"Hmm. This is new." I examined the cobbled-together metal casing that now occupied part of Riley's lab. She mumbled something, glanced over at me, and then excitedly bound over when she realized what I was looking at.

"Oh! The computers here are really powerful, but they don't have all the features I need. So I built my own!"

"Hmm." I eyed the tubing connected to it, pumping what I presumed to be nutrient solution. "I'm guessing they were missing the organic element, then."

"That's right!" She pouted a little. "One of these days I'm going to find out why you're so good at guessing what I'm doing." I smiled at her and she looked away. "Aaaanyway~ I built this out of those little guys of Nilbog's! Their brains are actually a lot more dense than I was expecting, I thought it was going to be twice this size."

"So what makes it better than the pre-installed machine?" I could...almost read the readouts on the screen. Looked like she was scanning something. Some kind of...dimensional fluctuations, maybe? She's definitely comparing different data sets. Thank you, Science Talent. Looks like you at leastwork on Tinkers once they're Bound.

"Well, part of what makes everybody so scared of Nilbog is that his children get powers of their own, right? That's really weird! Most Masters with minions don't get to hand out powers willy-nilly, you know?" She pressed up next to me, looking at the readouts. "So, since I don't have any projects going that require me to watch them nonstop, I've been trying to figure out how that works! You know about the Corona Pollentia and Gemma, right?"

"The brain formations in people pre- and post-Trigger, right? I'm familiar."

"Well, his creations don't have a Pollentia, and they don't have a regular Gemma, either...but their organs don't match up to each other anyway, so I think that I just haven't identified where their Gemma actually is. So I'll keep trying! Once I've narrowed it down a bit, I might be able to duplicate some of what he does!"

I couldn't help it. I ruffled her hair, scratching my fingers across her scalp. For a second, she froze – then she leaned into it slightly, eyes closed. "That's...really impressive, Riley. I'll admit, I wasn't sure what to expect once you got access to his work – but I guessed it would be interesting, and it looks like I was right. Let me know how your research goes, all right?"

"Mm-hm," she replied absently. I withdrew my hand, ignoring the way she pouted, and turned to leave. Time for practice, after all. I need to be ready, just in case. Before I could leave the lab, though, she spoke up. "Hey, Michael?"

"Hmm?" I turned, only to pause.

Riley looked...vulnerable, almost. It wasn't really in her body language, but – there was something in her eyes that hadn't been there before. An...intensity, but a fragility as well. "What – am I doing all right? I don't...know what you want from me. You don't respond like anybody else, and I can't figure out what you want."

I blinked. Then again. "...Well, to be honest with you, there was only one thing I really wanted." I glanced down to my arm, where the smallest patch of Saena's flesh was still visible beneath my own skin. "And you've already given me that. Beyond that...I want you to do what you're interested in. Tinker, investigate, build, take apart – you're one of the greatest Tinkers in the world, in my opinion, and the things you make fascinate me. Every time you have an idea, I'm curious what shape it will take...as long as it isn't too much like one of Jack's art pieces, at least, but you've been staying away from those."

She watched me intensely, barely moving at all in response to my words. After it was clear I was done, she fidgeted with her hands a bit. "That's...really it? You wanted upgrades, and then...for me to Tinker?"

"Well, let me ask you this: why did you agree to come with me, Riley? What were you expecting?"

"I..." she hesitated, glancing off to the side with a furrowed brow. "...I'd been getting frustrated with Jack, lately. He was so...he pretended to be creative, and I guess he was, but all his ideas were the same in the end. Find someone's weakness – he called them keystones – and break them with it. I guess I started to realize that everything he said to me was meant to make me the person he wanted, and I started wondering if that was who I was?" She locked eyes with me again. "But it really hit me when you came."

She was quiet for several seconds, so I prompted her. "Oh? How so?"

"...When you called him Jacob, he was mad. Really mad, even if he wasn't showing it on the outside. I'd been around him a long time, I could tell when his moods were bad. He...really hated that name, for some reason. But – but when you called me Riley, it felt...it felt nice." She glanced to the side, rubbing a hand against her arm nervously. "I wanted...I wanted to keep hearing my name like that, and I guess it just made me realize that Jack was Jack and I was...me. I didn't want to just be Bonesaw anymore."

