Devon couldn't believe how unlucky he was.

There was nothing more frustrating than being right on a hunch and preemptively putting yourself in the perfect place at the perfect time only for a stroke of misfortune to ruin everything. Well, perhaps not the perfect place.

He'd positioned himself in the bar to be against the wall with the furthest distance away from the settlement's outer perimeter. His logic was that if Kal'o Kir indeed made a play for Phil she'd be the least likely to attempt to breach the settlement from the direction where she'd have to cross the most distance to Phil's establishment.

And yet that was the direction she'd come from. Not only that, she'd broken through the wall of Phil's establishment right where he'd been sitting. The impact of the wall exploding into the back of his head had momentarily dazed him. It hadn't been enough to disable him for more than a moment, but that slight delay combined with the blurred vision had been enough to make him miss his mark. In the end, he'd only left a passing graze on Kal'o Kir instead of ripping her open.

I can't believe I missed the perfect opportunity.

And now Kal'o Kir had taken Phil. With every action she took the vishan incurred more and more of his wrath. It was almost unbelievable he'd once thought she would be something he could manipulate and bend to his will. In the end she was just like Eve, somebody so far beyond common sense that Devon couldn't hope to control them.

Now he had to figure out what to do next. He had no idea where Kal'o Kir had teleported to, so he turned his attention away from things he couldn't control and focused on what he could do.

He messaged Trey, who was thankfully awake after his second course of pills, and had him relay the status of all the overseers Trey currently had scouts observing. It was impossible to imagine the overseers hadn't witnessed Kal'o Kir's brazen act in the middle of the settlement, and observing their reactions would be paramount in determining how the overseers would react.

Then he shadowed Nix under the guise of a new face while she went around questioning the people who'd been involved with the incident, so he heard all of the accounts she collected. The conclusion he came to was similar to Nix's, but not exactly the same.

There's someone working for the overseers.

Nix had discarded the theory in favor of the idea that there was somebody working with Kal'o Kir directly, but Devon ultimately thought that theory wasn't looking at the bigger picture and was too narrow minded. For as much as she liked to think of herself as a realist, Nix still had too much faith in humanity as a species to suspect them without reasonable evidence.

Devon didn't have such reservations. He'd scrutinized every one of the people involved and intuitively felt that none of them had been coerced into the job. None of them showed signs of weakness or instability that would likely have come from being forced to betray your own species under the threat of death or dismemberment.

But it was undeniable that somebody was working against the humans, their own people. There was simply no way Kal'o Kir could have gotten into the spot she'd been in without human intervention, and it was unlikely she'd have known to even target Phil unless she'd been tipped off.

It was easy to see why it would be favorable for the overseers to manipulate events in this way. Everyone could see that Kal'o Kir was going rogue. She threatened to throw everything into chaos if she wasn't dealt with. But her target was Eve, someone else who the overseers would want taken care of. The most optimal scenario for Val Kazar was to get Kal'o Kir to draw Eve out in the open, then when the two fought he could send someone to clean up whichever remained.

A human associate would have been optimal for not only getting Kal'o Kir into Arkania, but informing her about the importance of Phil to Eve.

The question was who. Devon didn't feel like any of the people who'd been responsible for dragging the massive monster corpse that had been Kal'o Kir's vessel into the settlement, but he wasn't exactly much of a sleuth. It was possible none of them had been responsible. According to their accounts, the ones currently in the settlement weren't the only ones that had been part of the hunting party.

Shit. Why'd it have to be in Arkania?

If this incident had happened in Plainstown Devon would have been able to use Trey's authority to conduct an investigation into every name that came up, but he lacked any sort of authority in Arkania. And going off on his own to question members of Arkania could draw Nix's attention, which he wanted to avoid.

Message known user Eve.

Waiting… Connection established.

[Eve]

I should have known I'd get a message from you next.

[Devon]

You've already been contacted? By who?

[Eve]

Phil. That bitch is using him to relay her demands.

[Devon]

What are you going to do?

If Devon was honest, he wouldn't blame Eve at all for giving him up at this point. He'd fucked up in protecting Phil, so he could only blame himself if things went wrong because of it.

