"Don't just hold it! Eat it. It'll melt otherwise. Don't waste food!" Lucifer told the three of them as he started leaving.
He went towards the lift but stopped.
"This fingerprint thing needs to go. Alicia, remind me to command a technician to remove all the fingerprint defense of this place," he reminded Alicia as he waited for Ayn to open the lift.
Ayn placed her hand on the lift sensor. After the scanning, the doors opened, and the four of them entered inside.
The lift went down to the fourth floor, which seemed somewhat crowded as many people had come down to surrender.
From what Lucifer could see, there were close to a hundred APF members sitting on their knees. The Variant Uprising Members were keeping an eye on them.
"So these are all who surrendered. I thought there would be more," Lucifer said, tossing the finished cup of ice cream to the side.
Ayn hadn't eaten at all. She was still carrying the cup in her hand.
All the APF members saw Ayn standing behind Lucifer. Their eyes opened slowly as they wondered why she was with them.
Lucifer noticed the direction of their gaze.
"I'm sure you're all wondering why Ayn is with me instead of being with you?" He inquired as he stepped ahead with his hands in his pocket.
Ayn lowered her head as she understood that Lucifer was going to tell them all that she had betrayed them.
She was prepared to face the gazes of disgust from them. Inside her heart, she was steadfast though. She still believed this was the right choice.
"She has also surrendered to us. She will now be working with us. And I'd like to give a similar offer to you all. Join us. Forget all the bad blood between Uprising and APF. Both the organizations are similar at their core after all," Lucifer said to the APF members.
" Don't worry though. There's no hurry. I don't want your answers now. You have a day to decide. If you accept to work under me, you'll gain your freedom. If you don't, well, I don't think any of you will, but we'll see what happens then," he added.
"Ayn, would you like to say something to them?" He asked Ayn as he called her closer.
That was the advantage of having an APF captain under his control. All the struggles he went through to bear with the shenanigans of Ayn were paying off.
She worked as their informant and also the key that brought them here without any losses.
And now, she was going to be the one who was going to lure most of the APF members to join them.
As for how loyal they were going to be, he had Veracity for that. Every piece of the puzzle was in place now.
Moreover, he knew Ayn was going to play another important role in their entry to the Capital City. In fact, she was a pretty important component of this plan.
Ayn's legs refused to move as she heard Lucifer call him. She took a deep breath as she finally stepped forward to stand beside him.
"I know what you're all thinking. How can you work for the enemy? I thought the same thing, but since then I've come to know of a few things," Ayn said in a powerful voice. Her leader's aura was back.
"This isn't what you should think now! What you should think is how you can bring the society back to normal! Just think what we can achieve if we support Lucifer."
"First, there won't be any senseless killing. No Variant would attack humans for no reason at all. And if they do, Uprising would stop them and even kill them. Isn't that our main goal? To save humans as much as we can? War isn't good for anyone. Just like we just saw!"
"We fought with all we had, and we lost many of our members. In the crossfire, many innocent people also died. Throughout the years, hundreds of thousands of innocents had died in the battles. We need to end it all!"
"It doesn't matter who is at the helm! As long as it brings stability, I support it! And I trust Lucifer!"
" You all might know this as well! He is the son of Zale Azarel! I trusted Zale Azarel, and now I trust his son! Everything will return to normal! Let's all be optimistic instead of being pessimistic!"
"I know it will be a big change as we always saw them as villains. But it's time we have a new perspective. I am ready to support Lucifer. And I hope you'll decide the same. For everyone's sake!"
By the time Ayn finished, everyone was staring at her. Everyone seemed conflicted, but there was a sense of understanding inside them as Ayn was the one who was convincing them.
" As you just heard her say, it'll be a good choice to support us. But the final choice will be yours. You'll all be shifted to the cells, where you'll stay for a day. Tomorrow I'll ask for your answers," Lucifer said, taking back the charge.
" Only the ones who are truly dedicated to following my commands should agree. Because liars would be killed faster than the ones who disagree," he told the men before he commanded Ayn to take them all to the cells.
He himself walked behind them to make sure they were taken to the cells.
As for the reason Lucifer had told them to come to the fourth floor was because it was the only place that was made to keep prisoners and was still completely empty.
Other imprisonment floors were still slightly filled.
He walked behind Alicia to make sure that it was all handled properly. All the APF members were sent inside the prison.
"Wait. Can I please not be put there?" One young man asked, refusing to enter the cell.
"Why is that?" Lucifer asked, amused.
"I'm the Chief Doctor of APF. I don't care about what side you all fight for. All I want is to save the patients who come to me."
" So I already accept that I'll work for you all. But I don't want to waste one day staying inside the cell. My patients need me," the young man said, who was none other than the same doctor that was treating Xander.
" Alright. You stay out with your staff. I'll allow you that much freedom," Lucifer commanded.
The medical staff wasn't forced inside after his command, and five people remained outside.
Everyone else was sent inside the cells and locked. As for the keys, they were kept by an Uprising Warlock who was assigned to guard this place.
...
"How many patients are there in the APF medical facility?" Lucifer inquired. "Also, I heard Xander is in a coma here? How's he now?"