Rachel stepped outside the door to call Rika. The rest of the Summit waited in awkward silence. Jessica was looking around the room quizzically, trying to figure out why everyone had stopped talking. After the minutes dragged on and Rachel still hadn't returned, she chirped and tugged at Hailey's sleeve.

  "I don't know," Hailey replied with a shrug. Jessica held out her palm and walked her fingers across it. Hailey shook her head. Jessica leaned back against the wall and tried to get more comfortable.

  She pulled out a pair of tin-foil wrapped rectangles and held them up. Hailey frowned, then pointed at one of them and gave a thumbs up. Jessica nodded, and unwrapped them both. She screwed up her eyes and muttered something that Alden couldn't understand, even sitting only a few feet away. Suddenly, the scent of freshly-cooked pastry began wafting over the room. Jessica nibbled on one of them. With a satisfied expression, she bit down on it eagerly and handed the untouched one to Hailey, who similarly began to dig in.

  "Okay, is someone gonna explain what the fuck?" Ryan asked.

  "She figured out how to heat up food on the go," Hailey said, after clearing her mouth. "Really nice when we've been out flying all day."

  "Yeah, no, that wasn't the part that needed an explanation."

  "She can't talk," Alden explained, before Hailey had to speak around another mouthful of food.

  "No shit. Was that caused by magic?"

  "Yeah," Hailey replied.

  "Damn."

  Mason looked at her inquisitively. "A ritual gone wrong? Do you happen to know what kind of magic she was trying to enact?"

  "No," Hailey sighed. "We'd been doing self-modification magic, so maybe it was related to that? I wasn't in the room at the time. I only caught the aftermath."

  "And she can't tell you how it happened," Mason noted. Hailey shook her head. Alden wondered briefly if Hailey had more details she could get from Weston, who had been in the room, but he knew better than to reveal their existence to this group—particularly when the awakened were currently an endangered species.

  Mason went on in a lecturing tone. "Ritual magic is a complex active process, unlike the instant and reactive nature of spellcasting. The energy transfer between objects and people is much more bilateral by intention, and since the flow is so open it leaves one vulnerable to any sort of outside interference. In theory a single stray dust mote entering the ritual area could slightly change the outcome of one's intentions, though of course we've never measured any real change caused by such a minute actor. It usually needs to be something much more significant. Like, we once saw a ritual where someone wanted to be able to see clearly in the dark. We helped him research the necessary modifications to the rods and cones in his eyes. We tried out simple experiments on lab mice, all seemed good. We had to modify it a little for the ritual but it seemed to go all right. Problem was, some of the materials were flawed, and we rushed the actual casting."

  "Get to the point, Mason," said the young man seated next to him. Unlike Mason's shoulder-length unkempt brown hair, his friend had such a severe haircut he may as well have been bald. He was about the same height, and looked as though he were very familiar with this sort of tangent.

  "Right. Well, Joe McKinney's colorblind now." Mason shrugged. "The point is, a broken ritual's resultant damage is related to the original intent. So whatever… uhh… "

  "Jessica," Hailey supplied.

  "Yeah. Whatever Jessica was trying to do, it might have been related to language. Or communication."

  "How does that help her now though?"

  Mason hesitated. "It doesn't, I guess. It's probably reversible though, if that makes you feel any better. Joe never wanted to try, but I can't see a reason why it shouldn't be possible." Hailey didn't look very reassured. "The Law of Sentient Arcane Impermeability prevents us from helping her directly, though. She'll have to figure out the rest herself."

  "So basically all you said was jack shit," Ryan concluded.

  "Shut up, Ryan," said Josh.

  "It might be helpful," Hailey said slowly. "Thanks."

  Mason nodded imperiously. "That's what these meetings are for, sharing information."

  "I thought it was about taking over the world," Ryan said.

  "No, that's just Rachel."

  Ryan grinned. "Finally, someone else made a fuckin' joke. It's about time we lightened the mood in here."

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  "I'm not seeing a whole lot of reason for a light mood," Gordon said. "We were all just given a death sentence with no hope of appeal, and most of us are powerless to do anything about it. Largely by your choice."

  "Hey, don't lay that on me. I'm just following our glorious leader." Ryan glanced over at the door. "What the hell's taking her so long, anyway?"

  "She's trying to call Rika, remember?" said Josh. "I'm surprised we can't hear her yelling from here."

  "Yeah, but Rachel still likes her. Sent me to keep her safe when everyone was trying to arrest or kill her."

  "Was that why you were in her apartment?" Alden asked, pieces beginning to click into place from days earlier.

  "Uhh, yeah? How did you know that?"

  "That was when we met Hailey."

  Ryan laughed. "Mission accomplished then, everyone wins. Well, until we all die today."

  "How can we get magic?" Neffie cut in angrily.

  "You can't," Ryan answered idly, not even turning to look at her.

  "Cut the crap, son," Jackie growled. "We've got a right to defend ourselves, same as anyone. Magic's apparently the only weapon that matters in this war, so we deserve to be able to arm ourselves."

