Team Red was sitting in their warehouse headquarters base, just hanging out for once. V.I.L.E. wasn't up to anything for a change, so they didn't really have any capers to plan. Ivy was doing maintenance on Carmen's equipment, Zach was pestering Shadowsan to teach him ninja moves, and Shadowsan was trying to ignore Zach and read a book.
Carmen was in the gym working out, trying to quell a feeling of unease. It had been a few days since Player had contacted Team Red, and the red rogue couldn't stop worrying that something might have happened to him. Unlike the rest of the team, Player lived with his family in Ontario. He really only interacted with the rest of Team Red over video calls.
Sure, Carmen, Zach, and Ivy had all met him in person once a few weeks ago, during the Himalayan Rescue Caper, but that was the only time they'd actually met him. It had been decided early on when the team had first formed that it would be best for them to keep their interactions with Player online, for his safety. Player was the youngest member of the team, and the only one who was still a child, and they didn't want V.I.L.E. to find him. He was too young, and Carmen knew that V.I.L.E. would be all too eager to capture him and hurt him to get to her.
So Player stayed in Ontario while the rest of Team Red traveled the world to do their capers. Player didn't seem to mind, preferring to be in his nice dark bedroom and exploring the world virtually instead. He wasn't always online either, due to family events and other personal matters.
But Carmen still couldn't help worrying. Player had never remained offline for this long. The longest he'd gone without contacting her was three days, and it had been almost a week. He hadn't contacted her beforehand to let her know that he'd be gone for a while like he normally did, either. What if something had happened to him? What if V.I.L.E. had seen her or Zach and Ivy with Player the one time they actually met up with him in person?
Carmen sighed and stopped boxing on her punching bag. This wasn't doing anything to help her calm down. Maybe she should try to contact Player herself. Grabbing her towel, she went into the living room to grab her laptop.
"Hey, Carm!" Ivy said from the table where she was tinkering with Carmen's grappling hook. "You okay?"
"I'm worried about Player," Carmen said. "It's not like him to go this long without contact. I can't shake the feeling that something's wrong. Especially since we visited him not too long ago."
Shadowsan nodded sagely. "Trust your instincts."
Carmen opened the chat app that Player usually contacted her on, and sent a text. Haven't heard from you in a while. You okay?
There was no response for a long, agonizing few minutes. Then, a single text came back. S.O.S. They know. Help!