It didn’t surprise me that the third floor was so green. This was the Gigas’ floor, and green was all they knew. My friends and I wandered the green halls until a Giga showed up to guide us. Apparently, this floor was dedicated to meetings. It represented the Gigas strategic minds coming together.

I pictured the Teras having this kind of floor instead. It made me wonder what their floor actually did contain.

The Giga led us into a dark room, which a green table lit. It was long and covered in holographic news headlines. My brain couldn’t handle the army of words, so I failed to make anything out.

Countless Gigas surrounded the table. All of them stared at us. The table had no chairs, so they were just standing straight up. Exo, Peta, and Surge stood side by side at the end of the table.

Beth bowed. “Greetings, Lord Exo and General Peta.”

That seemed a little too formal for people she saw every day.

“What’s up, Surge?” I gave a half-hearted wave.

Surge smirked. “Hey, kid. Get over here. Here’s your chance to find out how the First Division’s doing nowadays. It’s never been so difficult to live in the ‘greatest division in the galaxy.’”

Nowadays, every attempt to look up the First Division resulted in articles about how great it was to live there. It seemed like Frost was messing with information again. She’d made it so that no one could talk about what had happened in New Selene. Not even the Moon’s hundreds of other inhabitants.

We went to Surge’s side at the table. Beth stood on Exo and Peta’s side, which was expected. My brain tingled as Exo’s golden eyes flashed. One of the Gigas’ blue eyes flashed too. It seemed they were communicating through the Knowledge Stream, and my brain was picking up on it. Now I had to deal with this every day? Wasn’t I tortured enough already?

The Giga’s eyes continued to glow as the table’s contents shuffled around. Some of the holograms disappeared, and others just grew. The biggest one was a news article. More interesting than the headline was my face right below it. The headline read EPSILON EXPLORER TURNED EPSILON DEFECTOR: WHY WANDER LOCKE IS THE MOST WANTED MAN IN THE GALAXY.

“I’m wanted? Sounds like you’ve got competition, Ness.” I grinned at my own joke, but Nessa’s scowl shut it down. “Yeah, yeah, I know. This is nothing new, okay? Of course Frost would deem us traitors. Does this surprise anyone? We’ll just stay out of sight on our next mission. Mind revealing where that is, Surge?”

Surge furrowed his brow. “Even though we’ve discovered Frost’s next destination, laying low might not work too well.”

Joke’s on you. I used to be a complete nobody, I thought to myself. All of my fancy titles were recent developments. It wouldn’t be too hard to go back to the unrecognizable Wander Locke of yesteryear.

The table’s surface shifted again. It brought up a different article. This one didn’t have my face on it, but the headline was just as alarming as the last one.

PRESIDENT FROST TO VISIT NEW EARTH’S INFAMOUS RED CITY THIS WEEK.

The article went on to describe how Frost wanted to “address the Martian rebellion.” That may have meant one thing to the public, but it meant something completely different to us. All I saw was Frost announcing her plans to restock her Dwarfs. This time, New Earth’s citizens would be her ammunition.

“Seems that one Earth truly isn’t enough for Margaret,” said Exo. “She’s just as ambitious as her ancestor.”

The same ancestor who was responsible for creating the AI, which made him Exo’s dad? That made this war one huge family squabble, and it kind of trivialized all the lives lost in it. Wait, what the heck was this train of thought?

“Can a ruabrum even fit in a Dwarf?” Laura asked. “We’re all wondering about it, right?

“Yes. And so is Frost,” Surge said. “According to the article, she’ll be there tomorrow. If we want the upper hand, we should get down there today and meet up with our ruabrum pals. The Oppressed are the only reason why their rebellion got started in the first place.”

“From the looks of it, they won’t be thanking you for that.” Peta grinned as his eyes glowed.

Countless articles grew in size, forming a wall of words. I skimmed through each one and realized that they were all reporting the same thing: ruabrum imprisonment, death, or ruabrum that died while being imprisoned. Their rebellion wasn’t going as well as we’d hoped.

Surge’s face fell. “What? Do not tell the others. Not Dylan, not the ruabrum we brought with us, not—”

“Relax,” I said. “We’re not like Frost, remember? We don’t hide things. Even if people found out, no one would blame you.” I eyed the articles again. “If we’re needed on New Earth, we’re going. Frost hurt that planet enough. I’m not letting her go back for round two.”

