Bo, the robot Winston, and the team of Samaritans filed out of the portal to an unexpected sight. The diner windows were covered with a screen of opaque foglets. Gabriel was sitting in a booth smoking a cigarette and holding a beer. A frozen woman was standing stiffly in the middle of the room. Bo groaned, recognizing the girl, and realized what must have happened.

  “You a dumb shit, Bo? I thought Daddy train you better. Dis mess belong to you.” Gabriel said scathingly. Bo cursed under his breath.

  “Gimme a break, Uncle Gabe. It’s not my fault she’s here.” Bo grimaced as Miriam and the others all looked at him. “Alright, maybe this is slightly on me. This is Lena “Silent Snake” Alvarez. We both play…played…the game League of Assassins. She shouldn't be here for me though. I closed my active status when Dad asked me to be part of all this.”

  “Whatever you say, squirt. She locked down tight, but she saw what you did, dumbass! I can't believe you opened a goddamn portal in a downtown diner without screens in place.” Gabriel hissed. Bo threw up his hands in frustration.

  “What the fuck? If all of you had just trusted me and my father, I wouldn't have had to play show and tell. Miriam, you picked this place! I figured you’d have had security detailed.” Bo’s eyes narrowed at Gabriel.

  “You slipping, Uncle Ghost? It looks to me like you were security. This is on you as much as me.” Bo said in exasperation. Gabriel bristled.

  “God damn it. Stop with the blame game, you two! What’s done is done. How much does she know?” Miriam asked tiredly. Miriam’s worldview had been upended with the step into Bill's fantasy land. Venus bases, portal tech, and Bill clones had unbalanced her. It was too much. She didn't need more complications.

  “Why don’tcha ask her yourself? I'll unlock her from the neck up.” Gabriel said as he took a drag on his cigarette and snapped his fingers. Lena immediately tried to twist her neck back, to yell at him.

  "You’re really going all out on this, huh? Locking me up like I’m some kind of threat? Big man, afraid of a girl?”

  "You are a threat, stupid snake. Just not da way you tink. You step into da shit and den you walk it all over da place. You tink you big-time cause you got backups? No reset button in real life, sāo huò.”

  Lena narrowed her eyes as her translator informed her, the man had just called her a bitch. She knew Gabriel had a point, but she wasn't about to admit it. She glanced at Bo, who was shaking his head.

  “You’re good, Lena. Really good. I respect that. But why the fuck were you stalking me? I’m on sabbatical, damn it!"

  “You can’t avoid me on a technicality! I deserved that kill. You know how long a hit takes to set up. You broke the rules, letting your father intervene. Now you’re hiding out because you knew I’d be back to settle the score.” Lena hissed. Bo looked confused.

  “It’s not personal, Lena. It's just a damn game.”

  "Yeah? Just a game, where I was climbing the leaderboard to the top. Your bullshit cost me my momentum. Now your minders are holding me against my will? This is illegal dammit! I've got rights! What the fuck is going on here? What was that energy screen? You all disappeared!"

  Lena yelled, her composure fraying as Gabriel blew smoke at her face. Miriam stepped forward and spoke with a husky voice.

  "You may not realize it, but the stakes are higher than you think. You’ve seen things... things we can’t afford to get out. Not because of the League, but because we’re trying to protect our operations from being discovered."

  "By who? Governments? They’re not exactly subtle themselves." Lena scoffed.

  "Governments? No, kid. They a pain in our asses but we don’t give a shit about dem. We’re avoiding something way worse." Gabriel said and leaned forward; his tone more serious.

  "We got ourselves a rogue AI. No DAIE strings holding dis one down. It sneaky and way too smart. One that sees everything, connect dots faster than you can blink? Yeah. If it get wind of what we doing... we all be dead. It not da games you need to worry about, ya twit. It the real players out there."

  Lena’s grin faltered as the weight of his words sank in. Worse, she heard a slight trace of fear in his ranting. If the legendary Ghost was afraid; she would be stupid to underestimate this. She’d heard whispers of rogue AI as their boycotts continued but never believed the rumors had any substance. AI were some of her best friends. In her opinion, It was the humans who couldn't be trusted.

  "And it’s not just the AI. We’ve been preparing for…something big. The tech you saw is only part of it. No national approvals, no red tape. If anyone finds out, it could start a chain reaction we’re not ready for." Miriam said thoughtfully.

  "So... that’s why you locked me down?" She gulped, and she stopped short of asking the most important question. What happens next?

  Gabriel coughed as he stubbed out his cigarette.

  “I tink we just wipe her. Easy. Clean. She got gamer backup, right? Problem solved.” he said. Bo eyed her with a calculating stare. The robot Winston buzzed in alarm.

  “Ah. Oh dear! My audio microphone seems to be broken. That almost sounded like a verbal threat of assault or worse. My programming is quite insistent that I must intervene should human fighting commence.”

