"Welcome back," he said. He turned towards Wraith. "Thank you for bringing her home safely. Kinder egg?" 

"I will graciously accept this token of your esteem, my Lord," Wraith said.

"Please don't call me that," he said. "Now, if you'll excuse us." 

"Yes, my Lord," Wraith said. He bowed and made his way out. 

He turned towards Trojan and put his hands together. "I'm disappointed," he said. "I thought that you knew better." 

"I'm sorry," she said. "I don't know how they found..." she stopped talking the instant his hand went up. 

"I'm not talking about you getting caught," he said. "I'm disappointed that you gave up. Didn't I tell you that your first duty is to survive?" 

"I'm sorry," she said. "I... I thought that..." 

"I know," he said "but rest assured that I won't give up on any of you. Not as long as you breathe. Kinder egg?" 

*****

"Can Zhao have the egg?" Zhao asked. 

"No!" Wraith declared. "It is an irreplaceable token of my Lord's esteem." 

"But Ryu never even eats them," Zhao said. "He just keeps them on his shelf." 

"I couldn't vulgarly consume a present given to me by him," Wraith said. "You wouldn't understand." 

"Why doesn't Ryu eat the chocolate and keep the toy?" Zhao asked. 

Wraith stared at her. He looked at the wrapped chocolate in his hand. He held it to his ear and gently shook it. "There's a toy in there?" he asked. 

*****

"Why didn't you leave any of your team behind to guard the prisoner?" Trask asked. 

"Because the robots seemed to be the major threat," Sirvanna said. "I thought that the others would be capable of keeping her securely locked up if we could hold them back." 

"I see," Trask said. "You may go." 

Sirvanna nodded and strode out.

"Do you think her team deliberately allowed the enemy plaguer to escape?" Trask asked. 

"No, Sir," Benton said. "They acted with diligence and destroyed the robots with admirable haste. I don't think that they could have possibly done more." 

"That's good," Trask said. "If I have your word on it then it should assure the higher ups." 

A soldier ran into the room and hurriedly saluted. "Colonel, Britain's Theta Squad failed. They want your team to take over the mission." 

"Understood," Trask said. "I'll summon them at once."