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leaned back and closed my eyes. I instructed V to run a search for the names of anyone in the order. She came up with two results since I’d shut her down.  
    The first was a message from Chris—twelve days ago. V played the video. Chris’s face was covered in sweat, like he’d been running. He was in a dark room. His face looked hollowed, lit by candlelight.  
    We lost Neo , he said . Only four of us remain. But we will come for you. Stay safe, protect Naomi, and pray.  
    That was it. The video blinked off. I opened my eyes.  
    Naomi hadn’t moved. “What is it?”
    I told her what Chris had said.
    Her head fell into her hands. She was quiet, trembling. She eventually looked up. “I can’t believe Neo’s dead.”
    My thoughts drifted to the man’s hideaway in Montana, and all the children he sheltered. “Chris didn’t mention the kids.”
    Naomi sat up straight, as if willing herself out of pain, out of fear. “God will save them, if not on earth, then in heaven.”  
    “If Chris or anyone tries to come, they won’t stand a chance.”
    “Don’t think like that.” She sounded poised, assured—the news had changed something about her. “We must keep praying and keep going. What’s the next message?”
    I closed my eyes again. V played the next one.  
    It was Ronaldo, from only a few hours ago. He looked calm, with the same bright eyes as always. The wall behind him was the same color stone as the palace. He started speaking, relaxed.  
    They caught me, mon . I’d been bidin’ time, hopin’ to help, and I even got a drone to the palace. But the devil’s watchin’. He followed the sync to my hideout. Maybe he knew all along. He certainly knows it all now. Ain’t no more use tryin’ to hide. They hauled me here. Looks like they’ll be locking me up in the palace’s east wing. Come soon.
    “What happened?” Naomi asked as my eyes opened. Her voice reflected the excitement that was surely on my face.
    “Ronaldo. He’s here. Don caught him.”
    She bounced to her feet. “What else?”
    “He said he’s locked up in the east wing of the palace.”
    “Then what are we waiting for?”
    “Don knows everything we do, everything we say here.”
    “He can know everything,” she said, “but that doesn’t mean he does . He’s not omniscient. He can’t monitor everything at the same time.”
    I glanced around my room at all the places where cameras could hide. “I’m not sure about that.”
    “Only God can do that.”
    “Or the devil with technology.”
    “We’ve got no choice.” She held out her hand to me. “We’ll be careful with what we say. Let’s go.”
    “It has to be a trap.”
    “We’re already trapped!” She pulled me out of the chair. “It’s a long walk to the east wing, right?”
    I nodded.  
    “Let’s get baby boy. I’ll bring him with us. Can you wait a little while?”
    “Sure, I’ll start the drone training while I wait.”
    She hesitated.  
    “I might as well, so we’ll have more info for Ronaldo.”
    “Pray unceasingly.” She turned to go, a bounce in her step for the first time in days. “See you soon.”

V STARTED THE training, and everything changed.  
    My mind, my entire consciousness, felt like it was swirling through a pipe, out of my body and into somebody else’s. I heard Don’s voice before I could see anything.  
    “You are inside the most powerful machine in the universe. Let’s see what you can do.”
    I opened my eyes. I was standing in a giant crater, larger than a football stadium. The crater was full of ramps and towers and vehicles, like some kind of mining operation. A line of smaller machines was facing me. No human was in sight.
    In my mind, I lifted my arm. A massive metallic arm rose in front of me. It was thicker than a tree trunk.  
    I thought of clenching my fist. The arm’s fist clenched.  
    I thought of taking a step, and I moved forward, the ground shaking beneath me. And so it went—my every thought mapped