Hide and seek

     It was odd how such an evil HoN Co. base could be located in the centre of a stunningly beautiful jungle, especially at this time of; the last remaining rays of light of the sun shining onto the Western side of the tower to the South of us playing in stark contrast that that of the other side. The dull, grey structure jutting up from a sea of green. I wasn't even able to see the roof of the main base from the top of this tower due to the incredibly dense canopy covering. Turning to go, I took one last look at the setting sun, wondering what the outcome of all of this would be. Would we succeed in taking the Keystone from The End and destroying the master portal, or would we fail, ultimately dooming every living thing that existed. It wasn't worth thinking about, let alone getting worked up about... I joined UOPETA and THEROS at the top of the stairs, beginning our descent to the tunnels below, where we would make our way to the next tower.

---

     I can't believe it hadn't occurred to me before, I'm such a fool, we all are! As we had reached the base of the tower, a thought had jolted me from my daydreams, with an almost physical force! The Eyes of Ender! I had been thinking about whether SERVERE had managed to help them escape by now when I realised that COLUS still possessed the three Eyes we had recovered from the Nether! What if SERVERE wasn't able to help them escape? What if they had found COLUS in possession of the three Eyes of Ender and taken them? They would then possess four of them! We still didn't know whether HoN Co. was aware of the alternate use for the Keystone, and if they did, obtaining the Eyes would become top priority! If they did know what they unlocked, what object they could get a hold of, then we would have lost! It would be impossible to take back four!

"Look, SERVERE got us out of there pretty quickly, and even managed to get us another disguise. He should easily be able to to the same for the others."

"Not necessarily! They thought we were guards, so we weren't monitored. But they know who the other six are; as far as they're concerned, they're their main targets! With the Lone 7 caught, they have no obstacles to setting up the master portal for good and merging the dimensions!"

"Then there's only one thing we can do from here. The remaining towers can wait. We need to either find SERVERE or find the others and try to release them, if they haven't already."

"How are we going to manage that? HoN Co. have been looking for us for a number of years. They're not going to give them to a couple of scientists for some arbitrary reason..."

"We'll come up with something, although finding SERVERE is top priority. He's the one we need to find and determine where the others are. If they have been taken elsewhere, he's the only one who'll know where they've been taken."

We picked up the pace as we dashed down the stairs to the tunnel below, where we were then able to freely run down for the entire length before slowing down to avoid drawing attention. Ascending the stairs back to the main lab corridor, we slowly made our way to the far side and went back up to the courtyard. The buzzing activity from before had calmed slightly, and the creepy guy in the suit had disappeared, but it didn't mean we were safe. We were still being watched by CCTV and we couldn't even be sure that HoN Co. had seen right through us from the start, and was merely toying with us, making us think we had control. I doubted that would be the case; HoN Co. would have nothing to gain, and it could go wrong very quickly for them. UOPETA pointed across to the door on the far side which led back to the interrogation room. That's where we had left them when we had been taken to another room, and the guards that had been posted outside were gone. That didn't bode well.

"Let's look for SERVERE. If they've taken them to another place in the HQ, SERVERE is likely to be looking for us so he could tell us."

We waited for a group of scientists to move past us so we could make our way to the interrogation room, hoping that they were still there, or at least somewhere close by so we could get them out of there. Reaching the door, we slowly opened up to find an empty room! Opening it fully, we searched the entire room, but we were unable to find anyone, or any of the equipment and bags that they had kept with them!

"What now? We need to find SERVERE quickly! He'll know where they've been taken!"

We had no idea how we were going to find him though. He had disappeared and seemed to merge into the HQ with every other civilian and guard. The only thing I could think of was to ask at the front desk and see if they know where he had gone to.

"It seems a little odd asking for SERVERE. Surely he would have changed his name or they would have done it for him...?"

"Unless they made him keep it. As a trophy. A mark of their victory over us...?"

"Well it's likely to ring a bell with a few guards here, but let's try not to make it too obvious."

Heading out from the interrogation room, we made our way to the entrance where the same guard was still on duty. We turned back around quickly and headed back in the opposite direction. If he saw us again he'd know something was up; we had entered the HQ as guards, and now we were wearing lab coats!

"What now? We can't ask him or they'll catch us!"

"It doesn't matter, we've got luck on our side! Look!"

THEROS pointed ahead of us in the direction of the other tunnel entrance leading to the other three towers; from the top of the stairs emerged SERVERE, His posture and expression suggested he was searching for someone, and as his gaze drifted across to us, it changed to relief. He came across to us, with a smile on his face.

"I've been looking for you three. I thought you would have been done by now!"

"We had a run-in with a Ghast and some pigmen. It wasn't pretty."

"Sorry, I didn't have any information about that. You were heading in blind."

"What about the others? Where have they been taken?"

"Taken? They left to reach the other towers. I managed to sneak them the same disguises you've used, but with access to the labs down that entrance instead."

"Great! Do you think we can catch them up?"

"Definitely not. With those ID badges you're not authorised to access those tunnels. There are some severe penalties for those that do. No, COLUS told me to tell you to find somewhere safe to remain within the HQ until they're searched their towers. They don't know about whether you succeeded or not so they're likely to search all three."

"Well we found one. Are you able to get back to them?"

"Yeah, the Elite are given full access to the entire base. I'll catch up to them and tell them they're only looking for one Eye now. I'll warn them about the Ghasts as well."

"Oh, and warn them about the Eye. When they find it, the creatures in the tower become hostile, so a quick exit is advised!"

"Thanks. I'll see you in a couple of hours if all things go as planned. Until then, head into one of the labs and lie low.The Director doesn't usually go down to One and Two labs so you should be safe."

"The Director? Who's that?"

"The guy in the suit. I don't know his real name; I don't think anyone does. We just know him as the Director. He manages the operations within the HQ. Nothing goes on without him knowing about it. Well, everything but this."

SERVERE headed back in the direction he had come from, as we slowly made our way back down to the labs, trying not to draw any attention. What were we going to do for a few hours? Play hide and seek?

Syeonyx signing off