It was a war of attrition, and neither side was willing to give in. Sweat rolled down Five's face as he concentrated on the series of button combinations necessary to activate his fighter's special moves, hammering his thumbs on the controller as indistinct grunts of effort escaped his throat. By contrast, Miko was calm and collected as she focused her attention on the game, her thumbs hitting the buttons and rotating the joystick with little effort. She shot Five a smug grin as she activated her fighter's special move; her avatar crouched down and clenched his fist, causing a fireball to form around his lower arm from elbow to fist. Five's avatar had half of his lifebar remaining as he pressed the block button and prepared for the worst. Miko's avatar let out a kiai and thrust his flaming fist forward, sending a massive column of flame rocketing towards Five's character. He was only able to block it for so long as the flames penetrated his defenses and sent him flying through the air.

"Aw, nerds," Five exclaimed as the announcer proclaimed Miko's victory. "Looks like you win again, partner."

"Indeed it does," she replied with a grin. "And it looks like you owe me lunch." The projection on the inside wall of the van disappeared as she switched off the system, adding, "It's been a minute since I've had some of your grandparents' food. Wanna stop in and say hi?"

"Of course," Five replied with a smile. "We could walk there if we wanted to; it's right down the road." Miko looked at the map on his gauntlet and let out a chuckle - as luck would have it, their current location was but three blocks away from Five's grandparents. The pair exited the van and headed for the food truck as Miko rubbed her palms together with a devious grin on her face. "Just as planned," she said in a sinister tone. "Everything's falling into place."

"Hey, it's always convenient when you get to stay close to home," Five replied as Miko let out a dastardly chuckle. "We really lucked out getting assigned this district today."

"As far as location goes, sure," Miko retorted. "As far as glitches go, not so much. We haven't had a single hit all day, and it's starting to get to me. Boredom's creeping in, man!"

"Same here. And Mitch is on the other side of town, so it's not like he's thanking us for the distraction. It's just a slow day today; these things happen."

"Yeah," Miko said with a frustrated shrug and a pout. "Doesn't mean we have to like it." The alleyway housing the food truck was within their sights as they drew closer, as well as a four person-deep line and a few customers eating their food nearby. The man closest to them sat on the ground with his back against the wall of a nearby building as he ate a burrito, keeping his head down as Miko and Five walked past him. As they passed him by, he shook his head and let out a surprised chuckle as he said, "China-Mex fusion. Never in a million years would I think to mix the two, but dammit, it works. I gotta give your grandparents props, Hector."

It was a warm summer's day - eighty degrees with a pleasant northerly wind and little humidity - but Five felt a cold chill run down his spine as he turned around and stared into the icy blue eyes of the Neurosurgeon. The glitch rose to his feet and finished what remained of his burrito as he watched Miko join her friend in his terror, but their faces changed from horrified to determined in a blink as they aimed their gauntlets at him. If they intended to faze him, it didn't work - with a shake of his head and a wag of his finger, the glitch approached them and grabbed their gauntlets with either hand. Miko struggled against his grip as she exclaimed, "Hey! L-let go! What are you...?!" Five echoed her response as he demanded, "Get your hand off me! Let us-"

The Neurosurgeon said nothing as he glanced down at the screens on their gauntlets. They flickered in and out for a few moments before going completely black, at which point he obeyed their commands and released his grip. Miko and Five jerked their arms back and stared the glitch down with anger in their eyes, a stare that the Neurosurgeon returned with a bemused, "If that's supposed to be intimidating, it's not working. Stop embarrassing yourselves." Five bristled at his comment and exclaimed, "Shut up! What the heck did you do to us?!"

"To you personally? Nothing... yet. Your gauntlets are a different story, though: see for yourself." The glitch crossed his arms and leaned his shoulder against the wall as Miko and Five each looked down at a blank screen. Miko let out a confused "What the..." as she tapped the screen with her finger, which led to precisely nothing. Five swiped back and forth with his index finger before giving it a whack with the heel of his palm, and just like Miko, it resulted in nothing but black. They exchanged worried expressions before they turned back to the glitch, who was still leaning against the wall but now sporting one of the smuggest grins they had ever seen on anybody, and that included Mitch. The weight of what he had just done sent the duo into a state of shock as they approached him with a simple question that Five articulated: "What the hell did you do?"