[Eve]

I don't know. I just don't have any idea what I should do.

Devon sensed a deep desperation and sorrow in those words he hadn't been expecting.

[Devon]

How much time is she giving you? Has she hurt Phil at all yet?

[Eve]

Hang on. Okay, she says I have an hour to spill what I know before she touches Phil.

[Devon]

Meet me at Trey's command tent.

Connection closed.

Ten minutes later Eve, Trey, and Devon were all together inside his tent while Susan once again kept everybody else out. Eve paced back and forth through the space as Devon explained what had happened to Trey.

"So what have your scouts seen?" Devon asked.

You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.

"Nothing unusual. All of the overseers we're keeping track of have shown no abnormal movements. Although we're only keeping track of around 20, that's as much as I could justify to people without explaining why," Trey responded.

"And some of those are in the forest as well?"

"Yeah, about half of them. I knew we'd need a good split."

"Why does it matter?" Eve interrupted them, frustrated.

"It matters because we need to know how the overseers are responding. Unless I'm mistaken this event was orchestrated by Val Kazar using a human as his proxy, and the movements of the overseers could give us a clue of their next move. And so far it seems like there's little out of the ordinary."

"So what does that mean?"

"It means he wants to keep whatever happens quiet, not stir up any more trouble than Kal'o Kir has already caused. Most likely what he wants out of this situation is your death, Eve. A one on one fight between you two would be the most optimal situation, and after that he'd have one of the other overseers swoop in and finish off whoever remained. A single overseer would suffice, there'd be no need to involve any of the others."

Eve scowled, "Dammit, and just as I was ready to leave all this shit behind. Found the perfect spot and everything."

"Like it or not, your strength is a beacon. Even so, the situation is partially my fault."

"What? How?"

"I was there yet I couldn't stop Kal'o Kir from taking Phil away. I'm sorry, Eve."

Eve was silent for a moment before she said, "If you're willing to take the blame then surely you won't hold it against me for doing whatever I need to do to get Phil back."

"That's right. If you want to give in to Kal'o Kir's demands then that's fine."

"But Devon," Trey said, "Her target is you. If Eve gives you up-"

"Eve sharing the intelligence she has with Kal'o Kir is a much more preferable outcome than losing Phil, or having Eve rush in without a plan and dying. But it isn't exactly a very good idea."

"Explain why," Eve said, "If I give you up then Kal'o Kir has a different target to chase, and Phil will no longer matter to her."

"She won't have a different target to chase at all. Eve, the problem with the intelligence you can share is that you know nothing of value."

"The hell are you talking about?"

"Let's say you tell her I can switch my identity at will. What's she going to do, remember and categorize every face and level within both settlements to try and spot discrepancies? You telling her I can change my face changes nothing because all she knows is that I'm somewhere.

"Then let's say you tell her my fighting style and weapon, both of which you've seen. Then I change what weapon I use. Of all the humans within the tutorial, the number that have actually seen my primary weapon can be counted on a single hand, making it yet another completely useless identifier.

"Do you think Kal'o Kir, the butcher of the settlements, will find the goodness in her heart to release Phil in the face of such worthless intel? No, she'll keep Phil as her hostage and force you to do whatever she wants until she gets to me, which wouldn't happen because you'd never see me again. And if you took hostile action against Trey or the settlements you'll be cut down because you're all alone. Ultimately Eve, you have nothing. No valuable information and no cards to play."

"You son of a-"

Devon held up a hand, "That's why I'll give you a card to play. Connect to Phil and have him tell Val Kazar that I want to talk."

"Why not just message Phil yourself?"

"There's nobody in the whole of the tutorial other than you two here in this room that knows that Phil and I know each other, so Kal'o Kir shouldn't have any idea that Phil is connected to me. It's probably the only reason Kal'o Kir isn't torturing Phil. So we need to use you and Phil as a relay so Kal'o Kir doesn't start suspecting our lovable old man as knowing more than he seems."

"All right," Eve said before staring into space, working through a message chain visible only to her. After a minute she said, "Okay, the bitch is there."

