The rest of the day was spent with a too-familiar visit to the infirmary. It lasted an unfortunate amount of time, since the number of medical staff had been substantially reduced, but Alex finally got a small dose of healing potion for her arm and instructions to stop injuring herself if she wanted to have anything left of her paycheck.

By the time she returned to the dorms, the others were already preparing for bed, and she could sympathize. A good night's rest was looking fairly attractive—at least until the alert signal warbled across the campus. Alex ran to the window to see one of the Greyhawks lift off just a short while later. She watched it go, her eyes straining to pick out the rotating blades and the tiltrotor's navigation lights.

She watched it until it vanished, hoping that it wasn't another call for a portal half-submerged in Grue. Then she turned and tried to get some sleep.

It was a long time in coming.

"It was an alert, but not a bad one." Sam panted along beside her as they ran through the campus. His Marathoning Skill was actually beginning to allow him to keep up with her for the most part. Alex resisted the urge to speed up in response—just barely.

He continued, apparently unaware of her malicious urges. "Just an overdue Surveyor team. No horde, no sign of tampering. Was for an existing client too."

She nodded. "Any progress on the hospital thing?"

"No." Sam shook his head. "Like I said, too many privacy concerns. Might have to be a bit sneakier."

Alex smiled. "Well, at least you have the name for it."

He gave her an exasperated look. "Yeah, thanks." He was still shaking his head as they made the turn near the aircraft maintenance hangar. Alex thought she could see some of the remaining mechanics inside. One of them almost looked like Joanna, though she didn't think the Adept would have gotten up early just to pretend to be interested in the tiltrotors. She put it out of her mind.

Sam eventually continued. "I think I have managed to get an inside look on the executives' travel schedules, though." She almost missed a step, and he laughed. "Turns out that not everybody is happy about those layoffs. Some people are mad enough to start bending rules."

Alex nodded. "Can they tell us details?"

"Sometimes." He shrugged. "Occasionally they like to make their own arrangements, but a good half the time they use the support staff to schedule things. That means I should have a better than even chance of hearing where they are headed in advance. It might give us a heads up on where the next incident will happen."

She felt a burst of triumph. "Good." Then she gave him a sidelong look. "You're sure it's not a plant, right? It isn't someone who might be working for Greylight and trying to trap you?"

He shook his head. "Let's just say I doubt it." Then his expression grew grim. "Just in case, I'm going to ask them about the travel plans this week. We'll watch to see what happens. If it matches what turns up in the Survey calls…"

"Then we'll know they aren't giving us bad information. Good thinking." She allowed herself a brief burst of speed, just enough to express her joy. Sam grunted as he struggled to keep up. Alex gave him a sly grin, and he rolled his eyes as they ran together across the paths of the Royal Purple campus. Maybe things were finally turning in their favor after all.

Unfortunately, the rest of the day was far less encouraging. The Surveyors from the other teams had not fared nearly as well during their Surveys; a handful of them had even been injured badly enough to require a brief stay in the infirmary rather than going through combat training. After sparring with Abbott, even with most of her Skills reset, Alex found it difficult to feel challenged by the rest of the D ranks. The only ones who came close were Sam and the others, and even they had a hard time keeping up.

Things only got worse when they began the team exercises. The arena hadn't been changed after the last bouts; most of the support staff involved had been let go. Even worse, there were only three partial teams to face. It was the first time that Alex and the others had won, but it felt hollow. All they really managed to do was discourage the rest of the teams, something which bothered Alex more than she thought it would.

By the end of it, they just tried to turn things into a free-for-all, with every Surveyor out for themselves, but even then, the battle was just not involved enough. As they left the arena, the other Surveyors were complaining about the entire thing, and Alex couldn't help but agree with them. There had to be a better way.

She was still thinking over it when Sam reported that one of Warner's lackeys had flown out to meet with a new client. After that, she had to spend the rest of the night waiting for the alarm to sound and the on-call teams to be sent out.

It didn't exactly make for the best night's sleep—which was why she very nearly swore when the alarm rang early the next morning. A check of her phone told her what she had already known. The on-call teams were leaving immediately, headed for a call from the Azure Sky Contracting facility.

"Nobody's heard anything about it yet." The stress in Sam's voice was obvious. He shook his head. "Whatever's happening over there, it is still going on—and there's nothing we can do about it."

