Kaleb sat in the dark while he listened to the group of thugs outside the window. He became somewhat concerned when there was talk about finding the source of the outage. But the drunk gangsters quickly forgot about that as they began arguing about who would go do it. Apparently, their orders to remain within their hideout were absolute. Kaleb tried to attach a name to who was giving those orders, but nothing came up. Instead, he was left to stew in an empty room that smelled like burnt wiring.

Milly eventually came out once the smell grew less intense. But she merely laid in his lap and huffed noisily. Kaleb scratched her head with one hand as he waited for Abby to either return or fail so spectacularly that he had to help. But so far, nothing had happened. It had been nearly fifteen minutes and Kaleb was getting bored. So he played with Milly a bit, counted the cracks in the room's ceiling, and gave backstories to the thugs outside the window. They were still drunkenly arguing about nonsense even as they complained about the 'blackout.'

Eventually, he grew so bored that he laid down on his side and curled up with Milly in his arms. The alien marmot chittered in indignation before falling quiet and huffing angrily. She squirmed until she was comfortable and the two of them continued to wait. Kaleb was starting to imagine Abby getting caught and how he'd have to jump out the window and deal with the drunken thugs. Blasting his way through a house with his weapons and gadgets would be an awesome way to end the night.

"Aww, you two are adorable." Abby's voice said near his ear.

Kaleb tried hard not to jolt upright as he responded in a whisper. "I am so bored."

"Pfft! It's barely been twenty minutes."

"Twenty minutes sitting in the dark listening to a group of drunks think about possibly attempting to maybe try and find out what happened to the power. It was maddening! Thank the lord Milly was here, or I'd have started shooting."

"Then she's gone beyond the call of duty. Milly, I salute your sacrifice."

The marmot gave a soft whistle in response as Kaleb loosely held her. Abby chuckled to herself as they waited for her power to recharge. Kaleb noted she was carrying several bags she didn't have when she went into the hideout. He jerked his head at them before asking.

"Find something?"

"I don't know. There were no paper records anywhere. Just a few dozen datapads and slates. We'll need to get back to the hangar to investigate further."

"For the slates, sure. But I can crack a datapad. No problem. It'll give me something to do when we get back to the Hangar."

"What if there is some malware or virus on the thing?"

"Trust me, it will be fine. Besides, I have to do something tonight."

"You did."

"I mean, besides hitting the proverbial off switch."

Abby rolled her eyes at him before reaching over and grasping his forearm. Kaleb felt the sinking feeling of being transported and braced himself. But that only seemed to make the nausea worse as they appeared back in a dark alley outside. He grunted as he hit the hard ground on his side and Abby puffed in exertion. Milly had finally had it and sank back into his cybernetic arm as Kaleb quickly got to his feet. He noticed Abby was huffing and sweat had accumulated on her brow. Apparently, she wasn't quite as ready for the trip.

"You alright?"

"Yeah… fine… just took… more out of me… then I thought."

Kaleb gave her a shoulder as he looked around to get his bearings. "Come on, shortstack. I think the car is this way."

"Don't… call me… short."

"Sure, sure, princess."

Kaleb half-carried the whiny mutant all the way to his car. Once there, he laid her against the side of the car and looked around again. The night made everything look suspicious to him. But at least they had lights. His little stunt had only fried a few houses on the thug's block by the look of things. He dug in his pocket for his keys and then opened the door while asking Abby.

"Where's your car? I'll take you."

"Who needs a car when you can Shadow Walk?"

Kaleb glared at the woman for a full minute before he shook his head. "Why would you do that?"

"It's good practice and I can get around just as easily."

"A car doesn't run on your personal stamina. What if you've just been in a big fight and you have to walk your dumbass home?"

"That's what I have the Guild for." Abby chuckled as she tried to push him aside. "I'll drive. You try to break into these datapads."

She passed him the bag as Kaleb stepped aside. She was getting settled into the driver's seat as Kaleb walked around and got in on the other side. As Abby adjusted the chair and mirrors, Kaleb sighed. He was going to have to put things back to normal when he got his car back. Ignoring the short mutant, Kaleb looked down at the brown canvas bag in his hand. It wasn't huge, but it was big enough to fit several datapads and the slightly wider Slates. Kaleb reached down and grabbed the first pad he touched and brought it to his face.

The car rumbled to life, and Kaleb swiped his finger over the dust-ridden screen. He coughed at the dust that was kicked up and looked at Abby.

"The pads were on a table and looked long forgotten. The slates were newer looking."

Kaleb reached in and grabbed one of the slates, nodding his head as he saw the difference. "These are newer."

