So Many Questions

Elliot

We're almost to the castle grounds, and I'm ready to taste blood. I want to find ET1 Kane and rip out his throat, but then, I hear a voice I don't know in my head that makes me slow down a little. The other two ET1s I'm running with also slow down, and I wonder if maybe they're getting the same message.

—Hey, ET1s! I know you don't know me, but my name is Diana, and I'm with Kamila.

"Who are you?" I ask immediately.

"Diana!" she says again.

I shake my head. —Yes, I know that, but who are you? What do you want?

—I want you to know that Kamila can't message you right now because ET1 Kane is using some kind of ET1 mind trick to confuse her, but he's not doing that with me.

"Where is she?" Reece asks.

Mark intervenes, "Is he okay?"

-She is fine. She is here in the castle with me. But I wanted you to know that ET1 Kane has his snipers ready for when you and your forces appear in front of the castle.

"Snipers?" I repeat. -What the hell?

I stop running, as do the other two ET1s, as we exchange looks of surprise and shock. I pause my conversation with the mysterious woman to tell all the troops I currently have advancing towards the castle to stop and wait, and I am also in contact with the men I already have fighting in the castle. Why haven't they been hit by these snipers? I don't know the answer, but I'm grateful they weren't.

"It's abysmal to think that ET1 Kane would actually be using weapons!" says Mark.

"He's an idiot!" Reece agrees. We're all still in our ET forms, so we're talking to each other using the mental link, but we're not including our new friend Diana yet.

But then I ask him, "Did you say Kamila is fine?" And does she know we're coming for her?

-If she knows. “She just didn't want them to die trying,” the woman tells us.

“Why are you helping her?” Mark asks, and he sounds so rude that I want to punch him, but I don't currently have a hand. —Why would someone who works at ET1 Kane's castle want to help Kamila?

I look at him suspiciously and say just him and Reece. —Be nice! She is helping.

He does have that look on his face, though. Even as a ET, I can see it. He is thinking that she might be lying to us or trying to set us up to fail.

However, I tend to see the good in people. I tend to as...ume the best in people. Until they show me otherwise. Maybe that makes me wrong about people a lot, and I end up regretting it when they show me that they are not the person I expected them to be, but I think it's better than always looking over my shoulder or as...uming the worst.

“I don't know if it's helping or not!” Mark points out, proving my point about his lack of trust in others.

"I'm helping her because I like her," Diana says, with a slightly sarcastic tone, and I can't blame her. She probably doesn't appreciate her kindness being questioned. —Kamila is a good person, and I would like to see her and her babies get out of here safely. Plus, I hope she'll agree to take me with her when she leaves, and since ET1 Kane is a horrible bastard, I'm looking forward to getting as far away from him as possible.

I can see your point, and I'm about to say it when Mr. Grumpy Pants, Mark, says, "Well, I don't know about that." We can't just have a spy hanging around us, telling our enemies everything.

“A spy?” she repeats, and I can hear that she is offended by his comments. —Listen, I'm just trying to help. She is in a room on the third floor near the front of the castle. If you want anything else, you know where to find me.

With that, he's gone, and I'm left glaring at Mark. "Well done, negative Nancy!" I say.

—Yes!— Reece agrees. "Why can't you just be nice?"

"Me?" Mark asks, looking surprised. "Don't you think there's a chance he's just telling us what Kane wants us to hear?"

-No! “I don't believe it!” I tell him. "Why would Kane want her to tell us that he's about to try to shoot us?"

—Because it's not!—Mark responds. —Maybe he's not going to shoot us, he's just saying that to get us to back off. It worked, didn't it? We are no longer running towards the castle.

I want to tell you where you can put your theory, but we don't have time for that. —Listen, we know he has weapons, and he's willing to use them, so we need to do something he's not expecting.

"What do you think that would be?" Reece asks.

"I think... we can send some of our troops from the front, as long as they know what they're up against, and spend more time weaving than actually attacking, luring Kane's own ET´s and using them as shields while we surround and join in." With our forces already fighting, we break through the defenses, and appear on the flanks of the snipers. Maybe they won't realize we're there until it's too late.

“That sounds like a solid plan to me,” Reece says. "It's a shame we weren't able to ask Diana how many snipers there were or what's going on with them before she abruptly left." She is also staring at Mark.

"You never distrust anyone, and that's going to take its toll on you," he says, shaking his ET head. -Alright. "Let's do it," he agrees. We send the information we need to our men, and we have several volunteers who are willing to distract the snipers, which is notable because it is dangerous.

Then Mark and Reece head north, and I head south so we can circle from opposite sides and surprise Kane.

As I run, I try to communicate with Diana again. "Listen, I'm sorry about ET1 Mark," I tell him. —He is simply a negative person.

"I don't like it," he says in an angry voice.

"Sometimes I don't either," I admit. —But if you could do everyone a favor and take Kamila to a safe place, like in the back of the castle, near a door where we can get her out, and even hide her from ET1 Kane in case he looks for her to use and to make us stop fighting, I would appreciate it, and I will make sure that you are generously rewarded.

Diana is quiet for a moment, and I think she might say no, but then she says, "I'll do you an even better favor." I'll take her directly to you.

"But... what about the fight?" I ask.

She replies: —I can manage with that.