[quote]"Tell us all details you know of Project Willow."[/quote]

The lights around the robot's head flickered.

"PROJECT WILLOW. RESEARCH IN THE NATURE OF DREAMS AND EMERGENCY OFFENSIVE MEASURE FOR THE ERADICATION OF GRIT COLONIES. ALPHA TESTING STAGES. HEADED BY DOCTOR ALPHONSE DERIATHAN. AUTHORIZED BY KING LUCIAN UNQUIET. NATURE OF WEAPON REDACTED. LOCATION UNKNOWN. CLASSIFICATION LEVEL SIXTEEN."

The robot went quiet again. This was everything there was to access about Project Willow by a surgeon robot with no direct need to have such information. Its lights flickered again.

"CANDY IS A LEADING CAUSE OF TOOTH DECAY AND HIGH BLOOD SUGAR."

Within the surgery room, most of the implants were of a medical nature: new eyes for the blind, mobility implants, hearing aids, mechanical limbs, jars of microscopic robots. Then there was the detractable armor plating, the hidden blades, the lasers, some less intrusive than others. Though it appeared this place had yet to ever be used, it had been stocked in preparation to build and repair soldiers that could match the abilities of the Grit.

Now that Vincent had snatched away the glowing soul, the little stone girl seemed colder -- like she'd never lived at all.

[quote]As he approached the ground, Flor activated his sigil a second before hitting the ground, leaving cracked tiles around his feet. He looked around again ensuring nothing was around to harm them. [/quote]

[b]"WAAAHH!"[/b] A high-pitched screech of terror echoed all the way up the stairwell; even those standing in the infirmary could clearly tell something had happened.

A skinny, bare-shouldered little boy had been eating a sandwich near the spot where Flor made his harsh landing. The child jumped and scrambled and in a panic covered himself with the sheet he'd been sitting on, flinging bits of bread and cheese and tomato.

With the sheet still draped over him, he skittered backward and started chucking food at Flor: an apple, a water bottle, a package of deli meat.

[b]"GO AWAY!"[/b] He peeked over the edge of the sheet for a moment. The kid had a messy mop of yellow hair, bright green eyes, and the long drooping ears of a jackrabbit. He shoved his head under the sheet again and launched a ketchup packet at Flor.