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●　● Outskirts of Bahia Blanca, Argentina

Though not even close to a tenth the size of the capital’s size or magnitude of presence, Bahia Blanca had nonetheless offered a cityscape of proportions that threw Sam for a loop upon opening her window as a way to keep the looming nightmares away.

Wow, that looks nothing like Bogota for being in the same SAU.

The early morning sun revealed the third-largest city in the country that enveloped the entire bay area as the shuttle began its descent. Before the newest distraction eased her from her troubles, each blink away from her much-wanted sleep was shaken away by onset flashbacks to the previous scuffle back in Bogota, and she desperately needed something to keep her awake until she could find reason to feel completely safe enough to sleep. And now, as they approached the northwest corner of the city, she could see how much more modernized of a town they would be hosted by.

It looks like we’re in Europe, even.

“Hey,” she mumbled over to Renzo as she noticed he began to awaken. “We’re almost there, I think.”

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After having landed at the back of an empty, densely wooded area, a pair of SUV’s came to pick them up and drive them into town. Sam had no choice in the matter, content to stay quiet and watch the conversations that would ensue on Renzo’s mobile-loaded translation app. And all the while, they both finally got their wounds properly tended to, and although Sam’s ear was meticulously cleaned and bandaged, she knew something still had to be done about her shirt. Wherever it was they were to stop by, she figured that she could at least keep the towel she had draped over her shoulder enough to hide the blood.

After stopping through a quiet supermarket and buying a full change of clothes, she and Renzo took their opportunity to switch out, wash up, and emerge refreshed and ready to head for the electronics department. And after purchasing their new mobile and earpiece sets, they loaded back up as the SUVs quickly pulled out and drove off.

“Finally, working communication!” Sam vented through a heavy sigh of relief, not only from having a proper mobile in hand but also because she couldn’t speak throughout their run through the supermarket in hopes to avoid attracting unwanted attention.

She quickly powered up her mobile and entered her PMID (a biometric-based mobile identification method) and awaited her personal account details to synchronize. And as she waited, she got caught staring at the device in a longing way. It was a handset she once wished she could buy at its summer release.

[What’s gotten into you?] Renzo joked?

“Wait, hold on!” she fussed back, clicking into the mobile’s interface the moment it finished synchronizing. “Say that again?”

[I said,] he spoke again rolling his eyes. [What’s with the look? Like you never had a phone before.]

“Oh,” she answered as his words translated in-ear, chuckling once it registered. “I haven’t had my own device since I started working for Hexa way back. It’s… it feels weird in a way.”

[Here,] the woman sitting in the front passenger seat spoke up as she tossed them both a small, black, one-button device. It eerily mimicked the one Tricky gave her before, eliciting an instant response from her.

“Oh! Hey, I know what to do with this,” she spoke as she held it near her mobile and gave the device’s button a long push before releasing. A soft blue glow took over her screen as it transitioned into a setup initialization process.

[Good. We are waiting for word from above on what the fuck to do about you two cats,] she added as she turned back to face the front. [Just make sure you keep that on call-decline until we say so, alright?]

Oh, yeah, we are likely being tracked, still.

[Hey, lady,] Renzo spoke up as he repeated the processes Sam went through with his mobile. [Any word on my family I got split from? Since we can’t call out, you know.]

[I ain’t got no clue what’s going on other than getting you two cats to the damn harbor meetup now that you got your clothes and phones and shit. Just hang tight and enjoy the ride,] she replied as dryly as before.

Sam and Renzo looked at each other, exchanging confused shoulder shrugs before continuing their mobile’s setup.

Damn, I wonder if they did the same for Sebastian. Kaylen smashed his stuff, too, which means neither of us have any way of trying to call each other. And… and then there are the messages I won’t know about since Dad sent them to my Hexa number. Maybe I should try calling him once I get a chance? … She huffed as she thought of the dilemma, at least able to settle for being safe enough for the time being. And it was only because of the close guard they received this whole time that gave her reason to feel at ease about him as well. If there was really a deal cut to protect them for the time being, Sebastian had to have been of equal priority.

I guess it’s just a matter of time and just playing the waiting game…

And as the ride took them through downtown and towards the bay, bigger and more modern buildings eventually swallowed up their view. Bogota had its share of monstrous high-rise towers but their age showed much more in comparison albeit with more of a more homey feel to it. This downtown seemed more daunting for some reason, and the streets were impeccably clean in addition, being the first time to see such a sight since Singapore but over a much larger area. And after passing many shops and department stores of flare never seen before, she found herself fighting the urge to take pictures.

