“Shiiitt!”

Alex hurled her touchpad across the desk, and it clattered on the linoleum floor of her apartment. Her digital display flashed a warning message, amidst a stream of code in the background of the monitor. She scrambled to retrieve the touchpad, reconnected, and hastily entered the appropriate information to disconnect herself from the Virtuality interface.

She powered down her system and pounded the table.

Over and over and over again.

The living room of her apartment was littered with screens and monstrous computer towers. It was all a bit rudimentary for the task, but it was all they could afford, and cobbled together, it got the job done.

On the other side of the room, her partner in crime, Kasen Murphy, hastily worked through window after window to completely disconnect them from Pantheon.

When he was finished, he slumped onto her lumpy old couch. Alex pounded her desk a couple more times, until she could accept that they had truly failed.

With their technology powered down and disconnected from the Net, the room was almost completely dark, but for the soft glow of streets lights slipping past the edges of her black curtains.

Alex rose from her desk and crossed the room to the kitchen. Grabbing some ice from the fridge, she poured two highballs of straight liquor.

Murphy nodded his thanks and took a full swig, then coughed. “What the hell is this?”

Alex smirked. “Gin.”

She took an even longer drink, then sat down in the chair across from him.

“It wasn’t a complete failure,” Murphy murmured as he took a small sip. “I know it feels like it.”

“We found him. And then, he died. And when he came back, he had a goddamn battle to fight. We just needed her to survive.”

“Maybe we should have pushed a little harder. Before the battle.”

Alex shook her head. “It was too risky. They were watching too closely. And the closer to launch, the worse that is going to get. This was our best chance.”

Murphy leaned back and started swirling his drink around his glass. “Do you think they knew? Is that why they killed her?”

Alex sighed. “I don’t know… I don’t think so… seemed like it was just a part of the battle sequence. He lost a lot of his crew. Just damn bad luck.”

They didn’t speak for awhile. They’d been looking for him for days, and now, all that work was for nothing.

“We’ll find him again.”

“Yeah… that’s not what worries me though.”

“What do you mean?”

Alex rose from her seat and paced around the room. She finished off her glass and went to pour another.

“Alex?”

“I don’t think he remembers anything, Murph.”

“Nothing?”

“I don’t think he knows why he’s there at all. Every time, when he saw that elf, he looked like he’d seen a ghost.”

“But that’s impossible… you two are—”

“I don’t need you to fucking tell me!” Alex slammed down her glass on the counter and the glass shattered in her hand.

Blood instantly covered her fingers, and she drew back sharply

Murphy hurried over, helping her to the kitchen table. He wrapped her fingers in a towel and inspected the gash.

“Nothing deep. You got bandages anywhere?”

Alex shrugged, hunching over the table. “Bathroom cabinet, I think.”

Murphy hurried over and returned with a roll of gauze. Carefully, he cleaned the wound and wrapped her palm tightly.

“Thanks,” she said, running her good hand through her hair.

“I should probably go. Need to let them know what happened, and figured out what’s next. I’ll be in touch.”

“Right.”

“You gonna be okay?” he asked.

Alex nodded.

When Murphy reached the door, he glanced back. “Hey, you might wanna wash up. You got blood all over.”

She smirked. “Thanks for the tip.”

When he left, Alex made her way to the bathroom.

The sight in the mirror made it look worse than it’d really been. Her white shirt was splattered in blood, and there was a streak of crimson running through her blonde hair. The bags under her eyes made her look like she’d been through hell.

She’d looked much worse, though. She had the scars to prove that.

God, how can he not remember?

Alex Keynes cursed, then proceeded to clean herself up with a damp cloth. What she really wanted was a long bath and a much longer sleep. But she couldn’t afford that.

They were running out of time.