Naomi asked everyone to meet at the garage, because not only had she found me, but I had made an important discovery for the mission.
"What's going on in that head of yours, Kobba? You owe me for the day of work I lost!"
Valentina, despite being annoyed, hugged me for a full minute.
"Sorry."
I had never said that word so many times in my life.
...
After some time for everyone to gather—and for me to apologize—it was time to explain everything.
"Yesterday I went out to investigate where they might be hiding Zeki. I considered several possibilities, but the one that made the most sense was a restaurant or diner."
Valentina didn't seem to take my theory very seriously.
"But why a restaurant? And what makes you think they're still in Los Angeles?"
"The meal will be ready—that's what Grimm said yesterday. He's not trying to run from us. He wants to lure us in and take us all at once."
We were standing in a circle in the middle of the garage. The light was flickering slightly, and in the center was a car engine being repaired. As I spoke, I kept drifting toward the center—I couldn't stay still.
"Also, I discovered I have a power—or something like one. I decided to call it temporal nightmares. My nightmares contain secrets that reveal things about the future. And in one of those nightmares... well... some things happened, and I know they're hiding him in a Chinese restaurant."
"There are tons of places like that in the city. Are we supposed to check them all?"
"We just need the menu. Three dishes: Peking Duck, Kung Pao Chicken, and Bird's Nest Soup. I did some research—the first two are pretty common, but the third is only served at one restaurant in this city: The Leviathan."
Naomi stepped into the center of the circle and took control of the conversation.
"There are six of us. Half will stay here and prepare our gear for the invasion, and the other half will go to the restaurant."
One of the first to raise his hand was Tony—or as tattooed across his back, The Black Machine. The guy was built like a wall. Shaved head, bodybuilder muscles. He didn't talk much, seemed like a closed-off type.
"I'll go to the restaurant."
The next to volunteer was Kris. She wears braids with crystals at the ends, always has lipstick on, and always has a cigarette nearby. Naomi told me she used to be a guy not long ago, and honestly, I don't believe it—and I'd never be bold enough to ask.
"I love Chinese food, guys! Please please let me go!"
And last but not least... myself.
"I'll go with them to the restaurant, then. My nightmare might still have useful information."
Since it was already nighttime and we planned to invade tomorrow, we split up quickly to get everything ready. At least, that was the idea. But I ended up waiting for an hour in Tony's car while Kris got ready. And during that entire hour, he didn't say a single word. The only thing I heard was... Miley Cyrus. Yep, Tony is really into Miley Cyrus. He's not an easy guy to predict.
Kris showed up completely dolled up, like she was heading to a date. These two were ready to make me regret coming along.
...
It only took ten minutes to get to Chinatown, but it felt like an hour in that car. While I tried to explain the plan—or at least tried to—Kris kept fiddling with her hair and talking nonstop about herself.
"Kobba! Do you think my ex will like my new hair? I mean, he's a jerk, but there are some things he does really well..."
Thankfully, my brain started tuning her out.
Tony kept driving in silence, expressionless. But I got the feeling he was driving in sync with the music. I'd rather not comment on what happened when Party in the U.S.A. came on.
Anyway, the plan was simple: I couldn't go into the restaurant, since they might recognize me. The two of them would wear a mic, but only Tony would have an earpiece to hear me. The idea was that Kris would pose as a famous singer, and Tony as her bodyguard. I'd love to say there was no way this could go wrong—but unfortunately, that wasn't the case.
"We're here."
That was the first word he'd spoken in exactly one hour and ten minutes.
"Ugh, let's go already, I'm starving."
They rushed out, and all I could do was hope they'd actually absorbed the plan.
...
The front of the restaurant was subtle and minimalist, covered in orange-tinted glass with the name The Leviathan written in blue.
"Test... Testing! If you can hear me, respond."
"Hmm."
Apparently, he could hear me. Time to begin.
"How do you not know who I am? I'm on a world tour. I just got back from France, and if I said I made a reservation, then I did. If you don't let me in, you'll be hearing from my lawyer."
I took a deep breath and relaxed in the car seat. Good thing forgetting to book a table wouldn't be a problem for her.
Kris kept chattering nonstop, and Tony, of course, was completely silent.
"Did you get seated?"
"Hmm."
So far, it looked like a normal restaurant, but there was a good chance some kind of code was needed to proceed. The order of the dishes might matter, so I told them to follow the sequence from my nightmare carefully.
