I took a deep breath, and put myself into a mindset of absolute focus on my objective.

It's just like a sim mission. It's exactly what you've been trained for all this time, I told myself. Well, not this exactly. But close enough.

As my nervousness ebbed away, it was replaced with a wave of adrenaline rushing through my veins. It spread across my synapses, creating a familiar tingle of excitement that started deep within my chest and spread throughout my body, culminating in a prickling sensation at the back of my neck, at the site of the implant.

First lesson. Know your enemy.

If there were two people around for each of the vehicles we had seen, there were probably at least two dozen of those guys in there, somewhere. Still, it was a big place, which put the odds of not running into any of them in our favor.

"Wait here," I whispered to Moon.

She grabbed my wrist as I tried to move past her. "Wait. Where are you going?"

"Scouting the perimeter," I replied.

She looked at me wide-eyed and opened her mouth to protest, but I put a finger on my lips and motioned her to stay. One last time, I checked to make sure the cars were abandoned and there was nobody near the entrance, then I snuck across the open space between us and the hangar. I passed the cars, sticking to their shadows, just in case somebody might step out of the building.

The main hangar was an enormous concrete block with no discernible features on this side, except for several large gates that had been sealed shut. The main door into the building was actually part of a smaller side-structure that had probably once housed administrative offices. From my memory of last night, the Colosseum as well as the backroom with the VR hardware must have been located there. There were no windows there either, but I recalled that like the main hall, the Colosseum had a glass roof.

Second lesson: Use your environment.

I cast another look around. On a neighboring building, I spotted and old, derelict ladder and clambered up as fast as I could. My heart was racing now, but not because I was out of breath. There was something extremely thrilling about the thought that I was walking on the rooftops of an ancient ruin – in real life, not in a simulation. But as I reached the edge of the roof and peered across the gap that separated me from the hangar, I suddenly found myself somewhat less excited by that thought. I wished I had a protective suit like Daidala. If I didn't make it, that would be a long fall.

I hesitated for another moment. Form my vantage point, I could spot Moon in the shadow of the side alley. She was waving her arms to catch my attention, and then gestured at something somewhere above me. When I turned to follow, I spotted a drone hovering above the black cars. I quickly ducked down low behind the parapet, wondering if it had seen me. But I heard no noise that would indicate that it was moving closer. I peered through a gap in the decrepit wall at the edge of the roof to chance a glance at it.

Third lesson: Know your units, in and out.

About thirty centimeters in size, and its turnip-shaped body covered with a black hull, I recognized the small unit as a sensor drone. They were not routinely equipped with cameras, instead they packed all kinds of other sensory equipment. This one just hovered there idly. There was no indication that it had taken any note of me. Whatever it was monitoring right now, luckily it wasn't me.

After a couple more seconds, the drone set out to move. It hovered around the corner of the building, probably toward the other entrance where the other cars were parked. Although it hadn't spotted me, and probably had no way to see me at all, I breathed a sigh of relief once it was out of sight.

Slowly, I came out from behind my cover and then made my way across the roof, back to the edge. Up ahead I could already spot what I had been looking for – the domed glass roof of the Colosseum. The gap wasn't that big. I had jumped similar distances during my physical training with the Enforcers.

There was just the fundamental difference of a fall of several meters awaiting me if I didn't make it.

Fear tried to worm its way up from my belly and into my mind. I pushed it back down and squared my shoulders, and then took a few steps back, forcing myself not to stop and hesitate for even a second. With a sprint start, I leapt across the gap. My heart probably skipped a beat in mid-air, until my feet came upon solid ground again, and I landed somewhat ungracefully but safely on the other side. I didn't take the time to dwell on the feeling of triumphant pride that threatened to break my focus. There would be time to feel things later. Hopefully, not just pain in my ankles and regret.

I scrambled back up and hurried over to the dirty glass dome to peek inside. From my vantage point I could see that several meters down below, the commando, a woman with an expression as uptight as the sleek pony tail that she had tied her dark hair into, was currently inspecting the rigs. The grey-uniformed man was a pale redhead, and he was typing something on a tablet. It seemed like they hadn't found Moon's com yet, but I still had to get them out of the room if I wanted to get down there and retrieve it.

Fourth lesson: There is always a way. And if you can't find it...

"Sky!" I heard Moon hiss my name behind me and almost jumped in surprise.

As I looked up I saw that she had followed me up to the roofs and was standing on the other side of the gap, on the other building. I stepped closer to hear her better.

"What are you doing?" she whisper-shouting over to me.

"Coming up with a plan," I replied.

"You're being incredibly reckless!"

"I could say the same thing about you for following me up here," I countered.

