Step 3.1

Ever see the stars? The real stars. You can't imagine it, trust me. Shimmering lights nestled in speckled bands of blue and green. Streams and ribbons of them, stretching out as far as the eye can see. And the moon. Wow. It gets real white up close. Pictures hold no justice. I felt like I understood art a bit better.

Van Gogh's Starry Night is more accurate than you think.

And it's there over our heads, all the time.

The bus shaking woke me from my revelry and brought the stone in my gut back full force. Gun shots drew my eyes to the window. Distant. Four or five blocks. Fishing out my phone I tracked as Veda called it in and sent word to the BBPD.

It's odd living in a war zone, as the news calls it, while the daily life of the world just keeps going. The buses went along their normal routes. People went to work. The gangs shot bullets at each other. All perfectly normal for us in a sad way.

It seemed so mundane in comparison. So small. What did a tiny dust flake like Brockton Bay mean to the infinite? Odd that anyone chose to live in such a place, let alone stay. The gang war continued, only tamer in the aftermath of the Protectorate reasserting itself. The economy still sucked. Drugs on every other corner. Tinker tech tanks and dragons.

And we still chose to live in this place.

Been thinking a lot about choice lately.

Choosing to do this. Choosing to do that. Walk away or stay. Fight or run. What does being the better person even mean in the first place? I almost left her to die, and I almost left her to suffer. Right or wrong, maybe that didn't matter.

In the end, it's not who I wanted to be.

That's why I wanted to be a hero in the first place. No more hiding. No more being afraid.

"What about Fenja and Menja," I asked in a low voice. I sat alone towards the back, far out of earshot of the elderly couple up front or the group of schoolboys halfway back.

"Probable," Veda answered.

The numbers ran over the screen of my phone. Dinah might not be able to tell which pictures were most likely, but all the data in HayStack could probably make the NSA sweat. With a detailed map, some questions, and all the reference points any answer Dinah gave me got forecasted through Veda. No traffic cameras anymore, but that didn't matter. We gained plenty from it in the time we had. The only person still able to hide from Veda seemed to be Coil, the slippery snake.

"Do they live in the area?" I pulled up the map, a gridded layout of Brockton Bay marked with icons and data points. Everything I needed to know. "They're usually only spotted with Kaiser."

"Level Seven restricted."

I tensed for a moment. Level Seven meant Veda knew who they were. The twins lived in the area, or maybe Kaiser. Maybe they worked there. Something pegged them to that series of office buildings and tied directly to their identities.

It's tempting, to know you know something, but know you shouldn't know it let alone use it. Thinking about their powers no one knew the specifics. Obviously, they both increased in size, as well as anything they held or wore. What I didn't know was did they just get bigger, or if that bulk came with better strength and durability. If so how much?

"Alright. What about Lung?"

"Unlikely. Evidence suggests Lung is not currently in Brockton Bay."

"That's what the Merchants thought."

"New data points suggest it is true currently."

"Any idea where he went?"

"New York, New York."

"Why would he go to New York?"

"Level Seven restricted."

I sighed and nodded.

"Alright. So. No Lung. Oni Lee at the market unlikely but possible. Fenja and Menja probable. Dinah didn't see any other capes in the pictures she got."

"It is possible others will appear."

A new point marked the map by Shanty Town.

"Mush frequents this location," Veda said. "It is not far from target three."

"The Wonder Twins and Mush can't catch me. I'm not worried about them."

I fixed all capes in three categories. Those who couldn't hurt me, those who couldn't catch me, and those who could do both. That last bunch didn't maintain many names.

"Oni Lee is the only one worth worrying about."

"PRT and PHO public data identify his teleportation as limited only by line of sight."

"And I'm not a hard target to see at max output."

"Basic fragmentation devices are unlikely to penetrate armor plates. Concussive effects are worrisome."

"Should be fine so long as the GN field is stable."

"Final modifications to antenna are eighty percent complete."

"Alright. Make sure the Haros have time to get everything positioned. I'll be in as soon as I pick up Dinah from school."

"We are bringing Dinah to the garage?"

I nodded to myself. "She deserves to know what I'm using her power for."

The bus came to a stop and I got up, backpack hefted onto my shoulder. After stepping off it all rushed back. I didn't move. Didn't want to and couldn't if I tried. My legs felt like rocks. When I left I really mean for it to be the last time.

