Seiber put his arm between Landau's hands to grab hold of his nape, while he ducked with his other hand placed against Landau's stomach. Before he could realized what happened, Landau had snap-rolled, lying again on the ground. He stood up by himself, this time rejecting Seiber's hand, and shook off the imaginary dust from his body while looking at the ground. Seiber intervened before his sentencing silence.

"It's your brother's idea. All of this. We'll make everyone think you're there, and then we'll pull you out as soon as they buy it."

"Oh, really?"

Landau suddenly plunged towards Seiber, but it wasn't enough; with his hands behind his back, Conan did nothing but move aside with one foot forward, making Landau trip and kiss the ground.

"Someone put a transmitter on the plane during the Interpol inspection. We don't know who or why, but it don't matter. Atticus decided to leave the transmitter there and send the plane to Afghanistan with you inside, and then let them follow us. Once we do everything we have to and get you back in secret, we'll play them off each other while you hole up in a safe place. Siraj and Nadim are getting on a fighter right about now to get there first and set it all up. Abel has agreed to send a coded transmission to the Kremlin to let them know about you. It's what he wanted, after all." Seiber threw the knife through the air to Landau, who caught it as he stood up. "That's why we did the walk with the bodyguards before; whoever had set up the transmitter would have already sent someone to the quarry to get to you. And even if they came here to kill you, they know attacking you now's off on the table."

"How's that?"

"Because they'll need some proof of your death to whoever ordered the hit. Since you've been under the umbrella of the U.S. government, everything related to your blood and fingerprint data has been erased and falsified on the public record. That's why they're only left with your face. And that's why they can't afford to wreck it in an accident, so we can expect a hell of a smooth ride on their part."

"OK, I get it, but what about the Russians? Why tell them too? Now the other half of the world will go after me as well."

"It was just a matter of time before they knew about it. Thing is, we believe whoever set the transmitter is a third player in the game, someone who wants to be sure to play against the fewest number of competitors possible. When Abel sent the message about your whereabouts, it's possible he decrypted it too, and the trajectory of the transmitter will prove him right."

"What do you mean by all this?"

"I mean, by disclosing to the Russians that you're in Afghanistan, we've made a move before him, knocking him off balance. Now, he'll have no other choice but to rush his best men to Afghanistan to find you, and with a bit of luck, they'll be swept away in the cross-fire."

Skyler sighed and frowned.

"That's too optimistic."

Seiber shrugged with indifferent eyes.

"Maybe, but at least we'll turn the gaze of the world to this desert of shit and dry cum while you remain out of focus, thousands of miles away."

Skyler ran his ring finger along his scar, as if he had a premonition. Suddenly, he recalled his home in California, which had belonged to his mother before him, and in which he had lived as a child with her and Atticus. Now she was dead, and the house was nothing but burnt-out rubble. He felt words come out of his mouth.

"But now I'll be in the spotlight of the whole world. I'll never be able to go back. I'll never have a normal life again."

Landau stared at Seiber, as though he was guilty for that fact. Without justifying himself for that outburst of anger, he pounced on him, trying to throw a downward cut. Conan turned and lunged backwards at him, sticking his back into Landau's chest, and he stretched his arm up, catching Landau's wrist, and pulled firmly down. For the second time, Landau snap-rolled. For the third time, Landau fell on his back to the ground. His migraines came back stronger than ever.

"You don't have a normal life. You've never had it, and you'll never have it now. It's likely that Abel's message will leak to Washington through their double agents in Moscow, so we can take for granted that both blocks will find out you're in Afghanistan. With this move, we'll beat both of them to the punch, making them zero in on the wrong stage for quite some time." Seiber walked away, holstering the knife in its sheath and tossing it off the tatami as Landau stumbled his way up. "Your codename now will be Biadhinjan. An Arabic callsign to help you blend in. As far as we know, no one will dare shoot you there, because both sides want you alive. Chances are, if someone manages to reach you, they'll try to use hand-to-hand combat to knock you out. So the priority is to teach you the basic locks and holds to wiggle out and use a sidearm, much more than teach you how to shoot from the distance. Leave that to us."

"You're taking for granted I'll get attacked?"

"Hope not. But that's not exactly up to us to decide. So, during this trip, I'm gonna teach you to avoid edged weapon attacks and draw your gun quickly. You'll have the advantage of proximity to the enemy so you can fire from the hip without having to aim, but I'll explain that later. If they're going to get the drop on you, their choice by default will be the rear naked choke." Seiber moved to Landau's back, wrapping the crook of his right elbow around Landau's neck, closing his right hand over his own left biceps, and keeping his left hand resting on Landau's nape. "I mean it'll be their default choice 'cause sleeping you will be their safest way to nab you."

"Is this the famous sleeper hold?"

"Sleeper hold, Mata-leao, Hadaka-jime, call it whatever you want. I call it Morpheus' Hug."

Landau dropped a contemptuous chuckle.

"How lovely. I think it's so beautiful, it will make me black out. Joking aside, does it put you out long enough for them to take you away?"

"No, it usually lasts a few minutes at most. But if they chloroform the hell out of you afterwards, you're a breathing corpse. Well, the key to this hold is not only the pressure of my right arm, but my left hand pushing forward into the back of your neck." Seiber exerted mild pressure on Landau's neck and then loosened it quickly. "You see?"

"Yeah."

"If this happens to you, your nerves make you put your arms back and try to throw nudges. None of that. You have to hold my right forearm with both hands and focus your strength forwards to try to offset the force of my right arm, and you have to lift your chin and throw your head back to cope with my left hand."

So did Landau, aware that Seiber had applied barely any pressure.

"Good." Seiber continued, "Here's the hard part: you have to lean forward, try to bring your torso parallel to the ground, and hurtle me to the ground like a bag of potatoes."

"Right. That's easier said than done."

Landau used all the adrenaline he had left to pull forward, and Seiber's feet broke away from the ground. He flew off in a second, and his back met the ground with a loud, resounding blast. This time, it was Landau who reached out to him, ironically condescending.

"Beginner's luck," said Seiber.

"Won't say I don't agree."

Seiber accepted his hand amicably and rose from the ground.

"Well, you know how to avoid it. Now's your turn to get the hang of it. Come on, put your arm around my neck with your right elbow bent, like that, and your left hand on the back of my neck, and your right hand holding your left biceps."

Landau followed his instructions.

"Like this?"

"Right. And now do what I told you: right elbow back, left hand forward."

"Wait, you want me to put you to sleep?"

"How else can we know you can do it?"

Landau hesitated for a moment.

"I don't know if I wanna do this."

"You think that I've never been knocked out? Whenever we train, your brother puts me down almost every time."

"Let's see..."

Landau tried his best.

"No, stronger."

"Like this?"

Seiber shook his head, and his straight dyed blond hair rubbed against Skyler's face.

"You ain't doing it decisively. I can tell you're spooked. If the time comes, you won't have any time to think."

Landau pressed harder.

"..."

"If you don't put me under in ten seconds, I swear I'll do it to you."

The image of his home returned to Skyler's mind. His only home, a place he couldn't go back to anymore. He felt as if the world itself had taken it away from him, and his pain soon turned into anger. Before he realized it, Seiber wasn't resisting anymore.

"Seiber? Seiber, you OK?"

But Seiber did not respond, collapsing on the ground as soon as Skyler let up. Skyler did not bother to help him; he saw himself standing, staring at a man unconscious by his own hands, and for a moment, he felt horrified.