"Hey Janus..." a groggy Itzel said slowly as she leaned forward from her chair. She looked at her teammate who remained focused on the program going on the massive screen. He turned his head once he heard his name.

"Yeah Itzel?"

"How long... have I been napping?" she pressed her hand against her forehead. 

"About an hour."

"That's not too bad. Where's Gurk?" Itzel got out of her seat and began looking around the room. 

"I assume he's still with Sheila. Remember? They left to go get some research done."

"Oh. Right. I thought they would have been back by now."

She stood up out of her seat and stretched her arms above her head. A single yawn escaped. She turned around and looked at the program on the projector. A flying creature soared across the sky before dipping its feet into the water. "Maybe Gurk is helping her type up her report," Janus said with a small grin.

"Yeah. That makes sense." She waved her hand as if she were activating her Implant only to have nothing come up. Itzel made a confused face before waving her hand through the air again. Still nothing appeared. 

"Everything alright, Itzel?" Janus asked with an angled head.

Itzel repeated the motion one more time. The air in front of her was empty. "Janus. Try to activate your Implant."

"Sure." Janus squinted, trying to activate the screen only to be met with the same result as Itzel. He waved his hand over and over, only to be staring at thin air. "That's weird. Any idea what's going on?"

"There's only a few things that can prevent access to the Network. Either the whole thing is down, which is unlikely. If that was the case, then we would have felt something. An emergency sensory impulse is sent through everyone's body with an Implant as a heads up. Doubt I would have slept through something important like that."

"I definitely haven't felt anything special since you've been sleeping."

"The other possibility is that there is something that's blocking our signals. Either a device or maybe an obscurium wall that's cut us off."

Janus got up from his seat and pointed at the program on the massive projector. "But this is running just fine."

"Could be a recording. Wouldn't be surprised if this is just one of Sheila's university programs."

Janus got up from his seat and stood close to Itzel. Both turned their heads to the door of the room. "Why would anyone need a material that can block the signal of Implants?" he asked in a whisper. 

"Because..." Itzel said lowly. She looked at Janus for a moment then back at the door. "It probably means they're up to no good. Can't think of any other reason."

"What if... they just wanted some privacy, you know? Like a little alone time without having to worry about being checked in on?"

"Out in the middle of the desert? Near a town with next to no people?"

"That does seem a bit suspicious."

"There's a reason why obscurium is outlawed, Janus. It's expensive, so it makes perfect sense for the Grani family to have enough of it to cover their entire home!"

Janus ran his fingers through his hair as he took in a deep breath. "Oh no. And now Gurk is all alone!"

"We've got to go get him!" Itzel replied in a tone just below regular speaking volume. She darted towards the door, waving at Janus to follow. "Come on! Let's get out of here as soon as—"

The front door swung open. Evelyn stood in the doorway, holding a tray covered in snacks with both hands. Both Janus and Itzel stared at her with huge eyes, ignoring the treats being offered. 

"Did I interrupt something?" Evelyn said calmly. Her eyes jumped between the other two with confusion written on her face. 

"We were just getting ready to leave," Itzel said. She took Janus' hand and tugged him forward. She moved towards the gap between Evelyn and the door only to have Mag impede her path. He kept one hand in his pocket. He looked down at them, his lips curled upwards and his eyes squinting like he was a predator homing in on a target. 

"No need to get going so soon. Not like you've got a carrier to take you anywhere. Not to mention that my wife spent all that time making a delicious tray of snacks for you." Mag grabbed a triangle sandwich off the silver plate and took a chomp. "Isn't that right, dear?"

"Yes, sweetheart," Evelyn replied with genuine affection. "I even prepared that big friend of yours a cauliflower souffle that he can have all to himself!"

"We'll figure something out for a ride," Itzel said as she tried to squeeze past the bulky man. Mag put his hand on her arm and shoved her back. 

"So that's how it's going to be?" She lowered her hand, prepping a Serrated Gale until she saw Mag reach into the inner pocket of his jacket. In a flash he whipped a small and sleek looking silver pistol. He pointed the barrel of the gun at Itzel, making her uppercut pose change into one with both hands up at shoulder height. 

"Both of you. Back in the room." The front of the gun jumped between Janus and Itzel. They both backed away with their hands in the air. "I don't want to have to make things messy. But that doesn't mean I won't."

Mag and Evelyn advanced further into the entertainment room with each step the other two took with their retreat. Once all the way inside, a pair of BRUTE robots entered to back up the Grani family. Both were equipped with long and heavy rifles that required the use of both of their hands to be held. 

"What's your plan?" Itzel exclaimed, still stepping backwards. "Going to dump our bodies in the middle of the desert to be Sand Crawler chow?"

"Please," Mag said as he waved his gun. "Have a seat. I'll explain what I can to you. But I just ask for a bit of cooperation. Afterall, we were kind enough to give you a lift all the way here. We're offering you food. You even got to spend an hour or so in our entertainment room. The least you can do for us is to not make things difficult." He then nudged the end of his pistol towards the two luxury chairs. 

With their hands still above their heads, the got into the chair. "Now turn around and face me." Both spun around simultaneously. They kept their hands were pressed against the back of their heads as they remained seated in the pods. "Do me a favor and place your arms down on the rests."

Janus and Itzel gave each other a worried glance before obliging. Mag looked at one of the BRUTE's behind him. "Go ahead and fastened them in." The robot stepped forward and activated a series of buttons on the side of Itzel's chair before moving over and doing the same to Janus'. A pair of metal clamps shot up, fastening both wrists to the seat.

"There. Now I've got a captive audience."

Itzel tried to pry her hand free from the metal straps. 

"No point in trying to break free. Even that big reptilian friend of yours wouldn't be able to muscle his way out of that." Mag stuff the remainder of his sandwich and swallowed it with a couple of gulps. He then stashed his gun back underneath his jacket. "Now that you're all ears, let me give you a briefing of what's going to happen next."