Xander's breath came in ragged gasps as he pushed harder. His armor, a second skin that usually brought him comfort, now felt like lead weighing him down. His spear bobbed awkwardly in his grip, its tip occasionally scraping the asphalt beneath them as the party raced through the streets of Champaign. The undead army wasn't far behind. The thudding rhythm of their march, growing louder with every passing second, echoed off the empty buildings around them. It felt like the world itself was crumbling under the weight of their enemy's approach.

Jo ran beside him, her movements swift and agile despite her own exhaustion. She clutched her one-handed sword tightly, the blade catching the moon's dim light. Xander caught the way she stole a glance behind them, her face paling as she caught sight of the sickly green radiance of the undead. It was like death itself was breathing down their necks. And it was getting closer.

"They're gaining on us," Jo said, looking over her shoulder.

Xander didn't respond. He couldn't. He was in too much pain and exhausted; they all were. There wasn't time to waste on reassurances or empty promises, especially when he wasn't sure he believed them himself. Instead, he gritted his teeth and focused on the tracks ahead. The shortcut had given them some advantage, but it wouldn't last. The trains were still a few blocks away, and every muscle in his body screamed for rest.

From behind them, the low groan of the undead reverberated through the air. It was a sound that churned Xander's stomach. The Simulation had unleashed horrors beyond what he thought was possible. What used to be soldiers, animals, and even townsfolk now formed the grotesque army that marched toward them, mindless and merciless.

Zoey was lagging. Her bow was slung over her back as she stubbornly dragged a small sack of loot with her from their encounter with the patrols. Typical Zoey, Xander thought, always looting, always grabbing whatever she could, even at what looked to be their end. She shot Xander a grin, sweat dripping from her forehead.

"Can't leave this behind," she panted. "Might be the last treasure we ever see."

Xander wasn't sure whether to laugh or curse. He didn't have the energy for either.

Ahead, the southern edge of Champaign was finally in sight. The two steam locomotives, their massive engines puffing out thick clouds of smoke, loomed like saviors in the darkness. Harvey's party was a dozen paces ahead, waving them forward, his faces etched with fear and urgency. The heavyset warrior ran at the front of the group, his voice cut through the night.

"Move! Get to the train!" Harvey shouted, his voice strained with a mix of frustration and panic. "We've got seconds. Pour it on!"

The party pushed harder, but Xander could feel the weight of exhaustion pulling at them. Every step felt like wading through mud. Jo stumbled, her foot catching on a loose cobblestone, and Xander reached out to grab her, pulling her upright before she hit the ground. She didn't say anything, but the look she gave him was one of gratitude and quiet desperation.

They were all running on fumes.

Behind them, the glow intensified, casting grotesque shadows that twisted and warped in the moonlight. The sounds of the undead grew louder, filling the night with a sense of impending doom. Xander glanced back just once and immediately wished he hadn't. The army was closer than he thought, its front lines nearly visible now. Hundreds of figures, all moving as one, like an unholy tide. There was no stopping them.

"Faster!" Xander barked, his voice raw from exertion. His heart hammered in his chest, not just from the effort but from the cold realization that it might not be enough even if they made it to the trains. The trains couldn't outrun what was coming. And Starlight, their last hope, wouldn't hold against a force like this.

The thought sent a shiver down his spine. They'd fought so hard and sacrificed so much. And now… now it felt like everything was slipping through his fingers.

Ford struggled beside his older brother. Ford's face was flushed, and his breath labored as he stumbled along. Kane kept a steadying hand on his back, pushing him forward, the remains of his shattered shield clutched in his other hand. Xander could see the concern in Kane's eyes, though the tank's expression remained stoic.

"We're almost there," Kane said quietly to his brother, though Xander wasn't sure if he was trying to convince Ford or himself.

The ground shook beneath their feet as they finally reached the trains. Harvey's party was already scrambling aboard, Wyatt helping pull Jo up onto the first car while the rest of Xander's group piled on, one by one. The hiss of the steam engine was loud in Xander's ears, the heat from the locomotive's boiler a sudden, suffocating warmth compared to the night's chill.

Xander's legs burned as he hoisted himself up onto the car, his fingers barely gripping the edge of the door before he collapsed inside. Zoey fell beside him moments later, her loot sack clattering onto the floor with a dull thud. She flashed him a grin, though it was weaker now, the strain of the run clear on her face.

