> Nearly 100% of Clothes-Lover contestants are already wearing some form of armor, a statistical anomaly. Greenfern’s people were physically unsuited to armor, but it is typical for a third of contestants to adopt some form of armor by the time they exit the Crash Course. Their focus on wearables has served the Clothes-Lovers well. They have suffered drastically fewer permanent injuries than average. Approximately 1 in 24 contestants are permanently maimed or in need of regeneration.

>

> It is a shame the first Titan is able to overpower armor so easily.

> --Radio transmission from Voices for Non-Citizens

Cassie asked to be picked up and spent some time poking and prodding at my half-hand. After she’d seen that it wasn’t bleeding and I’d assured her it didn’t hurt, that was the end of the issue from her perspective.

“I wanna go back in my car!” she said, wriggling out of my arms.

The boys were upset enough to make up for Cassie’s calm. They both seemed to take my injury personally, but in very different ways.

Micah seemed furious. A group from Fort Autumn arrived to offer healing and escort us home moments after the flame fell, so he didn’t really need to do anything on the way back… but he still did, spending his energy recklessly to crisp monster after monster until he was plodding along with leaden, exhausted footsteps. Every time I tried to speak to him, he moved away, using other people in the group as shields.

Gavin, on the other hand, stayed in arm's reach at all times, tears clouding his eyes.

“I’m so sorry I healed you, Mommy. I was really worried!”

“It’s not your fault! I’m really glad you healed me. I was really hurting.”

“But your fingers weren’t on!”

“Doesn’t matter, because they were gone, buddy. Just a few more black crispy things in a sea of crushed pavement and melted rubber.”

“But… but what if we had found them?”

“Then we would have cut my hand and tried to stick them back on.”

“Yeah, but that might not have worked! It didn’t work for Parker’s dad.”

“But it did work for three other people we know. Calm down, Gavin. You did great. We couldn’t have brought down that D-Rex without you.”

“D-Rex…” Gavin muttered. “I’m gonna call it a Z-Rex. It is a lot more in the alphabet than just D.”

I snorted at that.

Gavin looked up at me, offended. “What?! Don’t laugh. I hate that guy.”

“Sorry, buddy.”

Crossing the threshold into the safety of the fort came as a huge relief, even if Colonel Zwerinski was waiting at the gate. He was one of the only people I could see. The normally-crowded courtyard of Fort Autumn was near-empty, and I could hear a rumble from the Quarry below. Apparently, my Announcement of the mutated Titan had really scared people.

“It’s good that you defeated it as quickly as you did. The panic barely had time to set in before we could tell people that the threat had been dealt with. People are still scared, but not going crazy. I’ve been tapped to facilitate a conference call between you and the Arsenal, but before we do that, we’re supposed to look at the options on your new prize.”

The older man nodded at the jewel Gavin was carrying, making my son wrap his tail around his arms protectively. “I didn’t absorb it yet!” Gavin said.

“I can see that.” The colonel’s response was dry.

We followed him to my Shop and held the gem against the plinth. The “Display requests” section flickered to a darker shade, and then an option appeared below it.

Requested - Enhanced Initiate Titan’s Heart

The Shop offered a variety of different items in exchange. Most were variants on the things offered for the other Titan’s Heart: “Enhanced Basic Sword” instead of “Basic Sword,” for example.

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There were three notable exceptions: a Water Vending Machine, a Rations Vending Machine, and something called a Display Node.

Colonel Zwerinski read this all off to the people at the Arsenal, speaking aloud as he used his Mental Speech and using a sound projection talent to pass their responses back to us. “You want me to see if Ms. Moretti’s group will purchase the Display Node, so we can get more information on it?”

Colonel Yoshiro responded, his voice coming from a point in the air, courtesy of Zwerinski’s ability. “Negative, colonel. We will want to investigate that, but we also need to know how absorbing the enhanced gems affects specialties and rulers.”

“You want me to give it to Cassie, for her Specialty?” I asked.

