"That's risky," Van said. "But worth it. I still have one of those lethal biofeedback programs that you made."
"Maybe I can tweak it so it will unleash the virus in the game…" Sang said, trailing off for a minute. Her mind was working overtime to figure out a solution to the problem in front of her. "Yeah, because if the virus can spread from the game code into their pods, it can kill them that way. But we'd need schematics."
"What if I figured some way to send them to you from the game?" Van asked. "That way, you don't have to sneak into a heavily guarded Draco facility."
"I don't want to leave you alone," Sang said. "You could end up in trouble."
"Sang, I'm already in deep, deep trouble." Van replied. "We all are. I say you stick around here – go visit those brothers and get new characters for the team. Then send me an item with a spammy message attached to it. It'll throw off the Emperor if he thinks I'm just getting some kind of scam sent to me. Include the phrase 'Your Best Gold Now' so I'll know it's from you."
"Hey, that's some real spy stuff there," Neil said. "Wonder who you learned it from."
"Okay," Sang said, ignoring Neil. "So we just hand you over to them and hope for the best. Got it."
"It's not ideal," Van said, "but I think, at this point, it's gonna be a real stretch to see if we can pull this off. Who knows – I might end up having to actually work for them."
"Hey, as long as the rest of this planet is safe, go crazy," Neil said. "But until Draco is purged from this planet and that game is destroyed, we're still going to be working."
"Just take it easy," Van replied. "We don't want to tip them off to our master plan."
"Excuse me?" said a voice from behind everyone. They all turned to see that there was an MP standing there, rifle in hand. "We've received a call from someone claiming to be a representative from Draco. They have requested to meet with Van outside of the base."
"Yup," Neil said to the man, "that's fine. Get out of here, Van."
"Wait!" Sang said as she reached out to grab him. She pulled him away from the group for a moment. "I just wanted to say thank you, for caring enough to keep me alive."
Van winced. "Oh man, this is the absolute worst… but… if I'd been more concerned about the greater good, I would have tried to kill him while he was distracted with killing you. My philosophy wins, Sang. We're all still alive because of it."
"You're honestly going to use this as an opportunity for saying I told you so?" Sang snapped.
"Maybe it's because I want you to understand how important it is to never sacrifice others," Van replied. "I'm not trying to start a fight… I just want to end a really long one. Especially before I leave you."
Sang sighed. "Fine, you're right. Okay? When I was completely frozen, unable to do anything, I really thought I was going to die. I know that I would have understood your choice to try and kill him, sacrificing me in the process, but at the same time… I really didn't want you to make that choice. I really wanted to live."
"That's how it works, Sang," Van said as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I can't make that choice for anyone else, and I hope that you don't make those choices anymore, either. I've got to get going now. We'll see each other again, I promise."
"I really hope we do," Sang said. "As much time as we've been spending together, I'm willing to admit that it's strange to imagine what life would be like without you."
"Are you hitting on me?" Van asked. "I knew you couldn't resist my roguish charm."
"Unfortunately not – I made that saving throw a while back," Sang said. "Now, get out of here! You've got an organization to infiltrate!"
Van saluted her and turned to leave. She felt a strange sense of anguish as she watched him walk out, though. His choice to bravely throw himself into the very heart of danger was quiet heroic, she couldn't deny, but it was hard to acknowledge even that much as he made his way to the door and she had to wonder if she would ever see him again.
Van shifted uncomfortably in the car. He had been blindfolded for the ride, but knew that they had to have been travelling for several hours. There'd been a few people waiting for him in a Humvee outside of the CIA's base of operations; they had been the ones to give him a blindfold and tell him to stay quiet for the trip. For all he knew, he was being driven out to the desert to be shot, but then again, that didn't seem much different from any time when he got into a car with Neil.
Eventually, the car came to a full stop and the engine was cut.
"Get out," instructed a woman. She was blonde and was wearing military fatigues. At first, Van had thought she was someone from the base, but she had been the one to instruct him to keep his mouth shut.
"Can I take my blindfold off?" Van asked.
"You may," the woman replied.
Van pulled the blindfold off and squinted as the sunlight hit his eyes. He quickly realized that he was indeed in a desert. Right off the bat, he scanned the area for a large hole, but saw none. That was a relief.
"There," the woman said, pointing west. "Do you see that tree?"
There was a solitary tree standing some half a mile away, and Van squinted to see what made it so special.
"Yes," Van said. "I see it."
Three other goons were walking toward the tree. They stopped abruptly and then vanished.
"Where'd they go?" Van asked.
"The Masters use special technology to keep their base safe. Remember this tree, so you don't get lost. Just walk towards it and you will enter the base."
"Oh… they can cloak things?" Van gasped.
"Yes, they can," the woman said. "The Masters can do anything they wish. You made a good choice by coming to join us. And as I have been told, I am to be your bride."
"Whoa, what?" Van asked as he spun to look at her. She shrugged.
"It is no complaint of mine. Truthfully, I was afraid that I wouldn't ever have a husband when I came to join Draco. So this is the Masters' way of rewarding me. We are to bear children soon."
"Oh, right, uh… well, here's the thing," Van said as he took a few steps away from her. This was just too creepy. The hollowness of her voice, the emptiness of her expression, and the casualness of the way she talked about a life changing event was all terrifying. "I'm not really looking for that special somebody right now; I've got a career to think about. Intergalactic brain-slaving is hard work and I wouldn't want to be the guy who's working late hours."
"The Masters informed me that you would take some time to get used to me. That is fine. I am able to wait," she replied.
"What's your name?" Van asked.
She shrugged. "We give up our names when we come into the fold. My number is 88 and my function is Courier."
Van felt his skin crawl at that. This place was getting weirder and weirder. He didn't know what else to say to this strange, brainwashed woman, though, so he chose to walk forward instead. As he walked, he became acutely aware that the ground beneath him was not made of sand, but was instead concrete or maybe even steel. His footsteps clunked and thunked with each step.
Everything in front of Van was the desert, too – until he blinked and he was indoors.
"Whoa!" Van shouted. He had been expecting some kind of trickery, but this was almost like magic. He was inside some kind of a lobby where there was a receptionist sitting at a desk. He looked up to see Draco's logo hovering above the desk, flickering with holographic lighting. Next to the desk were two men holding AK-47s. They were motionless, staring straight forward.
"Welcome to Draco," said the receptionist. She looked different from all of the other Draco stooges who Van had met. She was chewing gum and rocking back and forth in her chair. She seemed more alive than the others.
"Uh, hi," Van said as he walked up to the desk. His eyes were transfixed by the two men with guns.
"Don't worry about them – they're harmless as long as you don't try to leave," the woman said. "I'm Cindy. My guess is that your name is Van?"