Ethereal Agents Chapter 7, a x-com fanfic

Chapter 7

Wiping blood from his eyes, Daniel ducked into an alleyway as an Advent convoy rolled past. He may have been on there side, but he wouldn't risk open contact again.

He peaked around the corner of the brickwork and watched the convoy go. The troopers fired indiscriminately at anything that moved. Granted, almost everyone out here was an enemy, but he felt Advent seemed a little too quick on the trigger. One of the troper's executed a wounded man, that may or may not have been a rebel, it was too hard to tell from this distance, as the group of soldiers passed. The sight made him grimace.

He brushed his brow with his palm, and stared for a while at the crimson liquid belonging to him, and the lighter, yellow blood that had belonged to that trooper that had tried to detain him. Blood literally on his hands, now. Was this what the city had done to him? Turned him into some twisted, fucked up human being that hesitated now, in the moment the war had come to his home's doorstep?

He had kidnapped, killed, and ruined hundreds of lives for the regime, from the backlines, always away from the fighting and never so directly. Now that he was on the frontlines, had seen Advent roll over the improvised basecamp filled with women and children – people he had maimed – it was like a veil had been lifted. A part of him wanted that veil to come back, but it was outweighed by the mentality that everything he'd been doing all these years, had not been in the name of peace.

He would like to say that he was brainwashed, but that was just an excuse, and he didn't deserve one of those. He knew what he was doing all this time, he just didn't want to see what the effects of his actions would be.

A dark thought pressed to the front of his mind. What if... this hadn't been the first time he'd bombed a hospital? There had been hundreds of deliveries before the one involving Conner. Any one of those could have been bombs or something just as worse. The possibilities were endless, and just thinking about them made him physically shudder.

Seeing the aftermath of the bomb would haunt him for the rest of his life, but maybe, just maybe, there was a way to still set things right, to redeem himself. He brought up the HAM radio he'd stolen off of that doctor woman with the drone, looked around for anyone nearby before clicking the transmit button. The device made a crackling sound as he pressed his mouth to the receiver.

"Uh… Colonel? Of the resistance? This is… I guess it doesn't really matter who I am. I want to talk to you."

He released the button, reporting a short hiss of static. Nobody responded. He checked both ways of the street before dashing up to the next intersection. He crouched behind an abandoned sedan as he watched a trio of rebels engage a pod of Advent troopers, led by a Muton commando. Each side exchanged heavy payloads of suppression fire, so Daniel wasn't worried about being overheard.

"I know you can hear me, Colonel. We've both killed for our causes. It's about time we tried something new. I want to talk."

Nothing. The rebels up ahead had the element of surprise, but were quickly thwarted as the Muton tossed a grenade and killed a pair of the ambushers. The last surviving rebel ran in Daniel's direction in an attempt to fall back. Daniel stuck to cover and let the man go, before moving himself towards the south and west.

He climbed over chunks of fallen debris, through office complexes that had been torn down from other sabotages, similar to his own, he guessed. Glass crunched under his boots as he navigated through a building he vaguely remembered being a clinic at some point in the past. He came across a woman, shielding a pair of little kids with her coat, hiding in one of the dark corners of the blown-out building. She looked at him with wild, begging eyes. He raised his hands and presented himself as harmless, before moving on. He didn't have time to stop and help everyone, and he'd only draw more attention to himself. Harsh but necessary, just like Advent's means of maintaining order.

He pulled the radio back to his mouth. "Your Outpost was wiped out. Nobody survived. I'm… sorry. It was because of me. I delivered the bomb that blew up that place. And now that I've seen what I've done, I want to make sure that doesn't happen again. Please."

Nothing but static. Daniel sighed, went to chuck the radio into the gutter, hesitated when the static changed into words.

"You destroy a camp full of injured people, and now you want to make amends?" The voice belonged to a woman. He could tell just by her tone she'd seen and done a lot. A veteran of the war, he guessed.

He moved up the next street as he pressed the transmit button once more. "I had no idea it was a bomb at the time," he lied. He should have known better. What else could it have been?

"That's no excuse."

"You think I don't know that?" He took a breath and composed himself. "Look, judge me all you want, I don't care. I'm offering to help you. Take it or leave it, but for both our sakes, just hear me out."

"… What can you do to help us?"

"Me and my partner help with more… covert, actions against you and your resistance. I can help you counter some of these operations, if they're anything like that bomb."

He could almost sense the woman on the other end thinking. Eventually she responded. "What makes you think I can trust a turncoat?"

Daniel didn't hesitate. "I'm not switching sides, let's make that clear." He skirted round a collapsed pillar and crossed to the other sidewalk, before pressing the button again. "You're in the wrong. The resistance, XCOM – whatever you're planning, it won't last. But I don't want any more civilians getting in the way of your invasion of our city."

"Pretty ironic coming from you, Advent. We are the invaders? On your city? Give me a break."

"We were living peacefully here in '31 until your resistance started burning down our infrastructure from the inside. I agree, it is ironic coming from me, fucking hilarious if you think about it, but if your little resistance is really all about being virtuous and taking back mankind's home, you'll listen to what I have to say."

"Are you human, or one of those hybrids?"

Daniel was caught a little off-guard by the question, but answered nonetheless. "The former. Why?"

"I should ask you. Why are you helping Advent? What have you got to gain by helping those Elders turn our entire race into… abominations?"

"Why does XCOM call itself saviours of the human race, when all they do is terrorise the planet and slaughter people by the thousands?"

"Aliens aren't people."

"This city is full of aliens. What are you gonna do with them all if you take this place? A lot of them don't even know how to fight. Is your xenophobic organisation ready to deal with all that?"

There was a long pause. Just up ahead Daniel could see the bridge connecting this district to Old Town. The crowds were beginning to thin, but he shouldn't have a problem blending in. He probably looked just as messed up as some of the refugees were, covered in blood not all of which was his own.

The light atop the radio blinked, and the woman resumed. "You live in this city for long?"

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "My whole life. What are you getting at?"

"You know what the clinics are really usedfor?"

"If there's a point to all this, could you just spit it out already?"

"I want to know why the sudden betrayal. We accept former Advent as new recruits. You must know that. But my point, Advent, is that they have reasons. I don't believe you when you say you want to make amends just because you've blown up one building."

"I just told you I'm not betraying Advent. We can go back and forth as much as you want, Colonel, but I'm asking you to just… Just help me make sure nobody else has to die like that."

"Feeling guilty, are we? Finally seeing the light? We're at war, Advent. People dying just can't be avoided."

"Then help me help you minimalize collateral damage. If you want to take back this world, as all your propaganda says, you're not going to do it if you kill every single alien in your way. They're a part of this world now, just as much as the humans are."

