His mom's going to be angry, and he still sounds scared in a way that's entirely different from the life-or-death adrenalin of the field. Dammit. She doesn't know his situation. Maybe she's reading it entirely wrong. But her instincts are usually good.

"Look. Here's the best I can offer: go back to your room. I won't tell security, so long as you write an article about it and break it as soon as you can. Then stay there. There's plenty of research you can do without putting yourself in danger. Watch what footage you can find, read reports, look for anything that seems particularly amiss."

She remembers being young and impatient to be allowed into the field. Being benched sucks. But no one here has time to babysit either.

"And if you put in a request for an interview with After the End Times after the convention is over? I suspect their Factual News head will be feeling generous."