“So…” Rox said, leaving the word to dangle.
“We’re going in,” Mai said.
“What she said,” Anita said, emerging from behind a bush.
“Why am I not surprised you were eavesdropping?” Rox asked.
“Something about the hyperaggressive, hypercompetent nearly unkillable death machine still having half a girl-boner for my early demise feels like it warrants a little TLC.”
“She does have a point.”
“Yeah. But never driven deep enough to pierce anything vital. Yet.”
“Fine,” Rox said. “But we do this my way, or not at all.”
“Because you could stop us?” Mai asked, bemused.
“Actually,” Anita said with a smile, “all she really has to do is stamp her foot and our own rotten luck will stop us.”
“Besides,” Rox soothed, “my way makes more sense. I get that the two of you are my elders- and I mean that in the you have my respect for all you’ve done and lived through meaning of the word. But I also know what this place put the both of you through. Given half a chance, one or both of you would blow the whole damn place up- maybe without even checking to make sure there aren’t others like the boy we’re here to find inside.”
“Shit,” Anita said. “I hadn’t even considered that.”
“I had,” Mai said coldly, and the both of them stared at her. “What? That’s why I decided against blowing the place up- unless or until we could make sure there aren’t going to be any unexpected casualties.”
“Point being,” Rox reasserted herself, “you two are compromised in a way I am not. So it makes sense for all of us to get on the same page now, and let me Jiminy Cricket you both through this. Sound fair?”
“Sure,” Anita said. “You do kind of look like Ukulele Ike in this lighting.”
“That’s probably preferable to you saying I look like a cricket.”
“Actually…”
“Mai?”
“No promises,” she said crisply. “You take point. I’ll try and keep things under wraps. But frankly… if we walk into an abattoir… I’m not sure how cool I can keep.” “Okay. Most important ground rule is this: we don’t kill anybody we don’t have to. Until we know exactly what’s going on here, we use minimum force necessary to do the job- and not an ounce more. If either of you can’t live with that, you might as well stay out here.”