The vans screeched to a stop in the amusement park parking lot, door sliding open before the engines even shut off. Aya was the first out, practically somersaulting onto the pavement. “Rollercoasters first! Biggest one!”

  “No, haunted house!” Amelie countered.

  Anya stepped in. “Rigged carnival games. I’ll break the system.”

  “I just want the churros.” Liza muttered.

  Trel stepped out st, clipboard in hand, voice already sharp. “All right, listen up! We move in squads of three, no wandering off, comms on at all times, and—”

  Michelle tugged her gently aside before the girls could groan. “Trel… Stop.”

  “Stop what? Someone has to keep them in line before—”

  “No. We’re on vacation. You heard me? This isn’t a mission, it’s fun. For you too.”

  Trel frowned, looking back at the chaos. Aya and Amelie were already sprinting toward the gate, dragging poor Katya with them. Michelle lowered her voice.

  “You’re allowed to scream on a rollercoaster. You’re allowed to eat too much sugar. You’re allowed to… just be a kid for a day. Let them go wild. Let yourself go wild.”

  Trel hesitated, the clipboard still clutched like a shield.

  “C’mon, Boss. Just this once… drop the ‘Boss.”

  For a moment Trel’s lips pressed into that same tight line, but then… she sighed, shoved the clipboard back into the van, and smirked. “Fine. But when Aya gets us kicked out, I’m bming you.”

  Michelle grinned wide, looping an arm around her shoulder. “Deal. Now, let’s go scream our lungs out.”

  The first ride was the smaller rollercoaster. Aya was practically vibrating as they stood in line.

  “Front seat! Only the front seat counts!”

  “Death seat, you mean.” Katya deadpanned.

  Amelie shoved Katya ahead. “You’re sitting next to me. If you pass out, I’ll take a selfie.”

  When the coaster finally unched, Aya threw her arms up, screaming. Amelie screamed with her, but with a ugh. Katya? Stone-faced the entire ride like a sniper under fire. When they rolled back into the station, Aya and Amelie staggered off dizzy, while Katya calmly said “Weak.” Then promptly tripped over the safety rail.

  While the others were recovering, Liza disappeared. They found her ten minutes ter with cotton candy in one hand, a churro in the other, cheeks stuffed.

  “Liza! How much sugar is that? You’re going to puke on the ferris wheel.” Michelle asked worriedly.

  “Worth it!” Liza said mumbling.

  The crowd gathered as the tiniest Fang stepped up to the giant hammer-and-bell strength game. The carnie chuckled. “Little dy, you sure? This isn’t for—”

  WHAM! The bell rang, the hammer handle snapped in two, and the carnie just stared. She walked away with a giant stuffed dragon slung over her shoulder.

  Later in the afternoon, Michelle finally grabbed Trel by the wrist before she could herd the others toward yet another ride. “Nope. Time out. You, with me.”

  Trel frowned but let herself be dragged toward the ferris wheel. They ended up in one of the gondos, slowly rising above the park.

  “Trel, You realize you’ve been barking orders at everyone all day, right?”

  “What? No, I was just… keeping them from scattering.”

  “Trel, this is not a mission. Look down—lights, music, screaming kids, fried sugar everywhere. Just enjoy it.”

  Trel hesitated, eyes tracing the glowing amusement park below. Then she let her shoulders drop. Michelle leaned her head lightly on her shoulder. For the rest of the ride Trel stayed quiet. Just watching, almost smiling, the weight of command lifting for once.

  The neon skull sign flickered above the entrance to the haunted house, smoke machines coughing out mist as cheesy screams echoed from inside.

  “Oh yes, we’re doing this.” Aya commanded with enthusiasm.

  Anya wasn′t so thrilled. “Looks me.”

  Amelie looked kinda unimpressed at first, then put out her psychotic smile. “Ghosts, fear me!”

  Inside it was pitch bck, the floor creaking, fake bats fpping overhead. Michelle clung to Trel’s arm. Suddenly, a figure in a tattered cloak lunged out of the shadows with a roar. Everyone screamed, except Amelie. She didn’t even blink. Instead, she leaned forward and hissed back, her voice low and guttural Booooo… The actor froze visibly shaken. He stumbled backward into the fake coffin setpiece. Aya nearly choked from ughing.

  “She just scared the monster!” Aya said, amused.

  Liza, peeking out from behind her popcorn bucket, muttered: “Amelie is the real haunted house.”

  As they went deeper, every scare went the same way. Zombie? Amelie cracked her knuckles, zombie retreated. Chainsaw maniac? He tripped over his own prop. Creepy little ghost? Took one look at Amelie’s gre and whispered: “…nope!” before running off stage. By the time they reached the exit, the entire scare crew had abandoned their posts, peeking nervously from behind the curtains. Trel shook her head, half-amused, half-upset. “You broke the haunted house, Amelie. “

  The sun was dipping low. The st attraction towered over the skyline — the park’s legendary rollercoaster. Everybody on board. Trel decred, hands on hips. Aya raised a brow.

  “Boss, you sure? You nearly fainted on the spinning teacups.”