"Exactly what you think," the glitch responded. "I can't have you two trying to contain me when we've barely gotten a chance to know each other! The least you can do is buy me dinner first!" The taunting was bad enough, but coupled with the glitch's smug demeanor and cocky grin - not to mention what had happened to their gauntlets - that combination of factors made Five's anger boil over, and he drew his fist back in preparation to throw a punch. The Neurosurgeon saw it coming and sidestepped his attack; Five let out a shocked yelp as his forward momentum carried him straight into the wall, shoulder first. Miko rushed to his side as he groaned in pain and asked, "You okay, dude?"

"I'm fine," he said as he rubbed his shoulder. "Probably gonna have a bruise there later."

"No kidding." Once his bearings returned, Five gritted his teeth and turned around to face the Neurosurgeon, who was still wearing the same smug grin as before. "All right, you've made your point," Five grumbled. "What do you want?"

"To see what you're made of," the glitch replied. "I mean, I already know what Mitch is made of, but you two are a blank slate. I've spent all my time on him and none on you, so... I'm here to remedy that. It's only fair."

"For you, maybe," Miko retorted with an angry grimace. She shoved her gauntlet in the glitch's face and demanded, "What happened? Did you plant a bomb on us or something? Is there a surprise waiting when we get back to our van? Or did you do both?"

"I did neither," the glitch said as he moved Miko's arm away from his face with an irritated grunt. "Your van is untouched, and the same goes for you... though I can't put your gauntlets in that category, for obvious reasons." He motioned for Miko and Five to join him as he began to walk down the sidewalk away from the food truck and towards their van. Five steps later, the glitch noticed that he was still walking alone, so he turned back around and said, "I understand your hesitation, but I suggest you join me. There's something important that I need to ask you." Five crossed his arms and replied with a skeptical, "Oh, really? And what would that be?"

"Walk with me and find out." The Neurosurgeon stood and waited for a response as Miko turned to Five and asked, "What do you think?"

"That we don't have a choice," Five grumbled. "He's not gonna take no for an answer, and the longer we talk, the longer he's gonna keep staring at us. So let's follow him and see what happens. Maybe we can figure out a way to contain him."

"Good idea. He may be able to adapt, but he's still a video game program. He's bound to slip up sooner or later." Five glanced back over his shoulder, and sure enough, the Neurosurgeon stood in the exact same spot, swaying back and forth as if he was in an idle animation. He kept moving back and forth as Miko and Five approached him, with the former saying, "We have come to a mutual agreement, Mr. Neurosurgeon. We shall indeed join you on this brief jaunt. However, if you try anything funny, we won't hesitate to throw down."

"Wise decision. Follow me, if you would." The glitch began to move once again, maintaining a brisk pace as Miko and Five walked on either side of him. It wasn't long before the Neurosurgeon started to make conversation, saying, "So, you're the two rookies Mitch was talking about. What you pulled off at that construction site was pretty impressive."

"That's all in a day's work." Five's reply was laced with tension as he continued with, "Some glitches are easier than others... and then there's you. You're unlike any glitch we've ever encountered."

"It's all because of that AIQ chip, isn't it?" The glitch responded to Miko's question by tapping his finger to his temple before pointing at her with a satisfied smile. She narrowed her eyes at his response before she continued with, "That must've been how you found out our personal info at the store."

"Correct once again," the glitch replied as they stopped at a red light. The next question cut right to the heart of the matter as Five demanded, "But why us? Why are you focusing on me, Miko and Mitch?"

"How could I not?" The light turned green and the walk signal activated, and the trio obeyed its request as the Neurosurgeon continued to explain. "When I saw the two of you coming down the street, I couldn't help but notice how excited you were... not to mention how fast you were driving. I figured there must've been something going on that warranted that reaction, so I tracked you down, watched you fight the glitch, and... here we are."

"How very interesting." The sarcasm in Miko's voice was impossible to ignore, and she received a side-eye from the glitch as they continued on. They were about a block away from the van as far as she could tell, and she kept the conversation going with, "So all this - the note, blowing up Mitch's van, doing... whatever we're doing right now - this is all to see if we're worthy enough to stop you?"

"Exactly," the glitch answered with a proud smile. "A strong villain needs a strong hero, after all."

"Well, you'd better enjoy your time in Bailley while it lasts," Five declared in a confident tone. "Because we're gonna stop you. And we're gonna enjoy it."

"I'm sure." A cocky grin appeared on the Neurosurgeon's face as the trio caught sight of the Hinobi van parked on the side of the street. Five unlocked the vehicle and was just about to get behind the wheel before the glitch held out his arm and stopped him. "Before you go, there's a question that's been on my mind the last few days. God, I... I just can't stop thinking about it! There's so many answers to be had... I mean, it's been keeping me up at night, for crying out loud! Would you like to hear it?" Miko let out a frustrated groan as she said, "Fine! What is it?"