I have to go back.

Deep breath.

I joined the swell of teenagers, all flowing like a river towards the double doors at the top of the steps. After seeing Dinah's school the similarities hit home again. Same layout and design, except dirtier, covered in graffiti, and looking like something out of a third world country.

Hello again, Winslow.

My feet slowed down as I got closer. Stupid. Even moving at snail's pace I'd get there eventually.

Coming back carried more risks than just my peers. Someone might notice my trick with absentee list. In retrospect I didn't understand how it remained unnoticed for so long. Maybe the staff really cared that little. I'd just have to deal with it if that happened. Answer some questions about computers? Not a problem. Glitches and errors happen all the time.

I swore I heard the whispers as I passed through the threshold. The name calling. She's so ugly. What is she wearing? She's poor. Those petty little insults never compared to the accusations of my secretly morbid sex life, mental illness, or drug addiction… Emma throwing my mother's death in my face.

All in my head.

I stood just past the threshold. Girls and boys who once tormented me or stood on the sidelines lined the halls, and not one looked at me. I didn't remember the names, but I knew the faces. They stood and sat, talking, chatting, having a good time.

Vertigo? Felt like Vertigo. A world where Taylor Hebert walked the halls of Winslow ignored by even the bullies felt upside down.

I found my locker. Needed a few tries to remember the exact combination. They cleaned it out after the incident, but I still saw the dark filthy hole. I touched the back of my neck for a moment, just to ensure Sophia's hand wasn't there. I stuffed my backpack inside, keeping only a notebook and some pens with me in case I needed to jot anything down.

Time to deal with my mess.

I didn't find her. Not before the bell rang. No idea where her locker was, or what she spent her time doing before class. The only people in Winslow I knew were my tormentors. They cut me off from everyone else. Never considered how that extended to more than just pleasant conversation.

To me, strangers filled Winslow's halls.

Mrs. Knott flinched when I walked into her class. I nodded to her and took my old seat. She didn't say anything. Just nodded back and waited for class to start.

The boy who eventually sat beside me stared for a moment. I guess I'd been gone long enough for him to be accustomed to sitting alone. He stood on the shorter side, sandy hair cut short with hazel eyes. Lanky build in a baggy shirt and jeans.

He stared at me long enough it got awkward.

"You can sit," I said.

"Oh hi. Um. Taylor, right? I thought you dropped out."

"Planning too," I said. "Came back to take care of some stuff."

"Oh." He sat down, scratching his head for a moment. "You know, I don't think we've ever said one word to each other."

"That's probably because we haven't."

"Isn't that weird?"

I shrugged. Not that weird for me.

"Well, I'm Trevor."

He held his hand out to me. Gave me some ideas for an episode of the Twilight Zone.

"Taylor."

I shook his hand. He explained the current assignment since I'd missed it.

"Weird weird," he said. "Lots of kids haven't been coming to school with all the gang stuff going on. Why'd you come back now?"

"Taking care of stuff," I said.

"Stuff huh?"

"Stuff."

Thinking back, the halls did seem emptier. More importantly, I didn't see anyone in gang colors. No white kids in red and black, no Asian kids in green and red. The Merchant kids too. They usually stuck around the bathroom doors and sold stuff, but not today.

I finished the project in a few minutes and spent the rest of the period looking at the news. Two gunfights in the early morning. One dead, two injured. Made three with the shots I heard earlier.

Against my better judgement I also looked up recent events in New York. Felt dirty, like going behind someone's back. I found the Cornell Bomber at the top of every news site. And I thought my school life was fucked up. Who tries blowing people up because they got a B? And if Lung wanted them, wow.

An Asian kid tries to blow up a college over a B.

Way to play against type and break barriers.

"I read about that."

I glanced to Trevor. "I don't watch the news."

The non-local news anyway. Maybe if I set Veda to track stuff in Boston and New York at least? Letting her follow the goings on in surrounding cities might help in the future.

"Pretty messed up," he said. "No one's saying her name, but people on Twitter are saying she's really psycho."

Fucking wonderful. Just what Brockton Bay needed.

When the bell rang I let everyone else leave first. I stopped by Mrs. Knott's desk, not entirely sure what to say. Her words stuck with me. I'd thought about them a lot. She didn't get a pass for how she left me to the wolves, not by a long shot… but it felt harder to hate her.

