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“You can’t work with her!” Player’s mom yelled, completely ignoring the fact that Carmen was still on the phone in her son’s hand. “It’s dangerous!”
Player clenched his fist. This wasn’t the reaction he’d been hoping for when his mom learned that the great Carmen Sandiego was his best friend. He really should have expected it, knowing the way his mother liked to shelter him from everything and anything, but she wasn’t listening. She wasn’t even giving her a chance. “You don’t understand!” he shouted back, desperately trying to get her to see how wrong she was before it spiraled out of control. “Carmen’s not bad, Mom! She’s one of the good guys!”
“It’s not her I’m worried about. It’s VILE!”
Player froze, hearing a sharp intake of breath from the phone in his hand. Immediate regret flashed on his mom’s face and Player’s stomach clenched harder. “How— how do you know about VILE?”
His mom sighed, as if trying to rein in her emotions. Her attempts seemed unsuccessful from the wild look that remained in her eye, but when she spoke, her voice was far more level. “I never meant for you to find out like this.”
Player simply stared back in horror. He’d never seen his mom act this way and her words weren’t doing anything to reassure him. Surely she didn’t mean...
“Player...” Carmen’s tense voice said through the phone. “Turn on the video.”
He wanted to protest, to claim there was no reason for him to do so because this all had to be some elaborate dream. There was no way his mom could possibly be...
But he couldn’t know. And now staring at the wild emotion in his mom’s gaze, Player didn’t even feel like he knew the woman in front of him.
Never taking his eyes off his mother, Player turned on the camera and pointed it so Carmen could see her. His mother looked like a deer in the headlights with the camera now on her face. “R-red?” Player asked nervously.
There was a tense silence before Carmen’s uncertain voice broke it. “I... I don't know, I'm sorry, Player. I don't recognize her but without the costume... There have been so many faces...”
His friend was starting to sound a bit panicked too, doing nothing for his own anxiety. If Carmen was losing her cool, this was definitely a bad situation.
To his surprise, though, the response seemed to break his mom out of whatever state the camera caused. The fear in her eyes morphed into understanding and she raised her hands as if calming a wild animal. “I’m not an operative, honey.”
The words sent a flood of relief through Player, but he knew he couldn’t trust her. However she knew about VILE, she’d been keeping big secrets from him. How did he know she wasn’t lying now?
“Then how do you know about VILE?” he demanded, the anxiety he felt coming through the words clearer than he liked.
It seemed that now that Player’s mom had found her calm, though, all wild panic from before was gone. Player didn’t know whether that was a good thing or a bad thing. His mother tried to take a step forward, but Player immediately stepped back to maintain the space between them. His mom sighed before stepping back to where she had been standing and lowered her hands. “It’s why I divorced your father.”
The breath caught in Player’s throat for what seemed like the millionth time tonight. He knew his father was a bad guy—the numerous robberies and threats he’d found when he’d first gotten into hacking had proven that clear—but VILE? Had he really sunk that low? Wouldn’t Player have noticed?
“How can he trust you?” Carmen’s protective voice came through the phone, and Player was grateful that she was keeping calm enough to ask the important questions. She knew how raw the wound of his birth father was and knew how easily this could simply be an attempt at manipulation. From the fury in her voice, Carmen was not happy with the woman poking at Player’s insecurities.
The question caused a flash of anger in his mom’s face as she glared at Carmen through the phone. “How can he trust an ex-VILE thief who’s willingly putting a huge target on his back? Do you have any idea how much danger you’ve put my son in? You’re risking his life for your own personal gain.”
Carmen looked like she’d been smacked, and the expression was enough to snap Player out of his stupor. “Hey! Carmen hasn’t done anything wrong. I choose to help her,” he snapped angrily. Sending his mother his own glare, he added, “At least she doesn’t lie to me.”
His mother’s face fell at the comment and for a moment Player felt the need to apologize for making his mom look so hurt. But he didn’t know if this was the same woman he thought she was, so he forced the urge back.
“I was trying to protect you,” she said, voice practically pleading now. The emotional whiplash of this conversation was making Player’s head spin, but her expression looked genuine. It was the same one she wore when Player wouldn’t let her know what he does in his free time or when he doesn’t want to go to the store. And now that he thought about it, the panic he’d seen earlier seemed a bit like when she’d heard of the termite bees. Maybe she really wasn’t lying.
“Okay, I’m going to give you a chance,” he said, hoping he wasn’t going to regret this decision. Looking her in the eye, he found pure relief and gratitude there. She really did look like his mom, and wouldn’t Player be freaked too if he’d learned his family had been making themselves a target of an evil organization?
No, he couldn’t let himself trust anything yet. He was walking a tightrope that this woman had the power to cut at any moment. Shooting a reassuring glance towards Carmen’s image on the phone, he pushed out all emotion caused by this being his mother. If he was going to play this game, he had to be smart about it. Player let out a slow, grounding breath.
“Tell me everything.”