The radio cackled as he released the button. He waited for a response, but none came. He crossed the streets for a few minutes until he retraced his steps back to the bridge. Halfway across, he noticed the Advent checkpoint on the other side had finally gotten organised. Searchlights strapped to heavy weapon emplacements were sweeping over the Stack's refugees. Just before mixing into the crowd, he hissed into the radio. "And yes, I do feel guilty. That what you want to hear? Seeing all those people was… hard. I'm not going to beg, but do we have a deal, Colonel?"

"I'm… willing to consider what you've got for me. I want a few answers first."

"We'll play twenty questions as long as you want. Right now I need radio silence or else… Well, just keep quiet for a minute."

No reply. He guessed that was a good enough response. He realised he had just put his life in the hands of his lifelong enemy. What kind of messed up human being was he? If I could even be called that anymore.

He stuffed the radio under his shirt, and mingled into the crowd, pretending to look injured. Which wasn't too hard to do, actually. He didn't even have to overdo it. His face felt numb and his ears were still ringing. He quickly wiped as much of the yellowy bile from the trooper he killed from his clothes. Plenty of other men and women had similar injuries, and he slipped through the checkpoint without incident. He passed a Muton close enough he could hear its heavy breathing, and tensed up. If the radio came to life now, no amount of lies or killing could save him this time. Fortunately, the Colonel maintained radio silence as he asked.

Beyond the checkpoint, he spied a trio of troopers handing out and applying medicine to a group of refugees, but Daniel didn't waste time getting some help. He made his way back to his car. A group of children were fiddling with one of the front tires, but otherwise the vehicle looked undisturbed. One of the kids had a knife and was trying to slash the tire. Good thing the car was made to protect world leaders if need be, and the knife chittered away every time the boy tried to cut or stab at the rubber.

Daniel grabbed the kid by the collar with one hand, lifted him to head-height, and shoved him into a nearby rubbish bin. The two other kids squealed and ran off, and didn't even try to help their leader. Daniel disarmed the kid and tossed the knife away. "You need to get some braver friends, kid." He unlocked the door and got in. "Maybe some better parents, too."

Daniel revved up the engine and drove off without another word. He pealed out onto the main street and headed back for the not-so-safe-house. He checked for traffic with a few flicks of his eyes before retrieving his newfound radio. "Okay, I'm back. You still there?"

"Yes. You said before that this city is full of aliens. Civilian ones."

"Yeah. You didn't think every single Sectoid was a mind-controlling psychopath, did you?"

"Well… aren't they?"

"There's a few outliers." He didn't know what else to add, because truth was the Sectoid's were a pretty bad example. He should have talked about Vipers… He had a few good things to say about them.

"Tell me about living with the aliens," the woman asked. Daniel blinked, and made a right turn.

"Why do you want to know about that?"

"Let's just say I'm… curious."

Daniel still failed to see the point or the relevance. But then he grinned. It could be a way to make this high-ranking enemy see this invasion from a new perspective. She was likely thinking the same thing. He guessed he would just have to out-manipulate her. That had been a part of his training, but he'd never tried it out on an enemy officer before.

He began to tell her.

Daniel pulled into the lot half an hour later, gravel crackling under the weight of the wheels. His room's lights weren't on, and at first, he was alarmed. Then he saw the slightest shift of movement behind one of the windows, and a slitted, blue eye peak out at him from between the blinds. She was okay, and for the first time in a long time he felt relief wash over him.

He clicked a button on his keys, and the car doors locked. He crossed over to his room, and his friend opened the door. She put one scaly hand on the doorframe, and the both of them simply stood there for a long moment, both bloodied up and it hadn't even passed morning yet. Then by unspoken indication, Daniel opened his arms, and Zima threw herself around him. Her tail orbited him thrice as she wrapped her cold body around his warm one.

They both stayed like that for a time, before Daniel slowly pulled away. She still kept her tail around his legs, however. She looked him up and down and frowned. "Daniel! What happened to your face!?"

As if to prove this, a trickle of his blood slipped into the corner of his mouth, from a gash above his eye. He grinned at her. "I was about to say the same to you. You look like shit. What happened?"

"I asked first."

Suddenly he found himself missing her very much, although it had only been a few hours at the least. "Fine. Come on, we'll talk inside."

He closed the door behind him, grabbed a glass and filled it up with water at the sink. Zima stuck to him like glue as he moved around the room, ending up sitting at the foot of the bed with a tired sigh. Zima piled onto the mattress next to him, her tail fidgeting below her as she curled up into a ball.

Daniel went first, explaining all that had happened to him, from crossing the bridge, to the hospital he had indirectly blown to hell, ending with the kid slashing his car tires. As he talked, Zima procured a wet rag and dabbed at his injuries. Despite it all, the viper managed a snort of humour at that last bit. "You put a child in a trash bin?"

"He deserved it."

"Daniel!"

"What? I saw his friends coming to help him," he lied. "So what about you? You look like you got smashed by a drunk Muton."

"Spot on, except the drunk part. I think."

Daniel had just been joking, but after hearing how the Muton had almost caved her skull in, he wasn't too surprised. She'd always hated those brutes, didn't pick fights with them outright, but it was only a matter of time before she did. He grumbled a few vulgar comments when she told him Conner was with her during her mission, but Zima wisely kept the Sectoid's part smaller than it actually was.

"-and then I came back here, about an hour ago," Zima finished. "I saw a few humans patrolling across the street a couple of times, but they left when you pulled in."

"Think they were the ones that wrote your name on your door?"

"Maybe. I don't know." She went to say something, hesitated, composed herself. "… Daniel?"

"Yes, Zee?"

"Don't ever leave me like that again."

"… I won't."

If she had a reaction to his hesitation, she did not show it. He squeezed her hand with his own to reassure her, and the ghost of a smile spread across her snout. How could he ever leave her when she grinned like that? But he still hesitated, because he knew she put Advent before anything else. It had been drilled into her head from her early commando days. Her kind had been a part of the Elder's Grand Design for much longer than humans have. He wondered that if it ever came down to it, if one of them wouldn't kill the other if the Elder's told them to do it.

He pushed these darks dwellings aside. It wouldn't come down to that, he wouldn't let it. It would have been so much easier if he could find the words to say, to set her and himself at ease and tell her that he wasn't going to leave her because he cared about her too much. But a small part of him, his human side, the thing slowly being chipped away every time he went out there and followed Dispatch's orders, was afraid that she was too alien to see from his perspective, thus his prior hesitation.

"What do we do now, Daniel?" Zima's faltered voice snapped him back into the now. "Dispatch said things would continue normally. Is the resistance coming this way? Do we need to grab our wargear?"

"Not yet. We just need to keep doing what Dispatch says. Play it off like today was just like every other."

