The arms of people all around him operated as extensions of him. A matching, reaching movement, up and out. Some disintegrated as they moved, but one lying next to him reached up, out, and into the finely spun construction of road that cocooned the man’s legs.

As I’d done to the altered road, the reaching arm broke the construction like it was sugar crystal or a snow globe. There was a spray of blood, and the man dropped, jerking as his corona pollentia remained in place, briefly suspending him. He was dead in that instant, well before he sprawled to the ground, shattered from the waist down.

My hand held Laserdream’s tight.

I was thankful that Typhlosis didn’t give us an updated count.

⊙

Crystal had backed me up for a good while. She’d been a friend, a support.

She had performed during the event. She’d been focused, she’d done what she needed to do. It had been after that she faltered. Hearing that the people who’d been touched by the broken trigger weren’t doing well, then hearing that only four remained. Hearing and seeing those four drop away.

It had been that way for Leviathan, too.

It had probably been that way after I went to the hospital.

Fine during, not so fine after.

It had been ten days, now. Ten days after the broken trigger with the citizen workers. One of the worst we’d seen for citizen casualties and damage.

I landed on the balcony, letting myself in. I took the carton out of the plastic bag and popped it into the microwave, lid ajar. Eighteen seconds.

“Vic?” Crystal called out.

“I’m here. One second.”

“That had better not be what I think it is.”

“It is.”

Crystal groaned audibly.

I pulled the carton free, grabbed some spoons, and walked over to the living room. Crystal was sitting in the armchair, watching TV, a blanket on her lap.

She glared at me, but it was a mock glare, and it softened considerably as she saw the carton.

“Slightly melted brownie caramel ice cream,” I said. I collapsed onto the couch, reaching high overhead to hold the carton and a spoon out to her. “I’ll share it with you.”

“Well, if you’re sharing it…”

“I’ll exercise with you too, to work it off. For now, though, it’s comfort food, staying cozy, and keeping each other company.”

“Okay. You’re mostly forgiven.”

“And a stupid-in-a-good-way movie to watch,” I said, pulling the movie case out of the pocket I’d wedged it into. “Because it turns out TV sucks after the world ends, and I can’t watch you subject yourself to it.”

“Okay,” she said. “You’re forgiven.”

I popped the movie in, then settled on the couch, pulling a blanket over my legs, arranging a cushion to sit up against. I fetched my phone and checked my messages. A second cancellation from Jessica.