Chapter 21

I saw nothing but darkness and felt a claw poke me in the side. Something was trying to pull me out of it. "Lucas." I heard a voice whisper to me. "Lucas!" it was less of a whisper now.

I opened my eyes. I was lying on the bed in the hotel room. Tangled up with 11-7. She looked at me. "Lucas?"

I rubbed my eyes. "Yeah, what's going on?"

Her eyes darted over to the clock on the wall twice. "It's time for you to go."

I looked at the clock: 10:22pm. I was already two minutes into my window. "Shit, you're right." I squeezed out of 11-7's coils and threw on my party clothes. "I guess you really weren't planning on keeping me here."

She sighed. "I dislike this, but I cannot tell you to avoid your duties. We are all bound to execute Advent's orders."

I finished putting on my jacket. "The problem is, I don't know what to do about the guard by the door. Sneaking around might be easy enough. There's not supposed to be many guards in the building."

She looked me up and down. "Combat is not your prime skill. You should use the skills you do have."

That didn't help much. "Thanks."

I understand your sarcasm. "When you are sneaking, keep low to the ground and hide behind objects. Be aware, Advent trooper's helmets can be outfitted with night vision if Advent deems it necessary."

"Great. You're really filling me with confidence."

"I am only speaking the truth. To help. If you perform the task in an efficient way, you will return here soon."

"Okay, I'll see you when I get back."

As I turned to leave, I felt her grab my hand. "Please, Lucas... Please be careful. Don't do anything you don't have to and come back."

I grabbed her hand and pulled her into a quick hug. "I won't be reckless."

She returned my hug, and I left the hotel room.

0-

It didn't take me long to get back to the ballroom. The party was still going on strong, granted, it wasn't that late yet. I walked through the party area and peeked around the corner to get a good view of the office's entrance. There was now only one guard there, and I had less than 20 minutes to get that data. I walked back to the party and looked around. There had to be some way to get that guard to leave his post.

I could start a fire. No, too conspicuous, and it would clear everyone out. Starting a fight might attract enough attention, especially if I play the part of the concerned citizen and inform that guard what is happening. Yeah, that could work. But, I can't be the one to do it. Someone else has to. I looked around for someone I recognized. Xavier was still sitting in the same spot, except there were two women sitting across from him now. He looked drunk and was laughing loud enough that I could pick it out from the other noise of the party. Perfect.

I walked over to where he was sitting, and he spotted me immediately. "Luke. Back so soon?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I got a little more party in me."

He patted the seat next to him. "Wunderb… em. Ex-cellent, come and join us. Veroni-ca and Jess… Was it Jessica or Jessy?"

The girl sitting across from him with long black hair wearing a red dress responded. "Jessy."

He nodded with exaggeration. "Right, Jessy. We were discussing the uh, thee finer points of early electronic music's influence on modern artists."

"I'd love to, but first I've got to ask you something."

He looked confused. "Sh-hure, what is it?"

"Can you give me some reasons why Vipers are better than Sectoids?"

He scoffed. "I could name a hundred without even thinking. Why do you need them?"

"I was arguing with some guy at the bar about it. He was raising some great points."

He squinted his eyes and took a swig from his wineglass. "Like what?"

I shrugged. "Well, like how a Sectoid could just mind control a Viper in a fight and win."

He frowned. "Preposterous, their psionic abilities can be highly unreliable in uncontrolled environments, plus a Viper's speed would give it a heavy advantage unless there was an enormous distance between them. What other drivel did this man spit?"

"Lots of other stuff. I can't really think of other arguments he made. But, I figured if I came to you, you could tell me everything I needed to know."

He waved his hand. "Don't bother. Point the man out to me and I'll set him straight. I love a good scientific discussion."

I looked at the bar and tried to pick out someone who looked douchey enough to start a fight at the drop of a pen, but also weak enough that Xavier wouldn't lose too quickly. Bingo. He was chatting with a woman too; probably would hate to be interrupted.

I pointed at him. "It was that guy. The one with the tan coat."

He nodded. "I see him." He stood up and looked at the two girls. "Excuse me, ladies. I'm not sure how long I'll be gone. Debates can take time. You're welcome to join me."

The two girls looked at each other. "Ooo, a scientific debate." The black haired one said. "We'd love to come with." The other girl said.

