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"Do I hear a million?" the auctioneer shouts "An even million? No?" He counts down--and when it looks like no one else will take it, he points out the winner "Sold, for nine ninety!"

The winning bidder is a talla plaid coat As he pockets the power-up and turns away, I edgethe attention of the security bots In real life, I’ to find a moment when the man is alone and vulnerable The security bots continue their randouard this auction now drift off to patrol another one that has just started

At last, I see ap where two security bots have turned away and left a narrow, clear path to theht as he’s about to turn around, I lunge forward and grab for his suitcase

An ordinary avatar wouldn’t have nearly the strength to do such a thing But I’ve built up years of code on rab So when my hand closes on his suitcase’s handle, I twist hard--and the suitcase coh No one who spends a million notes on a power-up can be Instantly, two other avatars near us whirl on me He has hidden security of his own here I twirl barely out of their reach before I et back inside the black tunnel, where the security bots can’t go, I can make it out of here with er and lunges, ready to tear throughand yanks me off balance The world topples aroundat the room from the floor I kick out--at the saht noill increase my security beyond what it already is; there’s simply no time Around us, the security bots have noticed the scuffle and gather instantaneously near the entrance, sealing the tent in Others rush to , their black parasols spinning like razor-sharp blades Their hands clarab the suitcase’s handle His two helpers seizee of her parasol I yelp as it slices clean through his arm They are pixels, of course--but the man still falls backward, his left hand now cut off from the rest of the space, useless I look at the bot in surprise, but it ignoreson the other bots

"Go, Em!" it shouts at me

My heart leaps It’s not a bot at all It’s Roshan’s voice

I scramble to my feet and hurtle toward the exit Another bot covers my escape--it’s Hammie Then, a third Asher! Their protection throws off the attacks from the others, which don’t seem ready to counterattack several of their own I slip between two security bots that have rushed into the fray but are still unsure how to handle the hijacked bots Then I’ behind me fade away

I follow the number of steps and turns out of the entrance, and then burst through the front tent flaps to findat the entrance don’t pay attention toaround me turns black--and an instant later, I’m back in my virtual personal room

I still have the suitcase I still havethe suitcase I can’t hang on to it formore suspicion After several attempts, the suitcase finally pops open Inside is the Play God power-up, blue and beautiful, its swirling clouds s I carefully stash each of my three neer-ups into my inventory, locked up behindout pings and invites every few seconds to the accounts of my teammates

For a while, no one appears Had it locked theht?

Roshan materializes, followed by Haer look like security bots--they’ve thrown off the shell now I break into a smile I’ve never worked with anyone else on a hunt before--but noith my teammates on my side, it seems that much easier

Asher speaks first "Well?" He peers atuseful after all that trouble"

I nod, then bring up my inventory to show them what I have

Asher’s eyes widen, while Roshanthe truth about the file he sent you," he says

"Truth or not," Ha one with these in the mix"

"If these won’t help us beat Zero," I say, "then nothing will"

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