Nik was on the mend; his injuries were healing, weight was returning, and unfamiliar energy was surging through him. Despite Erica's persistent pleas, he refused to succumb to rest. People were still being mercilessly worked to death in those mines. As long as they toiled, he would never rest. Nik kept thinking back to the woman's voice in the chutes. He wondered if she was still alive. Who was she?

  "Does this look accurate?" Edy asked, presenting an updated map of the encampment. Vector had already acquired the necessary data regarding the outer defenses, but they knew nothing about the facility layout. Now, the map sported a partial blueprint of the HQ's interior and a detailed map of the mining network.

  Nik scrutinized every detail. "Yes, although certain shafts in the mine have been abandoned, so I couldn't fully explore it," he explained. "They've been digging heavily here, so these tunnels may run deeper than expected." He pointed at a tunnel extending to the digital map's edge.

  Over the past week, Nik had updated the Vector departments with all his knowledge about the prison camp. Along with the map, they had detailed guard patrol routes, tower watch schedules, and shift changeover routines.

  Nik had also told them all the personal information he could remember about the guards. It turns out that keeping his mouth shut had its advantages. Perceived as harmless, the guards were often loose-lipped around Nik. They must have thought he would never snitch to Overseer Toma.

  "Hate to break it to you, but we're still short on intel," Valentine voiced once Nik had concluded his assistance with Edy's map revisions. "We need to know more about the inside of that damn HQ building and the utilities of the entire encampment."

  Nik studied Valentine, struck by a wave of nostalgia. His approach bore a striking resemblance to the recon teams from his years on Project Silent Echo.

  "Well, let's get to figuring it out then," Edy interjected.

  "Do you have a plan?" Nik asked. Lately, Edy had been cooking something up, and Nik was itching to find out.

  "This guy..." Edy shook his head. "Of course I do. Check this out." He pulled a radio out of his pocket. "I swiped this when we pulled you outta that dump.” Nik hadn't realized that Edy was there when they rescued him. This kid was nuts.

  "Under normal circumstances, this radio would be a paperweight—the guards would sense it missing and shift their comms encryption."

  "But?" Nik asked curiously.

  "But we're not using it to spy on their comms." Edy turned the radio around to reveal a slight modification in its casing. "I've made it so you could plug a save-state or something more discreet into it. You can then blast that data over the airwaves to be picked up from miles around."

  "And...?" Valentine prompted.

  "And," Edy said, annoyed. "You can't transmit a person's save-state because they could be intercepted and captured. However, if you blasted a certain part of a person's save-state, it could be intercepted but couldn't be read by the bad guys."

  Nik suddenly caught on. Edy wanted to transmit a mind-state. Without the original person to whom it would transfer, the mind-state would be useless. It was literally human-based data encryption.

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  "That is genius," Nik said.

  "I know. Thank you, thank you," Edy said, bowing to an imaginary audience.

  "So you want to sneak someone into the encampment?" Valentine asked.

  "Not only that. I want a spy to sneak in, recon all the missing data, and then sabotage as much as humanly possible," Edy said, rubbing his hands together like an evil mastermind.

  "There's just one problem," Erica interjected, causing Edy to jump in surprise. She had quietly snuck up behind him. "The person who transmits the mind-state. How will we ensure they aren't captured or killed when they finish the job?"

  "About that." Edy's tone dropped slightly. "The simple answer is we don't."

  "We don't," Erica repeated coldly.

  "Yeah, that person is," he stammered. "Well, that person..."

  "That person is expendable because they're only a teleclone," Nik spoke for him. Everyone stood silently.

  "That is outrageous," Erica snapped. "You're sending a person to their death essentially."

  "Well, yes, but not really," Edy defended meekly.

  "I don't know about this." Valentine had a scowl on his face. It made him look terribly intimidating.

  "It's the only way we'll be able to do this," Edy pleaded. Tension hovered in the silent room. The tactic seemed underhanded, and agreement was elusive.

  "You're off-mark, Edy," Nik countered, causing Edy to recoil. "We could conduct a thorough area surveillance, extracting data progressively." Erica and Valentine nodded.

  "Then it's settled," Erica said with finality, but Nik shook his head.

  "I wasn't finished. The real problem is that people die every day in that hellhole. Every moment we waste is an opportunity that some of those people may never get back." Nik glared at the 3D image of the mine. He hated the idea, but his mind had been made up.

  "We have to do this. It's unethical, but I'll take an unethical action any day in the face of evil." Nik looked around him, waiting, but the room remained quiet.

  "Soooo... Are we doing it?" Edy asked hopefully. Erica sighed but didn't protest.

  "Looks like we are," Valentine confirmed sullenly. "So, who's going to volunteer for this suicide mission?"

  "I'll do it," Nik offered, figuring his familiarity with the place would give him the best shot.

  "You can't," Erica said. "They would recognize you immediately. We need someone they can safely ignore.

  "Duh?" Edy retorted, rolling his eyes. "It's obvious I'm going. Trust anyone else with this, and they'll botch it. Besides, I've got stealth on my side." He struck a ninja pose.

  "Are you sure about this?" Nik asked. "That camp is pretty dangerous, and the guards are a bunch of assholes. Do you think you'll be able to sneak past them?"

  "Uh-huh, uh-huh," Edy nodded enthusiastically.

  "Good, we have our first idio-er... Volunteer," Valentine joked. Edy looked unimpressed.

  "So now we have one last problem to solve," Nik announced, trying to refocus everyone.

  "How are we going to get this little shit inside?" Erica added.

  Edy took a step back to clutch imaginary pearls with indignation. "My word, good madame," he said, making Erica glare at him. "Why not ship me in a human meat truck, just like Nik here?" Nik responded with a shake of his head.

  "You would never be able to sneak in the radio like that." Nik thought back to his first day in the prison camp. "If a person doesn't look like their normal fare of prisoners, they get an ice water interrogation in this room. They basically drown you in freezing water until you talk. So even if you managed to sneak it past the guards, it would be destroyed by the water damage."

  Edy wrapped his arms around himself in fear. "I don't do well with cold," he said.

  "I have an idea." Valentine stepped forward to the map. "Let's just do the same thing we did to build this place." He pointed to the webwork of tunnels. "We dig ourselves into an abandoned tunnel and send him disguised as either a guard or prisoner."

  "That could work, but wouldn't it take too long?" Nik asked.

  "We had this whole place dug out in less than a week," Valentine boasted. His grin had returned in full fury.

  "How?" Nik asked.

  "We reclaimed it," Edy announced, his eyes ablaze with enthusiasm. Instantly, Nik connected the dots. They must have used the RCP-gun for rapid excavation.

  "You should know as well as anyone, Nik." Valentine winked. "Most things start their life as tools before they're weaponized."

  Nik's gaze dropped back to the map. A wry smile played on his lips. "Seems I'm still a miner, after all," he quipped.