The hotel room was silent. It was the calm before the storm.
Alex sat at the desk. He was staring at a tactics board. He moved the magnetic pieces around.
Red pieces for England. Blue pieces for France.
But the blue pieces seemed to vibrate.
His phone buzzed on the table. It was a video call from Maya.
Alex answered.
Maya appeared on the screen. She was wearing a lab coat. She stood in front of a whiteboard covered in equations.
"The variables are dangerous," Maya said without saying hello.
"Hello to you too, Maya," Alex said.
"Listen to me, Professor," Maya said. She pointed to a red circle on her board. "France has Mbappe. Top speed thirty eight kilometers per hour. They have Dembele. Top speed thirty six kilometers per hour. And they have Mark."
Maya paused. She adjusted her glasses.
"I have calculated Mark top speed from the Australia game," Maya said. "He hit thirty nine kilometers per hour. He ran so fast he actually created a small vacuum in the air behind him."
