“Thanks,” I mutter, and a shudder with disgust, now that I’m able. So now we know. Eric is rolling out the update tomorrow. I need to tell the team about what I’ve just heard. I catch sight of Zora’s bright red dress, so I rush toward her, heedless of who I’m pushing out of the way.

But as I draw close, I spin around on my heels and head in the opposite direction. She’s deep in conversation with Nathan, and I know she’ll kill me if I interrupt.

But then I forget about Zora and Nathan, because Tobias is in front of me.

His eyes light up as he sees me, but then his brow creases in worry. “Everything okay? You’re sweating.”

“Just ran into Carter and Eric Smith,” I say, wiping my brow.

He winces. “How did that go?”

“We were right, the update is being launched at the convention tomorrow.”

Tobias whistles through his teeth. “Geez. And Carter just told you that outright?”

“He believes Slick updated me, and that I no longer have any ambitions for life beyond St. Agnes and a call center.”

“They must be more stupid than we could have imagined if they believe that.”

“They’re cocky,” I say. “But we’re smarter than that.” Finally, I take in how sharp he’s looking. He’s not wearing a tuxedo, but he is looking more dressed up than I’ve ever seen him; he’s wearing a blazer with a mandarin collar that has a thin strand of gold piping down the edges, which matches Aero’s metallic feathers exactly. There’s a patch on his shoulder where Aero can “clip” in, so when he leashes up they become one in-sync machine. But then I notice something troubling. Tobias has a frown etched across his brow, and he looks as if he has a shimmer of sweat on his forehead too. He also hasn’t noticed anything about what I’m wearing. Maybe that’s okay—I’m not so vain that I expected to be showered in compliments—but he’s normally so observant. “Are you okay?” I ask.

He smiles at me, but it seems strained. “Yeah, fine. Just find it a little strange to be here with everyone. And I’m worried about tomorrow. Whether we can get into the dome, what we might find there, and whether we’re going to need outside help…”

I put my hand on his arm. “But who can we trust?”

His frown deepens, this time in annoyance. “I have no idea. But I’m still worried that we won’t be able to help Monica. Lake Baku…the way it was disguised…this whole conspiracy might be so much bigger than we think. What if we need more time?”