Colonel Yoshiro’s disembodied sigh filled the room. “I do, but I’d advise against that due to the optics of the situation. If the Arsenal can replicate this mutation, we may provide Cassie with such a gem in the future, but your team accidentally became our frontline in this war. They might not have chosen it, but they got us a heap of information about this new… Z-Rex… at great risk to themselves. I propose you have your son make space for them under his rule, and then absorb the gem. We all get more information, and our heroes all get meaningfully rewarded.”

Gavin brightened at that, then drooped. “I don’t want to kick people out… They’ll be sad.”

Another disembodied sigh. “How many people?”

I flickered Analyze and scoured my Eidetic Memory for the answer. “11.”

“That’s acceptable. Young Mr. Moretti, you can tell those people to report to Colonel Zwerinski. We’ll get them a new ruler within a few days.”

“I can help with that while you finish filling them in, Meghan,” George offered. “You had something to do with the Titan’s mutation, didn’t you?”

I flinched. “How did you know?”

George smiled softly. “I guessed. You might be closer with Priya, but I’ve still known you for years. I can tell when you’re feeling guilty. You took the lead in taking that thing down and had some of the worst injuries in our group. I could understand if you felt proud of your success or upset about your hand, but that's not what I'm reading from you breaking eye contact the moment you make it.”

“I didn’t mean to,” I whispered.

“I didn’t think you did.” George rubbed his forehead. “I’m not trying to blame you… I just… Sorry. Look, Priya can fill me in later. I’ll just stop talking and get the kids out of your hair.”

George started herding the kids out of the Shop, leaving me and Priya to give an account to the military brass. My now-perfect memory made it simple.

“So then, I told Micah ‘Don’t let your guard down because you think it’s too easy.’ That’s when I got the message from the system.”

“And what did that say?”

I closed my eyes and quoted it. “‘Eligibility verified. Complaint registered. Intensifying.’ I think… I think it’s because I said the words ‘It’s too easy?’”

“That can’t be it,” Colonel Zwerinski growled. “We get dozens of people crowing the same thing after every one Benjamin shoots down. Although… I suppose it’s already dead then…”

I held up my wrist, displaying my faded bracelet. “That could be part of it. I… don’t know if it would work for everyone, anyway. It said ‘eligibility verified,’ and when the D-Rex got bigger, my prize from the last challenge got dimmer.”

“Hmm… We have verified a link between the bracelets and the Pylons, and between the Pylons and the Titans. That’s a hypothesis worth testing, Ms. Moretti. Thank you.” Colonel Yoshiro’s voice echoed into the empty air of the Shop.

“Oh, don’t mention it,” I said, unable to keep the bitterness from my voice. “My pleasure.”

“You do keep finding yourself in the thick of it, don’t you? You have my sympathies, but my thanks were sincere. You are not the cause of any of the catastrophes you’ve suffered, and you have handled the catastrophes quite gracefully. We are all grateful that you continue to rise to the occasion, Ms. Moretti. I’m very glad we got you your Specialty. It sounds like your survival was a near thing, and your death would have been felt deeply.”

What did you even say to that? I muttered an embarrassed thank-you.

After a few brief goodbyes, Colonel Zwerinski cut the connection with his Arsenal counterpart and excused himself, leaving me alone in the Shop with Priya.

“I hope most people share his opinion.”

Priya looked confused. “About what? You deserving your Specialty?”

“About the Titan! I brought it down on us.”

“Hah! So? If you did, anyone could have done it.”

“People aren’t always logical.”

“True…” Priya said, then gestured to my hand. “But we all walked away from it. Doreen is missing an ear and Clint is blind in one eye now, and a few others have smaller permanent injuries but… I think yours are the worst. If not, they’re close to it. I think that’s going to make it hard for anyone to resent you.”

“Maybe…”

Your ruler has claimed an Enhanced Initiate Titan’s Heart. You have gained a Subject Benefit:

Invulnerability (1 second per duodenary. 1 second accrued.)

Priya and I stared at each other in dead silence for a few seconds, eyes wide. Then her scaled face cracked in a massive grin. “HA! Now that is what I call a prize.”