Syndicate of tribulation

Chapter 30

"Well, your boyfriend made it, so unless you want to start questioning his abilities, I think it's time to make a plan" I sneered, annoyed that we are wasting so much time on talking instead of coming up with a plan.

"He's not my –", Amo cut her off "let's make a plan".

We sat on table and devised a plan to rescue our teammates. "Wait but if we do this then won't it be too obvious that we know something" Domo pointed out, "then we need a distraction and a cover story" King replied.

"What if we use the algorithm Dax made to our advantage. If we send out a message to murder island and bounce it around routers making it untraceable, it will be caught in Dax's net and HQ will get an alert. We will then be sent on a mission regarding the message" King explained.

"The message can be about a meet up or something in a foreign country close to their location" I continued, understanding King's plan.

Send out a message that will be caught by the algorithm. Have Blake decrypt the message and have him send us on a mission regarding it.

The only problem now was the timing.

Eustace and Dax left only a day ago, we have to make the timing look like a coincidence, so it doesn't seem too obvious.

Another beep came from my laptop and now the green light was flashing.

Eustace activated hers too.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I was currently coding an algorithm that would take the message to random routers in every country in Europe before finally being caught in Dax's net. The message will take 3 days to eventually get caught which gives us enough time to plan our next steps and prepare for what is to come.

I heard a knock on my door and then the sound of it being swung open. "I didn't say you could come in" I voiced, knowing it was King immediately, "I really don't care, wow! The roles are reversed, and I finally understand why you like doing it" King says, crashing on my bed like she owns it as I remain at my desk coding fervently.

I encrypt the message a decent amount, so it doesn't take too long to decrypt but also looks like someone was actually trying to hide information.

"Why are you here?" I asked, still not facing her. I heard shuffling and my wardrobe opening before she flopped back on the bed.

"I want another hug" she finally replied My fingers stopped typing and I think my heart stopped beating.

I had finally gotten it out of my head. "I'm just joking, I just wanted to give you this" she laughed at my stunned expression and stoop up to hand me a small box wrapped in a ribbon.

I looked at the clock on my laptop and say the time was 00:01. A minute passed midnight.

"Happy birthday Ty" she muttered, I forgot about that.

Amo must've told her.

I don't think I have ever gotten a birthday present, Amo would tell me happy birthday every year, but we never gave each other presents.

I didn't reply and simply pulled the ribbon off the box gently and opened it. Inside was a silver lighter with 'tironai' engraved on the bottom and 'arson is an artificial crime' engraved on the side.

I flicked the top and white fire came shouting out.

It was majestic, fire was always beautiful to me but this one was different.

I starred at King as she stood in front of me, eagerly waiting my reaction. I put the lighter down and saw a small handwritten card at the bottom of the box.

"Happy birthday Titi, love from Kiki" was written in black ink and neat handwriting.

I was going to throw up.

So many unspoken words bubbled in my throat. So many unknown feelings swirling in my head.

I think I might genuinely be sick.

I turned the card over and saw 'to my best friend' written on the back.

I stood up and wrapped my arms around King. Expressing all of these emotions in the only way I knew how to so far. She wrapped her arms around my torso and rested her head against my chest.

She could probably hear my heart stammering, unable to keep up with my brains confusing instructions.

"Thank you" I finally breathed out.

Wow. What is happening to us? What happened to the Book 1 dynamic, dangerous duo? The mutual understanding, we had because we were both the strongest, seemed to be something much more now. "It's ok. Amo mentioned it in passing when he came to talk to me yesterday and I literally threatened him to make this for me to give to you" King explained, letting out a mischievous laugh at the end. "Wait when is your birthday?" I asked, realising that none of us had ever spoken about this, "oh last week" she replied, seeming unbothered that no one knew or cared.

This bothered me, I'm not sure why yet.

"Happy belated birthday King" I voice, pulling away from the hug and finally realising that she is wearing one of my tops.

Well, she can keep it as her present.

I rolled my eyes when I noticed, just so she knew I knew. "Thank you and good night" she replied, and with that she left my room.

Now back to coding. I kind of miss Dax, because he did all this instead of me. I clicked enter and finally my message was sent and was being passed around by different routers like the flu.

Now we wait...