I cast another look around. On the far side of the flat roof that covered this part of the building, there was another, smaller glass dome. It was in a much worse state than the Colosseum roof, there were several cracks in the thick glass, and parts of the domed structure had shattered completely. I walked over and peered down into the room below, which had a similar layout to the Colosseum, but was much smaller. Several more people in these grey and blue uniforms were walking about and seemed to investigate the debris that was cluttering the floor. There was only one intact piece of technical equipment in the room: a huge terminal, connected to a large wall screen. They were trying to tamper with the terminal, but couldn't seem to get it to turn on.

I walked back to the edge of the roof, where Moon was waiting on the other side, casting some very angry glares across the gap at me.

"I seriously wish I could make that jump, so I could come over there and punch you!" she hissed.

"Or you could listen and help me with my plan," I suggested. "That room over there, the one with the broken glass ceiling. Do you know if the terminal in there is functional?"

"Of course. That's the tech room," Moon replied. "Where the hardware for the games is."

"We need to get the power on over there," I suggested. "Blaze said that people only draw power from the grid when it is needed, so there must be a way to do it on demand, right?"

"Why do you need power?"

"A distraction. I want to lure them into that room, so we can go into the Colosseum and get your com. Do you know how to do it? And can you turn on the power in only that one room?"

She pondered for a second, biting her nail, while a conflicted array of emotions flickered across her face - hopefulness, doubt, fear and anger displayed in rapid succession. She settled for doubt in the end, but nodded slowly.

"Probably. But... that's still highly risky."

"It's worth a shot. If it doesn't work, we don't have to go in," I said. "But if it does we will have to be fast. How long will it take?"

"I can do it remotely, so it#s a matter of seconds. But-"

"Perfect. I suggest you go back down and do it, and I watch from up here to see if the air is clear. If it works, I'll come down and we go in. You can look for the com and I keep watch. Sounds good?"

I made it sound so easy that I almost managed to convince myself. In truth, I had my own doubts that this would work. But Moon didn't need to know that. So I put on a pokerface as she stared at me for a moment. Then she covered her face in her palm and heaved a sigh.

"Alright. I will need your com to make a call."

Without asking why, I removed the device from behind my ear and threw it over across the gap between us. She caught it despite her trembling hands.

"Get in position," I ordered her. "When I give you a sign, turn on the power, okay?"

She nodded, and I was relieved to see an expression of determination form on her face now.

"Be careful," she whispered and turned around to climb back down.

I went back over to the broken glass dome. Two people were still standing before the terminal that connected to the screen, their gazes glued to the tablets in their hands. I calmed my breath and tried to catch glimpses of their conversation over the obnoxiously loud pounding of my nervous heartbeat.

"...think it could have something useful?"

"No clue, but if Miss Bullet says we should check everything, we better..."

"It's Commander Bullet," the first person corrected.

That must be the Commando, I figured. So you want to see what's on that terminal? I think you might be in for a surprise.

I walked over to the edge of the roof and spotted Moon back at her position in the shadow of the alley. She looked up at me and gave me a thumbs up, indicating she was ready. I nodded and gave the sign back. As she turned her attention back to her tablet, I hurried back to the broken glass roof to check what was happening. The screen had come to life and emitted a soft glow, drawing the interest of the people in the room.

"What did you do?"

"Nothing! It came on all by itself."

"Let's check what's running on that terminal..."

A mere second later, deafeningly loud music erupted from the terminal's sound system, accompanied by blood-drenched letters appearing on the screen. I could hear one of the people down below scream out loud in surprise. But I had already turned away to check in with the Commando and the other guy in the Colosseum. Startled, the man had lowered his tablet and stared at the door through which he must have heard the ruckus. The Commando stormed up the tribune and grabbed his arm as she passed him, pulling him along with her as she exited the room.

I made the jump back to the other building without a shred of hesitation this time. It was only when I was clambering down the ladder stiffly that I realized that my heart was thumping so heavily in my chest that it seemed to have trouble keeping up the blood flow through my legs and arms. I ignored the leaden sensation that spread through my limbs, and hurried on. Moon was already waiting at the bottom and handed me back my com. The drone was hanging in the air above us again, unmoving. Although I was fairly certain it didn't have any cameras, or it would have probably spotted me on the rooftops already and alerted somebody, I made sure that we stayed in its dead angle at all times as we moved towards the main entrance.

Through the dirty and scratched glass of the door, we could see that the corridor behind lay deserted. As I carefully pushed the door open, the loud, bass-heavy music coming from the other end of the corridor could be heard. I took a step forward, and felt Moon freeze up next to me. When I looked back I found her staring down the corridor with a blank expression. Her face was pale as death.

Fifth lesson. No one gets left behind.

I took her hand and squeezed it.

"I need your help to find your com," I whispered. "Keep your tablet ready."

She nodded slowly, and followed me into the hangar.