"Listen, we don't have much time. You want out, don't you? I couldn't help but overhear your argument with Neil. I also couldn't help seeing him assault you like that."
"We just had a disagreement, that's all," Sang said as she sat up and went to touch her eye again.
"A disagreement? That's not what I'd call it. But, hey, you're safe with me," the woman said. "My name's Kenza. I'm one of the operators."
"Nice to meet you, Kenza," Sang said. She had never really bothered talking with the operators, as they were usually too busy to talk to anyone. There was a lot of work they had to do to maintain the pods and stay plugged into the game system so that they could monitor Sang and Van's progress.
"They've posted a guard out in the front – that psycho, O'Hara," Kenza said. "So keep your voice down."
"Right, so how do you recommend we get out of here? Is that air vent big enough for two?" Sang asked.
Kenza shook her head. "I can't bust you out of here; this place is locked down hard. But there is a way you can escape in the game."
"What? In the game? I want to get out of here," Sang said.
"No. You want to survive, though, don't you? There's a way out; you just gotta trust me on this."
"I'm listening," Sang said.
"Draco's not as bad as you think. Really. They reward the people who follow them. I… I might have made contact with them a few hours ago, when you got walloped like that. They've agreed to grant you amnesty, but we need something from you first."
"What's that?"
"They can't figure out where you guys are in the game. They know you've switched characters, but without your tracking numbers, they have no chance of locating you," Kenza said. "If you give us the tracking numbers, they'll make sure you're spared in the raid. Then you just gotta wait it out a day. That's it. One day, Sang. And it'll all be over."
Sang stood to her feet and looked up at Kenza. "You mean it? But if you're the operator, why don't you have the tracking numbers?"
"The ones we were given don't work. We can follow Bidane and her people, but you, Van, Fredlin, Kylian, and Sahara, your numbers have been restricted."
Sang grinned. That had been a small precaution she had taken when they'd retrieved the new characters from those brothers. She'd given the CIA false tracking numbers in order to keep the other operators occupied. It had worked, apparently.
"Sounds like a plan," Sang said as she grabbed her chair and slid it underneath the air vent.
"What are you doing?" Kenza asked as Sang climbed atop the chair and reached up to the her.
"If I'm going to join you guys, I want to shake on it," Sang said with a chuckle. Kenza began to try to back away, but was too slow. Sang grabbed the air vent and pulled on it hard, breaking it open. She reached into the vent then and managed to grab Kenza by the hair.
"Ouch, stop, you nutjob!" Kenza shouted as she tried to wrestle her head away from Sang, but Sang wasn't about to let go.
"Help! Help!" Sang shouted. The door to her room burst open as O'Hara came in with her gun drawn.
"There's someone in the air vents!" Sang said as she fell to the ground, holding a clump of bright blonde hair.
O'Hara drew her gun and ran up to the vent, shoving her arm in, still holding the pistol.
"Oh, God, don't shoot!" Kenza squeaked.
"I'm counting to three," O'Hara yelled.
"I'm coming out – please don't kill me," Kenza begged. Sang chuckled as she rubbed her shoulder, which had smacked against the ground when she had fallen. After a few moments of banging around inside of the vent, Kenza slowly climbed down from the ceiling.
"Alright, so what's going on?" O'Hara asked as she crossed her arms. "Is there any reason you were in that vent?'
"She's a Draco spy," Sang said. "She was trying to recruit me."
"She's crazy," Kenza said. "She offered me a thousand bucks to help her escape from this place."
O'Hara looked at Kenza and then back at Sang. "Well, you both have interesting and plausible stories, so I guess I'll have to solve this the old-fashioned way."
"Cancel that," Neil said as he staggered into Sang's room, holding his stomach. "Sang and I laid out the perfect trap."
"What, and I wasn't invited?" O'Hara asked.
"I thought you might have been the mole," Neil replied.
"Neil, you ass!" O'Hara said. "If I were the mole, I would have smothered Van in his sleep, slit Sang's throat, and then pulled the plug on you when you were in that coma."
"Not if your dark masters told you not to," Neil shot back.
"Oh, yeah, because we both know I have a track record of doing exactly what my superiors tell me to do," O'Hara said as she shook her head.
"Oh… right. Well, the good news is that I've cleared you from the investigation."
"I swear to God, as soon as you aren't on the verge of dying, I’m gonna kill you," O'Hara said to Neil as she grabbed Kenza roughly by the arm.
"Let me go!" Kenza shouted as she tried to wrestle free of the grasp.
"Look, kid, you're in a ton of trouble here," Sang said as she sat down on the bed. "You're going to be charged with treason for what you've done."
"Unless you agree to help us out," Neil said as he walked up to her and slowly sat on the chair across from her.
"Draco's going to win this thing. You guys don't stand a chance!" Kenza said. "You have no idea what they're capable of."
"What were your orders?" O'Hara demanded.
Kenza sighed and stopped struggling. She looked around and shook her head. "I know there's no chance of me getting out of this thing okay. I know that you'll torture me until I talk. I didn't want to be like this, you know. They approached me. Told me that, if I didn't help, my family wouldn't be spared. I got two kids, man."
"Oh, dear, I am so heartbroken for you," Neil said.
"I'll get the violin," O'Hara replied.
Kenza growled. "What do you want from me?"
"Orders. What were they?'
"Locate Van. That was it. Locate and report his location within the game to Draco," Kenza said. "But it doesn't matter at this point. We all got the same order yesterday morning. In roughly 24 hours, it's going to blow."
"What is?" Sang demanded.
"What do you think? Everything," Kenza answered. "If I'm not in a safehouse, I'm dead. Air's gonna be crazy toxic. Nuclear meltdowns, air strikes, automated drones set off. That guy who shot himself? He's not the only nutjob we've put effort into mobilizing."
"Why did you send him after us?" Sang asked.
Kenza shrugged. "I don't know. I just follow the orders I'm given. I was told to help him get into the base and then give him a gun. That was it."
"How did you falsify credentials like that?" Neil asked.
Kenza shook her head. "It wasn't hard, not with the state of chaos everyone has been in. Draco's got some deep pockets to fund these things."
"Are there any surprises waiting for us in the game?" Sang asked. Kenza opened her mouth for a moment, but said nothing.
"Ma'am, you've been so polite and easy to work with," Neil groaned as he wheezed a little. "I would really, really, hate for this conversation to turn into something ugly."
"I wouldn't hate it at all," O'Hara piped in. "I'm waiting for you to stop cooperating."
"Fine!" Kenza said as she crossed her arms. "Yes, there is something to watch out for in there. They're keeping a close eye on Bidane. Really close. They'll know where she's moving at all times."
"You mentioned that earlier," Sang said. "What are you hiding?"
"Do I need my kit?" O'Hara asked.
"No!" Kenza yelped. "They have the old man, the cop… they sent him a message before he logged off to switch characters. Told him that if he doesn't sabotage the mission, they'll send a hit team to kill Capello in the real world."
"Crap!" Sang shouted as she slammed her hand down on the bed. "That lying bastard!"
"Not quite," Neil said. "He hasn't ratted you guys out yet."
"Why didn't he mention it?" Sang asked.