General Howard walked into the President's new command center in the bunker. Surrounding President Miller were key members of his cabinet. His Secretary of Defense; Emma Hager, his Secretary of State; Rosa Benavidez, and his National Security Advisor; Mateo Gonzales, were all physically present and had been briefed on the situation. And though his Director of Homeland Security Mason King wasn't physically present, he was available via video call.

There was a low hum of voices as everyone was chatting about what they felt needed to be done about the situation from their perspective.

"Have you seen the news Mr. President?" Rosa asked.

"They are all over this like white on rice. They are already speculating that the attack on the White House and the attack in Plattsburgh are related. They also are speculating that you were under duress during the press conference that you gave, hence the hand signing of Code Blue. This could be a disaster world wide if they think that you are no longer in control of the country. You know that our enemies have been looking for blood in the water." Rosa continued.

"I am sorry to interrupt sir, but Qi Lian would like for us to call off the troops immediately. She thinks it will be a disaster to go in without a coordinated attack." General Howard stated, clearly uncomfortable at having butted in to the conversation.

"Alright general, do as she asks. I trust that she knows the situation better than we do. We don't need any unnecessary casualties." John Miller ordered.

"Yes sir, we will have them fall back now, before they engage." General Howard replied.

"Who is this Qi Lian?" Emma asked.

"Ah she is a former Red Tide soldier who is now helping us fight them." John explained.

"Red Tide? What is that?" Emma wondered.

"Oh I am sorry, I forgot you weren't in the car with me when I talked with Qi Lian. The Red Tide is the name of the superhuman terrorist group. Qi Lian was a former member of the group before the Chinese military lost control of them. One of the things we still don't know is how the Chinese have the exact same program as us. Code Blue was so secretive that it got me into trouble with congress, because no one there knew about it. So how did these details leak out? I just don't know. That is not our primary concern at the moment though." John explicated.

"With all due respect Mr. President, why didn't we even know about this program?" Mateo asked.

"Up until today the only people who had knowledge of Code Blue were Presidents current and former, specific generals and those who participated in Code Blue in some way, such as scientists, doctors and military personnel. It was nothing personal, but that is the way Code Blue was handled to keep other countries from developing a similar program. It was meant to be one of a kind, but obviously it is not." John answered.

John pulled up a screen of Jeffrey Hinkle's camera for viewing among his staff.

"The fate of the world lies in these people's hands. Qi Lian is being aided by one of our Code Blue soldiers, a doctor, a nurse, Clayton Johnson who is an NSA field agent and Clayton's father who was a former school teacher. With the exception of Qi Lian, these people represent the best of America in my opinion, and I know I would be proud to call Qi Lian a citizen if she ever decides to become one. I suggest we all pray that these people are able to pull this off. We are running out of options." John said.

"How close are we to gaining back control of our nukes Mr. President?" Emma asked.

"Unfortunately our people are still stuck on the final AI security level. I say unfortunately because the Red Tide soldiers seem to have a head start on this, and they are further along in breaking down the AI from what we can tell. It is being bombarded by both our people and theirs. So if there is any hope it is that the AI will be able to hold them off long enough that we will be able to destroy the Red Tide before it is too late." John replied honestly.

"Sir I think we need to consider bombing the area that they are in." Mateo offered.

"We have already considered this option Mateo. The problem is that we just don't know where a number of the Red Tide soldiers are. They split up after the failed assault on Russia. We are fairly certain they are all on their way to the U.S. but it is unclear how many have arrived. They have really good fake credentials, which were able to fool the AIs throughout Europe and likely in the U.S. as well. Also it is unclear how helpful it would be to circulate pictures to human border agents, as there are so few of them now and they likely would be killed attempting to block entry to Red Tide soldiers. So we have refrained from this option." John explained, nodding at the screen with Mason King.

Mason nodded his head in agreement with John.

"So we could bomb the area and take a few of them out, but that would likely signal to the remaining group to redirect elsewhere. It is like trying to blow up a large asteroid, you might get the center but now the fragments are all going to hit you and still produce tremendous damage. Not to mention the collateral damage that would be produced. I also don't see any way that congress would approve such a measure. Whatever solution we come up with is going to have to be like a scalpel." John said.

"I suppose your Qi Lian has the answer to that?" Emma asked.

"I agree with her, a coordinated attack is our best chance. Do you have a different idea Emma?" John responded.

"No Mr. President, I do not. I suppose we have little choice but leave this in her hands." Emma shot back.

John looked around the room. His cabinet all seemed to be reluctantly on board with the idea. That was the best he could hope for.

"OK general, I think that is as good a consensus as we are going to get. Our Code Blue soldiers need to meet up with Qi Lian and coordinate their attack with her. She has become the de facto leader on the ground, that message needs to be clear to Code Blue leadership." John ordered.

"Yes sir. I will let them know that Qi Lian is the commander of this mission." General Howard replied.

John reached for his cup of coffee. He was exhausted and felt like he needed the caffeine. Really what he felt like he needed was a beer though. At this point he didn't care if he fell asleep after a drink. His body was worn out and needed a rest. With a situation like this what was he supposed to do anyway?

"Hey would it be possible to get some beers and maybe some wine in here?" John yelled out to one of the staff.

The staff member shook her head yes and hurried off.

"I think after the past two days we all are going to need a drink." John said.