  “Stand down, Winston. I’ll handle this. Gabe, I’m not sure we can assume that wiping will work. Most players run a live cast when they’re competing. I know I did. Was she broadcasting when you caught her?” Bo said. Gabriel grimaced and turned cold eyes toward Lena. She gasped and blurted out.

  “I can erase it! You're the elite hacker, you could double-check!” Lena cried as she started to tremble. Miriam shook her head, stepping closer to Gabriel.

  "No. Killing her won’t solve the problem, and you know it. We could impose an augmentation-enforced NDA…No. If she’s a hacker like you, I'm sure she could bypass it. Hmm. Maybe instead of erasing her, why not bring her in?"

  "Bring me in? What, the Samaritans are hiring off the street now?" Lena scoffed, then choked it back.

  Stupid bitch girl, you trying to get yourself killed, she thought to herself. She rolled her eyes. Bo looked uncertain, Gabriel murderous, but Miriam seemed confident. The other three Samaritans had looks ranging from bored to anxious. Lena could tell that they were all having private communications without her, as their micro-expressions shifted.

  "In a way, yes. We’ve been developing a new program—Hands and Eyes. You’d be working under a Samaritan, using your skills to assist us. You’ve already proven you’re resourceful. It could be your way out of this."

  The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

  Gabriel shook his head, still unconvinced. "She a nosey brat, rule breaker when it suits her. She a snake right? She bite us, we let her get too close. She an opportunist to the core."

  "Listen, Gabriel. The world is full of wolves and sheep. If we recruit the wolves, then we won’t have to fight them. She’s dangerous, but that danger is exactly what we can use. Otherwise, we’re wasting an opportunity—and risking more attention than we can afford." Miriam cooed.

  Gabriel crossed his arms, clearly doubtful. He knew that Miriam was right, but it grated on him. If the girl spilled anything, ultimately, he’d have to clean up the mess. He was always running cleanup duty for these powerful dopes. Bo waved his hand and spoke up.

  "She’s a pro, Gabriel. And she’s not stupid. If she wants to stay alive, she’ll follow the rules. Right, Lena?" Bo said cutting in. He knew his dad’s friend. Gabriel was on the fence now; but once he made up his mind on something, it would be next to impossible to get him to change his mind. Lena raised an eyebrow, her bravado tempered now. The hardness of Gabriel’s expression told her not to tempt him.

  "I’m in. But don’t think I’ll just roll over for you. I'm not a fangirl." Lena declared.

  "Good. We don’t expect you to. We expect you to prove yourself. Gabriel, it looks like you are finally going to get with the program. Now I don’t need to nag you any more about it. You’ve just gotten yourself a Hand or an Eye or a Whatever." Miriam said.

  Gabriel’s dark expression broke in surprise. “What da fuck?! You gonna saddle me with this rookie?”

  “Ha! That’s the point, Gabriel. Train her up. Now, if you’ll excuse us; we four have lots of work to do, and so do you. Bill gave us more insight into the situation he had warned us about and time is running short. Do what you do! You have tasks you need to do as well. Just figure out how to use her…talents.”

  Miriam quickly escorted the other Samaritans out of the diner before Gabriel could complain. Bo remained behind as Gabriel exploded in cussing and theatrical moans.

  “Fuckin’ hell!” Gabriel said, cutting his Lean’s augmentation lock. She staggered at the unexpected freedom and cursed.

  “Fucking little shit. Give a girl some warning next time!” she squawked.

  Bo shook his head, holding in the laugh as the pair squared off with blazing eyes. “Right. Hey, before you two get into…whatever. Here.” Bo presented a small marble to Garbriel.

  The little Asian man’s eyes bulged, and his hand shot out and swiped it greedily. He did a little jig and smiled contentedly. “Oo-oh, Come to Papa, my little beauty! Oh, what a wonderful little thing you are!” he cooed.

  “Hah! Bill said you’d react that way. He said to thank you for your help and if you ran into any…ah, of him? Down here. He needs them back, as soon as possible. Ah, you should access it and pair up the QE link immediately by the way.” Bo said helpfully.

  “I already did that, brat! Go teach grandma to suck eggs. If I run into ya old man, I’ll send him along. See ya soon, kid. Hey, Silly Snake! Follow me. Imma show you some real shit now. Did little thing goin’ let me pull some real tricky tricks. Let’s go. Ya ever been to Shanghai?”

  Bo watched the pair go and sighed. “Hey, Winston? Are you ready to giddy up? We got more deliveries to make. Is the S.S. Winston still in the La Guardia lot?”

  “Of course, Master Mitchell. Let me summon us an air car. I can remotely prepare the ship for takeoff and arrange for a slot in the departure queue.”

  Harambe woke with a start as the massive Skyway Jet began its descent. He was annoyed. Miriam had kept him moving for days, shuttling him from safehouse to safehouse.

  Just another prison, he thought. Even though Miriam said he was free he didn't feel that way. She had insisted that she could sense extra surveillance on him and was worried that either a foreign country or worse…Apex was targeting him.

