As Jim walked back to the storage unit, he looked at the ticket Zero gave him to the fighting ring. It gave the location in a brief fine print text under the "Admit One" print.
"I have two and a half days... I want to make sure this isn't a trap first. Let me see… How far Jeffrey is now..." He thought as he began calling him.

Jeffrey was on the last bus he needed to ride to get to El Paso. Wally's father dropped him off at a motel by the strike of midnight after thanking him for saving his son. While Jim bought breakfast for Tracy that morning, Jeffrey just had to settle for two cream-filled donuts and a bottle of chocolate milk from a convenience store. 
He had just finished eating on the bus when Jim called him.
"Hey man, I was just about to call you, actually." 
"So... Where are you man? Something's come up."
"I'll be there later tonight. What happened? Did something-"
"No, nothing I can't handle. I'll explain it with you and Tracy. We're going for a walk later tonight."
"You sure that's safe, man? Bringing Tracy out?"
"I'll be there with her. And she needs to go out. I've been keeping her in tight places and... She may not say it, but I can feel she's not very comfortable being in enclosed spaces for such a long time."
"I would be too if I was in her shoes." 
"And besides, it's gonna be late in the night, so it'll be fine. But the next night? You're going to have to stay with her while I do a thing, tell you and T about it later."
"Okay..."
"See you soon, man."
"See you soon, brother."
The two hung up and continued on their ways. Jim even started listening to the album Zero gave him.

Jim was back at the storage unit, but before he opened the roll-up garage door with his phone, he pocketed the ticket for the fighting ring.
"Can't tell her about it. Not yet."
He opened up the door partially and went back in to see Tracy reading the pocketbook he gave her days ago.
"How are you?"
"I'm good. Just wish things didn't look like fine print on this book."
"It is a pocketbook... but don't worry, I got something that you just have to listen to." 
Tracy watched Jim set his phone down then clear his throat a bit.
"Now... This is purely for making you feel better. I know that these past few days have been a bit crazy to completely understate it, and it's been just as hard on you as it has been for me, if not harder. So... I wanted to sing a song for you. Because when I heard it just now... I knew you’d like it." 
Jim started playing the instrumental of "Are We the Waiting" by Green Day from the album American Idiot on his phone. The album Zero gave him came with Green Day's last album in it as well and Jim finally got to listen to his favorite songs again on demand as opposed to hoping the radio will play or take a risk and download music on his phone.
"Starry nights, city of lights
coming down over me-"
"Jim, you don't have to do this." Tracy said as her cheeks went rosey.
"Skyscrapers
Stargazers in my mind
Are we, we are
Are we, we are the waiting?
Lost and found 
City bound in my dreams
The Jesus of Suburbia is a lie..."
Tracy found the whole performance beautiful, even though Jim wasn't singing into a microphone, and the instrumental wasn't as loud as it was supposed to be, due to coming from a phone speaker, the thought that he would do this to someone he only met days ago was extremely thoughtful to her that it made her heart beat a bit faster.
"Are we, we are
Are we, we are the waiting
Unknown..."
Just as Jim was about to sing the rest, he was disturbed by a call on his phone.
"Sorry."
"No need. Thank you."
"Thanks... Wonder who's-"
He picked it up and saw Quanesia calling.
"Oh! It's Q. This could be important."
"Well, answer. I won't mind."
Jim nodded and answered.
"Hello?"
"Jimmy? I have bad news. I need technopath help."
"Why? What's happening?!"
"Checkpoints have been placed here. The Government has my profile so they'll know me when they see me. I already thought of a plan however, I need your assistance."
"What will I do?"
"I need you to cause a minor explosion." 
"What?!"
"This will serve as a much better distraction while I sneak past. I'm already off the bus and just walking there so I won't be so obvious."
"Glad you're learning from my mistake... Anyway, switch to video call and point me at whatever I need to blow up. As long as people are clear."
"I assure you, no one will be injured."
She switched to video call and Jim was ready to send his self-terminating virus. He figured he could make another later and refine it.
"Just tell me when and where okay?"
"Alright...." 
Quanesia neared the checkpoint, the gridlock it caused was sizable, but the other side was clear, perfect for what Quanesia had in mind.