Alex glanced around the training room. The other teams had gathered around each other, all speaking in low voices. Obviously, the news about the alert had already spread through the facility. She shook her head. "Then we're just going to need to prepare for next time. That way, we can be ready."

Sam nodded, and Joanna spoke up. "The pilots didn't hear a whisper about anything before the alert. I'm… not sure that I can get any information that way."

Clara looked more worried than usual. She kept looking towards the door. "The other Surveyors didn't know anything either. I don't think anyone's going to hear anything until the teams come back."

Curious, Alex looked at her, and Clara sighed. "It's Trips' team that was on-call today. That means…"

Alex nodded in understanding. She gave her friend a quick hug. "She'll be fine." Clara didn't look entirely convinced, but she nodded. "For now, let's get through this Survey, and then we'll find out what we can after. Okay?"

Reluctantly, the others all agreed. Then they set off towards the vortex for another full day. Alex tried to put her own worries out of her mind. The others would find out what they could after the Survey. Then they would move forward as they needed to.

Some hours later, Alex discovered she was in an unexpectedly good position to learn things all on her own.

"Does your arm still hurt?" Rob Piles had been a medic since the first Fracture, and Alex was more than happy that he had somehow survived Warner's purges. He looked over her shield arm, poking and prodding at it again to make sure that the healing potion had done its work.

Alex sighed. "My arm's fine. Just took another solid hit is all."

"And the leg?" He glanced down at her right leg, where deep gashes and bruises were turning to faint scars.

She swung it back and forth. "Still attached. For now."

The faint joke completely failed to land. He peered at her through his glasses. "You know, we might not always have the resources to treat these kinds of injuries in the future, Alex. If you keep getting yourself injured, you might end up getting sidelined."

She blinked. "Is there some kind of shortage on potions?"

"Shortage? No. Lack of funding…" Rob shrugged. "The layoffs were only the first step, I assume. They'll probably be putting more rationing in place next. Wouldn't want to waste resources, after all. Especially on Surveyors who insist on getting themselves injured."

Alex wanted to argue, but she gave up on it and shook her head. She hadn't meant to take another injury so soon, but the Shifter that had been hanging around the farms had been underground. The only warning they'd had was when it had come crackling through the cornfields, and she'd had to charge it to keep it from snacking on the others first. A combination of magical attacks had pinned it in place long enough for her to kill the thing, but it hadn't been an enjoyable experience. The thing had straight up swatted her out of the air at one point; if it hadn't been for Clara's healing, she might not have been able to walk back to the portal on her own.

She looked back at Rob, who was still watching her wounds heal with a frown. "So it's cheaper to have injured Surveyors on payroll than to buy or salvage healing potions?"

"As long as they are actually on payroll, maybe." Rob adjusted his glasses. "Mr. Warner apparently has other options, remember?"

Alex winced. "Good point." She swung her leg back and forth again, enjoying the feeling of the pain retreating. "Will I be good to go tomorrow?"

"I should say so. You have a remarkable constitution, Alex. I just wish you wouldn't—"

A low tone echoed through the infirmary, and Rob looked up in surprise. He turned to see a blue light flashing over the entrance to the infirmary and scowled. "I'm sorry, Alex, but I need the bed. We have incoming injured from the Survey teams."

Alex felt a pulse of anxiety. "Can I help?"

Rob gave her a close look and grumbled something quiet. "You can stay, but you need to remain out of the way. I don't want some Surveyor suffering because you want gossip. Understand?"

She nodded, and he hurried off to prepare. As she walked over to take a seat in the waiting room, she saw other medics running back and forth between the rooms. They were prepping healing potions and other, more invasive looking tools she had to assume would do more powerful things. How bad had the injuries been?

The question was still echoing in her head when the doors slammed open and the Surveyors arrived.

There were five of them, either carried by their teammates or rolled on stretchers that Alex hadn't seen before. Some of them looked like they were still bleeding, though as far as she could see, they were all still alive. Names flashed through her head as they ran by—Pound, a Squire she'd dueled with, Mumbles, an Acolyte with healing magic like Clara, Tank, a small Page that used a crossbow…

She realized with a start that it wasn't all D ranks. The woman limping along with blood running down her leg was Showtune, a Zealot she'd never worked with, and the one being wheeled in behind her was Boots, a Knight. What in the world had happened?