"But what about the bomb?" Zima said. She did not fail to notice how much blowing up the camp had affected him, even if it had been the enemy's camp. "If something like that happens again…"

"It won't. I've got help."

"Help? From who?"

"You're not going to like it. I don't really like it, and it was my idea in the first place. One of the resistance soldiers was carrying this radio…"

He told her about it, putting it as bluntly as he could. Providing intel to a resistance Colonel got just the reaction Daniel was expecting. To put it lightly, Zima went mental, and it took him a long while to calm her down, but he eventually did it, although not without a few harsh thrown between them.

She separated from him, stood up, and threw her hands in the air. "You're talking about helping our enemy!" she cried. "The same ones that almost captured you, and shot me? You're… you're fucking insane!"

"I'm helping '31's people, Zee."

"Don't give me that crap! If you gave one shit about this trash heap of a City, one shit about me, you'd throw that damn radio away right now."

"I can't."

"No? Then I will!" She reached for the radio at his hip. Daniel angled away and pushed her back with a firm hand. The contact made Zima gasp, and she let out a hiss she'd never intended to aim towards her human friend. "D-Daniel? This is stupid and dangerous! You have to get rid of that thing!"

"No."

"Why?!"

Something inside Daniel snapped, and the next thing he said was almost a shout. "You weren't there, Zee! I saw dead kids. Kids! Dozens of them, all gone because I didn't recognise what that bomb was sooner. People's sons and daughters are dead because of me! Maybe if you had a conscience you'd understand, but-"

"Don't talk to me about morals, Daniel."

"Why wouldn't I?" he barked. "Remember the smuggling ring at the Thompsons place? You sent that mother and her kid to their deaths and you didn't even bat an eye! You don't feel anything! That must be nice, but that's not good enough for me anymore!"

Zima didn't meet his eye. She folded her arms and looked at something by her tail. "I… do feel something, Daniel," she mumbled. Then she faltered, and silence passed between them.

Daniel ran a hand through his hair. The city was under attack, he was planning on cooperating with enemy forces, and now Zima was angry with him. Might not have been better if that doctor had just killed him before he'd seen what that bomb had done. Ignorance was bliss, wasn't that the saying?

"I'm sorry, Zee. I shouldn't have said that." Zima still didn't look at him. "But I need to do this. You weren't there, you didn't see all those… all those bodies. Just… please understand."

"… Fine."

She practically spat that word with all the venom she could muster. He couldn't think of anything else to explain himself, and more silence passed. "Do… Do You still have my phone?" he asked, awkwardly.

She handed it over without a word. He pocketed it. "Did Dispatch say when our next assignment is?"

"No."

Daniel sighed. He knew she wasn't convinced, but when he opened his mouth to say something, nothing came. He rolled his shoulders and changed the subject. "We should get some rest, then. It's been a big day already."

This time Zima slept on the floor without a word. The argument they'd had over sharing the bedding seemed so long ago, as he watched her curl up in the farthest corner from him. He didn't get a wink of sleep; his head was spinning with paranoia and adrenaline from having been attacked more times today than the past month. His eyes traced over the back of her hood, as she was laid down in a tight ball, facing away from him. During the drive here he and the Colonel had discussed a little about Zima, no names or anything, he wanted her identity safe. The Colonel had said something that had given him pause.

"Is it difficult working with someone who isn't even human?"

He had said that no, it wasn't really. He and Zima had argued before, but not like this. All that had happened recently had really shown him how different the two of them were. It was difficult to tell if she was simply under the Network's influence, or she really was lacking a… soul. And he'd never forgive himself for thinking of her in that way.

He closed his eyes and tried to get some rest.

The next assignment was to blow one of the bridges connecting Old Town to the Stacks. Dispatch called it in that very afternoon.

They got in the car and drove to the drop-off point in frigid silence. Her looking out the window, him watching the road as they cruised along. There were six packs of explosives they had to place at strategic points along the underpass of the bridge. They would use the maintenance walkways to reach them.

By the time Daniel got out, snagged the explosives from the dead drop, got back in, and was halfway to the bridge, little flecks of white were lilting down from the heavens across the city. Daniel hadn't seen snow in ages, the last couple winters had been warmer than usual, and the change in the seasons brought a strange, but welcome shift in the city overcast.

When they got out, not far from the bridge, Zima stood for a long while out in the street, her neck craned up as she watched the flakes sinking slowly to the ground, winding little see-saw patterns in the air in front of her. She held out a reptilian hand, and let a flake settle on her palm. Daniel watched her from behind, and guessed she had never seen snow before. Just for a moment, she looked so innocent and beautiful, examining the flake with a curious tilt of her head, that all the trouble's plaguing him simply vanished, and he just watched her for a long while.

"It's beautiful, isn't it?" Daniel said, coming up beside her.

"It is," she said, and for once looked him right in the eye. Seeing his tiny reflection in those sky-blue orbs made him shiver.

"I'm going to sabotage the bombs." He pointed at the Stack's, ablaze with fire and war. "There are people over there. We can't abandon them and let the bridge fall."

And like that, any sort of intimacy that had been building between them, was gone. Zima grit her fangs, let the snowflake fall to the ground, and said, "The rebels will storm this side of the river."

That was her only complaint, and it was true. Dispatch wanted it gone to slow down the invasion, but that would doom thousands of people trapped on the other side. Soldiers and civilians would be at the resistance's mercy. Two bridges connected Old Town and the Stacks directly, and destroying one would make the other a hotspot for fighting, and make navigating the city all the more congested.

"Maybe," he answered. "I'm calling the Colonel to warn her, in case Dispatch sent other teams to the other bridge."

"… Traitor," Zima mumbled. That hit Daniel pretty hard, but he hid his reaction from her, and stalked away. She trailed behind him a few meters as they moved to the underpass of the bridge. It was long work, especially on his own and with the temperature plummeting, causing his fingers to numb, but Daniel disabled all the explosives before placing them. It would look like they had at least tried. He hoped that was the case, anyway.

He called in to the Colonel and told her the plan. The Colonel made an annoyed huff and said, "Civilians are using that bridge to run for safety, and Advent wants to stop them?" The Colonel paused a moment. "You see how little the Elder's care about people, don't you?"

"Not the Elders. Advent," Daniel defended. "And it's a tactical manoeuvre. Don't tell me the resistance wouldn't do the same if you wanted to slow us down."

"I suppose we would. I'll keep the civilians on this side of the river until you've cleared out and we've looked for ourselves. Thank you for the heads-up, whoever you are."

That was all the Colonel had to say on the matter. Zima eyed the radio with a gaze full of malice. Daniel looked up at the silky white overcast covering the sky and sighed. "Has Dispatch ever thanked us once for doing something for him?" he asked.

Zima huffed.

"Feels good to be praised for once."

