Everyone tensed, a reasonable response, given that I’d told them that the end of the world was on its way and that my social skills might be the only thing standing in the way of planetary destruction.

Jaclyn responded to me first, thinking back, “Coming to meet you or coming to kill you?”

I shrugged, “That remains to be seen, but Kee thought he’d be interested in meeting because to the degree that I’m an Artificer, I’m descended from Nataw, his brother. He was also a friend of Lee, but he probably feels a bit betrayed by him. So, mentioning that is to be avoided.”

Haley looked up at me and thought, “And he could randomly show up at any time? Anything we do could be interrupted and then—BOOM—end of the world?”

“Uh… That’s possible, but it’s most likely he shows up in an hour or two. I’m guessing that Kee wanted to make sure we knew that if he didn’t show up instantly, he still would. Immortal beings might not have the same urgency to show up this year or decade as those of us with normal lifespans. Oh, and she might show up too.”

Everyone paused to digest that as sirens and car alarms continued in the background. A message run down my HUD: Reactivating Systems. It was followed by a list of systems, whether they had errors or not, and notifications of where repairs were underway.

“If we’re lucky,” Haley said, “maybe this guy will show up in the middle of our fight with Magnus and destroy him so he can talk to you in peace.”

Only 20 feet from us on the lawn now, Cassie thought at us, “Unless he notices Lee’s device and takes it. Then we’re screwed.”

“Which is still possible if he shows up soon,” I thought to everyone. “On the bright side, it seems to be configured to be accessible only to descendants of Nataw, so he shouldn’t be able to. On the other hand, he’s Nataw’s brother. His name is Govan, by the way. Hopefully that’s not close enough, but I don’t know how the system works.”

Jaclyn took a breath, “It’s good to know the name of our destructor. Let’s get back to the top of the tower. We need everyone for this.”

* * *

We flew back up there, waiting for Alex who brought everyone back to consciousness as the police, news crews, crowds of onlookers, and even a representative of their corporate investors, Futuremen Capital, converged on the scene.

The man was middle-aged, bald, and wore a black suit jacket with matching slacks. I couldn’t help but note that the clothes were made of materials commonly used in superhero costumes. Either Futuremen thought he’d need extra protection, or maybe he had powers as well.

Either way, he cracked jokes, took pictures with his tablet, and wrote notes on the tablet with a special pen. Sometimes he’d mutter, “Not too bad,” and move on to the next section of the office.

Sean, meanwhile, woke asking, “What happened to Jody? They got him, right?”

Rachel and Alex looked at each other, and Alex said, “That’s what I’m told. They’re organizing a mission to get him back.”

Waving his hand at the demolished room, Alex said, “It doesn’t look like they let him go easy either.”

Though Sean had to recognize Alex from school, if only because of Alex’s costume (white armor under a cowboy-style long coat), he didn’t snap at him. They hadn’t gotten along. Alex had never liked the way Sean treated me.

Sean looked around the room, taking in the shattered table and chairs, the bullet holes and burn marks, and the metal bits scattered through the middle of the room where Scream Eagle had lost control of his borrowed powers.

“Where’s Dayton?” Sean pulled himself to his feet, turning his head everywhere.

Dayton stepped out from behind the room divider on the far end of the room, which had been covered with sports trophies, framed articles, and pictures from their high school sports teams. “Over here. It’s going to be okay. They got him, but we’re going to get him back.”

Dayton walked over to Sean with the gait of someone who’d run a marathon and knew he wouldn’t be able to do another one today.

“Of course, we’re going to get him back,” Sean said, turning to look at me. He asked, “Do you know where he is? We’ve got GPS on our suits and his isn’t broadcasting a location.”

“Not precisely,” I said, “but we know where they’re taking him. We’ve got a plan.”

We’d agreed via implant not to give any details while Futuremen’s representative was around. I hoped I hadn’t given them anything, even by that statement. I’d deliberately gotten things a little wrong. I’d seen the purple glow of Victor’s teleportation power. There was no “taking” Jody in the present tense. If Victor wanted him somewhere, Jody was already there.

“We’re going with you, right? I know I don’t feel 100%, but give me a few minutes. Maybe Paladin can top me off?” Sean looked over to Alex.

Alex held up his hands, “I did everything I could. I’m going to need a minute myself. I’m going too, and I don’t want to be running on empty.”

“You’re going,” I said. “We need all the help we can get, and we’ll need someone around whom Jody trusts. We all know that’s not me.”

Daniel’s voice sounded in my thoughts via our mental link. I wouldn’t take it personally. Jody’s not a trusting guy, and he’s a little less trusting now.

What? I thought back. Without being able to explain how, I knew he’d done something he wasn’t proud of.

A feeling of disappointment arrived with his words. When I was erasing his memories of our fight and the conversation that led up to it, I realized that wasn’t enough. I changed his opinion of Magnus—not a lot, but a touch. He sees Magnus as a father figure, a kind of substitute for his father, who disappeared from his life years ago. I increased the negative associations between Magnus and his father in his memory. It increased our chances of success, but it still doesn’t feel right.