Rooting under the couch, I pulled Zippy from his hiding place. Tufts of dust clung to his brushes. I hefted the troll, cradling his weight. The hunt for Gateway had been a whirlwind. A thrill of risks, and I had been swept up by the excitement. I had allowed myself to believe in something that didn’t exist. Gateway.

Cog. I’d already decided to lie and tell him we found Gateway. It would give him a moment of joy before Vinco played with him again and the Pop Cops recycled him.

I resisted the urge to hide in the pipes. Instead, I sat in the storeroom, savoring an ill humor with the hope I could build up an immunity to it and form another metal layer around my heart. The first one was ill-wrought and had cracked with ease.

“What happened?” Riley stood over me.

I stared at him in confusion.

“You were supposed to report back to the infirmary hours ago and tell us the content of those files.”

The files. I almost laughed. We’d been duped. Domotor had to be a Pop Cop spy.

“Riley, forget about the files. Gateway doesn’t exist. It’s all a big con. The Pop Cops planted those files and sent Broken Man here to see who they could get to fall for it. It’s just a matter of time before we are arrested.”

He rocked back on his heels as if slapped in the face. “Wait. You didn’t say you were going to Gateway.”

“Logan showed me a picture of Outside and I was…excited.” I could have substituted stupid, naive or brainless.

“Really? What did Outside look like?” Even knowing Gateway didn’t exist, Riley couldn’t contain the excitement in his voice.

“Doesn’t exist, remember? It was just a picture.”

He sat next to me on the couch. If he wondered why Zippy was in my lap, he didn’t show it. “Are you sure about Gateway? Were you at the right location?”

“I cleared at least six meters of insulation off the west Wall outside Quad G1. From the floor to the next level.”

“Those files are old. Perhaps the coordinates are wrong.”

“The age of the files is all part of the scheme.”

“What about Logan? Is he part of the ruse?”

If Domotor duped me with ease, so could the others. “I don’t know anymore. I guess those who don’t get arrested are in on it.” Karla and the Pop Cops must be enjoying the show. I wondered when they would spring their trap on us.

Riley wrapped his arm around my shoulders and pulled me close. I sank against him, breathing in his warm scent.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions,” Riley said. “You’re suspicious of everyone. Domotor would have had to be a heck of a liar to convince you to help him.”

“Deep down I wanted to believe. I probably saw what I wanted instead of the truth.”

He rubbed my arm. “I don’t know. It’s a pretty complicated setup. The Travas don’t have the imagination for it. Unless someone else is involved or something else is going on.”