  “Shut up. This is courage training.”

  Soon enough, the entire crew squeezed into the long snake of cars. Amelie cracked her knuckles like she was preparing for war. Katya crossed herself. Anya grinned like she was about to rob a bank. Liza and Cherry shared cotton candy in nervous solidarity. Even Aiko sat perfectly composed. The climb began. Click. Click. Click. The city unfolded beneath them.

  “Why does this thing sound like a rifle being cocked?” Katya muttered.

  “Because it’s loading us into the jaws of hell.” Amelie answered with a straight face.

  Then the drop came. The world fell away, and the screams split the sky. Aya’s roar sounded like a battle cry. Trel’s voice cracked into a shriek halfway down. Michelle clung to her safety bar with wide eyes, regretting every life choice. Anya stood with arms raised, ughing hysterically. By the time the ride screeched to a halt, half the girls were pale, the other half were high on adrenaline and Aya was begging to go again.

  The vans hummed along the highway, neon lights from the city fading into the dark. Half the girls were asleep already, cotton candy and adrenaline crashes knocking them out cold. Aya sprawled across two seats snoring like a chainsaw. Amelie had commandeered the back row and was retelling the haunted house scene to Katya, who pretended not to be impressed but kept asking questions. Up front, Trel sat by the window, arms crossed, trying to look composed, but every time the bus bounced, she let out a tiny squeak. Michelle was sitting next to her.

  “Don’t worry. This ride doesn’t drop you from sixty feet.”

  “If you tell anyone how I screamed…”

  “Too te. Everybody heard you.”

  Trel buried her face in her hands. “Kill me now.”

  “Don′t be so tense... I told you. We are having fun.”

  “They are like wild animals. Someone needs to keep them in line.”

  “On a mission - yes. They are wild and unhinged, but that is how girls at their age should behave. And you should too. Don′t be so tense.”

  “But…”

  “Listen... I know you had to run from one pce to another, so you had none of this. I don′t know if Mr. Dawson ever told you, but there was one other reason why he made the deal with the CIA besides keeping you safe.”

  “And that is...?”

  “He wanted you to experience the life you otherwise would never have.“

  Trel remembered what she and the Fangs went through in those years. Looked at them and realised she was right. Her eyes even started to get a bit watery. Michelle saw that and hugged her.

  “Don′t worry. Just as you guided me, I will now guide you. OK?”

  ***

  The girls sprawled across the living room, the giant TV screen was glowing, bowls of popcorn were already scattered everywhere, sodas fizzing on the table and the air buzzing with excitement.

  “Saving Private Ryan. No question.” Trel stated.

  “Or Stalingrad. Real history.” Katya added.

  Aya groaned so loud the windows almost shook. “Ugh, boring! Rambo! That’s a real movie. Big guns, big muscles, big explosions!”

  Mei-Ling gave her a sideways look, clutching her stack of kung-fu DVDs. “Bruce Lee is ten times cooler than your sweaty muscle men.” Aiko silently nodded in approval.

  Samira waved a DVD copy of Demolition Man like it was sacred. “No, no, no. Sylvester Stallone and Wesley Snipes! It’s perfect!”

  Amelie, sprawled across the couch, suddenly sat up with her signature wicked grin. “No. The Exorcist.”

  The room instantly groaned.

  “I don’t need demons in my popcorn!” Aya grumbled. “And horror movies are just action movies without grenades.”

  From the corner, Maya revved an invisible steering wheel, making engine noises.”Fast & Furious. Fast cars, fast action, family.”

  Talia joined instantly. “Finally! Someone with taste.”

  Now the whole room was in chaos — voices overpping, DVDs being waved like weapons, Trel and Aya nearly going nose-to-nose, Amelie chanting “Horror, horror”, while Aiko had already put the kung-fu menu into the pyer. Michelle finally stood up, raising her hands like a peacekeeper.

  “Enough! We’ll make a list. One war movie, one action movie, one martial arts movie, one horror movie and one car movie. Everyone gets their pick. Deal?”

  The room fell silent for half a second.

  “What about two action movies?”

  The room exploded again. It looked like the UN in crisis mode. Pillows were already airborne, popcorn bowls threatened to tip. Each Fang held her ground. It was about to devolve into a full-scale mutiny when Michelle raised her voice.

  “Okay. Time out.”

  They all looked at her, half-annoyed, half-curious. Michelle had that look — the Cipher look — but softer, more pyful.

  “You know what the problem is? You’re all trying to pick your comfort zone. You’ve seen your picks a hundred times. Why don’t we make it interesting? What if we go with movies you don’t know, but that still hit your sweet spots?”

  The whole room stared in confusion.

  “For example… Rush Hour 2. Comedy, action, Jackie Chan fight scenes. Mei-Ling, Aiko, that’s basically your love letter. Aya, Chris Tucker shouts louder than you. And Trel? The precision stunts would impress even you.”

  “Rush… what?” Mei-Ling asked.

