text: Now, as you can imagine, I am reasonably freaking out, with no place to fly my freak. It is past eight thirty on a school night, and there is no way I can "swing by Chelsea" and not be "killed by Mama."
  
  But since we do have technology, and therefore electronic chatter, I manage to somehow "miss my stop" so I can get all the details.
  
  Of which there are very few.
  
  Ze did as promised: kept playing, leveling up, adding to zir inventory, and when the SwHypo went back into the cave, Ze made zir move. And with the aid of a couple of random players, managed to get back inside and grab a screen shot, which Ze kindly shares, and then translates. It is even worse looking than the first one, but it is a barely legible symbol for "yes."
  
  And we all agree, Tile-Boy must not have gotten our initial invite on time, so he is agreeing to this coming Sunday.
  
  Unfortunately, it is only Tuesday.
  
  So now we will have to wait.
  
  I make my way home pep talking to myself, wrapping my brain around believing, hey, it's really just four more days. I mean Tuesday is really over already. Four days, no biggie. I got this.
  
  Well, probably not, but I've got to try something.
  
  It already seems like an eternity since we were all on the hunt at Ze's, but really that was only two days ago. And now, the next four days are going to take forever. And sadly I mean with a capital F.
  
  What if he doesn't show? Deep breath.
  
  I wonder if someone's made a study of this. Or at least written one of those books like, "Painful Time Tricks for the Brain" or "Time Suck for Idiots." Maybe there's an app for that.
  
  What if he does? Calming down.
  
  Maybe I should make one.
  
  Who is he? Tension rising up. Why is he? Deeper breath.
  
  And if for two seconds I manage to somehow forget about him, it is only because I need to code. I need to code a lot.
  
  Make the bot go forward, make the bot go back. Deep breath. One day gone. Lift. Drop. Up. Who? Down. Why? It's way too busy in here. Breathe, Sid. Two days gone. Climb. OMG. Scaling the tower with three bots at the same time is killer. Think. We need to focus on earning the free climb. Critical if we want to win. Wait. Breathe. Wait. Think. That's it! We change from sucking the power cubes into rollers to using claws for pickup, because the rollers mean we have to take time to position the bots, time that we couldn't afford. But the risk is the claw isn't as steady a bet. Speed versus stability. Wait. We can have both. We need to program the claws to suck in the cubes. High fives. Steady under pressure. Three days gone.
  
  Full Thorium test run late on Saturday. While the football team is away somewhere winning, Vikram works furiously with us, attaching the sensors we now have, creating the feedback loops to get them communicating, all with enough time to get Robot A onto the course minutes before Jimmy and Trey come flying in and take turns driving.
  
  It's two perfect runs. Sensors on, timing is impressively better. Celebrations abound.
  
  Day four is done. I race the scrabbits all night long. And now they're getting smarter. My edge is slipping.
  
  Getting so close. All I have to do is hold on and keep it together for another few hours and meltdown will be avoided. Although the very light tap at my door that nearly forces me to jump out of my skin is not helping.
  
  "Hey Sid?" Jean whispers from the other side.
  
  "Yeah?"
  
  "Can I come?"
  
  I think no, but before I say it, I pause. He was there when we needed him. And he swore he wouldn't say anything and he hasn't. It's kind of fair. I open my door.
  
  "Do you have to bring Aaron?"
  
  Jean doesn't even bother to take the bait, just stares at me with that don't be a moron stare. I know, but I had to try. And with that, I cave.
  
  "Yeah. Okay."
  
  I'd love to share something sappy, like it was the start of an upturn of our sibling relationship, or having Jean with me made the remaining time bearable, but those would be, well maybe not lies, but definitely a gross exaggeration.
  
  This time we're all here. Well other than Mae Ann, who I hope is very happy ...in Singapore. This "we" is all our usual suspects, plus bro and Aaron, and of course, Ze. Jimmy vacates his wingman chair, allowing Vikram to join Ze in the war room closet.
  
  They travel together and open a channel. And we all follow them into the dungeon, positioning ourselves around them, our attempt to create a kind of loose ring, so once tile-boy gets close enough, we will be preset to close in, in an effort to keep anyone else from overhearing their chat.
  
  And right on schedule, a string of Chinese characters pop up. As the bubbles appear, Ze translates between the two.
  
  Tile-Boy: Hello Viksation32
  
  Viksation32: Hello.
  
  Tile-Boy: My name is Qi, but you know me as Afexor4.
  
  Vikram's jaw drops, and he looks over at Ze. Loud enough for all of us to hear, Vik quickly explains that in Contagion, Afexor4 is a legend. He'd gone ghost over a year ago; no one knows where he went, and even after he's been gone for over a year, no one can catch his status.
  
  Tile-Boy: I have very little time, and I am very sorry I must steal your materials, but I need help and I know you are an honorable person from how you play the game.
  
  Vik swivels to look at all of us, or at least those of us he can see from his perch within the closet, hoping we are somehow making better sense of this than he is.
  
  I don't see anyone else's response to his confusion, but mine is an I-don't-have-a-clue shrug.
  
  Viksation32: Help?
  
  Tile-Boy: I am dying, and my parents will never know the truth and I cannot die without knowing someone will tell them.
  
  With that, we forget all about maintaining a perimeter around Vik and well, Afexor4, and move to huddle in the closet doorway behind Vik and Ze.
  
  Tile-Boy: My time is running out. I must tell you my story. I am a gaming addict. And my parents tried to stop me, but I did not listen. One day, some people came to where I was playing, tied me up, and took me to a camp for rehabilitation. But they lied to my parents. There is no rehabilitation. There is only farming. Play the game. Get the drops. They get money. Day after day. Night after night. I will soon die here, and I need someone to find my parents, to tell them the truth, and to tell them I love them and I am very sorry to have brought them shame and not to have been the son they deserved.
  
  And as he types, we scramble to hear Ze's translation while deciding what to answer. "Ask him how we can find him? Maybe we can get someone to go get him or something?"
  
  Tile-Boy: I cannot stay here very long. They will find me.
  
  Vikram looks to us all helplessly. "What do we say?"
  
  My mind is racing, trying to think of some way we can get to him. "Ask him if he can find the IP address for his computer." As I say it, my confidence grows. "If he can get it, we can trace the location of the game from our end." Ze types, and I keep verbally processing. "If he's really part of a farming operation, the real question will be whether or not it's hidden behind a VPN, in which case it will be a lot more complicated, and," now even Ze pauses to stare over with a shut up on zir lips. "Never mind. Let's just hope he can get it and we can trace it."
  
  Ze types.
  
  Tile-Boy responds: I cannot risk looking.
  
  Group stomach drop. Everyone turns back to me. And just as I'm about to get defensive and say something like "I'm not a miracle worker," I realize maybe I am. Well, not a miracle worker, but a woman with a plan.
  
  I duck out of the closet and grab my phone, frantically trying to DM @SpitPolishGames and praying Dan-the-heretofore-useless-wonder is there. I type. And miracle of miracles, he answers.
  
  "Got it." As I scream, the closet door, jammed with everyone watching, parts like the proverbial Red Sea, giving me a direct eye-line to Ze. "Tell him," I slow down to read the message word for word, "to just type /debug:IP into his chat window to get the current IP of his computer."
  
  Ze types. And we wait. And there it is. An electronic lifeline. Between Qi and us.