He pulled off his helmet, clasping it in front of his stomach with both hands. Droplets of moisture from the rain still beaded some of his cheekbone, nose, and chin, and he had a spot of redness around one eyelid that had white edges in its midst, like skin peeling from a slight burn.

“I’m not totally on board with this, but Victoria and Chris were right. There are things we can all agree on, and being careful is one. That Teacher is dangerous and dangerous to our teammates is another.”

Tension didn’t show in Sveta’s body, but it showed in the details that wriggled around the edges and gaps, at her prosthetic neck that her head was perched on, and around her wig, almost indistinguishable from the locks of hair. It showed in the lines of her face, in features I would have called Eastern European.

Byron seemed to take Sveta’s silence as reluctant agreement. “Kenzie, when you’re done with showing Natalie the video, can you talk us through what you’re doing? In the interest of being careful, I’d like to make sure we’re not making any missteps when it comes to this… what is it we’re doing, Victoria? Shutting the door so Teacher can’t?”

“Something like that,” I said.

“I’ll show you in a sec,” Kenzie said.

“Let’s make sure we have a good game plan,” he said. “And… Sveta, you and I stand at different sides on this, but we can balance each other out. We each justify where we’re coming from, that keeps us level.”

She remained silent.

“I get where you’re coming from,” he said. “Your past experiences—”

She shook her head.

“But that was heated, irrational, driven by anger and emotion.”

“Communication is better,” I added.

“Speaking of staying level, or of balance,” Sveta said the words slowly, almost dangerously, in a way that made me unsure if the words themselves were dangerous, or if she was implying threat. “Are you going to release Tristan?”

“No,” Byron said. “Not like this.”

Sveta pursed her lips.

“We took measures to ensure neither of us could go too far. Tristan isn’t a stupid guy, Sveta. Trust in that.”

“Let’s focus on helping Ashley and Rain,” I jumped in, before an argument could start.

“Okay!” Kenzie said, clapping her hands together. “My time to shine.”

Sveta walked over, her gait less even than usual, before stiffly placing a hand on Kenzie’s shoulder.

“So, based on what my scanner is picking up—I built one into my phone’s camera to read any computer’s data on the sly—these gates cross dimensions, and they have to see where they’re going. That’s where I come in. Because machines see with… anyone?”