Swamped

You decide to head back and tell Clancy what you heard.

"It's in there," you say. "Seems the guards are waiting for someone to take it back to the hiding place. Someone like you, I suppose."

Clancy has an awkward look on his face.

"So I talk to the guards outside, give them a codeword, take the rat back, and probably continue on with whatever dirty job Ash gives me next," he says after a while. "And nothing changes."

"You could make that choice," you say with a shrug. "I won't stop you. It's not my job to tell you how to play the game of life out here. If that's what you really want, you're welcome to it, and I'll be on my way."

"Nah. I'm through with Ash, I think," he says, shaking his head. "I've gone and blabbed on him already, right? It's just, I don't know where I go from here. Been stuck on Squib Squad for so long that I feel like I've forgotten what I really want. Who I really am."

"Well, then, Clancy. If you're getting out of Ash's game, what sort of play are you going to make instead?"