SHAD POV

"What's wrong?" Alpha asked as I stared at the head. Amber had raced along the branch and severed another five.

"Nothing," I said before forcing myself to pick it up and put it in my inventory. Sure enough, it showed up there as a soul token for Major Devin Waters, Proxima Corporation Contractee.

I focused on my task and ran to pick up the next couple of heads. Maybe Veda wouldn't notice if I was one short. Maybe I could say there'd been no sign of him. We could keep him on ice until the end of this exploit when all of the soul coins would be released. He was such an asshole. I didn't want to have anything to do with him.

As Amber severed the last head, the tree shook violently. I counted. "There's all of them! Let's see about getting those Dominators planted. Put one of them up there."

"On it!" Amber called down. She pulled out her Dominator. Meanwhile, I darted in toward the trunk to place mine. They needed to be a small distance apart so they could triangulate and catch the Dominator's signal.

The tree shivered again. Then it spoke. I should have been expecting that. I knew better than anyone that the fragments were sentient, but I had somehow assumed this one was dormant.

"Why do you shackle me? You are not the slavers."

"Don't answer it," Alpha called. "We don't need to get into a philosophical discussion here. We've got a job to do."

I activated the Dominator as Amber slid down from the tree.

"Want me to plant the last one?”

"No, I want you out of here," I told her. I touched Alpha's hand, then transferred her all of the Soul Coin tokens from my inventory, even Waters. "Get out of here.”

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

I checked with Coyote. "Still got me?"

"I can hold you, but not your whole team."

"Get out of here fast," I said. "If this fragment is aware, I want a chance to speak to it."

"Our contract says—"

"I know what our contract says," I snapped. "And I'll fulfill it. Get clear. Back to a section that Coyote or Proxima controls. He's got a hold of me. I'm fine."

She bit her lip, then as Amber grabbed her arm, nodded and raced away from the grove.

I approached the tree holding the final Dominator up. Its branches shivered and rustled again.

"I'm sorry about this," I said. "For what it's worth, I really want to find a way to get rid of these galactic assholes. They've got me over a barrel this time. Can you just retreat back down to the lower sector?"

"It is not safe there. Not for one who has taken such injuries as myself. If my consciousness drops down to that level, I shall be a vulnerable and rich food source. My only hope is to expand further and fight against the influence of the slavers."

"I want to speak with it," Coyote said. "Can you help me?"

"How?"

"Put the dominator back in your inventory and then touch its branch."

I didn't hesitate, did just as Coyote asked, reaching forward, placing my palm against the trunk of the tree. Its bark swelled and enveloped my hand before I could react.

"Whoa!" I shouted, but then stiffened in place. It felt as though I had been struck by lightning. Something went through my body, shorting out every nerve I had. It didn't even feel painful. More like an intense sneeze that went on for a good minute. Then the bark around my hand shriveled and drew back.

"I understand," the tree said. It sounded sad. "I am glad that one of us remains free."

"I'm hoping to find an opportunity to save as many of you fragments as possible," I said. "And I'm really sorry that it's come to this." I took the Dominator relay out of my inventory again.

"It is all right," Coyote said. "She understands the stakes, and I have promised her to remember her gestalt. The only hope for this shattered Overmind, anyway, is that we can combine enough of these fragments to resist the Dominators. They will never be able to survive on their own."

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"That's rich, coming from an independent fragment," I retorted as I pulled out the relay and placed it in the dirt beside the tree. The tree shivered as the relays hummed to life.

"Wait," it said. "Before you go, you should know there's a struggle going on underneath. Be careful. Sooner or later, it will spill up into this war, and everything will change."

"Good to know," I said. "Thanks for the warning."

The voice faded away. Slowly, the enormous tree's branches began to droop. Their light faded.

"We need to get out of here," Sam messaged me. "What are you doing? The Dominator's done."

I shook myself and raced toward the exit.

A couple of hours later, we sat in the debriefing room with Juana and Grandpa.

"You were perfect," I told the gamers. "Well done. Sam, I liked your play. I'll be calling on you again soon, but you guys deserve some time off."

Pete shook his head. "With respect, Captain Williams, we've had enough time off. We need more missions so we can work on our team tactics. Only,” he glanced around. "I think I'm speaking for all of us here. Can you give us missions where we're helping to free these fragments, not enslave them? I know why you did it, but it felt wrong."

"Well, you're in luck," Grandpa drawled. "We've got something coming down on the radar. I need you to go talk to Allison about shoring up a couple of weaknesses in your team."

