Michelle was furious and thought aloud, "They were all in on it, taking seed funds from the tourneys and TP's investors pitched in to keep us down, every year, every time!" Her fists were clenched with rage, but she was determined to expose the truth, no matter what it took. "Broadcasting, the bloodsport, and all its glory to the ones never questioning the motive. If Froggou is behind this, then this is way, way deeper than the roots under our feet."

Dickory, crouched beside her, watched her expression darken. "You seem tense," he muttered, adjusting the safety of his micro-uzi. "Kinda like it." He winked with his tongue out while Michelle aggravatedly turned a shoulder. "But yeah, the whole thing's rotten. You really think this ties back to ancient times, though? Maybe I've only barely heard of Froggou in my years, but he sounds like that Jesus guy. Plausibly deniable, ultimately a controlling device."

Michelle turned back sharply. "That’s exactly what lead bastards like the Mining Kings and Toon Pimp to get away with everything. My people had their history rewritten, and if Chung is anything we've been told, then we’ve been fighting tides more ancient than anyone's even realized."

Dickory exhaled through his nose, scanning the hallway further ahead. "Should we leak this one to the press? I'm still voting to just torch the place. Or are we playing it careful?"

Michelle smirked. "We make sure no one can ignore it anymore."

Dickory smiled halfhearted. "I don't follow, but I like where this is going."

Michelle threw her fist up into a luminous glow once more, at the wall so as to not signal she was fighting. Dickory set his hand on his hip. "Kinda gotta respect it, knowing its full power now." She set the glow off.

Michelle smiled slightly, but genuinely. "I've trained it a long time, but I never imagined it would fight for anything like this. I dubbed it 'Waver'. If you hadn't came along, Dick, maybe I'd never know some of this wasn't all in some crazy cloud's imagination. Maybe Chronostrand's a dumb name, but... I have something now. And... NRG?" Dickory leered somewhat. "What are you wanting with those quacks? Biology?"

"Democratized information." Dickory whistled. "Had me a little worried there. I'm rubbing off on ya, Green."