Avoiding Central Square and the absolute mess of police cars and supers it had become, Levi made record speed across town to the docks. As usual, some vagrants wandered around, some of them sharp-eyed and dangerous, others empty, burned-out husks, stumbling through the streets without purpose. Hands in the pockets of his shiny green track suit, Levi hummed to himself, ignoring both of them.

“Hey! You!”

Levi turned, raising a brow.

A bearded vagrant pointed a phone at him lengthwise, coming at him from a dark alley. “Watch your back, asshole! I don’t wanna see your shit!”

“Most people don’t,” Levi agreed. He tensed, subtly, hand curling around the knife in his pocket.

“Had my life threatened…damn phones…who put goddam cameras on these things, anyways. Complete bullshit, total bullshit,” the man rambled, shaking his head.

Levi tilted his head. “Do you have a picture of me?”

“And that ice girl! The ice girl you killed,” the man said, nodding, then shook his head. “Bullshit, I says, bullshit.”

“Oh, her.” Levi paused. “I took care of that. You can delete that now.”

“Already did! Hmph. Whaddaya think I am?” The man hopped closer. He waggled his finger at Levi. “You watch out. There’s some bad men around here!”

“Like me?” Levi asked.

The man shook his head. “Worse. Way worse. They takes us, they takes us off the street, and—” He froze. Under matted hair, his eyes squinted.

“What?” Levi asked.

“Levi,” he said, his eyes suddenly clearing.

Levi frowned. “Yes?”

“It’s you. It’s you. I thought…I thought…but, but, but, the, the—I never would have, if I knew, if it was you—”

Levi grabbed the man by the shoulders. He leaned in, staring at his face, then reached up and swiped his greasy, overgrown bangs back. His eyes widened. He jerked back involuntarily. “No way. Porter? You’re alive?”

The man’s face split in joy. “Levi! Levi! I knew it! I knew it. You wouldn’t give up. You…back then, we were…we almost, Alpha, we almost—”

“Deep breaths. It’s still dangerous, Porter. Alpha’s as much a threat as ever,” Levi said, leaning in.

He glanced around, then led Porter into an alleyway. There, he released the man and stepped back, taking a deep breath of fresh air himself. Casually, he waved a hand in front of his nose, looking Porter up and down. “What happened to you? How have you been, this whole time?”

“I could ask the same of you. You don’t look a day older, Levi. How? What happened? When you went to challenge Alpha, and then the lockdown, and then…I thought you were dead. I thought we were all dead, the dream was dead, but…” Porter stared up at him, madness and hope glimmering in his eyes.

Levi shook his head. “I lost. I lost, and I barely escaped. Only survived by going dark, completely, utterly dark. Had to shed all my skill points to evade the checkpoints, which trust me, was not fun. But I’m trying again. We’re trying again. I have something, this time. An ace. One I thought I’d lost, last time around. If you want back in, then—”

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Porter laughed. He backed away. “No. No, no, no. I’ve had enough. I know your game. You—you, you never think about the rest of us. It’s not…” He shook his head.

“Yeah. I get it.” Levi stepped away, giving Porter space. “I wouldn’t trust me either.”

“It’s not that I don’t trust you, Levi. It’s that…” Porter went silent. He stared.

Levi frowned. “What?”

“Hey there, friends. You guys short on cash? I’ve got a job for folks like you,” a slimy-sounding man offered.

Light flashed, and Porter vanished.

Behind Levi, the man cursed under his breath. “Fucking…supers.”

“What kind of job?” Levi asked, turning to face the speaker.

A man with a clean-shaven head and a single gold hoop in his right ear stared back at him, wearing sleek shades and a dark hoodie over a stained wifebeater. He looked Levi up and down and nodded. “The kinda job that pays well. All you gotta do is sit around in a warehouse. What do you say?”

Levi pursed his lips. “Does it pay in food? I’m hungry.”

“Food? Sure, sure. I’m sure there’s snacks,” the man said, nodding. He gestured Levi as if beckoning an easily frightened animal, an earnest smile on his face. “Come on. Easy work, easy money. You need money, right?”

“As birds die for food, so does man die for money,” Levi said in a wise tone.

The man squinted at Levi.

“It’s an ancient saying that means ‘I’m down, let’s do it.’ Show me the way,” Levi said, crossing his arms and nodding.

The sleazy man grinned. “Come on. It’s not far. We’ve already gathered a few friends.”

“Ooh, friends? I could use a few friends,” Levi said, following after him. He put his hands behind his head and began to hum once more, walking to the beat of the tune he hummed.

“Lots and lots of friends,” the man said, nodding. He glanced back, then again, his brows furrowing.

“What?” Levi asked.

“That tune you’re humming. I feel like I’ve heard it before, but I can’t place it.”

“Huh.” Levi went back to humming, totally unbothered.

The man led him through the docks, up to a chain link fence topped in barbed wire. Stacks of shipping containers piled up on the other side of the fence, set up in neat rows, some stacked three high, some only one or two tall. Eighteen-wheelers awaited their loads at the near side, while the far side opened up to the port. As the man fiddled with a padlock, Levi snuck a quick glance at his phone’s map. Nodding to himself, he slipped the phone back into the tracksuit’s deep pockets just as the man turned around. All at once, the man’s eyes widened.

Levi checked behind him, but found an empty street. He turned back to face the man. “Something on my face?”

“That tune. I remember! It’s a jingle from ages ago. My dad used to hum it all the time! Said they played it nonstop, right around the time all the Gates opened up fifty-some years ago. A recruitment ad for the old country’s military, research division, back when they were trying to figure out Awakened.” Chuckling to himself, the man shook his head and pushed the gate open. “That is an old song. Where’d you pick it up?”

“At the recruitment center,” Levi deadpanned.

The sleazy man looked him up and down. “What, you got recruited, fifty years ago? You? That’s a good story, kid.”

Levi shrugged. “What can I say? It’s a bop.”

“Alright, alright. Next you’re gonna tell me you fought Alpha one-on-one,” the man muttered under his breath, gesturing Levi on once more.

“How’d you know? Well, since you know, I’ll let you in on a little secret. I used to fight him weekly, back in the day. Before he got crazy crazy strong,” Levi informed him cheerfully.

“Yeah, uh huh. And I’m the Lord Almighty,” the man replied.

“Should I call you Mr. Christ, or is Jesus okay?” Levi asked.

Chuckling, the man pointed him toward a warehouse. “Go on. From here, it’s a straight shot. I’ve gotta find more friends for you. Don’t wander around. There’s some bad men in here who might take it out on you if they find you on your lonesome.”

“You got it, Mr. Christ sir!” Levi replied, snapping a sharp salute. With a last wave, he jogged off toward the warehouse.

The man watched him go, shaking his head. “Wonder where he picked up that tune? Haven’t heard it since my old man passed.”

He watched Levi go, then shrugged and turned away, pausing at the door to secure the padlock once more. “No time for that. Gotta find more loonies, or the boss’ll have my ass. Farewell, you crazy kid. Good luck.”