She was led up several flights of barren concrete stairs and into a small hallway. The smell of dampness, mildew, and rotten wood was enough as it was, but the strange humming sound coming from one of the rooms was even more unsettling. The last room on the left was opened as she was motioned to go inside. There she found a sheet-less mattress that took up half of the cramped, closet-sized room, and on it lay a single pillow. As he turned the light on, she noted a small cutout that contained a sink and a toilet.

Oh boy…

“Hold still,” he said as he started unapologetically patting her down, drawing strong ire from her immediately.

“Hey! You’d think if I could fit a gun or knife in this dress you’d notice!” she hissed, jerking and jumping with each pat.

He finished at her hips, catching notice she came up barefoot. “Where are your shoes- no, never mind. I’ll expect you don’t try anything stupid.” He then turned and exited the room, closing the door behind him. “I’ll be back in ten,” he said through the door, electromagnetically latching it closed from the outside.

That instant she started inspecting the room, looking for any possible way for escape. The window? Filled in with concrete or something. Shit. The door? She waited a moment for him to leave, then tried wiggling the handle and giving the whole thing a push. Shit. She then looked back into the WC to see solid concrete for flooring, which matched the floor she already stood on. Shit. She then stood up on the toilet, gently pushing up on the ceiling to see it wouldn’t budge, either. Shit!

Hopping down and finding a seat on the mattress, she started laughing at the irony of the situation. Did she actually think she could do something with her incredibly limited knowledge and experience? Where did I think I was? The Galeano Compound in Bogota?! “Ugh,” she sighed in defeat, crouching forward over her knees. Something narrow and pliable from inside her dress was pushed down into the lower right side of her gut, causing her to jump back in surprise. She forgot she had a small pocket there, and it was right over an area Devin was too nice to pat down.

How about that! She pulled out her much smaller-than-usual smart watch from that semi-ornamental pocket and tapped the screen to make sure it still worked. Her usual watch was tossed earlier that day in favor of this brand new one she bought with Kerry while shopping, making sure it was one that matched her outfit. The smaller, narrower profile must have helped keep it less evident after shoving it in there while dancing earlier.

The screen came on, showing it had plenty of battery left but no signal. Shit, shit, shit! Nothing is going right! She looked around, thinking about how a jamming net could go this far. No way, it must be signal blocking built into the walls or something. I heard him mentioning a phone earlier. Damn. She then looked back to the screen and double tapped it, bringing up a small 7”x10” holographic screen. Having nowhere to place it, she laid it on the pillow and sat cross-legged in front of it, counting the time as she pulled up her messages saved from earlier before her mobile was destroyed.

I can’t download anything new or access much without the handset, but I can still view whatever was backed up. And I sure don’t need internet to see what I missed.

She pulled up the messages folder, looking at the last one that she opened. “Damn it, Sam, this is an emergency! Pick up the fucking phone! There is jamming going on and I need to confirm you’ve been alright!” Read that pivotal message from her father. This is what got me where I am now. Thanks, Dad. This saved my life. She felt the rare desire to hug him right now, if only she could.

Massaging her sore, bare, thoroughly roughed-up feet with one hand, she used her other to swipe down through the remaining messages she blew past earlier. Oh yeah, I forgot Daja sent something. She scrolled back over to it, seeing she had a video attached that she couldn’t download. Shaking her head once, she moved her focus over to the text caption.

Daja C. - “Sam, I hate to break it to you, but look at your man here with that Norris lady.”

Her eyes squinted at the text once more, leaning in closer. Maybe she misread it. But a second and third look confirmed what amounted to a fairly heavy accusation. “Mrs. Norris? Director Norris?” she mumbled with the untimely rumbling in of emotions, torn between whether to feel she’s misinterpreting or Sebastian is taking out his separation from her in suspicious ways during his stay in Space. But… Mrs. Norris?! Really? Argh, I wish I could get my phone back! How many have I lost on this damn planet?!

