[25 minutes before Ethan's deadline]
"Can I do the accent?"
"For the last time Zero, no accent." Tag said over the ear piece in the hyperactive tennager's ear.
He groaned dramatically. "But come on, Tag, I've been practicing my Mandarin accent for, like, three whole minutes!"
"Exactly my point."
Zero sighed as he revved the scooter's engine, the small motor whining as he sped down the narrow road toward the walled estate ahead.
He wore a faded yellow delivery vest with a cap pulled low over his white hair, a cardboard box strapped to the back of the scooter marked with the logo of a local food chain.
"Man, you guys are no fun," he muttered, weaving past a slow-moving car. "How am I supposed to blend in if I can't even sound authentic?"
"Not while speaking like that," Tag said again.
"But I watched Rush—" he started but was cut off by Spectra who was also in the basement with tag.