"Made it," she said between gasps, though the tone in her voice made it clear she wasn't sure how much that really meant.

Xander's gaze shifted to the city behind them. The ominous glow had swallowed Champaign, creeping ever closer to the tracks. The moan of the undead army, the rhythmic pound of their march, was a constant reminder that they were not far enough from danger. His hands clenched into fists as the train's wheels ground against the rails as they picked up speed. Slowly at first, agonizingly slow, then steadily increasing as the engines piled on the steam.

The city faded behind them, becoming a blur. But the dread in Xander's chest didn't disappear. If anything, it deepened. He knew the truth that the undead wouldn't stop. They would follow the tracks, follow them all the way to Starlight. And Starlight wouldn't stand a chance.

Harvey's heavy footsteps approached as Xander picked himself off the floor to lean against the nearby doorway. Harvey's usually steady face was pale, his jaw clenched tight as he looked back at the fading city.

"We've bought ourselves some time," Harvey said, though the grim tone in his voice made it clear he didn't think it was enough.

Xander nodded, though he didn't trust his voice to respond. His throat was too tight, his mind racing with the same fears. Time. That was all they had now. And even that felt too short.

Jo settled beside him, her breath still coming in shallow bursts. She wiped a hand across her brow, then glanced at him with a determined and weary look.

"We'll figure something out," she said, her voice low but filled with quiet resolve.

Xander wished he shared her confidence, but all he could think about was the endless army behind them. He could feel the weight of failure pressing down, heavier than his armor, heavier than the spear and warpick at his side. He'd promised himself he wouldn't make the same mistake again, that he wouldn't let anyone else die because of him. But how could he keep that promise now when the world itself seemed to unravel?

The train lurched again as they picked up speed, leaving the last remnants of Champaign behind. South toward Starlight, the tracks stretched before them. But as Xander stared into the distance, all he could see was the growing shadow of the undead army creeping ever closer. The force was unstoppable.

Xander stood at the rear of the last passenger car, his gaze locked on the dark countryside that raced by in a blur outside the window. The rumble of the train filled the tense silence between him and the others. His mind was racing just as fast. None of this made sense. The undead relentlessly approached them, drawn like moths to a flame. There should have been no way for them to track the train's movement so accurately.

"This makes little sense. They shouldn't have made a beeline for us," Xander said. "They're tracking us."

Standing a few feet away with his arms crossed, Gary nodded grimly. "They're adjusting their course to match ours. That shouldn't be possible. Not with a full-scale battle to the north." His lips pressed into a thin line. "That battle should have distracted them."

Xander tightened his grip on his spear. "It's deliberate. They're being led straight to us, but how? You don't think it's the AI directing them to us, do you?"

The question hung in the air, unanswered. Xander's frustration bubbled beneath the surface, stoked by the gnawing sense that they were missing something obvious, something dangerous.

Thalindra broke the silence, stepping forward from her spot near the wall. Her voice was calm, but carried the weight of realization. "The AI wouldn't do that. That's not how they operate. There's a lure. That's the only explanation," she said. "Something aboard this train is drawing them in."

Xander frowned, the simmering anger in his chest flaring at the idea. A lure. How had they missed it? And why now? The attack hadn't started until they were deep into Champaign's ruins. That was far too convenient.

"How could a lure be onboard? None of us would've knowingly brought something like that." Xander's voice was tight, holding back the full force of his rage. Whoever had orchestrated this had thrown them into the middle of an ambush, putting everyone at risk. His gaze flicked to Thalindra. No, that made little sense. The sabotage had started long before they'd met her.

Thalindra met his gaze, her expression unreadable. "It didn't start until we were deep in Champaign," she repeated, reaffirming her earlier point. "That means someone timed it."

Gary leaned forward, the tension thickening around him. "It's gotta be the saboteur's work, then. Someone planned this." His voice carried a sharp edge, the words coming out like a curse. "Someone compromised us from the start."

The saboteur. They had been one step ahead of them the whole time, constantly throwing them off course, keeping them on the defensive. Whoever it was, they were still here, waiting, watching. Fury surged through him. Someone had blindsided them again.

"I'll go find it," Thalindra said, breaking through Xander's brooding silence. "I know what to look for." Without waiting for a response, she turned on her heel and headed toward the front of the train.

Xander just watched her go for a moment, his thoughts swirling with suspicion again. That seemed convenient. She'd find it? She knows what to look for. His instincts flared, pushing him to question Thalindra's true motives, but reason pulled him back. The timing of finding her was suspicious, but he couldn't ignore the facts. He needed to trust her, at least for now.

