The next morning, Julian was standing at what used to be a motel breakfast bar, looking out the broken doors and windows as he chewed on a granola bar. They couldn’t travel too far last night, especially with how had Kiyoka had been pushing it lately.

After a day of raiding monster dens, Corona and Kiyoka helped save Monty’s life. Then, she was up all the next day defending him while surviving the Final Seeding. After leaving the USF safe zone that night, the last thing she needed was a long ride on Oryx.

Luckily, a night of peace was theirs for the taking. Omen and Obi scouted out a nearby motel, and after finding the place empty, they settled on a place to rest away from prying eyes.

Julian, Omen, and Obi got the last round for watch, and were not enjoying a quiet breakfast when Maria came prancing into the dining area.

“Good Morning!”she sang in her soft voice, checking out the makeshift spread Julian had set out for them.

“Hey,” Julian mumbled monotone, his mouth full.

From under the table, Omen grumbled along with him.

“You two not sleep well?” Maria asked, snatching a prepackaged muffin off the bar.

“Well enough,” Julian said, stifling a yawn. “It’s the getting up that’s the problem.”

Andre joined them in the dining area, stretching as Dorffi hung onto his back. “Hopefully, keeping watch woke up quick enough,” he added.

“It did, don’t worry. We kept watch,” Julian said, watching as Omen poked his head out and gave Andre a hateful glare. “Easy there, buddy.”

They ate their breakfast quietly, and by the time they were almost finished eating, Kiyoka joined them in the dining room, her pixie cut messy.

“Morning!” Maria sang to her.

“Hmm,” Kiyoka groaned, making her way to a coffee pot. “Where’s the coffee?”

“No power, dude,” Andre chuckled, watching his friend struggle.

Kiyoka groaned. “This apocalypse sucks.” She staggered to the table, taking a seat and laying her head on the table.

Matilda suddenly appeared from around the corner, entering the dining area. She had a couple of bottles floating above her head with her telekinesis.

“Oh! Right on time,” Maria said, snatching the bottles out of the air. “Oh, Kiki?”

“Please don’t call me that,” Kiyoka grumbled.

“Fine, then I’ll keep this delicious, lukewarm frappe for myself.”

Kiyoka’s head snapped up off the table. “Don’t play with me. Gimme.”

Maria handed the bottle over to her. “Maybe we should finish raiding those vending machines after all,” she said to Matilda as the little monkey jumped up onto the table and helping herself to the last of Maria’s muffin.

“Okay guys,” Andre started, “now that we're rested and road ready, what do we do now?”

Silence fell over the room for a beat.

Julian finally spoke up. “We talked about heading east before, right? I mean, Maria and I have family in Missouri, and you have family in Georgia, so it makes sense. Plus, it’s safe to assume that Dr. Miura isn’t in San Francisco anymore, so heading out makes sense.”

Maria nodded. “I agree with all that. We have every reason to head out.”

“But?” Andre interjected.

“Huh?” Julian asked.

“There’s usually a ‘but’ somewhere in there,” Andre said. He crossed his arms and leaned back in his seat.

Maria sighed. “I was on the bracer network last night. All systems I saw days ago are operational. Everything from communications networks to GPS is active. Turns out, there is a built-in forum to share information about local Eidos, den raiding, almost everything you can think of.”

“That’s awesome!” Andre said, diving into his bracer. “Why does that change anything?”

Maria took a sip of her frappe. “I found a post last night from Artino Industries. Andre and I are now persons of interest in their pursuit of Dr. Miura because of our time at Artino, and-”

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“-for breaking Kiyoka out.” Julian finished.

Maria pointed in his direction. “Bingo. According to the reports, Kiyoka is missing, but no other details are public.”

“What about Julian?” Kiyoka asked, looking over at him.

“There was no mention of Julian anywhere. Could be they haven’t identified him, or haven’t connected him to me, yet,” Maria said. She finished her frappe.

“That could help us,” Andre said.

“However, it limits our access to safe zones. If anyone finds out who we are, we’re in trouble, or bringing trouble with us,” Kiyoka said, slumping onto the table again.

“So?” Julian asked. “Trouble's already here, and we can’t allow Artino to dictate our actions.”

“So what do you suggest?” Andre asked, a hint of sarcasm thick in his voice.

Julian sighed. “I don’t mean be reckless, but we need to make the most of what we have.. We aren’t powerless.” He tapped his bracer. “We have information, we have classes, and we have Eidos in a world now dictated by those three things. I say we prepare.”

“Hell yeah!” Kiyoka roared, slamming her fist on the table

Everyone looked in her direction.

“What? I’m pumped. Coffee is kicking in, and I refuse to back down! Let’s do this!” Kiyoka said,

“Yeah!” Maria joined her in their battle cry. Matilda even joined in.

Andre sighed as Julian started to laugh. The noise echoed in the dining room.

Quiet, boss. Some of us had to keep watch last night.

Julian’s laugh turned into a snort as he tried to control himself. “Well, where do we start?”

Andre got to his feet. “I say, we start with information. It’s time to see how Dangle faired with the Final Seeding.”

“Oof,” Julian groaned before getting to his feet.

“What’s up?” Andre asked.

