31

Ved couldn't remember the last time he had felt this happy. He hadn't felt this euphoric and at peace since before the virus – if ever – and it was all Cloe's doing. He couldn't quite believe his luck, that they had ended up together, not after all the fighting and bickering. Why Cloe still wanted him, despite all his shit, was a complete mystery to him – but he certainly wasn't going to start questioning it, afraid of bringing it to her attention and she would change her mind. That would absolutely kill him.

He was now sitting in one of the many computerrooms, but wasn't getting any work done, as he just sat there staring off into space and daydreaming about Cloe and her lips. It was not until Tyler urgently nudged him in the side, to snap him out of it, that he straightened up and removed that stupid smile he suddenly realised he had on his face.

They could hear the sound of Ram's wheelchair approaching and everyone quit their lazy postures and pretended to be very busy. Ram soon appeared in the doorway, wheeling his way over to a computer right opposite of Ved and began typing away at the keyboard.

"So," he said casually, after a while, "I hear you've been messing around with a virt."

Ved's head snapped up, his heart almost stopping. Was he talking about Cloe?

"You even brought her here," Ram continued, before Ved could come up with a reply. Ram looked disgusted at the thought of a virt being this close to his precious computers.

"That's right," Ved finally said, deciding that it was best to tell him the truth - well, most of it anyway, "But she's not a virt anymore. She's joined the Technos."

Ram still didn't look convinced, "Are you sure she's trustworthy?"

"Positive," Ved said, "I programmed her myself." Sort of.

"Are you sure she didn't bring any...deceases with her?" He automatically pulled out his white hankerchief and put it over his mouth, as if he was afraid he might get infected with some decease just by talking about it.

"I'm sure," Ved said, "I made sure she was clear of any deceases when I brought her." Of course, there was no way for him to do that, but Ram seemed satisfied with that answer.

"Good, good," he mumbled through the hankerchief, "Just make sure she's completely converted and fully committed to the cause."

He then waved Ved away with the other hand. Ved nodded and didn't waste one second as he fled out the door.

—

Ebony practically flooded up the hill towards the Techno Headquarters. She felt so happy and light after her night with Slade. It had been a long time since she had felt this happy and she wondered if she ever had. Ebony had never let a man inside her heart before – with the exception of Bray, who so carelessly stampered on it, not believing her when she'd said she loved him. After Bray, she swore she would never go down that road again, never wanting to feel that hurt and rejected again. But Slade had crept under her skin, without her permission, and found his way into her cold, reluctant heart. And she was absolutely terrified. But she was also excited and happy and optimistic. It was really very confusing feelings to have all at once.

As she approached the entrance she stopped and took a deep breath to calm herself down. She needed to be in total control of herself. Putting on a scornful grimasse, she walked right past the two guards and into the coolness of the huge building. She needed to find K.C so they could start their planning. This goddamn tribe was going down! And fast…

She went straight to room and knocked on his door. K.C opened the door and waved her in, sticking his head out to check if anyone saw them.

"Are we safe to talk in here?" Ebony asked as soon as K.C had closed the door.

"Yes. Just keep your voice down, just in case," K.C said and came to sit beside her in the bed. They stuck their heads together, "So have you come up with a plan?"

"I'm working on it," Ebony said, not telling K.C about her newfound doubts about fooling Jay, "We have to do this right the first time. We only have one chance. If we fail…" she trailed off, thinking about how both hers and life was in danger.

"I know. It's a risky job," K.C said quietly, reading her thoughts, "But a risk worth taking."

"Agreed."

"Maybe if we went behind enemy lines, found out more about Ram, maybe found out his weaknesses, we'd have a better shot at defeating him?" K.C said with a frown, a plan starting to form in his mind.

"That might work – but how?"

"Ram has a special computer, that no one is allowed to touch. He keeps it in his personal work room. If we could somehow get inside it and see if it holds any useful information..."

"It's a start I guess," Ebony said hesitantly, "Do you think it's possible?"

"Yeah. If we can just lure away the guards?"

Ebony sat thinking for a while. What would be the best strategy? She had always found that female cunning surpasses male understanding any day. She'd used it quite often. It was her favorite way of working, often leaving men confused or totally unaware of her scheming. She'd become quite skilled over the years. But these guards were of a totally different matter. They were fierce soldiers, trained to guard something of priceless value.

