"So what's the deal with this mole?" Van asked.
"Ah yes," Neil said. "What is the deal, indeed? Here's the problem, Van… so, it appears that Draco was somehow able to get a few people in the operations room to agree to treason so that they could secure a spot for themselves in the new world order."
"Sang told me about that," Van replied.
"Yeah, and now we're in an interesting situation because we have the power to screw with Draco's communication lines," O'Hara said. "One of the spies, Kenza, is being super-cooperative. That means we can leak information through her."
"And you think we can still trust her?"
"Treason can carry the death penalty," Neil said, "so she's got plenty of incentive to do what we want."
"Well, once we can locate where this feast is, we're going to need to convince Draco that the Iron Dragons are moving elsewhere," Van said.
"We managed to get the location of a few Designated Reality Zones," O'Hara said. "Maybe we can tell Draco that the Iron Dragons are moving into one of those areas."
"But we're going to need to actually send a few people in that direction for it to be believable," Van said. "Draco might assume we're hiding our numbers, but if they don't see anyone at all going there, they might not believe us."
"Good thinking," Neil said as he leaned forward and placed his hands on his head. "Maybe… maybe we can lie about your identities, too. Draco's been scrambling to find you guys. The tournament was organized to draw your characters in, but they panicked once they realized you were incognito."
"Still can't locate us?" Van asked. "I can't believe how well this is working."
"They got lazy," O'Hara said. "They assumed that their spies were perfectly hidden in plain sight here. Now we've got the upper hand. At least until midnight."
"Yeah," Van said.
"Do you mind excusing me and Van?" Neil abruptly asked. "We gotta have a heart-to-heart here."
O'Hara chuckled. "Sure thing."
Van sighed deeply as O'Hara got up and left the staff room. He knew there was going to be a torrent of threats and probably violence directed at him if Neil wanted to talk to him alone. Why couldn't they be nicer to him?
"So, how you feeling about the whole end of the world thing?" Neil asked as he continued to eat his ice cream.
"Oh, I'm feeling good about it; I think we can win this one," Van said. "We're going to be in—"
"Not what I was talking about," Neil replied. His head was down and he wasn't making eye contact with Van. "I meant about the end of your world."
"Oh…" Van answered. "You're talking about the game being deactivated."
"Yeah," Neil said. "I know you've been in that thing for most of your life, and Sang said you're pretty stressed out about the whole thing. I just wanted to check in and make sure you're okay."
"Neil, I don't care what kind of medication your own – I know for a fact that you don't care about me," Van said.
"Oh, I care about you alright," Neil said. "I care about you finishing the mission. I care about you to the extent that you've done a job so far and thus don't deserve to be wailed on over and over again. Cut me some slack, man. I've come a long way from where we started."
Van shrugged. That was true. "I guess you're right," Van said. "Truthfully, I’m so freaked out about the fact that I'm going to lose the only thing I've ever cared about. I'm incredibly freaked out that everything I have ever known and loved is going to vanish tonight."
"I get ya," Neil said. "It's crazy how your life can change in a single moment."
Van raised an eyebrow as he watched Neil lean back in his chair and stare upwards for a moment. "Everything changes," Neil continued, "but you're just desperate to have it all back. There's a moment in loss, Van… there's a moment where you'll realize that you would do anything to get it back. But… you usually can't." Neil lowered his head and made eye contact with Van. "But in your case, you can keep the thing you're going to lose."
"How?" Van asked.
Neil shook his head. "You know how. You can screw up the mission, betray us, sell us out and let Draco obliterate the world. Then you can stay in your game forever."
"I'd never do that," Van said. "No matter how much I want to stay in the game, I'd never sell out the human race."
Neil chuckled. "You say that now, but you aren't at the precipice yet. It's really easy to tell everyone that you're going to jump off the high diving board, and you can even tell yourself that you'll do it as you climb the ladder, but…" he paused and narrowed his eyes, "when you're looking down, it's an entirely different story. It takes strength to make the jump. Real strength."
Van shivered a little. "You don't think I’m strong enough, do you?"
Neil nodded. "I really don't think you have it in you to betray everything that you once held so dear in exchange for this." He waved his hand around to illustrate the real world. "You're really going to go from a world where you're a powerful warrior to a land where you tire out when taking the stairs?"
Van shrugged. "It's not like I can just turn my back on everyone here. And it's not like I'm some kind of psychopath who wants to see the world burn, either."
"That's the interesting thing about cowardice," Neil said. "It never comes from a place of hatred. It doesn't come from a place of malice or any desire to harm others. It comes from a desire to put yourself first. So you don't really tell yourself that you're screwing over everyone else. No, in that moment, Van, you're going to tell yourself that it's all going to be okay. You won't even be thinking about the rest of the world. You'll just be thinking of yourself."
"Why are you bothering to warn me about this at all?" Van asked. "So you can threaten me? Tell me to do what's right or you'll kill me?"
Neil shrugged. "Maybe I just want to give you a heads-up as to what you're going to be facing out there. Sang seems so dead-set that you're going to be a shining paragon of justice, so much so that she's not even willing to warn you about the powerful temptation in your path. Me? I'm far less hopeful about humans in general."
"So that's it then? No violence? No yelling? Just a friendly warning?" Van asked.
"Eh, I don't have it in me right now," Neil said. "It's fun to boss people around and watch them cower before you. It's an easy way to get people to do what you want them to do in the moment. But… it doesn't work in the long term. You've been in this long enough to know that you can totally get away with screwing us all over. There's nothing I can do. Sang doesn't even have the guts to kill you if you start to go down that road. So you've got to realize you have all of the power here. You've got to make the decision well in advance. You're a smart guy, Van. You can figure out some way to sabotage us. Hell, maybe you already are and we have no way of knowing it."
"I don't understand you at all," Van said. "Why tell me all of this?"
"Because, damn it," Neil shouted, "you’ve got to know your position before you can make a decision! If you suddenly realize that you can get away with treason in the field, then we're all screwed. I'd rather you know that you hold all of the cards in your hand right now, rather than risk you figuring it out minutes before you defeat that Dragon Emperor. Only when you have all of the information can you truly make the right decision."
"That's pretty philosophical, coming from a CIA goon," Van said.
Neil shrugged the comment off. "I just want to win this thing. And I'll do whatever it takes to win. That's why they put me and O'Hara on this job, you know. Yeah, we're mean, violent, and startlingly savage, but guess what? We get results."
Van shrugged, but said nothing.
"Here's the thing," Neil said as he lowered his voice. "You have a choice in front of you. But you need to know that it's going to take real strength if you're going to do the right thing. You better prepare now. Because it will take everything that you have not to screw this up."