Player stared at the computer screen, sweat rolling down his face. Exactly three lives depended on whether he pressed a button at the right time. He knew he should have been used to it by now, but still...nothing was more stressful.
The light on his computer flashed red, and he quickly hit the Enter key. He watched Carmen slide under the closing door, just in time to evade the laser barrier around it. But Player knew his job wasn't done yet. He watched as Carmen slowly approached Zach and Ivy, who were unconscious in the corner of the room. He monitored the data coming out from the museum's wi-fi and security systems. Then he checked all the security cameras over again. Not a single person was in the Amsterdam Rijksmuseum besides Carmen, Zach, and Ivy.
Nobody knew what had happened to the two siblings. A few hours earlier, Zach had called out for help on the team's private radio link, and then all had been silent. Now he and his sister were here unconscious.
Maybe it was a trap, designed by VILE operatives to lure Carmen in to save her friends. Player had mentioned this, but Carmen wasn't worried about a trap. She'd escaped from VILE many times; she could do it again.
Carmen checked around the area, then felt the two for pulses.
"They're alive," she said. "And breathing."
"I wonder what hit them," Player said.
"I don't know," she said. "They have no visible injuries, and there's no trace of VILE or ACME being here at all. And if they are, I don't want to run into them. Let's get these two to a hospital." She started heaving Ivy onto her shoulders.
"On it," Player said. He pressed Enter again. The door slowly started lifting up, revealing the van Carmen had parked outside. Player knew she would have preferred to glide in, but with two people to carry, it would have been difficult trying to get them back out on a glider.
Carmen started toward the door, then turned around quickly. Player jumped, then scanned the screen, trying to see what she saw.
"What is it?" Player asked.
A scraping, electronic sound blasted into his ears. He pulled away from his desk, the volume sending his ears ringing. Player held his head. The noise had almost sounded… Player blinked and remembered what he was supposed to be doing. He snapped his head back to the live video on his screen. Carmen was standing, staring at the wall.
"Red! Are you okay?" He yelled over the noise.
"Yes," she said. "But this noise…"
"Can you tell where it's coming from?" Player asked. He watched as she walked toward the wall, inspecting it.
"It seems like it's coming from this wall, but I don't know where from," Carmen said. "We need to get these two out of here. Now." She started pulling Ivy again, faster this time.
Then Player watched as a crackling purple-and-black hole opened up in the wall and sucked Carmen inside.
"Carmen?" Player said. The hole was still there. If only Zach or Ivy were awake, or Player was there himself. Someone needed to investigate. But Zach and Ivy weren't moving. Maybe their unconsciousness has something to do with that hole…
Player checked the tracker that told him where Carmen was at any time. All that showed up was a big question mark. What in the world?
"Carmen!" Player said again. Nobody answered. Player stared into the hole in the wall. He felt like it was staring back, daring him to find something, anything he could do about what had just happened.
Was it just his imagination, or was the hole growing bigger?
Player desperately tried to contact Carmen, but none of them worked. They all played only the loud buzzing sound.
Player looked back at the screen. What do I do, what do I do, what do I do? Player knew he couldn't do anything. And that was the least favorite part of this job. When people were in trouble, all he could do was watch.
"No," he said. "I can do something."
And that was when the crackling hole engulfed the entire museum room. Player's screen went black.
"What?" Player said, panicking. He clicked around and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw it was only the interior security cameras that had turned off. He looked through the exterior cameras. The entire Rijksmuseum was gone. Not burned, not moved, but just disappeared. The hole was nowhere to be seen.
I need to contact Shadowsan, Player thought. And then I need to figure out what the heck is going on.