Maybe violence would work better this time? Surely they would fight back, even if it cost them their lives, but Ebony was a skilled fighter and K.C sure could hold his own. Maybe they had a chance at knocking them out. Maybe. Or maybe if she combined the two strategies…

"Okay, I've got a plan…"

Ebony filled K.C in on her plan and they planned to take action the next day after midnight. Ebony went back to Slade to fill him in and K.C filled Patsy in on their plan - only reluctantly agreeing to her taking part of it at all, due to the risks and dangers of it.

The next day at exactly midnight, Ebony distracted the guards at the main entrance while Slade slid in through the door unnoticed and waited for Ebony to follow. Once inside they ran to K.C's room as fast and as soundless as they could.

"Did anyone see you?" K.C asked Slade as he hastily closed and locked the door behind them. He looked a little apprehensive but determind at the same time.

"No, those idiots were so easy to distract, I can't believe they're actually letting them guard," Ebony snorted with a roll of the eye.

"Can't say I blame 'em," Slade said, smirking at Ebony, "You're very easy to get distracted by."

Ebony couldn't help but blush at his words and turned away, angry at her body's stupid reaction. She'd never let words affect her before, but somehow Slade's words did something to her that she couldn't control. To hide her discomfort (and euphoria) she ignored him and turned to K.C.

"Okay, we only have one shot at this. Are you ready?"

"Yes," K.C responded and went to rummage in his drawer. He pulled out a black hoodie and handed it to Slade, "Put this on and pull the hood up so they can't see your face."

Slade put the hoodie on and K.C and Ebony walked to the door.

"Wait," Slade suddenly said and grabbed Ebony's arm lightly. He turned her to face him while pulling her closer, "Be careful." He then reached down and kissed her swiftly knowing she wasn't very fond of public affectioness.

"You too," she muttered and then dissapeared out of the door with K.C. After making sure noone was around they ran quietly down the hallway and into an emtpy computerrom.

—

Patsy let out a long and quivering breath. She was really nervous and tried to calm her nerves by breathing slowly and deeply. When K.C had filled her in on the plan yesterday she'd been psyched and excited to finally do something – anything – to fight back againtst these creeps that had taken over their city and sent away their friends. She had slept soundly that night, knowing she was finally doing something useful and not just laying low.

But now that the action was about to start she was starting to feel anxious and, admittedly, a little scared. Ram was definitely not one to mess around with – he meant business. Lethel business. But she had promised K.C she would help them and she wasn't one to desert her friends. Even if it possibly cost her her life.

She heard K.C's door open and close and knew that he and Ebony had taken off to go hide in the computerroom. She waited a few minutes before she took one last deep breath before opening her own door and stepping outside on the corridor. She knocked once at K.C's door to let Slade know she was ready, then she found her way down the long corridor, past the room where she knew K.C and Ebony was hiding and rounded the corner.

Then she started yelling.

"Help! Please someone help!" She ran towards the two guards guarding Ram's computerrom and grabbed hold on one of them, "There's someone here – a virt! He was in my room," she yelled and threw in a few tears for their benefit, "I escaped but he's still here! Please, he tried to hurt me!" The guards looked alarmed, but hesitant, obviously at a lost of what to do next. Patsy could feel the panick start to spread in her stomach. What if they called her out? That would mean a one way ticket away from this world. But then she heard footsteps and then Slade appeared aound the corner, hoodie up so his face was in the shadows. He stopped short and stared at the guards for a few seconds – then took off in the opposide direction.

"There he is!" Patsy yelled and pointed at him, "That's him!"

The two guards took off after him and chased him down the corridor and into the computerroom. Patsy followed at their heel.

The computerrom was completely dark and Patsy could only see the silluettes of the two guards who had stopped short and was now stading looking around to try and find Slade. She knew she had to keep her distance, so she just stood in the door way and silently watched as K.C and Ebony snook up behind the guards and then knocked them out with bats. They fell to the floor immmediately and went still.

"Quick! Get in," Ebony barked and waved Patsy in. Patsy flew in and closed the door behind her and then turned on the lights so they could see. K.C and Slade had already removed the unconcious guards's headsets and tied their hands.

"Good job, babe!" K.C beamed, took Patsy in his arms and kissed her proudly.

"There's no time for that!" Ebony hissed while she and Slade dragged the two guards across the room and sat them against each other, back to back, "We need to hurry!"

