"I'm sorry. We lost them," Ajax said, his gaze cast down on the floor of the infirmary. His head hung low, and he dropped his shoulders. "Only the Developer knows where they must be now."

The multicoloured neon lights of neighbouring buildings shone in through the huge glass panes. The interior lights were dimmer than the passionate, dancing neon lights outside. A passing wave of baby blue covered him, drowning the red of his uniform into a dull kind of purple, while Shannon stared at him. It feels strange to see him so downcast. He's avoided eye contact with me ever since we left the Tab Groups centre.

"Don't worry about that now," Ned, sitting on a stretcher near them, whispered between painful hisses as Ragna cured his wounds. "At least we could confiscate their vehicles. Damn, this stings!"

"Stay still," Ragna instructed with a motherly voice as she leaned a bit forward to him.

"We put them in quarantine down in the basement," Aethelred said, standing close to him. "Just in case Nekari or Pitt can control them remotely."

"Good," Ned replied with a curt nod. "We need to be extra cautious."

Shannon fidgeted with her hands. One nanosecond, she was checking her nails; the next, she discreetly stretched her wrists and arms until she rubbed her neck. Next, it was her face as she let go of a short sigh. She shifted on the stool she was sitting on more than once.

"I'm..." Ajax began to say as he took a glance around the room, meeting the narrowed eyes, crossed arms, and tightly pursed lips of the Core's folks gathered there in an improvised house meeting. His voice trembled as much as his fists while that silent shower of contempt poured all over him. "I'm awfully sorry for–"

"For what?" Hector asked before Ajax could even finish. He put his hands on his hips. He emanated disdain from across the room. "For depixelating our dear friend Mei?"

"With a gun we just gave you as a gift?" Imari added, who stood right next to him with his arms crossed over his well-built chest and raising an eyebrow.

Amser had tears flowing down her cheeks and remained painfully silent as red neon lights shone brightly on her ginger hair, making it redder. Nuru approached her and hugged her.

"Guys..." Bea said, head lowered. "Things are bad enough as they are."

"Bad? Things have gone from bad to worse ever since he set foot in our city!" Hector exclaimed, shooting an arm and hand in Ajax's general direction.

"Hector, these threats are next gen," Ned said, his chin lifted slightly and making steady eye contact with him. "Did you honestly expect him to defeat them on his first or second try?"

"It was his third, actually," Bea whispered as she bit her nails.

"Or third. I mean, look at me," Ned added, with wounded pride. He blushed a little in embarrassment. "I should've performed better, and yet here I am. Wounded like never before. Are you going to be mad at me too?"

Silence filled the room. Uncomfortable glances were shot at one another.

Shannon sighed. This is bad. We've never been this tense in the Core. What can I do?

Imari briefly closed his eyes and chuckled. "We should've expected this," he said in a calm voice as he fixed his gaze on an unknown, distant spot on the horizon.

"What are you talking about?" Aethelred asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Division," Imari answered. "This rookie has shown from the very start that he does not fit here, with us. His core values are different. He's causing division among us. This is detrimental to our safety."

"Imari, this is nonsense," Aethelred said. "Ajax is here to fulfil his mission, and he will stay with us, right? Even after this mayhem is over. We need an antimalware and adblocker here."

"An antimalware and adblocker who is not constantly defiant and rude," Imari said. "His current despondency smells fishy to me. I think he's worried we're gonna send him back and report on his bad performance to the academy."

Shannon shot her head up, her skin getting paler as much as Ajax's. Wow. That would sentence his career to deletion. Would Imari do that? Not without my brother's consent—and he would never allow it.

Right?

Shannon turned her face to her brother. He stood tall, eyebrows furrowed at Imari and Hector.

"If you're worried about him being too different, well, with time, he can learn to be more like us," Ragna said. "It's not a big deal."

"Not a big deal?" Hector said, raising an eyebrow. "He just shot and depixelated our cookies manager and friend! Are you suggesting that we should forget what happened and blindly open our arms to accept him?"

