Kira frowned, trying to parse the information. “Some kind of amphibious soldier, then? The Isolation War kicked off with two different ship-to-shore assaults; maybe this was a special model, designed specifically for those battles.”

Green cocked his head to the side. “You’re not nearly as overwhelmed by this as I expected.”

“I’ve been around.”

“Apparently,” said Green. “I didn’t think humans ever left Long Island; you’re pretty far from home.”

Kira smiled. “This is nothing. What would you say if I told you this isn’t even the first time I’ve seen gilled Partials?”

“I’d ask where you saw them.”

“Chicago.”

Green whistled softly. “Now I know you’re either lying or—” He stopped abruptly. “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t,” said Kira. “And I don’t know if I should. Are you still with Morgan?”

“Not since I went AWOL.”

“In that case, hi.” She extended her hand. “I’m Kira Walker.”

“That explains a lot. Last I heard, Morgan had found you.”

“Her experiments didn’t pan out,” said Kira. “I left her labs a week ago.”

Green’s voice was quiet. “Damn. AWOL or not, I was still hoping she’d find a way to cure expiration.”

“Why’d you leave?”

“My whole squad left,” said Green. “We figured we’d join one of the other factions still holding out from her authority, and the Ivies seemed like a good choice. You can see how well that turned out.”

“But why?” asked Kira. “You’d been with her for so long.”

Green didn’t answer.

Kira drummed her fingers on the damp carpet. “I found another Partial out there,” she said, “on a dock on the lake’s edge. I assume he was one of yours.”

“Still alive?”

“Only barely. Probably not anymore.” She put her hand on his. “I’m sorry.”

“That might be Alan,” said Green. “He tried to swim for it about five days ago. I saw them pull him under, and then . . . well, he was the last one. I’ve been alone since.”

Kira couldn’t bear to tell him the grisly details. “I tried to help him, but it was too late.” She sat up suddenly, remembering his final words. “He tried to warn me—he said something about ‘the Blood Man.’”

“That’s what we call him,” said Green, nodding. “The gilled soldiers seem to obey him, though he’s not one of them, as far as we can tell.”

“That’s a pretty dramatic name,” said Kira. “I didn’t realize Partials were superstitious.”

“We’re not,” said Green. “We call him the Blood Man because he literally takes blood from us. We think he collects it.”

“What does he look like?”

“We’ve never seen him,” said Green. “The Ivies, or whatever they are, came and took some of our group, one every few days. Our sergeant, our driver, and one of the infantry.”