When a figure emerged from the shadows, Tyson relaxed his posture, thinking they had avoided danger. However, when he saw who the next person to land was, his rigid posture returned.

"Beor, dude, what are you doing with this crazy chick? Are you her hostage or something?" Marcus asked bluntly without even trying to think through his words.

"Marcus!" Tyson said warningly.

He wasn't too happy about seeing Loralei either after what she did to Marcus. However, he assumed that Beor had a good reason for hanging out with the woman who betrayed him. Also, he hoped that reason wasn't blind trust caused by love.

"No, princess, it's not so easy to hold me hostage. Those two lunatics only captured us because they surprised us," Beor said, standing protectively in front of Loralei. "I found Loralei and convinced her that she was on the wrong side of this. I guess our love was stronger than their deception after all."

"On the wrong side? It seems to me like those crazy people are on track to find a way out of here, so I don't know what the right side might be," Marcus said, thinking out loud.

"Ahem, the good side would be the one not going around killing people or erasing their memories," Beor said sternly.

Marcus swallowed hard to stop the words from bursting out. If that was how the sides were determined, they were on the wrong side as they did cause the deaths of quite a few people. Well, mostly Marcus did, but he assumed that Beor was only counting the murders of Mazers, which was good news for them.

"Alright, you two, settle down! If Beor says she has changed, I trust him," Tyson said, not too convinced. "He knows her better than anyone else, and he can judge that better than the rest of us."

Loralei shifted uncomfortably, clearly not liking all the attention she was receiving. Nevertheless, she still stood straight, never backing down under the scrutinizing glances thrown her way.

"Sybil, what do you think about all this?" Tyson asked as she had been uncharacteristically quiet.

"I think they have been behind the enemy lines. They can be valuable assets if we want to finally figure out what exactly this place is and how to get home," Sybil said calmly.

Still, Tyson couldn't help but note that she never said anything about trusting them. It seemed to him that she was as suspicious of them as Marcus, but she was wise enough to keep her doubts to herself.

Tyson had his own misgivings, but they did seem like the best option they had, so he decided to follow Sybil's lead and reserve judgment. Furthermore, he chose to keep close attention on Loralei no matter what Beor said about her sudden change of heart.

"I am sorry about trying to manipulate you," Loralei said, addressing Marcus. "And the whole erasing your memory thing. That wasn't cool."

She sounded sincere enough, but the way she said it annoyed Tyson she said it. As if she was apologizing for bumping into Marcus, not about putting his life in danger by removing crucial information about the maze. The information he needed to survive.

"Well, I don't really remember anything you did, so I guess we are cool?" Marcus asked, looking at Tyson.

Tyson nodded his head imperceptibly, and Marcus went on with the reconciliation process that he didn't even fully understand.

"Yeah, we are cool. Do you want a snack? These energy bars are delicious," Marcus said, offering Loralei a seat next to him, drooling over her good looks but for once succeeding in containing his enthusiasm.

"So, what's going on? Did you manage to learn something about Sunshine and her plans?" Tyson asked Beor the moment Marcus was otherwise occupied.

"We did learn quite a few things, but I am not sure how useful or not they are," Beor said, stroking his chin thoughtfully. "To be perfectly honest, the more I learn, the more confused I get."

"What do you mean?" Tyson asked.

Sybil listened to everything carefully, seeming to disapprove of Tyson's interruptions.

"Well, it seems Sunshine and her husband have been banished to this place," Beor said, surprise leaking into his voice. "However, they were given a portal that allowed them to travel a bit, but it seemed to always pull them back to where you met them."

"Like a prison which allows them to escape for a while?" Tyson asked, confused because that wasn't how prisons were supposed to work.

"I guess so. From what we've learned, it seems like Sunshine and her husband were banished a long time ago. It feels like they forgot about them about this place in general," Beor said.

"So, is this a disturbing version of prison, or a simulated reality or something?" Tyson asked as he could follow the conversation less and less.

"What is simulated reality?" Beor asked, confused.

"What Tyson is trying to figure out is if this is the actual history, the real world. Or if it is something created by using advanced technology," Sybil said, annoyed with the two guys who didn't seem to be able to even communicate properly.

"I see," Beor said, not fully understanding the idea but having the general idea of what they were asking him. "As far as I understand it, the maze itself and the portals are the only manmade things. Everything else is as it was, is, or will be."

"That at least eliminates one option," Tyson said, satisfied that at least they knew something for sure.

"It still doesn't eliminate the aliens," Marcus said eagerly.

His eyes never strayed from the hot chick sitting next to him, but he couldn't help expressing his opinion.

"Unfortunately," Tyson mumbled to himself and then addressed Marcus. "You are right, Marcus. That's still an option."

"Is it?" Beor asked, having no idea what they were talking about.

Tyson shook his head imperceptibly and continued to contemplate all the new information and how they fit with what they already knew.

"It's a theory," Tyson said for Marcus's benefit.

"Also, we found this paper in their place," Beor said, giving Marcus a colorful pamphlet.

"We call that a villain's secret lair," Marcus said while simultaneously offering Loralei another energy bar, which she refused with the shake of her head. "We should say we found a clue in the villain's secret lair. That way, it sounds so much cooler."

Although Tyson agreed with the assessment, he didn't think it was the time or the place to talk about that. So, he thought of what to ask Marcus to do so that he would stop interrupting.

"Marcus, why don't you find some water for Loralei and show her where she could sleep," Tyson said.

Even though they all knew (except for Marcus) that she probably knew where to find them far better than he did.

"Sure thing," Marcus said, as eager as a puppy.

Tyson focused his attention on the pamphlet that, to his surprise, wasn't actually a piece of paper like Beor assumed but more like a holographic paper. What caught his attention were stunning pictures that represented different historical events, most of them looking intense and exciting.

What drew his attention was that they looked very old-fashioned, yet they were not black and white.

"Do you think this is just a great photoshop, or did they actually go there in person and take these pictures?" Tyson asked Sybil, showing her the enticing pamphlet.

"It could be either way, but my guess is that they took these pictures themselves. I am not even sure there are any pictures of some of these people," Sybil said after taking a closer look. "They must have used these special portals to allow them to keep what they were carrying on them or something like that."

"Maybe, but I still don't understand why," Tyson said exasperatedly. "What's the point of the maze?"

"That I don't know, but maybe we should give this thing a closer look. It might give us some clues because good pamphlets are informative and enticing," Sybil said, squinting in the dim light.

"Marcus, give me your phone," Tyson said.

"You said we should save the battery. It's almost empty," Marcus said, turning on his phone.

"Yes, but this might end up giving us a way out. It's worth the risk," Tyson said, turning on the flashlight and reading the text.

"Well, that's unexpected," he said after reading the short text.