Each of the Surveyors was shoved into a room and the curtains drawn. They set to work, but there were only three medics. Rob and the others were running back and forth between rooms, dispensing potions and doing other work. A frantic, helpless kind of energy filled the air that made Alex's heart ache.

"Valkyrie." Alex turned and saw Trips standing at the entrance. There was blood on her uniform, and she seemed stunned. The woman looked back at the rooms and shuddered. "We're back."

Alex grimaced. "What happened?"

Trips didn't seem to hear her at first. Then she started talking. "We heard about that horde thing that happened to a few other teams. Hadn't seen it before, though." She shook her head. "This time, they were all over us, right out of the gate. We barely took three steps before they crashed down over us. I got Pound and Mumbles back through the portal, but the Grue were dragging Tank away…"

Her voice faltered, and a full body shiver worked its way through her. "The C ranks came through right after Pound and Mumbles left. They got Tank out and ordered us out. They were still clearing out the horde when the Shifters came. Took a few hard hits of their own."

Alex tried to picture fighting Shifters with the horde still surrounding them. Had the Greylight facility not shut down fast enough? "Did the portal stabilize?"

"Yeah. Mash and Puddles both got it under control." Trips shook her head again. "Still. I don't know if we'll be active the rest of the week. After this… we'll be lucky getting to train on Monday."

Trips shook her head one last time, wrapping her arms around herself. "The Grue have never been that bad before. What is going on? Are they changing somehow?"

The frantic pace in the infirmary continued, but it was starting to slow. Rob's expression had gone from near panic to professional neutrality as he passed between rooms. Alex looked back at Trips. "You should sit down. There's nothing more you can do for them now."

Trips nodded, and Alex guided her over to the chairs. The two unwounded C ranks were already there. They looked exhausted, and their gear was covered with damage and blood. Both of them eyed her, and Alex abruptly felt out of place. She nodded to them and then headed back to the dorms.

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Things had obviously just taken a turn for the worse. The Greylight Anchor Points could be getting closer to going out of control. How was she going to stop this before it got much worse?

The question was still echoing in her head as she walked into the training room the next day. She saw the same clusters of D ranks gathered here and there. Trips was nowhere to be seen, but it was obvious that her story was already going around. How many D ranks were going to want to go through the portal their next mission out?

She glanced back at her friends, who had followed her from the cafeteria. She'd told them about Trips' team the night before, and the news had still not quite sunk in yet. Clara had immediately run to the infirmary to do what she could to help; there were still bags under her eyes from staying with Trips and the others all night. Sam looked exhausted, too. Knowing him, he'd been up all night trying to find clues to lead them to the next facility.

Joanna looked a little more normal, though even she seemed disturbed. Her eyes moved over the assembled Surveyors and then paused. Alex could have sworn she heard the Adept curse under her breath, and her eyebrows rose as Joanna reached out and grabbed her arm.

"Alex, maybe we should—"

"Valkyrie!"

All the muttered conversations in the room stopped, and Alex turned back around. She hadn't seen them at first, but Rabbit's team was already in the training room, which was… unusual. The C ranks usually had their time in the arena now. Why would a team of C ranks be here?

Jester strode across the training room, his arms wide. "We heard that you've had a lot of trouble training effectively since poor Abbott was dismissed, so my teammates and I have generously decided to help you. Isn't that nice?"

Alex studied him for a long moment. The way he was grinning… it suggested that this was not exactly an approved activity. She wondered if Warner was even aware of it.

Obviously, Jester and his friends believed that some of the D ranks could use a chance to learn who their betters were. With Abbott gone and Warner distracted, they had their opportunity. The smart response would be to avoid the duel. After all, no one would really criticize a D rank for not going up against an experienced C rank, especially when the medics were already busy with casualties.

As she thought of that fact, her mind flashed back to seeing Trips' stunned face, and the blood on the purple uniforms. She connected it, somehow, to the malicious grin on Jester's face, and decided that he had to be involved in it all. He seemed to know too much, and there were too many coincidences. If she had to admit it, a good part of her suspicions involved the fact that it would be just the sort of plot he'd enjoy, which meant that Warner and the others might see him as useful.

When she made that connection, all thought of retreat vanished. Instead, Alex catalouged her assets.

Her Skills were mostly still developing. She'd reset Battle Maneuvers on the previous Survey, replacing the Systematic Title with Methodical, but other than that, her Skills were close to, but not quite at, their new maximums—which meant that she'd be fighting fairly well, even if it wasn't at her peak. It was likely nowhere near where Jester was—after all, he'd known the fight was coming—but she wouldn't be helpless. A voice very much like her mother's was whispering she'd still be crushed, but also admitted that seeing how an enemy fought would be a good experience.

