"I wholeheartedly think the PSEUDO is trying to murder us and they're biding their time," Lucia groaned as Iris and Eniola walked in behind her. She flopped onto the bed in their shared room and groaned again. "I'm too young to throw my back out."

Eniola and Iris both slipped into their beds. Eniola didn't realize how her body rattled with pain with every step and ached at every given moment. This was like SCOPE on steroids. Every physical limit on Eniola's body had maxed out and it had only been a month. At least they didn't feel pain in SCOPE.

"They would've already done it," Iris said. "I don't think we're too valuable to them."

"How anyone stays in the PSEUDO is beyond me," Eniola sighed. They were probably used to it at this point.

"But at least we have the rest of the day off until Kain comes back to do his bidding," Lucia said. "What do you guys want to do?"

"Talk," Eniola finally said. "We haven't done that in a while."

"Yeah, we have," Iris replied.

"But talked," Eniola emphasized.

"Well, it's hard to have a normal conversation with countless targets on your back," Lucia said. "Some of which are in this very house we're in."

Lucia's word struck Eniola for a moment. The PSEUDO wouldn't be all buddy-buddy with them, but they were at least going to act as allies. Right? But Eniola still couldn't escape the feeling that nipped at her in the stomach that made her feel something was wrong, even though it wasn't. She tucked it away.

"Kain is extremely suspicious," Iris said, just as Eniola tucked her suspicion away. "The only thing missing from him are black shadows and creepy music every time he walks."

Eniola snorted out a laugh. "He does feel like a villain. Especially with all his little henchmen."

He probably is. Eniola ignored the thought.

"You forgot?" Iris suddenly said. "He needs a twirly mustache and an evil laugh. That seals the deal."

"Of course," Lucia replied. "He is kind of weird though."

"How?" Eniola asked.

"To be honest," Lucia began. "He acts super weird around Eniola."

"What?"

"I noticed that too," Iris said.

"No," Eniola quickly said. "He acts normal around me."

No, he doesn't.

"He put you in that room when we first got here and took you out of a session yesterday," Lucia explained. "He kind of treats you differently."

The session was so that Kain could show her stuff about Paradox before anyone else knew. It also gave her access to more suspicion about the PSEUDO because of their sketchy database. Maybe she was special at that moment.

"And we're not jealous," Iris clarified. "Kain gives me the jitters, so I prefer he doesn't come near me. But I think I know why he acts differently."

"And that is?" Eniola asked.

"Well," Lucia coughed. "He sees you as more."

"Hell no!" Eniola instantly yelled. "This man is like 25!"

Eniola's face flushed. No way had she seen Kain like that. Not when she and Jay almost loved each other. Not when Kain was old and villainous as hell. It didn't even occur to Eniola that it had been like that. Now she had two things to watch out for.

"That's my problem!" Iris yelled back. "He gives weirdo vibes."

"Yeah," Lucia said. "We'll watch out for him just in case he gets all cocky. He's not even your type, anyway."

Eniola raised an eyebrow. "Since when do I have a type? I have one boyfriend."

"We have to include the psychopath we're trying to stop from destroying the world," Iris said casually like it was nothing.

"Okay," Eniola said slowly. "But what is my type? How come you know my type, but I don't?"

Iris and Lucia both shared a knowing glance. Iris spoke, "Because we know you."

"Really?" Eniola teased back. "I'm a closed book."

"Yeah right," Lucia mumbled.

"So enlighten me," Eniola asked. "What is my type?"

"Guys who have long hair," Iris began.

Both apply to Jay and Keone. But that could mean anybody.

"Guys who are Asian or Pacific American," Lucia continued.

Both also apply to Jay and Keone, strange enough. There were only two of them so far. Perfect coincidence. Right?

"And finally, guys who have no mothers in their lives," Iris finished

Both apply to Jay and Keone. Yikes.

"Wow," Eniola mumbled. "So I've had a type all this time."

Weirdly enough, she did. Jay had a lot of similarities to Keone that had blindsided her. But Jay wasn't a malicious psychopath, so they were different from one another. But it was also weird that they shared 3 key similarities, especially having no mother. Keone's mom had died and Soyeon had left Jay. How did that not occur to her?

"And weirdly enough, Kain meets two out of the three," Lucia replied.

"But he also has no dad," Eniola defended. "He's an orphan. And like I said, he's 25."

"Whatever you say," Lucia said.

"So have you guys just kept this list in your head?" she smiled.

"Our heads," Iris corrected.

Lucia and Iris were the observational types. Lucia knew Eniola liked Jay before Eniola knew she liked Jay. Iris could store information in her brain digitally, so maybe she'd wedged the list in her head inside for the moment that it could prove a point to Eniola.

"What is your type?" Eniola asked Iris, changing the subject.

Iris raised an eyebrow, then furrowed them. She shrugged. "I don't know."

"You have to at least have some idea," Lucia questioned, smiling eagerly. To think of it, Iris never talked about anyone. She always listened quietly in the background when Eniola and Iris talked about Jay and Theo, but she never talked about anyone. "Any guys?"

"I don't think I'm attracted to guys," Iris revealed.

"Oh," Eniola mumbled. That was abrupt. "What about girls, then?"

"I don't think I'm attracted to girls either," Iris explained. "I don't think I'm even attracted to people like that. They've never appealed to me."

"So," Lucia said, lingering. "You're aromatic?"

"I don't think I smell like anything," Iris corrected with a small snort. "But yeah? I prefer being friends with people and not dating them, and I've always been that way."

For a moment, no one said anything. Eniola didn't think it was out of shock. Maybe it was just as Iris could say something again. Instead, they stayed silent and transferred awkward eye contact.

"Are you guys going to react?" Iris asked. "Do you think it's weird?"

"That's," Eniola began. "Perfectly fine."

"Yeah," Lucia replied. "It is. I don't think it's weird."

Iris smiled. "Thanks, guys."

"No problem," Eniola said. "You're still Iris, no matter who you like. Or lack thereof."

Iris laughed for a bit. "Of course."

"Thanks for telling us," Lucia replied.

"I just wanted to make sure I was sure," Iris said. "It's so confusing."

It was at that moment Zaira walked in. Eniola jumped in surprise, then sat back again. She pretended like she didn't just see Zaira in Kain's database. She said nothing to any of them, instead she gave a brief nod. Zaira never seemed to greet people. It had been a while since they saw Zaira. She worked with the hackers instead of fighting excruciatingly with them with the fighters.

"Do you think we're in danger?" Zaira asked as she flopped onto her bed.

Yes. You're in the database.

"I don't know," Iris said. "Are you talking about when we're with the PSEUDO?"

"The PSEUDO," Zaira said. "I don't think something's right with them."

"It's not like we've joined them," Lucia said. "We're just with them until we find Paradox. And then we go back to SCOPE and then they go back to cause havoc that we have no business in. It's a perfect deal."

Eniola wanted to think that Zaira was wrong, but her gut nipped at her. She ignored it again.

"I don't think that's it," Zaira said. "I think I know them from somewhere."

"Like Kain being constantly in the news?" Iris asked. "I'm sure we all know him."

"No," Zaira denied. "We're in danger."

"So then, what do we do?" Lucia asked. "We're already here."

"I don't know," Zaira said. "We're in danger and I think we're too much in danger."

She's right. This time, she didn't call the thought away.