"And all it took was for you to switch sides. Was it worth it, Daniel?"

"I am not switching sides, Zee." He grabbed up the final explosive and set off to the last support pillar. Zima slithered after him, raised her hands and gestured around her.

"Oh, then what would you call this? Aiding the enemy, sabotaging our own operations? Lying to our superior? What else would you call that if not traitorous? Tell me!"

He turned on his heel and jabbed a finger at her. "I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, Zee! Not after all these years I've known you. You know I wouldn't do something if I thought it wasn't for the good of us both!"

"I thought I knew you, Daniel. But ever since you came back from the Stacks, hell, ever since that night with Ramos… You've changed."

"Yeah, I've changed, and if I could go back in time and stop it, I wouldn't do it. You know why? Because if I did, I'd never have known how much of a genocidal maniac I've been my whole life. I didn't join up to bomb my own city. I joined up to stop those sorts of things from happening. I'm just sorry it only took me this long to figure out how… how wrong this all used me to kill innocent people. He doesn't care about either of us. You better figure that out quick, or else this city is gonna be your grave."

A hiss slipped out between Zima's lips, and she snarled at him. Before he turned away, he thought he saw her face soften for just a moment, but didn't stick around to be sure. Metal clicked under his boots as he stormed across the walkway to the final pillar, sticking the last explosive into position. Zima hanged back and watched him, then settled for staring out at the horizon.

Bomb in place, but not primed, Daniel wiped his hands and reached into his pocket for his phone. "All done. I'm calling it in."

"To Dispatch, or your new 'friend'?"

The spite in her voice was difficult to hear, and he tried to fight his growing frustration with her, but failed. "If you're not going to help me then go wait in the car. I've got enough to deal with then to add your shit to the list."

"Fine!" Zima turned on her tail and stormed off, her tail twitching frantically behind her. "I'll just sit and watch while you paint a target on your back and bring down everything we've worked for! Happy?"

Daniel watched her go, his shoulders sagging as her body thinned, ang began a dark shape in the distance. He rubbed his face with his hands. No, he wasn't happy at all. Advent was everything to him and Zima, and going against it was so difficult, and not so black and white as he'd initially thought. He put the radio to his mouth. "Colonel? Explosives are in place. We're leaving."

"You don't sound very pleased. Second thoughts?"

"I… No. Blowing up my own city isn't the way forward."

"You're doing the right thing."

"I wish I believed you."

"… Question."

"Yes?"

"What do Sectoid's eat? I've got a few of them detained here in the… Stacks, did you call it? Never thought I'd see an alien complain about getting hungry. Any ideas?"

Daniel started following Zima back to the car. He was glad for the change of subject. "Oh, well, there's a few public markets around that sell nutrient packs, but the ones in the Stacks are probably destroyed. Look for a shop with a logo that says Fibre Depot."

"Very well. And if we can't find any, I'll send them over to your side."

"Not worried about them leaking intel on you?"

"We've got ways of dampening there… abilities. One of them just asked me if I had a toothbrush to spare. This is so… strange."

"You'll get used to it. I'll keep you updated, Colonel."

"Goodbye, Advent."

Daniel wondered if she was saying goodbye to him, or to Advent as a whole. As he walked, Daniel admitted Zima wasn't entirely wrong. He was turning traitor, even if it was just out of the interests of saving lives, and he was helping Advent lose in this already precarious balance of power, no matter how much he tried to play it down. The Colonel had begun to put value in alien life, thanks to Daniel, and she too desired to avoid as much bloodshed as possible. She was everything he was beginning to view as the right thing to do.

So why wasn't he happy? Because he was stuck in the limbo of choosing a side? Because he was going against everything he had known about Advent and the Elders from the moment he learned to walk and talk?

No, it was because of Zima. By doing the 'right' thing, he was losing her. If he went back to Advent, her way of thinking, he'd lose what humanity he had left. If he kept helping the Colonel, he'd get caught, by Advent or the resistance, sooner or later. And Zima would likely abandon him to try and save herself. It's what he'd do in her position.

So what to do? He had no idea. Advent, XCOM, they were both the same. They used people like him and Zima to do the dirty work. But if he didn't choose a side, he'd be stuck with no one to watch his back, and either way he would lose something. Maybe City 31 would be his gravestone too. Zima said that he had changed. But he didn't even know if that was a good or bad thing, not yet.

Burdened with paranoia, he replaced the radio with his phone, and reported total mission success to Dispatch. The man said he would detonate the explosives in twenty minutes, but of course, they never did. Daniel drove back to the safehouse and waited for the call with bated breath. Even Zima, who locked herself in the en suite and refused to talk to him, opened the door a crack so she could watch his phone for the moment their boss would call them back.

And when the call did come, Daniel waited for the accusations to fly. Instead, as calm as ever, Dispatch had said, "We saw resistance forces moving in shortly after you departed. They must have disabled the explosives. The bridge is still up."

Daniel hoped he sounded the right level of surprised. "We weren't followed, Dispatch. How could they have found them?"

"The resistance is crafty; I'll give them that. It is of no matter. We'll send an extra detachment to hold the bridge. Wake up early tomorrow, Agent. There's a lot to do."

"Understood, Dispatch."

"Glory to the-"

For the first time, Daniel hung up first, and without so much as a volley of questions or an echoing of that chant. He only realised until later just how suspicious that would have been to Dispatch. He hoped the invasion was enough distraction for Dispatch to not take notice. He put the phone down, and met Zima's eye. "How did he know when we left the bridge?"

Zima hummed, caught between giving him the silent treatment and a straight answer. She flicked her tongue. "Dispatch can track the car. He did it while you went out to the Stacks."

Daniel slapped his forehead. "Shit, of course! I forgot about that." He was lucky he hadn't driven into the Stacks, or any of the hotspots the Colonel had wanted him to go to. He would have to start walking more often, and it was only a matter of time before the streets were no longer safe. But maybe there was a way to get rid of that tracker problem…

He checked the time. Pretty late in the afternoon, but he reckoned he could do it before curfew started. He stood up and pulled his hoodie on. Zima had locked the bathroom door while he did so, and he came up and knocked on it lightly. "Zee? I'm going out for a little bit. Want to come with?"

No response. He knocked again. "It's important. I could use your… persuasive skillset."

"… No."

"Look, I get why you're upset. Could you at least open the door and talk to me?"

"Just go, Daniel."

"Come on, Zee. I've got a plan to-"

"I told you I'm not coming!"

Daniel balled his hands into fists. "Alright, you just stay in there and do nothing! Call me a traitor all you want, but at least I'm trying to do something about all this!'"

