Chapter 67 - A Distraction?

Vicky looked out the window, it was evening, she had waited for an hour for Connor to return. She sighed and walked towards the kitchen.

Cora was in the kitchen preparing dinner.

"Cora! I need you to lock all the doors. Wait till dad arrives, and open the door only for him. Then lock the door again, and tell him that I went to the game," Vicky said.

"Yes, Miss Vicky," Cora replied. Vicky nodded to Cora, and walked to her room.

Vicky stepped into the pod, and woke up in the safe house. She looked around the living room, where she and Mia fought. Vicky sighed and headed out.

"Going somewhere?" Mia asked, leaning on the wall of the house, as soon as Vicky walked out the door.

"I thought you didn't want to talk," Vicky said.

"I never said I didn't want to talk," Mia said, walking towards Vicky. She stood in front of Vicky, and continued "I think you want to help me get rid of the bad guys."

"But not by becoming one," Vicky replied.

Mia laughed at what Vicky said. She stared at Vicky and said "You've always been one of the bad guys."

"No!" Vicky replied.

"Aww… you're more delusional than I thought. I guess this is what happens when you spend time with adults," Mia said.

"We are adults, Mia," Vicky replied.

"We're adults when they want us to be adults. And then we suddenly become too small to understand things, because we haven't lived long enough to understand how the world works," Mia said, staring at Vicky, she then continued "The good guys never win. Do you want to lose?"

"I'd rather lose, knowing that I did the right thing," Vicky replied.

"What happened to the friend I knew?" Mia asked.

"She grew up," Vicky replied.

Mia laughed and said "More like she turned stupid. She found new friends, and abandoned her old ones."

"I'm not abandoning you. You're my best friend, and you always will be. You know too much about me to not be my best friend," Vicky replied.

"We still don't know what exactly Manic was trying to do… or the motive behind it. Caiden's still alive, and so is Alex. They could break out of prison at any time. You think Wyatt would keep his stepson in prison for a long time?" Mia asked.

"Icicle! Meet me at the barracks. We need to talk," Claire said, in Vicky earpiece.

"I'll be there," Vicky said, holding her earpiece.

"Who was that? Your new best friend?" Mia asked.

"It was Claire. And she's not my best friend," Vicky replied.

"Look at that. They want their attack dog back… What I don't understand is how dumb you are? After all those times they tried to capture you, you're teaming up with them?" Mia asked, and continued "You'll soon be a traitor too."

"You coming?" Vicky asked, taking a step away from Mia.

"I'm not their lapdog," Mia said.

Vicky looked at her and spawned her bike, heading out to the barracks.

Once Vicky arrived at the base, she was led to the barracks by a soldier.

"Icicle! You're here. I need to show you something," Claire said, bringing a small tablet-like device to Vicky.

Vicky looked at the device. On the screen was a video. The video showed a man with a full suit, and mask breaking into the labs.

"When did this happen?" Vicky asked.

"The same day you and Crystal broke into the labs," Claire replied.

The man stole a device from the labs, and vanished into thin air.

"How did he do that? What was the device?" Vicky asked.

"I think that's his power. To become invisible. The device is a weapon in testing. It can destroy a whole city, if it's placed in the correct place," Claire replied.

"Why do you have a device that can destroy cities?" Vicky asked.

"It wasn't made by us. Do you remember that team of scientists you helped Manic in kidnapping? They were forced to make the device. It has never been tested before, but theoretically it has the ability to destroy the city," Claire replied.

"What happened to the scientists?" Vicky asked.

"They were allowed to logout. Each of them died in what seemed to be like accidents," Claire replied.

"So this is not over yet?" Vicky asked.

"This will never be over. We are not fighting one person. We are fighting an organisation that wants to destroy our company by any means, so that our technology on virtual reality will be sold to them. We don't know why they want this technology," Claire replied.

"Claire!" Wyatt said walking into the barracks. He looked at Vicky and added "Perfect! You're already here."

"What is it, dad?" Claire asked.

"We tracked down the infiltrator at the lab. He's currently online. We need to capture him," Wyatt said.

"I'll prepare a team," Claire said, almost walking out of the barracks.

"No! We need to go stealth on this one. He sees a team coming towards him, he's going to run. We need to stealth on this one. I'll go with… Icicle," Wyatt said.

"Dad! It might not be safe out there," Claire said, turning to her father.

"No one's safe anywhere, as long as those guys have that device," Wyatt said.

"Just stay safe," Claire said, and hugged Wyatt. Claire walked to Vicky and added "You stay safe too. Don't want Connor trying to kill us too."

Vicky looked at Claire, and then at Wyatt.

"Are we going to go? Or stand here the whole day?" Vicky asked.

"I'll be safe," Wyatt said, looking at Claire. He turned to Vicky and continued "This collar should stop his powers from working. We get there, find him. You freeze time, put the collar on him, we capture him and get out." Connor handed Vicky a metal collar.

"Let me guess. I need to press this button for it to work?" Vicky asked.

"Yes!" Wyatt replied.

"Great explanation. Leave the most important part out, right?" Vicky asked. She looked at Wyatt, and walked out of the barracks.