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lifted his other leg through the hole, and stood in a defensive crouch, his gun aimed at Crexe’s temple.
    “Don’t move a single muscle,” he hissed.
    Crexe was still.
    “Drop the gun, and put your hands behind your head,” Six said. “Slowly.”
    Crexe ignored him completely. His gaze didn’t falter.
    Six lunged and grabbed the Hawk out of Crexe’s hand. He met no resistance. Crexe’s empty hand fell into his lap. His skin was ice-cold.
    Agent Six pressed two fingers against Methryn Crexe’s throat, searching for a pulse. There was none.
    Crexe’s narrow, focused eyes turned from the door to the ceiling as he pitched sideways off his chair, his delicate balance disrupted by Six’s touch. He landed with a thud on the concrete floor.
    He wants you to shoot before you think , the woman had said. He aims to deceive.
    So “he” was not Methryn Crexe, Six thought. And if I’d entered through the front door, I would’ve seen Methryn Crexe pointing a gun at me.
    I probably would have shot him.
    So “he” wanted Six to think that he’d killed Methryn Crexe? He’s trying to put you off balance , she had said. To unnerve him, confuse him?
    “Six, where are you?” It was Kyntak. “My half of the floor is clear.”
    “Copy that,” Six said. “The rest of the team can move up. I’ve found Crexe—he’s dead. I’m in the room with the closed door. Come and meet me.”
    Six’s earpiece crackled. “This is Agent Two; we’re on our way.”
    If someone was trying to confuse or unnerve me , Six thought, they’ve succeeded. Methryn Crexe escapes from the Deck. Blood at the scene leads us to an abandoned apartment block. All the occupants have vanished, leaving only a pile of phones and Methryn Crexe’s corpse behind, arranged in such a way as to try to force me into a one-sided gunfight…and in the middle of it all, a strong, fast, seemingly invisible woman gives me a warning that is too cryptic to be useful.
    This is too weird for ChaoSonic. It must be something else.
    What if I had fired? Six thought. Crexe’s body would’ve been damaged—perhaps there was a clue which could’ve been destroyed by the shot. But why leave the body here for them to find if it had evidence on it?
    He thought of the mystery woman’s words. All hell is about to break loose, but you can survive it, if you’re careful.
    What else would have happened if he had shot Crexe? The noise would have carried—and the other agents would have heard it. They would have raced up here to the second floor to back him up…
    Kyntak and Agents Two, Four, Five, Eight, Nine, and Ten would all have been on this floor, where they were headed right now anyway…
    There was a scuffle, close. Six whirled around, but the room was empty. Crexe stared blankly up at him.
    “Two,” Six hissed into his radio. “Wait! Are you on the second floor yet?”
    “Just arrived. Why?”
    “I think—” Six broke off. He was looking up at the ceiling, at the small holes that riddled it.
    In one of them, just for a moment, he had seen an eye staring at him.
    “We have hostiles,” Six yelled. “There are hostiles on the roof!”
    And then the ceiling exploded into millions of tiny concrete chunks.

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    The gunfire shrieked through the air as Six dived for cover. The ceiling was gone, just gone , leaving the sky exposed. Fog flooded down to fill the room. Six felt as though he’d been hiding in a box and someone had lifted up the lid.
    The attackers were dressed in black fatigues, with gleaming gas masks and Kevlar combat vests. They were armed to the teeth, hefting Eagle OI779 automatic rifles fitted with laser sights and Raptor sidearms. PGC387 stun grenades and long diamond-edged Feather knives hung from their belts, along with devices that looked curiously like TV remotes in synthetic rubber holsters.
    Six landed with a thud, elbow first, as bullets tore over his head and ripped the wall behind him to shreds. A pair of armored combat boots landed