Mistakes Made

7 - Liar, Liar, Pants On Fire.

I'm not one to ask for favours, especially not from people in other squads but I don't have time to waste trying to figure it out myself. The chip has to have an origin, everything does. A trail that'll tell me where it came from, who built it, why it ended up in a Gravemind—something that'll get me closer to the truth. I have to figure it out.

That's where the tech nerds of Squad A come in. They're trained to know the ins and outs of everything revolving around technology so tracing a chip shouldn't be too difficult for them. The only problem is that I can't just stroll in there asking about a suspicious looking device without setting off alarms. Questions will get asked, rumours will begin to spread, and before long, the higher ups with hear about it, causing problems for both me and Alex. I could actually lose my position as commander.

Lucky for me, I had a friend in Squad A, Nawlyn Cole. Not the sharpest tool in the shed but he is very skilled in his line of work. He's able to take apart a gun and put it back together with his hands tied behind his back while blindfolded. We were buddies in high school but kind of drifted apart after being put in different squads. He can help me get what I need to know but I have to be cautious. That son of a bitch couldn't keep his mouth shut to save his life. One wrong move and I'll find my ass in the general's office.

I managed to catch him just as his shift started. He usually began working first thing in the morning so I was in luck. Most of the soldiers would either still be asleep or getting ready for the day so there wouldn't be too many prying eyes. I decided to bring along a few items that needed repair in Squad D's gear bin with the chip to avoid any suspicion.

I dropped everything on his work bench, the sound causing him to look up from his monitor. He smiled softly as he quickly got up and approached the work bench. He looked exactly the same as he did in high school. Tan skin, long curly hair, chubby—basically the spitting image of Maui from Moana but with glasses.

"The big boss man paying me a visit? What a surprise.", he chuckled as he pushed up his glasses. "Yeah, long time no see.", I said, trying to keep the conversation brief. "Way too long. Heard you're in remission because of your ribs. Sending prayers for a fast recovery." "Much appreciated. I'll bounce back soon though." "That's great to hear man. Anyway, I assume you want me to fix up all this gear then?", he began sifting through the items on the bench. "Most definitely."

I watched as he furrowed his brows and picked up the chip, inspecting it closely. My heart began to beat rapidly. "What's this?", he asked as he brought it closer to his face. "It's a chip. Came out of a scrapped drone we found on the field. Could be salvageable. Think you can run a trace on it? See where it came from? Might lead us to some old parts we can reuse."

I was trying to sound nonchalant, but my heart was beating like a war drum. Nawlyn kept examining it, flipping it around in his hands, and I started to worry that maybe I'd underestimated his brain capacity. What if he started to ask too many questions? What if he knows that isn't from a drone? My palms began to sweat.

He finally put it down then looked up at me, smiling, "I can trace that for you. It shouldn't take more than a day. I'll bring everything to you when I'm done."

It took all of my willpower to not let out a sigh of relief. I was so grateful for his ignorance. "That's perfect, I'll be in my room.", I said. He flashed me a thumbs up as he sat back down in his chair, pulling out a pair of thick goggles and getting back to work.

I nodded and left the workshop, walking faster than I should. I couldn't believe it worked that he bought the story without asking questions. Maybe I wasn't giving him enough credit or maybe I was just lucky. Either way, I got what I wanted. Now all I had to do was wait.

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