Then it was as if an electrical connection had been made. Somewhere in her brain, sparks fired. She felt the thing that was trying to control her pull away. It was afraid. Running. But there was nowhere for it to go. More connections formed. More sparks flew. It was as if a switch had been flipped and the machinery of her mind had come back to life.

Lights flickered behind her eyes. The tentacles binding her slid away. She could breathe. Then she felt the familiar sensation of her Legacy returning, suffusing her with power like warmth spreading throughout her body. She focused her energy, picturing it as a ball of swirling light the color of flames. Then she sent it throughout her body, chasing the darkness and filling her with dazzling brilliance.

She opened her eyes.

She was lying on the floor. Nine was kneeling beside her. He held a syringe in his hand, and he was looking down at her with an expression of concern that quickly turned to a grin of triumph.

“All right, then,” he said. “I guess we can tell the doc her antiserum works.”

“What did you do?” Six asked. She felt tingly all over, a little light-headed, but better than she remembered feeling in days.

“I think we killed the thing in your head,” Nine answered. “Or at least slowed it down long enough for you to come back. How do you feel?”

“Weird,” Six said, sitting up. “But actually pretty good.”

“Do something,” Nine said. “You know, with your Legacies.”

Six looked around. She had no idea where they were at first. Then she remembered—the show. They were backstage, surrounded by props and pieces of equipment. She focused on one of them, a wooden box about three feet high and just as wide. She lifted it up easily with her telekinesis, then set it down again. Then she tried going invisible. She barely had to even think about it before she blinked out. When she reappeared again she was smiling. “Looks like I’m back,” she said.

Then she remembered other things. “What happened to Eleni?” she asked. “And that—whatever it was.”

“Still out there somewhere,” Nine said. “We can deal with her next. I was more concerned about you.”

“Aww,” Six said. “You care.”

Nine snorted. “Hardly.”

Six touched her head. “It’s still in there,” she said.

“They’ll take it out back at HGA,” Nine said. “The one in Sam, too.”

“You have him?” Six said hopefully.

Nine shook his head. “Nemo and Max are looking into it,” he said. “But I’m not sure he’s even here. He could be anywhere.”

Six’s elation at having her Legacies back faded a little.

“Don’t worry,” Nine said. “We’ll find him.”

Six nodded. “What’s going on here anyway? What are the Mogs doing? And how did they manage it? Those things weren’t exactly tiny. Someone had to have helped them set this up.”

“Lexa did some snooping after you called us,” Nine said. “Turns out the Saturn Hotel is owned by one of Helena Armbruster’s companies.”