposable machines.
In situations like this, 02 would already be forming a counter plan.
Without her, the team was only a group of powerful individuals.
04 activated her shields and tried to control the space around her. Three barriers expanded outward, but in open air, there was nothing to trap the enemy against. The Black Medics simply flew above them, below them, or curved around the edges.
06 launched her exo knives. They spread out, chasing targets before detonating.
The Black Medics avoided them with ease.
They were faster in the sky.
11 was different.
She knew how to dismantle them.
Her rifle stayed steady as she fired controlled shots, aiming only at known failure points. One after another, Black Medics fell apart midair. She was destroying more units than anyone else.
She opened her comms to warn the team.
Only static answered.
The network was jammed.
The Black Medics reacted almost immediately. Seeing her as the highest threat, they redirected toward her in overwhelming numbers. Attacks came from all sides, coordinated and relentless.
"They have been watching us," 11 tried to say, but her voice was drowned by the swarm.
She was right.
Somewhere above the city, the enemy had a vantage point. They were observing the battle and adjusting in real time.
04 forced her way toward 03, activating all three shields at once.
"Captain, the situation is getting worse," she said urgently. "Only 07 and 11 can counter them, and both are getting overwhelmed. Their numbers are higher, and they are working together now. What do we do?"
"I do not know," 03 answered honestly. "I have never led a major mission like this."
A Black Medic lunged.
03 reacted instantly and removed its head with a clean strike.
"We cannot hold much longer," 04 said. "We need a plan. Even the comms are blocked."
"They control the sky," 03 replied. "Even during the first encounter, three of them were already difficult. We cannot drag the fight into the city either. The damage would be massive. They are learning."
"And so are we."
The voice came from behind the shields.
03 turned sharply. "What did you say, 04?"
"That was not me."
A sharp click cut through the static, like someone had severed the jammer.
"This is the Metromania Air Force. Please return to the aircraft. We will handle the rest."
Before the message finished, three precise shots rang out.
Bang, Bang, Bang.
Three Black Medics near 03 and 04 fell apart in midair.
"The skyline," a confident voice continued, "is ours."
The 30 Series had arrived.
They moved through the air as a single unit, clean and synchronized. Their formation was tight, their movements calm. Watching them was like looking at one machine with many bodies.
It reminded 03 of the very first E-UNIT deployment.
The original five.
"Free Sergeant 11," 31 commanded.
The 30 Series shifted instantly, forming a wide circle around the swarm attacking her. Red visors slid down over their eyes, targeting systems activating together.
The shooting began.
One shot after another, perfectly timed.
Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang.
With only standard police pistols, Black Medics dropped continuously, falling like broken dolls toward the city below. The pressure around 11 disappeared.
She reappeared between them.
When she looked out, she saw her team.
A slow, unsettling smirk crossed her face.
As the last attackers were cleared, the 30 Series rushed toward her, surrounding her in midair. Where moments ago she was trapped by enemies, now she was held by familiar allies.
"I missed you, girls," 11 said warmly.
"We missed you too," 32 replied.
"You left us to collect dust," 38 added.
"Never," 11 answered firmly. "I just finished a mission. We will talk later. Formation."
They spread out into a wide pattern, resembling migratory birds crossing the sky, with 11 at the front.
"Chase the summer," she ordered.
They surged forward.
Each Black Medic group they passed collapsed immediately. Their shots were perfectly synchronized. Instead of targeting randomly, they focused on a single unit at a time, leaving no space to evade.
One shared shot per group.
No hesitation. No waste.
The team moved as one.
The older E-UNITs watched in silence.
03 did not look away.
She was already considering the future. Turning a group of new units into a flawless combat machine in such a short time was not normal. It was something that deserved study.
Soon, the sky above Metromania returned to calm blue.
The mission was complete.
Everyone regrouped inside the aircraft.
03 approached 11, her voice calm and respectful.
"You are better than I expected. Now I understand why 02 insisted on bringing you in."
11 lowered her head. "I am sorry."
"Do not be," 03 replied. "She would have forgiven you. Just like she forgave you for 17."
32 blinked. "What is she talking about?"
11 turned sharply toward her. Her voice dropped.
"02 is gone."
04 slapped her own face in disbelief.
The entire 30 Series reacted at once.
"Whaaaat!?"
Metromania's Airport. 12:20 pm.
Camera flashes exploded the moment the aircraft touched the runway.
They did not stop.