"How's your husband?" I asked.

She smiled at me. "Better this morning than most. Katie thinks the spring agrees with him."

"Katie?"

"His nurse," she said. "Sweet girl."

I nodded, again at a loss. Why is talking to actual people harder than talking to Veda and the Haros?

"Outside the gym after third period," Mrs. Knott said.

"Hmm?"

"It's what you're here for, isn't it?" Her smile turned solemn. "To see?"

It took a moment to click in my mind. I nodded to her and went on my way. I don't know how she managed to keep reading me so well. I never felt like we'd been that close, or maybe Taylor Hebert is just open like a book.

When I sat down in second period I sat near the front. A girl I didn't recognize sat in my old seat, and the seat Juliet used to use stood vacant. She sat in the back now with a group of girls who seemed absorbed with some magazine. I wondered when they might notice me and do something.

They didn't. Juliet even looked my way when the teacher entered and didn't linger. If I knew vanishing for a few months resulted in mass amnesia I'd have tried it sooner.

"Well then… Today we'll be continuing…"

The teacher trailed off when he turned, his eyes setting on me and staring with a mix of confusion and recognition. I almost wanted to laugh. Even the teachers forgot I existed. Maybe they found that easier than living with themselves?

He picked up the lesson. Math seemed trivial to me now. Well, geometry at least. I played with quantum physics. Learning the Pythagorean theorem might as well be getting a lecture on A to Z. So, while the high schoolers around me gossiped or tried learning to calculate the area of a circle, I calculated the fundamental forces of the universe as strings.

One glitch after another.

So far, the longest I maintained a good GN field at max output was twenty minutes. A fair amount of time, and the Suit worked at as little as fifteen percent, but I knew I could do better than that. The Foundation might be able to help, but I wanted to try and figure it out myself.

Best to rely on other tinkers only when I exhausted all other options.

As soon as the bell rang I left.

Juliet never paid me any mind, but Sophia shared my third period. Tipping her off wasn't part of the plan. I waited the period out in the bathroom, working on my equations and glancing at the clock on my phone. As soon as the bell rang again I went on my way to the gym.

My heart picked up with each step. I had ideas. I always had ideas, and with ideas came solutions, but… yeah. Not filled with confidence. Too many variables I couldn't rely on, namely me. What if I broke down? What if I fucked up? I didn't know.

One foot in front of the other.

I found the crowd, students around lockers and classrooms, with their heads all turned the same way. I slipped between them, carefully navigating the bystanders as familiar voices came from further ahead.

I knew this part at least. Been on the receiving end more than enough to guess at what Charlotte endured.

"You're always in such a rush." Emma. "Is it because you're a dyke? Afraid we'll all notice your pervy glares?"

I fixed my eyes on her, my former best friend. She stood proudly, hands on her hips. Madison and Sophia of course stood at her side, with a circle of other familiar faces all surrounding a dark-haired girl. Charlotte held her arms around herself, head down. After a moment's hesitation, she mumbled something under her breath and tried to leave the circle.

Sophia met her, shoulder to shoulder. Charlotte fell back and hit the ground.

"She's so creepy," someone said.

"She totally stares at my butt, like all the time!"

Charlotte raised her head, eyes puffy and red. She looked away, muttering in a low voice, "no, I don't."

"Do to. You're trying to look up my skirt right now!"

Charlotte shook her head. "No-"

"Mine too."

Charlotte scrambled back to her feet. I frowned, seeing the outcome in my own mind complete with the familiar pain in my leg. She tried to get past, but Sophia's leg caught hers and sent her back to the ground. Charlotte's knee struck the floor first, and she yelped.

"And she isn't even pretty," Emma said. "Look at her."

"She is kind of scraggly," Madison said with a chipper voice.

"And her nose is so flat." For the record, that's a lie.

Emma laughed. "Maybe if she lost some weight, but then she'd look even flatter!"

The laughter filled the hall. A few people on the outside turned and left. Others stayed and watched. It hurt. Almost as badly as when I'd been in Charlotte's place. A bunch of cowards hiding from the bullies letting them do as they please.

My hand tensed at my side.

"You know Char, you kind of look like a r-"

"Really Emma?"

The red head stiffened. My feet carried me forward, a few of those who turned away turning back. Some things kind of clicked in that instant, and I felt kind of stupid.

