Will was a fool to think he could return to Imperial Headquarters undetected. Being after dark, the hanger stood empty with Armed Forces back at their regular posts, allowing Will to sneak inside. He made it to his quarters with a few questionable glances from guards on duty, and only relaxed once the automatic doors closed shut behind him. He let out a sigh of relief, knowing how close he had been. It was still too soon to tell if he had made it home free or not.

A notification alerted him from his Holopad, earning an anxious glance from Will as he turned around to face the dread of the unknown dispatcher. He edged towards the floating desk where his Holopad awaited him. A flashing light directed him to the incoming notification and his finger hovered above the touch-screen, too nervous to open it. His intrusive thoughts won in the end, prompting him to receive the message.

An AI female voice sounded from invisible speakers, startling him to look around for the source.

"Attention Resident. For failing to follow provisional regulations, any admittance is prohibited until further notice. Lockdown will commence indefinitely."

Lockdown? Will thought. So they had noticed his disappearance after all. No wonder things had seemed oddly suspicious upon his return. If not a little too quiet. His gaze fell on the city skylines, being the only thing he could do right then. Apart from overthinking the consequences of his choices that had led up to this moment. Not that he wanted to admit it, but the lockdown would probably do him some good. 

Just then a flicker of light caught in his peripheral, and Will looked back towards the Hologram beacon which now projected a palm-size holographic image of Ezra. He appeared to be looking for Will, not being in his line of sight. 

"Will?" he asked. Will took big strides towards him, sensing the urgency in his voice. "Will-" 

 "Ezra? What's going on?" Will asked. The relief disappeared as soon his eyes found Will.

"Will!" he exclaimed.

"I thought you trusted us. Where were you?" 

"Looking for answers," Will said. "Listen. Ezra, back at The Raven's Eye, I met someone who claimed he could help me-" 

"The Raven's Eye? That's where you were-" 

"His name is Liam Walker!" Will had previously wanted to keep this information from Ezra and Bill, but situations had forced him to reveal more than he'd been willing to share. Anything he could say to regain Ezra's trust and fulfill what he had set out to do without further obstructions. 

Ezra's face paled. "I've heard that name," he said. "My father has spoken of him. I'm not sure who he is though." 

"So I wondered," Will resumed. "Is there a way you could get more information on him through Imperial's database?" There was a pause of uncertainty as Ezra pondered on the implications of Will's question. 

"What are you thinking?" he asked. 

"This man, he knows where the Infinites are. He wants Raven to take me to them-" 

"And you were going to keep this information from us?" 

"I'm telling you now, aren't I?" Will said. 

"I don't think you realise how much of a game changer this is for us," Ezra said. "This is the breakthrough we've been searching for." 

"So where do we go from here?" Will asked. 

"We?" Ezra scoffed. "First you need to figure out which side you're on, Will," he said. Despite being the size of a figurine, Will could see the hurt in Ezra's eyes. 

"Ezra, I-" 

"Until then there is no 'we'." 

Will had underestimated the impact of those words and found himself trying to justify his actions. "I went in search of answers," he explained. "Because I wasn't getting any here and I was desperate. My brother is alive, Ezra. Do you have any idea what that means?" 

The room was silent as Ezra recalled the impossible phenomenon of Will's statement. "If I hadn't been there when we saw him, I wouldn't have believed you," he admitted. 

"You see why I have to do this then?" The silence was disconcerting at first.

"It could prove beneficial to us," Ezra concurred. "You'd have to play both sides." 

"As if I'd need another reason for the Infinites to not trust me," Will reacted sombrely. 

"When are you seeing her again?" he asked. 

"She told me to come back in two days," Will answered. 

"And Victor's commemoration is tomorrow evening," Ezra recalled. 

"What do we do until then?" Will asked.

"Nothing much we can do stuck in lockdown," he mulled. "Alright. Let me look into this 'Liam Walker'."

"What can I do?" Ezra had been about to hang up the call when Will spoke. His gaze hardened and cold, green eyes met him as he looked back up at Will. 

"For now?" he said. "You've done enough. I will see you again at the Commemoration. I think you could use this time to evaluate where you stand in all of this, Will. Because you're either with us or you're with the Infinites." 

The Hologram shut off, leaving Will alone in forced contemplation over his friend's words.

Friend. Was that the right word? Did he really consider Ezra a friend? 

He turned to embrace the solace provided by his levitating bed and gladly let the soft bedding cushion his fall. His eyes closed. Sleep would have taken him if not for that melodic toll followed by the irritation of a phosphorescent light through his closed peripheral. 

His eyes opened. 

A neon, white light illuminated from his right, directing his gaze towards it. Curious, he sat upright and shuffled to the edge of the bed for a closer inspection. The light traced an outline of what appeared to be a door. A mystery door that only evoked his curiosity to further investigate it. He pushed himself off the bed and strode towards it. In proximity of its trajectory sensor, a hand scanner materialised in the wall next to the hidden door. 

Seeing as this used to be Other Will's quarters, Will could only hope that their DNA profiling was the same. His hopes were answered when the red trace lines of his handprint on the analyzer turned green. That was good to know. 

Objective complete, it retracted and dematerialised back into the wall. Sliding doors swooshed open, allowing Will access to walk in. He was hesitant at first, but once he took those first steps over the threshold, he had already seen too much to turn back. 

He stood in a space of massive scale that appeared endless in every direction he turned, sleek and modular in design. Around him, the room glowed with electric blue lights that pulsed through the dark glossy floor and walls, like veins of pure data. Geometric patterns shimmered subtly beneath the surface. Will was left speechless as he took everything in. 

The air hummed with a low, digital thrum, alive with energy. A sound of crackling static pierced the air. Will whipped around in fright, doing a complete 180, and was met with the materialisation of a simulated opponent solidifying into existence before his very eyes. And yet it wasn't the simulation that shook Will, but who they resembled. 

"Subject detected. Commencing battle sequence," it said. "You seek to master your rivals. First... master yourself."