He flipped the Slate over and raised an eyebrow at the scratched off logo. Someone had tried to remove the logo entirely with only limited success. Kaleb could still make out the ornate K and T of the K-Tech brand. He started pulling the other Slates out, seeing the same thing done to each one. However, the odd thing was, each was from a different company. All had their logos scratched into oblivion, even if the culprit wasn't that successful.

Abby glanced over at what he was doing a few times, so he showed her the scratches. She winced noticeably as she drove.

"That looks malicious."

"It does." Kaleb nodded. "Like someone has a grudge against every tech company, but still uses their shit."

Abby's response was cut off as Kaleb's radio squawked to life.

"I assume that the two of you were successful?" Farrah asked pointedly.

Kaleb groaned inwardly at her annoyed tone as Abby snapped back. "Yes, Farrah. We were. If you had waited until we were back at HQ, you would have found that out."

"Well, Miss Nightmare, IF I had waited that long, not only would I not be doing my job, but you would miss out on the fact that you are being followed."

Kaleb immediately spun in his seat as Abby swore. A brown sedan was indeed behind them. But Kaleb wasn't sure that meant they were being followed. Abby had the same thought as she immediately turned into another street. They watched as the car behind them followed along at a fairly slow pace. Abby turned several more times until they were both sure. Kaleb shared a look with his diminutive driver before drawing his gun and laying it across his lap.

"And now they know that you know," Farrah said dryly.

"Fucking bot," Abby sniped before she asked. "Do you know how long they've been on us?"

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"Almost since you started driving. It took them a few minutes to find you. But ever since they did, they've stuck to you like glue."

"Tracker?" Kaleb asked.

"Most likely placed on whatever Miss Nightmare stole."

"You can't steal from criminals, rabbit."

"You most certainly can. In fact, it's how most criminals get things to begin with."

Kaleb could see Abby grinding her teeth in frustration, but he said nothing. Instead, he ran his hands over every Pad and Slate they had and found nothing. Whatever tracker was on the devices was probably internal. Which meant he needed his tools. Thankfully, he kept a travel set in his glove box. He was reaching for it when Farrah shouted over the radio again.

"Look out!"

"I see them!" Abby growled back as the car lurched forward.

Kaleb heard a crunch of metal and snapped his head up. They were now moving fast down the street, their pursuers right on their tail. The crunch had been when the car tailing them had rammed their rear bumper.

"Hey! That's my car, assholes!"

Kaleb raised his pistol and started lowering his window.

"What are you doing?"

"Returning fire!"

"STOP!" Both Abby and Farrah shouted at him.

Kaleb turned to glare at Abby and his car's radio with his hand on the window handle. Abby swerved the car hard to avoid getting hit again. But Farrah was ready with an explanation.

"They still haven't seen your faces. The last thing you need to do is stick your green head out a window and announce who we are."

"Right now, they probably think we are a rival gang." Abby added.

"Which is just what we want them to think. So keep your lizard head in the car and find that tracker. Abby, there's an alleyway two blocks ahead that will slow them down a bit."

Kaleb growled to himself as the two ladies started discussing escape routes. He really wanted to shoot some bad guys right now, but the ladies were right. This had been a fairly successful stealth operation, even if he had spent most of it sitting bored in a stinky room. Now all he had to do was get rid of the tracker and they'd be home free. Of course, that meant finding the right Slate or Pad.

He reached back to the glove compartment and cracked it open carefully. Abby was still swerving around the street to evade their pursuers. Once he got it open, he reached in, grabbed the small travel tools case and slammed the compartment closed again. He was getting his tools ready when Milly hopped out of his arm again. She stood in his lap on top of the electronics, chittering happily at them.

"No! No, Milly. Those aren't toys. You can't go into them. You'll fry them… I think?"

Milly looked affronted at the accusation and whistled loudly. Kaleb and Abby cringed at the noise. Milly slapped her paw on a Data Slate and glared indignantly up at Kaleb. He looked down at his new pet and shrugged his shoulders, still trying to placate her.

"You can go inside them when we've gotten the information we need from them. But for now, you need to move, girl."

Milly huffed at him in a way that was eerily similar to how Farrah and Abby always huffed at him. In fact, now that Kaleb thought about it, several of the others did the same thing as well. The odd idiosyncrasy fled from his mind as Milly sank into a data slate.

"NO!" Kaleb screamed, only for Milly to chirp even louder at him.

She sank halfway into the small electronic and then bounced back up again. She did it again as Kaleb stared in confusion. Seeing his face, the blue marmot chirped even louder and slapped her paws against the Slate she was embedded in. It was the same one she slapped earlier, Kaleb's mind supplied. Kaleb almost slapped himself as realization dawned on him.