"See the fuse box?" She said as she pointed the phone to a fuse box on the checkpoint.
"Blow that up?"
"Yes. It will cause a small, yet loud explosion and an electrical fire. It will also cause their cameras to lose power, thus giving me enough of a distraction for me to hide behind cars and remain undetected."
"You really thought this through. Can you zoom in so I can see? This is the first time I'm doing this."
Jim cloned his experimental virus, then hacked into Quanesia's phone. After that, he used her phone to detect the fuse box and installed his virus copy into the system that regulates the flow of power at the checkpoint.
"Okay. Just hold."
"Overload in 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2..."
The screens in the checkpoint flashed, then went black. As the men at the checkpoint tried rebooting their surveillance monitors the fuse box's rubber insulation on the wires melted from the heat, then caught fire, and finally blew up.
As the fire spread and the men got out, Quanesia hid behind the cars away from their view and passed through the checkpoint. 
All the while the men tried extinguishing the flame unsuccessfully with water.
Quanesia bypassed the checkpoint unnoticed, but she knew chances were someone in the front cars will tell the men about her so she ran for it.
"Thank you. I need to go for now, contact you if I need more help."
"O-Okay, you know I can-"
Quanesia hung up before Jim could finish.
"She hung up on me..."
"She good?"
"I think she is... So far she's proven that she's smart enough to know their moves beforehand."
"Alright..."
"Well, she's smart enough to have some sort of contingency plan if ever... The worst happens to her..." Jim said as he spaced out.
"Jim? You okay?"
"Yeah... Just thought of something that I should probably do... But, anyway… Jeff’s going to be with us later tonight. And since we are going on a walk tonight as well, we're going to meet up with him while we're out later."
"Good thing he didn't run into any trouble."
"Yeah. But until then, let's relax. I got more songs I want you to listen to."
"As long as I hear you sing them, I'm good."
"Even if most of them are loud Punk Rock songs?"
"I'll give them a chance."
"Okay, let's do this!"

The rest of the day was mostly uneventful, with Jim and Tracy spending the day together, eating lunch, singing, and talking about anything they can think of.
As night fell, Jim decided to send Jeffrey a message. 
"Okay... We can walk in a few hours. Let the night life die down first."
"A'ight. What do we do until then?"
"Well... Uh... Hmmm... I don't know. I'm out of topics."
"How about... I don't know, Truth or Dare?"
"How about... No."
"Scared?"
"No. I just find it uncomfortable for all parties involved."
"You're no fun."
"I can live with that."
"Hmmm... How about a good old fashioned arm wrestle?"
"Uh... I prefer my shoulder in my socket..."
"You afraid o' takin' on little ol' me?" 
"If I said I was terrified, would you understand?"
"Crystal clear." She said with a giggle.
"Well... have any other family? You mentioned that you have an aunt in Louisiana."
"I do. And two cousins! Whenever I was in town we always hung out. Well... mostly my cousin Bonnie. Her brother Jessie always kept to himself."
"Okay. Any other relatives?"
"Well... Hmmm... As far as I'm aware, my Uncle on my daddy's side lives in Illinois. But I don't know him that well. My ma does though. And... I'm not sure if he had kids, so I don't know if I have any cousins from him."
"Okay... Illinois... Like... Chicago, Illinois?"
"I dunno."
"Okay... As for me, my uncle from my mom's side lives in Canada with my cousins. And I'm an uncle myself as my sister has a son and my brother’s wife is expecting."
"Nice!"
"Yeah. Honestly, my sister can be a bit of a bitch sometimes but that's just how she grew to be. Overall, she's a good mom. As for my brother... Well... He didn't want kids. But he loved his wife so... Now they're having a kid!"
"Good for them!"
"Yeah." He said with a smile.
"Okay, my turn to ask you something. Ever had a girlfriend?'
"Uh... What?" Jim said, shocked by the abrupt change in topic.
"Ever had a girlfriend?" She repeated.
"No... I've never been in a relationship..."
"And why is that?" She said, genuinely curious.
"I don't know. I just never became attached to anyone back in my country."
"Ever had a crush on someone?"