He hadn't intended on voicing that last bit, and it all came out harsher than he'd have liked, but it was done. Zima kept her silence. He was so frustrated with himself that his nails began to dig into the skin on his palms. Why couldn't he just keep his mouth shut instead of saying these horrible things to her?

He stormed out of the room and slammed the door behind him. He got into the car and pulled out of the lot, and sped away. When the engine faded into the distance and was gone, tears rolled out of one of the Viper's eyes. Zima put her back against the bathroom door and began to sob.

The drive took half an hour. The place he pulled into had a big neon sign out the front that said, Ivan's Ignition in flashing red letters. The garage door was open, and Daniel turned and parked the car inside, right in front of a car lift, which was occupied by a four-wheel drive.

He got out and looked around. The space was occupied by a mess of car parts and scrap piles. Handheld tools lay strewn across the tops of cupboards and cabinets. The smell of gasoline was oppressive. In the far corner was an office booth, and beside it was another car, missing its back two wheels and balancing atop a pair of brick piles. Daniel went to move that way and accidently kicked a spanner laying on the ground. It flew halfway across the garage, where it clinked and banged against a few pieces of metalwork.

The door to the booth opened, and out came a young man holding a revolver in one hand, rubbing his eyes as if he'd just been napping. He was solidly built from all the car work he'd been doing for the past decade. The gun barrel found its mark right between Daniel's pecks, but Daniel wasn't all that worried.

"You know I could arrest you for pulling a gun on Advent personnel, Ivan."

A few flaps of Ivan's mouth got his vocals working. "O-Oh! Daniel! I thought that might have been the Chaser pulling up. Sorry about the gun. Ever since your lady-friend came in last time, well… I've been on edge." Ivan's gaze darted over Daniel's shoulder as the two of them shook hands. "She's… not here, is she?"

Daniel chuckled sadly at him. "No." He nodded at the car on the lift. "You're still trying to repair that thing?"

"Zima crushed the entire front half of the chassis! It's not like I can just buff out the dents with a few hammer taps."

"You did try to rip us off."

"Yeah, yeah I was a different man then."

"It wasn't even a year ago."

"Lots of things can change in much less time."

"I hear that."

Ivan led him into the booth, offering Daniel a drink. They sat in a pair of lawn chairs and sipped quietly for a moment. They chatted for a while about what they'd been up to since they'd last met. Ivan used to work on Advent vehicles in the army back in the day, but had left after the depot he was assigned to had been destroyed. "I joined the mechanics trade to specifically not get shot at," he had said. "I don't know how you get used to bullets flying at you, Daniel."

Daniel didn't know either. That was all this city had for him, fighting and killing, rinse and repeat, until he was just a walking killing machine. At least he was trying to get off that path before it was too late.

Ivan didn't seem all that concerned about current events, the invasion, or the thought of the resistance taking him as a prisoner. "Long as they let me fix their cars, I'll be content."

"You're not worried?"

"Not really. My brother lives in one of those Haven's out in the middle of nowhere. He sends a message every now and then. It's not as chaotic out there as it is in here, strange as it sounds. I was considering dropping his name if the resistance catches me."

"You can get into a lot of trouble if anyone found out about that."

"Then I guess I'll have to trust you, Agent Daniel."

Ivan's business was down. Robotic assembly plants were making mechanics even as skilled as Ivan, more and more obsolete. He was very poor, he lived in this garage, and his only friends were hundreds of leagues from here, and on the opposite side of the war to boot. Even his own parents had up and left the city-life when Ivan was little. Yet for all those cons, Daniel was jealous of the man. He had simple tastes, and lived a quiet existence. Daniel didn't know how he did it.

"But let's change the topic," Ivan said. "What brings you here? The Chaser's trunk rattling again?"

"No, no. I came because I need your help. And your discretion."

"Am I finally becoming a spy? Ever since I was a kid that's been a lifelong dream of mine."

"That'll have to wait, then." Daniel explained what he wanted the mechanic to do. With each word, Ivan's jaw dropped lower and lower. Daniel was surprised at how easily it had all come out, despite the consequences it would inevitably bring.

When he was done, Ivan picked up his jaw and blinked. "You're talking about violating government property, Advent property. There's no way your superiors authorised this."

"They didn't. This is for me, and Zima. You're the only mechanic in the city I trust to do this."

"You realise that if I do this, it's not just you and your pet snake that'll be in the shit? Advent will come after me, and I'll never see the light of day again!"

"I'll arrange for your safe travel into resistance territory. They'll take you in."

"The… resistance? How can you manage that?"

"I've got a secure connection to one of their Colonels. She's… sympathetic. She can help."

"Oh, no." Ivan got to his feet, paced around the booth. "What have you gotten yourself into Daniel? You're switching sides?"

How many times do I have to deny that? Daniel thought. What he said was, "It's a long story and I don't have the time to explain it. Will you help me or not?"

For one horrible moment Daniel thought he would say no, but after the mechanic seemed to have an internal conversation with himself, he looked up and grinned. "I've never been one to turn down exciting opportunities. This'll get the blood pumping, won't it?

"Yeah it's all very thrilling. So you'll do it?"

"It'll take a few hours. And a few extra zeroes to my usual fee."

"How are you gonna spend money when you're a fugitive?"

"Call it an investment. And don't try and haggle me down. If Zima was here you might be able, but she ain't, so…"

"Fine." Daniel got out his phone. He wired the bill to Ivan within a few minutes. The pay for being an Agent was good, very good, but not worth the effort, as Daniel recently found out. After the transaction was completed, Ivan grinned, and got to his feet.

"Great! I'll get started right away. You don't mind waiting around here while I work?"

"Not at all." He felt like Zima needed her space anyway, and it wasn't like she was big on talking anymore, hard as it was to admit. Ivan went out the booth and started gathering his tools. While he worked on the car, Daniel tried to catch a little nap. He was too busy berating himself for saying those things to Zima to get any sort of rest. He considered discussing it with Ivan, but he didn't know the mechanic that well to talk about things that personal. Even though he was born and raised here, he didn't know anyone that well, for that fact. With Ivan gone he really would be alone in this damn place he called home.

He couldn't give a shit what anyone would think of him if anyone found out his feelings for Zima. Even though she was an alien, she thought and acted so differently that he found himself infatuated with her ever since the day they'd met. It was strange to notice that only a few days ago they'd literally shared a bed together. Just thinking about all their flirts and teases brought a sad grin to his face. Now they were on edge around each other, and he didn't have the heart or the knowledge to know how to fix it.

He just wanted to do the right thing. For years he thought Advent was the way to do that, but the methods had been purposefully concealed from him, and now he didn't know who to trust. The resistance seemed to take greater care in avoiding civilians, but they were still destroying the city, and he wasn't gullible enough to believe the resistance did not plant bombs in enemy territory. He was torn between the two choices, and if he had to pick one right now, he didn't know if he could do it.