Gary shifted, breaking Xander's thoughts. "You think she's right?" he asked, his voice low.

Xander sighed, forcing the suspicion from his mind. "She's right. There's no other explanation." He rubbed a hand over his face, trying to push back the frustration. "But we need more than answers. We need to know who's doing this."

Harvey, who had been quiet until now, finally spoke. "We've been a step behind since the start. We get hit with something else whenever we think we're gaining ground." His tone was level, but there was a hard edge beneath it. "This can't go on."

Gary crossed his arms and stared at the floor momentarily before looking back at Xander. "Back in Starlight," he started slowly, "You saw Charlie Osborn talking to Lucy. Well, I also saw Charlie talking to one engineer later that day. Meant little at the time, but now I'm wondering." He shifted uncomfortably, his expression darkening.

Xander straightened, his eyes locking onto Gary's. "And you're just telling us this now?"

"Lots of people talking to the folks that joined the expedition," Gary said, clearly frustrated with himself. "But now, after everything that's happened..."

"It matters now," Xander snapped, his voice harsh, the anger rising in his chest. "Dammit!"

Gary's expression hardened, but he didn't back down. "Do you think I'm not angry too? We're all caught in this trap."

Xander let out a breath, his jaw clenched. He hated how right Gary was. They had all been caught off guard. Whoever this saboteur was, they were smarter than any of them had given credit for.

"You're right, I apologize. I'm just frustrated. I'm sure we all are," Xander said, taking a deep breath and counting to ten to calm down. "We couldn't very well accuse everyone that's had a conversation with Charlie or Lucy of being a saboteur. No matter how much I think, both are up to no good."

Minutes stretched on in tense silence as they waited for Thalindra's return. When she finally reappeared, she was holding a small device in her hands. Her face was a mask of controlled anger as she placed the lure on the floor before them. "This spectral cat actually found it in one boxcar," she said, her voice clipped as she tried to shoo Cabbot away, only to be met with a look most murderous from the cat. "It was buried under a pile of cargo; it wasn't well hidden once this creature called attention to it. Small, but powerful enough to pull the undead toward us."

Stolen novel; please report.

"Spectral cats are quite annoying to get rid of once they appear. Hopefully, this one will move on once the lure is deactivated." Thalindra said, as she once again tried to shoo Cabbot away.

Cabbot was switching between glaring at the lure and Xander, her tail twitching back and forth. Xander could have kicked himself if he wasn't so infuriated by there being a lure. Of course, Cabbot would have been able to find it quickly. She was, after all, a type of undead.

With a quick motion, Thalindra deactivated the device. Only after Thalindra deactivated, the device did Xander notice the absence of a slight pressure he hadn't previously acknowledged. He liked it to someone not noticing the hum of a light fixture until the light was actually turned off and it was the absence of the noise that attracted attention.

"Now go away, pest." Thalindra said once again toward Cabbot, only to be met with another death glare.

Ignoring the exchange, Xander quickly pulled his binoculars from his survival belt to see if there was a change in the army's approach. There was nothing for a moment. Then he saw it: the undead faltered. The horde's relentless advance wavered for the first time since they'd left Champaign. It was still coming; they hadn't changed the inevitable now that they were on the move, but they had bought themselves some additional time. However, the relief was fleeting. He turned back to the group, his mind already racing. They found the lure, but its planter remained at large.

"We're not done," Xander said, his voice sharp as he looked back toward the group. "We're putting it back."

Gary shot him a confused look. "What? After all this?"

"Exactly," Xander replied as he moved toward the exit. "Whoever planted it will come back to check on it now that it is not working. When they do, we'll be waiting."

Xander moved through the narrow passageway of the train. He kept his gaze ahead, but his mind was miles away, churning over the decision that now weighed on his shoulders. This had to be the work of the cult. He was positive about it. Not only was he positive, but as the thoughts of who was behind this swirled in his mind, he vowed to himself that he would end the cult threat. Maybe not globally, but to the ones that he loved.

As soon as he made that mental conviction, he paused. But why? Why was it always him who had to make these calls? Why did the responsibility fall squarely on his shoulders as though he were some hero in a story he never asked to be part of? It gnawed at him, a sharp edge of resentment he didn't dare voice aloud. He wasn't a legend, he wasn't the main character, yet here he was, leading the charge, making decisions that could mean life or death for everyone.

