Cytronica

Twenty-seven

"Alright, gentlemen," Hunter said, pacing back and forth in Zack's room with his hands behind his back, "this is it. This is the end game. It's all or nothing. Loyalties have been sworn."

"Alright, so ... how are we doing this?" Zack apprehensively asked from his computer chair.

Justin was standing with his arms folded. "First of all," he said, looking to Casey, who sat on the bed, "there's something important we need to address."

Casey suddenly sat upright, wary of what was about to be discussed.

Hunter exchanged a quick glance with Justin. "We want to apologise to you, Casey."

Zack's eyes widened. It was hardly what he was expecting.

Casey shared a similar reaction. "Okay," he breathed, confusion in his voice.

"It's no secret that Justin and I have done most of the planning this past week, and we both wanted to apologise to you. You've been there from the very beginning, and we've been a little dismissive of you. So, we wanted to say sorry."

Justin crouched down in front of the bed so that he was below Casey's eye level. "It's true. I know we've had our differences, but it shouldn't have to be this way. I guess I just got so caught up in changing Cytro that I found myself getting a little too involved. The same goes to you, Zack," he said, tilting his gaze. "I've been dismissive of you too. And I know I promised that I wouldn't try to take over the Legion, but maybe a small part of me was doing that subconsciously. So ... I apologise to you. I was a little rude at times, especially yesterday to you, Casey. I don't blame you for getting angry."

Casey's eyes were bulging out of his head. "Wow. Um ... I don't know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything," Hunter said with a smile. "The truth is, both you and Zack are an important part of this team. We couldn't have gotten this far without either of you. So on behalf of the Legion, we're both sorry."

Justin extended a hand outwards. "What do you say? Should we put the past behind us and focus on making tomorrow the greatest day of our lives?"

Casey smirked. In an instant, the frustration he'd felt all week had disappeared. It felt good to know he was right. And even better to know they were accepting of him. "Deal." He grabbed Justin's hand and squeezed it tightly.

Justin smiled. "Awesome." He offered Zack the same gesture. "And you?"

Zack gawked at the boy's hand, his mind a mess. The apology felt so genuine; he had no reason to question it whatsoever. But it did bring up even more unanswered questions. There was no doubt that somehow reactivating the realm was wrong, if not illegal.

Yet the notion of being held in such high regard was something Zack simply couldn't reject. Its allure was far too overwhelming.

"Let's do it," he said with a happy grin, his conscience torn.

"Excellent," Justin whispered, then stood up. No one noticed the quick glance he exchanged with Hunter. "Now, the first thing we'll need to do is double-check we have the code perfected."

"It's mostly done, I think," Hunter said, grabbing the computer mouse and navigating to the Cytro manual. "The original plan was to execute it today after school until some dickhead shut the realm down." He licked his lips as he studied the monitor. "I think I have everything in place. Everything is staggered at hourly intervals, and some of the parameters are relative to other parameters. Bot freeflow is on. That way Maggie will be herself again without getting affected. Although that might not go according to plan. A lot of this stuff is uncharted territory, so anything could happen."