Eniola's head throbbed so heavily she thought it might explode.

That was the first thing she thought up when she woke up. When her eyes fluttered open, she could see a white ceiling that hung above her. But then eyes closed lazily again, as they fluttered in on themselves. Her head felt like someone had attached a dumbbell to it. It throbbed and pounded at her. She registered a bed underneath her that was comfortable.

But when did she go to sleep?

Was she back in the shoebox hotel in Beijing? No. It was too comfortable. And all the girls weren't huddled together. The ceiling was white above her, but what she could see of the walls following it, were stark black.

Eniola pressed her palms into the bed and tried to force herself up, but her body screamed back at her in fiery weakness.

Eniola tried to search for her recent memories. She remembered the airport. She remembered the mysterious Pantsuit-Woman and how she saw through Eniola's simulation. Eniola reached for her face. Her SCOPElenses were gone.

Her arm hissed in pain and she bit down on a silent scream. A bandage wrapped against her lower forearm and the memories flooded back. Not-Android guy shot her with something strong.

At least it wasn't a bullet.

Then she was rescued by an android who was a human. She looked down again and saw a patch against her elbow where he shot. It was probably to make her go unconscious, which probably worked.

Her gaze slid around the room again, before her eyes landed on another pair of eyes. Bright blue.

Eniola jumped in shock. The body they belonged to was none other than Kain. He was sitting in a black chair in the opposite corner of the room, watching her intently like she was in a cage.

"What are you doing here?" she slurred like she might be drunk.

He leaned forward and folded his hands in his arms, and smiled at a weird angle. "Hello."

"Hi," she replied trivially. "Have you been here the whole time?"

"I just wanted to be here when you woke up," he replied to her.

A chill trickled down her spine. Something inside of her unsettled itself. Kain had watched the entire time she was passed out.

"I'm guessing you're probably looking for an explanation, which I will give," he said again, before slumping back in the chair.

"I want to know where my friends are," Eniola demanded. On a regular day, her voice sounded too soft to make demands. But she was weaker now, so it sounded only like a crooked whisper.

"They are safe," he confirmed.

"Can I see them?" she asked.

"You should rest right now," Kain told her. "But when you are healthy, you will see them. But what I can do for you now is explain everything."

"What did you do to them?" Eniola asked as she swallowed back a gulp.

"Nothing," he simply said. "You have my word, Eniola. I have done nothing to them."

He slumped again before he cleared his throat. "We've known about you for a long time. You and your friends."

That didn't make her any more comfortable. "Why did you want to know about us?"

"I should probably explain to you way back," Kain said. "You don't know us. We're the PSEUDO. I'm sure you've gotten that by the messages we sent you."

Eniola nodded as her heart picked up. All she could hear in her head was the muddled voice of Bee, that told her the PSEUDO were dangerous. But if they were dangerous, Kain could've just killed her right now. Right? "Thanks for leaving ominous clues. That comforted me."

He chuckled for a second before it cut off almost animatedly. "We can't just be upfront about it. We fight for freedom in the world and fight the oppression that takes place everywhere in the world. We do the things that the authorities wish they could do."

"But you're a criminal."

"That's what they label me because I tell the truth," Kain said. "And they only know me and not the rest of the organization."

"How many people are in the organization?" Eniola asked.

"We have a couple of thousand members fighting for freedom," Kain explained. "I'm the leader and the front-man. I don't work alone."

So he was their poster child or something. Eniola spoke again. "Where are we now?"

"We're in a safe house just outside of Beijing," Kain explained.

"Is this your headquarters?" Eniola asked.

"It's only a safe house," Kain said. "We don't have a headquarters. We just go around the world fighting for freedom."

"And what's your goal?" Eniola asked.

"To live in an equally balanced world," Kain said. "No government. No oppressors. Just citizens living in harmony together. That's what we want. And we will not stop until we fulfill our goal."

"This sounds nice and all," Eniola began, ignoring how similar he sounded to other fanatics in history. "But what do we have to do with this? We're just a SCOPE team. We're not freedom fighters or whatever jig you have going on."

"You know Matrix Man," Kain began. "Because of your little stint in South Korea, we've been following you because we thought you were Matrix Man."

So he believed it too. So this entire time, Kain didn't want to help them? Did he only want to find whoever they were and do their justice?

"We're not," Eniola croaked.

"We figured out you were not," Kain replied. "We only thought that because of the electricity we read in the air, and how it was so different to everything regular but similar to him. But then we realize we got it wrong. They framed you."

So he had some sense, at least. Eniola spoke up again. "You still didn't answer my question. What do you want with us?"

"We want you to help take them down," he mentioned. "We know you guys have been in battle with them and have been on the run."

"We do," Eniola said. "But Matrix Man isn't Matrix Man. Their name is Paradox and they are a 'he'. We also know his real identity, how he does all those unreal things, and we might know how to take him down."

Kain's eyes widened with curiosity. "How? Tell me everything."

A new boldness surged through her. "I'll tell you when you let me see my friends."

He sat back down again, and a cold analysis flashed on his face. "You're tired."

"I think I'll be fine," Eniola said, before moving herself to the side of the bed and slowly waking up. She staggered like she was drunk before she regained her balance.

Kain was already up before he pressed the door open, and Eniola walked out into a hallway. She stared at Kain from top to bottom. He was taller than her, but so was everybody. He was buff, too. She noticed a belt with handles poking from the top. Knives.

