I stood by with my defenses up, positioned to intercept any incoming projectiles. They took the chance to run for it.

This whole thing was a clusterfuck. How many people were caught? How many were acting irrational? What options did we have? What the hell was I supposed to do?

The origami woman didn’t send any attacks through the cloud of shattered road that I’d created. The moment the group was out of sight and away, I was moving again.

A complete and total clusterfuck. I flew high, and I looked down, wishing we had more light on the scene.

I could see where the distortions were being utilized. The space between the people at the edges and the center of the effect was being extended, making the clearing larger. It made it harder for people to approach, carried fleeing people away. It meant the effect had to reach further if it wanted to catch anyone.

In the tension and the emotions that gripped me, I felt an isolated point of peace and calm I could grab onto.

Vista was here, Vista had made it through Gold Morning. She was one of the people I liked. A reason I was doing what I did. She was one of the good ones, she was doing good work here, and I wanted to help her on multiple levels.

In that line of thinking, I found both the focus to think beyond mere instinct, and to realize what I could do. I knew how Vista worked.

“It’s Vista,” Laserdream said. She’d appeared beside me again. She had a flying cape with her.

“Come on,” I said. I flew for where the expansion of space seemed weakest, even pinched.

They weren’t on the streets. It was people in buildings.

I tore through a door, flew through a house. Nothing. I bumped into Laserdream and her PRTCJ friend on the way out. “Search the buildings. Vista’s power is weakest when it has people in its area. There are people near here.”

We spread out. One building each, searching neighboring houses. I was midway through my search when I heard a whistle.

I flew to the sound. Vagrants, or just refugees from Gimel who had decided they’d be more comfortable squatting in unoccupied, recently built houses than they were in the tent cities.

The three of us carried them clear. We were delivering them to safety when the next pulse hit. We weren’t hit, but I could see a glowing figure in the sky flicker and drop briefly before they caught themselves.

We took to the sky again, looking for pinched areas where things hadn’t distorted enough. There were two spots, and both were already being addressed.

The area was clear. We found our way to where the Warden-affiliated capes had collected. They had gathered at the edge of the effect.

“I think we’re clear, Rocketround, sir,” Laserdream reported.