I'm not the hero in this story, he thought bitterly. He didn't want to be. He never asked for any of this. Alex's death, the endless battles, and now this, leading them into a trap that could just as quickly be their undoing. Every decision felt like it was teetering on the edge of disaster, and he was the one who had to make the call whether or not they fell.

Jo followed closely behind him, silent but watchful. He knew she trusted him. That was why he kept stepping up to the challenge, he reasoned. It wasn't because he had some kind of savior complex but a commitment to do whatever he could to protect the ones that he loved. Xander's grip tightened on the doorframe as they passed into the next car. The train groaned beneath them, the sound echoing in his chest like a reminder of everything that was still ahead.

Xander pushed open the door to the next car, his eyes darting to the dim lantern light swaying above. The others followed him, trusting in his lead without hesitation, and he felt the weight of that trust settle heavily on his chest. They had been through hell together, but no matter how much he tried to share the burden, it always circled back, as if fate had decided he was the one who had to bear it.

His boots thudded across the metal floor as he entered the last car, the boxcar where they would lay the trap. Cabbot sat on a box nearby with a tarp that had been thrown to the side. It didn't take a mastermind to figure out what his spectral companion was trying to show him. Xander placed the lure on the box lid before pulling the tarp back across. How did it come to this? What mental gymnastics had the cultists had to make to determine the trains and Starlight had to be eliminated?

"Shoo, you annoying creature," Thalindra said as she waved her hands at the cat.

The others followed in silence, and Xander could feel their expectation of him correcting Thalindra, but he now had other things on his mind. Jo's presence was steady, but even now, he couldn't help but wonder if she ever saw him for what he really was. A man trying to hold everything together but crumbling beneath the weight of it all.

I'm not the main character, Xander reminded himself, looking over the room where they laid their trap. I'm just the guy willing to burn down the world to save his friends.

The boxcar was deathly still with the only sound the faint creaking of the metal as the train rumbled steadily forward. Now dormant, the undead lure sat ominously in its hiding place, a silent testament to their precarious situation. Xander's stomach churned at the thought of it as he crouched behind a stack of crates, waiting. Every breath he took seemed endless, as if extending each moment in time. They had one chance to catch the saboteur and one chance to figure out why the Cult of the Simulation was so intent on sabotaging their mission.

Jo was to his left, sword in hand, her knuckles white. She had spoken little since they'd set the trap. There was something different about her tonight, a distance that hadn't been there before. Xander glanced at her, wanting to ask if she was okay, but he didn't. Now wasn't the time for distractions.

The guards, led by Gary, took up positions around the car, silent shadows waiting for the signal. Thalindra, seated cross-legged on boxes above the lure, appeared calm, though Xander knew her mind must be reeling from the sheer strangeness of everything around her. A woman, out of time, thrust into this chaos, now about to confront the very people who sought to keep her world buried.

"Everyone on the train should have noticed the change in the undead by now. Should be any time," Gary whispered from his position near the door, his voice barely audible.

Xander nodded, keeping his focus sharp. They knew the saboteur would come. They had to. Minutes stretched into an eternity, every creak of the train heightening the suspense. Xander's heartbeat seemed impossibly loud in his ears.

Suddenly, the faintest shuffle of the door sliding open broke the stillness. A figure crept into the boxcar, cloaked and hooded, their movements cautious but purposeful. The saboteur.

The figure hesitated near the lure, glancing around as if sensing the trap. Xander held his breath. Don't move. Not yet. They needed ironclad evidence that this was the person.

The saboteur crouched down, reaching out toward the lure, fingers hovering just above its surface.

"Now!" Gary's voice cut through the tension like a blade.

Xander and the guards surged forward. The saboteur whipped around, eyes wide, but it was too late. Gary tackled him to the ground, pinning his arms behind his back with a swift, practiced motion. Xander was there in an instant, spear leveled at the man's throat.

"Don't move," Xander warned, his voice low, dangerous.

The saboteur stilled, breathing heavily beneath Gary's weight. The hood fell back, revealing a man in his thirties, his face pale, eyes wide with fanatic determination.

"You've lost," Xander said, kneeling down to look him in the eyes. "And now you're going to tell us everything."

The man's lips curled into a smirk. "You think you've won? The Simulation AI sees all. You can't stop what's coming."