"Is it that one?" he asked Milly.

The blue animal huffed again, and he swore he saw her roll her eyes at him. Then she simply tapped the device again. Figuring he had to start somewhere, Kaleb reached down and picked the thing up. With the swerving car and the marmot in his lap, it took Kaleb several tense moments to pry the case off the Slate. Once it was off, he spotted a glowing red bead in the center of the device's motherboard. Kaleb silently promised Milly all the treats in the world as he carefully extracted the tracker and threw it out the window.

"Trackers gone… I think. Unless there's more?"

Kaleb looked down at Milly, who merely returned his look and shrugged her furry shoulders. Abby nodded at his words and then spun the car down another alley. The opposing car was hot on their trail and trying to get closer, probably to ram them again.

"Miss Nightmare, this alley leads to an open road."

"That would've been nice to know before I turned!" Abby shouted back at Farrah.

"Was I supposed to anticipate your poor decision?"

Abby simply growled again before ordering. "Well then, you find us an escape route, ya damn bot!"

"The nearest turn off is two miles away if you turn right out of the alley. You can turn left, but that will lead you back toward the gang's hideout."

"Then we go right and try to out-race them." Kaleb said simply.

"In this clunker of yours?" Abby asked.

"I'm going to ask you not to disparage my baby."

"You need a better car."

"Not the issue right now, Abs."

"I'd say it is!"

"Left or right, people?" Farrah interjected.

"RIGHT!" Both Abby and Kaleb screamed as they turned out of the alley and onto a long stretch of road.

It was a dead straightaway that lead away from Woodland Hills. It was marked with street lamps and mile markers, with little else to denote a road. Their car's engine roared to life as Abby stepped on the gas and tore down the street. Kaleb looked back to see their pursuers step on it as well. They initially had a head start, but the second car was gaining on them fast.

"This car is a damn clunker." Kaleb thought to himself as he held his gun at the ready.

"They're getting closer!" Abby shouted, sounding annoyed.

"No shit! How about we just pull over and deal with them?"

"There are four more cars heading your way. By the time you finish your fight, they'll be on you."

"They are going to be on us anyway!" Kaleb said, looking back at the approaching car.

As he looked back, Kaleb felt a weight leave his lap and turned. Milly had jumped from his lap onto the car's dashboard. He had two seconds to realize what was going on before the furry animal melted into his car. Kaleb reached for his seat belt and held on as Abby started to ask.

"What did she-"

She was cut off as a blue glow suffused the car and a loud crack filled the air. Kaleb was shoved back into his seat as the world outside his window became a blur. His and Abby's screams echoed in his ear as outside his window, he heard the popping of lamp lights. The sounds of glass breaking and tires squealing resonated behind them as his car shook violently. Then, as quickly as it began, it stopped. The noise went away, the blue glow faded, and the sound of their tires squealing was replaced with a loud hissing noise.

"What. The. Fuck." Abby coughed out slowly as she pried her hands off the steering wheel.

Kaleb was about to answer when Milly came stumbling out of the car's console and took a few wobbly steps. Her fur was standing on end and smoking slightly as the marmot gave a cute cough. He quickly reached for her and placed her on his lap as she coughed up a ball of electricity. She shivered beneath his hands and Kaleb worried she had overexerted herself.

"Where are we?"

"Where are you?"

Abby and Farrah asked the same question at the same time, and Kaleb glanced out the window. The landscape had changed slightly. They were no longer in a suburban neighborhood surrounded by houses and strip malls. That had all faded into the distance, replaced by rolling hills and small lakes. Looking out their back window, Kaleb could only see more flatland and grassy hills. Abby tapped his shoulder a few times to get his attention and then pointed out the front window. Kaleb turned and gawped at the lights of the Austin airport. Not their airstrip, the one used by the regular citizens of the game. A plane positioned itself for landing as Abby sighed.

"We're on the other side of fucking town."

"I see that."

"What do you me-" Farrah's voice started to say before a loud electric snap rolled through the car.

It was followed by an explosion of sound, and Kaleb and Abby quickly got out of the car. They were just in time to watch the wheels fall off and the car fall apart in several places. But the most painful part for Kaleb was watching the engine fall out from the bottom and hit the pavement. The loud clattering of his car falling apart seemed to jar something loose in Kaleb and he couldn't stop himself from laughing. Soon, he was joined by Abby as the two of them stood on the side of the road and just cackled at the absurdity of everything. Through their laughter, Milly huffed tiredly before falling asleep in Kaleb's arms. Her work was done for the night.

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