"He should at least apologise for what he did," Bea whispered in a sour tone.

"I will not apologise for fulfilling my duties as a protector of this city," Ajax said, serious, his nostrils flaring, making Bea blush in shame and curl into a protective self-hug.

"Depixelating Mei was not part of your duties," Imari said.

"It was the nano she became viral," Ajax replied, not wasting a nanosecond.

"She could've been deinfected," Bea dared to say with a shaky voice.

"No, that's not possible. No one has ever been saved after being infected," Ajax replied, angry, with his fists and jaw clenching.

"If you had brought her here, I would've tried to save her but," Ragna said and sighed as she finished working on Ned's wounds, her shoulders dropping, "you're right. Nobody has ever survived infection—ever—anywhere in the net. I would probably have failed—I'm certain of that."

An awkward silence ensued.

"Thank the Developer that Imari, Bea, and you, Ajax, are okay," Ragna added with a bittersweet smile. "The only one who got severely injured was Ned. How's your neck, Shannon?"

"I-I'm fine," Shannon whispered as she rubbed it.

"And another thing. What I don't understand is why you're not angry at the rookie, Shannon," Hector said.

Shannon's posture slumped as she sat on the stool. She also avoided eye contact. I was angry at him. I've never been this angry at anybody in my entire life when Mei got depixelated, but... Ajax was right about me, about him, about everything. He admitted full responsibility and simply acknowledged that I did as good as I could according to my skills. He seemed convinced that I still hate him, but in fact, I don't.

I can't.

He's simply been clear and direct about this nasty situation from the very start. He's never cookie-coated anything that's happened—because lives are at stake. Every nanosecond that goes by. Every decision we make, individually or as a group, matters. It has an impact. Mei was the last impacted being in all this mess.

Ajax said it himself. We simply were unlucky that one of the hostages was her. That's not his fault—or mine. Or anybody's.

We need him. Desperately. We need him... and Ned... to beat those two motherboardfuckers' arses and delete them as soon as possible. And if I can help them in any way I can, I will do it.

Even if he asks me to stay put and do nothing. I... I will stay put.

"Why aren't you throwing a fit, Shannon?" Hector insisted.

"Hector, don't add more fuel to the fire," Ned warned him as he stood up right beside Aethelred in slow but deliberate movements.

"You've been adamant about fixing this issue since the clickbait," Hector added, ignoring Ned. "And now, he just depixelated your best friend and holoball partner. Not to mention that I heard around the chipvine that you hate his guts to the core. What you did during Dominic's call was cute, but I take it that it was to defend Browser City's pride—not his, right? Why aren't you shouting at him for the crime he's committed?"

"Hector, stop it," Aethelred demanded, with open hands towards him.

"You don't understand," Shannon whispered.

"What is there to understand?" Imari asked, frowning at Shannon. "He's been a... plughole since the very start. I'm starting to think that his brother Dominic was right. He screws it up more often than not and might need constant supervision. We should take a vote on whether he stays or goes."

"No. Don't believe a word Dominic said," Shannon replied with downcast eyes, her hands shifting nervously on her lap. "Every byte of the conversation we had was a red flag. He's toxic to say the least. He is not to be trusted." Then, she looked up and dared to meet Imari's eyes. "Besides, Ajax and I have already... talked about... what happened in the Tab Groups shopping centre.

Shannon then turned her face to Ajax.

"Tell them what you told me," she whispered.

"What is there to say?" Bea asked with a shaky voice, her eyes looking around nervously. "We already know what happened. He failed and got Mei deleted. It won't change a thing."

"Ajax, tell them," Shannon insisted.

Ajax closed his eyes for a nanosecond, only to open them and stare at the Core's folks with a squared, disciplined posture. "I assume full responsibility for what happened."

"And?" she insisted again.

"Enough," Ajax whispered aside to her.

Imari, Hector, and Bea chuckled and rolled their eyes.

