Once we reached Sagingan Haven, I spewed out the specifics of Black Fire Online. Reggie and Matthew took everything in. Friends lists, commenting, posting, Active Now, and Who is Watching What? That last name was pending, but the features were as clear as day.

Reggie glowed with excitement as I delved into the idea. We discovered why when he told me, “Metamatics is planning something similar. Take a look.”

He showed us some photos on his phone, and I realized it wasn’t a burner phone he’d purchased with our operations but a Metamatics-issued device.

“You sly dog,” I told him. “What the hell’s on this?”

Reggie flipped us through user interface mock-ups of what looked like any social media network but with a new skin. “They want to integrate users across their streaming apps,” he said.

“Their streaming apps? So, just Metamatics?”

He shook his head. “All of them. Intervid. Delta Reel. Seoul Crystal Studios. All the Giants.”

I smiled. “Let the race begin, then.”

After planning the release of Black Fire Online, we roamed through the banana fields while listening to more stories of Reggie’s time at Metamatics. He dished enough company secrets that we could become insider traders. Meanwhile, Shay recounted the myriad of books she had read during the six months we hadn’t seen each other, imparting advice on us from fictional protagonists.

After that, we saw the news. So many things had happened in the short time we were in Manila, but most outlets were talking about the same story.

***MIRACLE SAVES PHILIPPINE AIRLINE FLIGHT***

***PAL 578 SAVED BY DIVINE INTERVENTION?***

***MIRACULOUS SAVE! FLIGHT AVOIDS CATASTROPHE***

A front-page photograph showed a Boeing EV 847 positioned precariously over Manila Bay. The iconic sun and red triangle for Philippine Airlines are emblazoned on the aircraft’s tail. At first glance, you would think it was a still shot of the plane flying low. But it wasn’t. It wasn’t moving at all.

One passenger is calling them piloting errors gone wrong. Others are calling them intentional PR stunts by the Giants. Another passenger is simply calling them angels.

“It was an act from God,” an interviewed woman said on a live news feed. She was middle-aged. In her background, Philippine Airlines Flight 578 dangled above Manila Bay, held by thousands of capture drones. They all turned their eyes outwards, focusing on the boats gathering on the harbor. One of the flat vessels held the bottom of a slide that passengers were using to exit the craft.

“Do you have any idea what caused this?” asked the interviewer.

“Of course, she has no idea,” Shay said, laughing. “What is this even?”

“You don’t believe in miracles?” asked Matthew.

Andrei was quiet, his expression statuesque in the face of his best friend rescued and sitting in front of him. Coupled with a miracle streaming from the Philippine Daily Inquirer, you’d think anyone would have some reaction. But not Andrei.

“Strange times,” I said before remembering the helicopter in Laguna, Shaw Boulevard station, and the attack on Mother’s mansion when a swarm of capture drones had cradled Hannah and formed a shell around her. This seemed like the same thing, only enlarged.

I cut the air silence. “When can you get started?” I asked Reggie.

He gave me a sour look as I pulled him from his thoughts. Whatever they were, they could wait.

“Anytime,” he said before he and Matthew whispered about the specifics.

Shay, too, noticed Andrei’s demeanor. He looked at the table and spoke for what seemed like the first time today. They weren’t the words I was expecting. “Teejay is going to come looking for me,” he said.

No one said anything.

“We could have escaped without your distraction,” he continued, looking to Reggie as he said it. “You guys didn’t have to get him in trouble.”

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“That guy is an asshole,” I told him.

“Yeah, you don’t think I know that? Just leave him alone. There’s a past here you can’t understand.”

“Because you don’t tell us.” I sounded harsh, but it was true. He may have thought he didn’t want to burden us with his past, but we could handle it. We handled worse stuff than this before.

“None of us can go to Manila anymore. Especially me.” Andrei scratched his chin. “The only way out is if the entire Kalawang Clan disbands because Teejay got caught. But if they don’t, you’ll have to watch out.” He blinked. “I’ll have to watch out.”

I laughed. We were safe in Sagingan Haven. “Is that a threat?”

“It’s a warning, Jayson. The Clan is bigger than you think. They’re in Mindanao too. Did you know that?”

I didn’t. I swallowed.

“Did you even talk to your uncle about it?” Andrei asked.

I hadn’t. Not since we returned from Luzon. I hadn’t considered the broader ramifications of upsetting the Kalawang Clan. My mind was on saving Reggie.

