Darsie looked at the black digital window, millions of bits and bytes flowing past, and studied his own face in the smudgeless glass. “If Hi Kyto is Encyte, I need to be the first to know, and I need you to help me.”
“I’ll talk to my father. This sounds like the perfect mission for Valor.”
“No!” Darsie snapped. “You can’t ask your father.”
“Why?”
“For starters, Valor will be inoperable this summer.”
“What do you mean?”
“Trouble is coming and Valor’s going to find its hands are tied.”
“So what do you want me to do? I’m on the island. I’ll be there all summer.”
“Blow the horn. You need to leave the program.”
“What? Hell no. I’m not a quitter. And if I do that, I’ll never be able to come back,” he said, rising to his feet. “We have other missions besides Encyte—”
“Look, I know it’s not an easy decision, but you need to think about this. If Hi Kyto is the killer, I’ll dissolve Red Trident immediately. I’ll go to jail—I don’t care. That’s not the issue. I need to solve this my particular way, and that brings me to the offer I have for you…”
Wyatt looked over, arms crossed but listening.
“Mr. Yellow and the Golden One Hundred are in the middle of a search, but I don’t think I need to tell you that they’re stuck.”
“Then you know about Hallsy?”
“Of course I do. And the girl he killed.”
Wyatt’s jaw again stiffened and his face flushed. “How do you—”
“Dolly Allen was her name, if I remember right…”
Wyatt glared.
“I’m sorry,” Darsie added flatly. “You loved her, huh? Look, there’s very little I don’t know.”
“Then you know where he is?”
“Right now, no. But that’s only because Sergeant Eric Hallsy is not a priority.”
Wyatt took a step toward Darsie, fists balled, still feeling the switchblade tucked in his belt.
Instantly, the security was on him, guns drawn. Reflected in the glass screen of the phony windows, Wyatt saw the dots of laser sights on his forehead, neck, and chest.
“Ease down, all of you,” Darsie said. “Wyatt, I understand you don’t want to leave Valor, but the world needs you.”
“It does—at Valor.”
“Sounds like something Eldon would say. You’re better than that.”
“I’ve only completed Group-C. I need more training to truly be of value.”
“Not so,” Darsie said. “Why do you think I made it so difficult for you to find me? Security, of course, but it was also a test. Now, if you will help me, either clear or close Hi Kyto as Encyte, I promise I’ll help you find Hallsy.”
Wyatt sat back in the chair.
“I don’t expect you to tell me now. You can’t just go up to Hi Kyto. She’s too closed off. I need to find the perfect intersection for you two to meet. It must be organic.”
“But if I blow the horn, they’ll wipe my memory. I won’t even remember this meeting. I mean, how will I even remember you or our plans?”
“Good question,” Darsie said. “First, this is Year Two for you. With time, it’s harder for the camp to erase it all. Besides, I know the chemical formula they use to erase memory.”
“Then you know how to counter it…”
“Exactly. There’s a chemical compound I can give you. It’ll lessen the effect of the memory-erasing agent. I’ll need something to jog your memory to reverse the loss completely.”
Wyatt thought a minute. “There’s a photograph stitched in my backpack. But,” he quickly corrected himself, “I didn’t say I was helping you.”
“If you leave, I’ll meet you and apply the antidote, and your memory will return. Most of it, anyway. There’s a reason I remember Valor,” Darsie said. “When I blew the horn, I did the same thing to myself.”
“Feels a lot like you just want to cover your ass.” Wyatt watched the 4K screen, contemplating. Darsie was right. All efforts to find Hallsy had fallen flat. He had no faith in Mr. Yellow, or even the Golden One Hundred. If he wanted to avenge Dolly’s death, the torture his father had been through, and the attack on Valor, he would need Darsie’s help. “How will I give you my answer?”
“You won’t. Words mean nothing to me. Either you do it, or you don’t. I’ll see if you leave. Either way, there’s one last caveat. You cannot tell anyone about this mission. And if you do, I will know, and I won’t give you the memory-reversing agent. I’ll let you drop out, and it will be like this meeting—and Valor itself, for that matter—never existed. You’ll just go back to being a regular old teenager, frustrated by the nagging sense that you could have done and been more. But you’ll never be able to put your finger on why. Do you understand this?”
Wyatt nodded.
“Good boy.” Darsie glanced at one of his assistants, and the train began to slow.