Stupid, and insulted.

"I thought you'd pick out some new material, but you're just recycling the same crap."

Every eye turned to me, every face. Did they see me shaking, or did walking hide it? I swallowed down the little bout of paranoia. I got shot a week ago. Why the hell did the threat of a few mean words scare me?

There's nothing wrong with being scared.

I continued on, entering the circle. No one stopped me, not even Sophia. Charlotte stiffened as I took her shoulder and hoisted her to her feet.

"You okay?"

She barely managed a nod. I started to guide her out of the circle, only to find Sophia barring our path. Charlotte leaned into me as the athletic girl glared at us. I glared back, but far more passively than the barely contained anger on Sophia's face.

Emma recovered fast. "Taylor. I've been so worried. I thought you'd actually gone and killed yourself, or at least gotten into the psych ward to get the help you need. Oh. Did your dad find out about your drug problem?"

I stared for a moment. It blew my mind in a way. I could think of a thousand things worse to say than that, but that… so, predictable.

In a perfectly calm voice I said, "I'd like to leave Sophia. Would you move over just a bit?"

"Should have stayed gone Hebert." She smiled slightly. "Thought you might have finally learned you place."

"Or at least gone somewhere you fit in better," Madison said with an unconvincing smile. "You'd fit in great with the Merchants."

"I'd like to leave," I repeated. "Are you preventing me from leaving?"

"What do you think Hebert?"

I smiled. If I were a character in a TV show I'd probably stop everything to explain my scheme. I preferred the suspense myself.

"I feel I'm being held here against my will and threatened."

"Are you alright Taylor?"

While Emma, Madison, and the other girls stupidly looked around, only Sophia kept her eyes on me.

"What is going on?" Veda asked from my phone.

"Just some bullies," I said. I fished the phone from my pocket, a green call icon counting up with the name "Tammy" blazed across the screen. "They won't let me leave."

"Would you like me to alert the authorities?"

"I don't know Tammy." I looked Sophia in the eye. "What do you think?"

Ever see a cornered rat? I have. It looks around frantically, wondering where to go or what to do. Funny thing is I knew what a cornered rate looks like from being one more than enough times. It's odd seeing it on someone else's face. Sophia held firm sure, but Emma wavered. Holy crap did she waver. Her eyes darted to Madison. Madison's eyes darted to Victoria.

Not a word between them, but I imagined the conversation. Who the hell is Tammy? When did Taylor get a phone? What do we do now?

Being a bullied girl has advantages. You become well acquainted with fear. Fear of a situation you can't control. Fear of what someone else might do. Fear of the uncertainty.

The bell rang, and the crowd broke. One by one all the little rats took the out offered them. Even Madison beat a hasty retreat. I remained still as Sophia's confusion turned to anger, while Emma grew frustrated.

"We'll catch up later," she said in a cheery voice. "Let's go Sophia."

"Later, Hebert."

I let them stalk off, and only once they rounded the corner did I help Charlotte down the hall.

"Why are you here?"

I glanced down at Charlotte. The accusation in her tone prickled my skin.

"I wanted to see for myself."

I shouldered the bathroom door open and helped her inside.

"Where's Mrs. Knott? Why wasn't she there to help you?"

Charlotte frowned. "Madison complained to Blackwell and Blackwell told her to stop harassing students."

Of course she did.

I closed the bathroom door and sat her down on one of the toilets.

"Are you okay? You hit your knee hard."

"Just aches a little." She glanced around my hips. "Is your friend still there?"

"Yes," Veda answered.

Charlotte glanced up to my face, then back down. "Are you… you know?"

"I do not know."

"Never ask that question," I said. I lifted the phone and pressed the fake call button. Veda was still there of course, but now only I knew that. "It's just a bad idea."

Charlotte shrugged. "Fine. You can go now. Thanks, and all that."

"How often do they do that?"

"Often enough?"

"Where?"

"Wherever they can."

"I'm trying to help you."

"Little late for that."

"I'm not the one kicking you to the floor and insulting you. I'm sorry I ditched, and they turned their sights on you, I really am. I didn't ask for Emma to be such a bitch, or for Sophia to be such a thug. It's not my fault so stop acting like I'm the problem and let me help you!"