…

But why did he try to call ten thousand times earlier? Was it really just my dad or was he trying to confess something…

She wanted to cry for too many reasons to count once again. Her head leaned back, eyes pinched shut in frustration, firmly banging against the wall.

“Ouch!” She winced, sitting upright with a rub of the back of her head. It must have knocked a bit of reality back into her as she remembered her current situation. Devin would be back soon, and she had nothing in hand but mixed emotions, no way out, and bare feet. No, there has to be something productive to do while no one’s watching. I’ll just have to ask Daja or Sebastian himself what the hell is going on when I can afford that luxury…

.

▽　▽　▽

.

Back towards the other end of Quezon City, firefighters had just arrived to a collection of wrecked cars and the burning carcass of an LTAC frame in the middle of a cramped intersection. Andre’s Ai20 frame had lowered itself to a crouched position, allowing him to more easily descend from the cockpit and down to the ground where a police patrolman awaited him. The clearing wasn’t much where he stood, leaving the officer to stand leaning against the building behind him with just mere feet between the nearest leg frame and himself.

“Evening… sir!” Andre awkwardly greeted as he dismounted from the ladder and wiped his sweaty brow. “Hexa has their officials on the way, but the area is secure.”

“You need to know that our men are all busy in other places with the problems caused tonight. Problems everywhere!” the officer spoke with animated gestures and disbelief-fueled half-delirium. “Sangandaan has not seen such mess this entire time. Who was in charge of this action?”

Hands at his hips, he tried his best to remain diplomatic. “I was, sir. It would’ve been our squad leader but he was captured. After that, we got caught in an ambush with no radio. I had to stop them.”

“This is still too much. I need to speak to your commanding officer.”

“They’re on their way, sir, I promise. I’ll wait right here with you.” Andre continued catching his breath, albeit at a more leisurely pace, eyeing the water cannons that started pouring down on the Kappa frame wreckage. He was worried about the bystanders as well as his shellshocked crewmates, but of course, the fire would be a priority as a fuel station was right behind it. “I can tell you one thing. Being able to survive until getting out of that jammer range was huge.” Without thought, he looked back over his head at the still-smoking barrel of his over-worked multi-round rifle and the empty magazine rack mounted at the hip nearby. “But, really. Sorry for the mess. I know having to clean up all this is only making your night worse,” he added with a hand over his head.

He then felt a buzz coming from his mobile he had in his pocket. “Excuse me, one second,” he spoke as he clicked on his earpiece. “Nguyen here.” He suddenly breathed out a sigh of relief upon hearing something that next instant. “Thank God, Kerry, I wondered what hap- … what?! Wait- hold on, what!?”

The officer was now leaning over, trying to hear in on the conversation, seeing how fraught something had Andre all of the sudden.

“Sam is gone!? … no- no I mean- … of course not! You think I could get away? I tried to call earlier! We JUST got out of the jamming net and I am stuck here with the police! … No! Yanga was separated from us and now HE’s gone, too! … No, he was kidnapped, too!”

News trucks began pulling up as the officer decided to get more story beef, inching closer still to Andre. His two surviving crewmates also saw the scene he was causing, attracting their curiosity as well.

“We saw no blood, Kerry. Just an empty cockpit to his shot-to-hell A I… No, it happened during the radio blackout just like with you and Sam! I don’t know what the hell to make of it either! … Wait wait- no! Don’t head here! Head to HQ! I will be there after- … yes… I will see you there once I finish up here. You did good to get away from the Casino. Tell me about it later. … Alright.” He hung up and turned to see the officer, his two crewmates, and a TV reporter host with his camera on record. “Oh boy.”

.

.

●　● Jazira Station, Eden Space Territories

A small shuttle craft neared one of the connecting terminals, receiving clearance for docking. As it started its final approach, a soft yellow light started flashing inside the upscale but compact cabin. In a cozy, well-designed space that only sat eight sat Amelie by herself, mobile in hand. She wore no makeup for wherever it was she was headed, and it suggested she wasn’t in usual dress, even with the full space suit and helmet covering everything.