I watched it play out from the couch. Xavier repeatedly tried to get the guy's attention, but he ignored him. Then I saw him tap the guy on the shoulder and say something. I couldn't hear what they were saying over the noise of the party.

The guy shoved Xavier and yelled. "Back the fuck up, dude. I don't know who the fuck you are!"

Xavier looked shocked, but regained his composure and shouted back. "So you pretend to have no opinions when faced with an expert, typical! You lead a coward's life, yellowbelly!"

What surprised me is that Xavier threw the first punch and hit the guy square in the jaw. The guy spun around and stumbled. He put his hands up to block his face before Xavier went in for another punch. They were locked in a brawl. Everyone around them took notice and hastily backed away, forming a circle around them.

Perfect, they're both still standing. Now to report this to that Advent Trooper guarding the door.

I walked back to the skywalk and over to the one guard. He tensed up upon seeing me, but I kept my distance. I could tell he was analyzing me.

"Step back citizen. This is a restricted area." That cheap synthesizer timbre to his voice grated against my ears.

I feigned a stumble in an effort to look drunk. "Thersh a fight happening at the bar. No one is - stoppinn it." I leaned against the wall of the skywalk and pointed behind me.

He didn't move, but after a few moments, he grunted and started walking towards me. I leaned up against the wall more and sat down on the floor.

My ruse worked. He passed by, paying me no attention. Headed directly for the party. I stayed there on the ground, watching him as he walked into the party. I only got up when I was certain he was gone.

Never thought my acting experience would come in handy for this. I brushed my pants off and moved over to the door. It was made entirely of glass, and through it I could see what looked like a receptionist's desk with a computer right on the other side of the door.

Perfect again. With any luck, this computer will work for whatever the HLA needs, and I can be on my way. Somehow I had a feeling it wouldn't be that easy, but maybe my cynical nature was getting the better of me. I pulled the pencil bag thing the terrorists gave me out of my pocket and pulled the keycard from it. There was a small black box by the door. I held the card up to it and the indicator flashed green, unlocking the door a clicking sound loud enough to make me clench my teeth.

The Advent trooper was still not behind me, so I pulled the door open and went inside. It was dark, but there was a minimum level of ambient lighting from the fluorescent bulbs in the ceiling. I looked to the left and saw a bunch of couches in a row, some sort of sitting area. Behind the receptionist's desk was a wall with the words: Engom an Advent Company, written on it. Didn't mean anything to me. I'd never heard of Engom before. To the left of the desk was a large room filled with about ten rows of cubicles.

I crept behind the desk and pulled the usb device out of the pencil bag. It plugged easily enough into the computer and I waited. The monitor turned on and I saw a bunch of windows open and close on the monitor. The device was flashing blue for a few moments and then it flashed red.

I could assume that wasn't good. And I had further confirmation when a black box popped up on the monitor. The top of it read Command Prompt, and inside the box was a bunch of other techno gibberish I didn't understand. New text started appearing in the box slowly as though it was being typed.

I read it. This computer does not have the proper authorization we need to access the servers. Plug the device into a different computer. Well, at least they weren't leaving me in the dark. I unplugged it and walked into the room with the cubicles.

The room was dull, aged grey carpet that probably got vacuumed once a month and grey cubicle walls were most of what I could see. Uninspired paintings, and those dumb posters with a word like Excellence written on it and a few lines of "motivational" text, decorated the walls. I thanked god that Advent didn't make me an office worker and walked up to the first cubicle I saw. Pushing the metal desk chair aside, I plugged the device into it. The monitor reacted in the same way as the other one. The device flashed blue a few times and then red.

Taking the hint, I moved to the next computer. I repeated the same process a few more times as I encroached on the end of the first row of cubicles. Instead of the monitor flicking through windows, this time the command prompt came up. Try a computer of someone with more authority. A private office, or manager's desk. They were right. I should've realized that after the second cubicle, but I was really hoping it would just work. I walked to the end of the cubicle row and walked out into an open space that ran along the wall.

I heard footsteps echoing from across the room, and I ducked back behind the cubicle, peeking around the corner to see who was coming.

A door at the back of the room opened to reveal an Advent Trooper. Shit. This just got a lot harder. The door appeared to lead to a stairwell, and I remembered from memorizing the layout of the building that door led to a stairwell. The office had three levels to it, and the Servers were on the first level.