Charlotte flinched. I did too. The words just came out. My hand shook at my side, and I felt a ringing heat in my chest. I didn't mean for my voice to get so sharp, and the this… Charlotte sitting with her arms around herself, me standing over her snapping.

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. "I didn't mean to… I know what it feels like. I came back because- When I heard about it from Mrs. Knott, and that she was in Blue Cosmos I freaked out. I thought," – I shook my head, why is it so hard to tell the truth? – "I was going to try and talk you both out of doing anything. I'm afraid. I'm afraid that if Blue Cosmos goes after the school or Sophia that someone will figure it out."

I paused for a moment, and mumbled, "It sounds even worse out loud."

Charlotte's face turned a little red, but she didn't explode. She hissed a little, asking, "figure what out?"

"You know what!" I ran my hands through my hair. "My dad… what happens to my dad if it gets out? What happens to me? He'll lose it- He'll make me join the Wards!" I shook my head again. "I can't join the Wards."

Charlotte raised her brow. "What's wrong with the Wards?"

I tensed for a moment, my back stiffening. She didn't know? Mrs. Knott didn't tell her? How could she not tell her?!

"What?" Charlotte hunched slightly. "Is it that thing with Parian?"

I shook my head. What did I say? Why wouldn't Mrs. Knott tell Charlotte? She promised to keep my identity to herself, but did that really extend to Sophia, and Charlotte?

"Because," – the hesitation passed quickly. "Because Sophia is Shadow Stalker."

A silence followed.

I closed my eyes for a moment. Unwritten rule broken but fuck it. Sophia tormented Charlotte, and no one did anything. Well, Mrs Knott, but I didn't see the help as all that helpful. Especially not with that kind of lie hanging over everything.

Charlotte deserved to know why.

"Shadow Stalker?"

I nodded.

"B-But Shadow Stalker's a psycho! She nails people to walls and leaves them to die!"

"Sounds like someone we know, doesn't it?"

Charlotte swallowed. "Th-That's why no one-"

"The school gets money for having her around. Congratulations. You're being sacrificed for Blackwell's budget."

"That- That's- That's bullshit!"

Charlotte didn't throw a temper tantrum like I expected. She shook and fidgeted, got red and heaved. But she didn't hit anything, unlike me. She didn't stand up and stomp around. She sat on the toilet and brooded.

After mumbling a few curses that sounded as fearful as angry, she looked up to me.

"What do we do?"

That's the question isn't it? What Blue Cosmos did or didn't do still terrified me. Almost as bad as the bullying in a way, and they could make my life substantially worse. It terrified me enough I almost threw Charlotte under the bus, to protect Sophia fucking Hess. Maybe Mrs. Knott had a point.

It's about what I do, not what anyone else does.

"I don't know," I said. "I honestly thought you knew, between Mrs. Knott and Blue Cosmos."

"That?" Charlotte stood up slowly. "I just print fliers and stuff to collect the volunteer hours."

"Oh."

"I like capes!" Charlotte relaxed a little. "I mean, not all capes, but I lurk on PHO all the time. I'm not- I don't agree with a lot of what Blue Cosmos says." She looked embarrassed now, her head bowed and turned away from me. "Mrs. Knott just offered it as a way to get out of school earlier."

"Oh." Very eloquent Taylor. Say something useful. "I'm sorry. I thought you knew about Sophia and you started hanging around because of that."

She shook her head. "Wait. Does Mrs. Knott know?"

I nodded.

"She didn't tell me," she said in a defeated voice.

"She's trying to keep her job," I said. Better or worse. "Revealing a cape's identity is against the law, especially if they're a Ward." I took her arm quickly, rushing to say, "you can't tell anyone, Charlotte. It won't change anything. We'll be the only ones in trouble."

Charlotte nodded to herself. "Because she's a Ward."

I nodded back and released her.

"That's so fucked up," she said. "How… How can she be a hero?"

"In my experience heroes aren't all they're chalked up to be," I said bitterly.

"Oh. Yeah. Everyone kind of knows you don't get along with the other heroes. Guess I know why."

It got silent quick. I stood there awkwardly. She stood there awkwardly. Eventually the bell rang, and the sounds of footsteps echoed through the halls. Charlotte tensed up, and I didn't blame her.

"An hour is too long for lunch."

"Way too long," she agreed.

"Come on." I took her hand and pulled. "There's two of us now."

