“You’d better listen to your Boss,” Melaton said. “Cops can be jerks about that kind of thing. It doesn’t matter if you can take a tank shell to the face and come out of it looking windswept, they’ll still fine you for not having your belt.”

Teddy frowned. “Fine you what? Money?”

“Yeah, obviously.”

“I bet these buckles are a capitalist ploy,” Teddy said.

Melaton turned around to stare at Teddy, her elbow resting on her seat. “Buckle up, or I’ll put you into naptime and then your Boss can buckle you herself.”

Teddy pouted but did as she was asked. She complained about the oppression of the proletariat the entire time, but she did it.

“So, um, where exactly are we going?” Emily asked. Cursory research the night before on WriteIt had revealed that a lot of people knew about the event, but there wasn’t any concrete information about where it would take place, or who would participate, exactly.

“First, we’re stopping by the Heroic Response Force’s headquarters. Eauclaire’s HRF is one of the smallest around, but they still have a few hidden access points, because they need to justify their budget somehow.”

“Okay?” Emily tried.

“That means you’ll be meeting everyone else in some boring room. You’ll be given the rundown of the rules, then one or two of them, whomever the government got their hands on, will lead the lot of you out and about on a big tour of the city. There might even be some vans to shuttle you around for maximum coverage.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Emily said.

Just a simple stroll through the city. She could do that.

No problem.

It would all be fine.

She wanted to go back home.

“You all right, Boss?” Teddy asked.

Emily swallowed, reminded herself she wasn’t alone, and nodded. “I’m fine,” she said. Having Teddy with her was . . . not quite like having her mom along, but it was similar. Someone she could rely on.

She knew that she was relying on a preteen communist werebear, but she could deal with that whole issue some other time.

“You’re going to be meeting some interesting folk. Most will probably be around your age. Power Day tends to aim for younger people. Your sister back there is probably about as young as they come. Some might be older,” Melanie said as she passed a car at a speed that was probably unsafe.

“Oh, okay,” Emily said. She wondered if it was too late to return.

“The government types won’t stop trying to recruit you. Hell, the corporate ones might push you toward them.”

“Huh?” Emily asked.