Also, she had some anger she needed to resolve.

So instead of withdrawing and ignoring him, Alex nodded and stepped forward. "It is nice, Jester. I suppose you want to go first?"

Jester's eyes widened slightly. He almost, but not quite, looked back at where Rabbit was leaning against the door to one of the cages. Then he shrugged. "Why not? It'll be kind of fun, actually."

She nodded and picked out a practice axe and shield on her way past him. He stared after her a moment and then laughed. She felt him sizing her up as she walked to the cage.

Rabbit was watching her. The cold look in her eyes was less than comforting, but Alex forced herself to ignore it. She walked past the B rank Surveyor and stepped into the cage.

Alex kept walking until she reached the center of the cage. When she turned, Jester was already stepping down and closing the door behind him. He did it with the air of a predator locking his prey inside with him, and his grin turned nearly sadistic as he turned around to face her. A pair of practice knives were held lightly in his grip.

He smiled at her, tapping the tip of one knife against his lips. "You know, Valkyrie, I feel like in a lot of ways we have gotten off on the wrong foot."

She watched him, not trusting his casual stance or the way he was ambling around the cage. "Is that so?"

"It is." He gave her a sidelong glance as he continued to circle her. "I've never meant to hurt anyone's feelings, of course. There are just so many people out there without a good sense of humor! No, I realize that I should have been a bit more sensitive about certain things."

Alex didn't respond, still studying him. "Like what?"

"Oh, this and that. Nothing important." He spread his arms and sighed. "Still, I do feel bad about it. So I'm going to give you a gift."

She said nothing.

Jester grinned a little wider and tucked one hand behind his back. "For the rest of this fight, I'll only use my right hand. Does that sound fine? I figure that someone like you can appreciate a good handicap."

The emphasis he'd placed on the word seemed strange for a few moments, at least until she heard Snickers chuckling outside the cage. Alex glanced in that direction, and realized that the rumor mill must have included a bit of gossip about her mother, and how she'd looked when she came to visit. Most of the Surveyors outside the cage looked shocked at what he'd said; there were only a handful of exceptions. Mushroom and Snickers were grinning at each other; Rabbit still looked cold and irritated.

Sam, on the other hand, just looked satisfied. He met her eyes and nodded. Then he whispered loud enough for everyone to hear. "Now this is going to be funny."

Alex smirked and turned back to Jester. If she were anyone else, she'd have been infuriated by the joke. It did irk her a little, but it was more that he thought she'd care about it and was trying to hurt her. The concept of someone being so casually cruel cried out for punishment—but that anger was balanced out by the mental image of Jester meeting her real mother, with sword bared.

So instead, she just smiled.

His grin faltered a little, and he tilted his head. He seemed confused, and he glanced at the door of the cage.

Which is when she blasted him in the face with a lightning bolt.

Her momentary hopes were dashed when he reacted, faster than she'd believed possible. His dagger jerked up and across his face, taking the bolt of electricity and shunting it aside. Jester glanced back at her, a cruel smile twisting his lips. "Well, that was not polite."

Alex ignored him; she was already charging across the cage floor towards him. She pushed her speed, relying on Motion Trance to help her. The bars of the cage blurred as she closed with him. Jester took a slight step back. It wasn't out of fear. He just wanted to be able to sweep his arm out in a mocking bow.

She did her best to shield-check him, right in his downturned head. Jester whirled out of the way, his dagger already flashing towards her throat. Alex danced aside as well, swerving out of the path of the practice blade. A trickle of satisfaction leaked through her as she saw his eyebrow quirk at the lack of a hit.

It didn't last for long. Alex had to skid to a halt in order to avoid slamming into the wall. Jester was after her almost immediately, stabbing at her back. Alex spun, slamming her shield into the blade to divert it aside.

The impact was like she'd slammed her shield into a brick wall. Shock ran through her as he shoved her a little to the side, still grinning. He followed as she hit the ground and rolled, his blade still striking down once, twice, three times. Each time, she barely managed to get her shield in the way. A cut with her axe bought her a little space as it backed him off, but not far.

Jester watched, still grinning as she regained her feet. "Come on, Valkyrie. It's just a dagger."