“And we’re all coming with you!” Kaela cheered. “Right, guys?”

“Of course,” Exo said. “If the final battle should take place on this planet, my AI will remain by your side until it’s finished.”

I grimaced as those unpleasant words reached my ears. Luckily, my friends mirrored my rude expression. Having an AI entourage around would be pretty unnerving. It wasn’t that I didn’t trust them to watch my back…wait, that was the exact problem.

“No offense, but we can handle this ourselves,” I said. “We’ve all been to Red City before. We know what we’re doing.”

Beth raised an eyebrow. “Yes. I was there as well when we were enemies, and I singlehandedly stopped you several times. You’ll need all the help you can get if you want to succeed this time.”

I didn’t need this amount of disrespect from my own sister.

“If we use the Mainframe, we can bring your entire team as well as several AI,” Exo said. “We can use its advanced cloaking to remain undetected during our time in the city.”

I wasn’t sure how I felt about this. This was exactly why we’d come to the AI in the first place, but letting them help us in Red City? I couldn’t even be seen in Red City now. What were they supposed to do?

“It’ll be tricky, but okay,” I said. “I’ll do anything in my power to save the ruabrum. That includes embarking on a mission with you…people.”

Kaela groaned like she’d just opened the galaxy’s most disappointing present. That, combined with Beth’s triumphant smile, made me regret my decision.

Surge hid his displeasure by clearing his throat. “Then it’s settled. We’ll assemble a team and head to Red City in an hour. Can all of you find enough recruits by then?

“We don’t even know where they are!” Anderson said. “It’s just been us this whole time. Where’s the rest of you guys?”

Surge groaned. “About that…do you remember how we came here in exploration ships?”

----------------------------------------

They’d never left the freaking ships.

After we’d left Dylan to deal with them, they’d gone back to the exploration ships we had come from. Since exploration ships were designed to be inhabited for months, they’d never had to leave them. I wasn’t that angry because, if I hadn’t been the ambassador, I probably would have done the same.

My friends and I boarded those exploration ships to recruit for the mission. It wasn’t surprising that none of the Oppressed volunteered. Our attempts were only met with shaking heads and silence.

I didn’t take it personally. We were asking them to jump back into war after they’d just escaped it. Luckily, Nessa and I knew a certain group of mechanics who would follow us wherever we went.

We found them all on a single exploration ship. A group of them were gathered around a cruiser that had been stripped of its parts. They were still working, even here. I knew from experience that keeping oneself busy was a good way to combat stress.

“Hey! Good to see you guys!” said a boy with droopy eyes. He was known as David, and his face was covered in smudges. “Surge told us about what you did back at the base. Everyone’s talking about it, actually.”

“I’m not sure that’s the thing that has everyone talking, but whatever,” said a boy with spiked hair: Marcus. He was firing a metalbound ray at some distorted metal on the cruiser. “I’m happy to see you guys, but I’ve got to know: are you really staying in that giant ship with all those freaks?”

“The Mainframe? Yeah.” I shrugged like it was no big deal despite my buried apprehension toward it. “Are you guys really staying here? You’re welcome aboard the Mainframe. It’s hard to believe, but the AI don’t bite. Most of them don’t have actual mouths.”

A girl with brown hair and freckles shook her head: Leslie. “No thanks, chief…uh, chiefs. We’re good here. I think everyone in the other ships is too.”

“Be that as it may, we come with a mission request,” Nessa said.

We explained that Frost was headed to Red City, and so were we. Laying out the plan made it sound insane, but I already knew that it was. The unconvinced grimaces we got from our friends told me that that they’d already made up their minds. Just like everyone else…

“Are you two missing the part where Frost bombed and invaded the base at the same time?” Marcus asked. “You think I’m eager to go up against power like that again? Your AI buddies should be more than enough firepower for your suicide mission. Leave us out of it.”

“I don’t trust them to watch our backs. I trust all of you.” Nessa held her arms out to the eight or so teenagers in the room. Most were still working on the cruiser as if this conversation wasn’t happening. Nessa frowned as she read the room. “Do you not trust me?”

“Are you just going to Red City because your dad will be there?” asked a guy with an eyebrow piercing: Anthony. “Surge told us that you left him on Earth, with Frost. After she busts him out, she’ll send him after you. I don’t want to be there when you see him again. Just having that guy on the base brought out your scary side.”

