Felix frowned at the giant circle clock on the other side of the station. Tamora was late. From time to time, it happened, but she'd consistently sent one of her men to inform him of her delay. This time, there was no word.

Felix decided to wait longer. Maybe a situation had popped up and all personnel were needed. So, the handyman waited…and waited…until the clock struck two hours past closing time.

He ventured into the high-tech game, careful as always, only to find it as peaceful as Hero's Duty could get. He trekked to Tamora's quarters, greeting any soldiers he passed. He was on fairly good terms with most of his wife's men. Only a few thought him a bit of a joke, but they learned early on to keep their yaps zipped tight or the sergeant would place them on perimeter duty for an entire month.

Alarmed at discovering her quarters empty, Felix searched out Tamora's second in command – Corporal Kohut – finding the dedicated soldier patrolling.

"Hey, Fix-It," the taller man greeted fondly, "thought you and Sarge would be out and about game jumping."

"We would," Felix said, concern filling his voice, "if I could find her. She never exited Hero's Duty."

Kohut's relaxed stance straightened at the news. "Sarge left on her cruiser not long after the all clear, and I've walked every inch of the base without seeing her."

Felix's heart plummeted into his stomach as panic set in. Where could Tamora be?

"Let me out!" Tamora's screams echoed off the sharp, jagged rock walls and faded as it traveled through the tunnel above. Climbing the walls was impossible; she'd already tried. She was trapped, and the cy-brid that was once her fiancée wasn't about to let her go.

The tapping of clawed feet reverberated above her. Cy-Brad's distorted features peered over the edge of the hole, frowning down. "I wish I could, T.J.," he said, solemnly, "but how can I show my love for you if you go running back to that 8-bit?"

"Look, Brad, I'm sorry the creators of our game were major jackasses, but I can't be with you anymore, especially in cy-bug form." At that, Cy-Brad turned his face in shame. Tamora breathed in deep, knowing anything kind of reasoning wouldn't go over, but she had to at least try. "Felix is a good man. He takes care of me and loves me. I'm in good hands."

"I was a good man once."

"You were, and you still can be, Brad. Let me go."

Cy-Brad's pincers retracted in and out, a visible wall of resolve on his face. "But I need you, T.J."

"I belong to someone else now."

Cy-Brad held up a small golden object between his pincers, tiny flickers of light gleaming off it. Tamora gasped silently, holding up her left hand and finding her ring finger bare. How did he remove it? Or maybe it slipped off during their easier struggle when he deposited her into this hole in the ground. Either way, her wedding band was not where it should be and that agitated Tamora's already uneasy state of mind.

"I'm sorry, T.J., but not anymore," Cy-Brad huffed, rearing his pincer back.

"No!" Tamora cried as she watched the ring fly out of sight.

"Forgive me." Brad hung his head, and skittering from sight.

Tamora stared up, shocked at the events of the past hour. She'd spotted cy-bug activity in the distance as she jumped her cruiser to head out for the evening, and glided over to investigate. Before she could reach for her gun, the cy-bug had easily snatched her off the board from behind and zoomed away with her in its clutches. It wasn't until the buzzing virus landed that it was revealed to be Brad in his doomed cy-bug form.

Tamora's heart pounded like a sledgehammer. The long, hard beats made her stomach flip violently as she gaped at the ugly, twisted features of her former love. How he was alive; he didn't know. The events of his demise happened only in backstory, and the only scenario Tamora could assume was that Cy-Brad was a cruel joke of the designers.

She'd learned quickly that there was no reasoning with him. He knew her well, admitting to laying low and watching her from a distance for months upon months. His former intelligent was in tack and he seemed to have his human senses. But there was an unnerving twitch in his mannerisms, as if he were suppressing something in his mind and actions, which skyrocketed Tamora's fear of his unpredictability

He knew she wouldn't stay willingly; saying that her moving on was a shot in the heart. A flicker of acid green code overrode his wide eyes for a moment, and that's when Tamora ran. Running from a cy-bug was nearly impossible and he scooped her up easily, Tamora fighting to escape as he carried her deeper into his cavern.

Apologizing profusely, Cy-Brad set her in a hole in the ground and that's where Tamora stayed – trapped by the steep, jagged edges that narrowed in as the sides rose.

She attempted another climb, her boot slipping and hurtling Tamora to the ashy ground below. A growl vibrated her throat, ignoring the aching of her bruised tailbone. She jumped to her feet, an angry scream letting loose and ripping through cavern.

Felix was waiting for her, and would most likely venture into Hero's Duty when she didn't show up. Her soldiers would search for her, but how long would that take for them to find her? Hero's Duty had such a vast landscape. No telling where Cy-Brad had hidden her away.

From what Tamora could tell, he practiced solitude. They were underground, but there were also skylight-type holes through the ceiling of the cavern, the dim light of the surface filtering in and casting crude shapes on the floor.

She couldn't wait around like a helpless jellyfish washed up on the seashore. Tamora J. Calhoun was no damsel in distress. She would find a way to climb out of the makeshift prison. Whether she it left her bloody and bruised or died countless times trying, she wouldn't stop trying until she was home safe with her husband.