Jo shifted beside Xander, her sword wavering back and forth. Xander could feel the tension radiating from her. This was personal for her, but she kept her emotions in check, as she always did.

"Who are you working for?" Xander demanded, keeping his voice even but firm.

"The Cult of the Simulation," the man said with pride. "We are the chosen to ensure that no one interferes with the will of the Simulation. You fools think you can interfere with the divine plan? Our leaders will see you all fall, just as they've planned."

Xander exchanged a quick glance with Jo. Her hard eyes and clenched jaw showed her anger. She had told no one about her time in captivity with the Cult, but Xander had his suspicions. He'd seen her reaction when they first encountered traces of the Cult's involvement.

"You're wasting time," Xander said, leaning closer to the saboteur. "The AI doesn't care about you. You're a line in a database to them."

"This Cult you speak of, does anyone call it the Nexus Arcanum or Conclave Excidii? Tell me!" Thalindra blurted out suddenly as she moved from her cross-legged position to tower over the saboteur.

The saboteur's face flickered with doubt briefly at Thalindra's outburst, but he quickly masked it. "You don't understand. None of you do. The Simulation is perfection. It is our salvation. You can't fight it."

"You're just a tool. Do you think those at the top believe the propaganda you're spouting!?" Jo said suddenly, her voice cold and sharp. The words hung in the air, heavy with something unspoken. Xander glanced at her, seeing the anger simmering just below the surface. "They don't care about you. You're just another piece on their board. Dispensable."

The saboteur blinked, and for the first time, his confidence wavered. Xander pressed in on that weakness.

"You've already failed," Xander continued, his tone steady but relentless. "The trains are still moving. The undead army is still coming, and we will get back to Starlight. So tell me. Why would you sacrifice yourself for a cause that's already lost?"

The saboteur's eyes darted between them, his breathing quickening. He licked his lips nervously, the defiance in his posture crumbling.

"The AI… it's… perfection…" His voice faltered.

"They've been lying to you," Jo said softly, stepping closer. "They always lie."

There was a flicker of recognition in the saboteur's eyes as he looked at Jo, and for a moment, it appeared he might snap back into his fanaticism. But something in Jo's tone seemed to shake him. Maybe it was the way she spoke, like she knew exactly what he was going through.

"They… told me to stop the expedition," the saboteur said, his voice sounding almost ashamed now. "They said… the trains couldn't make it back to Starlight. We had to stop them. The trains weren't the Simulation's will and had to be destroyed as they were a post-crash abomination. And… and recover anything from the old world. Anything from before the crash."

Xander exchanged a quick look with Jo. That was it. The pre-simulation crash. The Cult was after more than just sabotage. They were hunting for the technology they feared.

"And?" Xander pressed. "What else?"

The saboteur's face tightened, but the fear had taken hold now. "They said… they said you'd found something once. One of the control rooms from the pre-crash era. The trains were the principal goal, but if you found another control room, they wanted… wanted artifacts you might have recovered. They want them. Whatever it was… they wanted it."

The room fell into tense silence. Xander's heart pounded in his chest, but he kept his expression neutral.

"And what happens if you don't bring it back?" Jo asked, her voice quiet but firm.

The saboteur swallowed, his eyes wide with fear now. "The AI… it will strike us all down."

Gary stepped forward, his expression grim. "That's not going to happen."

Xander stood, pulling Jo back slightly. "You're done," he said to the saboteur. "You've failed."

The man slumped in Gary's grip, his resistance broken. But as Xander looked into his eyes, he couldn't shake the feeling that the Cult had more waiting in the shadows. Their messaging was a mess. On the one hand, it was a crazy cult, so Xander shouldn't have expected an utterly rational manifesto. Heck, he seemed to remember something about a cult once that thought there was a spaceship following a comet.

This was different, though; it was almost as if there were two distinct messages. The first is the AI that ran the simulation is a god with a small g. However, a different message was under the surface about recovering any artifacts from the control rooms. Recovery is the key there, not destroy. Destroy, he could have understood with the primary message. Recovery meant that someone wanted control.

"Thalindra," Xander said, with a note of suspicion creeping into his voice. "I think we need an explanation of who the Nexus Arcanum and Conclave Exidii are."

"Hold off on answering that for a moment, please," Harvey said, turning to Gary. How about you lock up this piece of trash first? I don't want him listening to confidential information.

"Good call," Xander replied, still staring at Thalindra

"How about we toss him off the back of the train? I'm pretty sure the army following us would be happy to take care of him for us," Gary said with pure hatred in his voice.