I watched the trooper to see where he would go. He turned left to walk along the last row, giving me the opportunity to move forward. I tried to crouch and get as low to the ground as I could. I took a step and felt my legs burn. When I took a second step, I felt myself lose balance, but caught myself before I fell over and gave my position away. This seemed way easier in video games and movies. I reserved myself to just keeping as low as I could without crouching.

I crept forward silently, passing row after row of grey cubicle walls and desk chairs. I felt my anxiety rise as I got closer to the heavy steps of the Advent trooper. If he saw me, I was fucked. I didn't even bring a gun with me, and I didn't know karate either. I started peering around the cubicles as I passed rows to make sure he wouldn't see me if he was passing them by. No sign of him, but the sound of his slow footsteps reminded me he was very much here.

Finally, I reached the end of the cubicle rows. The door to the stairs was maybe 8ft away from where I was hunched over. As I peeked around the corner, I saw the Advent trooper was about to reach the end of the last row. He was walking at a slow pace and lazily looked around. Probably wasn't expecting some idiot actor to break into an office building.

As he rounded the end of the cubicle row, I walked forward, eyeing up a nice-looking desk out in the open that faced towards all the cubicles. My sleeve caught on something, and before I could stop myself, something clattered to the floor at my feet. Shit was about to hit my pants and my death was about to arrive because I bumped into a stapler. I grabbed at the stapler and quickly set it back on the desk. His leg stepped out from the cubicle he was about to pass, and I ducked back behind the cubicle without thinking.

His footsteps approached my location faster than he was walking before. I hurried along the cubicles to the other end of the row. I passed the sound of his footsteps in the middle of the row and kept moving until I reached the end. After peering around the corner, I saw him looking around. He seemed much more alert now, but with nothing clearly out of place, he had no choice but to move on. I breathed a sigh of relief when he began walking down the open aisle I had been walking along moments ago.

Once his steps sounded further away from me, I walked towards what I assumed was an administrator's desk. It had a computer on it, so I plugged in the usb device. Windows flashed across the monitor and after a few seconds I saw that familiar infuriating red light flash on the usb device. Fuck this. There were more important offices downstairs. It looked like I was going to have to go there.

I snuck towards the door to the stairwell and kept my eye out for the guard. He sounded like he was in the other corner of the room. I carefully opened the door and slipped into the stairwell. The stairs were concrete and even though the door closed slowly, the sound still echoed throughout the stairwell. I listened for a few moments to hear if anyone else was in here, but all was quiet. After getting down the stairs as fast as I could, I looked through the window of the door to the first floor.

No one was around the door, so I walked out into the hallway. I heard footsteps, and they sounded close. There weren't cubicles on this floor. The desks were larger and more expensive; they looked more like workstations. Doors to private offices lined the walls of the room. I grabbed the handle to the first one I saw, and it was unlocked. Inside, the office was decorated with some plants and pictures of children and a family. It looked more lived in than everything else I had seen. There was a nameplate on the desk that had Brevony Hill etched into it. I plugged the usb device into the computer and crossed my fingers. After a few seconds, it flashed red.

This was stupid, and I was getting pissed off. Here I had tried like six computers and none of them worked. My brother probably lied to me about how great their hacking capabilities were. Hopefully, they'd be capable of deleting all the security footage when I left. I sighed and left the office. At the end of the hall was a private office room that looked much larger than the rest. As I crept along the workstations, I heard footsteps walking in tandem with mine, but further away. As I neared the end, I realized that another guard was walking along the workstations with me and he was about to turn and start walking in my direction. I opened the nearest office door and slipped inside.

I sat down against the floor on the wall next to the door and waited. The footsteps got closer to me, and I felt them reverberate through the floor. I held my breath. A shadow passed by the door's window and I heard the steps get quieter as the guard got further away from me. I waited a little longer after the footsteps faded away and opened the door. The guard was nowhere to be seen.

Dammit, if this goes on any longer, I am eventually going to get caught. I'm just going to go to the server room. If the computers in there aren't enough, I'm giving up and going home. Fuck Manny and fuck my brother for putting me through this bullshit.

I took a deep breath to calm down and snuck towards the server room. I passed the receptionist's desk for this floor and saw my salvation. The words Server Room painted above a set of double doors. The doors were locked by another card scanner. I crossed my fingers yet again and held my card up to it. Thankfully, the doors opened.

