Was that unfair? Maybe it was a bad read, one way or the other, and father and daughter were more similar than that.

She’s not your mom, and that’s not your dad. I remembered Ashley’s words. I’d promised to set aside judgment, and give Kenzie’s family a fair shake. There were things that were weird, but sometimes people were weird.

Weird, that the only pictures I’d seen of her were of her being held as a baby and her in the last year or so. Weird but not unheard of, when so many people had lost homes or possessions on Gold Morning and in the months following.

“How’s the work, Mr. Martin?” I asked. “Things must be hectic.”

“Things are a nightmare,” he said. “Vacancies, a shift in population, trying to sell properties only for the power to be off when people are visiting. Has there been any news about who did it or how?”

“We know how. When it comes to the who, we’ve been closing in a bit.”

“How ‘we’ is this?” Irene asked, stirring red sauce with a spatula.

“Actually, it’s very ‘we’. Our team has been making headway. Kenzie has been a massive part of that.”

“Thank you,” Kenzie said, perfunctory. She offered me a tight smile as she set out napkins, forks and knives.

“I’m not surprised,” Julien said. “She’s something.”

“Penne with spicy Italian sausage and tomato-basil pasta sauce,” Irene announced. “Julien?”

Julien took the plate. “You’ll have to tell us what happened with this—what do they call them? Corner worlds?”

“Corner worlds. We went out this afternoon. We had a chat with Lord of Loss, Marquis, and a few others. It was, as those things go, pretty friendly.”

“Some unfriendliness, but that was mostly from locals,” Kenzie said.

“Definitely,” I said. “Anti-cape sentiment. It’s bubbling beneath the surface.”

“I’ve heard it,” Julien said. He took another plate, setting it on the table. “I don’t join in. It would backfire if I did and it came out I have one for a daughter.”

“And, you know, it’s kind of wrong, huh?” Kenzie asked.

“Sit,” Julien said.

“Huh? Huh?”

“Don’t be a pest. Sit. Table’s almost set.”

I sat. Kenzie went to get a jug of water and a jug of something else, bringing them to the table.

“It smells amazing,” I said. “Can’t wait.”

“My mom’s a great cook,” Kenzie said.

“Now, if I remember right…” Irene said. “You’re from a family of parahumans?”

“Tough topic, no-go,” Kenzie said, as she put salt and pepper shakers on the table.

“No-go,” Irene said. “School? Work?”

“Between both, but I studied parahumans before Gold Morning.”

“And she worked on Patrol block,” Kenzie said. “Capes and portal stuff.”

Irene laughed a bit. “It starts and ends with the powers with you.”

“It does. I’ll admit that.”