Sveta shook her head. She tried to tap a metal finger on the table, but the hand kind of splatted out instead. She didn’t seem to mind or pay much notice. “Keep in mind that it’s not just one child at stake here. Seven point three billion people, that’s how many kids?”

“Roughly twenty-five percent,” I said. “One point eight billion kids.”

“One point eight billion kids. We haven’t seen that she’s changed,” Sveta said.

Carol shook her head. “There’s more at play than core behavior patterns. If that person had a support network keeping a close eye on them, when they hadn’t before? Caring parents and a sister? If she proved willing to listen to outside input, including a therapist?”

“She wasn’t listening the other night,” I said.

“To be frank, young lady,” my mother said. “You were under the influence of a power.”

“To be frank, mom, she was fucking why!”

“Quiet now,” my mom said, all composure. Her voice was infuriatingly calm. “There are other people in the room.”

She had a slight smile on her face as I sat back, reeling myself in.

That seething fury found its way into my voice as I kept the rest of my words level. “I wasn’t under the influence when she was meeting up with a tyrant in the weeks leading up to the prison breakout. Not Marquis, by the way. She’s hanging out with him too, but I’m going to assume we’re conveniently ignoring that—”

“Let’s,” my mom said.

“She’s keeping the company of some pretty scummy people. She has a fucking miniature devil on her shoulder, like some villain from a feature length kid’s animation. That’s where she’s at in the past and present. Future? We weren’t under the influence after the tyrant was killed, when she said ‘flock to me, villains, come and submit to my control, we’re going to Shin to take power!’”

“That doesn’t sound great, and it was left out of the call,” my dad said.

“Yeah,” I said. “It’s not the exact wording, but it’s—”

“It was close to that,” Sveta volunteered.

“It was close,” I finished my sentence, echoing her.