“Once we secure the guard and drone, we’ll signal you to seal the passage.” The last of the instructions flowed out before a sudden lump caught in my throat. I busied myself unnecessarily checking the safeties on the guns I carried to hide the blinking away of tears. I didn’t understand where they came from. Must be the tunnel mold.

“Right,” acknowledged C:\. “Good luck to you all!” He paused and suddenly embraced me. It was a full-on bear hug. I was too shocked to respond, and so was everyone else. The council stood around with wide eyes or sly smirks. Virus cleared her throat, “Ahem, the guard changes in 3 minutes.”

“Great Scott! Enough of this dilly dallying! Let’s go!” C:\ let go of me and led the group to the oddly jutting pipe, just wide enough for a man to climb up the slimy corrugated walls. It ended 5 feet from the ground, requiring each of us to get a boost.

Somewhere behind me I heard, “Ew! Gross! Oh, I broke a nail!” followed by a “Shh!” It was my turn to smirk. Game on.