Natasha went around to the heel end of the horseshoe, then walked into the hole. She could hear her sneaker soles brushing softly on the herringbone hardwood floor, hear the low, cycling sigh of the HEPA system, hear herself breathing its filtered, temperature-controlled air. Her imagination augmented the augmented reality, adding the rustle of bodies in chairs, the patter of fingers on keyboards and touch screens, the occasional semiobsolete scratch of pens on sheets of notebook paper. And her mind being what it was, the racket of somebody getting up for an inevitable pee run. The room prep was all about optimizing dynamics and energy, making it not so different from planning a show at Club Fallout. Just without accounting for the beats, dancing and Duncan, her musical partner in crime.

The very MIA Dunc, that was. She had seen neither hide nor hair of him since her return from Chacagua Island. But he would sometimes drop off the radar, usually with a swipe right, and they did have a couple of weeks to go until their next set of gigs. So she wasn’t hitting the panic button just yet.

Natasha used the wireless controller in her hand to make some adjustments to the holo, then moved around inside the horseshoe, deciding the arrangement could still use some tweaks. Writing ledges, possibly? Contoured seats? Maybe she’d added too much space between them...

She was inputting her latest round of changes, when a door opened at the auditorium’s rear. Still playing with the control unit, she looked across the room as someone walked in, then realized it was Kali Alcazar. Black jeans and leather jacket, she strode up to the toe of the horseshoe without a word, then plunged straight through it, wading through the rows of ghost seats.

Natasha pulled off her headset. “Hey, slice, you totally just blew my illusion.”

Kali didn’t answer. She came straight up to her, tapped her shoulder.

“I need you to come with me,” she said.

“Come where?”

“Morse’s office.”

“Morse? What’s this about?”

Kali looked at her.

“Pinnacle,” she said.

Silence. Natasha’s eyes widened. “How do you know about that?”

“I’ll explain when there’s time. Lives are at stake, Natasha.”

She opened her mouth, couldn’t think of anything to say, and finally nodded.

A moment later they were hurrying out of the auditorium together.

Natasha followed Kali to Carol Morse’s office, abruptly halting just inside the door.