"Who are you?" Sutton sized her up. She had fought a Reflection Person and come away unscathed.
"A friend." The painted woman tapped out two words, then repeated her question. "Have you seen him?"
"He went that way." Sutton casually pointed down the corridor.
The painted woman didn't seem suspicious. She hitched up her bag and walked down the corridor.
The female Player cast Sutton an inquiring glance, but he gave a slight shake of his head. Only after the painted woman had gone some distance did he say, "Whatever their relationship, if those Reflection People can turn on each other, that's good for us."
The others thought he had a point, so they headed in the opposite direction.
But they had been out of the dining room for only a few minutes when they ran into the painted woman again.
The sudden sight of someone leaning against the doorway startled Sutton and the others. They stopped and warily prepared themselves.
But then the other woman raised her Communicator. "You lied to me."
So far, all the Reflection People the Players had encountered were obviously different from ordinary people. Since the painted woman could use a Communicator, that meant she wasn't a Reflection Person.
Sutton smiled. "We really did just see him go that way down the corridor. Whether he went into the Reflection Space or was dragged off by a Reflection Person, we have no way of knowing. You can't blame us just because you couldn't find him."
The painted woman narrowed her eyes. The backpack behind her began to twitch, as if something inside were about to break free. Sutton and the others already had their devices in hand, but in the next instant, they could no longer focus on the painted woman. Someone had emerged from the