Nessa looked at the floor. I couldn’t argue with that. Even though he’d been imprisoned the whole time, Connolly had projected an evil aura that had inflamed Nessa. It had been too easy for him to get inside her head, and, apparently, the forge had noticed.

“I apologize for that, but—”

“We’re staying here. End of story,” Marcus said as he picked up a discarded cruiser part. “Sorry.”

Nessa sighed. “So am I. Let’s go, Wander.”

Nessa marched back down the ship’s ramp. I briefly wondered if I should tell off the forge members, but Nessa wouldn’t want me to. Not if they were making valid arguments. I simply ran after her instead.

“Hey, are you okay?” I asked as I caught up. Our metallic footsteps provided background noise as we headed to the back of the hangar. We had to walk past giant colorful AI ships to do so. It was like passing by giant jawbreakers. “Don’t let them get to you. They don’t know what we’ve been dealing with.”

“Don’t they?” Nessa’s gaze remained directed at the floor. “The forge was the closest thing I had to a proper family—before you came along. Now they consider me unstable, and they’re losing their resolve. Not that I blame them for any of that. Who am I to argue with those who were always there for me? They even helped modify my legs without a second thought.”

That was true. The forge had essentially been the Nessa Fan Club a couple of months previously. Now they were her biggest critics. They had made a sharper turnaround than Laura did when she smelled food.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

“Everything will be fine once we beat Frost,” I said, not caring whether or not I believed it. “Besides, a smaller team is better for delicate operations.”

Nessa smiled at me. “Hold on to that hope. Sometimes, it’s all we’ve got.”

“Hey! Wait up, man!” said a familiar voice from behind us. Opifex was jogging toward us, wearing a brown space suit and a new tool belt, and holding a bag. It felt like it had been ages since we’d talked, but it had only been about a day. Crazy. “Sorry I missed you guys. I was fixing something up on another floor. When I came down to check on the cruiser, they told me that you guys had just been there.”

“Yeah, we were trying to recruit for a mission, but no one wanted in on it,” I said. “You wouldn’t be down, would you? We’re going to Red City to beat up Frost and take her lunch money.”

“What?” Nessa said. “That’s not at all what we’re—”

“You in, Op’?”

Opifex rubbed the back of his head. “You know I’m not the mission type, man. But I’d be pretty down to come along as a mechanic. There are still some upgrades you haven’t incorporated into one of your friend’s suits, right?”

“Yeah. He’s not ready yet. Although it would be cool if you were there when he was. Actually, could you work on the upgrades while we’re off doing missions? It’d help us get them ready by the time he was.”

“You had me at ‘work,’ little man.”

Opifex’s eagerness to work was due to the fact that we’d probably run into Connolly on the mission. The idea of seeing that guy defeated was one of the few things keeping Opifex going nowadays. If he helped out, even as a mechanic, it would mean he was contributing to Connolly’s downfall.

The three of us headed back to the Mainframe. Waiting beneath its blue bulb were Laura, Kaela, and Anderson.

“How many recruits did you guys get?” Kaela asked. “Hopefully, it’s more than the whooping zero that I got. I mean, I got Dylan, but he would have come for Surge too.”

I rubbed the back of my head. “Uh, we’re kind of in the same boat as you. It turns out that facing Frost again is a counter-incentive for most people.”

“We volunteered for this job, so I guess that makes us a bunch of idiots,” Anderson said as he shrugged. “Doesn’t matter either way. Those guys will be sorry when we save the galaxy without them—Ben?!”

I whipped around and watched Ben Oak limping toward us. The chocolate-haired man wore a starry space suit that I recognized as the standard uniform for members of the Constellations. Seeing as that team had turned out to be under the leadership of a murderous psychopath, I questioned Ben’s choice of fashion.

“Am I late?” Ben asked as he joined us. He snickered at everyone’s faces. “Andy probably didn’t know I was in the ship, but I heard him yelling at some unwilling kids. That’s not a great way to make friends, bro.”

“I wasn’t extending the invitation to you!” Anderson said. “We’re going after the woman who turned you into a puppet. I’m not letting you anywhere near her. She’s never taking you again.”

