Big Apple, 3PM

[Jim Raynor]

Tor chaffed at the black hood pulled over his vibrant red mohawk as they strode down the alleyway. A light bulb above flickered as they past, casting and recasting their shadows upon the cracked concrete. The sounds of the city were long behind them, but Ditto still heard the blaring of horns and screeching of tires, though heavily muffled. The wind caressed his feathers and he stretched out his wings to let the gale tunnel through and into his skin. A lovely, cool night.

Ditto hopped onto the building's ledge and peered down on Tor. He reached the end of the alleyway, a streetlight bathing his black outfit as he looked down both ways of the street. He looked up, locking eyes with Ditto's sharp and ever-seeing gaze. He shook his head, swaying the luxurious pink feathers that bloomed between his eyes and flared over his head. He saw Tor frown and mutter something under his breath before crossing the empty street.

Ditto flared Pidgeotto's wings and leaned off the building. He glided overhead, reaching the other side of the road. His talons clenched onto the edge of the next building and his eyes quickly locked on to Tor.

He hated that this uncontrollable and disrespectful fool was his best hope at finding Spook Eye's lair. Tor was volatile at the best of times. To even get him to follow orders was a draining undertaking, and it wouldn't necessarily bear fruit. Why he had such a vendetta against Ditto he couldn't understand. He was making the gang better. Isn't that why he defected from Spook Eye in the first place? And yet he wouldn't listen, even when Diesel told him to comply, a person who he seemed to hold in high esteem.

Well, no matter. Ditto had an unwavering eye on him. If he didn't take him to where he requested, Tor would find himself floating face down in the nearest river.

The mohawked thug walked up to the very building Ditto was perched on and pointed to the door. Ditto jumped to a nearby streetlight with the assistance of his wings to get a better look. Tor looked around frantically in the silence that followed and walked away. He gave Ditto one hard glance, and when he didn't receive a reproachful glare in return, headed off down the street, hands in pockets.

Ditto fluttered down to the sidewalk and scurried behind the wall. Picturing his new disguise, Pidgeotto's body shimmered with white light and the shapeless mass grew and expanded. The luminescence faded and Cyborg stood in the bird Pokemon's place. Flexing his robotic arm, Ditto strolled to the door of the building and wrapped his knuckles on it.

A chunk of the wooden door slid to the right and a pair of eyes scrutinised him. "Yeah?"

"Let me in," Ditto said in a pitch perfect replica of Cyborg's voice.

"Aren't you supposed to be in the Dataverse?" the voice questioned.

"I forgot something. Let me in."

The harsh eyes scanned Ditto one more time and the slit closed. A number of muffled clicks sounded from the other side of the door and then it swung open. Ditto wasted no time and headed in.

The guard that let Ditto in looked at him sternly as he closed the door, then turned away briefly to rearm the column of locks that ran up the wall. Beefy, close cropped beard and dreadlocks. He finished his task and his dark brown eyes found Ditto again, brimming with suspicion. "What did you forget, Ray?"

Dammit, he's not going to let up. "My communicator," Ditto said without skipping a beat.

"Then go get it and get back to work," the guard said.

Ditto's tongue armed itself to retaliate, but he didn't know the relationship between Cyborg and this dickhead. Either responding or going quiet was a risk; maybe they frequently berated each other, or maybe Cyborg took it in his stride, or maybe it was the first time the guard had the balls to say anything. This is why Ditto didn't like shapeshifting into people he didn't know. He couldn't sell the disguise if it was inspected with any level of interest.

He chose the safest option. He stared back at the guard, grunted, and walked off. Nothing came of it, so he must have guessed right.

Ditto walked down a bland, featureless hallway and came to three doors at the end. 'Storage' was on his immediate left. He took that door and found himself in a locker room. The steel cabinets lined both sides of the rectangular room, each labelled with their owner's name. Ditto strolled down the line and stopped when he located the nametag 'Ray.' A small screen sat over the door. A biometric reader, perhaps. Ditto placed his fleshy palm upon the screen and a green light blinked. A click dislodged the door and Ditto opened it.

The locker was small but tightly filled with manila folders and photos. The smell of stale protein powder washed over him as his fingers parted the documents, looking for something of note. Surely Cyborg, or Ray as it turned out, had left a clue as to where he was in the Dataverse, or how he was tracking the rogue soldier. He took out leaflets and papers one by one, quickly devouring the information and moving on to the next, finding little that pertained to his cause.

One sheet finally caught his eye. A small polaroid hung on the corner of the document by a paperclip. It was the soldier currently in lockdown on Tier 1.5. Herman. Ditto's eyes scoured the document, flipping through the pages, and couldn't believe what he read.

The captured soldier was going to be busted out of that high security prison by Cyborg.

It didn't go into the specifics of how he would accomplish it, but Cyborg was actually planning to rescue the man that Ditto could've sworn he'd shouted at and verbally abused moments before Ditto first met him. That was all for show? Impressive. Ditto wrote him off as a brainless lackey, but obviously there lurked something deeper beneath his muscular, half robotic surface.

Stranger still was that Cyborg planned to take Herman into the Dataverse to hide him from the Empire. It seemed like a risky move. Why would a member of Spook Eye's flout Empire law and steal a fugitive, and then go to the trouble of hiding him away in the digital realm, where the Empire could surely sniff him out? There must've been more to this story than met the eye.

Ditto's face went blank as the wheels finally clicked into place. No. That's too ridiculous to be true. Why would a mob boss be involved in such a thing? But it was the only thing that made a hint of sense.

Spook Eye had the rogue soldier. He had the mobile Dataverse device.

He must be planning to free the remaining soldiers of the rogue's platoon and hide them in the Dataverse with the same method he's using to hide the first. But why? To what end? If Spook Eye wanted the experiment device, why not off the soldier once he had it? Why protect the others, going so far as to break into a hidden, Empire maintained prison?

Ditto spotted a handheld communicator leaning inside the locker. There is one way to find out.

After playing with the device for a few moments, Ditto pulled up the number to connect to Cyborg in the Dataverse. Moments before he pushed the button, he changed form again, becoming Herman, using the photo and his memory to include the bruises and abrasions he sported when Ditto last met him.

Cyborg's ugly head appeared on the screen. "How'd you get this - Herman?!"

"I got out," Ditto said, pretending to be out of breath. His eyes darted around. "I need your help."

"How'd you get out?!" Cyborg said, obviously surprised. "We hadn't busted you out yet!"

Ditto shook his head furiously. "No time to explain! You gotta get me into the Dataverse! I don't have much time!"

Cyborg looked off screen, grimacing. He looked back. "We gotta be quick. Damn it! This is not a good time, Herman!"

"Sorry if my escape ruins your well laid plans, but I'm out, aren't I?" Ditto returned. "Just get back here!"

Cyborg growled in frustration. "Give me thirty minutes. Be ready!" His face suddenly vanished from the screen.

Alone again, Ditto smirked. The bait was set. Now all he had to do was wait for the pull on the line and reel in his catch.