"I agree. It's enough," Aethelred said, his voice lower and more commanding. "Last time I checked, I am in command here. Hector, Imari, and Bea, I don't like your tone and attitude in this conversation. You will all refrain from using this sort of language and tone from now on. I won't tolerate division in the Core. Ajax, keep your anger and defiance in check, as well."

Ajax nodded, with a respectful, lengthy movement of his head towards Aethelred, but none of the other mentioned parties made the slightest move, making Aethelred frown.

"I second that," Ned said, with a warning glare around the room. "Success will come eventually. We need... more time."

"And a very good plan," Ajax added. "Not to mention a gun that's not defective."

Shannon's eyes went wide as she stared at him. The brand new one? But... how is that possible?

"What?" Imari asked, with wrinkles on his nose. "You dare say that our gift is useless? Are you serious right now? It's top quality—and very expensive."

"How ungrateful," Bea whispered, mildly shaking her head. "Unbelievable."

"It's not that... I'm... ungrateful," Ajax replied, visibly struggling to be less defiant in his replies as he paused between words as if he was hesitating. His hands made sudden, quick movements in frustration. "The gun doesn't... aim straight, as if someone had tamp– I mean, it doesn't shoot straight."

Shannon raised an eyebrow. Her mouth hung slightly open as she pondered on a possibility. Tampered, you mean? Huh. Interesting thought. He knows his way around guns. If one is tampered with, he would notice immediately.

Imari, Bea, and Hector narrowed their eyes at him even harder than before.

"Let me have a look at it," Shannon offered.

Ajax handed her his gun. She took it.

"The gun is brand new," Bea complained. "What problem could it have?"

"We went to great pains to get it," Hector added.

"And risked our lives to get it to you," Imari said. "By going out of the Core's lockdown ourselves and giving it to you personally."

"And for that, I am grateful, but... a defective gun is still a defective gun," Ajax replied, sounding a bit calmer as nanoseconds went by despite the beligerant atmosphere in the room. "It could've hurt me." He avoided eye contact with the three of them and focused his gaze on Shannon as she started to examine it.

"Arrogant plughole," Hector whispered.

"Enough!" Aethelred shouted, earning a startle from everybody in the room. "I'm getting tired of you already. Stop it, will you?"

An awkward silence filled the room.

"The barrel does look as if it were altered... or obstructed," Shannon whispered then, breaking the silence. "This is no manufacturing defect. It looks like it was done on purpose."

She looked up at Ajax, who turned his face slowly to Hector, Imari, and Bea, shooting an uncontrollable glare at them. His calmer demeanour was gone—back were his tense jaw and shoulders, his fiery eyes, his clenched fists, and furrowed brow.

"Did one of you do this?" Ajax asked, squaring his shoulders at them. "Or all of you?"

"What?" they exclaimed in unison.

"No, they wouldn't do such a thing," Aethelred replied for them, putting an arm over Ajax's chest, as if blocking any potential forward movement he could make. "Never."

Aethelred made deep eye contact with him. But his relaxed posture and intense but calm gaze didn't put out the fire in Ajax's mind: his neck and face became redder, and his breathing never stopped being shallow and rapid. He glared back at the three of them.

"You see me as a condescending fellow and hate my guts," Ajax said, ignoring Aethelred. "You did even before I depixelated your friend. You don't trust me or my skills to defeat those two threats." He narrowed his eyes and added in a sarcastic tone, "Why not give me a defective gun to make me fail yet again... or to get me accidentally but conveniently depixelated, huh?"

"Ajax, stop this right now," Ned said. "Please, calm down. We don't accuse each other like this in this city."

Ajax turned to stare at Ned and whispered with a strained voice, "I have the right to voice my concerns."

"You do—to me," Aethelred replied. "In private. Not like this. Especially without proof."

"Ajax," Shannon said. His eyes turned to her immediately, "They would not do this. I promise."

A few nanoseconds passed by as they stared deep into each other's eyes. Ajax pressed his lips together and took in a deep breath, seemingly relaxing him a little as the redness of his skin lessened.