“Whoa, whoa! Who said anything about being taken? I can handle myself.” Ben slung an arm over Anderson’s shoulder. They looked so much alike. It was almost like Anderson was talking to an older, wiser version of himself. “I’ll even hang back until you need me. I could be your combat adviser. We’ll hook up a little camera on you so I can watch your fights. I can’t wait to tell you everything that you’re doing wrong.”

Anderson chuckled. “Yeah, right. If you want to come along, then be my guest. Just make sure to feel guilty when I have to pry a White Dwarf off you.”

If Ben had asked nicely enough, he could have convinced Anderson to rob a bank. I had to side with Anderson here, though, because Frost probably knew that Ben was with us. It was likely that she considered him to be her property, and that meant she’d want him back. As long as he actually hung back, we wouldn’t have a problem.

“At least someone is coming along,” Nessa said. “Perhaps standing here is the best strategy for recruitment—oh, I swear I was joking.”

Two more people were making their way over. My jaw dropped as I recognized them: Rebecca and Manning. Neither of them looked all that excited about walking toward us. If they were there to sign up for the mission, then I wasn’t surprised that they didn’t look happy about it.

“Yet another person who shouldn’t be here.” Anderson sighed as he glared at Rebecca. “You know you can’t fight, right?”

“Remind me again, and you’ll see how much fight I have left in me.” Rebecca returned his glare. “I’m only here because this one insisted on coming.”

Rebecca patted Manning’s arm, causing his arms to widen in horror. Was that because of her strength or the realization that she had just outed him? Now I knew that, even though Manning was mad at me, he still wanted to watch over me. I already believed that, but the confirmation was nice.

“How did you guys even know we were going somewhere?” I asked.

“You never asked me how my recruitment attempts went.” Laura smirked. “Thanks to these two, I now have the most recruits! Good luck beating that.”

Manning cleared his throat. “If you must know, I came because accompanying you children on this abomination of a ship is better than remaining on this abomination of a planet. Who knows how long your mission may take? I refuse to stay here and wait when I could come along and acquire the answers myself.”

Fair enough. I’d feel the exact same way. Although I did wonder how Manning planned to contribute. He wasn’t a soldier anymore, but the role of “genius” was taken by every single AI on the ship. He was basically just coming along for the ride this time.

“Hold on, why were you guys just standing out here?” I asked the three who had been out when I’d showed up.

“Because we can’t figure out how to get inside this dumb ship.” Laura pointed up at the Mainframe. “There’s no button to hit or anything.”

“Hold on. I know exactly how to get inside.” I assembled my helmet and willed it to call my sister’s suit. I heard a click when she picked up. “Beth, open the stupid ship. We’re waiting outside.”

“How do you know I’m inside?” Beth replied in a snarky tone.

“‘How do you know I’m inside?’” I mockingly repeated. “I know you follow Exo around like a lapdog. You’re in the dang ship! Don’t make me ask again.”

“What a rude way to ask for assistance. Normally, I’d leave you out there. However, for the sake of your allies, I’ll activate the Beam Bulb.”

She ended the call, leaving me with a scowl. The blue bulb lit up and fired at us. I felt heat swim through me again.

The environment shifted. I’d expected to be dropped back in the entrance lounge, but, instead, I was somewhere new. It looked like I was in a cockpit, but it wasn’t like any I’d seen before.

Instead of rows of chairs, the place had booths. They were scattered all over the room. Those booths surrounded tables, and monitors sat on those tables. The AI had taken their own approach to designing a cockpit, and I didn’t hate it.

The only normal parts of the room were the windshield and the dashboard underneath it. General Peta was staring out of that windshield even though all he could see was Epsilon.

“Test successful, Lord Exo,” Beth said. Both she and Exo stood behind a circular desk to our right. It was just like the one down in the entrance lounge. “This transpad functions as well as the one in the lounge.”

I looked down and realized that we were all standing on a blue transpad like the one back in the lounge. They had more than one of these things?

“Correct, Beta.” Exo stomped toward us, causing Rebecca and Manning to flinch. “Hello, Theta. Rho. I apologize for how the Pluto Incident transpired. Let this represent a new beginning for us.”

“Shut up!” Rebecca spat. “We want nothing to do with you. If you’d really cared, you’d have used your stupid technology to revive our friends. You built your own planet, so how hard could reversing death be?”