"No, we still need to know who his contacts are in Starlight," Harvey replied, jerking his head toward the door so that Gary could get a move on.

"Fair," Gary said as he grabbed the man by his collar and escorted him out the door after accidentally directing him face-first into the door frame. "Sorry about that, mate…"

Waiting until the door had fully closed, Thalindra took a moment to look each of them in the eyes before she began, "I'll spare you the complete history lesson, but the Simulation crash wasn't just a simple event. It was a war. The Conclave Excidii wanted to bring about the end of the AI control of the Simulation. They wanted a world where they were the ones that made the rules. It doesn't work like that, but they wouldn't listen. While they cut off the AI from overseeing the simulation, they didn't get control of it."

"It's been thirteen thousand years; I doubt the organization is still standing," Harvey said skeptically.

"No, but look at how many secret societies actually exist. I'm not talking about the one that the crackpots like to claim was secretly running the world. Numerous actual organizations go back a long way in history and have grown. So I'm not going to discount anything," Xander mused. "Now that being said, the cult just seems to be another cult. However, there's always the possibility of someone else pulling the strings."

"I suppose you're right," Harvey agreed. "Nothing to be done about it right now, though. Thank you, Thalindra."

Harvey switched thoughts and continued, "That army is still coming, be it slower than before. Unless anyone has any better ideas, I'm going to have them pour on the steam to get us to Starlight as quickly as possible. We'll drop a small group of scouts at Tolono as an early warning system while we fortify the safe zone further ahead of the attack." Seeing no argument or feedback from the group, he left to signal the engineers while everyone wandered off to their own devices.

As there was nothing to do but wait, Xander took the opportunity to follow Jo for some one-on-one time. It certainly wasn't going to be like the long summer nights they spent on their screened-in porch talking the night away about their hopes and dreams, but Xander could tell that Jo was struggling and trying to deal with that struggle all by herself.

"You ok?" Xander asked as the pair took a seat on the roof of the boxcar they had just been in.

"Yep, perfectly good. Don't worry about me; I'm more concerned about you." Jo responded with a fake bravado.

There it was, Xander thought. She's too busy trying not to weigh me down with her troubles because I'm still dealing with mine. "I thought we had agreed back in Starlight to work through our troubles together?" He said with a playful grin to keep the mood light as he nudged her shoulder with his own.

"Let me tell you a secret," Xander continued before she could respond. "You know my actual class, Crusader. The Simulation gave it to me when my conviction to find you became the foundation of every decision I made. Some people might think this was some white knight syndrome. I rode in on my white horse to save the girl. Then stand triumphantly on the corpses of my enemies, wind blowing my trench coat back as some hero's cape, the rescued girl at my feet…"

"Scantily clad, I'm sure," Jo interrupted, her gloom cracking slightly at his antics.

"I mean, duh. It wouldn't be a triumphant pose if not," Xander chuckled before continuing, "But seriously, if I'm being candid with myself, I wasn't running off hellbent for leather to save you. I was saving myself because without you, then the very foundation I've built myself on would be gone."

"Part of that is ensuring I don't lose you because you lost yourself. So, keep that in mind."

"So what you're saying is that I should think about how my struggles impact you," Jo quipped again with a larger smirk.

"You're getting it!" Xander said excitedly. Now that we're on the same page, let me ask again. Are you okay?" None of what he had said was entirely true, at least to the point he had exaggerated, and he knew Jo knew it, too. Yes, his mad dash across the state was just as much about him saving her to save himself, but it also wasn't as selfish as he was exaggerating it to be. They were a team, which meant that he'd burn down the world if it meant getting to her, but also, the reverse was true. She'd do the same thing for him.

"It's the Cult of the Simulation. I'm not ready to talk about what they did to me, but suffice it to say, I hate them. We're talking villain origin story level hate." She finally confessed after a few moments. "I want to root them out of every hole, tear down every stronghold, and place their heads on spikes in neat little rows."

"And those thoughts scare me. You and I both know what lies at the end of a path of hate. I want to make the cult pay, but I don't want to lose myself either."

"Then how about we stick to the plan and walk the path together? You and me, not trying to save the world. We're just trying to enforce the don't start nothing, won't be nothing rule." Xander said, pulling her in for a hug. "Deal?"

"Deal. I'll stop working on my villain monologues," Jo replied.

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