Hector cleared his throat. "What kind of evil functionalities have you had around you in your life to distrust us like that?" he asked. "We're like family here, in the Core. Do you treat each other with distrust too, in your family?"

Shannon glared at Hector. Don't mention Dominic to Ajax! Not now, that I had cooled him a bit off.

"We were hoping that... someday... you could fit in the Core," Bea whispered in a shaky voice, her posture rigid with her arms crossed over her chest. "Even though you put our dear Shannon in danger the moment you arrived here. She could've been deleted, same as Mei. We were lucky she was only paralysed! But if you insist on being a proud plughole who accuses us of attempted murder when it's convenient to you to justify your ineptitude, then–"

"Convenient to justify my ineptitude, you say?" Ajax asked, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled and added in a familiar defiant tone, "I will never fit in Browser City, that I know. But this accusation of yours is going too far, miss."

When Ajax's posture went forward in Bea's direction with an aggressive movement to it, Aethelred tensed the arm that was blocking his path while Imari and Hector protectively shielded Bea, who hid behind their backs.

"Imari, Hector, stop it," Ned insisted as he stood in the middle, his palms open on either side. "Ajax, relax, please. We will solve this. One way or another. But for now, we all need to calm down, okay?"

He sighed deeply as he checked on everybody's tense body language.

"And Bea, you've never been like this," he added. "This is a very unbecoming thing to say to a coworker."

A sob emerged from behind Imari's and Hector's backs. "I'm... I'm sorry," her squeaky, mouse-like voice said.

"Don't silence them, Ned," Ajax said. "A truth is still a truth, even when it's cold and hard. They hate me. Let them express their feelings."

Shannon bit her lower lip. I hate him when he's... suicidal like this. Offering himself as the sole target of their anger. And taking things for granted—like the fact that they hate him. They might not. They might just simply be angry right now because they're frustrated we lost Mei, but it'll pass. They'll eventually see there was no fixing this, that she was lost the nano she got infected—which is Nekari's fault, not his.

"Now, that's very noble but futile, Ajax," Ned replied. "It will only make things worse."

"Okay, then," Aethelred said after a deep sigh. "This argument is at an end. Right now, am I understood? We are going to be civilised beings and talk about this in different rooms, okay? Imari, Hector, and Bea, you're going with Ned to the Console Room. You'll voice your concerns to him there. How does that sound?"

"Great," Ned said.

The others simply nodded curtly.

"Shannon and I will talk to Ajax," Aethelred added. "I want the rest of the people gone. Nuru, Amser, Ragna... please, leave us alone. Thank you. Ned, we'll meet in a few nanos in my personal office to discuss matters further."

Ned put a hand on the others' backs as they exited the infirmary and nodded to Aethelred.

As soon as Aethelred, Shannon, and Ajax were left alone in the infirmary, Aethelred paced around the room, taking some deep breaths and massaging his temples.

"Okay," he said. He displayed his palms to Ajax and told him in a slow voice, "Please, sit down on the stretcher, Ajax. Take a few deep breaths with me, okay?"

He did as instructed.

A moment later, Ajax whispered, "Thank you, Aethelred. For everything. But I don't think this... this situation can be fixed, you know."

"They'll eventually accept you," Aethelred said in his usual calm and wise voice. "It'll take some time, but they will see how vital you can be to this city."

"I doubt it." Ajax chuckled. "And I'm not willing to wait. Once this mission is over, I'm going back to the academy. I'll fill in a form so that you'll get a replacement, don't worry."

Shannon's eyes went wide open. A replacement? Is he for real? No, this can't be.

"Now, don't say that! We can–" Shannon said.

"There's not going back from what I just did to... your friend," Ajax whispered, his shoulders dropped, his hands clasped against one another in a tight embrace. His eyes zeroed in on hers as if the world had stopped moving, as if time ceased to exist.

Silence ensued. Shannon swallowed hard.

"Are you afraid of what Dominic might say?" Shannon dared to say. "Because I'm not. And I'm sure my brother isn't either. I don't care that he thinks you've failed because you had to delete Mei."