“Docking in two minutes. Prepare for deboarding,” spoke an automated guide.

She felt her mobile vibrate as a call came through, number and location blocked. Her pursed lips and tense sigh hinted she had been expecting the call for some time. Pressing the answer icon, her mobile rolled the call over to her earpiece as she spoke up: “Confirmation.”

“She’s alive,” a familiar voice replied through some digital interference.

“Where have you been all this time?”

“Laying low, off the grid, you know.” The voice started coming through clearer, revealing it to be Gabriel Silva’s voice. “Just like you warned me it’d end up like. But yes, Sam is safe for now.”

She took a deep breath in, both relieved at the news yet stressed by what she knew was coming in addition. “Make the rest quick, Sly. You got less than a minute.”

“Nanning has been an easy switch for me. Security has been a hot mess since Dhaka went down and Manila became the new focus, making it real easy for me to gather everything.”

“Hurry, Gabriel,” she spoke in a heavier tone, watching the terminal approaching too close for comfort.

“Right. Two big things: One. Excalibur is targeting your boy.”

Her reaction was suppressed, but the words were a dagger through her gut.

“Two, Tyrus and Rex are the latest and greatest clashing of heads it seems; Rex being the majority representation and Tyrus being the rogue. A big shit storm is brewing, Ms. Knight-”

“-Delacroix.”

“I mean, Delacroix. A real big one, and Sam is caught right in the middle.”

Again. Just like right where Sam started. And now Isaiah… what is he doing?

“I feared as much. I am on my way. You did well to survive up until now. I will repay.” She then hung up the call just seconds before she felt the thud and clanking from the shuttle docking.

.

.

Sebastian was seated just outside his Ap50 frame looking over two digital documents while maintenance crewmen serviced it. He had set up two tablets on the workbench to which he had pulled a stool up to, scanning through data from two test runs. Both included diagrams of varying melee weapon configurations on the right forearm’s armor mounts.

“Still can’t make up your mind?” Danielle asked as she approached from the observation building. “You know it won’t bother me if you ask anything!” As the days had passed since her new position, more and more of a seemingly youthful glow had returned, likely as a result from the dramatic lowering of stress-inducing responsibilities and an incredibly lax work schedule.

Sebastian casually shook his head and smiled defeatedly, turning his head to reply: “It’s not that I am afraid to ask something.” His focus came back to the screens again as he put his chin over his partly intertwined hands. “I can’t make up my mind because I can’t be sure which Cloak I will run into. I know their styles will be different if it’s not the same.”

He remembered the high-speed charge style of offense that one Cloak used against Sam back in Dhaka In his head, what he saw played itself over and over in sequence on a daily basis. It was like film one would study before a sports match, but he was afraid to just simply leave it at that, knowing in his mind that it wasn’t the only Cloak out there.

“I told you already, young man,” she answered with a hand on his shoulder. “You gotta pick what fits you regardless. Quit thinking about them. Think about you,” she continued firmly, giving his shoulder a gentle nudge with the uttering of that last word.

“In that case… then…-”

The PA chime softly rang, catching both of their attention: “Attention Instructor Norris, please report to the main docking area at this time. Instructor Norris, main docking area, please.”

The two looked at each other, following it with a shrug of their shoulders.

“You figure that out before I get back because the Lab wants your answer tonight. Let me go see who this is.”

.

.

Danielle passed through the security entrance area and down the primary connection tunnel, finding the dock she was instructed to find. She saw a shuttle pilot standing outside the shuttle’s door at the end of the dock’s tunnel, signaling her to enter. “Can I not yet ask who is calling for me and where I am about to go? This is quite the odd way of requesting a meeting,” she spoke to him in vain, not expecting much of an answer by how things were going.

“You aren’t going anywhere,” he calmly replied. “She’s in the main cabin. I was instructed to stay out here until you guys finish.”