After a long series of fights with traffic, their vehicle pulled up into a guarded entrance to a seaside port that took them into a large, covered industrial dock. And as it came to a stop near a pair of trucks, Sam immediately noticed a familiar blonde waiting impatiently beside one of them.

Kaylen!?

[Kaylen’s here!?] Renzo shouted as if he read her mind, having just noticed her as well.

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Sam and Renzo sat in a cramped closet-turned-makeshift office Kaylen had been using, both sipping from bottles of water handed to them earlier. Both were on their mobiles as if they were anxious to catch up on things they had missed as if they were without technology for days, despite only having been separated for a few hours. Sam, while unsure of what Renzo was looking up, felt compelled to dig up anything she could on Bishop, although unable to find what she wanted.

And as Kaylen came back and took her seat, she opened her laptop PC with a huff. “Fortunate for you two, there’s not a whole lot to share with you for now since we’re in a bit of a limbo regarding Enrai’s business deals,” she started as she began opening several digital files. “But they’re things I have to show you with minimal chance for leaks or anything.”

She turned the display to reveal a map to them both. “This shows us what Hexa has sent us and what they’re sending at the moment,” Kaylen spoke as she pointed out various drop shipment and sea shipment routes. “You see this here, they’re drop shipping us the parts needed to get our simulators equipped to load up Ap50 and,” she paused to look at Sam. “You, this is what you need. The parts needed to configure it specifically to the Arondight.”

That had Sam’s eyes lit up, naturally.

[The what?] Renzo asked, wondering not only why he hadn’t heard of it but more so why it had Sam’s attention so evidently.

[Don’t worry about it,] Kaylen flatly replied. [It’s part of the operation she and I are in on that never got properly started.] She then pointed to another arrow coming from the east. “And this, Sam, is the real thing. It won’t arrive for a while, and it’ll be hard to access until time to launch. And that…”

“…That’s going to take time to work through with Hexa’s uppers, right?” Sam assumed aloud.

“Right.” Kaylen then turned her PC back towards herself. “Which means we can’t do much else but hang in there while training for your newer platforms.” She then looked up to speak directly at them as if she read their minds. “And once Sebastian and Daniela join us, they’ll be up for the same. We can guess around one to two weeks before we are able to move out of this little safe-zone I’ve been calling home for quite some time.”

But Sam knew of one more thing Kaylen hadn’t answered yet. “No risk for assassinations or anything like that here? Because I sure as hell thought I was nowhere near a major target back in Bogota.”

“Hell no, not here at least,” she quickly and confidently answered. “Bishop can’t afford to make a mess here. They are pushing for a new, different Argentina. Unified under a different cause, and they need not only the capital but us as well as Cordoba to be at the forefront.”

[Would that be why Bishop seems to be gathering up stolen high tech?] Renzo started to piece together something for himself.

“We have no clue for sure yet, which is why we have so many cells following them and getting back with us.” Kaylen then handed them a key fob. “Here, this gets you in and out of here. Stay within the location range marked on your mobiles and go eat or something. I can’t deal with you until those simulator mods are done later this afternoon.”

An awkward moment passed for Sam and Renzo as he took the fob.

[Well? What?] Kaylen now showed her aggravation.

Sam couldn’t determine whether it was even safe to agree enough to take the fob as Renzo did. How is she expecting us to just wander out after all that just happened?! Has she lost her sense of logic?

Kaylen finally realized what had them so thrown off, chuckling as her frown crumbled. “I’m sorry for leaving out a few key details.” She pulled her hair back, further allowing the light of the room to reveal the bags under her eyes and the red of her strained eyes. “One: I haven’t slept since I left Bogota.”

Sam’s face straightened a bit upon that realization. Oh, that makes sense…

“I need sleep, and you’re in the safest place you could possibly be to go get a bite or whatever the hell it is you need to make sure you don’t lose your sanity in the meantime. Two?” She then looked over to Renzo with a return of her down-turned corner of her mouth. [Nevermind, not explaining it with an innocent bystander in our presence.]

With that, Kaylen turned to leave without closing the door.

[Well!] Renzo shouted with a stiff raise of his brow and a hand a deep sigh.

“I guess it’s okay if they say it is,” Sam added, trying to break the awkwardness as she stood up. “But you know what?”

Renzo looked back at her, hopeful she had a better idea as he too didn’t like the idea of going out just because they were simply suggested to. [Yeah? What’s that?]

“I still got this,” she continued in a lower voice, pulling out the other communication device she used before to contact Tyrus. “I want to see what’s really going on if we are able to pull away to a spot to ourselves.”

Renzo took a moment to process the suggestion, settling with acceptance as he also wanted to know more. [Clever, Cruella.]