Her eyes narrowed as she studied him. The Strength behind those hits had been far beyond what she'd expected. He was fast, too, though she'd expected that. It was almost like she was fighting a more agile Wells, though it didn't make that much sense…

She started to circle, still watching him with narrowed eyes. If he had put his Attributes into Strength and Speed, and only those two things, he'd have probably about double what she had in each. Maybe triple, in the case of Strength. His equipment had never shown much sign of heavy armor, so his defenses must have relied on blocking and dodging things, rather than tanking them head on the way Abbott would.

With grudging acceptance, she realized she was probably facing someone very much like her, minus her Storm magic. He didn't seem very winded, either, which meant he had at least some points in Life. Did he have Recovery based Skills as well, to give him more endurance? If he did, then she couldn't rely on wearing him down the way she had with Wells.

While she was still trying to find an opening to exploit, Jester yawned. He raised an eyebrow. "Let's see how you handle things on defense, shall we?"

He dropped into a crouch, and Alex braced herself. Even prepared, she barely caught the edge of how quickly he moved. One moment, he was a few strides away. The next, he was right there, stabbing at the outside edge of her shield.

The hit pivoted the shield out of the way, and he wore a gloating expression as he wove his dagger around it to stab at her chest.

His smile slipped a little as she bobbed out of the way and swung right at his side. Jester backed away again, and she pressed the attack, swinging her shield like an awkward battering ram. He swatted away the dull edge and then had to block the axe as it came in again at his shoulder. Alex pivoted her shield back between them and tried another shield-check, only for him to meet it with the tip of his knife. It stopped her momentum, but not before she pushed him back.

A flash of anger crossed Jester's expression, and he lunged in again. She set herself to block, but he stopped short and darted out to the side. Alex pivoted in place, sweeping out her shield to bat his attack aside, only to have him change course and jerk back in the other direction. As she swung her axe, she saw the knife swinging in again and tried to flinch back from the impact.

Axe met knife, and her attempted strike was knocked back. She was already leaping backwards when a second strike just barely caught her. It was still enough of an impact that she was sent hurtling backwards.

She still landed on her feet, and Alex fought to stay standing for the next attack—but Jester didn't follow up immediately. Instead, he shook his head at her from the other side of the cage. "You know, Valkyrie might be the wrong name for you after all. I'm sure I could do better. Who even gave you that name, anyway?"

Alex grinned despite herself. "Bob."

Jester snorted. "And he was your friend, right?"

"Not exactly. Tried to kill me, actually." Alex let her false grin slip away. She started to really focus on him. The way he moved seemed familiar. Something similar to Combat Balance? That and a bit of Evasion from somewhere. Raul had pulled off some of those moves back at Red Blade.

He seemed a bit uneasy now. "He did? What, did he try to take his nickname back?"

"Nope. He just died." Alex shrugged, her eyes watching each shift in his stance. He was used to using two hands. His own boast was keeping him off balance, making it so he had to block both her shield and axe with the same dagger. It might let her trick him into giving her a shot.

Frowning, Jester shook himself. "That's besides the point. I think a much better name for you would probably be… Flygirl. What with the way you enjoy the Greyhawk and the way you buzz around in here." He waved his dagger around as if he was shooing away a gnat. "You wouldn't mind me changing your moniker, would you?"

Alex moved in towards him again, not as fast as before, eyes still on the dagger. "Call me whatever you want. It won't change what happens."

Jester snorted. "We'll see, Flygirl. We'll see."

He launched himself across the cage, and Alex began her own charge at the same moment. She saw the grin as he stabbed at her shield and shifted to her right. Her momentum crashed to a halt as they collided, and then Jester laughed as she cut at his legs. As he hopped over the slash, he stabbed at her head.

She took the hit on her shield and swung at him again, this time at head height. He deflected the strike with his knife and then pivoted as she punched her shield forward. His dagger flashed over to intercept the shield-check he knew was coming.

It didn't. Alex swung a second time with her axe instead, this time at his unprotected side. Jester's eyes opened wide with surprise. His hand behind his back jerked as he brought his second knife into play; the one already swinging out to her left twitched as well as he tried to reverse its course.

Neither happened quickly enough. Her axe made contact, slamming into Jester's ribs. He had flinched away from the point of impact, just enough to weaken the hit, but not enough to escape it entirely. She heard a bit of the breath whoosh out of him as he staggered, and she pushed in close to take advantage.