I didn't bring anything to eat. Honestly my appetite felt tame lately. A good dinner, and a decent breakfast and I didn't feel much need to eat for the rest of the day. An energy bar here or there and a drink maybe. Charlotte offered me half of her sandwich, but I shook my head no.

We settled on the roof. Her preferred hiding spot during the lunch period. Didn't seem like a good one to me, but apparently the trio didn't bother her there. Maybe they didn't go after Charlotte with the same vigor. Emma certainly lacked the same brand of ammunition to throw.

Charlotte for her part seemed more relaxed. She didn't hold herself or try to look smaller. She sat, legs stretched out with a lunchbox on her lap. I sat beside her, feeling more pensive than she looked. My eyes glanced to the door frequently, wondering if any of the bullies would arrive solely because I warranted coming up those steps to get here.

I didn't have much to do but switch between watching the door and watching her eat. I checked the time. Still fifty minutes to go.

"An hour really is too long."

"It really is," she replied.

And back to silence. Kept running into those, but this one felt worse than the others. Felt weird sitting with another person. Someone my age, and who carried so much baggage because of me. Did she hate me? Unfair maybe, but I did leave Winslow and the trio to turned on her. If I'd stayed she might be okay. Maybe she did hate me. Maybe she only pretended to be friendly, so she could turn it on me later. Hurt me just like-

Paranoia.

I shut it down. Enough of that. Tired of being afraid all the time. What does a normal person do? Talk about it I guess. Too bad I didn't know how to talk to people anymore.

Charlotte lowered her sandwich. "What?"

"What what?"

"You keep staring at me."

I shrugged. Charlotte frowned. "Might as well just ask. I can tell you want to ask something."

"I don't want to ask anything," I said after a moment.

Charlotte didn't believe me. She scowled, her eyes taking on some of the accusation in her voice. "If you say so," she said.

I sighed. This is stupid. Just ask. When did my mouth get so dry? I tested my lips a few times, a couple half formed words coming out. Charlotte kept watching, like she knew I'd break.

"Do you hate me?"

"Hate you?"

"For them," I said. "The only reason they go after you is because I left."

She frowned and hung her head, one arm going across her chest to hold the other. She took a bite of her sandwich, silence returning while the clock ticked.

"I don't hate you," she mumbled. "I do blame you… but it isn't your fault, and I probably shouldn't."

I waited for something more than that. Charlotte sat quietly.

"And?"

"And what?"

"And what… What happens with that?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. Why does anything have to happen with it?"

Why does anything have to happen with it? I tried imagining all the times I thought about just punching Emma in her pretty face. After my powers it crossed more than once that I could blow up the school if I wanted. They hurt me, and I wanted to hurt them on some level. How did Charlotte feel about me then?

"You stare a lot," Charlotte said.

"Just thinking."

"About what?"

I shrugged.

Charlotte shrugged back, mockingly. "We can sit here staring, which is kind of weird, or we can talk… or something."

"Talk?"

Another shrug. "Why not? No one else for me to talk to."

I remember. "The only people I talk to anymore are robots, some old geezers, and a twelve-year-old."

I cursed internally at that last one.

"StarGazer is twelve?"

And assumptions save the day. "Don't tell anyone."

She shook her head no. "I won't."

I suck at this. "Just like talking to my dad."

"Your dad?"

"I can't carry a conversation with him past two sentences."

"So? He's a dad. The only person in my family who gets me is my mo- Oh. Right. Sorry."

"It's fine. I just mean- I decided to come back because I feel responsible. Not that I think it's my fault, but I chose to leave, and then they chose to go after you. I thought about how to come back and deal with all of it but… I feel really stupid right now."

"Can't be that stupid," Charlotte mumbled. "Built those robots. They seem kind of smart."

"They're good helpers," I said.

Charlotte finished her sandwich and popped open a can of juice.

"Can I ask something?"

"You can ask."

"What's it like?"

"What's what like?"

"You know." She set her food down for a moment and raised her hands to her face. She covered her mouth and forehead, leaving only her eyes to see. "This."

"I don't know how to answer that."

She lowered her hands. That scared girl became distant once more, the pain and anger replaced with curiosity.

"Is it because of them? The bullies?"

"Yes," I said bitterly.

Charlotte turned her jaw, her curiosity turning nervous. "I always wanted to fly."