"All done out here."

Daniel chortled out of his half-daze, and went out into the garage. Ivan was just fiddling with something under one of the front tires. The mechanic grinned humourlessly as he approached. "Tracker's sabotaged, just like you wanted. Here." Ivan handed over the car keys. There was one extra device on the ring. "That button will permanently disable it. Then you'll have to throw the tracker into the lake or somewhere, just in case Advent can reactivate it. But once you hit that button…"

"-I'm an enemy to the world?"

"More or less. It's hard to imagine Zima being on board with this."

Daniel didn't reply. Ivan folded his arms. "You haven't told her. I don't know what kind of stunt you're trying to pull, but I doubt she'll agree to it. She is a snake. You going to leave her, then?"

"I can't."

"Then what are you going to do?"

"I don't know," he admitted. He rubbed his eyes. There were bags forming underneath them. "Damn it, I don't know what I'm doing."

Ivan put a comforting hand on Daniel's shoulder. "Might not mean a lot from a guy like me, but I'm sure you'll figure something out."

"I hope your right, Ivan. And thanks for your help."

"Thanks for the money." He clapped his greasy hands together. "Now, about that way out…"

It took a bit of persuasion, but the Colonel eventually relented. The resistance would send a boat to the docks (the same one Zima had blown up earlier), and would take Ivan into their custody. He prayed the Colonel was good to her word.

Daniel watched from a distance as the boat came, picked up Ivan and a handful of others, and departed. He was doing all this anti-Advent sabotage and he couldn't even make up his mind on what it was all leading up to. Turning against Advent was the last thing he wanted to do, but he wondered if he wouldn't have a choice if he had to slaughter people for Dispatch again.

Dispatch. It was his fault. Daniel had put up with him for a long time, but he'd stepped over the line one too many times now. Zima would have understood if she hadn't been so afraid of their mysterious boss. If only there was a way he could expose him, somehow. But how could he do that? He was just one man who couldn't even see right from wrong.

The resistance boat shrunk to the size of a dot in the river, and was gone. Block by block, street by street, the fires from the Stack's began to spread. It wouldn't be too long until he'd be able to feel the heat from those flames.

Over the next couple days, between sabotaging their own missions and coordinating with the resistance, Daniel spent most of his time away from her, and Zima could almost feel the hypothetical wedge deepening between them.

Zima gasped, having just woken up from a nightmare. She had been staring at her own grave, her body was rigid, and she couldn't move any of her muscles. She wasn't entirely sure if it had been a dream, because there had been a certain vivid clarity to all the details, and she just had this feeling that she was on death's door these days.

Because of him. Her stupid human who, despite his collaboration with the enemy, she still harboured feelings for.

Speaking of which, where is he?

Getting up from her spot on the floor, she gazed sleepily over at the bed. His imprint was obvious on the fabrics, but the human wasn't there. She uncurled from the floorboards and yawned, her jaw widening to an impossibly stretchy angle. She got to her full height and went to the window.

Out in the lot was the car, and there was no doubt who it was sitting in the driver's seat. It was a pretty late hour of the night, but he had probably gone out there to listen to that synthetic music that always played near midnight.

If he's listening to music, then why's his mouth moving?

The moon came out from behind a cloud, and illuminated the outline of his jaw, angled down, with the lips parting and closing. He's singing along, that's all. But her paranoia was too strong, and her excuses were weak. No, he wasn't listening to music or anything so innocent. He was talking to her. The Colonel.

She felt a tightening in her chest. Whoever she was, she was damn good at manipulating Daniel. It was all he did anymore – instead of talking to her, he talked to the enemy officer about… well, she didn't know exactly. Could be anything from Advent troop positions, to about Zima herself, or most dangerous of all, about himself.

Zima was at least partly to blame, for ignoring him ever since he started this whole betraying scheme to save lives. Who was Daniel kidding? If anyone was to blame for people dying, it was the resistance. If they had never existed, if the Commander had never been busted out, they'd never be in this mess in the first place.

Ever since Daniel began to betray Dispatch's orders she had, between her silent treatments, prodded and taunted him, calling him a liar and a traitor in the hope of… what? To make herself feel better? That clearly wasn't working.

I shouldn't have to explain myself to you, Zee.

No, she supposed he shouldn't. But couldn't he see what the Colonel was doing? She was pushing him into outright betrayal, and both sides of the war could use that as an excuse to kill him. First the city starts to go, and now her only friend was turning his back on her. And now they were taking it out on each other because they had no one else to vent their frustrations on.

She was gnawing on one of her nails, and made herself stop. She buried her face deep in her hands. She felt so useless and weak and vulnerable. She wanted to believe Daniel was in the right, that saving people was a good thing to do, but whenever her train of thought went that way, the tracks suddenly derailed, and she was right back to being the heartless person Daniel accused her of being.

"It's not fair," she said to nobody. She hissed softly as she watched Daniel talk, then after a while, actually chuckle. She rubbed her hood and squeezed, as if trying to push away all her turmoil.

Are you going to warn Dispatch? Her mind asked.

"I don't know."

Are you going to help Daniel?

"I don't know!"

She had never in her life felt so undecided about anything, and wanted to cry. She looked at her human and her lip trembled. She didn't want him to become a monster as he feared he would if he kept following Dispatch's orders, but she didn't want to help him and the resistance either, because if Dispatch found out, they'd both end up dead. It was selfish, she knew, but was asking for a long life too much to ask for?

Zima saw he was done speaking, and was making his way out of the car. She laid back down and shut her eyes, pulling her blankets up so they covered her body. She sensed his eyes on her before he returned to his own bedding. He failed to notice the moisture on her cheeks, and he slept long before Zima could.

It was strange to admit that Daniel had become friends with the Colonel over the next few days, and strange was the only word he could describe it as. He didn't sabotage every mission they were given. He still fought the resistance, but only when something questionable came up, would he change tactics. Zima only seemed to see those latter instances, turning a blind eye to his displays of loyalty to the cause.

From what he'd learned, the Colonel had been a part of XCOM since the initial days of its rebirth, all the way back to the fabled Commander's breakout. She had slaughtered hundreds of aliens and hybrids, and had not considered them to be 'people' until recently. She was oddly inquisitive into everyday life living with extra-terrestrials, and was surprised at how divisive some of the species were to each other. Vipers and Mutons being a prime example.

"They seem to get along well whenever they come and burn down our Haven's," she had commented darkly.

"Killing you guys off is enough incentive. They're at each other's throats once they come back to the barracks."

That was how their conversations usually went. They'd drop a few pieces of their lives, and each would gain an insight to the other's perspective on the war. Daniel found it hard to admit it was having a great effect on him. These 'Havens' were hotspots for the resistance, and he could see why Advent would go out and destroy them to stop recruitment from spiking, even if most of the inhabitants were innocent.

