While the field agents regrouped at the dry cleaners, the freezing rain continued to dump on the financial district. And since this was a training exercise, Daman made arrangements with the Universal Intelligence Bureau to collect the training agents already "in custody" so they could get warm, dry, and fed while the rest of us took a short meal break.

　　I was hungry, my mind exhausted and body grateful for reprieve and refueling. And then it was over; Daman barked orders between cleaning the remnants of his sandwich out of his teeth with his tongue. "Target one! Let`s get this over with, and then we can have the afternoon off."

　　"Oof!" Daisy grunted through the comms in what sounded like an effort to find her feet.

　　"Oran," Kane called, "how are you feeling?"

　　"I`m& tired?" I offered hesitantly after a quick exchange of eye-contact with Kalak.

　　"Are you up to try one more thing?"

　　"I mean& I guess it depends on the thing?" I frowned at the crypticness of the question.

　　"Kalak and Daman, everything else has gone so smoothly, I think we need to try that last& idea," Kane said, the last word sounding sly.

　　A heavy sigh to my left, and Daman started grumbling indistinctly.

　　"Oran, would you honestly be up for another minute of exertion?" Kalak asked. "You can say no."

　　I took a moment to test my current condition, running my fingers through my hair, plucking loose fibers from my shirt, untying and then retying the laces of my shoes. "I think I have another minute or two in me," I said when the dexterous activities went smoothly.

　　Kalak nodded. "Alright Kane. We`ll give this a shot." He started moving the chairs off to one side of the room before pulling out what looked like a giant air mattress and pump with which to inflate it, and Daman`s grumbling became a more bitter growling as he relocated his equipment. Without any specific instructions, I collected my own things and found a seat along the wall, only to have Daman order me into the chair next to him& again.

　　"You know, if I didn`t know any better, I`d think you liked sitting next to me," I sassed, Kane`s chuckling a reminder that my snark was being broadcasted to the entire team. Oh well.Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

　　"Alright, guys," Daman ignored my comment in favor of the greater matter at hand, "to do this, Kane and Daisy, you`re going to have to flush him out. I will do my best to guide the chase down an ideal path so we can try this&. Is there any reason we aren`t telling the&."

　　"Oran?" Daisy supplied while Daman either searched for or stifled an insulting name for me.

　　"Yeah. Him," Daman huffed. "What was the reason for not explaining any of the collaborative stuff to him?"

　　"We wanted to see how he performs under pressure and in unknown situations," Kane said. "We are testing cognitive flexibility among other things."

　　"Seems stupid," Daman muttered and Kane laughed again.

　　"Guide us, Daman," Kane ordered.

　　"Go left," Daman said with sulky boredom.

　　Right next to me, I watched Daman work, finding a grudging appreciation for his skill and efficiency. I had a hard time meaningfully tracking just one of the little dots blinking on his screen while Daman expertly coordinated the movements of two of them to intercept the third. It was like a complicated video game. "Kane cut him off. Daisy, follow him in. That`s it. Alright, corral him to the left. We want him to run down 21st Street. That`s it. Kalak and Oran, get ready. That minute starts& now!"

　　Not sure what was happening, but mask already on, I quickly flipped the mirror in my hands searching out Daisy and Kane and the man they were chasing. "I see-"

　　"Look ahead of him!" Daman said urgently. "Look for a puddle or patch of ice that he`ll have to run through. The bigger the better. Sit in it! Focus!"

　　I was scrambling, grateful that light was a quick way to travel. "I found-"

　　Daman`s hand snatched at the back of my head, I startled, barely managing to keep my concentration.

　　"Agh!!!"

　　Thud!

　　Silence.

　　Daman`s hand released my scalp as quickly as it had grabbed me, and I set the mirror down, confusion and adrenaline merging in a way that made the world feel somehow unreal. "What just happened?"

　　"It worked!!" Kane shouted. His sudden whooping too close to Daisy created a feedback loop in my earpiece that made me writhe. "Sorry, everyone."

　　"Seriously. What just happened?" I tried again.

　　"Ugh," someone new groaned from the air mattress before anyone on my team could reply. "Was that really necessary?" When he finally managed to roll off the cumbersome tarping, target one stood in front of us. "Where am I?"

　　That`s when I noticed the mirror on the ceiling for the first time, and I started laughing.

　　"Bring them home, Kalak," Daman barely whispered, his hand still gripping the back of Kalak`s head.

　　"I`ve got it." Kalak stood up to face the mirror on the wall, and moments later Kane and Daisy stepped through it.

　　"Well, that was fun," Daisy smirked.