“OK, sure, I guess,” she answered with a raised brow and another shoulder shrug, continuing through the cabin entrance. She looked to the back, expecting the usual row after row of passenger seat benches but was shocked to see only two rows of four. And it was even more of a shock to see the lone woman sitting at the back.

“Close the inner hatch on your way in,” Amelie softly commanded, never removing her eyes from her mobile’s screen.

Danielle continued her baffled pause for a moment, then finally broke the silence with the sealing of the door and a curious thought out loud: “You’re Sam’s mother, I assume? You two look an awful lot alike.”

“I don’t have but five minutes,” she flatly stated, avoiding the entertaining of her guest. “Come. Sit.”

“Well, OK, then.” Danielle kept her mouth shut, figuring there had to be a catch but would hold off her more emotional reaction to it until actually hearing it, assuming this would be some sort of bribe to go save her daughter for her. She casually approached the front bench, seating herself in front. In doing so she felt more comfortable, not having to look her in the eye. “I take it this is about Sam?”

“Yes, and no,” Amelie dryly replied, now typing something into her mobile. “Indirectly, of course this could help out Sam in her predicament immensely, but this is mostly about you doing me one last favor- and this last favor would also be for someone you would, in my opinion, likely die for.”

Naturally, Danielle wasn’t expecting such a response after giving that assumption, but it only took three seconds for the intended notion to kick in, unknowingly thinking out loud: “Sly…”

“He’s been very, very alive and well.”

“I knew it!” Danielle whispered out loud, again unintentionally but very audibly, clenching her right fist.

“Stay focused, Norris, I will only say this once. I need you to live off grid… lay low for a good long time for me, making a delivery to Silva. I’ll give you payment tonight, lump sum.”

Danielle could already see where this was going, however, much to her dismay after the excitement upon hearing Gabriel’s survival was quickly put on ice, sending a shiver down her soul. “I’ve heard stories about your… deals… from the grapevine over these years. This one sounds like the kind I may not come back from ever again.” She now turned to look Amelie in the eyes, waiting for a reaction but got nothing such. “I need proof he’s alive- and not just that!” She exclaimed, remembering Sebastian just beyond those walls. “I still have one last, big responsibility! I can’t walk out on him! He’s becoming like a son to me after all this time!”

Amelie was still yet to remove her eyes from the screen. “Fifteen million, Norris. You’ll receive it tonight. Deliver a drop package I am arranging you to receive at a destination you’ll be informed of later, and bring it to Silva before Friday.”

“What’s the hurry?”

Amelie without hesitation dodged the question and continued: “You will guide the landing of the package yourself and remain with Silva until the passing of Project Excalibur. From that point, you will wait one year. After that, do as you please.”

“Project Excalibur?” Her brow raised. “What do you care, anyway? And why are you asking me to do this?”

“And tell Sam’s boy to hurry back to her. And I mean quickly.” Her face finally arose from her mobile, looking Danielle dead in the eyes. “She’s been taken.”

Danielle froze in her thoughts upon hearing that, struggling to come up with a way to respond.

“Time is up, Norris. Decide to accept or not, because if not, you know I-”

“-I accept the request,” Danielle spat out half-intentionally, half out of panic. “I can already tell just how fucked up this situation must really be, now that I think I’ve pieced enough together from what you said.”

“Take this,” Amelie spoke with a hand moving from the inside of her suit pocket to Danielle’s now opening hand, passing her a device that was strikingly similar to the device Revenant was handed to by Isaiah. “I will reach you through this in exactly three hours. Get your things ready and make your farewells.”

.

.

Danielle was now standing outside the connection tunnel as the pilot re-entered the craft and began departure preparation sequences. “What in the hell did I just agree to,” she thought aloud, face locked into one of fear and concern. Not just for herself, but for Sebastian’s as well, looking down the main connecting hall. At this point, hell, it’s not one bit about the money, but if Sly is really alive… ugh. I don’t even know if he actually is alive. Something seems too good to be true, but then again, that’s not how Knight’s girl’s reputation goes. Shit…