Hamza’s heavy voice cut in, following up and speaking over Capricorn’s response. “There isn’t a guidebook, and there’s definitely no guide for what happens when the child gains incredible power and flips the script on the parent, seizing authority, asserting control, deciding how the parent lives their lives. What they can wear, what’s served for dinner, the chores…”

“My parents are finally where they belong,” Lookout said. “They’re in jail.”

“With,” I added, interjecting in much the way Hamza had, “the courts fully aware that Lookout can manipulate video. At a time when they were processing dozens of Fallen and pushing other cases off to the side, they had witness testimony, video footage and past records, and they decided it was best to incarcerate. Despite being overloaded. Make of that what you will.”

“But we can’t know,” Hamza said.

“The decks are stacked,” Gary said. “Victoria’s sister was in the Birdcage for good reason—now she’s free. Capricorn was facing trial, with proceedings benched indefinitely, until the end of the world erased all records. There are members of the Slaughterhouse Nine who are alive and free.”

“There were no records, no facilities, and there was no organization. By necessity, it was treated as a second chance for everyone.”

“Bullshit,” Gary retorted.

Lynn cleared her throat.

“Bull,” Gary said.

“It’s not bull. That was the reality,” Capricorn said. “There are multiple criminals out there that I helped put away who are free now. They’re out there and I have to worry about them.”

“Same here,” I said.

“Me too,” Lookout said. “I was more behind the scenes though, and the Wards kept me away from big stuff, so it’s less obvious I played a role in getting anyone arrested.”

“It’s bull because the second chances aren’t being evenly distributed. Two parents are arrested based on their past records, as you said earlier. New, possibly falsified evidence, witnesses who may or may not be biased, and past records. No wiping the slate clean there.”

“The slates aren’t wiped clean,” Capricorn said.

I tensed. I was worried about them delving more aggressively into Capricorn’s backstory, if he got more moral-focused and put his jaw out for the return smack. The way we were discussing things, there were a half-dozen mysteries surrounding us. Who we were, what we’d done. Delving into any of the mysteries would satisfy the audience, and we didn’t want them chewing on that.

He seemed to notice I’d tensed, and didn’t elaborate.

“What are they, then? It seems one-sided,” Lynn said.

“The past still exists,” Swansong picked up the slack. “We look past it until there’s a reason to bring it up. If you screw up, you lose your second chance, and it’s fair game again.”