"Back in my high school days, someone had a crush on me, but I never really felt anything for her. I do feel sad that I was too chicken to tell her that I don't like her because..."
"Because?"
"She tried to kiss me in junior prom. But I just... Ran away."
"Why?"
"I didn't know how to handle a situation like that at the time, and I just... Took off without thinking."
"Yikes..."
"Tell me about it... She was pretty shaken up and miserable for the next few days. Didn't wanna talk to me either. Figured I'd give her some space but then she just up and left. Switched schools thanks to that incident. I always knew school sucked but to have that happen and be the cause of it? I felt awful."
"I never really had an issue like that with my proms, but it's okay. You didn't know how to respond back then."
"Yeah..."
"Well... How about somethin' positive?"
"Like?"
"Well... Had any unique food over where you used to live?"
"A lot. We had some pretty weird food like Purple Yam cake and ice cream."
"Really?"
"Yeah."
"I'm open to trying it. I mean, I do admit, that sounds weird, but I've heard of weirder."
"Oh, that's just the tip of the iceberg..."

A couple of hours later, Jim decided it was late enough to walk out with Tracy. 
"Alright. It's about time. Let's go for our little walk."
"Are you sure about this? Spending time here with you is fine."
"No. I don't want you to get claustrophobic."
"Okay... But what if-" 
"People come by? I'll handle it. We'll keep from the main streets and I'll have the scanner function on my phone active. That way if anyone with a phone is nearby, I can sense them."
"Thank you. For all of this."
"Hey, no need to thank me. Just looking out for a friend."
"Still, you've given me so much. I don't know how I can ever repay you."
"You saved our lives. That's more than enough to make it even. And by that logic, I owe you." 
"No, it's alright. Don't even worry 'bout it."
"Hey, I'm grateful to my friends. So I remember when I owe them and I'll do anything for them... Within reason of course."
"Right."
Jimmy opened the roll-up door slightly and made sure the coast was clear.
However as he scanned to pick up the cameras and hack them as per usual, he picked up a mobile phone that was nearing him.
"Hey!" The guard yelled at a distance.
Jim shut the roll-up door and put up his hood.
"What the hell are you doing kid?!"
"Leaving!" Jim said, not facing him, so as to avoid having his face seen.
"I've been hearing a lot of noise here since yesterday!" The guard was suspicious with all the cameras playing on loop at certain times. So he decided to see for himself what the trouble was.
"And what the fuck do you think I have to do it?" Jim stalled as he was hacking into his phone to insure he won't make any calls.
"I don't know. Everything! So turn around!"
After pocketing his phone, Jim suddenly started running.
"Hey!"
A chase ensued as the guard ran after Jim.
Jim led him deeper into the storage facility, despite carrying the duffle bag with enhancers in it on his back while running, he didn't feel any fatigue. This proved to be advantageous to the young technopath as he stopped to hack into another garage unit's door while the guard struggles to keep up.
"Slow... Down!" He said between tired breaths.
Jim opened the roll-up door of the random garage unit and it was half-full of items from the person renting it. 
"Want me? Come get me!" Jim said as he went inside.
The guard went into the open garage and turned on his flashlight.
"No need to hide kid!"
That was when Jim struck him in the back with an aluminum baseball bat he found in the garage.
The guard fell to the floor and held his lower back in pain.
"AAAGGGHHH!"
Jim went out with the bat in hand and closed the door, locking the guard inside.
"Sorry." Jim said as he ran back to Tracy.
After quickly opening the roll-up door again, Jim got in to see a distressed Tracy.
"What happened?!" 
"We need to go! The guard saw me. I trapped him in another unit, but his phone won't be disabled for long."
"Fuck. Not again..."
"Yeah... Moving night." 
"I'll take the crate."
Jim carried Tracy's bag of clothes and his things as well as the baseball bat while Tracy carried around the munitions crate like a small cooler. They quickly exited the storage facilities after Jim froze the cameras. and opened the gate.
They got out and distanced themselves from there as fast as they could. 
"Great. Just when we got comfortable."
"It's alright."
"Eh. Honestly, I shouldn't really be surprised why things never go my way."
