"What do you mean?"

"I don't know how close we even were. I like helping people, I like making all this stuff, but I don't know how much they even like me back."

"Oh come on, what are you talking about? Everyone here would be screwed without your help."

"Yeah, but the only people I really talk with are you and Wind. Oh, and Doc! But he's not a Dog of War. And Bella more often, nowadays, but nobody really stays to chat. I know I'm bad with people, I can't even... Y'know. Look anyone in the face properly. And nobody really cares to learn how I do all my Code Cracking."

You roll your chair a little bit closer to her.

"What about ToyAgumon?"

"Of course! I love him, he's my partner, after all. I'm just talking about the other members here. And with so many new recruits, I'm starting to lose track of all their faces."

Truth to be told, you had her pegged as an antisocial hermit. She seemed pretty satisfied to be cooped up with gadgets and gizmos, only showing her face through video calls in the meeting room. But every time you've spoken to her, she's seemed plenty warm and welcoming. You didn't expect her to have a hang-up over her position here, especially since she's THE most important member.

"Maybe you could talk to Ryan more."

"Why him?" She asks curiously.

"I kinda skipped over this part when explaining our mission earlier, but-"

You fill her in on how quickly he identified the wire and disabled Datamon. Earlier, you glossed over that for brevity, but now that she's raising this topic, you feel like it's something she might want to know.

"And he said he'd been spending a lot of time observing your Workshop. Even if he didn't speak up, he's been paying attention, y'know. And I'm sure some of the others do too."

"Huh. That's... good news! Maybe I can start teaching him some basics." She beams.

"Why'd you start thinking about all of this anyway?"

"Well..."

Her face falls again. Despite her claim of being able to multitask, she's long since put her work aside just to talk to you.

"I keep going back to Lenny."

Ah.

Your decision is instant. You grab the gun and march towards the door, with Phascomon hot on your heels. The two of you pass the threshold and gaze back at the medical chair, and at the frantic figure of the Code Cracker, pulling up screen after screen.

"Good luck."

Several layers of shutters slam down between you, with the penultimate one being a vault door. It spins shut with a final whirr, then deploys a wave of blocks that disguises it behind a wall texture. You look out towards the front room.

"What now?" Phascomon asks. He glances upwards with a frown on his face.

"We have to leave. Still thinking about what to do along the way."

"I'm of the mind we don't bother, this operation is doomed!"

"If they're raiding the base, the outside is compromised too. We have to clear it out before we can leave, we can't just hunker down with Squid if they're doomed."

"I guess... Okay. Which way, then?"

There are two routes you can take. You can either head up towards the front entrance to help, or go rally the other members in the cafeteria and dorms. You're right at the crossroads, maybe you can try to secure some allies before the enemy gets to them. Your heart pounds in your chest as you weigh the benefits of both options.

[Dogs of War. Put on your VPNs and encryption slates immediately. We are at Red Alert.] Squid orders over the intercom.

You follow her instructions as you get ready to move.

>Head upstairs straight away. There are two Champion Digimon by the door, they should be able to repel the initial wave. If you can add Porcupamon's strength to the mix, you might be able to stall them and let Squid do what she needs.

>Stay here and search for members. Wind and Liza will be left to handle the attack, but you can start gathering folks up and getting them to whatever safezones exit. They're likely to be in a panic, you could salvage the situation by getting them on the same page. Surely they have a contingency plan.