The server room was noticeably colder than the rest of the office, but not freezing. It was also much louder, hundreds of little fans keeping all this expensive shit cool. Thankfully, there was no one else in here. There were a lot of these black metal racks of boxes. The boxes were covered with blinking lights, and cables connecting everything to everything else were strewn about. All this crap made me feel like a neanderthal. Nothing came to mind as I stared blankly. This stuff barely looked like computers. I looked around for something recognizable, a computer monitor or anything. Light reflected off a screen, and I saw a monitor in the corner. I ran over to it and looked around for a usb port. There was some on one of the boxes on the racks.

I plugged the usb device in and the light on it immediately turned green. The monitor I was next to blinked to life. Windows open, numbers, words, files, flicked through on the monitor. Then a download bar popped up. I recognized that. It looked like whatever they were transferring was only going to take a few minutes.

Huh, it worked. Holy shit, I... I did it. Somehow, I just snuck into a building past two guards and was now downloading some sort of secret data. Granted, it wasn't an Advent base or anything, but it's amazing I made it this far. I'm like a super spy, or a secret agent. I am fucking James Bond. The name's Lucas, agent Lucas. I'll take my rum and coke… stirred, not shaken. You shouldn't shake soda.

A strange nostalgic sort of pride bloomed within me. It was strange because I was basically doing something illegal. I had felt something similar after I got my first paycheck for successfully smuggling things at the factory. Me and Randy blew it in one night at a bar, and what a night it was. That was the first time we had earned more than a pittance for our labor. Only natural we'd waste it on something stupid. A smile crept up on my face; partially from my pride and partially from reminiscing about the old days.

The download bar moved up some and my thoughts rested on my brother. I hadn't forgotten why I was really here, but I had put it at the back of my mind. The data wasn't really my objective. Advent was going to track this data and capture whoever was collecting it. That sucked the pride I was feeling out of me in a moment.

My hand curled into a fist, and I slammed it against the wall. The sound reverberated throughout the empty room, adding to the noise of the fans. Fuck, why am I thinking about this? This shouldn't even be a decision. I don't even have to do anything. All I have to do is let this go through and my life will be better. Most people in my situation would just accept they didn't have a choice and move on, but I knew I did. What do I care if some terrorists get captured. There's a chance my brother wasn't even with those collecting the data.

My thoughts returned to the night before the party. No, he said he was fixing his mistake when he spoke to me. There's no way to be sure he wouldn't be with them. I rubbed the sides of my temples and barely kept myself from yelling obscenities out loud. Eugh, It's just like before. It's exactly like before. He chose his side and I'm helping Advent execute him. Four years of misery, four years of torment, four years of wondering if I'd ever forgive myself... It was different back then though. We were both innocent then. Just two guys trying to make a name for themselves in the big city. He's not innocent anymore, he's a goddamn terrorist now. I hated him. He was an asshole. The type of asshole to fucking torture me for information.

I thought back to that day. Sicking that Ginger bitch on me, drugging me. He even threw me out onto the street when he was done with me, like a sack of garbage. He's the reason I'm in this fucking situation to begin with. If he never captured me, Advent would have never read my mind and Manny wouldn't know about me and 11-7. We might've been brothers, but look at who he is now. He is a menace to me and everyone else. I'd probably be doing the world a favor if I shot him myself…

Did I really just think that? I wonder if he thought that too when he pointed a gun at my head…

Did he? What did he think about that night before he entered the room with me? He probably thought the same things, maybe even worse things, about me. Some of those things he shared with me. He even knows about 11-7 now, and he still didn't pull the trigger. That's more than I can say for Advent. They would've killed me and 11-7 if Manny hadn't stepped in and bailed me out. When Randy held that gun to my head and I said what I did, he stopped.

He wasn't always like this, I remembered who he was. I wasn't always like this either. We were both kids once, living on a farm. The only thing we had to worry about was getting our chores done on time, and getting our homework done. Besides that we didn't have a care in the world. Oh, where did all that time go. Almost seems like a blur now. There was that time he fought off a raccoon, with nothing but a stick, to protect me. There was that time we worked together to build a clubhouse in the woods. There was the time I helped him with his geometry homework, and to thank me he gave me a brand new bike. He was like that, always ready to rush into danger to help me, to help anyone, and when you helped him, he gave you so much more than you gave him. We had so much fun together throughout the years, nothing could separate us.

