Sophie shook her head; she seemed like she wanted to say something, but she kept staring down at the ground in front of her as if she wasn't able to take her eyes off whatever it was she'd seen—or sensed. "I think we're safe right here," she said quietly, "for now."

"That doesn't make sense!" Jacob protested again, looking back at Lance for confirmation: he hadn't noticed anything in their surroundings yet either, but he didn't fully agree with her.

"Why do you want to stay?" Grace asked Sophie, not unkindly.

The blonde girl shrugged. "Because I'm afraid they're going to find me eventually," she said slowly. It looked like she had more to say, so she just continued, speaking slower than usual while avoiding eye contact with any of them.

"Who is they?" Lance asked. "Someone chasing you?"

Sophie thought. She must have known Lance could hear her with [Mindread], and was trying to hide her reasoning from the others. Still untrusting.

Lance felt like he understood—or at least sympathized with—her situation: if she couldn't trust anyone else, she had no choice than to rely on herself alone.

"We need to get out of this city," Grace said again, "because we can't run from these monsters forever, and these monsters outside are probably going to start killing each other--and us with them--soon."

Sophie nodded slowly. "I don't think they want that, but they might not have any choice in the matter either."

"That means we should get out," Jacob argued. He sounded like he wanted them all to agree with him. "Otherwise we're just as doomed as everyone else is right now!"

Lance frowned, looking over his companions' heads, the pull of the System around him a constant pressure that he couldn't shake. And there was the matter of the presence emanated by the person that he was sure had saved them... it led away from the city.

he thought to himself,

"I vote we escape," Lance said. "Three to one. Sorry, Sophie."

Sophie nodded. She still looked like she didn't really understand what was going on—like they had done something wrong without her knowing about it: why did they want to leave? They were so close! It felt like they'd only just made it to safety before all hell broke loose again.

But even if Lance wasn't ready to give up yet, Sophie seemed resigned to the fact they might soon be forced out of New York and into the unknown once more. That, at least, was the impression Lance got from [Mindread].

"There's going to be unknowns either way," Lance said. "This way, we give ourselves a chance at freedom."