"Things rarely go well for anyone all the time."
"I know, but... This has been a streak of bad luck for us."
"At least progress is still being made. That's something we can be glad for."
"I guess... but I wanted this walk with you to be relaxing and not another against the clock, shelter-hunting thing. I'm sorry, Tracy..."
"We weren't gonna stay there forever anyway..."
Jim remained silent as they continued to walk in the small, mostly empty streets.
After a couple of minutes, Jim realized that he forgot to call Jeffrey from all of the excitement.
After dialing him up, the two started talking to each other as soon as Jeffrey picked up.
"Hey man. Where are you?"
"I'm pretty much there. I just need to walk there."
"Okay... Listen. We're going to meet you out here but you should know that me and Tracy were forced out of our place. So... When we meet up, we're going to be looking for a place to stay until I get the delivery truck."
"Sure. What happened? You alright?"
"We're good. I just got caught before I could hack the cameras."
"Shit... Sorry man."
"It's alright. Anyway, I'll send you our location by turning on my GPS so you can see where I am."
"Okay. See you in a bit."
"Bye."
Jim ended the call and looked at Tracy.
"Okay. We're gonna meet up with him and he'll help us look for a place to stay for the night."
"Okay."
Jim went silent as he walked with Tracy. However she knew he was beating himself up internally over what happened, so she decided to start some small talk to get his mind off of it.
"So... What kinds of games do you play?"
"Why the sudden change in subject?"
"Just curious is all."
"Okay... Well, it depends on what game. I know a lot of games and played a lot too."
"What's the last one you finished?"
"Titanfall 2. As with most games like it, I start the campaign before multiplayer. A shame there wasn't any Vanguard class titans in multiplayer. It was fun in the campaign." 
"Uh... Vanguard?"
"Well, in the game, the robots or "Titans" are given classes. The one you play with in the campaign is a titan named BT and he's a Vanguard class Titan."
"Huh... sounds interesting..." 
"Yeah. The game was good overall. There's a few things off about it, but no game's perfect."
"What other games have you played?"
"Well..."

"Dude? Are you here?" Jeffrey announced in a relatively wide alleyway.
He followed the location of Jim's phone and knew he was there.
"Hey, man." Jim said, tapping his shoulder.
After turning, Jeffrey picked up his brother and hugged him.
"Hey! I've only been gone for a few days!"
"Doesn't matter. I missed you, man."
"You too bro..."
"Awww..." Tracy said, smiling at the sight before her
"Oh! Right! Uh, well... Now that everyone is here, we can talk."
Jeffery released Jim and listened to what he had to say.
"What is it, man? Is this the thing you told me on the phone?"
"And what you said you'd tell me earlier?"
"Yeah... So... Full disclosure, I met someone. Another Neo-Human, but not government. He's a guy that calls himself "Zero". Pretty sure that's not his real name, which makes him shady at best, but he does have files from the government about stuff that can be used against the Neo-Human population."
"What?!" Tracy and Jeffery said in unison.
"I know. Which is why tomorrow, I'm establishing an investigation on this guy. See if he's telling me the truth or not."
"What has he told you so far?" Tracy questioned.
"Aside from the files and stuff." Jeffrey added.
"He told me that he's the head honcho of some movement in Chicago. But he can say anything because I don't know him, so I'll need to verify if he's telling the truth. But for that? I need to leave for a while. That's where you come in brother o' mine."
"What do I need to do?"
"Be with Tracy while I'm gone. If Phoenix taught me anything, things can happen even in the shortest time. But first… Tracy? Are you okay with me being gone for a while?"
"As long as you promise to come back." She said, looking at him with concern.
"I will. Remember, as long as something is connected to the Internet, I can teleport."
"I know. Just be safe while you're out doin' what you're doin'..." 
"Yeah, man. I can't do anything with Tracy unless you're here. Not to mention, I just got here."
"I know, you just got here and I'm leaving in the morning, but this is important. I wouldn't leave if it wasn't." 
"Fair enough." Jeffrey stated.
"Now that that's out of the way. Jeff, got your guns?"
"Hell yeah! I've got my same revolver that I had in Vegas, but also a Beretta handgun with a silencer, and a Steyr AUG A3 assault rifle. Also with a silencer.”
