Choosing to ignore Neal’s childlike wonder, and Madeline’s current confusion, Ayala went on, “So we have a separate entrance, which the AI has no way of knowing is linked to Neal’s house. And in order to make sure it does not recognize someone entering one house and leaving from the other, we have a series of disguises here. It is very important to note that these red racks are for when you leave through this entrance, this empty rack here is for the clothes you arrived in. DO NOT MIX THEM UP.” She was very stern on that point, and Madeline felt like a school child, even as a part of her noted the sense behind the point being emphasized.

But Ayala wanted to make sure this was not lost on Madeline, and it wouldn’t hurt to reiterate it to Neal once more as well, given what was at stake.

“If, just one time, an orbiting satellite sees a person it recognizes as having entered through that house,” she pointed back at the main house they had come from, “leave through this entrance,” she pointed at the basement’s separate entrance, “then we must assume it will take it precisely half a second to figure out that the two houses have been linked for some reason. It is such a very small leap from that conclusion to realizing that we are trying to fool it, and then the only reasonable reaction we can expect from it is a quick death. For all of us. Is that clear?”

Madeline nodded, wide-eyed. Clearly Ayala had thought this through.

“So,” Ayala continued, slightly calmer, but no less emphatic, “red rack for leaving here, this rack for your normal clothes. Also, you must wear either a hat or a wig when leaving here, and you must not look up when outside. I would say you should get out of the habit of looking up altogether, as strange as that seems, but at the very least, never, ever present your face to the satellite when in disguise.”

Madeline nodded. This woman was good. Neal’s crush seemed more and more understandable. Madeline may have one of her own, she thought, smiling.

“Over here,” Ayala said, walking over to a chest of drawers, “you will find what we shall call your ‘basement’ identities.” Each drawer was marked with one of their names, starting at the top with Madeline’s, then Ayala’s, Neal’s, and finally Barrett’s.

“Inside, you’ll find everything you’ll need to get around on the outside without using your own name. Judging by what your visitor John Hunt said, we have good reason to believe you are both being tracked. So if the AI thinks you are at home and then all of a sudden you use your credit card in some other city, it will figure out something is wrong and we are back to the whole ‘death from above’ scenario.”