  "Look, I probably agree with you. But I'm not the one you've gotta persuade," Ryan replied.

  "Rachel has all of the known Scraps," Josh explained, after Jackie's confused look. "She's the only one who could awaken anyone, except maybe for Grey-eyes. And Grey-eyes is apparently taking Rachel's orders now?"

  "Popped up at Rachel's apartment, too," Ryan confirmed. "I got the feeling they don't like each other though."

  "Who or what is Grey-eyes?" Gordon asked.

  "You know that chick who appeared out of thin air and stopped Omega like it was nothing? That's Cinza's lord and savior."

  Cinza frowned. "She saved you as well. All of us owe her our lives."

  "Hey, I'm not complaining. That girl's the real deal." Ryan shook his head. "She's definitely not on board with killing Omega though, or we wouldn't be having this fun little group therapy."

  "Will she stop us?" Neffie asked.

  "Nah. She's one of those totally hands-off types."

  "She only appears when someone awakens. Or to help Rachel, apparently," Josh added. "Besides that, we've never seen her anywhere at all."

  "So she wouldn't save us, either," Gordon concluded.

  Ryan shrugged. "Hasn't lifted a finger yet, has she?"

  Alden felt like he had to defend her, though he wasn't quite sure why. "She's got her reasons."

  "Who are you again?" Ryan asked, twisting around to look at him.

  "Zack."

  "But like, who are you?"

  "The guy who showed up with Rika. It's why he knows about her speed magic," Josh answered.

  "No shit. But everyone else has got a reason. We're all in this fight for sure. Why are you here?"

  "I already fought him once," Alden replied quietly. "What about you?"

  Ryan opened his mouth, then closed it again. He did that a couple times before finally answering. "Well shit, you got me there. How are you still alive then?"

  Alden shrugged. "I got knocked out along with Hailey. I guess Rachel and Natalie must have saved us."

  "You said she's got her reasons," Gordon cut in. "What do you mean?"

  Alden felt his voice catch. Maybe he shouldn't be revealing this information? It was private and personal, even if it was someone he barely knew. If their positions were reversed, he certainly wouldn't her to be spilling to the crowd.

  If our positions were reversed, I'd be trying to save everyone, Alden thought bitterly. She's not helping us and we need everything we can get.

  "I think she's in love with Omega," he replied.

  "Oh god-fucking-damnit," Ryan sighed. "Because we needed a fucking soap opera on top of this shit."

  "Why do you say that?" Gordon asked.

  "I saw them together, just before he attacked us," Alden replied. His memory flashed back to that brief exchange. "The way they talked and the way she acted around him. They were really close."

  "And did she seem to loooove her genocidal serial killer boyfriend?" Ryan drawled.

  "Shut up, Ryan," Josh snapped.

  "That's not really definitive," Neffie added. "I'm not saying you're definitely wrong, but maybe it was something else?"

  "No," Alden said more firmly. "She cares about him. She insisted we call him Jackson instead of Omega and she tried to defend him."

  "So we're back to square fuckin' one," said Ryan.

  Josh nodded. He reluctantly got to his feet. "Since Rachel's preoccupied, I guess that puts me in charge as the only other elected person here."

  "Hang on, I was voted in too," Jackie interrupted.

  Josh looked at her hopefully. "You want to take over?"

  Jackie hesitated, then shook her head. "All yours."

  Josh sighed. "Right. In the event the crazy magnetics plan falls through, we're gonna need to take stock of our other options. We already know what Julian and Hector can do. Hailey, besides flight, what else can you put on the table?"

  "I can control air."

  "How fine-tuned? Like, could you clear out an area? Choke him, maybe?"

  Hailey frowned. "Maybe? It's not like you can just push it all away. The moment you push some, more flows right in after it. I could keep a small area clear for a while if I really focused down on it, but how are we gonna keep him in place?"

  "Bear trap?" Ryan suggested. Cinza shot him a dark look. "...What?"

  "I don't think we can rely on him falling into a bear trap, if it could even close fast enough to catch him," Lily pointed out.

  "What about you then? Trap him in a pocket dimension?"

  "Same answer," Lily sighed. "They can't be created around people, and it's virtually impossible to trick someone into it accidentally. I'd get more technical but Kenni would be right pissed."

  "Is this really the time to be hidin' information?" Julian said pointedly.

  Lily shook her head. "I'm not intending to perish here, and pocket dimensions are worth billions. Perhaps more."

  "Oh boy, time for patents on magic," Ryan quipped.

  "Come on," Josh added. "Isn't there anything you can give us? Lives are on the line here."

  Lily hesitated. "When I fought the golems, I found a way to interrupt his control. He has to maintain a connection to them and give them specific instructions. They don't have much autonomy. He wrested control back in a few moments, but we might work with that."

  "Assumin' he even uses them anymore," Julian pointed out. "Not like he needs them, and he knows there's a weakness now."

  "It's something though," Josh added. "Can you explain how—"

  Josh was interrupted by the door swinging open. Standing in the doorway, looking disheveled and very unhappy, was Rika Nishimura.