The hallway was asymmetrical as the ceiling slightly curved down into walls of different sizes. The walls were bare and stark white, but Eniola guessed there wasn't enough time to make memories when you were running from the law. It felt like imminent danger was coming for them. It just looked so ominous.

Kain was close behind Eniola, as he walked as she might fall and he was supposed to catch her all heroically. She could feel the way she breathed sharply down her neck. Soon Kain stopped by a door and reached behind to press it open.

Eniola gasped as she spotted 5 bodies tied up by a thick bundle of ropes on a dirty floor. Her friends.

"Eniola!" Lucia screamed.

Eniola turned back to Kain with delirious eyes before she pushed him against the chest. It did nothing. "What the hell is this? You said they were safe!"

"They proved to be difficult," Kain said, before he walked past her, as his shoulder brushed against her. Eniola's mouth was torn agape before she looked over at her friends, tied in a circle.

Pantsuit-Woman was there, as she walked around them with a gun with her finger on the trigger.

"Untie them!" Eniola screamed, as her voice cracked. She was in all black, and simply ignored Eniola. "They did nothing!"

Eniola immediately crouched down next to Lucia, whose face was red and angry. "What happened?"

"Ask these psychos," she spat. "We woke up like this."

"They drugged you too?" Eniola asked.

"Made unconscious," Kain corrected quietly.

"For sure," Theo replied. Eniola glanced over to Zaira, who wriggled in her ropes with tears that streamed down her face. Iris had gone paler than she normally was, and Jay hung his head down. Eniola snapped her head back to Kain.

"Untie them or tie me with them," she demanded.

He ignored Eniola, before signing to Pantsuit-Woman in sign language. The message came up in Eniola's translators again. "Josanne. Let them go because they're going to tell us about Matrix Man."

Pantsuit-Woman, or Josanne, glared at Eniola with a stare so deadly, that Eniola shivered. If looks could kill, Eniola would already be six feet under. She stared back at the 5 of them before she put away the gun in her holster and instead pulled out a knife.

Josanne bent down at once and grabbed a spot of rope next to Jay, who shuddered. She sawed the knife through the rope and, moments later; they were free.

Everyone ran to her and crushed Eniola into a big emotional hug. Love evaporated into her. She never wanted to be scared like this again.

"It was horrible!" Iris sobbed as she cried out of one eye. "We woke up and then we were tied together and then she pointed a knife at us!" Eniola frowned in pity.

"Where did they take you?" Jay asked, as he cupped her face and gave her a look of concern. "

"If anyone hurt you, I'll deal with them."

"I agree," Lucia replied.

Why were her friends put in this cellar? And why they separated. "I woke up in a bedroom. They didn't chain me up." Why? That's all her mind would do. Ask why. Everyone gawked at her.

"There seemed to be a mistake," Josanne signed. Kain signed back, but it stopped before Eniola could see it. She frowned.

"Now that this is over, can you please explain why you thought it would be a good idea to shoot us, then tie us up without explanation?" Theo yelled at Kain, who simply smirked.

"It was for an extra backup," Kain said, as Josanne immediately followed his side. "Besides, you'll give me better information when you don't feel like your lives are being threatened."

"What do you want?" Zaira asked with a shaky voice. Tears were still wet on her cheeks, and all she could do was rock back and forth. She didn't look at anyone.

"I want your information about Matrix Man or Paradox," Kain began, as he paced around the caller. Eniola raised an angry eyebrow. Josanne kept her alluring gaze on all of them.

"Why should we give it to you?" Lucia asked.

"And what's in it for us?" Jay hissed. "How do we know Josanne won't shoot us and be done for?"

"Because we want your help," Kain began, and the room went silent. He then explained the PSEUDO to the 5 of them, as he did to Eniola. "Paradox threatens our goals of creating a truly free world and threatens everyone. He needs to be defeated, and you guys have experience fighting him, which is crucial to us."

The explanation sounded incomplete, but Eniola couldn't pinpoint where it was coming from. Maybe it was the leftover feeling of impending doom.

"You want us to help you?" Lucia asked, but it sounded like a statement. "We're not anarchists or freedom fighters like you. We just want to defeat Paradox and get back to normal."

"I wasn't asking you to join," he said. "I just want you to partner with us for this special mission. We have the same goal, and that is to defeat Paradox. After that happens, we'll go our separate ways."

"But if you don't," Kain began. "We won't do anything. We'll let you go, and you can find your way of defeating Paradox. But just know that you won't have our protection."

Theo gave a wandering look to the rest of them. How was he already so convinced? Maybe he truly wanted to marry Kain. Eniola traded another look with him.

"Let me remind you that this is the first and only time I will make this offer," Kain repeated. "The choice is yours."

Somehow, they all found their way into their signature huddle with Zaira, ready to discuss.

"We need to trust him," Lucia began immediately. "And as long as we have information, they can't touch us."

"I agree," Eniola began. "Who else will ally with us to take down Paradox?"

"But what if this isn't just a one-time thing?" Jay wondered. "What if they, like, bind us for life to this thing?"

"They're offering us protection and a temporary partnership," Eniola reminded. "It's not like we have another choice."

"What about you, Zaira?" Lucia asked.

Eniola looked over to Zaira who had gone quiet. Instead, her brown skin had gone pale, and she seemed to look everywhere but at the conversation.

"Zaira?" Theo asked again.

"I guess," she sighed. "This might just be the only way."

"Then it will be," Zaira said before they turned back to Kain and Josanne. "Listen here. Let me tell you everything about Paradox."