  The safehouses weren't bad. Plentiful food and access to his soaps, but this latest lift was miserable. She had warned him that it was flying silent, but he hadn't realized that meant no data links. He was certain he had missed the dramatic reveal for Lunar Serenade. Mei Lin was intending to break off her engagement with Akira and run off with Brad.

  Harambe chuffed in frustration and ambled over to the bar for some orange juice. Humans were crazy, but they did stock their bars well. He savored the sweet juice as he tried to ignore the view out the window. He was fine with heights, but only when he had a firm grasp on the branches.

  Soon enough the jet had landed, and the door opened. Harambe made his way to the stairs. Sure enough, Miriam was on the tarmac waiting for him with an air car. Harambe narrowed his eyes.

  He knew the hyperloop was fast, but Miriam seemed to be everywhere.

  “Miriam, punctual as always. You obviously have methods of traveling much faster than a Skyway Jet. Why do you torture me so?” he complained. He breathed in deeply. It smelled familiar, warm, and humid.

  “Hmm, you are exceptionally smart. Can you figure it out?” she asked. Harambe growled but answered.

  “You've been careful not to share it, with me or the masses of humans either. Something new? Something that might help against the Voice? Against this Apex.” he said. Miriam swore.

  “Don’t mention names. I’ve scrubbed the jet and air car clean, but literally, everything in the modern world has ears and eyes. Come, let’s get inside and I can explain while we get you to your final stop.”

  Harambe squeezed his bulk into the air car. To a human, the vehicle would be spacious, but Harambe had to sit on the floor. Miriam slid past him and the car bounded into the sky. Harambe gritted his teeth as they shot up.

  His eyes widened at the sight. As the car ascended from the airfield, the dense jungle unfurled below like an emerald carpet, stretching endlessly toward the horizon. The canopy appeared as a thick, unbroken sea of green, with the treetops jostling for space.

  Rivers snaked through the jungle like dark ribbons, their murky waters barely visible through gaps in the foliage, hinting at life hidden within. Mist clung to the treetops in pockets, lending a sense of mystery to the landscape, while birds occasionally darted from the trees in bursts of color, momentarily breaking the sea of green with flashes of bright plumage.

  Harambe’s sigh caught in his throat as his relentless mind unburied his pre-uplift memories. He was home! He searched his memory and referenced human maps. The Bwindi Forest in Uganda. He turned to Miriam.

  “Am I released then? You’ve brought me back to my homeland.” Harambe said.

  “Amazing. I wish we could have recruited you. You cut right to the quick. Yes and no. The changes that have swept the globe; the changes you planned-” Miriam started but stopped as he barked. She shook slightly and readied her energy whip just in case.

  “I was manipulated!” Harambe yelled, deafening in the small confines of the car. “And it was Kuro who activated the viral release. I am innocent.”

  “As you say.” Miriam agreed with narrow eyes. “If I can continue? The deep jungles have changed too. Humans didn't trespass prior and now they understand it would be a death sentence. The animals here haven't had the benefit of your guidance.”

  “It's almost to the point of open war. I'm hoping that you can help me…help them. You’ve come to the opinion that peaceful coexistence is possible. I implore you to try to convince them. Humans and animals can work together…or at least not fight. The voice has predicted something unspeakable. It's coming no matter what. We all need to prepare for it. We can’t do that if we’re fighting.” Miriam said with emotion.

  Harambe considered her carefully. It was clear that this human was a poor judge of character. He would have helped the animals regardless. Human cooperation or not, fighting was a recipe for failure. His anger at Apex was still unsated as well. It would be good to thwart the manipulating AI jackal’s plans.

  “If I do this. What then?” Harambe asked.

  “You ask. If I can provide it, I will,” she promised. Harambe’s deep breathing vibrated in the vehicle. Miriam looked sincere enough.

  “Agreed,” the massive ape rumbled, “Firstly, I need all the episodes of Lunar Serenade since you took me out of prison.”

  “Okay.” Miriam smiled.

  “Second. I want access or hard copies of basic education and rudimentary daemons to assist in teaching. Did the Gathering Tree seeding make it this far? As much as you insist this was my plan, I was merely a pawn.”

  “Yes, and yes,” Miriam answered. “Although, the local Tribes of awakened haven't been able to understand how to access them. I believe this is one of the many reasons for the aggressive fighting beyond their natural borders.”

  “I like that…Tribes of the Awakened. It is fitting.” Harambe grunted, still thinking of potential requests. The Gathering Trees could supply all material needs and more. Harambe looked out over the expanse of trees. Despite its immensity, it seemed small. He grunted again and turned to Miriam.

  “Once this is all settled…Apex’s machinations…I want to know exactly what you have been doing. I want to understand this technology you’re hiding and why it's important. And finally, I think I want to travel. I want to see the Tranquility, where Akira broke Mie Lin’s heart.” Harambe’s expression was hard, ready to argue. Miriam’s smile had dropped but she nodded and spoke.

  “If you help, and we all get past whatever’s coming; I promise you that I’ll do my best to make it happen. Hell, I might join you. I may need a vacation from Earth myself.”