"Right," Slade agreed, "Time for me to split." He swiftly put one hand on Ebony's cheek, carressing it with his thump before he bolted to the door and dissapeared out of it. The gentle gesture surprised Patsy, as she had never seen anyone do such a thing to Ebony and not loose their hand and wandered what was up with that.

"You too, Pats," K.C interupted her thoughts, "You need to go back to your room and stay there."

Patsy nodded, "Okay – be careful."

"I will," K.C promised and watched her hurry away.

"Quick, put this on," Ebony said, handing K.C a mask and then put one on herself. They had to make sure they weren't recognised on any of the cameras before they could destroy them. They hurried down the hall and around the corner where they stopped in front of Ram's private computerroom.

The door was locked, so K.C bashed the device on the wall with his bat and then kicked the door open with his foot. Once inside, they quickly sprayed black paint on the security cameras, so they couldn't be seen.

"So, you any good at these things?" Ebony asked while eyeing the computer. Ebony had many skills, but computer science sure wasn't one of them.

"Yeah, I can hold my own," K.C said. During his stay with the Technoes he had picked up a few things or two.

"Why hasn't he got any password on this computer?" he mused, as he got it started, "I could just go right in."

"Beats me," Ebony said, "Maybe he's too arrogant to think that anyone could ever get in here at all. That anyone would dare go against him."

"Yeah maybe," K.C mumbled, and then began typing away, looking into all the files that he thought could hold any information.

"So how's your work on Jay going?" K.C asked after a while, still looking at the computer screen, "Have you won him over yet?"

Ebony felt a sharp pang of guilt tugging at her chest, "It's going great," she said, not wanting K.C to know about this new weakness of hers - the guilt – not just yet. She had to come up with a better plan first.

"I have him wrapped around my littlefinger," she grinned, sticking out her littlefinger and wriggling it a bit, "I just have to convince him to come over to our side and help take down Ram." She was still hoping to get him to join them, she just had to find another way to convince him, not wanting to lead him on any more. He was a good man, and he deserved better than her lies.

"And what does Slade say about this?" K.C asked casually, still not looking at her. Or not daring. Ebony snapped her head up. How did he know about her and Slade? She sure hadn't told anyone. Maybe it was quite obvious to others. He had caressed her cheek in front of them just minutes ago.

"Nothing obviously. It's no concern of his," Ebony answered coldly, ending that conversation with her tone.

They continued their work for a few more minutes, until K.C suddenly gasped.

"What, what?" Ebony exclaimed, sprinting to his side to take a look herself.

"This guy's more crazy than we thought," K.C said, breathlessly, "Look at this."

He leaned to the side so Ebony could take a closer look at the pictures he had found. They showed coal mines. And people. Lots and lots of dirty, worn down and sick looking people.

"You were in the coal mines, right?" Ebony asked.

"Yes I was. And it was bad, but it sure wasn't as bad as this. I mean, this is a whole new level. Look at them!" He looked absolutely horrified.

"And that's not all, look at this…" he found a new set of pictures, that showed people who were connected to all sorts of devices, "He's running all kinds of tests on people. Like they're guinea pigs. And he doesn't give a damn about what happens to them. Look at his own notes."

Ebony got closer and began reading the notes, that Ram had written. It sure didn't sound like he gave a rats ass about these people. Like they weren't even human beings and that they could easily be replaced, should they perish.

"He's totally sick!" Ebony exclaimed with disgust, "Looks like he's not only planning to take over this city – but the rest of the world!"

"We have to stop him," K.C growled, "Think about these poor people. What if something like this is happening to our friends – Bray or Jack or Lex."

Ebony shuddered at the thought of someone hurting Bray. Or Jack. Or even Lex.

"I think we've pushed our luck long enough now," she then said and looked at her watch, "We've been in here far to long. Let's get out – while we still can."

K.C agreed, hastely turned off the computer and then followed Ebony across the room. They bolted out of the door, and sprinted down the hallway.

—

In the pitch black darkness, angry screwed-up eyes watched two figures croutching by a computer through the small hidden camera. He heard them whisper to each other, planning the downfall of his tribe. The anger wasn't the dominating feeling though – it was overshadowed by agonizing heartbreak and a feeling of absolute betrayal. As he turned off his computer, Jay swore he wouldn't ever let a woman screw with his mind again. And Ebony was going to regret it.