"Tell her, 'I'm beginning to tire of your childish floundering. It's pointless and more of an annoyance than anything. So I'll give you a chance, a singular chance, to confront me. But only if you can beat Eve in a one on one fight. Otherwise you're just not worth my time.'"

Devon was a little surprised when Eve nodded impassively, not even bothering to contest the idea that Devon was stronger than her.

"But wait," Trey said, "Isn't a one on one fight between those two what you think Val Kazar wants?"

"That's right. Val Kazar is betting on them weakening each other to the point that the one remaining will be easy to pick off. But that won't happen because she won't be alone."

"Eve," He said, pointing at her, "Before Kal'o Kir's response comes through tell Phil to say this, 'Your response will of course be, 'Why should I believe you or she would honor such a duel?' Of course, I won't sit back and run while Eve fights my battle. I'll be there, off to the side waiting. In the event that anyone other than Eve attempts to interfere with the duel you will be free to end Phil's life. This is your only chance. Accept these terms or I will cut ties with Eve and you'll never get another chance to see so much as my shadow.'"

"Why would Kal'o Kir ever agree to that when there's no way she could retain control of Phil in the middle of a duel with Eve?" Trey asked.

"She'll say a close friend will be watching Phil to make sure the rules of the duel aren't breached. That'll be the human she's working with watching over Phil. But Val Kazar won't allow them to stay within the role Kal'o Kir wants. All Val Kazar cares about is that Eve and Kal'o Kir fight, he probably couldn't care less about Phil. So he'll force the human to take action, targeting me. After all, Kal'o Kir isn't the only one desperate for information on the elusive assassin of overseers."

"So you'll pretend to engage them with only the two of you while bringing the squad I've been helping you put together to come in after you're done?" Trey asked.

"...The squad isn't ready yet."

"What?"

"They're not ready. If we let them in on this operation there's a chance they'll fuck it up, and the consequences of that could be disastrous. What I'm most worried about is them being seen or springing the trap too early, causing Kal'o Kir and the human to both bolt. Our objectives are to kill Kal'o Kir, kill or capture the human working for the overseers, rescue Phil, and survive."

"You can't possibly expect that both of you will be able to accomplish that by yourselves. Even if you both manage to win your own fights Do you think the two of you are walking armies or something?"

You're right Trey. This course of action isn't very befitting of a schemer. I'm rushing boldly into danger headfirst. But there's no time. The only way to accomplish all four objectives is to force them into a decisive confrontation and bet on our victory.

"Yes, I'll gamble that our strength is great enough to overcome this crisis."

"And what if Val Kazar sends a high level overseer after you instead of the human?"

"I can't deny that possibility, but I don't think it'll happen. Val Kazar will likely be looking for an opportunity for that human to prove themselves and earn their keep of whatever kind of relationship they've got going. Most likely the human simply wants to be given safe passage from the tutorial after they figured out what the overseers were planning. I'm sure there are at least a few that have figured it out by now and kept to themselves."

Trey cursed, "I hate having to sit here while you two go out and fight the important battle."

"We've each got our own part to play. Yours is to keep track of the overseer's movements and let us know if anything seems suspicious. It's possible Val Kazar will learn of the situation we're proposing and decide it's worth it to send more overseers to back up the human and the one lying in wait. If that happens we'll have to hightail it as fast as we can."

"What about Phil?" Eve asked, looking away from her system notifications.

"We work something else out afterwards. If that happens Kal'o Kir will likely turn on the human she thought was helping her, and we can only guess how the situation will develop from there. But there's no use throwing our lives away in a futile struggle. That wouldn't help anybody."

Eve nodded, then said, "Kal'o Kir agreed, just like you expected. She'll set the location in an hour. How do we deal with the third threat, the lurking overseer, when we're done taking down our own two targets?"

"I hope we won't have to. If they witness us take down both Kal'o Kir and the human and team up they may decide it isn't worth the risk to fight both of us at the same time."

"And if they do decide it's worth the risk?"

"...Let's scout out the area before we engage to see if there's a nearby terminal we can use to hightail it outta there."