“I’ve said I’m sorry about the interruption, but I had no way of knowing.
Entrapment mod, eh? Bit beyond my range of expertise, but I suppose it’s possible. That does, however, bring one question to mind,” Holder said, looking thoughtful.
“How are we going to get out?” I said, nodding.
“What sort of code did he use to trap us, and can we break it?” Corbin suggested.
“Why,” Holder said simply. Both Corbin and I stared at him. He made a little grimace. “Why would he want to go to all the time and effort to write a mod like this? There’s got to be a purpose behind it, right?”
“I never thought of asking why,” I said slowly, glancing at Corbin. He shook his head.
“Neither did I, although it does lead to some interesting speculation,” he said thoughtfully.
“Cap’n? We be on the leeward side of the island,” Bald Bob called down from the crow’s nest. “Be we puttin‘ in to shore?”
“Aye.” Corbin glanced at me, taking one of my hands in his. “I had thought of just whisking you away to my island paradise where I could ply you with fruity tropical drinks and seduce you in my own good time, but somehow, I don’t think you’ll let me do that.”
I gave his fingers a little squeeze before releasing his hand. “You’re learning quickly, Corbin. Tempted as I am by the thought of getting to know you better in a tropical paradise, I’d like off, if you don’t mind. I’ve got lots of things to do here, so I think Bas and I had better be on our way. What can I do to help find this Paul person?”
Corbin frowned. “Damn, I wish I hadn’t yanked that admin panel out. Now we’re going to have to do this the hard way.”
“Which is?” I asked.
“Paul’ll probably be doing his best to blend in, appearing as much like a computer character as he can. I’d suggest you talk to people, Amy. Talk to as many townspeople as you can. The more he talks, the more likely he will be to slip up.”
“That makes sense. I’ve met a lot of people here, and I will definitely chat up everyone I can, but surely there’re more people in the game than are on this island?”
“There will be in the release version, but for the beta testing, only Turtle’s Back and Mongoose are inhabited.”
“Corb and I will check everyone on Mongoose,” Holder said, his normally jovial face taking on a hard glint.
“Yes, we will. There are fewer people on Turtle, so if you can make a point of talking to them all, we should be able to sniff Paul out.”
“There’s nothing else we can do to find him?” I asked Corbin, frustrated at the lack of solutions facing us.
“I wish there was, but without that admin panel, we’re more or less blind.
Talking to everyone is the only way, unless Paul decides to show himself, which is highly unlikely.”
“Aye, he’s a clever one,” Holder added. “I wouldn’t be surprised if he turns out to be the person no one notices, the quiet, unassuming one apparently going about his daily business without bothering anyone.”
“He well could be,” Corbin agreed.
“Luckily, most of the men come to Renata’s house,” I said thoughtfully. “It shouldn’t be too difficult for me to talk to all of them, quiet ones included.”
“He might not be a man in the game,” Corbin said. My eyebrows did a surprised little swoop upward. “He might decide that hiding out as a woman is safer than being a man. So talk to the women, too.”
A little chill went down my back despite the balmy evening breeze. What if Corbin’s ex-partner was one of the women in Renata’s house?
“All right. I’ll drop everything to talk to every single person on Turtle’s Back.”
“Well… it may not be the best idea to drop everything,” Corbin said slowly, rubbing his bristly jaw.
“We want to get out of the game,” I pointed out.
“Yes, we do, but Paul is clever. Really clever, Amy— I’ve known him for a long time. If the three of us make it obvious that we’re hunting for him, or know that he’s behind the entrapment, then he’s going to make it harder for us to find him.”
“Ahhh,” Holder said, enlightenment dawning in his eyes. “I get you. And it wouldn’t surprise me to know he had a contingency plan in case he finds out that we know what he’s up to.”