That all changed in one night because… because of me. I wasn't the only one to blame, but unlike him, I actually pulled the trigger four years ago.

And despite that, in spite of everything he knows and his fanatical beliefs, he still said I was the same... If I'm still the same deep down, maybe he is too. Maybe, like he said, there was hope for both of us. I didn't want to forgive him for what he did, but I didn't like Manny, either. Hell, when has Manny ever done anything for me that wasn't in his best interests too. The only thing he's ever done is frame the things he tells me to do in a way that makes it seem like it's for my own good.

The fact that it all came down to was: if I let this run its course, and helped Advent, I'd be making the same exact mistake I made four years ago. The misery I've had to endure… I don't think I could go through that again even with 11-7 at my side. This was bigger than some mystery reward Manny offered. Bigger than whatever dumb data was in this office's server. This was a chance for me to redeem myself after what I did to Randy. Whether I agreed with his stupid ideals or not.

My mind was made up. I knew what I had to do. I had to warn the HLA somehow without Manny knowing. Advent was no doubt monitoring our conversations, if they could track where the data was going. I remembered that command prompt thing they talked to me through before. It hadn't popped up on the computer yet. Randy was with them. He had to be. I thought back to my childhood. There had to be something to signal him with, anything. Something only he would recognize. It had to be a word, something I could type...

I've got it. Speakers. That could work. Times were hard for all of us when I was young; hell they're still hard now. Even though my siblings and I were shielded from most of it by my parents, we still needed a code word to alert each other if something was wrong and someone else was listening. Speaker or speakers was a code word my family created. We never talked about speakers, so if we said that word, it meant we were in trouble. I don't think we ever used it once. My parents were probably a little on the paranoid side for even creating something like that, but maybe now it would be useful.

It's the only idea I got, and there's only a few minutes of download time left. I just hope that Randy understands that I'm trying to warn him.

I unplugged the device. The download on the monitor was paused, but the window did not close. After a few seconds, I took a deep breath and plugged it back in. The download resumed and after a few seconds, no command prompt popped up. I unplugged and plugged the device in a few times.

My plugging was successful, and the command prompt popped up. What is happening with the device. Appeared on screen.

I thought of my response and typed in: Sorry it fell out and I'm having trouble keeping it in. It's difficult for me to speakers with all the guards around. Hopefully Randy was with them and hopefully he understood what I was saying.

I waited for their response. Text appeared on screen. You've done good work Luke. The security footage in the building will be wiped after the download. Once the device is plugged securely inside the server you may leave the building. Aha, that had to be Randy. I doubt one of his goons would call me Luke. Maybe he understood. Wish I could do more, but I've done all I could. It was time to get out of here.

I was not about to try my luck with leaving the way I came in. Xavier's fight had probably been broken up by now. Maybe I could just walk out the front door. I was on the first floor. No reason not to. I mean, the hotel was right across the street. I walked back to the server room doors and looked out of the windows on them.

I didn't see any guards and cracked the door open. After creeping up to the receptionist's desk, I listened for footsteps. I heard none, and from my position I could see the front doors. No guards outside. Just a semi busy road with no one walking on the sidewalk. Could I really just walk out the front door? It was very tempting, after all the effort it took to get down here.

I cautiously snuck up to them. As I pushed on the push bar to open them, the thought occurred to me that there was probably an alarm attached to these doors and that was why no one was guarding them.

The doors swung open and I braced myself for the loud blaring of an alarm. No such sound came. Hmm, guess the alarm was only on the outside. I walked out onto the sidewalk and back towards the hotel.

0-

It didn't take me long to get back to my hotel room. None of the hotel staff suspected a thing. I scanned my card to get in my room, and as soon as I did, the door swung open to reveal a thrilled snake, who, without warning, hugged me with the force of ten men and drug me onto the bed.

I tapped the side of the bed. "I give up, you win. Don't strangle me."

She chortled and used her body to wrap around me further making my escape even more impossible. "Nope. I'm not letting you go again tonight. You're staying right here with me all night."

I couldn't help but smile. "Wasn't planning on it, you overgrown seatbelt. Aren't you gonna ask how it went?"

Her sharp eyes displayed some curiosity. "Was your mission successful?"

"It was. You're practically squeezing James Bond right now."

A smirk formed on her face. "I'm so honored Mr. Bond. But now you have a new mission to carry out."

"What's that?"

"Keeping me warm."