“Sounds good to me, but should we tell him about Izun?” Julian asked

“Tell him what?” Maria asked. “Tell him we met Izun, or that his fears were right?”

“Umm, yes, all that, yes,” Julian said, nodding his head.

Everyone looked back and forth to each other.

Andre headed towards the front doors. “We’ll figure it out when we get there.””

——

The ride across town was slower than usual. With the need to get as strong as possible, Julian and his party sent their summoned Eidos out to fight any wild monster that got too close.

Particles flowed across the street as Julian and the others arrived outside Dangle’s van. Julian remembered it looking cleaner before the end of the tutorial. Now its dark paint looked moldy, with patches of vines growing across the exterior.

After calling back Oryx, Andre led the group up to the back of the van and knocked.

Noise came from within the van, causing Andre to shake his head.

Finally, the door cracked open, revealing the coke-bottle glasses of Andre’s old teammate, and former Artino researcher, Dangle.

“What?! Get in! Get in!” He waved them inside his camper van, looking around the street as they rushed inside. He slammed the door shut behind them, running the gamut of locks over the door.

The place smelled like sweaty socks.

“What can I do for you?” Dangle asked, taking his familiar seat and turning back to his computer screens.

“We need info, Dangle,” Kiyoka started.

“Yes, yes, information. What kind?” Dangle tapped on his keyboard rapidly.

“Anything and everything, Dangle,” Kiyoka said, looking around the room before taking a seat in one of the spare rolling chairs.

Julian and Maria took a seat on the bench seat that served as a small couch, while Andre posted up against the doors.

Dangle kept tapping on his keyboard. “Do you still have the capsule container I gave you?”

Andre looked surprised. “Yeah, I believe so.”

Dorffi unzipped his bag and dunked his head inside.

Andre sighed, waiting for the bear to finish.

Finally, the bear poked his head out with the capsule container in his mouth.

Andre scratched the bear behind the ears as he took the case from him. “Thank you, Dorffi. We’ll work on that a bit more,” he whispered. He walked over to the desk and sat the container beside Dangle.

“Very good. Thank you so much. According to the forums, these things are the equivalent of money now. I’ll be working on trades if you need anything.” Dangle took the container and put it away in his desk drawer.

“Okay, so a barter system is in place now,” Kiyoka observed, shrugging as he looked back at Andre.

Dangle turned from his computer. “You haven’t scrolled through everything on the forums, have you?”

Andre chuckled sheepishly, “Sorry, Dangle. We’ve been busy dodging Artino and trying to stay alive.”

“I saw that,” Dangle said, flipping his computer screen around to show them the post Maria referred to earlier. “You three have his attention. San Francisco is practically on lockdown because of you three.” He looked over at Julian. “You’ve done well. They don’t know who you are.” He turned back to his computer, typing away on the keyboard.

“Dangle, what should we do?” Andre asked.

Dangle stopped typing before turning to face Andre.

“If I were you, I’d either give up, or get as far away from San Francisco and anything Artino as possible.”

“We can’t do that!” Kiyoka said, standing to her feet.

Dangle shivered nervously. “You-you can’t do that. You don’t speak for them or for me, Miss Miura.”

“Please, Dangle?” Andre asked again.

Dangle sighed, dropping his head and turning away from them. “I told you what I’d do. If you choose to give up, I can make a rendezvous point. If you choose to run, I’d recommend connecting with Izun.”

Maria watched Dangle for a moment before speaking up. “Why that route specifically?”

Dangle looked over at the couch seat Julian and Maria shared. “Because then you might have a chance of standing up against Artino.”

Maria studied him carefully before she smirked. “How did you know? Who told you?”

Dangle smiled nervously. “I’m an analyst turned researcher, Miss Ramirez. That, and Izun’s network is running through here."

Julian sighed, shaking his head. “What do you want, Dangle?”

Dangle was silent for a beat. “I want in.”

“In? In what, exactly?” Julian asked.

Dangle took a deep breath. “I want to help, and you guys need someone working behind the scenes to keep you up-to-date on what’s happening in the forums. I’ll serve as your trader and info broker, and you make me a part of your team.”

Julian looked to Maria, and then to Andre and Kiyoka.

Andre stepped from the doors and walked across the room. “Are you serious right now?. You know we’re planning on leaving and heading east, right?”

“I do! I mean, it makes the most sense.” Dangle wrung has hands before taking a deep breath to calm himself. “Let me prove myself. I can get you guys equipped and ready to take on anything Artino or anyone else throws at you, err, us. In return, help me get out of here, too, and help me be able to defend myself. I mean, I might need an Eidos to make this happen, but I can’t stay here.”

Julian and the others shared one more glance before he stood to his feet. He approached Dangle, who simply cowered in his chair. “Dangle, if you can help us get stronger, and I mean significantly stronger, then you will have yourself a deal. We need to train our Eidos and increase in levels. Let’s start there, and then we will plan our leave out of San Francisco.”

Dangle exhaled, laughing nervously as he held his hand out to Julian. “We have a deal, sir. Now, what say we check out some of the new Den Raids that appeared overnight, hmm?”

Julian shook his hand firmly, making Dangle squirm in his seat as he smiled down at him. “No better place to start, Dangle.”