And a bit of revenge, too. I knew Teejay had Andrei in a vice’s grip, and I hated how he looked at Shay. “They would have taken you if we left you there,” I told Andrei.

“You should have let them,” he said. “Because you’ve made an enemy.”

We had arrayed ourselves underneath a banana tree in front of the warehouse leading to the rest of the operation. In its shadow, a sixth person joined our ranks. It was my Uncle Nestor.

“Jayson,” he said, “can we have a word?”

It was as if he had chosen this exact moment to join the conversation—as if he had been listening the entire time.

I followed him into the warehouse, out of view of everyone else. He exchanged no words for me, and I thought it was going to be the dressing down of the century.

“I’m sorry,” I said, guessing what would come next. “We needed a diversion.”

He stared at me. No words, for a moment. His expression slowly began to change from a disappointed, almost sullen expression to that of a smile. “Janice is alive.”

The wind blew. A leaf fluttered down and landed right next to us. I didn’t say anything for a few moments. Was this a joke? Janice died six months ago. I knew because…

…only, I didn’t know. I hadn’t seen the body or anything. Not even a coroner’s report. Her remains hadn’t been discovered. I only saw the memorial Manila had erected in honor of the victims of the subway bombing.

Uncle Nestor said nothing, instead opening up an opinion piece from Rappler on his phone. Can you guess who the author was?

Janice Vargas.

“It has to be someone posting under her name,” I said, though I didn’t know why. Was she that famous to deserve that kind of fanbase? A small community of followers formed out of her interview with President Atienza, where she embarrassed the leader in front of the whole country, but that was nothing to devote yourself to. Was it?

Uncle Nestor brought up a link from the article to a blog page. It was one of the old kinds, during the early days of the web, before social networking was commonplace. It was full of articles, and a banner across the top of the page said the words:

***ASHES TO ATIENZA***

A2A. The group adopted the abbreviation throughout the blog, and all the topics concerned Atienza or the corrupt government she was purported to lead. There were hours of content, and a lot of it was written by whoever was posing as Janice.

Posing. They had to be. Right?

I took my uncle’s phone and scrolled to the website’s Contact Us section. There were no social media handles or telephone numbers, only a single form where I could fill out my name, e-mail, and message. Obviously, I couldn’t do this the conventional way. I’d need workarounds.

Matthew sat under the banana tree with Shay, Andrei, and Reggie. The four were actually sharing laughs. I felt bad breaking up their momentary meeting, but I had to know.

I brought my phone over and explained what I’d just seen to everyone. At first, Shay gave me a big hug, and I even earned a smile from Andrei as if this was the only good news of the day.

“Does this place have a proxy server I can loop through?” Reggie asked.

Matthew nodded. “Yeah, but use Tor or another anonymous web browser. So you don’t get tracked.”

“Duh.” Reggie pulled a laptop from his messenger bag and looked at me. “What do you want to say?”

I miss you.

I shouldn’t have let you go on your own.

I’m proud of you.

We’re hiding out in a banana plantation in Mindanao, and the operation here is not like before. It’s better. You can do what you want here. We are free from Mother.

I got her killed.

I killed her.

These thoughts, and more, plagued me. I wanted some privacy with all this. Maybe the others detected my indecision, but even then, I would have needed an entire evening to carve out my thoughts. Plus, I wasn’t sure if my sister would be the one to read the form. I wasn’t even sure if she was alive.

“Tell her…” I thought for a moment “…that bananas are a bountiful harvest this time of year. A true Haven.”

Shay, overhearing, couldn’t help but smirk. “Yeah… too obvious, Jayson. If someone else reads it, they’re gonna figure it out. You’re taking a noun from both sentences. Think of something more cryptic.”

The others groaned in agreement, though I thought it was pretty good.

“Alright, miss,” I said. “What would you suggest?”

“How about ‘I let you go outside the 7-11, and I remember when you bought those peeling fruits.’”

Andrei, Matthew, and Reggie looked perplexed.

Shay, though, was a genius. She had been in the car, waiting when I had dropped Janice off. I had taken Shay and my sister from my mother’s mansion. The mention of ‘peeling fruits’ also seemed irrelevant.

Janice was smart. If she were alive, she could read into that specific situation. No one else knew about it, save for Janice, myself, and Shay.

“Sent,” I said after typing in the message and clicking the enter button on Matthew’s laptop.

I didn’t have to wait long until the reply came. It arrived straight in one of my throwaway e-mail accounts. There were only two words, but they were the most hopeful two I could ever hear.

[Found you.]