"I think I could manage that."

We laid together until we fell asleep.

0-

Next morning was a blur. We left the hotel and went home. I heard nothing from Manny yet. But when we got home there was a note that had been slipped under the door that read: Your assistance has been noted. Cooperation may be possible. -Randy

Little flashy, but he really understood what I meant. He must've been there. 11-7 had questions about the letter, and I answered them. I wasn't going to keep secrets from her anymore. We sat in the living room and I explained what I did.

"... listen to me 11-7. The fact of the matter is, they are not a threat to you and me, but Manny is."

She waved her hands in the air. "No, this is against Advent. You... you are aiding terrorists."

I sighed. "I know what I did. Things are complicated. It's difficult to understand, I know. It's difficult for me too."

"Then why did you do it?"

"Because he is my brother. You know how I've suffered. I couldn't hurt him. I couldn't let myself experience this all over again. "

I saw her eyes soften some. Maybe I had finally started to get through to her over the last half an hour. "I know your pain, I saw it. The decision was tough."

"I don't agree with what he does, and I'm not thrilled I helped him either. I just don't want to help kill him, and I don't want to help Manny, either. He's doing things beyond Advent's approval, I know it."

11-7 nodded. "Yes, your manager is strange. You said he was an infiltrator before the war?"

"That's what he told me."

She rubbed her chin. "Unusual. He is old, ancient compared to me and my sisters."

I raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"The first few generations of Viper were created at the start of the war, or slightly before it started. All members of their generations are dead and recycled. With new generations being produced yearly. From what he told you, it suggests he was an integral part of reconnaissance years before the war started."

"Yeah, he said he did some stuff and schmoozed around with a senator until the start of the war. So what are you getting at?"

"He could be malfunctioning. I don't believe the Ethereals designed any of us for longevity."

"Really?" I thought for a few moments. "Do you trust me, 11-7"

She tilted her head in confusion. "Stange question. You ask this much, you asked it last night, and my answer is always yes."

I sighed. "I'm sorry. I... I need to know if you really do trust me. If you'll have my back no matter what weird shit happens, even if we have to do things that might teeter on going against Advent's interests."

Her eyes widened slightly. "What are you suggesting, Lucas?"

"I, eh, don't know? I just need to know if you have my back or Manny's back."

She squinted her eyes and was quiet for a while. Her tongue flicking out, she seemed to be analyzing me. I worried that I might've said too much for her to understand. Her features softened, and she leaned forward to hug me. "Lucas, I am yours forever. I like you more than Manny or anyone that has given me orders. If it is to protect us, I will do what is necessary." She leaned her head back and shot me a smug glance. "Does that answer your question?"

My cheeks felt warm, and I looked away. "Uhh, it does."

"Good. Let us get off of these uncomfortable topics. Do you have any plans for the day?"

I thought for a moment. "Not really, Manny hasn't contacted me yet."

She tilted her head and smiled. "Then we will have to do something to fill the time." She slithered over the couch and leaned close to me. Her face, only a few inches from mine and her warm breaths caressing my forehead.

There was mischievousness in her eyes. "Uhh..."

She reached her arm down towards my ass and grabbed something before slipping back to where she was before. "We should play ze-Box." She held up the controller and waved it at me while smiling.

"Oh, okay. Yeah, I'd be up for some gaming. What do you want to play?"

"I am thinking Halo simulation the 2."

"You haven't beaten it yet?"

"No, I did."

I didn't remember everything that happened in that game, it had been a while since I beat it. "What did you think of it?"

Her eyes looked past me and she stared down at the controller in her hands. "The arbiter's quest, the covenant, leaders, betrayal..." She shook her head and looked back up at me. "The story was captivating. I could not help but beat it by myself when you were busy... But, I understand why the simulation is contraband. Bad ideas for impressionable ones."

"It's that good you want to play it all over again so soon?"

She nodded with enthusiasm. "Yes. Will you join me?"

"You bet." I turned on the tv and my Xbox. A game would help me take my mind off everything.

0-

I saw a streak of blue plasma go across my side of the screen and heard 11-7 grunt in frustration. "Eugh, I have been stickied again. For the UNSC!" Her chief ran past mine into the elite that threw it at her and exploded.

I stifled a giggle at her comment, as she slumped down on the couch. "Return to safe area so I may respawn."