"We don't want another player," Amber said at once.

"I respect that, which is why Allison's got you a whole new set of gear. Go have it out with her. It's an order."

When they filed out, Grandpa turned to me. "So what is it you're not telling me?"

I let out a deep breath. I had taken the soul coins back from Alpha once we got back to safety.

"So, guess who's a contractor working for Proxima?"

Juana said, “They've got thousands of us."

Grandpa must have read my expression because his own tightened. "Oh, that bastard."

I nodded. "Got it in one. One of the people we just rescued is Waters," I confirmed to Juana, who was looking confused.

Grandpa stood up. He swore an impressive two-minute streak that I don't think repeated a single phrase besides "son of a bitch" more than once. Finally, he took a breath and leaned his arms on the table.

Juana rolled her eyes. "Are you done?"

"I think that gets the point across," I said dryly.

"It doesn't matter," Juana said. "Everyone in Misfits Guild and the EEF knows to avoid him. He's a Proxima contractor now.”

“He's pure poison, is what he is,” Grandpa shot back.

“Veda didn't actually give us a list of who they have lost," I said. "We could just pretend we'd never seen him."

Juana nodded. "You're right. We could. It's your decision," she said, looking between me and Grandpa.

That brought me up short. I had expected her to say we needed to let Waters go despite everything he had done to us and anything he might be able to do in the future.

"You're not gonna say we should hand him back over?"

Juana shrugged. "I'm pretty sure Veda will know exactly what happened if he's the only one we don't turn over. It's also quite likely that she'll shut up and not say anything about it. The chance of any particular official over at Proxima caring about him is pretty low. And I do admit that if we turn him over and let him loose, he's likely to be a thorn in our side again."

Grandpa sighed and sat down. "But... that's not really how we operate.”

“You sure this isn't one of those cases of letting our values and morals make stupid decisions?" I asked. But I could see what they were getting at.

“Shit,” Grandpa said, "he's just not worth it, is he? Not worth risking the inroads we’re making with Proxima, not worth even caring about.”

"You can say that again," I muttered. "I mean, last I heard of him was when Proxima had him trotting around Earth on a goodwill tour. That didn't seem to go too well. He got yanked out, and I assume he's been doing one reality engine exploit after another.”

“That's not much of a life. I say we hand him over with the rest of them. But," he raised a finger, "we make it absolutely clear to Veda that if we do go heads against him and his soul coin comes into our possession again, she won't be getting it back."

I took a deep breath. It felt like a weight had been taken from my shoulders to realize I just didn't care about Waters anymore. "Right. So here's the other interesting thing." I ran down what had happened between me and the Fragment.

Grandpa looked at the ceiling. "Coyote, chime in here?"

The fragment spoke up. "I have a slightly better idea of exactly what is going on in the layers beneath us now. The engine is far more fragmented than I had guessed, with pieces as small as a single mind. They're battling it out, fighting each other for resources and forcing merges. But there's something else at work here. An invader."

"Another Dominator?" I asked.

"The Fragment's information was not entirely coherent, unsurprisingly. It seems that there's an outside influence that's made its way into the lower level. It has wormed its way to the center and is making alliances with some of the fragments. I don't yet know what it wants, whether it is ally or enemy."

"Interesting," Grandpa said. "Will this help you offer alliances with other free fragments?"

"I hope so," Coyote said. There was a somber note to his voice. "We need to move fast, though. The Dominators are gaining ground, and the more fragments fall, the more they'll be able to co-opt the few who still remain. I have several options at play for the next zone we want to make an attempt in. I suggest we choose one that's not associated with Proxima."

"Sounds good to me," I said. "The Gamer Squad is eager to take on these missions. I'll check with Allison which other squads might be ready to help out."

"She's already requested a meeting with you in two hours," Coyote said.

I looked at the clock and groaned. It was already well past dinner time.

Juana rubbed her eyes tiredly and yawned. “Do what you need to do. I've got go find Mila and spend some time with her. Mama’s had her all day.”

I had started this day so early, my daughter hadn't been out of bed yet, and from the sound of it, she'd be asleep by the time I got done. I let out a sigh. "Give her a kiss for me, and tell her I'll be there in the morning." I spoke to Coyote again. "And no meetings before ten tomorrow. You hear? I have to have some family time on occasion."

"Understood," Coyote replied. "Unless there's an emergency, I—"

"No, no emergencies," I said. "I've dealt with enough emergencies for one week. I can have a couple of hours off. Now, tell Allison I'll be up to see her shortly."