022

The next few hours were filled with misery as the three of us carried Cassandra's numerous monitors over the van. Not only were they fragile to the touch, there were at least 50 of them. And she was just sitting inside the van, drinking orange juice, watching all of us.

As we plugged in the final monitor, I noticed Haya was just sitting down by the van, fiddling on her laptop. "Whatcha checking there, partner?" I asked, trying to start a conversation.

She gave me a small glance then went back to work, "Cassie and I found something interesting earlier." She said, I sat beside her and checked her screen, "Remember the Crimson King?"

Crimson King… Now that's a name I haven't heard in a while. I have to admit I don't really want his name to show up again, I was hoping that my last encounter with him was final. Though after what he said… "Yeah, what about him?"

"I've been trying to track him. It was difficult but Cassie and I managed to do it."

"Well, where is he then?"

"At Zone 1."

-------------

We closed the doors of the van. A click of the lock, followed by another click of a switch and the van's insides transformed. It--or rather, the space behind the driver's seat--gradually transformed as it expands horizontally and vertically into a vast, white, open space.

"How the hell…" I muttered out, approaching the vast space.

"It's an illusion," Cassandra said too late as I bumped my head into the van's walls, "I use this to generate a suitable 3d space. Basically this entire side of the van is a huge monitor."

"Ah, I see…" I replied, rubbing my head from the pain, "Can we at least get a chair?"

"Nope, I can't control the spaces within, only the illusions. So you all have to sit on the ground." She explains, as we all sat on the ground, glad that it isn't much of a bumpy ride inside.

Perhaps there's an inner calibration mechanism that counteracts the bumps. But either way, it was smooth enough that it didn't feel much apart from a small bump on harder surfaces. In fact I saw Cassandra put down her juice and it practically stayed still.

I leaned by the van as she started her work. And the walls itself shifted itself accordingly, turning and twisting yet I don't feel anything. They were only on the monitors after all. Gradually it shifted into a perfect rendition of the headquarters.

A rendition which was then delegated to the side of the van facing Cassandra's computer, while the rest shifts to black, perhaps for an ease of visuals.

Haya shifted her fingers along the wall as the rendition moved itself accordingly, "Perfect. Hey, partner. Come here." She called out to me. I stood up and walked over beside her, "You should start analyzing the schematics. We're counting on you." She pats me in the back as she returns to her little corner and goes back to work, whatever work she was doing again.

I took the schematics and displayed it in the middle of the van, spinning it around, zooming in and out rooms. It seems to also contain the patrol schedules. And so, I went to work.

Two hours have passed since we began our road trip. As Zone 1 is located in Europe and the flight capabilities of the van can't adequately cross the atlantic. So we're going around the continent, heading north into Canada, west into Alaskan Bay, then from there, we hope that the Stag Hare could fly that long.

A few more hours of driving, Haya and I managed to formulate a plan. The only thing left to do now is to actually get to the place. And with that, we arrived at our first stop. IT was almost late at night and there's little to no visible stop light as we stopped by the Canadian Border.

We yielded to the border guards, armored in bright green for visibility, "Hide." Said Daphne as she ticked a switch, turning the entire back side of the van into pitchblack nothingness. "Stay calm."

Neil nodded and pulled down his windows, "Good--" he checked his watch, "Evening, officer."

"G'evening," The officer investigated the inside of the van, shining a flashlight as he leaned inside. The light of his flashlight failed to shine towards us. As if it got cut off. "Identification for the both of you."

"Sure." I saw Neil and Daphne alternating in leaning down towards their bags as they grabbed their Identification. Then, they handed it over to the officer who then inspected it. The rest of us could hear him breathing hard through his gas mask. Its bright, glowing eyes, peering through the identification cards.

"Why y'all leaving this late?" The officer asked. There was visible tension between Daphne and Neil. Suddenly, Neil grasped Daphne's arms.

"Private trip!" He said, as Daphne nodded behind him.

"Mhm. To where?"

"Well, we have a summer home in Quebec."

"Oh, married?"

"Newlyweds!" They raised their hands, showing matching rings. It shone brightly against the officer's eyes, he stumbled back a bit.

"I see. I see." He hands back the identification, "You fellas enjoy. And be careful out there, command told us about two runaway agents along with several other accomplices. Things might get rough."

"Yessir, thank you!" Neil smiled as he pulled up the window and started towards Canada.

Daphne ticked the switch again as the calming lights opened back on, "Fucking… can't you think of anything else?!" Visibly frustrated, she threw her sunglasses over the dashboard.

"Well!? What'd you want to do with that then? We didn't think that far!" Neil yelled back.

"Married!? Married!? Where did you even get the rings!?"

"The rings!..." Silence fell in the van. Silence momentarily muted by the ambient sounds of Haya and Cassandra typing on their devices.

Daphne covered her face with her hands and screamed. Screamed until her throat was sore. I could feel a bit of sobbing coming from her.

"20 years… Daph. And this could be our last."

"20 years, Neil. We've been doing this song and dance routine for 20 years. And only now? Now!?"

"I… I was afraid, okay?" His voice cracked.

I heard her silently laugh to herself, "You were always such a coward."