She stilled. “What?”
“They have ties with several groups—”
“They’re female forward.”
“Not only female forward, they’re female dominant. They believe the alien war was only won because of the superiority of women. Human women, not even Trent women. And they see it’s time to rise and take down mankind.”
Vee hmphed. “That’s crazy. They’re an all-female team, but they don’t strike me as anything more than dedicated players seeking to better humanity.”
“They want to start an all-female colony.”
“So? A haven for women I presume? There are places like that here.”
“They don’t like you, Vee.”
She already knew that, based on her limited interaction with them, but targeting her outside the game seemed insane. “If they targeted anyone, it would be one of the male teams. One of the more established male groups that always win. Not me.”
“Or they don’t give a crap about them because they’re a dime a dozen. You, on the other hand, are a lone female, a rising star—someone I’m sure they may have even considered an ally, or someone they saw as direct competition for their message—who fell onto their radar when you accepted sponsorship from one of the most male-dominated agencies in the universe, outside the military. The addition of me probably didn’t help.”
Vee chewed on her lip. “So you’re saying I’m being harassed because of them?”
“I’m not one hundred percent certain but I will be very soon.” He snatched up his gun and put it within his jacket.
“Wait. What are you going to do?”
He moved for the exit. “I’m going to question them.”
“Are you going to harm them?”
“Not unless they give me a reason to.”
She scurried to keep up with his stride, worry filling her. “You can’t just go after them without evidence! What if they’re innocent?”
She didn’t care if Deadly Dearest was innocent or not; she only cared about him.
“Then I’ll find out.”
Vee grabbed his arm. “Cypher, stop, please!”
He turned to face her, face hard, eyes distant.
“I don’t… I don’t want you to do this. Please,” she begged.
His lips twisted. “Are you trying to stop me?”
“Yes! What if you go and confront them and something goes wrong? What if you get hurt?”
He chuckled almost like heexpectedsomething to go wrong.
“What if they’re waiting for you, and you’re playing right into their hands?” she asked.
“So now you think they’re smarter than they probably are?” he asked in return, amused.
Vee let go of his arm and shook her head. “I’m just saying we’re safe here, right? They can’t get to us if we’re in your ship? It’s impossible, I take it.”
He cocked his head.
She threaded her fingers together in front of her. “How about we stay under the radar, away from them? Maybe if they’re involved, they’ll decide it’s too much effort to try and go after us if they can’t even get to us?”
