[ WP ] `` Memory , '' the young boy said , `` Is not a safe place to store valuables . ''

Eva ran, breathing hard as she rounded a corner sharply, stumbling a little on the polished floors. Ducking into a hallway, she quickly locked the door, keying in the code to lock it before running down the hall. 
 
 But she had barely recovered her breath before she heard the door open. Cursing, she began to run again. Eva did n't have any real destination in mind-just anywhere but here. 
 
 Advancing up the stairs, she activated the pressure sensors on the stairs before hiding behind a plant. If she was lucky, the intruder would trigger them causing the police to be contacted, and they would be here soon. 
 
 But as she watched, he slowed down right before the stairs. Quickly, he whipped out his phone and began to type in the deactivation code. She grimaced, then ran off down another hall of her mansion, the boys footsteps just behind her. 
 
 Her eyes raced ahead of her, scanning over the various doors ahead of her, trying to remember if there was anything in the rooms that she could use to her advantage. 
 
 A shot rang out behind her, causing her to turn her head. The boy looked at her with a lazy sort of indifference, the gun in his hand not even aimed in a direction that could hit her. She shook her head before rounding the corner, typing in the authorization code for the hallway's laser security grid before ducking into a room off to the side as the familiar hum of the lasers started up. 
 
 It lasted for approximately 10 seconds before it quieted itself as the boy deactivated them. She cursed, before opening a door into an adjacent room. Swearing profusely now, she darted out into the hallway again, feet pounding on the carpeted floor. 
 
 Rushing past the various doors, she quickly raced to the other set of stairs down to the main floor. Perhaps a bit *too* quickly. She tripped on her way going down the stairs and went flying before coming to a rest at the bottom. 
 
 She grunted in pain as she turned back to look at the top of the stairs at her pursuer. With his dirty grey hoodie and thin frame, he did n't look like much of a threat-certainly not someone who would chase her around the house. But his wild, unkempt hair and his eyes that constantly moved about, as if searching everywhere at once, told a different story. Paired with the small pistol he grasped in his hands, it was clear that he was not someone to be trifled with. 
 
 Seeing her, the boy smiled before coming down the stairs, gun hanging loosely in his hand. `` Hello Eva!'' he called out cheerfully, coming to a stop at the foot of the stairs. `` How's it been, old friend!'' 
 
 Eva closed her eyes tight, concentrating. When she opened them, they were filled with rage. She opened her mouth to speak. `` Security system: This is Eva. Currently threatened by one hostile, located in second chandelier room. Activation code 22423681.'' 
 
 Quickly, a robotic turret dropped down from the ceiling and rotated around, searching for the hostile. Upon ascertaining where he was, it began to take aim, fixing him in view. 
 
 The boy looked up at it and shook his head. `` Really?'' he said, turning back to face Eva. Quickly looking back up at the turret, he cleared his throat. `` Security: false alarm, override code APOCRITA POLYDNAVIRUS.'' And just like that, the turret retreated back towards the ceiling. 
 
 Eva was flabbergasted. `` What?! How do you-?'' 
 
 `` -know all the codes?'' he said with an amused smirk. `` Especially when you've never told a single soul any of them? Well, I'm afraid it's because your minds been breached. All the stuff in there? I know it too. I mean, I actually bought and installed most of this stuff here!'' 
 
 Eva began backing up, although her eyes never left the boy, `` W-what do you mean by that?'' she asked, eyes looking around for any object that could possibly be used as a weapon. 
 
 The boy pouted, placing his hands on his hips. `` Oh come on! Did you really forget me? After all this time?'' he said, shaking his head. `` It's a good thing I came back, then. We've got a lot of catching up to do, it seems!'' Upon saying this, he hunched over, clutching at his chest. An expression of intense pain crossed over his face. 
 
 Suddenly, the boy fell over, almost as if he'd been shot. But that was nothing compared to what happened next. A giant insect greatly resembling a wasp burst out from underneath the boys hoodie, mandibles and legs stained with blood. Eva yelled in shock as she leapt backwards, while the thing simply hovered there, slowly turning it's head this way and that, scanning it's surroundings. Eva simply stood there, rooted to the spot in fear. 
 
 Then the monster focused it's eyes on her. This snapped Eva back to the present, causing her to quickly turn and bolt for the nearest door. The monster quickly flew off in pursuit of her though. And while Eva had a head start, the insect was much faster. Before she had even taken more than a few steps, she felt a powerful sting in her back. The world seemed to be spinning all around her, causing her to lose her balance and fall to the floor as everything went dark... 
 *** 
 Stan woke up, face on the ground. His memory was incredibly hazy of the past week or so, but he was pretty sure that he'd been doing... something, right? Regardless of *what* he'd been doing, he felt that he needed to get out of there soon. 
 
 But just as he got up, he went tumbling onto the ground as a shot rang out, narrowly missing him. Rolling over to his back, he turned around to see who was shooting at him-and gasped. 
 
 There, standing over him, was an otherwise unremarkable businesswoman... except for the wings that seemed to sprout from her back, like a fairy. As she turned a little, he screamed-her wings were n't connected to her back at all. Instead, they were connected to some sort of gigantic wasp-like creature that was biting into her back, dried blood beginning to coat the back of her business suit. 
 
 `` Who are you! W-*what* are you?!'' he said forcefully, terror beginning to mount as he looked up at `` her''. 
 
 She did n't even glance at him as she spoke. `` Oh, just you average, everyday person. The kind that does n't really like people poking their nose into other people's businesses.'' 
 
 `` W-wait, please-!'' he began to yell, before she shot him in the head. He gasped once before falling to the ground, a pool of blood beginning to form underneath him. 
 
 Shaking her head, she stepped over his corpse before climbing back up the stairs, each step creaking under her feet. She'd get someone else to deal with the corpse later. Currently, she had quite a bit of catching up to do, and her time was too valuable right now to waste on disposing the corpse. And just like that, she rounded the corner and disappeared-the only trace left of her was the body she'd had just been using, now dead and devoid of any life. And as the echoes of her footsteps faded away, the only sound that was left was the sound of security systems being activated. Until eventually these too faded away, leaving nothing but the flies... and one empty, foreboding corpse that told of things to come.