The airport was overflowing with people. Fans, families, and civilians pressed against barriers, chanting the name of E-UNIT again and again. Smartphones were held high, arms shaking from how long they had been raised. Not a single second was missed.
The cargo door opened. Ten figures stepped out.
The same number that had departed weeks ago.
Relief spread across the crowd, followed by louder cheers. The media had no knowledge of Sergeant 11 joining the operation. But then, a second group followed. Nine figures, moving in tight formation.
The light finally reached them.
Numbers and silhouettes became clear. The public had watched the neutralization of the Black Medics above Metromania. They had seen the footage replayed nonstop across the nation. What happened in the capital was no longer a secret.
The E-UNIT were no longer unknown.
Most of the people came to thank their heroes.
03 led the team through the IB security passage. Energy barriers kept the crowd from rushing forward, but hands still stretched through the gaps, desperate to touch them. Voices called out names. Some cried. Some laughed.
But the expressions of the girls did not match the celebration.
A reporter managed to push close enough.
"Altea thanks you for your service," he said breathlessly. "Can I ask where the captain is?"
03 tried to ignore him.
She failed.
"She is not with us anymore."
The reporter froze. "What do you mean?" He leaned closer. "Did Dr. Nick transfer her to the capital?"
03 snapped.
She grabbed the microphone.
"She is dead," she shouted. "Okay? The enemy—"
04 pulled her back instantly. 05 covered her mouth and dragged her away from the crowd.
The reaction was immediate.
Questions erupted. Confusion spread, mixed with shock, anger, and grief. For the public, Captain 02 was the face of E-UNIT. Her calm professionalism had shaped how people saw the entire program.
Security rushed the team forward.
11 stayed behind.
The 30 Series formed behind her in silence.
"I will answer your questions," 11 said calmly. "On behalf of the current captain, 03."
"Current?"
"Why is she answering?"
"Where is 02?"
One reporter gathered his courage. "Can you answer honestly?"
"Yes."
"What happened to Captain 02?"
11 met the cameras directly.
"The enemy succeeded in eliminating one of us," she said. "This time, they targeted the captain, fully aware of her value to the team. This is an official status update under IB supervision."
"Can she be revived?" another journalist asked.
"I am sorry to inform you," 11 continued, her tone steady, "but the captain is confirmed K.I.A. The attack was devastating. The weapon was specifically designed to dismantle E-UNIT systems."
She paused briefly.
"The remarkable thing is that she endured it for nearly a full minute. Even under those conditions, she fought. But she is no longer with us."
Silence followed.
Despite the massive crowd, no one spoke. Her words were too heavy to interrupt.
"No further questions?" 11 said quietly. "Then excuse me."
She turned and left.
The entire 30 Series followed her, heads lowered. None of them had fully processed the loss yet.
***
Later, inside the E-Police Department, raised voices echoed through the halls. 11 entered the giant glass door at the sound of screams.
"I DO NOT WANT TO!" 03 screamed. Electronic tears streaked down her face. 01 held her tightly from behind.
"You have to!" the mayor shouted back. "We cannot leave the city without a chief, and we cannot leave E‑UNIT without a captain."
The head of the IB Agency stepped forward, trying to stay calm.
"03, you must understand the situation. We cannot allow a vacuum in the highest authority of the local police. E-UNIT is no longer a test project. You are responsible for the safety of six cities."
"But it is too soon," 03 said weakly. "She just left us. I am not trained to hold the whole team together."
She turned her head.
Her eyes landed on 11, standing silently at the end of the hall.
"She is a better fit."
Every head turned.
11 stood still. Her eyes briefly reflected something close to excitement, but she buried it instantly.
"Why her?" someone asked.
"I watched her lead the new team," 03 said. "She is an exceptional leader and trainer. 11 showed us exactly why 02 took her into the capital war."
"But—"
11 stepped forward.
"Thank you for visiting, Mr. Mayor, and Head of the Intelligence Bureau," she said with formality. "Since the loss of Captain 02, the team has been unstable. I will accept the responsibility of leading E-UNIT temporarily."
She turned to 03.
"At least until you recover."
03 lowered her head.
"You can take it," she said quietly. "I am not fit for this."
She walked away down the hallway.
No one stopped her.
And everyone watching felt the same unease as she disappeared from sight.
19 exchanged a look with 12, then left.
A wall screen above reception switched to BREAKING NEWS: New Mer, NATIONAL ADDRESS IN FIVE MINUTES.