Likewise, the Colonel didn't accept Daniel's 'Agent' tasks, but understood that to maintain order, the whip needed to be cracked, so to say, in order to quell unrest in the city and maintain peace, even as the world outside was ravaged by war and death.

"You try and keep a city from eating itself from the inside. See if you can do a better job."

"Maybe I will once we've won this war."

"The resistance can't win, Colonel."

"You think City 31 is my first assault? It's unique, I'll give it that. No other city-centre's been so packed with alien civilians like this one, bit with your help we might just manage. Advent's days are numbered. We will win this planet back."

"You don't understand. You can't win. If the Elder's fall, we're done. All of us. They're the only ones who can help us prepare for…"

"For what?"

"I can't tell you. And I'm not just saying that. It's hard to describe. I-It's like a failsafe trips and my head goes blank."

That was only a half lie, because in truth the Elder's had kept that bit of information secret from him. It was all rumours about a distant darkness that the Elder's held over their subjects to keep them in line. Pretty effective at maintaining order if your physical god's alluded to something only they could comprehend.

"I think I know how to help you with that," the Colonel said.

Daniel had done some pretty messed up things in the past, but never something as crazy as this. If his younger self could see him now, fresh into Dispatch's service, he'd probably throw a fit. Zima certainly would if he had told her about accepting the Colonel's offer of help.

He bent down and picked up the cardboard box. It was a dodgy looking thing, the kind of package someone might put a bomb inside and deliver it to someone who needed to be taken out. That analogy hit a little too close to home for Daniel, and he frowned, running a finger along the top lid.

"I can send you something that can help. We've been testing it on some of our Skirmisher allies, and the results have been… adequate."

"That sounds a bit shady," he had replied.

"Just being honest with you. I can send an operative to drop it off on your side of the river, in a discreet location of your choice."

"How do I know you won't leave a couple of guys there to kill me when I got to pick this thing of yours up?"

"You'll just have to trust me. Consider this payment for what you've done for us so far. A lot of lives have been saved because of you."

"And I've sacrificed just as many." But he was still interested in what the Colonel had in store for him. It was a big risk accepting the Colonels gift (that bomb analogy being on the forefront of his worries), but in the end he had relented a location, a fair distance from the safehouse. Naturally, he had left Zima out of the details. Even he admitted outright trading with the resistance was incredibly dangerous and stupid. But so far, nothing he had done in this city was anythingbut dangerous, and he'd gotten used to looking over his shoulder by now.

He had arrived very early, and had waited hours after watching the resistance operative drop off the box he was now holding, scanning for threats. He could have used Zima to help him sniff out any hostiles with that powerful tongue of hers, but after learning what exactly was inside the box, he was glad he kept this whole deal to himself.

There were half a dozen needle-like objects inside, and they were large, wicked looking things that would look right at home in a torture chamber. The sharp ends of the needles split into two prongs halfway down the silvery incision, forming into hooks that curved in opposing directions. The needles fed into a tubular body, where a gooey liquid sloshed about inside. There was a golden XCOM logo printed along the spine of each device.

He picked one up and turned it over in his hands. He found a little trigger mechanism on the bottom, and pressed it. The two needles hooked over each other with a tiny chink sound, and Daniel grimaced. You could mangle bones if given the right angle with these things, and that's exactly what it was meant to be used for.

"We just call them detachers. They'll get rid of the chip in your head."

Daniel didn't respond at first. He just stood there, radio to mouth, not quite sure he'd heard correctly. "H-How?" he eventually asked.

"It's a messy process, might take a couple of goes. But as I said, most of our tests have been successful. If you want, you can let my staff do the operation for you."

Daniel firmly denied having anything to do with the 'detachers'. The chips were permanent, because… well, they just were. He still didn't change his mind when the Colonel talked him over the procedure, which was surprisingly simple.

So why am I here?

He wasn't sure. He should just toss the things into the gutter. They could kill him for all he knew. But why would the Colonel go through all that effort just to make him committed suicide? Why risk an operative, or the handing over of these strange devices,if she just wanted him dead?

He could do it right now. He could find out if the detacher's worked, and if they did… he didn't know what would happen then. No, he thought, and went to throw the box away. Instead he ended up putting them into his personal rucksack and got back in the car. Just thinking about the chip made him scratch behind his ear on instinct. He'd always been told that if the chip was ever removed, the link would end, and so would his life. That's what the doctor had said at the time right before the installation. He couldn't have been older than six, or seven at the time. All of his childhood was just a distant blur of pain. Even his own parent's faces were just swirling details far in the back of his head. He wondered for the first time, what they would say to him right now. By the Elder's, he needed someone to tell him he was making the right choice. All he had was Zima, and he knew where she stood.

A last resort. That was his reasoning for keeping the devices. More than likely that it would kill him, if he lived long enough to get that chance. It was just like his sabotage of the tracker on the Chaser - a last resort. If the invasion took a turn for the worst, then at least he had a quick way out. He hoped it would be a painless end, much as he knew he didn't deserve it.

Daniel and Zima were walking and slithering back to the safehouse, silent. No jokes or comments, just hostile silence. Today they had been tasked with filling a captured building's air filtration system with poison, but after learning the resistance had hostages in there, Daniel had made sure to give them plenty of forewarning. The mission ended with minimal loss of life. Zima snapped at him that she wouldn't stand for this insubordination, but did not turn him in, which he silently wondered why that was.

He didn't believe saving hostages tipped the power in anyone's favour. The resistance had fallen back, and the strategically placed structure was retaken. But the fact that there was a power shift became apparent when a deep, powerful presence bared down on the city.

Due to the Network, Daniel and Zima felt it before it became visible. All across the city, on every building, on every billboard and every projection, advertisements and commercials and propaganda flickered, then faded away. Every light source on the street was switched off, bathing the city in darkness. Without realising he did so, Daniel stepped over protectively in front of Zima. He scanned every angle while reaching for his gun.

For a moment it seemed everyone, and everything, had stopped. There wasn't even a single gunshot, which had become common enough most citizens had tuned them out by this point. Then, unseen to them, electricity returned across City 31, but in the form of a blooming magenta hue. Every lightbulb radiated the pulsing colour, the whole street Daniel and Zima were on was bathed in a purple glow. Daniel thought it looked almost mystical.

Far to the north, the Advent Tower came to life. Across its wide surface, an image appeared. It was of a tall, masked figure draped in a red robe, and an iridescent aura of magenta shimmered around its skinny body. An exact replica of this image appeared on every screen in the city, across skyscrapers and windows, even the local news feed cut off in favour of this godly depiction. Soldiers from both sides stopped fighting to gaze into the nearest screen.

