Searching for Andromeda 37 Another Fragment - An Enemy?

"H-hold on!" Anna—the hologram beside Ephraim and the task force—interrupts, which made the girl claiming to be the 'real Anna' to raise her arm as if to gesture the creature to halt. Ephraim looked over the creature—it was ghastly-looking, with deteriorating flesh and putrid smell. It also was five times larger than that of a normal person, its back bigger than it was supposed to. It also had a face, with two eyes and a dripping mouth. Compared to the other creatures Ephraim and the task force have encountered—this one looked . . . human.

"Hunchback, hold on a sec." The girl says. "What is it, Impersonator?"

'Impersonator?' Ephraim thought to himself as he glances towards Anna.

"Who are you?" Anna asks the girl.

"As I said, I am Project A. NN3331-a," says the girl. "Project ANN-a, or just simply . . . Anna."

"How could that be?" Anna exclaims. "I am Anna!"

"You humor me," the girl exclaims. "There is no way Anna looked like that,"

"I am her fragment!" Anna says, "and I know Anna's programming. You're . . . different!"

"How rude," the 'real' Anna says as she twirls her black hair. "I am being mocked by a mere fragment. I never thought the day would come that such imitator would insult me,"

Anna scowls as the girl disappeared from their sight—and then,

"Looking for me?" She asks. Ephraim blinked and then Esmeralda squealed as she jumps back from her place towards Berthold, who supported her from falling. The 'real' Anna was now beside the Anna they know.

And it was such a sight to behold. The two of them portrayed night and day—Anna who had curly blond hair complementing her blue eyes and white dress—and 'real' Anna with her straight black hair paired with her blood-red eyes and rubicund-scarlet dress. Ephraim then met the bloodshot gaze of Realna—or Real Anna, he says to his mind to avoid complications.

"Oh," Realna exclaims. "How fascinating," the girl then transported towards Ephraim in the blink of an eye. She neither floated nor walk . . . she just appeared right in front of him, their gazes locked to each other. Hers with evident fascination, and Ephraim with his usual measured gaze, with an appalled expression. This girl . . . did she just teleport towards him?

"Oh, you remind me of someone." The girl says, and then as Ephraim blinked she dissolved into pixels until she once again was a distance afore the team, standing upright with the opened vault behind as she stood alongside the large creature she called "Subject 00457."

"All of you seemed like you existed in the era I liked the least," says Realna. "So it's better to wait for another decade than to tolerate all of you,"

"What are you saying—" Anna starts.

"Shut up, Mimic," Realna exclaims.

"No, I don't understand this. Who are you?!"

"How many times do I need to tell you I'm the real Project Anna," says Realna. "You are getting to my CODE. Subject 00457, initiate complete extermination!"

Realna then swiped downwards, with tabs appearing in front of her—the ones similar to Anna. The entirety of the space appeared to tinge with a blood-red hue as the lights turned to a crimson shade. A warning sign appeared as more creatures from earlier started to swarm the whole vicinity.

"Bye-bye, maybe another set of people will do. But not all of you," the girl says, her red eyes fixing to Ephraim. She grinned mischievously, "what a shame. I did like one boy."

**

As far as Esmeralda could muster to remember from the last five minutes the girl had left, was the sound of a gunshot.

"Berthold!" Hiroaki exclaims as he passes a pistol to Berthold in a rush. They were told to pick any weapon from Hiroaki, and Esmeralda just grabbed whatever her hand had picked. She chose a crossbow.

And what a coincidence—she never excelled in her archery class! She could have pulled a small handgun or whatever, but her hand brought her to a crossbow! Esmeralda didn't want to look like a drag, so she started to arm it. She knows the basics—maybe that was the advantage. She knew how to use one, sure—but isn't proficient enough to shoot something with it.

She proceeded to go to the sides, a bit further from everyone. This works better long-ranged, after all. Her hands were trembling, which didn't aid her aim. She couldn't focus, although she already loaded the crossbow. She took a deep breath as she aimed down the scope of the crossbow right at the intended target.

"Be sure to not jerk the crossbow as you squeeze the trigger. This will decrease accuracy. Keep the crossbow aimed at your intended target." Hiroaki says from the distance.

The last five minutes Hiroaki instructed them to take cover into a rather more effective position. He was a former sergeant trained under perilous circumstances, so his experience was definitely useful now to all of them. To their survival.

Hiroaki handed everyone a weapon, so swift he had instructed the team—and Esmeralda couldn't keep up, unlike the others who already equipped themselves and started to play their roles. But here she was, sweating and trembling, her finger unable to pull the trigger. Her team was already holding off the smaller creatures as they shot continuously as one comes after another.

The 'Hunchback' was slower than they thought, walking towards them at a slow pace as it stomps its feet to the glass with a vibrating thud. The plan would be to blind the creature's eyes before they would make their escape as the team clears the way by killing the smaller monsters afterward.

In the creature's growling and walking, they waited.

Waited for her.

Hiroaki told her she has to fire the first shot in the eye of the creature in a less distracting way—soundlessly as possible. They couldn't do it because one, they were all equipped with handguns, and two, she was the one who picked the crossbow. She couldn't back out now. They would be disappointed at her. She had to be useful, even if that meant to shoot.

After the girl disappeared, Anna chased after her saying, "I know it's tough, but I think she can tell me valuable information! Do you think you all can hold these monsters?"

"Leader?"

"Yes, Anna," Ephraim utters. "I don't think we have any more time to waste. We have to arm ourselves. Now!"

Esmeralda took a deep breath as she eyed the team members nodding to each other, and then with Hiroaki's signal, she closed her eyes and pulled the trigger. The monster roared loudly as it hit its eye.

"Move!" Hiroaki exclaims, and then Samuel and Berthold started to shoot the smaller monsters, whilst Ephraim and Hiroaki charged to the large creature. Esmeralda shot crossbow arrows from a distance, missing some and hitting some. She tried to overcome her trembles, telling herself the team is here, and she wasn't alone. She narrowed her eyes and shot the creature's another eye.

She wasn't alone!

Chapter end