“Watch it, unless you want a rematch.” Peta folded his arms as he approached us. “If it comes to that, I can’t guarantee I’ll go easy on you again.”

Rebecca and Peta had engaged in a huge battle the last time she’d been there. It had ended with Peta supposedly dying and Rebecca almost dying. I didn’t know about these two, but I definitely didn’t want to see a rematch.

“Deep breaths, Rebecca.” Manning held out an arm to prevent her from decking Peta. Despite his attempt at peace, he gave Exo a lethal glare. “We are here for the children. Not you. Do not attempt to make peace. Your crimes are unforgivable.”

What a statement. It was one that I might have agreed with on some level, but this wasn’t the time to act on that opinion.

“Well…this is suspenseful,” Ben said, reminding me that he was there. And Opifex’s bowling-ball eyes spoke a thousand words. “I imagined AI to be a lot ruder than Dwarf—I mean, this. Sorry, what did I say?”

Kaela raised an eyebrow. “That’s your reaction to meeting an AI for the first time? Weren’t you trained to kill these guys?”

Ben shrugged. “Sure, but the woman who trained me to do that had other plans. Teaming up with these guys seems pretty ridiculous, but what do I know? I was trapped in a Dwarf when all the crazy stuff went down. Pretty funny, huh?”

Not really. Ben sounded like he needed to talk, but I had no idea how to approach him. He was Anderson’s brother, so, hopefully, he’d take care of it. No one had made me the team therapist.

“If everyone you wish to bring along is on board, we shall leave,” Exo said. “Alpha?”

The forge members had sounded pretty determined to stay behind. Kaela had implied that the rest of the Oppressed were of the same mind. That meant that it really would just be my team and my other friends.

“Yeah,” I said. “This is everyone.”

“Are you certain?” Exo asked. “This team isn’t large. If we are to defeat Margaret, should you not bring an army?”

“There you go, doubting humans again.” I crossed my arms. “My team’s size has never been a problem before. In fact, this is the biggest that it’s ever been. Don’t underestimate us, just get this ship moving.”

By the end of this adventure, I’d get Exo to respect humans. I had to. If we actually managed to unite humans and AI, Exo would ruin that peace within days by saying something rude about humans.

“Hold on, bloodbags.” Peta’s eyes glowed, and the dashboard mimicked them. Clearly, his opinion about us would be much harder to change. “You’ll need to brace yourselves for the stabilization waves.”

The what? Did every AI here just like speaking nonsense? I continued to be confused up until waves of white energy passed over all of us. They didn’t hurt, but my skin tingled. I suddenly felt a lot heavier. I tried to walk, but I couldn’t move an inch.

I assumed that the stabilization waves were the AI’s way of keeping everyone still on a moving ship. That would be a pretty big problem otherwise.

Calmness flooded me as the windshield’s view changed. We were warping for sure. Was AI warping the same as human warping? The sensation of being tugged across the galaxy was exactly the same.

My senses returned to me as the warp came to an end. My friends stumbled around, clutching their heads. My bionic arm tingled, but, aside from that, I was fine. I’d gotten used to traveling by warp. I’d had to do it more than most people my age.

The windshield’s view had shifted. Instead of Epsilon, a red planet now sat before us, surrounded by darkness. It was New Earth.

“We’re here?” Kaela asked as she got up from the floor. “Already?”

“Come take a look for yourself.” Beth motioned to one of the booths surrounding a monitor. “You can use the observation booths to peer through the ship’s cameras.”

My friends and I shuffled into one booth. Since they were clearly meant for AI, there was plenty of room. A complex set of buttons and words filled the monitor. I was sure they were mostly designed for the AI to use through mental manipulation. But the monitor seemed like a touchscreen too.

I grabbed hold of the monitor. Electricity crackled off my fingers as I willed it to switch to an image of New Earth. Text to the left of the planet identified it as “Mars.” That was New Earth’s proper name. Renaming it “New” Earth had been Frost’s way of claiming an Earth for herself. It was time to take it back.

Manning averted his gaze. New Earth was where his brother, Upton, was. Not by choice either. Upton was essentially a prisoner in a facility known as the Red City Hospital for AI Victims. I couldn’t wait until Exo heard that name.

“It’s beautiful…from a distance,” Laura said with an air of disappointment. “Then you fly closer and spot all the revolts and racism. I wonder what Red City even looks like nowadays.”