Ajax rubbed his neck with shivering hands. He then avoided eye contact and adopted a slumped posture.

"May I ask why his approval is so important to you?" Aethelred asked. "Shannon was right before, when she said that he was a massive red flag in every nano of our conversation."

The tendons in Ajax's neck protruded as he opened his mouth to speak, but hesitated. He slightly shook his head and said after a defeated sigh, "So is the rest of my family. You have no idea how it is to try to reach their standards of success and fail every time. I'll always be a worthless piece of scrap metal to them."

Aethelred whispered, "You need to detach yourself from such a toxic environment."

Ajax chuckled. "Easier said than done."

"I mean it," Aethelred explained. "I don't think your mind is where it should be. If you're too focused on fighting for success and approval, you're not doing this mission right—or anything in life right. Browser City could be in real danger if you don't clear your head, young add-on. You could even get someone else killed."

Ajax swallowed hard.

"Stay with us, Ajax." Aethelred placed a hand over Ajax's shoulder, a gesture the younger add-on received with sparkling eyes, looking upward at him. "I mean it. Give them time. Have some patience—a lot of it, in fact. Focus on deleting the spyware and the malware as if nobody is judging you—be it your family, your friends at the academy, or the Core's coworkers. Put your skills to the test because you know you can do this—not because you need to prove your worth to anybody, okay?"

Ajax drew a shy smile on his face.

Aethelred smiled and patted Ajax's shoulder. The latter then nodded and relaxed his shoulders. Leaning a bit back, he made eye contact with Shannon.

Their gazes lingered for a nanosecond longer than necessary. Both their faces softened.

Despite the cosiness of the moment, there were still urgent matters to focus on.

"Now, let's address the issue about the gun," Aethelred said. "Shannon, are you absolutely sure that it's been tampered with?"

"Yes, manufacturing defects are different," she replied. "See here? Inside the barrel?"

She showed them the empty barrel after a brief disassembling manoeuvre. They took turns to watch closely.

"These little marks are a residue of something hard glued to the metal surface to block passage," she went on. "Something that had completely—or almost completely—blocked the bullet's exit course. No firearms manufacturer would block the barrel like that."

"So, what do you think happened when Ajax pulled the trigger?" her brother asked.

"I think the bullet could burst through despite the blockage, but with an altered course. The excessive pressure deformed the barrel, just slightly though, to the right, see?" She pointed to it as Ajax was still holding it. "If you try to see through the space, you won't see the full circular space—but a slightly oval-shaped tunnel."

Ajax observed the inside of the barrel again.

Aethelred sighed. "Damn. This confirms Ajax's suspicions."

"So, one of them tampered with it," Ajax said, putting down the gun. "Why? And who?"

"At the very least, it was to get you in trouble," Aethelred said.

Ajax chuckled. "To get me killed at the hands of the spyware or the malware, of that I'm sure."

"The gun could also have backfired, harming you," Shannon said.

"Or depixelating me on the spot," Ajax whispered, his eyes wide and his body rigid once more.

"It's a possibility," Shannon also whispered.

Ajax shook his head and smirked with defiance as he stood up. "I'm not staying a nanosecond longer in this building."

"Ajax, stay," Aethelred said, blocking his exit path. "It's not safe outside."

"It's not safe for me in here either."

"We'll find out who did it and why," Aethelred insisted, putting a hand over Ajax's shoulder once more, his fingers firmly grabbing the younger add-on with decisiveness, "but I promise you nobody will ever try that again. I promise you're safe in the Core."

Their gazes locked with convincing firmness.

"Find the traitors, Aethelred," Ajax replied. "And soon. Before this gets out of hand."

"Of course," Aethelred said.

A beeping sound preceded a comm window opening, with Ned's face in it. "Ready when you are, Aethelred," Ned said.

"Excuse me," he said. "I need to do thefollow-up with Ned. Stay here until this issue is solved, okay?"