  “You’ll thank me ter. Next: Hobbs & Shaw. Cars for Maya and Talia, explosions, over-the-top vilins and it’s absolutely funny.”

  “Never heard of it.” Maya stated “But sounds interesting.”

  Michelle grinned. “Three: The Hunt for Red October. Submarines, espionage, Sean Connery mumbling Russian. Strategy porn. Four: Zombiend. Comedy-horror. Zombies, shotguns. And Jesse Eisenberg invents survival rules. You guys will love mocking it.”

  Amelie’s lips twitched into a reluctant smirk. “Hmm. Maybe. Depends how much blood.”

  “Buckets.”

  Aya leaned forward. ”Wait—rules for survival? Like actual rules?”

  “Rule number one: cardio.”

  “Okay, I like this movie already.” Aya snorted.

  But Michelle wasn’t done. “And the crown jewel. John Wick. Gun-fu. Headshots. Stylish as hell. Carnage, clean execution, nice choreography, brutality and he even drives a Mustang.”

  That nded like a bomb. Silence. Then a slow grin spread across Aya’s face. “Okay... That sounds badass.”

  Trel with her arms crossed, fought hard not to show interest. “Fine. But after that, something with tanks.”

  Even Katya gave a rare smile. “Submarines will do for now. Connery with a Russian accent? I am curious.”

  And just like that, the battlefield of movie night colpsed into peace talks. Five titles on the list. Michelle leaned back, victorious. Sometimes Cipher doesn’t need a keyboard or a mission pn, just the right pitch.

  First was The Hunt for Red October. Aya sat bolt upright on the sofa, clutching a pillow like a lifeline. Her eyes were wide, glued to the screen. “Ocean… ocean… Sub… diving… calm yourself, it’s just a movie… a damn good movie… “

  Trel gnced over, smirked, and whispered to Katya: “I’ve never seen her this scared of anything.”

  Aya snapped. “SHUT UP, THIS IS TENSE!”

  Rush Hour. Mei-Ling and Aiko were doubled over ughing, repeating Jackie Chan’s lines with exaggerated accents. Trel tried to resist, but even she cracked up when Chris Tucker screamed: “Do you understand the words that are coming out of my mouth!?”

  Hobbs & Shaw. Maya and Talia were perched on the edge of their seats, critiquing every chase. Meanwhile, Aya just yelled every five minutes. “YES! RAM HIM OFF THE ROAD!”

  And then the pizza came. The doorbell rang—DING-DONG!—just as the speakers roared with heavy machine gun fire. The poor delivery boy yelped, nearly dropping the pizzas, and ducked behind the porch railing. The door creaked open and Amelie appeared, hair wild, eyes bloodshot, shadows under her eyes like a walking corpse.

  “P-P-P-pizza d-delivery…”

  Right then—KABOOM!—an on-screen explosion rattled the windows. The boy almost fainted. Amelie just shoved him some bills, snatched the boxes, and shut the door.

  “Girls, pizza’s here!”

  The room erupted in joy. Aya sniffed suddenly. “Hey… why do I smell shit? Who forgot to flush the toilet?”

  “I think that was coming from outside…” Amelie frowned.

  Talia peeked through the blinds, then burst out ughing. “Oh, my god. The pizza boy is walking funny. Like really funny!”

  The whole room colpsed into hysterics. Aya ughed so hard she almost fell off the couch.

  Zombiend. Amelie watched intently, nodding in approval. “Yes… yes… that’s how you use a chainsaw.”

  Aya was chanting the survival rules with Jesse Eisenberg. “Rule number one—CARDIO!”

  John Wick. Absolute silence. Every Fang leaned forward, spellbound.When Keanu headshotted three men in two seconds, Aya whispered “Teach me.”

  At 2AM the living room looked like a battlefield. Popcorn everywhere—on the floor, stuck in couch cushions, even in Aya’s hair where she y snoring half-off the sofa. Katya was curled up under the coffee table like a cat. Amelie had passed out on the beanbag, still hugging an empty pizza box like it was a teddy bear. The TV buzzed static into the room. The front door clicked. Dawson and Williams stepped inside, both still in work clothes, both exhausted.

  “What the hell happened here?”

  “Looks like someone had a really good time today.”

  “Yeah… not us.” Williams grumbles.

  “Neither will they when they wake up.”

  “I’ll just check on Michelle and go home. I’m wasted.”

  “So am I. See you ter.”

  Upstairs, Williams quietly opened Trel’s door. Michelle was asleep in bed, curled up next to Trel. On the desk, Mei-Ling was colpsed face-first on her notebooks. And in Mei-Ling’s own bed Talia was starfished across the mattress. Williams smiled softly, shook his head, and gently closed the door. When he turned around, Milena stepped out of the bathroom across the hall. Steam drifted out behind her, hair damp, skin flushed from the hot water. A towel wrapped zily around her, held together with one hand as she padded barefoot toward her room. Williams froze. Color rushing to his face until he looked like a glowing chili pepper.

  “What? Never seen a towel before?”

  She strolled past him casually, giving a little smirk.

  “…Yeah. I′m definitely too tired for this.”