Posing as Necromancers, we taped the entire park as off limits. It was seven in the morning, and none of us had gotten much sleep, but by eight, we were completely pedestrian free.

Dwight began the long process of setting up hiding positions for everyone, and while I nodded off, leaning against the fountain, he and Holly were engaged in some deep conversation.

“You don’t really talk about what life was like before the Necromancers took over,” she says, trying to clear out a spot in a bush.

“Well, that’s because it’s still recent enough that it hurts.” He smiles her way, clearly trying to hide that hurt.

“I’m sorry. Never mind.”

“I was Chief of the Cadets and had a beautiful wife. She was a scientist on the Mars Terraforming team. The biggest brain in Carmsborough. Or at least, that’s what I always said.”

“What was she like?”

“She had a smile that washed away the worries when I got home. A heart that told me nobody could love as much as she could. A brain that far surpassed my own. She was perfect.”

“You don’t have to answer, but what—”

“It was the first week of the battle. They bombed our apartment complex while I was gone. Never even had a chance to say goodbye. I was still Chief at that point, albeit to a crumbling force. That was the day I disbanded the Cadets and went rogue.”

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He ends the conversation and clears his spot in silence, letting the two of us soak in his words. I decide to get up and start helping, if only to keep my mind distracted.

“Life was never perfect,” he continues, unprompted. “Societal woes, that sort of thing. But ours was. The last thing we ever wanted was to have a kid of our own. And I think we were finally there. We were almost there. We were there.”

He audibly sniffles, and presses on with his prep work. Luna had suggested an array of traps as distractions for Lurker, which apparently worked to distract him, too.

“Did you have name ideas in mind?”

“Oh, yeah. Too long a list.” He smiles. “And I can think of a few more to add to it. She would’ve loved you two.”

A tear rolls down his face. Whatever made him this emotional today sweeps through Holly and me, too.

After another hour of silence and working, we’ve nearly finished our preparations when five shrouded figures step into the park square. The one in front removes their cloak, and before us stands the Lurker. Holly steps back a bit, but Dwight steps forward.

“The Lurker,” he says, standing by my side.

“I see you’ve brought your own moral support,” the Lurker says to me. “I was worried this might be a trap, so I came early.”

“She doesn’t really speak.”

“What do you mean? She spoke in her dreams.”

“Does it work that way?”

“I guess my sample size isn’t large enough to say for—anyway, we have to discuss your future, Tesla Simms.”

“Her future isn’t with the Necromancers, Lurker,” Holly says, finally stepping forward.

“Her only safe future is with us,” he says, also taking a step in our direction. In response, the three of us prep our abilities. Well, two of us. Dwight raises his fists again.

The Lurker sighs. “I did not come to fight.”

The ground behind the Lurker and his crew cracks as a figure lands behind them. They turn to face Luna, who’s noticeably more radiant somehow.

“Then you certainly didn’t come prepared.”