“Don’t worry, Lass, I’m sure it’s still red,” Peta said. “Might be red with blood now, but—”

“Peta,” Exo stated like he was reprimanding a pet. “Please fly us down to Red City. Cloak before you enter the atmosphere. We cannot afford to have an AI ship being spotted in First Division territory. Especially not this one.”

What would happen if Frost realized that this was the ship, the one that had wrecked Planet Earth? She’d go crazier than she already was.

“What’s the plan here?” Anderson asked as he leaned toward the monitor. “We’re going to make contact with your alien friends, right?”

“Correct.” Surge stood over us. It seemed he didn’t want to sit down. “The plan is to send a small Wander-led team to find ruabrum who are willing to help us defend Red City. The javelins that we gave them would give us a tremendous advantage against the Dwarfs. Oh, and we’ll have to be careful: Wander is the most wanted man in the First Division.”

“Hear that, Ness?” I stood up. “We finally get to test the stealth tech.”

A couple of months previously, Nessa and I had fixed up a First Division device that could cloak a human. The thing had broken after one instance of use, but, luckily, we had reverse-engineered it. That had allowed us to mass produce it, so we had incorporated the tech into as many of our suits as we’d been able to.

Nessa gripped her chin, adopting a thoughtful expression. “Maybe, but it won’t keep us cloaked forever. We’ll be invisible for a minute or two at most. Keeping our heads down would be much more effective.”

“Which means no AI.” I glanced at Exo to hammer in the message. “For this mission, I want Kaela, Laura, Nessa, and Surge.”

My candidates seemed surprised by my selection. Actually, everyone did. I sure appreciated the confidence in my decision-making.

“Why those specific people?” Dylan asked. “And why not me? I got these powers for a reason!”

“Your time will come, dude. I chose Kaela and Surge because of the Oppressed’s partnership with the ruabrum. Nessa for her experience with the stealth tech, and Laura because she helped me deal with the ruabrum before.”

I was also avoiding bringing people who would ruin the diplomatic nature of the mission. That eliminated Dylan, Beth, and Anderson. Ben’s combat skills were unnecessary, and I didn’t know him well. Manning could be useful, but while he was mad at everyone on the ship? Maybe later. Opifex would never come on a mission, and we both knew it.

Rebecca needed a checkup. She couldn’t walk around with a damaged arm and Implants that were killing her from the inside.

Exo nodded. “I’ll command the Kilo to prepare a ‘cruiser’ for you as soon as we land. I will send you there with this transpad, once you’re ready.”

I was as ready as I’d ever be.

I watched New Earth grow on the monitor as we zoomed toward it. The planet’s red deserts brought back uncomfortable memories of the cruiser fight between me, Laura, and the ruabrum. It was a relief when Red City’s tall buildings popped up

The first time I’d seen buildings of that size, they’d shocked the heck out of me. All I’d known at the time was New Selene’s tiny houses. Now I was used to the buildings, but something about them still captivated me. Maybe I could settle down in a city when this war was over…

My team assembled on the transpad. Exo sat behind his circular desk, waiting for the signal. The rest of my friends stood nearby to see us off. Manning looked like he would have preferred to be anywhere else, but at least he was there.

“Keep in contact, Alpha,” Exo said. “Send updates on your situation. The sooner you gain the trust of these ‘ruabrum,’ the sooner we can prepare.”

It sounded like he wanted me to be like one of his AI drones, relaying information and data as I went about my mission. But it probably wasn’t an awful idea.

“Take your time,” Beth said as she leaned against a wall.

“No. Hurry back!” Dylan protested. “The sooner you return, the sooner you can take me on the next mission.”

It was like I had a needy child who hated being left alone.

“Will do,” I said without confidence. “Exo, we’re ready.”

Exo nodded. “May luck be with you, Alpha.”

He peered down at the desk. I couldn’t see what he was doing, so I could only assume that he was hitting the teleportation button. I grew warm again as blue light consumed me.

When the flash faded, everything had changed. A parking lot had replaced the cockpit. Beautiful cruisers and asphalt surrounded me. There were a few lite ships too. I gazed beyond the parking lot and saw skyscrapers and red buildings.

“Whoa! We’re actually back, aren’t we?” Laura asked as she rubbed her eyes.

“Yeah,” I said. “We’re finally back in Red City.”