"Great!"
"I may not have superpowers, but I'm bringing the firepower!"
"Then you'll like this. Tracy?"
Tracy put the black munitions crate down in front of Jeffrey.
"It's a munitions crate. It mostly has shotgun shells and beanbags, but you can put your guns and ammo in here so you're not toting around a bunch of guns like The Punisher."
"Wow... Where'd you get this?" Jeffery said as he opened it.
"The hummer me and T stole."
"Awesome. Give me a minute to put my stuff in."
"Alright. And after that, we'll find a place to stay for the night."
"And preferably sooner rather than later." Tracy said. "It's getting really late."
"We will Tracy." Jim said.
After Jeff finished putting his guns and ammo in the crate, Tracy picked it back up, and the three began walking. Jim was searching the GPS for anywhere suitable while talking.
"So, dude... Anything happen to you while on your trip to us?" Jim asked.
"Nothing much. Got into a little trouble, helped a guy who really needed it."
"Awww... Why didn't you call? I could've helped."
"I can handle wannabe gangbangers that don't have a real gun."
"Okay..."
"Uh… ‘Gangbangers’?” Tracy said, unfamiliar with the term.
"Gangster low-lives that don't have anything to do but ruin lives." Jeffrey said flatly.
"Jeff has some real beef with them." Jim said, putting his hand on Jeffrey's shoulder.
"Oh. I'm sorry."
"It's okay, Tracy..."
She was about to say something when he spotted a place to stay in the distance with her increased vantage point.
"Hey Jim? Can a scary-looking factory work?"
"Where?"
"Over to the left... Quarter mile or so?"
Jim looked over for factories and saw the one Tracy pointed out.
"Hmmm... Old cereal production place... East part burned down after a worker lit up a lighter to smoke while not in the break room. Multiple third and second degree burns. Been abandoned for 3 years! Perfect!"
"Uh..."
"I know, Jeff, not the best place to stay. But we're against the clock here."
"I know. Just sounds kind of eerie..."
"Hey. I met a guy that can control shadows earlier today and I don't know if he's who he says he is. Now compare a spooky cereal factory to that... Which one would you rather take a chance at?"
"Cereal factory." Jeffery stated almost immediately.
"This Zero guy can control shadows?!" Tracy said in surprise.
"Yes... Like a Black Lantern, or some obscure anime character." Jim stated.
"You do know, on the Black Lantern thing, that's still light slash energy and he controls the opposite..." Jeffrey said.
"How can he do that?" Tracy questioned.
"Uh... I need Quanesia to look into this because I can't come up with anything to explain that..." Jim stated as he scratched his head.
"Whenever she calls again." Tracy said
"What did she get into?" Jeffery asked.
"A lot of things. Good thing we have the time catch up..."

When they got to the cereal factory, they were met with an old chain link fence. Tracy grew to a little over 14 feet and got over the 7 foot high fence.
She put the munitions crate down, then stuck her arm out over the fence.
"Jim. Jeff."
Jim understood and grabbed on Tracy's arm, She lifted him up and over the fence.
"Thanks, Trace."
"You’re welcome."
She put her arm out again and Jeffery got on. He was surprised Tracy could lift his weight and the bag he had so easily.
"Thanks."
"No problem. Let's get inside."
As the three entered the factory, they surveyed the insides. A few parts of some walls had scorch marks and some windows were smashed. The ceiling had cobwebs everywhere and the floor was littered with debris. Most of the machinery was taken out but some still remained, rusted and corroded partially over the years.
"A bit dirty..." Jim said.
"Anyone got a broom?" Tracy joked.
"Well... I brought some sleeping bags." Jeffrey said as he pointed to his bag.
"Got a big sheet? Tracy's been sleeping on hard ground for the past few days..." 
"Surprisingly, I feel fine."
"Still. I doubt sleeping in debris is gonna be comfortable for anyone."
"Well I do have a few blankets." Jeffrey stated.
"You're a lifesaver bro. Okay... let's look for the least dirty room here and see if I can clean it up for our purposes."