She glanced at me, out of the corner of her eyes, as though gauging my reaction...so I just smiled at her. "Well, you're in luck – you don't have to be Bonesaw anymore. And, if you aren't sure who Riley is yet..." I watched her eyes widen and knew I'd hit the mark. "...Well, that's all right too. Take your time and find that out. If you end up needing help...then we'll get you what you need, okay?"

She nodded, meekly, and turned back to her computer. As I turned to leave, I only barely heard her whisper. "Thanks..."

For the rest of the week, she was subdued, and I could understand why. Trying to figure yourself out was always difficult. I engaged her over meals, but it was relatively clear she didn't want to talk – and I understood that too.

I remembered reforging myself from scratch, and I hadn't talked much during those days either.

So, instead, I poured my energy into training with Saena. She was happy to oblige, ramping up faster and faster to match whatever improvements I made. It still might not be enough – I was afraid of the Endbringers, and I wasn't going to pretend otherwise. They were...a legendary enemy, in every sense of the word. The measuring stick that you held "powerful" characters up to, in a lot of ways.

I didn't want to fight them...but I knew this world. Most likely? I wouldn't have the option.

So I'd do everything I could to be prepared.

{Weapon activation confirmed :: 7+8 / 'Tohu' + 'Bohu'}

I closed my eyes as I set the plate in the sink. "...God damn it. They're days early. Where?" Riley glanced in my direction for a moment before looking at Saena.

{Narrowing possible targets . . . Northeastern United States . . . New York Region . . .}

I knew what she was going to say before she said it. "Son of a bitch."

"What's happening?" Riley was concerned – probably for good reason. I rarely lost my temper.

"The Endbringers are attacking, and –"

{Brockton Bay confirmed. Emergence in 117 seconds.}

"– the city they're attacking is extremely high-risk...I'm going."

"What!?" She jumped to her feet. "Why? You aren't – we aren't in any danger here, why would you volunteer?"

"The target city...one of the Endbringers is a spatial manipulator that will rearrange the city, block by block. If left unchecked, the city will be left uninhabitable – which wouldn't be crippling, necessarily, but there's a bigger issue. Caged under the city is a cape whose power lets her capture and duplicate other Parahumans, powers and all, except they're omnicidal. If she gets out during an Endbringer attack and starts going mad? That could end in a region-wide wipe of the northeastern US." My costume materialized around me as I activated the Shroud.

{Support confirmed.}

You can't come, Saena. As much as I want to have you available for this...if you start fighting the other weapons, that's something Zion might take notice of. And if he gets curious before we have the ability to leave Earth Bet, we're probably fucked.

{. . . Reluctance. Understanding. Reluctance. Irritation. Indirect support confirmed :: command/control.}

I smiled. Yeah. You can be my Dragon.

{Warning: Death forbidden. All directives suspended under emergency protocol.}

...Yeah. I got it.

A hand gripped my wrist and I found myself tugged to face Riley again. "You...why does this matter? Why do you care?"

"...It's complicated. Look, I know there are things I haven't explained yet – and I will. But...just trust me. If this battle is lost, that's a loss condition for us." She stared up at me, and I shrugged helplessly. "I don't want to fight. But if I don't, and they lose? We may lose too."

She stared into my eyes with intense focus, lips pursed. "...If you don't come back, then Bonesaw will bring you back, okay? And she'll – I'll make you regret dying the first time."

I smiled, chuckling slightly despite myself. "Riley, I –"

She interrupted me by grabbing me around the neck and pulling me into a kiss. It was clumsy, and desperate, and I sort of felt like she was trying to swallow my tongue...but even so. Her mouth was warm, and the expression on her face when she pulled away made it painful not to chase her.

"Don't...j-just come back!" Blushing brightly as a stoplight, she ran from the room. For a moment, I stood there, stunned...then I shook my head to clear it, coalescing my mask around my face.

After a moment's thought, I added a new element – a hovering golden crown around my brow. Even if it was ridiculous, it made me feel better, and that was important considering what I was getting into.

"I'm going."

{Affirmative. Initiating support.}

As I left, I saw glowing lines crisscrossing across Saena's body as she materialized the Cyber Shroud.