She ducked low, angling her shield to cover her. It was barely enough; Alex felt like the ceiling had slammed down on her as Jester stabbed down with both daggers at once. Even as her shield arm ached, she whipped out her practice axe and caught Jester right in his right ankle, smashing it out from under him as he tried to jump back.

The C rank grunted as he fell, but he wasn't done yet. He turned the tumble into a backward somersault, coming up on his feet again. Jester held out both knives wide, a snarl inscribed on his face. Alex was already coming after him, trying to keep him off balance. If she could keep him from regaining his composure…

They clashed again, and Alex's world narrowed down towards an exchange of blows too fierce and fast to remember clearly. Each stab and slash from the knives felt like a Brute's hammer, and he was far, far faster than any Grue she'd ever fought. The practice shield was starting to crack under each hit, and even as he continued to backpedal, his knives were striking closer and closer to her. One clean hit and she might be down, but Alex continued to push closer, using her speed to keep him from disengaging. All she needed was a clear opening, and—

She swung at his face, and he leaned back. Then his eyes hardened, and he put one foot a bit further back than before. His retreat came to a sudden stop as her shield ran into his forearm with a sound like a car accident. The knife in that hand hooked over the edge of her shield, and Jester ripped her shield out of the way, as if she wasn't even holding it in place.

His other knife came up and around in a hard slash, but Alex's axe met it partway. The weapons both cracked, and a splinter went past Alex's cheek. She felt a sting, and heat seemed to leak down her face as they clashed. Jester growled and stabbed with his other dagger. Alex leaned back and to the side, letting the practice blade shoot past her shoulder. She swung the cracked remnants of her shield at his side, only for him to dance backwards, now grinning.

Alex lunged after him, bringing her axe down in an overhead cut. As she did, she gathered her magic, letting the Storm crackle through her. Jester blocked the attack—and then flinched as she let the axe go. The force of his block sent it spinning across the cage, even as his other knife came up towards her gut. Her empty hand glowed with power as she pointed it at his face—

"Stop!"

Alex stopped, the lightning bolt still about to strike. She didn't need to glance down to know that Jester's dagger was barely a hair away from smashing her sternum against her spine. Pure hatred glittered at her from Jester's eyes, but she willed her magic back into place. Now was not the time. Yet.

She pulled back, still keeping her eyes on Jester. He stared back at her a few moments, breathing hard—and then his false smile was back, broken-edged and hollow as it was.

"I suppose you should thank Rabbit for her kindness, Flygirl. That might have hurt."

Alex simply stared back at him as he turned and sauntered away, heading for the entrance to the cage. Then she looked past him at Rabbit, who was still watching her from the sidelines. Obviously, the B rank hadn't wanted to deal with Jester getting burned or Warner's reaction to him crippling a D rank, but Alex didn't mistake that for kindness. The cold calculation in those eyes was just too inhuman for that.

When Rabbit's gaze moved to Jester, Alex looked back at the others. As she did, orange text flared to life.

[Battle Maneuvers increases to 5!]

[Combat Balance increases to 34!]

[Holy—Storm increases to 33!]

Still breathing hard, she dismissed the text. Clearly, she still had a way to go.

Still not focusing on the murmurs from the other D ranks, she stalked towards the entrance. She needed a new shield, a new axe, and a lot more practice.

The rest of the training day was far less interesting. Rabbit and her team put in a few more duels—usually against multiple other D ranks at once, and none against Alex or her friends—and then left the room to go back to whatever training program the C ranks were keeping to. Not many of the D ranks wanted to fight with Alex after her show with Jester, which only worsened her dark mood.

Their lecture after lunch was given by a harried-looking older clerk. Georgia had apparently been let go, and the man in her place had four teams to cover, so he just left them with the materials and hurried off. He didn't reappear until the end, when he just collected the folders and ran off.

During the team exercises, the arena was once again exactly the same, and once again, Alex's team won. At the very least, they made it more interesting by having all three of the other teams work together against hers, but in the end, it was still a discouraging way for all of them to spend their time.

The one good thing was that no alarms sounded and no more teams were sent out to face the hordes. Alex tried to tell herself that it was a good sign that the Greylight plot was at least slowing down. Maybe they were getting more casual about their plans; maybe they would finally slip up and make a mistake. Either way, she found herself looking forward to the Survey the next day. At least with the Grue, things were far more straightforward.

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