"It's a simple one," the glitch replied with a secretive smile. "What do an Indian and a Muslim have in common?" The question gave both Miko and Five pause as they tried to give an answer, but were stopped in their tracks. They began to talk it over with each other as the Neurosurgeon awaited their answer; it wasn't long before Five replied with, "They're... both residents of India?"

"Yes, but that's not the answer I'm looking for." Miko tried next as she said, "They both fast at certain times of the year, right?"

"They do, but once again, that's not the answer I'm looking for. Think harder. Think... closer to home." Those last three words jogged their collective memories, and the Neurosurgeon couldn't help but smile as their eyes grew wide and their jaws went slack. "The moment of dawning comprehension," the glitch observed. "Gotta love it."

"Hijo de puta..." Five's eyes were blazing and his heart was pounding as he grabbed the glitch by the scruff of his shirt and demanded, "Where are they?! What did you do to them?!"

"I left 'em back at my place," the glitch answered with a knowing grin. "And if you hurry up, you might just have a chance to save them." Anger gave way to fear and panic as Five glanced down at the black screen on his wrist. It all began to make sense as he turned to Miko and said, "The gauntlets... th-that's why he disabled our..."

"Couldn't have you noticing that they dropped off the grid, now could I?" The glitch reached into his pants pocket and handed Five a folded-up piece of paper, saying, "Here's the address. I'd get going if I were you; you've got about twenty minutes by my watch. It takes about ten to get there from here, so make haste." Five let go of his shirt and ran to the driver's side of the van as Miko climbed in the passenger seat. The engine rumbled to life, the transmission was put in drive, and the sound of screeching tires filled the neighborhood as Five jerked the steering wheel to the left, making a tight U-turn before swerving into the southbound lane. The Neurosurgeon's figure grew smaller in the rearview mirror as Miko plugged the address into the van's GPS, and directions appeared in a matter of seconds. "It's ten minutes from here, just like he said!"

"If he did anything to them, I swear to God..." Five pounded his fist into the steering wheel as he followed the GPS' instructions and turned left at the upcoming intersection, heading east. Miko pulled out her cell phone as Five concentrated on the road, asking, "Do you think we should call Mitch?"

"I... I don't know," Five answered. "Let's see what we're dealing with first." The duo exchanged worried glances as they continued eastward, with the cityscape of Bailley giving way to countryside and wide open fields. The abandoned farmhouse appeared in the distance on their left, and once Five heard the GPS announce they had reached their destination, he cranked the steering wheel to the left and drifted into the gravel driveway. When the rear of the van was facing the house, the doors burst open as Miko and Five jumped out and ran to the front door of the house. Five hammered on the wood with his closed fist, exclaiming, "Zahra! Haneesh! Are you in there?! Where are you?!"

"We're... we're here, Five!" The sound of Haneesh's voice had the duo breathing a sigh of relief, but that was short lived as Zahra added, "Come in through the back! I think the front door might be booby trapped!"

"Got it!" Miko and Five ran to the rear kitchen door, and they both reached for the knob at the same time, touching hands in the process. Their cheeks flushed red for the briefest of moments before they returned to the task at hand; they kept their hands on the knob as Five said, "On three. Ready?"

"Nope."

"Me neither. Okay... one... two... three!" They turned the knob and checked the door for any resistance, slowly opening it just wide enough for one of them to enter. Miko grabbed onto the doorjamb as she poked her head inside and checked the other side - other than a thick layer of dust, there was nothing out of the ordinary. "I think we're clear, partner."

"Perfect." Five followed Miko into the house, shutting the door behind him as he called out, "Where are you guys?"

"Living room!" They followed Haneesh's voice to its source, but once they entered the room in question, the weight of what they saw in front of them opened a void in the pit of their stomachs. The only good news to be had was that, despite being duct taped to the chairs they sat in, Zahra and Haneesh were unharmed, awake and alert. However, that meant nothing in the face of what was strapped to their chests. Red cylinders lined the top and bottom of the velcro vests they were wearing, and each cylinder was directly wired into a makeshift detonator placed in the middle of their chests. Adding insult to injury was the fact that the detonators each had a digital timer attached to them.

A timer that counted down with each passing second.

Five's heart was in his throat as he turned to Miko and stammered, "I... I think you'd better call Mitch."