Just across the street was a store selling televisions. In the front display window, there were twelve screens, twelve duplicates of the imposing figure that used nothing but its mind to make its appearance known throughout City 31.

Daniel had never seen an Elder in person. Nobody had. Normally they kept themselves hidden for both their safety, and everyone else's. Even just seeing a projection of one, who was undoubtedly secluded in some bunker far from here, made Daniel's skin crawl in both fear and admiration. Immediately he fell to his knees and bowed his head. Zima did the same, coiling down low and closing her eyes as if she'd just looked a god in the eye. Which in some way, she had.

"Children of Earth," the ethereal being began. Her voice was booming, powerful, honed into a lilting resonance that soothed the nerves in Daniel's body. "Those who would oppose our Will of peace, and prosperity, have come to your home to corrupt your lives and destroy all that you love."

"And yet, through all the slaughter, our most faithful servants walk among you, protecting you and your families from those that would seek to bring about the destruction of your world. Only through them, can we stop the spread of dissension, and corruption."

Daniel couldn't help but feel that last bit was aimed at him, specifically. He chanced a look up at the dominating figure painted across the surface of the Tower. The helmet obscured the face, but he could feel the Elder's gaze go right through him. He quickly lowered his eyes to the concrete. The thousand images of the Elder continued.

"We see so much potential in all of you. Take heed of our teachings, trust in our servants. This terrible, unforgivable attack on you is an insult to our generosity."

The Elder's mask parted in two sections, and a nightmarish flame spilled out of the black void that was its face. What was said next was filed with so much anger and hate, it was like the Elder was an entirely different person, or being.

"Do not fail us. We've given you so much of our life-force, granted you the potential that has been locked away from you for too long. Failure here is a failure to all of us. We will guide you through these times. We will be watching."

The projection's cut off, and the city went silent. And then life came flooding back. The blanket of magenta lifted, and the lights returned to their normal colours. The distant fighting slowly wound back up into action, which didn't seem all that distant at this point. Daniel got to his feet, and turned to Zima. She straightened up and glanced at him.

"When was the last time the Elder's made a public announcement?" she asked. He was a little surprised she'd talked first. And not with animosity in her body language.

"I... Never," he said. "Them being this direct with all of us could only mean one thing."

"And that is?"

"They're getting desperate."

She looked down at her tail, used its end to flick a pebble away. "… It's hard to admit it, but I think you're right."

And he was, and within the next few days, they'd get confirmation on this fact.

From the Stack's, the resistance pushed north, into Highland Square. Place was a warzone that neither side could get the upper hand in. Mechanised rebels assaulted the eastern bridges leading into Old Town day and night. Infiltration teams were sent across the river and were sabotaging strategic locations, both military and civilian alike, from both sides. Daniel had stopped talking to the Colonel after one final call, the enemy leader saying that, "The time for talk is over. For now." Zima guessed she'd used Daniel enough by now and didn't need his help anymore. Daniel thought this possibility wasn't likely. The Daniel she knew would never be so foolish.

The Daniel I thought I knew, she mentally corrected.

Dispatch stopped calling in assignments. Said it was too dangerous to go out on their own anymore. Therefore, she had to sit in the safehouse and watch the city burn all around her. It made her feel sick, that she couldn't do anything, and that Daniel was against her, and she didn't have the guts to do anything about it.

The Stacks weren't the only foothold the resistance had taken. There were reports of rebel activity on the other side of the city, near the Fringe, and Angler's Point. Both districts were highly contested regions. Only Downtown and Old Town had some resemblance of order and protection, but it seemed only a matter of time before those gunshots were aimed at this building, specifically. "So much for the Elder's speech," Daniel grumbled. Zima eyed him with a hard look.

True, the Elder had rallied Advent forces on the fronts, but the best they had done was hold the line, rather than take back ground they'd lost. "Maybe if we had a few less corrupt Agents, we'd be doing better," Zima growled back. To this, Daniel had no reply. She could see the turmoil in his eyes, and tasted his anxiety in the air. He was having his own issues just as she was. She held onto that fact, and hoped he'd reconsider his decision to betray the Elder's trust, and that he could still be saved.

But again, the Elder's trust, and power, was doing little to help the city. It was all falling apart, literally and figuratively. Someone had thrown a Molotov cocktail at her original room's window the other night, and since then she'd not caught a wink of sleep. Neither did Daniel.

So, for hours and hours, they sat in his room, ignoring each other, listening to the reports come in, from both Advent and even the resistance, after Daniel switched his captured radio's frequency. They sat waiting for… something to happen. The inevitable attack on the safehouse once the resistance closed in, or something else. What that something was, turned out to be a panicked call from Dispatch. After a long absence from him, she was almost glad to hear his voice.

"Agents, it's Dispatch. Priority update. Are you both there?"

He sounded a lot flustered than usual. That made Zima nervous. Daniel held up his phone. "We are, Dispatch. What's going on?"

"I'm recalling all forces to the Tower. We're pulling out."

"What?" Daniel asked. "We're abandoning the city?"

"We've suffered too many losses to sustain a prolonged fight, which is what the resistance intends on doing. We're rallying here and waiting for aerial evacuation. You need to get here as quickly as possible."

"But sir!" Zima butted in, her voice cracking just a little. "W-We can't just let the city fall! What about the Elder's message? You said so yourself that the attack would be dealt with!"

"We've underestimated their strength, Agent."

"Bullshit."

Zima looked at the human, her jaw dropping. Daniel had been rude before, but never this outright to Dispatch. "You've been telling us day and night, year after year of our superiority. One week into an attack and we're beaten? You're not telling us everything."

"Stay behind and find out for yourself, Agent, but we're leaving tonight."

"Not until you give me some answers, Dispatch."

"Do I need to remind you who you are talking to?"

"Someone who hides in his tower all day? I know who you are. I've served you for years. It's about time you be straight with me. We've got all the tech, the firepower, and the soldiers to dominate the world, but not to hold onto one city? How can we be losing this fight?"

Zima thought Dispatch wouldn't reply. Even with Daniel's insubordination, it was still quite a shock to learn that Advent, the Regime running the entire planet, was about to be on the run. Such an outcome just wasn't possible, and even with her boss saying otherwise she still had trouble comprehending it.

"I can't say over the phone." Dispatch paused. She heard someone shout on the other end. "It's too unsecure. Come to the Tower and I'll meet with you. I'll warn you – it's not going to be an easy conversation."

"I'll bet. See you soon, Dispatch."

He hung up. Zima blinked, a faint hint of apprehension in her voice. "He's never sounded so… afraid, before."

Daniel shrugged. "Aren't you, Zee?"

"Of meeting him, or watching this city fall down around us?"

"Both."

"I'm terrified either way."