I shifted a little. The door remained closed, and the streets felt a little quiet for once. The roof of Winslow offered a long view of the city, standing taller than many of the surrounding buildings in the docks.

Just Charlotte and me, alone.

"Me too," I said.

"Can you fly?"

"If I build something to let me."

"Have you?"

I shrugged. My lack of an answer didn't stop her from asking.

"Is your lightsaber real or an illusion? Some people think it's a hologram."

"Real, and it's a beam saber."

"Oh right. The Lucas Act. Forgot about that. What about your costume? Did you make it yourself?"

"Yes."

She huffed. "I voted that Parian made it on the poll."

"Parian doesn't make costumes. She's neutral."

"Yeah but there's always rumors."

"I asked her about it. She said she doesn't."

"Huh."

"Where do you talk about this stuff?"

"PHO."

I raised my brow. "How often are you on PHO?"

"A few hours a day I guess." She frowned slightly. "My friends don't talk to me anymore."

I shrugged. "I'm talking to you."

We both stared for a moment after that.

"Guess so." She smiled. "I still read magazines. Mouse Protector writes funny articles. She's my favorite. I even got the collectible underwear with her logo on them."

"I got the Armsmaster ones."

She sat forward, her hair whipping around as she looked at me. "Do you know how much those are worth?!"

I blinked. "I'm not sure I want to know how much people will pay for my panties."

She found that funny apparently. The laughter carried, and I felt an old pang in my chest. She's laughing at me. I said something stupid and she's laughing at me.

She wiped at her eye, saying between her slowing fits, "they're worth like eight-hundred dollars! The whole set got discontinued after someone pointed out it was really creepy to put Armsmaster's logo on girl's underwear. Only like, a hundred of them ever sold! The rest got tossed in a landfill somewhere in Mexico!"

I stared at her, my fear subsiding as she kept smiling and didn't insult me. "Really?"

"Yeah. There's actually people who go out hunting for the boxes like lost treasure!"

The more you know. Maybe I sell them on Ebay? They didn't fit me anymore anyway, and eight hundred dollars bought a fair few components for various projects.

"Oh." Charlotte pulled her legs in and turned to face me. "Are your robots AI?"

Good thing I prepared for that question, or I'd look flustered. "No. They're smart, but they're not that smart. Basically, dogs with the benefit of understanding English."

"Huh. Guess Georgios will have to eat it then."

"Who?"

"A guy on PHO. He's always ranting about AI and how tinkers might create one and doom the world. Um. Not that I'd tell him, or anyone. About, you know. Stuff. I'd keep it to myself." The toes of her shoes tapped together nervously.
"Will, keep it to myself."

I double checked to make sure I still remembered the code for Veda's off switch. Still there. Not that I enjoyed having it.

"Sounds like someone with too much time on their hands."

I fished out my phone and sent Veda a quick message to look the guy up. That kind of behavior sounded kind of obsessive. Sooner or later people would learn what Veda was. They'd know. Simply couldn't hide it forever, but hopefully by then we had good will on our side. Enough to shield us a bit from crazies and nutbags.

"Could you do it? If you wanted to?"

"No," I said firmly. "StarGazer neither."

"Isn't she a computer cape?"

"Her power is odder than people probably think it is."

"So, the two of you are a team?"

"Basically."

"That's cool. Team ups are cool, I mean. I thought it was kind of funny how you robbed Uber and Leet."

I shrugged. "They had stuff and I wanted it."

"You know Leet vowed revenge, right?"

"Somehow I'm not that worried."

I glanced back, looking over the rooftops of the city. Bizarre how coming face to face with a damn dragon and a tinker tech tank makes a pair of joke villains looks about as scary as a yappy dog.

"Bigger problems," I added.

"Some master plan?"

"Something like that." I thought about it for a moment and shrugged. "You'll see tonight. All you have to do is look up."

"Up?"

The bell rang.

"Time to go," Charlotte mumbled with a growing dread.

"Yeah."

"So…" Charlotte closed her lunch box, eyes set on the limited-edition Alexandria cover. The clock ticked toward the end of the hour, and she bit her lip. "You saw. What are you going to do now?"

Her eyes went to me expectantly. I'm not sure why she needed to ask. Socially awkward I may be, but I made up my mind days ago.

"I told you already."

I rose to my feet and offered my hand.

"There's two of us now."