"I think I can handle a few elites myself." I ran up to one ducking behind a rock and meleed it to take down its shield and gunned it down with my plasma pistol. It was easy enough to take out the other two at a distance with my battle rifle. "I thought you'd be better after beating both games. Guess you still need more practice."

Her chief spawned back in and she looked at me with a scowl. "You were killed by jackal not that long ago. I have prevented your death many times."

"Hey, I was in a corner, and wraiths are fucking bullshit if you're not constantly moving. Bullshit plasma projectiles."

"Yes, the alien tank's projectiles are unrealistic. A plasma projectile of that size would have difficulty holding its shape and be hard to aim. Otherwise, Advent would use them. But it would seem you need practice as well."

"Maybe."

We kept playing and got further in the level, and we were about to get to one of my favorite parts. We climbed up to the bridge in the city and took potshots at the aliens on top of the scarab. It got close enough, and we both jumped on it. We cut down all the enemies up top.

"Deploying grenade." She threw a grenade down the slope into the tank and waited for it to go off. "Moving forward."

It was fun but strange to play fps's with her. She was always acting so serious, like we were actually about to breach and clear a fucking spider tank. At least she took it more seriously than my brother ever did. "You go right, I go left."

"Yeah, got it."

We took out the aliens by the entrance, and as soon as we walked into the cabin, all hell broke loose. Like it always does. She ran forward and shot at the enemies, but there was no cover for her. She lost her shield quickly and an elite with a sword sliced her. I employed the only strategy that ever worked for me, which was to shoot missiles and throw grenades in the middle of the room and hope it killed everything. It did.

11-7 tossed the controller on the floor in anger. "What fool would bring a sword to a gun fight? This is a stupid dumb simulation."

My heart skipped a beat as I saw the controller hit the ground. "Hey! Be careful with that. It's an antique."

She redirected her rage at me with a point of her finger. "YOU. Why would you bring heavy explosive ordnance into close quarters combat! You should have killed yourself when you fired that rocket! This simulation is unrealistic. The Evolution of combat is not missile launchers inside small rooms."

"Yeah, it's not meant to be realistic, it's a game. You're just mad because I didn't die and won the level."

"I am not mad. The game is cheated. That sword alien was too fast. And I'm still better than you. My strategy is perfect. Advent trained me for such situations. You walked into the middle of the room and were lucky the missiles did not kill you."

I chuckled. "I'm sorry, but I'm just the superior gamer here. I've had years of practice."

She frowned. "You are not superior. You were lucky."

I was getting flashbacks to when me and my siblings played this game and got an idea. "Oh, yeah. Well, why don't you put your money where your mouth is and 1v1 me on Zanzibar."

She was mad, then her face shifted into confusion. "What are... terms? One - veee - one? Money in mouth?"

"Eh, we can fight each other in game modes."

She looked straight up devious now. "Gladiatorial combat. A chance to prove I am superior. I agree. I challenge you, Lucas, to Zanzibar."

"Zanzibar is just the map. The game mode is slayer."

She picked up the controller and looked at the screen. "It matters not what it's called."

I saved our progress in the campaign and started up a deathmatch. "Alright, first to 15 kills wins. No screen peeking."

"I do not need to cheat."

I did not intend to go easy on her. Especially since seeing her get all worked up over this was so funny. Nope, I went right for the jugular and dual wielded needlers. It didn't take long to find her. She shot at me with a battle rifle from a high position by the spinning wheel. Too bad she still hadn't gotten good at hitting moving targets. All I had to do was move, ironically, in a serpentine pattern, and she missed every shot.

Once I got close enough, I unloaded my needlers on her and she exploded. She only grunted in response and got into a better sitting position. It didn't take me long to find her again, and this time I got the jump on her. I gunned her down with the needlers again. This happened a few more times until I ran out of needler ammo.

Her grunts were getting louder with every death, and culminated on my fifth kill. The deep voice of the announcer graced me with the words killing spree.

"Killing spree? What is that?"

I laughed. "It means you're gettin thrashed snake!" She frowned at my comment and focused harder on the game.

I grabbed an smg and started looking for her again. I found her, and did the old melee smg strat, but she had a shotgun and killed me quickly.

She sighed happily. "You see! You see! I killed you now."

"Don't get too excited, we're just getting started."

I respawned right next to a missile launcher. It was as if the game wanted me to win. I picked it up and looked out for her. Saw her below walking on the grass, and blew her up with missiles.