However after the 3 got into, what appears to be, an empty loading room, and were in the process of cleaning it. Jim's phone vibrated.
Jim took out his phone and saw on his scan that something with a GoPro and smartphone was in the building.
"Shit! Guys! Stay quiet. Someone's in here!" Jim whispered.
"Who is it?" Jeffrey whispered back.
"I don't know. But judging by the GoPro... UrbEx YouTuber." 
"What is that?" Tracy asked, keeping her voice as quiet as possible.
"Guys that explore abandoned places no one else would go into and post their videos."
"What do we do then?" Jeffery asked.
"I can stop his recording. But he's not gonna know until he goes or checks his stuff."
"So... No promise on him leaving..." Tracy added.
Jim shook his head. "I'm open to ideas though."
"I could... Fire a warning shot." Jeffery suggested.
"No. He could call the police and it can attract attention."
"Fuck..."
"How 'bout we scare 'em?" Tracy suggested.
"That... Could work... Yeah!"
"Okay. How do we do it?" Jeffrey asked.
"Okay... I'm making this up as we go along, but here's how we start..."

"Hey guys! This is Maurice the Spelunker and tonight we're going to be entering the burned-down corn flakes factory in El Paso. This place had a massive fire 3 years ago and was left to rot after some safety laws were apparently broken. So now. we're going in to see if the rumors of it being inhabited by other-worldly entities. Before I go in, Like and Subscribe for more content like this. Now! Let's enter!"
The Urban Explorer walked into the factory.
He started looking around the place, using his phone's flashlight to light his surroundings.
"As you can see... the machines that were scorched by the fire were just left here..."
As he went on with his video recording, Jim and Jeffrey went outside, while Tracy stayed.
"Okay. I'll creep him out, then text you when you need to break windows. I'll be sneaking behind him and hack his phone."
Jeffery gave a thumbs up and Jim gave him the bat he took from the skirmish at the garage. Jim put on his mask, collected some sizable pebbles, and went inside as the Urban Explorer was looking around.

"As you can se-" 
Maurice looked up after hearing a noise. He went silent as to listen if it will happen again and started searching the place. But just then, his phone's flashlight started turning on and off over and over again.
"What the hell?"
His phone shut down. Thus, leaving him in the dark. With only some distant artificial light seeping through the windows.
"I’ve gotta get an upgrade..."
Just as he was rebooting his phone, he heard the windows shatter.
"Fuck!"
Maurice backed away and got closer to the exit. 
"Anyone there!? Who's there?!"
Another window shattered, then Tracy's door burst open and her limbs came out.
"SHIT!" 
Maurice ran out of the building all the while he was screaming and jumped on the fence, nearly falling off of it trying to get away. 

By the time he was far enough away, Jim and Tracy came out of their hiding spots.
"Huh... That was... Easier than I thought it would be..." Jim said.
"He just bolted!" Tracy said as she pulled herself out of the door
"How did it go?" Jeffrey said as he came to the front door.
"Looks like he won't be coming back." Jim told him.
"Okay. Well, we better get some sleep. This night has been rough." Tracy announced.
"Yeah. You and Jeffrey sleep. I'll keep an eye out. Can't be too careful."
"You're not tired man?" Jeffrey asked.
"I only sleep for 2 hours a night anyway. So pulling an all-nighter probably won't be too bad."
"Okay... You sure?"
"Yes. You and Tracy rest up. I got something to do anyway..."
"Okay. Gonna work of your tech, Jim?" Tracy questioned.
"Yeah. And plan out my investigation of Zero..."
"That's understandable. But don't overwork yourself, brother."
"I won't dude. Now take the load off."
Tracy and Jeff set up their sleeping places on the floor while Jim was looking at his phone.
"I'll see you guys in the morning. With breakfast." Jim said. 
"Thank you, Jim." Tracy said as she lied down.
"Yeah. But you sure you're okay?" Jeffrey asked one more time to be sure.
"Yeah. I'm good. Don't worry." 
"Okay. Night man." 
"Yeah, good night Jim."
"Good night, guys." 
As they slept, Jim got to work on a new virus. One that was designed to be more powerful than his previous one he made. 
"This contingency better work when I need it..."