"I'll have Peking Duck, Kung Pao Chicken, and Bird's Nest Soup! And tea to drink."
I don't think she understood the "carefully" part, but whatever.
"See anything suspicious?"
"Nuh-uh."
He changed the sound? Now I know how to communicate with him.
...
We waited a while for the food to arrive. Their conversations during that time didn't even sound real—paragraphs of chatter followed by a single "hmm."
"Yay! Food! I couldn't wait any longer."
"Anything strange about the waiters, Tony?"
"Hmm."
Hmm? So there was something strange?
"What? Talk to me!"
Through Kris's mic, I could hear a brief exchange between her and the waiter.
"If you know what you ordered, you know the prize."
"Of course I do."
"Enjoy your meal."
A prize? It could be a riddle, like in my dream. But there was no right answer in the dream. There were three dishes—and two of them were... poisoned?!
"Tony, tell her not to eat anything! The food might be poisoned!"
All I heard was static from his mic.
"Tony! Can you hear me?"
Still no response.
In a moment of panic, I jumped out of the car and ran toward the restaurant. I kicked the door open and tried to rush in. Before the entrance, there was a counter and a security guard blocking the way. I ignored him completely and leapt over the counter.
I got far enough to see them from a distance. Kris was tilting her head at the three dishes—her indecision might've saved her. Tony still had the earpiece on, but why couldn't he hear me?
Two guards immediately tackled me. They slammed me to the ground, and the pressure made it hard to breathe—but I could still see. One of the waiters had a strange device on his waist. Was that what was jamming the signal? If so, they already knew we were infiltrators.
The sound of my crash with the guards drew everyone's attention. As the whole restaurant turned to look at me, I tried to communicate.
I was running out of air and couldn't speak, but I mouthed the words:
"POI-SON."
Tony instantly threw all three dishes across the room, and an alarm began to blare. People screamed and ran as the lights started flashing red.
A war broke out in the restaurant. The guards attacked him with high-voltage stun weapons. Kris's hair seemed to come alive, stretching outward—each crystal at the tip sharp enough to cut. Her eyes turned completely white, and her skin took on a grayish tone.
Tony, on the other hand, didn't seem to use any powers. He was just absurdly strong.
The alarm kept screeching, the smell of food mixing with the ozone from the electric shocks. People fled the building in panic. It was pure chaos.
Tony grabbed the guards holding me and threw them aside. They weren't very strong, but they just kept coming. How many guards and waiters did this place have?
I looked around and noticed they were all coming from the same place—the service elevator. I had to do something. The numbers were starting to overwhelm us.
Soon the room was packed with guards and waiters. At first, Kris was careful not to kill them with her crystal blades, but we realized they had no blood. They were androids.
For every android they destroyed, three more appeared. I tried to reach the elevator, but there were too many in the way. I was being grabbed and couldn't break free.
Then a soft voice began to echo through the restaurant.
"Flowers in hand, waiting for me..."
Someone was singing, and as the music progressed, I saw more androids flying across the room.
"I know that you're wrong for me..."
Wait a second—was that Miley Cyrus?
"It's not your fault I ruin everything!"
It was Tony. He was literally glowing. Was that why he never spoke—because he was embarrassed by his voice? Whatever the reason, I had to stop that elevator.
I took advantage of the space he cleared and ran toward it. On the way, I grabbed a stun weapon from a fallen guard.
I hid under a table and waited for the androids to leave the elevator, drawn to Tony.
It seemed like I'd picked the perfect moment, but as I entered, one of the androids grabbed my sneaker between the door and the elevator interior.
I slammed my head on the floor, but I couldn't give up. While it tried to pull me out, I forced it to rip off my shoe.
I bought myself just enough time to jam the stun weapon into the control panel. A short circuit sparked, and the elevator stopped. But then a voice echoed through the restaurant.
"Deactivate now."
All the androids shut down instantly.
"I hope you're listening closely. Today's little game was fun, but we know you're not just here to fight guards and waiters. If you don't bring everyone tomorrow, your little horned friend won't have a happy ending."
The alarm stopped flashing, and the androids froze completely.
"You okay, Kobbinha? There were so many—I didn't know what to do. Did they mess up my hair?"
She snapped back to normal way too fast.
"I'm fine. My forehead's just gonna be bruised for a while. What about Tony?"
I looked over and saw him sitting shirtless... and he'd stopped singing.
"Hmm."
Yeah, he's definitely not easy to predict.
We got back in the car with only one thing on our minds.
Tomorrow will be war.