"There is missiles in this map?" She growled.

"Yes, there's a lot of cool stuff on this map if you know where to look." 6 kills for me, 1 for her.

I looked around for her again, and while I was walking around, I got killed instantly.

"I see you found the sniper rifle."

I didn't look over at her, but her smug aura was palpable. She was still losing though.

She foolishly did not change her position after shooting me, and like many a camper before, she would suffer for her arrogance. I snuck up to her position and shot her with a fully charged plasma pistol shot and meleed her to death. Then I pulled the ultimate move and crouched up and down on her character's corpse.

"What is this? What are you doing?" She sounded annoyed.

"I'm teabagging you because I killed you."

She gasped. "A ritual of humiliation? You'll pay dearly for that."

"Somehow I don't think I will."

I grabbed the energy sword from the wheel and looked for her. I heard an engine sound and saw her driving around in a warthog. Easy pickings. I ran up and tossed a plasma grenade at it. She tried to get out, but it was too late. When she did the warthog was flung into her, killing her instantly.

She pointed at me. "You were peeking the screen."

"No I wasn't. I heard the warthog sound."

"You are lying, stop cheating. You are cheating somehow, you must be."

I paused the game and held up my hands. "Hey, when you're as good as I am, it can look like cheating."

She frowned. "I will destroy you. You should not be winning. I have trained for years under Advent. You have no training."

"I've got a lot of hours logged on the Halo - simulation. Way more than you. Face it, you're just a soldier and I'm the Master Chief, baby. We can stop now, if you admit I'm better"

"Unpause the simulation."

I unpaused it and we went back into it. After killing each other a few more times, I was close to winning. I only needed one more kill, which I got unceremoniously by gunning her down with a battle rifle. The game over screen popped up and showed us the final score. 15 - 6.

"Ohhh damn! Guess I really am the better player. That is what total domination looks like. Beautiful."

I looked over at 11-7. She was just staring at the screen.

"Want a rematch? Don't even bother saying yes. I can tell you want one. Let's do this one on Beaver Creek. That's a fun map."

I started the game and set it to 15 kills again. She hadn't looked at me or said anything since I won the last round, but she was still playing.

I found a plasma rifle and a plasma pistol. I equipped both. When we encountered each other she was dual wielding smgs. I charged up a plasma pistol shot to take down her shield and killed her with the rifle.

She gently placed her controller on my coffee table and turned to look at me. Her eyes were filled with a tempered rage. "I am tired of this game, Lucas."

"You rage quitting?"

She took a deep breath. "No."

I set my controller down. "Ok we could play something else. How about Goblin Commander?"

She glided over the couch towards me. "I had a different game in mind." She was leaning against me now.

"Uh, what did you have in mind?"

She tapped a claw on her chin. "Oh, I got it. How about we play the game where I squeeze you until you admit you cheated."

I tried to jump off the couch, but I was already within her grasp. She coiled around me like a python catching a rat, and I was trapped.

"Hey, come on, it's just a game. Don't be a sore loser."

She smirked. "Yes, it is only a game."

She squeezed me a little, but not enough to hurt me. "You know, some people might consider this a reward. Did you consider I might be one of those people?"

She squinted. "I know you are. They said it on the news."

"Harsh." I chuckled. "If only they knew."

She yawned. "I think I am tired of this game too. I'm going to take a nap. She rubbed her head against me and closed her eyes.

I squirmed to get out, but I couldn't. "I'm not tired, and you only sleep for four hours a day."

"Shh. I only need four hours of rest. I can sleep as long as I want."

"11-7, come on, what if I have to go to the bathroom? I haven't even eaten much today. When you wake up, I could be a skeleton"

She stopped responding to me. And now I was stuck sitting here. This was a strange way to get back at me. After a few minutes her warmth was making me drowsy. So I decided to take a nap too.

I woke up to a sound coming from my arm. I slipped it out from 11-7's grasp and looked at it. Manny scheduled a meeting to discuss the operation with me at his house a couple of days from now. At least I had some time to prepare for it. What I would do to prepare I wasn't entirely sure yet.

My brother's letter came to mind and I was getting some strange ideas. There was a good chance Manny knew of my betrayal one way or another. He had a knack for that. Whatever happened at that meeting I'd be ready for it. Maybe Manny would be the one underprepared for once.